Siheyuan: Traveling through Cai Quanwu, pretending to be Uncle Shazhu

The days passed like this day by day in fishing.

This morning, not long after Cai Quanwu came to work and the tea had just been brewed, Director Ma opened the door and walked in.

Seeing Director Ma come in, Cai Quanwu stood up quickly and asked with a smile: "Director, what's the matter?"

"Um, nothing. Last time you said you would go to the countryside to find someone to hunt game. When did you go?"

Director Ma didn't talk nonsense and got straight to the point.

"Director, are you in a hurry? If it's urgent, I'll go there later. If it's not urgent, I'll go directly to the countryside tomorrow morning."

Cai Quanwu didn't know why the director suddenly mentioned this matter, so he said this.

"I'm not in a hurry, but I see that you haven't gone to the countryside either. Don't you need to say hello in advance? Don't cram it in and you won't be able to get anything." Director Ma expressed his worries.

After understanding what the director meant, Cai Quanwu breathed a sigh of relief. He thought it was nothing, so he patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, the director will definitely not delay things. If I dare to speak, I will be sure."

"Okay, as long as you say so, the Chinese New Year will be celebrated in less than a month. I'm afraid that time will be too tight and it will be difficult to handle it." Director Ma explained.

"Director, I'm afraid that I got it too early and everyone would finish the meat before the New Year."

Cai Quanwu joked with the director.

"It's their business to finish eating, and it's our business to get it."

"Since you know what's going on, I won't say more."

Director Ma said he was about to leave, but was stopped by Cai Quanwu.

"Director, don't leave in a hurry. Come on, come and have a cigarette. Let's talk more."

As he said that, he took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed one to Director Ma. He also took a cigarette and put it in his mouth. He took out a match and lit the cigarette for the director and himself.

Director Ma took a puff of cigarette and then slowly said: "Tell me, what else can you do?"

"Director, when the pig comes back, where will he kill it? Who will he kill it with?"

Cai Quanwu was worried about Xiao Jiujiu, thinking that when the time came, Shazhu would kill the pig, and let him meet Xiao Wu to see if there was any fate.

"You are thinking about the long-term problem. You haven't even seen the pig hair yet, so you are considering killing the pig. Tell me, what are your plans?"

Director Ma said in a slightly mocking tone.

"Well, my nephew is a chef and can kill pigs. I will let him do it when the time comes. What do you think?" Cai Quanwu said in a negotiating tone.

"Okay, as long as you get the pigs, you can take care of the rest." Director Ma said after a while.

"Thank you very much, director."

Seeing that the director agreed, Cai Quan quickly thanked him.

After Director Ma left, Cai Quanwu took a sip of tea and thought about going for a walk in the countryside one day to see if he could collect any good things and get the wild boar out.

At this time, there is not much work for the country people, and those who are capable will go into the mountains to find some things to sell to support their families.

Another one is that the Chinese New Year is coming, and the good things that I usually can’t bear to part with, in order to celebrate the New Year, I may exchange them for some money to celebrate the New Year.

After thinking about the possibility of buying something good, Cai Quanwu felt that his wallet was not rich enough.

I gave Director Ma a red envelope worth [-] yuan. I didn’t have much money left, and it looked like I was going to make some money on the black market again.

When it was almost noon, Sister Zhao opened the door and came in. She took out the lunch box from Cai Quanwu's satchel, and said with a smile while taking it out:

"What's delicious today?"

Ever since we all had dinner together that time, Sister Zhao has been eyeing Cai Quanwu's lunch box. Every time it's meal time, she takes Xiao Wu to Cai Quanwu's hut to order some food.

Fortunately, they still know how to behave. If they have delicious food at home, they will bring some to Cai Quanwu to try. Otherwise, Cai Quanwu would doubt whether women of this era have white lotus attributes.

However, there is one sentence that can well reflect the basic requirements of women in this era for men.

