Returning to the county opera troupe in 77

On the day the trainees reported for duty, Chen Xiangdong and art designer Guo Jufu got up early and put up opera paintings in the newly renovated storage room.

All four storage rooms in this row have been converted into college dormitories, with ten students living in each room, filling all four rooms.

Looking at the posters covering the entire wall, concealing the peeling paint, Chen Xiangdong clicked his tongue in admiration: "Brother Fu, you really are the most skillful artist in our troupe. Look at these paintings, they're almost as good as the posters outside the movie theater."

Guo Jufu was also a young man, only five years older than Chen Xiangdong, having just turned nineteen this year. He raised his head and smiled with no small amount of pride, "Of course, I'm the top art designer in our troupe, how could I not have some real skills?"

Chen Xiangdong repeatedly agreed, thinking to himself, "You're the only set designer in the troupe. If you're not number one, who is?"

After finishing the wallpapering, the two chatted and laughed as they headed straight for the cafeteria. Covering four rooms with wallpaper would require a lot of paste, which could be made by cooking porridge until it was thick and sticky.

Chen Xiangdong took the job not for any other reason than to be able to get a few more bowls of thick porridge from the kitchen in the morning.

After serving Guo Jufu a bowl of thick, stringy rice porridge, Fatty Qin secretly winked at Chen Xiangdong.

Chen Xiangdong understood, slipped in through the small door, and secretly took away the remaining half pot of paste from the corner.

After delivering a bowl of thick porridge to Hei Ye Feng Zhengxiao, he called Li Zhangqing and the other four girls to Liu Dezhu's dormitory. Together with Liu Dezhu, the six of them drank it all up.

"Master, this porridge is really good. You can stick chopsticks in it and they won't fall over. It's much better than the watery porridge we usually drink." Chen Xiangdong wiped his mouth.

Liu Dezhu chuckled: "That's right, when it comes to getting food for Boss Hei, Fatty Qin is definitely more attentive than anyone else."

Li Zhangqing tilted his head back and shoveled the last bit of porridge from the bottom of the bowl into his mouth, then looked at Liu Dezhu with wide eyes: "Uncle, why is Master Qin so good to Master Hei?"

Liu Dezhu put down his chopsticks and wiped his mouth: "I'm your uncle, and Hei Ye is Qin Pangzi's uncle. Why do you think that is? Hei Ye found Qin Pangzi's job in the kitchen. Otherwise, that guy would still be feeding pigs back in his hometown."

The four girls, Li Zhangqing and Wu Xiaolian, suddenly looked enlightened.

Chen Xiangdong laughed and said, "That's why we say Qin Shi is filial to Master Hei. He's been running to Commander Jia's office every day these past few days."

Liu Dezhu: "Heiye was originally a veteran of our troupe. When he left the troupe, Jia Dafang had just been transferred back. Heiye's position was still valid, but he was put on unpaid leave. Now that he's back, he definitely needs to be paid."

Han Nongyue asked in surprise, "Even Master Hei eats government-supplied grain?"

"That's right, their grain rations are much more substantial than yours, you little brats." Liu Dezhu laughed heartily. "They have a long service record, and if you ask me, I bet their monthly salary is no less than fifty yuan."

"Wow!" "So many?"

The girls gasped in surprise.

Fu Xiaoyue couldn't help but ask, "Teacher Liu, Teacher Liu, will we students also receive a salary?"

Chen Xiangdong knew about this and said, "You students all have meal tickets every month, and you eat and drink in the canteen. During the three years of studying opera, you also receive a monthly subsidy of fifteen yuan, which is quite good."

"Fifteen dollars!"

Li Zhangqing's eyes lit up. The most money she had ever seen in her life was the 1.5 yuan her mother had stuffed into her hand before she came to the theater troupe. Fifteen yuan was an astronomical figure that was unimaginable for children like her from the mountains.

"Brother Xiang Dong, now that you've been promoted to a full-time employee, how much salary do you get in a month?" Fu Xiaoyue asked again.

Chen Xiangdong thought for a moment: "Commander Jia mentioned it when he talked to me, it seems to be thirty-two."

The four girls were shocked again; they never even dared to dream of such a high salary.

When the steel pot was returned to the kitchen, parents were already arriving in the courtyard to register their new students.

Some parents carried bedding rolls, and in their hands, net bags and burlap sacks containing thermos flasks and enamel basins. Some of the more affluent parents even had aluminum lunch boxes inside, making a clanging sound all the way.

The children followed behind the adults, some looking around timidly, while others were already chattering away with their new friends.

The registration desk was located in the production management office. Han Wenxue sat behind a desk, registering the trainees one by one. Xu Erdao and Hu Xiaolian maintained order at the door, constantly shouting, "One by one! Line up properly, no cutting in line!"

