Chương 69: A Man of Strong Will!

Zhou Yan held the painting for a long time, until a small head popped out from under it, tilting its head back, eyes crinkling with a smile, and asked, "Brother, what did Sister Yao Yao say in her letter? Did she mention Mo Mo?" Aunt Zhao poked her head out of the restaurant, also looking gossipy.

"Yes, she did. She asked me to say hello to you and Aunt Zhao." Zhou Yan said with a smile, reaching out to pick up Zhou Mo Mo and place her on his lap. He put away the two sheets of paper and showed the painting to Zhou Mo Mo: "Hey, this is a sunset painted by Sister Yao Yao, isn't it beautiful?" Zhou Mo Mo's eyes sparkled, nodding her head, "Beautiful! So pretty! Sister Yao Yao is so amazing!"

"Let me see." Aunt Zhao also came over, staring at the painting for a while, and exclaimed, "It's so beautiful! Xia Yao is indeed a college student, she's really talented!" Aunt Zhao's admiration for college students reached its peak at this moment. Zhou Yan took the painting back to the shop, carefully sandwiched it between two pieces of wood, and placed it on the second floor. The envelope was too small, and the painting was folded in several places.

He planned to smooth out the creases first, and then find a box to store it. Right, he also needed to put a lock on it to keep out the mischievous kids. He hadn't understood what it meant before: "In the past, carriages and horses were slow, and letters took a long time to arrive"... Now he understood a little. This was much better than a WeChat message popping up in the middle of the night: "Brother, are you free tonight? I can have ice cream today."

Coming downstairs, Zhou Yan thought about how to reply to Xia Yao. A lot had happened at the shop these past few days, and there were many things he could share with her. But thinking of her fresh and elegant writing style, he was a little confused. The last time he wrote a letter was probably in elementary school? How should he write the opening to match the phrase: "Seeing this letter is like seeing you in person; opening this letter brings joy to my face"?

"Xia Yao: Hello?" Zhou Yan scratched his head. One only realizes how little one knows when one needs it. A man who strives for excellence throughout his life must never lose to a woman in writing! Even a simple letter of daily communication must be written with the appropriate intensity! A poorly written letter wouldn't just be a disgrace to him, but to his Chinese teacher.

"The envelope, letter paper, and stamps are all affixed for you. Remember to write back when you have time," Aunt Zhao suddenly appeared, shoving a bunch of things into his hands.

"Huh?" Zhou Yan looked at the things in his hands, surprised that Aunt Zhao was even more anxious than he was. But he really needed these things, so he smiled and nodded, "Okay." If he couldn't write now, he'd leave it for later, to write when it was quiet and dark. Clutching the spice list that Old Lady Zhang Shufen had given him, Zhou Yan pushed his bicycle out to buy spice.

These past few days, the restaurant had been serving braised and stir-fried dishes, keeping him incredibly busy and neglecting to prepare the braising liquid. The old lady had promised to teach him how to make and maintain braising liquid, and it was time to get that done. If he couldn't get old braising liquid, he'd make his own. The old lady was right; braising liquid had to be homemade to taste good and to truly appreciate it. To make braised dishes, he first needed a large braising pot.

Iron pots won't do; they rust easily, turning the braising liquid black, and a pot of braising liquid will be ruined in just a few days. Stainless steel pots would be suitable, but unfortunately, they're nowhere to be found now, so aluminum pots are the best choice. Back then, aluminum pots weren't universally hated; every household used them.

When Zhou Yan rented a place in Chengdu, his landlady's 98-year-old mother used an aluminum pot every day for cooking rice and soup—a small 1982 Jade Bird brand aluminum pot, kept gleaming. Zhou Yan first went to buy all the spices, spending eight yuan and twenty cents, buying extra as a backup in case it wasn't enough. Anyway, he'd have to keep adding spices to the braising liquid during the braising process to ensure the flavor was right.

He rode his bike to the dock to find Zhou Jie; he had connections and knew many people, so maybe he could find him a large and cheap aluminum pot. It was past lunchtime, but there were still two or three scattered customers eating braised beef at the stall. Zhou Hai was squatting to the side washing dishes, while Zhou Jie was standing behind the stove counting money.

"Brother Jie, Brother Hai." Zhou Yan stopped the car and greeted them.

"Zhou Yan, you're here." Zhou Jie and Zhou Hai both stopped what they were doing and came forward with smiles.

"Looks like business is good today." Zhou Yan looked at the two of them and said. Zhou Jie nodded: "I listened to you, business is indeed good. We sold more than seventy bowls at noon today, and almost everyone ordered the six-cent portion."

"Everyone praised the soup for its freshness, the tender beef, and the fragrant offal." Zhou Hai added with a sheepish grin.

