After drinking the strong wine, his whole stomach felt warm, or full of apologies and thanks. Yang Mingzhi drank three glasses in a row, and said more plausibly: "Comrade Factory Director, I'm sorry that I can't have dinner with you. According to our Chinese tradition
, I drank three glasses of wine in a row to show my apology."
"Ah, you don't have to be so formal. We don't have this tradition in Russia. However, every winter there are drunken fools lying on the road and sleeping, and they freeze to death while drunk. Maybe this year the situation will be much better. The alliance's food supply is huge.
Part of it supplies the army, and there is really no food left to make wine. I hope there will be fewer drunkards."
"I hope so."
"But it would be foolish not to drink even if you have wine. Comrade General, since your wife cooks for you personally, it must be the most authentic Chinese food."
Hearing Nikolaevsky's question, Yang Mingzhi thought hard and suddenly remembered that this old guy once said that there were some Chinese businessmen and some Chinese restaurants in the city of Novosibirsk more than ten years ago.
"Of course it's authentic Chinese food, using Soviet ingredients to make the most authentic Chinese noodles. Hey, the chef is Chinese, and the cooking method is also Chinese-style. It's really the most authentic Chinese food."
Yang Mingzhi said this deliberately, which aroused Nikolayevsky's interest instantly, and his eyes shone brightly: "Really? Maybe I can visit you. I have to admire your Chinese people's eating habits. Your country
It's not powerful, but the food you make is incredible. Maybe you put all your thoughts into cooking. Oh, I'm sorry...I'm sorry, my words were a bit inappropriate."
"It doesn't matter. After all, China will be the most powerful country in the world seventy years later." Yang Mingzhi didn't think much about Nikolayevsky's words at all. He dared to say it even after drinking.
Since it was about eating, of course Yang Mingzhi wouldn't mind treating this factory director who had been a huge help to him to a Chinese feast.
Treating guests is necessary, and Yang Mingzhi doesn't mind being the chef himself.
"Dear Comrade Factory Director, you would never have guessed that my cooking skills are actually pretty good. Compared to my wife, my cooking skills are better!"
"oh?!"
"You have been of great help to me. I have reason to treat you to a family dinner." When Yang Mingzhi arrived here, he had an idea and revealed his other plan. "I remember that the predecessor of Factory 830 was a full-time manufacturer of household appliances.
A metal tool factory. I think it is also capable of producing some kitchen utensils?"
"Of course! It's very easy to produce some iron plates, knives, and forks."
"Wow! This is great. Authentic Chinese food requires some authentic Chinese kitchen utensils, and those kitchen utensils are not available in the Soviet Union. It would be great if you could produce some for me."
"sure."
"Well, please give me a pen and paper, and I will draw some drawings for you here. I hope... I hope your workers can produce me some with the same enthusiasm as they do for producing submachine guns.
Special large iron pots, and some steam cages..."
Russia has never used steam to process food. Yang Mingzhi did not know the relevant vocabulary and could only use "steam" and "cage" to describe Chinese cooking utensils such as steamers.
Listening to this, Nikolayevsky was immediately puzzled.
"What? Steam?"
"Yes, it uses steam to heat food."
"Steam can also be used to heat food, I...wait!"
Nikolaevsky thought carefully and finally remembered that he had eaten a special kind of bread more than ten years ago.
"Dear General, when I was young, I went to a Chinese restaurant and ate a kind of bread that didn't need to be processed in an oven. There was some sauce in the bread. It looked strange but tasted good."
"Oh, you're talking about steamed buns."
The word "baozi" mentioned by Yang Mingzhi here is completely a Chinese transliteration, and Nikolayevsky has no clue.
"Steamed buns are heated with steam." Yang Mingzhi continued to say excitedly, "Chinese people don't eat toasted bread. We eat baked cakes at most. We are keen on using steam to process food, such as steaming rice from Southern Russia.
, or steam marinated fresh fish, or even beef and mutton. High-temperature steam is hotter than boiling water, a full 150 degrees Celsius? But cooking with steam requires corresponding kitchen utensils. You must understand that the Chinese
There are many different techniques for processing pasta.”
Nikolaevsky was full of expectations. If he could have a Chinese dinner cooked by the general, it would be a blessing and a spice to his long-term high-intensity and boring work.
Paper and pen were placed in front of Yang Mingzhi, and soon, the structural drawings of the steamer and cage were suddenly drawn. It was not a problem that the drawings were rudimentary. Yang Mingzhi knew that the workers were referring to the rough drawings according to the numerical parameters they marked.
