Returning to the county opera troupe in 77

The two pulled the flatbed cart, one after the other, out of the theater troupe's compound. The street was pitch black, with only a few barks coming from afar.

Fatty Qin pulled the cart ahead, muttering, "Raw pork is 68 cents a pound, and that's the lean kind, which is three grades below average. If it were top-grade fat, it would be 83 cents a pound. Bean curd meat is much cheaper, only 30 cents a pound, and you can choose the fat or lean meat you want. This will save our kitchen a lot of money."

People in the 1970s and 80s generally lacked oil in their diet. To judge whether a piece of meat was of high quality, one didn't look at its color, but only at how many fingers' thickness the fat layer was. One or two fingers' thickness was considered inferior, while three or four fingers' thickness was considered truly high-quality meat.

Fatty Qin wanted to buy pork with soybeans, mainly because it was cheap. Even if the pork was a little thin, it was still meat, and it was much better than eating potatoes.

The two walked for a while, until the sky began to brighten in the east, before leaving the county town. Not far outside the town was Xuejia Village, where Fatty Qin said that Old Xue, the butcher, lived.

The dirt road was full of potholes, and the flatbed truck creaked and groaned as it bounced along.

Chen Xiangdong pondered over and over in his mind: Although the bean meat contained insect eggs, as long as it was cooked thoroughly at a high temperature, the insect eggs could be completely killed.

Just like how supply and marketing cooperatives occasionally sell cheaper "high-temperature cooked meat," which is actually just thoroughly cooked meat and beans. Since supply and marketing cooperatives dare to sell it, it means that as long as it is handled properly, there is no problem of insect eggs harming people.

Just then, Fatty Qin suddenly stopped, turned around and shouted to him, "We're here, that's the one up ahead."

Chen Xiangdong looked up and saw the fifth house at the village entrance. The gate was half-open, and chickens were crowing happily inside. Fatty Qin parked his car against the wall, strode over, and knocked on the door.

"Old Xue! It's me, from the theater troupe's kitchen!"

First, there were hurried footsteps coming from inside the door, but after hearing the words "theater troupe kitchen," the noise seemed to subside.

The door creaked open, revealing a thin, dark-skinned old man with gray hair, who squinted and looked the two of them up and down.

"From the theater troupe? Come in quickly."

Chen Xiangdong followed Fatty Qin into the courtyard, only to find that besides Old Xue, there were three other people standing there.

The three men were clearly acquainted with Fatty Qin. Seeing him enter the courtyard, they all smiled and nodded in response. Fatty Qin nodded back, but none of them spoke, as if they shared some unspoken understanding.

Chen Xiangdong was taken aback; the atmosphere was somewhat strange.

Old Xue turned and went into the house. Within two minutes, he pulled out two split pieces of pork from under the chopping board and threw them on the table.

"Look, isn't it fresh? It's only three cents a pound, take it without worry."

Fatty Qin's eyes lit up, and he stepped forward to examine the pork. The other three men also joined in with smiles on their faces.

Fatty Qin was quite satisfied with the three-finger-thick layer of fat, patting the meat: "Just this one pig?"

Old Xue grinned, revealing his gap-toothed grin: "The supply and marketing cooperative and the food station have taken away most of the pigs. It took me a lot of effort to get this one. Don't worry, I can get a few more in a few days, enough for you to share."

One of the three men, a lean one, chimed in, "Cut me half a piece."

Another fat man hurriedly said, "I'll take half a piece too. Weigh it and I'll pay right away."

Old Xue waved his hand: "No rush, no rush, everyone gets a share."

Fatty Qin turned to look at Chen Xiangdong and said in a low voice, "After we've weighed it, you can carry the meat up to the truck."

Chen Xiangdong nodded, and then saw Old Xue take a pig-slaughtering knife and chop it into two halves of the meat with a few quick cuts. When weighed, the two pieces of meat weighed almost the same, both fifty jin.

Fatty Qin patted one of the pieces: "I'll take this one from the belly cavity."

Another fat man laughed and said, "Of all the pigs in this place, the belly is the fattest part, and you can even get some oil out of it. You sure know how to pick one."

Fatty Qin grinned: "I'll choose first this time, but you can go first next time."

Seeing that the other three had no objections, Chen Xiangdong stepped forward, carried the pork, and placed it on the cart outside the door. He turned the meat over and took a closer look. Sure enough, the meat fibers were studded with dense white dots, like a layer of fine rice grains.

It's definitely a piece of junk food, no doubt about it.

Chen Xiangdong quickly put on the burlap sack and waited outside for a few more minutes before Fatty Qin came out. The two of them didn't say a word, but instead pulled the cart towards the edge of the village.

Once they were out of the village, Chen Xiangdong couldn't hold back any longer: "Teacher Qin, what were those three people doing?"