"That's good." Zhou Yan nodded and then told Zhou Jie his purpose. Zhou Jie pondered for a moment: "As for large aluminum pots, you probably can't buy them at the supply and marketing cooperative. I'll take you to ask Old Qian again. He can always get some good stuff, but the price will be a bit higher." Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

"Let's go take a look first, and we'll negotiate the price if we find something suitable." Zhou Yan said. Zhou Jie took Zhou Yan to the black market and found Old Qian, who had bought the large iron pot last time. After some bargaining, they got an aluminum pot with a diameter of sixty centimeters for eighteen centimeters. The Jade Bird brand is very sturdy; it's been over a year, and there's a layer of dust on the surface, but a quick wipe makes it shine.

Small household aluminum pots, if you have a ration coupon, cost only a little over two yuan each at the supply and marketing cooperative. These large-diameter commercial pots are usually only purchased by company canteens; they're made with high-quality materials, can boil 140 liters of water at a time, and can stew 70 jin of meat. You might not even be able to buy these in Jiaozhou, and Zhou Yan gritted his teeth and bought them even though they were more expensive.

When doing business, you have to think long-term. The latest novels are first published on 69shu. com! There are many types of braised food: braised duck, braised chicken, braised goose, braised pig's trotters, braised pig's head, braised beef, braised meat… Vegetables can also be braised, such as lotus root, bamboo shoots, bean curd sheets, dried bean curd… These are all areas where you can expand. Even if you only sell a few items, if they sell well, 100 jin wouldn't be too much.

If this pot is too small, not only will you have to replace the pot later, but you'll also have to replace the matching stove and everything else. Zhou Yan tied the pot to the back of his bicycle and found a bricklayer on the way back, so he had them come today to build a special earthen stove according to the pot's size. He had also considered using a honeycomb briquette stove, which would be cheaper and easier, but he gave up on it because the heat was difficult to control.

This alone cost him thirty-six yuan and twenty cents, not even counting the bones and free-range chicken he would need to add to the braising liquid. Starting a braised food business requires a significant initial investment. In an era of scarcity, locally grown goods were worthless, but industrial products were not cheap. Questioning Zhou, understanding Zhou, becoming like Zhou.

"Are you really going to start a braised food business? Did your grandma promise to give you her braising liquid?" Aunt Zhao asked Zhou Yan as she watched the bricklayer build the stove.

"The old lady wouldn't give me the old braising liquid, but she promised to teach me how to make braising liquid, how to maintain it, and how to braise beef and stuff," Zhou Yan replied casually as he helped move bricks to speed things up. Aunt Zhao said with a touch of nostalgia, "Your grandma's braised food was the best in Suji. Even state-run restaurants couldn't match the taste. A couple of years ago, during market days, more than one person came to ask if she still sold braised beef and braised pig's head.

If you could learn how to make it, you'd definitely have a lot of customers."

" Are you talking about Aunt Zhang who used to sell braised beef and braised pig's head under the tree by the stone bridge?" Bricklayer Master Zhang stopped what he was doing, turned around, and asked with a smile.

"Yes, that's my mother." Zhao Tieying nodded with a smile, "Master Zhang, you've eaten there too?" In Sichuan and Chongqing, artisans and craftsmen are usually addressed by their surname followed by "Master," which is both affectionate and respectful.

"When I was a teenager, my father would take me to buy her braised pig's head and braised beef offal every few days to go with my drinks. It was so delicious, I still remember it to this day." Master Zhang smacked his lips, a hint of nostalgia in his expression.

"Especially the braised pig's ears, soft and chewy with a bit of crunchy cartilage, the aroma of the braising sauce was so rich, the taste was simply unbeatable, just thinking about it makes my mouth water."

"Master, is it really that delicious?" the apprentice asked, swallowing hard.

"You don't know anything. Back then, Zhang's braised food was incredibly famous. Not only in Suzhou, but people from Jiaozhou would come specifically to buy it to take home. Restaurants in Jiaozhou would even come to buy it to resell. Business was booming." Master Zhang smiled, then looked at Zhao Tieying and Zhou Yan and asked, "Why did you stop selling it later? Isn't it now that individual businesses are allowed?"

"My mother is seventy-five years old, she's too old, she doesn't have the energy to do this anymore." Zhao Tieying said with a smile. There was another reason: her sons were all married and established in their own careers, so she no longer needed to sell braised food to support the family. As for Zhou Weiguo, his disability allowance was high, so he wasn't actually short of money. The old lady was worried about him getting married, which wasn't something selling braised food could solve.

Zhou Yan persuaded him to accept the job arrangement; once the job was secured, this matter would probably be resolved quickly. Zhou Yan listened with some emotion. Hearing the old lady say it herself, he felt there was a bit of boasting involved. But hearing the bricklayer's words, it felt different; his grandmother had indeed been a sensation in the braised food industry back in the day.

Childhood taste memories so vivid that even at forty, Master Zhang was still reminiscing about it—how many people like that are there in Suji? This braised food... Selling well! (End of Chapter)