The rumor about Sichuan people keeping pandas at home has been around since this time.
Zhou Yan chuckled and patted her head, saying, "If you go to Rongcheng, you can ride a panda to school everyday."
"Really?" Zhou Momo's eyes lit up, turning to Aunt Zhao. "Mom! Let's go to Rongcheng! I want to keep a giant panda too!"
"Why go to Rongcheng? We have land to farm in the village, space to raise chickens and pigs, and the land is our own. It's the place we've lived in for half our lives, much more comfortable than Rongcheng." Aunt Zhao shook her head, smiling. "When we build the house later, we'll widen the courtyard. We exchanged that piece of land with your third uncle two years ago. We can plant garlic sprouts, chili peppers, perilla, and scallions in the yard. It'll be so convenient to just pick them when we're cooking."
"Okay, we'll widen it." Comrade Old Zhou nodded with a smile, his eyes full of affection.
Zhou Yan didn't say anything after hearing this. In this day and age, how many people who can earn money and live comfortably at home would willingly leave their hometown?
He had asked Uncle Lin about it a few days ago while jogging. He learned that the government had just liberalized the sale of private houses, but there were many restrictions. Publicly owned houses were strictly prohibited from being bought and sold; the better buildings were all government dormitories.
Zhou Yan had just paid off his debts and still owed his parents over five hundred yuan, so naturally he didn't have many thoughts about it.
He wanted to earn his first pot of gold at this restaurant near the textile factory gate.
Later, if he earned more, what harm would it do to rebuild their house in the countryside?
Comrade Old Zhou rode his bicycle back to repair the house, and Zhou Momo followed closely behind Zhou Yan, constantly asking:
"Guo Guo, are you going to Rongcheng? Can I join your family?
"Guo Guo, are we going to raise a few giant pandas?"
"Guo Guo, can the giant pandas sleep next to me at night?"
"Guo Guo..."
"Yes, yes, I'll definitely buy you one!" Zhou Yan's mind was buzzing. He gave her ten cents to buy candy.
"Great! I want to ride a panda to school!" The little one skipped away with the money, already daydreaming, her little ponytail bouncing as she disappeared into the factory's small shop next door.
Zhou Yan, now with some free time, lay on a chair under a tree, enjoying the breeze and gazing blankly at the river in the distance. It was a cloudy day, and the wind already carried a hint of chill.
"Zhou Yan." A voice rang in his ears.
Zhou Yan turned around. Zhao Minghui had already pulled up a small stool and sat down beside him, grabbing a handful of braised peanuts from his pocket and stuffing them into his hand. He peeled one and popped it into his mouth, smiling as he said, "I saw your braised food sold really well at noon. I didn't know you had this skill."
"Life is tough, so I have to be multi-talented." Zhou Yan sighed, peeling a peanut and popping it into his mouth.
"You're selling braised pig's head, so you have to be careful of Yang Laosan and Zhu Feng. Those two aren't good people. Before, they teamed up to wage a price war against me. Whatever price I sold, they were thirty cents cheaper than me, forcing me to make it impossible to sell my braised pig's head." Zhao Minghui said, lowering his voice slightly.
Zhou Yan glanced at him and said with a smile, "It's alright. I'm wary of people, but I'm also full of malicious intent. If they dare to do something bad, I'm definitely much worse than them."
Zhao Minghui was stunned. Why was Zhou Yan talking in such a contradictory way now?
"Besides, my price is already thirty cents more per jin than theirs. The tricks they used on you failed before they even hit me." Zhou Yan smiled and said, "If they want to lower their price, let them. I don't care, and I won't follow suit."
"That's right!" Zhao Minghui suddenly realized this too. Zhou Yan's situation was completely different from his own back then.
Even though it's only thirty cents more expensive, customers are still scrambling to buy it. What does that say?
It must be delicious!
It's so delicious that even if it's thirty cents more expensive, people will still buy it.
"My mom said you were giving out your braised peanuts to customers, how was the effect?" Zhou Yan asked casually while eating peanuts.
