1968: Started from breeding

Chapter 289 This kid organized this scheme, he's probably planning to make some money off it again!
After separating from Guo Xiangyang.

Su Wenchen and Jiang Li went to see a stage play that clearly reflected the era, and then went to Cuihua Restaurant to reserve a table in advance.

However, the two of them arrived in the afternoon.

Looking at the lively scene inside the restaurant, Su Wenchen realized that Guo Xiangyang was right.

Quite a few people actually came specifically for this crab-themed competition.

Some came as a family, some as colleagues, or some as close friends.

In short, Su Wenchen discovered that Beijing truly lived up to its reputation as the capital city, and was definitely the place with the highest cost of living.

Upon entering, a waiter immediately greeted us.

"Comrade, do you have a reservation?"

"If you haven't made a reservation, I'm sorry, all the dishes for tonight are already booked! You'll have to go early tomorrow! Or you can make a reservation in advance."

Su Wenchen looked inside and asked curiously.

"Is there a banquet the day after tomorrow? I'd like to reserve a table!"

Upon hearing this, the other party immediately lured them inside.

"Comrade, let's go inside and I'll explain it to you in detail."

"Do you want a high-end or mid-range banquet? How many people are in total?"

Su Wenchen was taken aback. He hadn't expected there to be such a high-class banquet here.
So I asked directly.

"You also have high-end banquets here!"

"What dishes are served, and how much does a table cost?"

The other party simply laughed.

"I'm just telling you this, and you should just take it as a joke. We stopped making high-end banquets a long time ago."

"If you really want to book a high-end banquet, you'll have to prepare the ingredients yourself. For example, for a high-end set meal of delicacies, we'll only charge 30 yuan for processing, but you'll have to bring your own sea cucumbers, abalone, and other similar ingredients!"

Su Wenchen blinked upon hearing this.

"With processing fees so high, do people actually place orders?"

The other person smiled.

"Yes, there is, but I can't say more about it."

"Comrade, I see you're so young yet wearing a cadre's uniform, your family must be quite well-off. What kind of banquet would you like to order?"

"Would you like to eat here or have it cooked for you at your door? But if you choose to have it cooked for you, there will be an extra three yuan for the chef!"

Su Wenchen was surprised that they actually offered door-to-door service!

After thinking about it, I still felt it wasn't convenient to stay at home, since it was my father-in-law's house.

"We'll eat right here, the night after tomorrow, about ten of us!"

How much does a mid-range banquet typically cost?

"That depends on what dishes you order. Generally, there are mid-range banquets for 20 to 30 yuan, which include four cold dishes, four hot stir-fries, two main dishes, a soup, and a noodle dish."

"For example, in cold dishes, the price will definitely be different if you serve braised pork hock with soy sauce versus cold pickled mustard greens."

Su Wenchen was unfamiliar with the mustard tuber in the back and asked directly.

"I know about braised pork hock, but what is this mustard greens?"

The other person simply gestured with their hand and said.

"It's just cabbage rolls, pickled with yellow mustard. They're sweet and sour with a pungent aroma, perfect for whetting the appetite and cutting through the greasiness! Two cents a serving!"

"Comrades, what dishes do you want to order?"

Su Wenchen shook his head. To be honest, he had never been here before, so if he were to order, he really wouldn't know which dish was the restaurant's specialty.

So after thinking about it, he said directly...

What kind of dishes do you usually serve most at your banquets?

"My friend Guo Xiangyang said he often comes to eat here? What does he usually order?"

For Su Wenchen, since he was already paying to treat everyone, he certainly couldn't just order a table full of cheap food.

But he didn't know which dish was good and which was just average, so after thinking about it, he decided to try mentioning Guo Xiangyang.

It's not that I wanted to save a few dollars.

At the very least, you can't just order dishes that aren't good value for money!

The waiter was taken aback when he heard this.

He then spoke directly.

"Are you talking about Director Guo from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry?"

Su Wenchen nodded.

"Yes, it's Director Guo Xiangyang from the conference affairs office under the political work group."

Upon hearing this, the other party's attitude immediately became much more serious.

"Director Guo does often invite people to our office for staff dinners. I'll go and call our manager over."

Without waiting for Su Wenchen to finish speaking, she ran to the back.

Su Wenchen looked at Jiang Li.

"Ah Li, you've probably eaten here before! Why don't you order later?"

Jiang Li shook her head.

"Cuihualou serves Shandong cuisine and is often used for military and civilian cadres to have meals together or to entertain relatives and friends from other places."

