The 1960s: The Story of a Country Girl's Journey to the City

Lin Baoya berated everyone, and Zhou Dabao finally stopped howling, but he still didn't forget to eat meat.

"I want to eat meat, I want to eat meat, I want to eat meat..."

Zhou Dabao sat on the ground, kicking his legs and shouting, leaning back as if he was about to roll around on the ground.

"Oh, my dear grandson, get up quickly and come home with me. I'll buy you some meat."

Granny Zhou had no choice but to keep coaxing him, trying to get him to go home.

"Zhou Dabao, stop howling, or I'll hit you."

Bao Ya raised the fire poker in her hand, pretending to hit him. Zhou Dabao immediately shut up. Those brats just deserve a beating.

Seeing that he had stopped making a fuss, Bao Ya said to him:

"If you want to eat meat, have your grandma bring something in exchange. If she doesn't, she might not be your biological grandma."

After saying that, Bao Ya picked up a fire poker and went into the yard, locking the door. Then she heard Granny Zhou cursing loudly again in front of her house:

"Lin Baoya, you wretched woman, how dare you talk to a child like that?"

Bao Ya didn't care what she was cursing about. She had stewed three sets of pig intestines and two pig stomachs today, with this as her plan. If she couldn't exchange them here, she could take them back to the village to exchange for grain.

Even though it's offal, it's still meat.

Three sets of pig intestines and two pig stomachs cost a total of eight cents. The spice packet and firewood added up to less than two cents. It's a profit no matter what you trade it for.

Bao Ya thought only Granny Zhou would come to exchange with her, but unexpectedly Shi Zhenxiang and Xie Laidi also came to exchange with her.

They traded honeycomb briquettes for a piece of pork, which cost two cents. Ten honeycomb briquettes could be exchanged for one pound of braised pork intestines. A set of pork intestines weighed two and a half pounds after cooking.

Shi Zhenxiang and Granny Zhou each traded for a jin (500 grams), while Xie Laidi traded for a whole set of pig intestines. An old lady in the front yard also traded for half a jin with her.

Bao Ya thought it was a good deal to exchange two braised large intestines for fifty honeycomb briquettes.

They are all families with small living spaces and many members, so they don't need that many honeycomb briquettes every winter.

Xie Laidi's eldest son, in particular, works at a coal mine and receives internal benefits every year, which he can't possibly use up.

People usually use their surplus benefits to exchange for things with others.

Without my own coal purchase quota, buying coal on the black market would cost at least twice as much, which is not cost-effective.

By exchanging pig intestines for them, they no longer needed to spend money to buy them, and the money saved went into their own little savings account.

Xie Laidi was the one who understood the value of braised pig intestines the most among these people. She was a temporary worker at the meat processing plant, and her main job was to wash cutting boards and pig intestines.

They used to cook it at home, and no matter how clean it was, it still smelled bad. Because no one knew the recipe for braising sauce, half of the pig intestines from the meat processing plant had to be thrown away in the summer.

When Jiang Yuan returned home, he was amazed to see the honeycomb briquettes in his yard. He never expected his wife to be so clever as to come up with such a solution.

"See? I'm still the smartest."

When Bao Ya saw Jiang Yuan's surprised look, she started to wag her tail again.

"Smart, my wife is the smartest. Here, this is your reward."

As he spoke, Jiang Yuan handed her a paper package tied with thin hemp rope, looking at her with a smug expression.

"What is this?"

Bao Ya took it, looked at it, and touched it; it felt like meat.

"Where did the meat come from?"

"I went to the machine factory to help slaughter pigs today, and that's what they gave me."

After Jiang Yuan finished speaking, he rolled up his sleeves and carried the coal from the yard to the small shed in the backyard. He placed the last ten pieces next to the kitchen stove, ready to use them at any time.

Going out to help slaughter a pig and getting this good fortune? Bao Ya took the meat to the kitchen, opened it, and saw a piece of pork belly weighing over two pounds and three ribs. Perfect for making dumplings tomorrow and stewing ribs the day after. Wow, at least we'll have meat to eat!