"The effect was fantastic! I just wanted to thank you." Zhao Minghui said, still a little excited. "I gave out two or three jin, and the remaining ten jin were all sold out by noon. Several people even pre-ordered for tomorrow. Many customers said it was good."
"That's great. Once the business stabilizes, that's a stable income." Zhou Yan nodded with a smile.
Zhao Minghui chatted with Zhou Yan for a while before heading home. He was in a hurry to get home and cook another pot of braised peanuts so he could sell another batch after the factory workers got off work that evening.
He lived in Suji Town, not far away. Braised peanuts don't take long to cook; they'd probably be hot when he brought them over, which tasted even better than cold.
People are always full of energy when they can earn money.
Zhou Yan took a short nap, played rock-paper-scissors with Zhou Momo for a while, and then went back to the kitchen to cut pig's head meat and pig's ear slices.
There was no other way; the lesson learned at noon was very profound. The pig's head and ears had to be cut up in advance so that during the evening rush hour, Aunt Zhao only needed to weigh and pack them, ensuring efficiency.
After get off work in the evening, the workers were waiting to take their braised meat home for dinner; they didn't have time to wait for you to cook several dishes before cutting them up.
The chicken was also chopped up in advance; if customers ordered it in the evening, he only needed to prepare to mix it.
The rule for packing cold chicken dish was posted at the entrance: customers needed to bring their own food container.
There was no other way; Zhou Yan couldn't find any usable take out containers; he didn't even have a plastic bag.
The braised pig's head and ears were packed in oil paper bags, a common packaging method for braised food these days.
In this regard, Zhou Yan does not pursue being unconventional; as long as it is sufficient, costs must be controlled.
"Mom, I'm thinking of hiring a helper. Do you have any suitable candidates?" Zhou Yan asked, seeing Aunt Zhao come downstairs after her afternoon nap.
Aunt Zhao has a much wider network of connections than he does; she might have a suitable candidate.
"Helper?" Aunt Zhao rubbed her eyes, still a little groggy from just waking up, and looked at Zhou Yan, who was slicing pork ears. "Are you too busy slicing braised meat?"
"Yes, I have to slice braised meat, stir-fry dishes, and make cold chicken dish for lunch today. I'm going crazy!" Zhou Yan nodded.
"It is indeed a bit busy. Let me think..." Aunt Zhao thought seriously for a moment, then shook her head. "I don't have any good candidates. The best knife skill I know is your dad. He's always the one who helps your grandma slice braised meat during holidays. She always asks him to do it; he's the one she's most satisfied with."
"My dad has to slaughter cattle and sell meat." Zhou Yan shook his head. Comrade Old Zhou, who had slaughtered cattle his whole life, would never be his helper. "Never mind, I'll write a job posting and put it on the door later. See if I can find a suitable person."
The farce in the factory canteen began to subside.
This noon, the factory director and two deputy directors appeared at the factory canteen, eating the big pot dishes with the workers. They repeatedly promised that the incident of diseased pork would not happen again, and that Deputy Director Liu Yusheng would be directly responsible for the factory canteen.
The factory leaders' attention and determination restored some of the workers' confidence in the canteen.
There was no other way; they still had to eat.
The factory canteen is cheap and plentiful. They serve big pot dishes, and a serving of twice-cooked pork is only 45 cents. Vegetable dishes are 10 cents a serving. You bring your own food container to steam the rice. Two or three people can share a meal, and a meal with both meat and vegetables costs only 20 cents.
The canteen's stir-fry section had been eliminated, allowing all the chefs to focus on preparing the big pot dishes for the workers. The previous situation where the head chef cooked stir-fries while apprentices cooked the big pot dishes would no longer occur.
After lunch, the workers generally gave positive feedback on the big pot dishes. Even though Master Xiao was gone, the canteen still had three third level chefs who diligently prepared the big pot dishes, so they couldn't possibly make them bad.
From now on, if they want to eat stir-fries or something nice, they will have to go to Zhou Erwa Restaurant.