"When I come to Dongcheng with my friends to eat, we usually go to Donglaishun for hot pot."

"This kind of Shandong cuisine banquet is too formal; it's only suitable for people like you who discuss business over a meal."

Su Wenchen smiled and gestured towards the lively dining table in the distant hall.

"Didn't a lot of friends come over together?"

"I see there are still quite a lot of people!"

Jiang Li rolled her eyes and said irritably.

"It's Chinese New Year! Whether it's educated youth from other places, military officers returning to visit relatives, or cadres working in other places, many people will choose to go home at this time and spend one or two months' salary to treat some childhood friends and relatives to a meal. Most people can afford it."

"That's why you can see such a lively scene. It's never this lively normally. People are eating out every day. They're living the life they don't want to live!"

"Most people are lucky if they come once or twice a year."

Just then, the store manager arrived.

Su Wenchen could tell from the other person's slightly plump figure that being the manager of a state-run restaurant was definitely a lucrative job!

Otherwise, in this day and age, it would be difficult for other organizations to raise such a large physique.

"Comrade, I'm sorry!"

"Are you Xiangyang's friend?"

Su Wenchen nodded.

"We're colleagues, I guess!"

"I plan to book a table the day after tomorrow afternoon to entertain some friends and colleagues from the system."

"Comrade Xiangyang is indeed inside."

"This isn't my first time here, so I don't know what to order."

"Comrade Xiangyang said he comes here often, so I figured he must have some experience, so I just copied his menu."

Upon hearing Su Wenchen's words, the other party immediately laughed.

"Well then, since you're Xiangyang's friend, comrade, if you trust me, I'll arrange a table for you!"

"Not the best, but definitely the most cost-effective!"

What do you think?

Upon hearing this, Su Wenchen nodded in agreement.

"That's wonderful! I was just wondering what to order, so I'll trouble you, comrade."

The other party waved their hand.

"What's the trouble!"

"Just something I said casually!"

Then he turned to the waiter who had followed him and said...

"Xiao Du, write this down: four cold dishes, one braised pork knuckle, one preserved egg with tofu, one stir-fried celery with dried shrimp, and the last one mustard greens."

"Four hot dishes: Kung Pao Chicken, Mu Shu Pork, Vinegar-braised Cabbage, and Crispy Fried Meatballs!"

"The two main dishes are braised carp and four-happiness meatballs."

"For soup, I'd like a hot and sour soup."

"The main course is rice with silver thread rolls."

"Could you help this comrade calculate how much it costs?"

After hearing what the manager said, the waiter started taking notes and calculating.

"Four cold dishes for two dollars and eighty cents."

"Four hot dishes cost four dollars and one mao,"

"Two large dishes for five yuan and fifty cents."

"Hot and sour soup is 6 mao, rice is 2 liang per person, and a serving of silver thread rolls is 2 yuan and 2 jiao in total."

"The total cost is 15 yuan and 2 mao, plus two jin of fine grain coupons for staple food, one jin of meat coupons for braised pork hock, seven liang of meat coupons for four-happiness meatballs, and fish coupons for the corresponding weight of carp."

After listening to the explanation, Su Wenchen found it to be quite reasonable; it only cost fifteen yuan to book such a table.

Of course, this only applies to him, since he is already considered a mid-to-high-level cadre, and his monthly salary alone is over a hundred.

For an employee earning around twenty yuan a month, with the addition of food and meat coupons, a single meal would cost a month's salary, which was definitely unaffordable.

It's no wonder that this kind of place is basically only frequented by officials for gatherings or by relatives and friends who work in other places and come back to visit.

However, Su Wenchen was also a little curious. If a regular meal at this place costs this much, then how much would a meal at the supposedly most upscale Lao Mo in Beijing cost at this time?

Hundreds? Or perhaps thousands?

The fact that it could continue to operate smoothly despite its high price made Su Wenchen quite curious.

After the waiter finished speaking, the manager also addressed Su Wenchen.

"What do you think? Is the price reasonable?"

To be honest, he picked the meat dishes that offered the best value for money. Normally, someone who doesn't know much about meat dishes would have to spend thirty yuan to get the same amount.

Su Wenchen nodded in satisfaction.

"That's perfect. I heard you have a new dish called 'mock crab,' it sounds pretty good, could you give me an extra one?"

Upon hearing this, the other party immediately responded.

"Haha, comrade, you've heard of it too! This dish is currently our restaurant's most popular! Okay, I'll add it to your menu."

