Zhou Wenzhong took a sip of the hot water, smacked the taste of the boiled water, and started chatting with the old lady.
"Old lady, if you don't sell steamed buns, you can sell big bowls of tea. This boiling water is so sweet!"
"Okay, as soon as you come here, you've been telling me to be obedient. Tell me, what's going on?"
"Old lady, it's true that I came here to buy steamed buns today. It's true that I don't have food stamps, but I don't dare to let you take responsibility."
The old lady nodded and signaled Zhou Wenzhong to continue.
"Let me tell you the truth, my mother asked me to buy your steamed buns. Just now, I saw a few people lying hungry on the street. I really couldn't stand it anymore, so I gave them the food stamps in my pocket.
.But my mother likes to eat your steamed buns. I have an idea. Can you give me a little bit of your old noodles?"
[Old noodles are live yeast. In the past, when there was no industrial yeast powder, when you were making dough and steaming steamed buns at home, you had to take off a small piece and throw it into the noodle vat for use next time when making noodles. It is very convenient.]
"Of course, I don't take it for free. I will give you 1 cent, and it will be considered as my purchase. After all, your flour is also bought with money. You can't let you pay for it. My mother has taught me since I was a child not to let me take advantage of it.
I can’t let others take advantage of me, and I can’t let others give me charity. Also, today is my father’s 9th anniversary. My mother asked me to come to you to buy steamed buns for this reason, so..."
"Oh... you are also a filial child."
"A lot of people say that about me. You have such good eyesight! You can see people very accurately."
Zhou Wenzhong took out 1 cent and handed it over, but the old lady declined.
"Take the money back, I don't want it, it's just some flour!"
"No, no, if you don't accept it, I will never come to your stall to buy anything again!"
"Why are you so stubborn! Take the money back."
Zhou Wenzhong stood up and said: "If you don't accept it, then I won't buy it. I pity my father who has been dead for nine years! I originally wanted to steam a pot of steamed buns and let my father smell them."
"You...I asked you to say this. Just wait."
The old lady bent down, took out the small bowl from the dining car, and uncovered the moist and unfrozen cage cloth, revealing a slightly light yellow dough the size of a baby's fist. She pulled off a coin-sized ball from the top and placed it on the table.
In Zhou Wenzhong’s white porcelain bowl.
"This dough is enough for you to fill two pots of steamed buns. Go home quickly."
"Hey, thank you, old lady."
Zhou Wenzhong held the bowl in one hand, bowed to the old lady, quickly dropped a dime on the dining cart with the other hand, and then ran away.
"Come back! Take the money back!"
"Old lady, please close the stall early. It's freezing cold. I'll come to you to buy steamed buns next time..."
Zhou Wenzhong's voice became quieter and quieter, and he ran away without a trace. The old lady looked at the 1 cent and sighed in her heart, what a good boy.
……………………
Zhou Wenzhong held the white porcelain bowl close to his chest and had to use his own body to warm it. Live yeast is too difficult to maintain. The weather today is minus 14 degrees. If you don't pay attention, you will freeze to death.
World-famous brand: Heineken beer uses live yeast around 1890. Of course, they use fermented malt and apples. The manufacturer's experimenter poured a little bit of the century-old yeast into a new flask and added water.
After heating for 7 days and allowing the fungus to grow and reproduce for 7 days, 30 billion bottles of beer can be produced using less than 50 ml of yeast water.
Zhou Wenzhong understood that the yeast in his arms could not produce beer, but it could make dough!
What snacks are there in Beijing? What’s the heritage of the snacks? What’s the culture in the heritage?
How old is the signboard of Quanjude? How old is the signboard of Daoxiang Village? How to define it? Based on those few photos?
Zhou Wenzhong waited until the 1980s and directly took out the yeast he had cultivated, even if he opened a Mendeng meat pie shop, even a fire-roasted restaurant, even a Shaobing shop.
If you say it is a century-old shop, then this is a century-old shop! Are you not convinced? Zhou Wenzhong can use scientific methods to prove to you that his dough has more than 100 years of history. By then, the entire sesame seed industry in Beijing will be able to make it for himself.
Respect! This ball of yeast is the best proof, just verify it!
Don't mention which generation you are, don't mention who has eaten your meat pie, don't mention your grandfather's photo with so-and-so, your family has definitely experienced technical faults. Zhou Wenzhong is different, he will directly
Take out the yeast powder test report! How do you solve it?
"I remember when so-and-so was in Yan'an, he was burned in our house. Don't you believe it? This matter is sealed in top secret file No. 1! If you have the ability, you can find it yourself."