After setting the meat aside, Bao Ya went to prepare dinner. She cut a plate of braised pork, scooped out half a bowl of her homemade Sichuan-style pickled vegetables, plated the stir-fried shredded potatoes, and served cornbread and cornmeal porridge outside.

After Jiang Yuan finished moving the coal, he washed his hands and came over to eat.

Jiang Yuan picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of braised pork intestine and put it in his mouth. Hmm, it tasted just like the one made with the seasoning packet Chef Sun gave him last time.

"It smells so good! This braised pork smells amazing. I could smell it from far away. It tastes just like the one you made last time."

It doesn't taste the same; it's a braising sauce recipe stolen from Chef Sun.

The two sat at the octagonal table in the main room, eating and chatting casually.

"Master Sun, who runs a state-run restaurant, is looking for an apprentice, someone younger who can live with him."

"Taking on apprentices? Doesn't he already have one?"

She had met Chef Sun's apprentice before; he was a very spirited young man. Why was he taking on apprentices?

"You mean Xiao Zhang? I don't know who got him through, but he's been transferred to a state-run restaurant in the west of the city to work as a stir-fry chef."

Jiang Yuan frowned and said that Old Man Sun was very angry today and gave him a long lecture.

"He's so young, how can he possibly run a state-run restaurant?"

There are five state-run restaurants in the city: East, South, West, North, and Central.

Bao Ya has only been to the one in the city center and the one near her home; she hasn't been to the other three. The one near her home isn't very big; it's mainly supported by Master Sun.

"The restaurant in the west of the city is larger, with more than one chef. He was an apprentice here, but he'll be a master chef over there; the treatment is different."

Master Sun was retiring in a few years, and feeling that his son was impetuous, he wanted to mentor him for another two years so that he could take over his position. Unexpectedly, the son ran away on his own.

That bald old man has a bad temper, but his skills are top-notch. Should we find an apprentice? Or maybe I should try it myself?

"You want me to go?"

Bao Ya looked at Jiang Yuan and asked. She had just heard that Chef Sun was recruiting apprentices and hadn't paid attention to what he had said earlier.

"Sigh, you won't do. He wants his apprentices to live at his house. Besides learning to cook, apprentices also have to serve their master. Go ask Simao if he wants to go; I think he's suitable."

Jiang Yuan was startled by what she said. What was his wife up to?

At this time, the master-apprentice relationship was not much different from that in the old society, except that the apprentice could receive a salary, but he also had to serve his master with utmost care and caution.

To work in a factory, you need to find a mentor. The job of a chef is even more special. You have to learn step by step, and it takes several years to get your mentor's approval before you can work on your own.

Living with Chef Sun means that his apprentices have to take care of his daily needs, and he also has to provide gifts for holidays and festivals.

Chef Sun lives alone; his two daughters are married, and his grandchildren are still young, so there are no suitable candidates.

"Simao will definitely agree. I'll go back and ask him tomorrow."

She had said she would find Simao a job, how could she forget about that?

"You should talk to your uncle and the others. Chef Sun said that this position is currently temporary. Whether it can be converted to a permanent position after the training is completed is up to him."

Bao Ya nodded to indicate that she understood; Chef Sun had kept something in reserve for himself.

The previous apprentice's work was considered a full-time job, just with a low salary, and they left once they gained experience. Therefore, the decision to teach new apprentices is entirely in the user's hands.

Si Mao is only sixteen this year, so he can learn for a few more years without any problem. As long as he learns the skill, he can open his own restaurant and make money after the reform and opening up.

"Okay, I understand."

Bao Ya readily agreed. Jiang Yuan, observing the change in Bao Ya's expression, sensed that she wasn't entirely disappointed, so he tentatively asked again:

Are you also looking for a job?

Bao Ya rolled her eyes and thought for a moment. She had never worked a 9-to-5 job, so she didn't know what that felt like, but she knew that she couldn't keep doing the same thing in one place all the time.

"I don't want to go to work, I just want to make money."