"But comrade, to tell you the truth, this dish costs one dollar and fifty cents, which is not cheap, but there really isn't much meat in it."

"That's why I didn't recommend it to you. It's really not as satisfying as the braised pork knuckle that costs 1.2 yuan."

Su Wenchen immediately laughed.

"We can't let you lose money, can we? You can have one more dish to try!"

"That's settled then! I'll bring people over the day after tomorrow. I've already paid the reservation fee, but I didn't bring the receipt with me. I'll bring it over when we eat."

The other party immediately nodded.

"It's alright, but how many pounds of carp do you want?"

Su Wenchen thought for a moment.

"A normal weight of a little over two pounds is fine!"

Since it's just a banquet, there's no need for him to pursue any big fish.

The other party also spoke directly.

"Alright, comrade, you and Xiao Du go to the front desk, fill in the reservation information, pay, and they'll give you a slip. Just bring the slip back the day after tomorrow and call me."

After leaving Cuihua Tower, it was nearly dusk.

Winter nights come early in Beijing, and the streets are already filled with people heading into the alleys after visiting relatives.

The bustling alleyways were filled with an extra touch of festive warmth.

Jiang Li tightened the scarf around her neck, and the white breath she exhaled quickly dissipated in the cold wind.

"Ah Chen, where are we going next?"

Su Wenchen rubbed his hands together.

"It's getting late, let's go home!"

"I'll spend more time with you these next couple of days!"

Hearing Su Wenchen say that, Jiang Li's eyes lit up and she said happily.

"It's a deal then! You'll have to stay with me these next couple of days."

"As a reward, I've also prepared a gift for you!"

Su Wenchen immediately laughed.

"Oh, I have a gift too! What is it?"

Jiang Li immediately feigned annoyance and said.

"I already said it was a reward, how could you tell me beforehand!"

"Besides, I don't even know how well the preparations are going! I'll ask Tangtang when we get back if everything is ready!"

"I went through a lot of trouble to convince Tangtang, and it even shrunk my savings!" Su Wenchen just smiled when he saw this.

"Fine, I won't say anything then. But it seems that even for the reward, I'll have to use my best skills."

"Then it depends on your performance. If you don't perform well, you might not get the reward!"

Su Wenchen smiled, took his wife's hand, and tucked it into his coat pocket.

"It doesn't matter if the reward is gone, as long as Jiang Li is here."

Upon hearing Su Wenchen's words, Jiang Li gave him a reproachful look.

"You're just talking nonsense!"

"Let's go! Let's take the tram home first! Don't wait for the last tram when it's crowded."

For the next few days, Su Wenchen and Jiang Li explored the entire city of Beijing together.

We all bundled up in thick cotton coats and went to watch the flag-raising ceremony early in the morning.

Let's go to the Workers' Stadium to watch a revolutionary model opera.

When the two of them watched a patriotic play like "Sailing the Seas Depends on the Helmsman" together at the Capital Theatre, they sang along with the people of this era!

For the next three days, they acted like an ordinary young couple.

Photo studios, cinemas, department stores—they left their mark on almost every place.

Except for the ice rink, which Jiang Li couldn't visit due to her health, the two of them, like other young couples, experienced all the other ice rinks during the holidays.

These three days also made Su Wenchen feel as if he had truly integrated into this era.

It was noon on the third day of the Lunar New Year.

Donglaishun Hot Pot Restaurant.

As the steam rose from the pot, Song Wantang took off her scarf and sat down. Looking at her happy friend in front of her, she pouted.

"Pear, you've been having so much fun with your man these past few days, and you've made me do all the hard work for you!"

"No way, this is definitely not something that can be satisfied with just a hot pot meal!"

Jiang Li quickly feigned pitifulness.

"Tangtang, you've emptied my savings these past few days. We're best friends."

Song Wantang rolled her eyes.

“This is when best friends become friends, is it about money?”

"It's out of courtesy, isn't it!"

"I don't care, you have to send me a smoked rooster every month when I get back, but don't try to fool me with a regular rooster!"

Jiang Li immediately assured her.

"No problem, we have blue-water roosters that our brigade raises every month. I'll arrange it for you when I get back."

Song Wantang nodded in satisfaction, then rummaged through her bag and took out a stack of papers.

"This is a catalog of cutting-edge agricultural and animal husbandry magazines and books from abroad that I asked my dad to help me collect over the past few days."

"But this is all we can collect for now, and I don't know if it's complete or not."

