Chapter 11 Wotou
Wotou is the food of the poor.
There are often related jokes in Jingcheng dialect.
“When I was a child, I ate the top of my head, and when I grew up, I became a high official!”
“Look at your head!”
"Look at your fate!"
"You only have two corns left in your pocket!"
Wait a minute...
Like these words. , all interpret one meaning - poverty.
To be honest, Ning Weimin didn't have much feelings about this in his previous life.
This is because the steamed buns he has eaten are all the same as dim sum.
In an era when the economy was quite prosperous, the chestnut flour steamed buns that Empress Dowager Cixi loved to eat were not only sold in Beihai Fangshan Restaurant.
Almost everyone in the capital is mass-producing this thing, and then puts it into exquisite packaging boxes as gifts.
And steamed buns in restaurants, large and small, have become a fashionable dish with a new twist.
What about stir-fried steamed buns with leeks, stir-fried steamed buns with cabbage and vermicelli, fried steamed buns with oil and salt and pepper, stir-fried steamed buns with pepper and minced pork...
There are simply too many ways to make it, with a variety of side dishes and different tastes.
So Ning Weimin once thought that people in the past would mention wotou when they mentioned the hard times, which seemed a bit pretentious and ignorant of the blessings.
How good is this steamed bun? It’s also known as the “Golden Tower”.
It is nutritious, healthy, delicious, and does not cause diabetes.
Why is it more expensive than rice and white flour?
This is called value discovery.
If you don’t even like steamed buns, what else do you want to eat?
But when he returned to this era when the economy was just starting out and had to be with this thing every day, he didn't think so.
In the environment of lack of salt and oil, steamed bread is no longer a decoration at banquets, but has become an inevitable staple food for every meal.
To use a folk proverb, it means "a big steamed bun all day long, the old pickled radish has no oil".
So this thing suddenly lost all its gorgeous decorations and accessories, leaving only the dry, rough, gritty texture, and the shabby holes.
This directly caused Ning Weimin's attitude towards Wotou to undergo a 180-degree turn.
He went from eating voluntarily and liking to eat to forcing himself to eat and having to eat.
I even came up with a lot of simple tricks because it was difficult to swallow.
For example, adding some saccharin to the steamed buns can give the steamed buns a hint of sweetness.
For example, cutting the steamed bun into slices and roasting it on the fire will produce a brown and crispy shell, which will be crunchy when you bite it.
For another example, if cornmeal is fermented, the steamed steamed buns will become much fluffier and easier to swallow.
In short, during these days of time travel, he stayed at the nest every day and tried various methods to coax himself to swallow.
Just to have a stable stomach and not be hungry.
How can we talk about being healthy or unhealthy, nutritious or not?
The leisurely leisure time that I used to enjoy in the past has long since been abandoned in Java.
The final result is that he confirmed one thing with his personal experience - the steamed buns are not delicious!
The reason why people regard this thing as a symbol of hard life is definitely not mixed with any prejudice or exaggeration.
Fortunately, the days spent holding the steamed bun and chewing it were not very long, just over twenty days passed.
Today, these bitter memories have turned into a particularly gratifying sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.
That's right! The best feeling in life is when all the hardships come to an end.
The most interesting thing about life is the changing seasons.
Under the dim light, Ning Weimin placed pig ears, deboned meat, rice sausage and peanuts on the table in sequence.
These things in his previous life seemed to Ning Weimin to be quite ordinary. Eating, at this time, not only exudes an attraction that is no less than delicacies from mountains and seas, but also has some philosophical flavor.
Life seems to be interpreting the ups and downs of life in an extremely affordable way.
After placing the food and wine, in front of Kang Shude, Ning Weimin happily unscrewed the bottle cap and started pouring wine again.
He filled the old man's glass first, and then poured a glass in front of himself.
And he stood up very respectfully and raised his glass with both hands. "Old man, let's touch one. I really need to thank you very much."
Kang Shude was very satisfied with Ning Weimin's courtesy. He picked up the wine cup with warm eyes.
But he waved his hand generously.
"Thank me? Just to give you advice? Don't be polite, that's nothing."