Among the parents who brought their children to the troupe today were several relatives of county leaders. Jia Dafang smiled and shook hands with several parents from time to time, saying things like, "You can rest assured that you have entrusted your child to the troupe."

Chen Xiangdong wiped his hands with a rag, watching the lively scene in the courtyard with a smile. Sunlight shone on the children's faces and on the pile of luggage and bedding in the yard, making the whole troupe seem full of youthful vigor.

"Dongwazi!" Fatty Qin shouted at the top of his lungs in the kitchen, "Don't just stand there, come and help! There are over a hundred people eating lunch!"

"Here it comes!"

Chen Xiangdong responded and went into the kitchen. He saw Yu Baoliang wink at him, then point to the large wooden basin covered by a burlap sack in the corner and say in a low voice, "Today, our kitchen has to show off. Look, there's half a pig, half a basin of small fish, loach, and other things in that basin, all brought by the students' parents."

Li Qiufen then placed a large basin of freshly scaled and gutted fish on the ground, muttering with a worried expression, "Pork is easy to handle, but what about these fish? Our kitchen has never cooked fish before!"

In northern Shaanxi, the mountains are covered in loess, water is scarce, and fish are rare, which means that locals rarely eat fish. Let alone stewing fish, many people have never even seen a fish more than a few times.

Fatty Qin squatted down in front of the basin, scratched the hat on his head, and frowned: "One of the students' parents works at the aquatic product management station. These fish were sent over by them. They said it was to improve the kids' meals on the first day of school."

He looked up at Chen Xiangdong with a pained expression: "But Baoliang and I don't know how to cook fish at all. If we mess this up, we'll be so embarrassed at lunchtime."

Chen Xiangdong immediately understood what Yu Baoliang meant by giving him that wink.

It seems the two cooks in the kitchen were completely lost and didn't know what to do.

He squatted down and rummaged through the basin, pondering, "They're all small, miscellaneous fish, not even a single decent-sized fish weighing more than three ounces... It seems the child's parents aren't some high-ranking official at the aquatic product management station, otherwise there wouldn't be so many small fish."

He paused, then glanced at Qin Pangzi, Yu Baoliang, and Li Qiufen: "How about we make a stew of mixed fish?"

"Stewed mixed fish?"

The three men, including Fatty Qin, looked at each other in bewilderment: "Isn't this just a hodgepodge of miscellaneous fish? A complete stew?"

Chen Xiangdong chuckled: "You'll see in a bit."

……

As soon as lunchtime arrives, long queues begin to form outside the cafeteria windows.

The new students, mostly eleven or twelve years old, obediently lined up in two rows as instructed by their teacher, craning their necks to peer into the food serving window.

"It smells so good! What did you make today?"

"I heard they'll have stewed mixed fish for lunch and braised pork for dinner."

"Wow! Our cafeteria is doing much better now, they're serving such hearty dishes!"

The actors were buzzing with excitement, and the trainees were equally thrilled. After all, these days, meat and fish are considered delicacies, and most families probably only get to eat them a few times a year. Who wouldn't be happy to be able to eat meat on their very first day of school?

Jia Dafang's family was already seated at the "group leader's special table" in the corner, and it was Fatty Qin who personally brought the dishes to the table.

The plump woman looked down and saw that the soup was thick and yellow, the fish looked like it had been pan-fried, and a few scallions were sprinkled on top. She could smell the sour and spicy aroma.

Jia Dafang picked up a catfish, took a bite of the tender meat on its back, and with just one chew, his eyes widened in surprise: "Wow, how come this fish is cooked so tender? It's sour and spicy, and there's not a trace of fishiness."

The actors and trainees got their meals one after another, and eagerly tasted them as soon as they were served. Immediately, exclamations of surprise and delight rose and fell.

Having grown accustomed to large pot dishes cooked in one pot, the deliciousness of this stewed mixed fish was something they couldn't resist.

Even Feng Zhengxiao, who had traveled all over the country for many years, nodded repeatedly as he ate, exclaiming to Hu Xiaolian at the same table, "Qin Gang's cooking skills are so good now? When I went to Xi'an for a performance before, the head of the provincial troupe invited me to eat at the state-run restaurant, and I have never eaten such fresh and delicious fish."

People in northern Shaanxi don't eat fish often, and they don't really know how to eat it properly. Liu Dezhu chewed up all the small fish bones and thorns and swallowed them whole, his mouth stuffed full. He mumbled indistinctly, "Delicious, delicious, Uncle Hei, eat more! Our kitchen staff might not even get to eat fish once a year."

Fatty Qin was leaning against the window, grinning from ear to ear. Yu Baoliang called out at the opportune moment, "Eat slowly, watch out for fish bones!"