He handed it to Su Wenchen as he spoke.

"If your organization needs that book, you need to report it to the relevant ministry and get approval from the institute. Then our foreign trade bureau can help you purchase it."

After Su Wenchen took it, he looked at the rows of translated book titles on the paper.

While it may not be of much use to him, it would be of great use to the others on the farm.

After all, the development of agriculture and animal husbandry in China is still lagging behind that of other countries by a generation!

His skills are something he can't teach to others, so some Western knowledge is still useful and will definitely benefit the development of their farm.

After all, he can't solve all the problems by himself; he needs help.

With this, he was much more confident in getting a group of researchers from the Academy of Agricultural Sciences to come and work for him at night.

Thinking of this, Su Wenchen got up and poured Song Wantang a cup of tea.

"Comrade Song, you've worked so hard. This has been a great help to me!"

Song Wan waved her hand.

"Don't thank me, I only helped you because of Ali!"

"If you let her down!"

"Humph!"

As he spoke, he even showed off his little fist.

Seemingly feeling that the deterrent effect was somewhat insufficient, they directly added more.

"It won't just be me alone then; our entire Red Detachment of Women will be there!"

Upon hearing Song Wantang's words, Jiang Li showed a blank and adorable expression.

"Tangtang, isn't the Red Detachment of Women just the two of us?"

Song Wantang immediately rolled her eyes.

"Can't I recruit a few more soldiers?"

"Anyway, we have a lot of Red Detachment of Women members now!"

Su Wenchen did not expose the other party, but simply picked up his teacup and said...

"Anyway, thank you for your help, Comrade Song!"

"As for what you mean by letting me down, you can rest assured, I will absolutely not let Ali down!"

To be honest, even Su Wenchen himself didn't expect to ask comrades in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for help in collecting books related to agriculture and animal husbandry from abroad.

The main issue is that foreign language books are somewhat sensitive at this time.

Even when it comes to compiling catalogs, most people wouldn't be willing to do that kind of favor.

However, having a catalog is indeed a great benefit to him, because he can follow the catalog and directly report the relevant books that need to be introduced.

Given their farm's current status, and considering that the books are simply related to agriculture and animal husbandry, the authorities will definitely take it into consideration.

After the three of them finished eating hot pot at Donglaishun.

Jiang Li immediately dragged Song Wantang shopping with her.

She didn't want to join in the fun since Su Wenchen was hosting his colleagues from the ministry and the Academy of Agricultural Sciences that evening.

in the afternoon.

Su Wenchen had just entered the door.

Then they saw Guo Xiangyang sitting half-reclined on a chair in the lobby of Cuihua Building.

Upon seeing Su Wenchen, he quickly stood up and tried to build rapport.

"Brother Su! You've arrived!"

Su Wenchen was still somewhat surprised to see this.

"Brother Xiangyang, you've been here for a while now?"

The other party smiled and waved his hand.

“My childhood friend works here. Isn’t this place busy during the holidays? I had nothing to do this afternoon, so I came over to help them.”

Before he finished speaking, the manager of Cuihua Restaurant had already walked over and said in a very impatient tone.

"They came to help out, carrying dishes for two tables, and then came to the lobby to greet guests!"

"If all our restaurant staff had your attitude, we'd probably be getting constant calls for improvement from higher-ups."

After saying that, he politely led Su Wenchen to the back.

"Comrade Su, your private rooms have been reserved. We can serve the dishes as soon as everyone arrives."

Su Wenchen nodded in response.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, comrade. But speaking of service staff, Beijing truly lives up to its reputation as the capital."

Su Wenchen wasn't lying.

During his few days in Beijing, he visited almost every place imaginable.

I've bought things from all the major department stores, supply and marketing cooperatives, and grocery stores.

While the service was not quite up to par with that of later generations, it was far superior to that of the rest of the county.

In the state-run restaurants in his county, when he used to eat there, most of the staff would just throw the food on the table and act like they didn't care if he ate it or not.

But he thought about it and could understand.

Take Cuihualou Restaurant here, for example. Most of the people who host banquets here are leaders and cadres from various government agencies, because only these people have the need to host banquets.

Most ordinary employees are reluctant to come here to eat when they are entertaining guests; they usually buy some good food and cook it at home for themselves.

So the good service here is understandable, Su Wenchen thought, since nobody knows whether the customer is a dragon or a tiger!
Soon, as dusk settled, the private room gradually filled up with people.

Since they are all basically from the same system, they don't feel unfamiliar with each other when they talk about it.