I didn't expect Ning Weimin to be sincere.
He held the wine glass with both hands and carefully touched the lower edge of the old man's glass.
"That's not what you said. Without your advice, I would have been clueless even if I thought about it. For you, it was just a casual comment, but it was of great use to me. You You are not a mortal, you are a living god who inspires me. I will drink this cup as you please.”
Seeing Ning Weimin go ahead and swallow the wine in one gulp, Kang Shude couldn't help laughing.
"You are talking nonsense. What kind of god? I am just an ordinary lonely old man. Only you who have a good head can seize the money..."
But that's what he said, he I feel really happy in my heart.
Because no one doesn’t like to hear compliments, and they also like people who are grateful.
Ning Weimin was grateful, and the old man felt that it was worthwhile to help him.
"Hey, I didn't expect you to make a lot of money from such a low-level business. You made a hundred yuan a day! Okay, boy, this business is doing well. Just because of your brain, I have to put it aside early. During this period, I must accept you as my apprentice."
After finishing his drink, he put down the glass and licked his lips. The old man couldn't help but praise Ning Weimin some more.
The speaker has no intention, but the listener has intention.
Ning Weimin is now covered in news.
As soon as he heard this, he immediately poured the wine for the old man again and climbed up the pole.
"Why are you still doing it in the early days? It's the same now. As long as you are willing to accept me, I will kowtow to you and become your disciple immediately."
But Kang Shude was really unexpected, and he didn't believe in himself. ear.
"What? Do you really want to worship me as your teacher? Are you talking nonsense? What can I teach you now? Paper boxes?"
Ning Weimin still persisted.
"Why do you go back on what you just said? Why should I learn how to paste paper boxes? Of course I am learning your old trade."
Kang Shude was stunned again.
"You are sincerely teasing me, are you? My old profession? That has been abolished? What's the use of learning that?"
I didn't expect Ning Weimin to be quite good. serious.
"Don't say that. Trades can be abolished, but learning has never been abolished? If nothing else, the imperial examination system has been abolished long ago, right? Then why do students still have to learn ancient Chinese in Chinese classes? What? It’s really useless, unless it’s not true knowledge.”
As he spoke, Ning Weimin filled Kang Shude’s bowl with pork head meat and rice noodles.
"Old man, the real people in this world never show their faces. Most of the capable people pretend to be cowards on the outside, such as Jigong and Li Tieguai. Others don't know, but I know best. As for the things in your belly, everything is The real knowledge that can make real money is useless? Then where did the food and drink between us come from? "
"Yes, you are no longer popular, but that's just because you left. It's just bad luck. How can people compete with the general trend? That's a side effect of the changing times. After thirty years in Hedong and thirty years in Hexi, people's luck will change sooner or later. . ”
“Isn’t there a saying, gold in troubled times, antiques in prosperous times? In my opinion, this refers to both things and people, and to me, you are. Antiques from troubled times, gold from prosperous times..."
It was good to be here originally. It needs to be logical and reasonable. Kang Shude was a little fascinated by it.
But Ning Weimin really shouldn't be moved by the scene. He was so moved by the glaring pot of steamed bun next to the table full of food and wine that he spoke more words.
"Also...this coward at the moment."
This metaphor is a bit inappropriate, and the U-turn is also very abrupt, which surprised Kang Shude, who was so praised.
"Wo Wo Tou?"
As for Ning Weimin, who was thinking about Wo Wo Tou, he smiled a little awkwardly and hurriedly explained.
“Don’t get me wrong, what I mean is that although the stick noodles and steamed buns don’t look like much now, they seem to be the cheapest food. But miscellaneous grains also have the benefits of grains, and their nutritional value is ultimately higher than that of rice. White flour is strong. One day, it will be so popular that it will be so popular among pancakes and steamed buns that it will be even more mouth-watering than the big fish and meat..."
But it was obvious that Kang Shude would not recognize his unintentional secret.
With the old man’s experience and knowledge, he could not imagine such a scene, so he could only shake his head helplessly.
The expression on his face was like seeing him exchange his hard-earned money for monkey tickets every day these days.
I am very worried about his brain circuitry.
(End of this chapter)