, producing kitchen utensils is not a problem.
"Whether it's stamping or welding, your workers can just make it according to the drawings. After all, what I need are some special pots. How long do you think it will take your people to complete it?"
"About a day, or..." Nikolayevsky thought for a while, "It takes two days at most. Looking at your drawings, it doesn't seem to be a difficult operation."
"Then I'll leave it to you. In addition, I also need some other kitchen utensils. It seems that 830 Factory once produced them?"
"Of course, if you need some table forks, we will mass-produce them again. Those molds will be put away for the time being. We will take out the molds and start large-scale stamping production."
"Then make some more forks, knives and the like, and if you can make some iron basins and iron plates."
"Okay, I will complete all the tasks you gave me."
When producing some tableware, Nikolayevsky did not feel any pressure at all. He just took out the stamping molds from the warehouse. For example, the iron pot was simply pressed with a punch.
Soviet families' demand for kitchen utensils was limited, mainly due to their daily cooking methods.
The union-wide collective farmization has left the job of cooking to farm canteens. As for urban residents, because the houses allocated by the people are too small, the kitchens are basically shared by several households.
People are very keen on eating bread, so urban residents go to stores to buy bread, and rural residents go to farm canteens to exchange bread.
When it was the people's turn to cook with their own hands, they just threw a large amount of vegetables and potatoes into an iron pot, boiled them, and filled their stomachs with thick soup.
Although many kinds of Russian-style meals were handed down from the Tsarist Russian court, when it comes to common people, eating bread with vegetable soup is the most common portrayal of residents.
Before Factory 830, the factory produced various metal tools. Among them, tableware such as knives and forks had already been popularized by households in the city, and almost every household had an iron pot for making soup.
Nikolaevsky took on two tasks today. In his opinion, these tasks are small problems that can be solved quickly.
In the end, the only problem that bothered him was how to safely complete the mission of 20,000 submachine guns next month.
…
Night shrouded the entire Novosibirsk, and an endless stream of people appeared on the streets. They were workers coming off work.
The city has a population of more than 1.5 million, which is a rare large city by Soviet standards. Of course, by Chinese standards, a city with such a population is not too small.
Even though the fierce fighting in Stalingrad was raging, not all Soviet factories were running around the clock. The busiest ones were military factories, followed by leather and textile factories.
After running all day, Yang Mingzhi's body couldn't help but feel exhausted. The thought of his wife making noodles for him with a bulging belly almost made him feel tired.
The honking of the car disturbed the people who were eating. All the designers and guards were basically holding vegetable soup in their left hands and pieces of bread in their right hands.
Ever since Annie rode her bicycle back to bring back a bag of flour early in the morning, this woman would basically be responsible for three meals a day, unless something unexpected happened in the future.
What everyone is eating now is baked one after another in a small oven. It is not the mass-produced bread in the big cafeteria at all, so Annie can do more detailed processing, which is reflected in the taste. It is delicious and chewy. It is also because it is fresh
Toasted buns are full of wheat flavor. If left for a long time, the taste will deteriorate.
"Here, the general is back. My dear, aren't your Chinese noodles ready yet?" Anne, who was still staying in the kitchen, asked.
"Soon... it'll be fine soon."
Since there were limited wood-burning stoves, Carambola had to wait until Annie's pot of vegetable soup boiled before placing a small stove on the fire.
Star Fruit has no shortage of kitchen utensils. Many of the kitchen utensils were brought from Moscow, and some were even brought from the swamps.
For example, a rolling pin is the masterpiece of those wood lathes in the swamp, as well as some chopsticks and wooden spoons made of pine wood.
In the days when he was still in the swamp, processing the flour captured or airdropped into noodles would definitely attract all the high-ranking military officers to try his luck. For these reasons, Yang Guo boasted that he had become an excellent noodle maker.
First, roll out the dough, sprinkle it with flour, fold it, and cut it into strips. She has prepared the noodles to be cooked and is waiting for the water in the small iron pot to boil.
"Sister Anne, I will heat up the soup you made later and put the cooked noodles in. This will be the most wonderful Chinese food."
"Very good, I can imagine the result. It should be very delicious."
In fact, Anne didn't know how to make noodles. More than ten days ago, when she was in Moscow, the general personally taught her how to make this kind of Chinese dish.
It is said that Chinese cuisine is extensive and profound, and there are hundreds more types of processed ingredients than the French or Italians. Indeed, the Chinese are a magical nation. For example, potatoes that everyone is tired of eating can be used in their hands.