If you marry a man, dress and eat well, and keep yourself well fed, you are a good man.

Unlike in later generations, RVs don’t count, and red envelopes are required every festival. Some men get married and turn in their wages. Where do they get the money to give out red envelopes? Is it stolen?

It was really stressful.

Cai Quanwu was thinking about something and replied casually.

"See for yourself."

What dish? It's nothing more than radish, cabbage and some meat.

There are no other dishes that I want to eat.

Sister Zhao didn't take Cai Quanwu's perfunctory approach seriously. After getting along with him for so many days, she now understood this guy very well. He had a very strange taste in these foods.

The fat meat that they thought was delicious was disgusting in his eyes.

Some of the things they thought were unpalatable, he ate with relish.

Opening the lunch box, Sister Zhao's eyes lit up, and she was not disappointed.

A lunch box full of roasted pork with radish, more meat and less radish, and a layer of white lard jelly on top, which looked like enough oil and water.

After closing the lunch box with satisfaction, Sister Zhao sighed.

"Nothing at all. After eating it a few times, I feel like I can't even eat the food at home. Your nephew's cooking skills are so good. The same thing tastes delicious when cooked."

After hearing Sister Zhao's words, Cai Quanwu joked.

"Sister Zhao, it's okay, just come home with me then."

Seeing Cai Quanwu joking with her, Sister Zhao smiled and scolded: "Fuck you, a dog can't spit out ivory from its mouth. I don't have that blessing."

"But Xiao Wu is becoming more and more interested in your nephew. If you marry a cook, at least you won't be hungry in the future, and you don't have to cook, and you can have delicious food."

Indeed, being a cook in this era is indeed a good job, and the status is not bad. Otherwise, he would not have become one of the Eight Great Members that others would envy. How would he be like being scolded as a stinky cook later on.

After working for so many days, Cai Quanwu always found people to chat with, and now he probably knew a little bit about the background of everyone in the grain store.

In a word, they don’t have a big background, they are just ordinary domestic workers’ families.

For example, in Xiao Wu's family, her father is an ordinary employee in the food system. She is the eldest. She graduated from junior high school and was hired into a food store by her father's connections. Her mother takes care of her younger siblings who are studying at home.

Through analysis, Cai Quanwu knew that the family conditions were average. Before Xiao Wu went to work, her father worked alone to support the whole family, and his life would definitely not be very good.

It has only been a few months since Xiao Wu graduated and started working, so it is estimated that her family's conditions have improved a bit.

"You are so kind to me. If I come back, I will definitely thank you as a matchmaker."

Cai Quanwu didn't care whether what Sister Zhao said was true or false, he would draw a big picture first.

"Okay, I know. I won't tell you anymore. I'll go heat up the food first."

With that said, he happily opened the door and went out with his lunch box in hand.

Looking at the happy Sister Zhao, Cai Quanwu shook his head.

In this era, a family like Sister Zhao's would be considered a good family in future generations, but seeing some meat almost makes me drool, not to mention other families that are even worse.

After Sister Zhao had heated up the meal, she took Xiao Wu to Cai Quanwu's hut, and the three of them sat at the table and ate lunch.

In order to make it easier to eat, Sister Zhao also found two old stools from the warehouse and moved them in.

"Nothing at all. Your nephew is indeed a cook. The steamed steamed buns of Erhe Noodles are better than mine."

Sister Zhao sighed after eating a Erhe noodle steamed bun brought by Cai Quanwu, and Xiao Wu beside her nodded. It was indeed more delicious than her steamed bun.

Cai Quanwu thought, if you mix one pound of white flour with one or two stick noodles, the steamed noodles will be delicious, but he said:

"If the chef hadn't been learning the art for so long, you would have thought it was for nothing. You must have some skills."

"If you learn the art from a master, you will definitely make delicious food."

Regarding Cai Quanwu's words, Sister Zhao and Xiao Wu both felt it made sense and lamented that the difference between learning and not learning is really big.