Zhou Yan was quite happy to hear this news from the workers.
The factory canteen didn't go bankrupt, but he ruined the stir-fry section.
The culprit, Wang Defa, is already in jail. It's said his alliance with Sun Meili broke down, and they've entered a dog-eat-dog phase, each slinging mud at the other. They don't even need much interrogation; they confessed their crimes more thoroughly than the security officers could find out.
The amount involved exceeds 50,000 yuan. In this day and age, they will definitely spend the rest of their life in jail.
How many people in the whole country have 10,000 yuan?
That's incredibly audacious!
Zhou Yan thought of Little Zhou. When their memories merged, he was Zhou Yan, and he was Little Zhou; perhaps there was no difference anymore.
He quite liked this era.
He liked the people here, this home, even more.
Tonight, the restaurant's business was even better.
News of the incredibly delicious braised pig's head at Zhou Erwa Restaurant spread rapidly in the afternoon.
A worker packed up some braised pig's head, intending to take it home to enjoy with drinks. However, the smell reached his colleagues in the workshop, and it was quickly devoured during his lunch break.
The worker, clutching a pile of coins, was on the verge of tears. These women were practically bandits!
After tasting it, word spread rapidly.
Moreover, some of the factory's veteran employees tasted the flavor and remembered it all; it tasted just like Zhang Ji Braised Food stall that used to be located at the stone bridge back then.
"Boss, who taught you to make this braised meat? It tastes just like Zhang Ji Braised Food from the old bridgehead back then!" An old worker said, holding a food box, his voice still a little excited.
"My mother in law ran Zhang Ji Braised Food stall back then, and this one was made by Zhou Yan from his grandmother." Aunt Zhao replied with a smile.
"That's amazing! You've mastered the skills" The old worker handed over the food box: "Give me half a jin of pig's head meat, and a serving of cold chicken dish, please."
"Zhang Ji! It was so famous back then!"
"My old man still talks about it often, saying that Zhang Ji had the best braised food in all of Jiazhou. It's a pity they stopped selling it later."
The old worker's words evoked memories for many, especially the older generation in their families who would often reminisce when buying braised food, making Zhang Ji Braised Food the pinnacle of braised food in the hearts of the younger generation.
The workers, who had come specifically for the braised food, placed their orders even more decisively:
"I also want half a jin of braised pig's head!"
"I want a pig's ear!"
"Auntie, here's the food box, I want to pack a cold chicken dish!"
Customers buying take out crowded the restaurant entrance, and many customers dining in also rushed to order, some still holding bottles of liquor they had just bought from the convenience store.
Braised pig's head is perfect with alcohol; a small drink with colleagues after work would be wonderful.
As a result, the remaining pig's head quickly sold out.
Zhou Yan looked at the few remaining pieces of pig's head and ear in the bamboo winnowing basket, not enough for one serving, and instructed Zhao Hong to move all the braised food items to the sold out section.
The last little bit is for Comrade Old Zhou to take home.
The work of reinforcing the house and replacing the tiles must be considerable; he hasn't even arrived yet at this hour.
"Sorry, we didn't prepare enough for the first day. We'll definitely prepare more tomorrow. Come back and buy some more then." Aunt Zhao apologized routinely, expressing her regret to the customers who hadn't been able to buy any braised meat and promising to do so next time.
"Is the braised meat sold out?" Wang Hongliang stopped at the door, pushing his bicycle, and asked as well.
He had heard that Zhou Erwa Restaurant was selling braised meat this afternoon, and that the taste was almost identical to Zhang Ji Braised Food from back in the day. This had piqued his curiosity. He went to check on the cafeteria after get off work in the evening, so he came out a little late.
"Factory Director, I'm really sorry, we're sold out today." Aunt Zhao said with a smile. "Come earlier tomorrow."
"Okay." Wang Hongliang nodded, slightly disappointed.
Even if the factory director arrives late, he won't be able to buy any!
The workers immediately felt much better.