When Lei Boliang finally entered the private room, Su Wenchen immediately stood up to prepare to announce the serving of dishes.

Lei Bailiang came in, looked around, and said to Su Wenchen in an annoyed tone.

"Why did you invite me to your agricultural system's get-together?"

Su Wenchen immediately smiled and introduced.

“Uncle Lei, I don’t have any suitable elders in Beijing! After thinking it over, you are the only one who is suitable.”

After all, although Su Wenchen was able to invite the leaders of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences, at the very least, they needed someone of similar rank to accompany them.

After thinking it over, Su Wenchen realized that while the leaders of their State Farms Bureau were indeed of a high enough rank, their level of intimacy was clearly insufficient.

They were close enough to their department's top leader, but the other party wasn't.

After all, the other party was just the leader of a department under the Academy of Agricultural Sciences, not the president of the Academy.

So after thinking it over, Su Wenchen decided that Lei Bailiang was the most suitable, as both of them were at the bureau level.

Although they are different departments, they are always given a fair share of face, and nowadays the Ministry of Foreign Trade is considered to be much more important than the Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

So Su Wenchen introduced it directly.

"Uncle Lei, let me introduce you. This is Director Liu Xun of the Animal Husbandry Research Institute of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences!"

"He is a guest I invited."

"Director Liu, this is Director Lei from the Ministry of Foreign Trade! He's also one of my elders!"

Before Lei Bailiang arrived, Su Wenchen had naturally called to mention it a few times.

So he simply smiled and extended his hand.

"Director Liu, hello! I've heard so much about you! The black pigs you've bred, although they don't grow as fast as white pigs, are still very popular in Beijing!"

Liu Xun was somewhat surprised to hear this, as he hadn't expected the other party to actually know about some of their institute's achievements.

So he said with a smile.

"Director Lei, I am truly ashamed of what you're saying. It was an accidental breeding of white pigs. Compared to their Blue Water Farm, it's worlds apart."

However, Liu Xun did feel somewhat ashamed.

The white pig project that we had been working on for so long was ultimately completed by Blue Water Farm.

They could say they've been working for nothing all these years.

After informing Su Wenchen, who was serving the dishes, he spoke directly.

"Uncle Lei, you and Director Liu, please don't stand on ceremony, please take a seat!"

After Lei Bailiang sat down next to Liu Xun, the cold dishes were served.

As the organizer, Su Wenchen stood up and introduced himself to the others.

This included Zhang Qianjin from Qianjin Farm, Yang Fusheng from Eryuan Farm, Guo Xiangyang from the Ministry's Affairs Office, and several researchers from the Animal Husbandry Research Institute whom Su Wenchen wanted to recruit to help him with his work.

After giving his introductions, Su Wenchen continued.

"This time, everyone who came to the dinner was from our own agricultural system, so I won't hide anything."

"I organized this dinner to apologize to the researchers at the Academy of Agricultural Sciences."

"After all, they bred white pigs for so long, and in the end, our Blue Water Farm reaped the benefits. I've always felt really bad about it."

"Director Liu, I'll apologize to you in advance!"

Upon hearing this, the researchers from the Academy of Agricultural Sciences felt a deep resonance. It wasn't entirely true that they resented Blue Water Farm.

But it would be a lie to say they weren't disappointed.

After all, I've worked so hard for so many years and failed, but someone else has succeeded. It's impossible not to feel a mix of emotions.

However, upon hearing Su Wenchen's words, many researchers felt that they had let Blue Water Farm down.

After all, they cultivated their talents through their own abilities, and it's really inappropriate for them to talk about them behind their backs.

Especially compared to Su Wenchen now, many researchers are thinking.

Am I being a petty person?

However, unlike these researchers, Zhang Qianjin, who knew Su Wenchen very well, didn't believe a single word of it.

Because in his eyes, white pigs breed this stuff.

Even if there were breeding pig experimental units all over the country breeding them, he believed that Su Wenchen would not feel guilty at all, even if they were only bred by the Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

Zhang Qianjin thought.

This guy organized this scheme, he's definitely planning to squeeze some money out of himself!
I'd better keep a close eye on him; when this kid eats meat, he has to make sure he gets a sip of the soup too.

He has now realized that he doesn't need to keep thinking about other things.

Just follow behind him and drink the soup. As long as you keep an eye on this kid, he won't get much meat, but he'll at least get some soup!

That should be enough for them to live comfortably on the farm.

(End of this chapter)