Grow ubiquitous ingredients to process potatoes into a delicious dish.
The water finally boiled, and Carambola put a lump of noodles in without hesitation, stirring it up with pine tree chopsticks while looking straight at the soup pot, waiting for it to boil.
Or because he smelled the aroma of noodles, Yang Mingzhi, who had just gotten out of the car, didn't think much about anything and walked quickly towards the lighted kitchen.
The first thing he saw was his wife sitting in front of the fire, wearing clothes and a towel. She was looking at him quietly with her eyes open, her face showing warmth.
"You're back. Just wait, dinner will be ready soon."
"Wow, it's noodles." Yang Mingzhi walked quickly and looked at the soup pot in front of his wife. He sniffed hard again. The whole kitchen was filled with aroma, and the source of the smell was the big pot full of vegetable soup.
There is a limit on how much bread you eat every day. The only thing that is not limited is vegetable soup.
Hesitating that Novosibirsk’s forest resources are so rich, people who enter the forest before snowfall can always find a large number of mushrooms. For a long time, relevant agencies in the city have been purchasing the fruits of the labor of forest collectors, such as collected mushrooms.
Supply directly to the state market.
The pot of soup that Annie cooked contained two main ingredients: boiled potatoes and chopped mushrooms. The rest of the soup was sauerkraut and pickled radish, which were all used as condiments.
The whole soup is sour and salty, which is really appetizing. Using this thick soup to make noodles is also extremely delicious.
"Brother, I have to wait a while to cook. You'd better go out first..."
"What? Drive me away."
"No... you have done a lot of big things today, and you have to tell others about it. Popov has been waiting anxiously. He still has many things to tell you."
"That's fine..." Yang Mingzhi shrugged, "Call me when the meal is ready. I'll go to the office first."
Several outdoor lights in the design bureau were all lit up. Yang Mingzhi looked left and right, except for some subordinates squatting in the corner eating and chatting. In the direction of the toilet, a new building was rising from the ground.
It's a new public toilet, and it was built just like that?
When he thought of this, Yang Mingzhi suddenly discovered that except for the deep ruts left by some trucks, there were no construction workers left on the ground. What was going on? Could it be that the construction was completed in one day?
"Ah! Director, what are you looking at?" Popov suddenly asked as he approached.
"That." Yang Mingzhi pointed with his big hand, "That's the toilet? What speed did they build it in one day?"
"Of course we will build our new public toilets at the speed of building the Soviet Fatherland. What do you think?"
"Great, just... maybe it would be better if it was a masonry structure. By the way, is it ready for use now?"
"Not yet. It can be used after the cement solidifies. This will take a while, and the fastest is twenty-four hours. I estimate that it will be available tomorrow night. You should remember that in the construction plan, the new toilet will not only have a flush toilet.
, the sink is still heated. A warm environment can help the cement dry faster."
"This is the same. Come on Popov, let's go into the house and talk in detail. You have to tell me what those workers said before they left."
Popov indeed had many things to tell Yang Mingzhi. Before the workers left, they solemnly stated that in the next few days, the renovation and construction of the Pripyat Arms Design Bureau would begin.
Workers accept construction tasks, and each day has a different task plan. They must overcome all difficulties and complete it within the planned time, otherwise everyone will be fined.
On the 23rd, they built a new public toilet. On the 24th, they will build a canteen.
The so-called canteen will be a complete masonry structure. That is, bricks will be piled into walls, and the roof will be piled up with prefabricated reinforced concrete slabs.
Hearing Popov's description, Yang Mingzhi couldn't help but be excited.
"They will build the canteen on the wasteland at the door. To do this, they will lay a foundation tomorrow. I estimate that the entire construction process will take up to a week. It will definitely have to wait until early October before it can be used."
"It doesn't matter." Yang Mingzhi shrugged, "I saw many people eating outside. It's obviously so cold, why don't they find a warm place?"
"There's nothing warm about this. The rules you set are that everyone shouldn't eat in the big office. Besides, going to the dormitory to eat will make the whole room smell like food, which will seriously affect your sleep."
"Oh, it was my mistake." After hearing this, Yang Mingzhi really realized the importance of an independent canteen. He continued to ask: "While the canteen is being built, they also have to build a new kitchen for us. Anne
The current small kitchen can be expanded. Besides, today I went to Factory 830 and made a request to Nikolayevsky. Soon, they will make some special kitchen utensils.
After all, we are a design bureau, a formal organization, and all the facilities within the organization should be complete. By the way... I thought of another important thing!"