Fatty Qin had already guessed that he would ask, and he hadn't intended to hide anything anyway, so he chuckled and said, "What else could we be doing? We're all colleagues in the kitchen, from the power bureau, the agricultural machinery factory, and the mines."

"Good heavens!"

Chen Xiangdong was startled, not expecting that these people were all from the company's kitchen.

The power bureau, the agricultural machinery factory, the mine, plus their theater troupe—that makes four entities. Normally, raw meat and beans are absolutely forbidden from entering the market, but some daring individuals, to save a few bucks, are willing to take the risk.

Seeing his expression, Fatty Qin rolled his eyes at him and said, "What are you afraid of? All the kitchens in big companies do it this way. It's obvious, like a bald man's lice. Besides, we don't eat it every day, only two or three times a month. It'll be fine."

Chen Xiangdong instructed, "Then you must cook the meat thoroughly, so that you don't eat anything that might cause problems."

Fatty Qin laughed heartily: "Don't worry, I'm even more careful than you. The supply and marketing cooperative cooks for two hours, but I add more firewood and cook for a full three hours. The meat is so tender that it falls apart if you poke it with chopsticks before I stop cooking."

Chen Xiangdong was finally relieved. It was only then that he truly realized there were so many intricacies involved in the kitchen.

Fatty Qin was quite careful when preparing the meat and beans. He used spare cutting boards, knives, and woks, avoiding the usual kitchen utensils. He even set up a pot on a tin stove by the kitchen door before putting the pot in cold water and adding firewood.

Chen Xiangdong squatted in front of the stove, adding firewood one piece at a time. Flames licked the bottom of the pot, and the water inside gradually began to steam, soon bubbling and churning.

Fatty Qin stirred the pot with long chopsticks, then turned to Chen Xiangdong and instructed, "Don't turn the heat up too high. Simmer it slowly for three hours, and all the insect eggs will turn into cooked meat."

I know what I'm doing.

Chen Xiangdong nodded and obediently tended the fire. The chunks of meat in the pot tumbled and rolled, and the aroma of meat wafted out little by little, spreading along the kitchen doorway and soon filling the entire courtyard.

"Hey, is Master Qin stewing meat today?" A passing actor peeked out and swallowed hard.

Fatty Qin waved his hand: "It's not cooked yet, but we'll definitely be able to eat meat at noon."

The man chuckled and left.

After about two hours of cooking, Chen Xiangdong, who was staring at the firewood with boredom, looked up and saw two timid heads peeking out from behind the brick wall of the kitchen. He recognized who it was from the tuft of hair sticking up on one of the heads.

"Zhang Qing, come here! Who's behind you? Oh, it's Xiao Yue."

Hearing the greeting, Li Zhangqing and Fu Xiaoyue timidly emerged from behind the brick wall. The two girls pushed and shoved each other, taking a while to finally get to the front.

Li Zhangqing sniffed and asked softly, "Brother Xiangdong, what's cooking in the pot? It smells so good..."

Fu Xiaoyue nodded in agreement, her eyes fixed on the pot.

Chen Xiangdong smiled and said, "What else can I cook? Pork, of course. It's not cooked yet; it needs to cook for another hour."

Upon hearing this, both girls swallowed hard. Chen Xiangdong lowered his voice and said, "It needs to stew for another hour. Don't go too far. When it's cooked, I'll pick out a couple of big bones for you."

Li Zhangqing's eyes lit up immediately, and he nodded vigorously. Fu Xiaoyue smiled too, revealing two small tiger teeth.

"Alright, go have some fun. I'll call you two later." Chen Xiangdong waved his hand.

The two girls nodded quickly and then ran off one after the other.

Fatty Qin poked his head out of the kitchen and glared at Chen Xiangdong: "You think you can play the good guy?"

Chen Xiangdong chuckled: "Two little girls, how much can they possibly eat even if we let them eat the most?"

Fatty Qin snorted and muttered a few words, but didn't say no.

He knew that this fat man was always sharp-tongued but kind-hearted, and wouldn't really stop Li Zhangqing and the others from eating.

The meat, which had been simmering for three hours, was so mushy that even a toothless old lady could slurp it up like noodles.

"Master Qin, how about we roll out this meat into noodles for lunch and make some shredded pork noodles?"

"We're on the same page. Baoliang and Qiufen have already prepared the dough and are just waiting for the meat to be cooked."

"But we can't finish all this meat in one meal. How about we make some steamed pork with rice flour tonight?"

Qin the Fatty's head, which he had just pulled back, popped out again with a "whoosh," his eyes shining as he looked at Chen Xiangdong: "You can make steamed pork with rice flour?"

Chen Xiangdong patted his chest and tossed his head back: "It's just a trivial matter."