Zhou Wenzhong is thinking about his third generation. If the whole family does not have a person who can support the family for decades, what if someone in the second generation is laid off? What is the philosophy of himself and his children?
It’s different. They are stubborn and disobedient. They insist on going out to have a try, but in the end they lose everything. What should I do?
How can the third generation survive in this situation? Even if they are allowed to learn how to make pancakes, coupled with the century-old signature of this ball of yeast, and finally use traffic to advertise, they will definitely not be hungry.
This can be regarded as a last resort and the last step. Being a grandpa is tiring, and being a grandpa is also tiring. Everything must be considered carefully.
Zhou Wenzhong, who is only 15 years old, has already thought about the future of his grandchildren.
Do you want to ask others if they have this kind of yeast?
Let’s give an example.
Known snacks: donkey rolling.
Why did the production method change later? The original Donkey Rolling was filled with osmanthus brown sugar layer by layer. Soybean noodles were sprinkled on the chopping board. The steamed glutinous rice dough was taken out of the pot and spread out on the chopping board.
Use a rolling pin to roll it into a large piece, first brush a layer of brown sugar water on it, then sprinkle with osmanthus brown sugar, roll it, and repeat the above action. Roll it into a roll repeatedly, and finally cut it into sections with a knife. And it must be freshly made,
Sold now, eaten now.
Now? It's all changed to fried soybean noodles. This was changed after the public-private partnership in 1956. It's not my own business anyway, so how can I save trouble?
To give another example, there was a man in old Beijing who sold wontons with a pick, named: Wonton Hou. Mr. Jin Shoushen once wrote an article called: "Night in Beijing", which introduced wonton Hou.
He was a particularly famous "mobile vendor" in the capital city of the old society. During the public-private partnership, he and seven other wonton-selling chefs were organized together, and the Longshengxiang Shaobing Shop on Dong'anmen Street was transformed into
He opened a wonton shop, but what was the result? Organizationally, the shop went bankrupt! The guys split up the business and left. There are countless similar things.
……………………
Twenty-five minutes passed and Zhou Wenzhong appeared at the gate of the courtyard, counting the days with his fingers.
"I said, what are you doing standing around here? It's so cold today, why don't you go home?"
"Brother Zhuzi, have you just gotten off work?"
Silly Zhu lifted the heavy net bag to signal.
"What you said is not nonsense. Seeing that you have been staring at the door frame, you are not going to lie down on the ground again, are you?"
"No, no, no, today is the fifteenth day of the lunar calendar."
"What do you mean?"
"I take a rest on every first and fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year."
Silly Zhu raised his thumb and praised: "Be particular about it. Have the two aunts you mentioned last time come to our yard again recently?"
"I don't know. Recently, the Erliang Station has been busy with production tasks and has been so busy that I hit the back of my head. If I meet them again, I will definitely drag you back to the yard and let them sit and wait for you in front of your house."
Silly Zhu patted Zhou Wenzhong on the shoulder hard and said, "Thank you!"
"I went back to the house first. It has been snowing or raining these past few days, and the soles of my shoes have long been soaked."
"Okay, let's go."
Silly Zhu walked in front, and Zhou Wenzhong followed behind. He kept talking but made no sound.
You are such a useless snack. I have told you everything, but you pretend not to understand. Why is it so difficult to get a pair of shoes?
Standing at the door of your home and raising your hand to Silly Pillar is considered a greeting.
I pushed open the door of the hall, sat on the stool in front of the dining table, pulled up my trousers, and scratched my heels. There were two small pimples. The more I scratched them, the more itchy they became. Once the pimples were scratched, they would become frostbite that grows every year. Now this kind of
Sometimes there is no treatment, only the symptoms are treated, not the root cause.
"Boss, I heard that your Erliang Station has closed rates today."
Zhou Wenzhong replied expressionlessly: "Well, I was paid 2 cents and 50 cents, and I still owe Crazy Bai 1 cent and 50 cents. Are you going to fill the hole for me?"
"Isn't this matter already discussed? You borrow the money yourself and pay it back yourself."
"Oh. When will dinner be served?"
"Come on, your mother will be ready in a moment. Boss, do you know Lao Chen's house in the alley?"
"Yeah, I know. What kind of food are you cooking?"
"The eldest grandson of the old Chen family went to the same junior high school as you, right?"
"Well, what's cooking on the stove?"
Zhou Deming glanced at Zhou Wenxin, and Zhou Wenzhong followed his gaze. He hadn't noticed at all just now. His brother's face was bruised and purple, and a strand of his hair had been pulled out. At this time, he was holding his breath and kept silent.
Li was holding a pencil and pounding it hard on the dining table, competing with himself.