Their new home is on the third floor of a newly built family quarters building with a total height of five floors, one elevator for two households, and two staircases on both sides. The house is about 90 square meters, with two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom. It feels very large when you go in, because there was no so-called public area at that time. The inside is real space. The two rooms and the living room are very large and look very open. The balcony is also very large. If some unscrupulous developer in the future were to calculate the area, it would be 130 square meters.
Because there are many children in the family, Zhan Aiping and Gu Sheng plan to use cabinets as partitions. The couple will sleep in a smaller room, and the two sisters Tangyuan will share a large room separated by a cabinet in the middle. A room will also be separated in the hall outside for their brother, Sweet and Sour Pork.
Little Tangyuan said, "The house has become smaller."
Compared to the house I lived in before, it has indeed become smaller, but the building is new, the floors are neither too high nor too low, and the view from the balcony is very comfortable, as you can see the green mountains from the balcony.
It seems like you can see mountains everywhere here.
Zhan Aiping said: "It has become smaller, and my mother should be able to get a small house as well."
The current commercial housing development is still in its infancy. Once the special economic zones take the lead in starting the land-selling profit model, all major cities will also start selling land to make money.
Going to buy a house
In the 1990s, it was popular for companies to develop real estate, which was also a benefit for employees. Buying real estate from one's own company was much cheaper than buying it outside.
Zhan Aiping thought that maybe she could buy a piece of land and build a small house for herself.
Unfortunately, their family only has tens of thousands of yuan now, and they can't even afford a commercial house. A commercial house costs at least 50,000 or 60,000 yuan. They can't even afford a house, let alone buy land.
Still have to find a way to make some money.
It took two or three days to finally tidy up the house. Zhan Aiping took her daughter out to buy pots, pans, and other toiletries, and gradually filled the new home.
Zhan Aiping sighed again: "A broken home is worth a fortune, but moving away will make you poor for three years."
After settling down, the family began to adapt to life here. Since they hadn't started working yet, the couple took their two children out to play, getting up at six or seven in the morning. The park was bustling at this time, with all kinds of uncles and aunts dancing with swords, practicing Tai Chi, and so on.
Most people go hiking. There is no entrance fee if you go hiking in the morning. You can get in before 6:30 and go hiking with the whole family with high morale. The mountains here are not very high. Unlike climbing Mount Tai, climbing to the top of the mountain every day can become a daily activity, instead of being paralyzed for a few days like climbing Mount Tai.
While climbing the mountain, there were a lot of people shouting "Ahhh" on the mountain. The two sisters Tangyuan were particularly unrestrained. They shouted while climbing. No matter how much they shouted on the mountain, no one would blame them for disturbing others.
Because so many people were shouting, the echoes were loud and clear.
It was just past seven o'clock when we got down the mountain. There were many rice noodle shops on the street. Most people in the city eat rice noodles for breakfast. The main food here is rice. The climate and geographical conditions are naturally suitable for growing rice. Eighty percent of the grain output is rice.
The natural conditions of water and heat here are good, it is hot and humid with lots of rain, and there are many large "granary" counties. Since the 1960s and 1970s, many commune production teams have had large amounts of surplus grain. Not only can they meet the grain procurement targets every year, but they can also sell more grain to the state, resulting in a rice surplus.
So rice noodles are popular here.
One pound of rice can make about two and a half pounds of rice noodles. Most people eat two taels of rice noodles in the morning, which is almost half a pound of rice noodles made from two taels of rice. To buy two taels of rice noodles, you need a □□ ticket.
Gu Sheng eats 4 taels of rice noodles, Zhan Aiping eats 2 taels of rice noodles, and the three little ones eat 1 tael of rice noodles each. At that time, Gu Sheng's monthly food coupon ration was 38 kilograms, Zhan Aiping's was 30 kilograms, and the little ones' food coupon quota was around 10 kilograms each.
For people like Zhan Aiping who had a daily quota of one pound of food coupons, eating rice noodles was quite cost-effective, because rice noodles were very filling. She could eat two taels of rice noodles in the morning and two taels of rice noodles in the evening, and only used up four taels of food coupons, leaving six taels of food coupons, which she could not finish at noon.
At this time, there was already a surplus of food coupons, and a kind of negotiable grain that did not require food coupons had quietly appeared on the market, but it was not displayed openly.
From this moment on, various tickets began to be withdrawn from the market one after another.
Because eating rice noodles is indeed cost-effective, rice noodles are sold here morning, noon and evening. There are fewer people eating rice noodles at noon, but more in the morning and evening. In the evening, some rice noodle stalls have particularly long queues.
Zhan Aiping's family all eat braised rice noodles. On the surface, the braised rice noodles look very simple to make, as if they are ready in seconds. One person is responsible for rinsing the wet rice noodles with hot water and putting them into a bowl, while another person adds a spoonful of fried soybeans and asks you if you want braised beef or braised beef. Finally, another spoonful of braised sauce is added and it's gone.
Just like on an assembly line, bowls come one after another very quickly. Even if you have to queue, it doesn’t take long.
Holding the bowl of rice noodles, you can add sour beans, chili peppers, chopped green onions and other things according to your own taste. It is very convenient to eat and does not delay your work. It tastes delicious. No wonder people here love rice noodles.
After the Gu family moved here, breakfast mostly became rice noodles. Sometimes when they were too lazy to cook at night, they would eat rice noodles instead.
In addition to braised rice noodles, there are also many delicious soup noodles, especially the soup base made from soybeans and pork bones, which is topped with a little red oil and floating minced meat, which is particularly fragrant.
I never get tired of eating rice noodles every day.
After eating the rice noodles, I went home.
The family took turns taking a shower, and Zhan Aiping changed into clean clothes, thinking that the family should buy a washing machine as soon as possible. They bought a refrigerator as soon as they moved in. A refrigerator is a necessity in life. It can keep food fresh and prevent it from spoiling. It is more important than a washing machine and a TV.
"Doctor Zhan, are you home?" Mrs. Luo, who lived on the first floor, came to see Zhan Aiping. She was a woman in her forties with short hair, thin and small, fair skin, and a few wrinkles at the corners of her eyes.
Zhan Aiping opened the door for her: "Sister Luo, where are you coming from?"
"I'll give you some of my pickled sour beans, sour peppers, and spicy ginger..." Mrs. Luo handed the bowl of food to Zhan Aiping, who thanked her.
Many people have pickled jars at home, which are used for pickling things. Zhan Aiping also wanted to pickle some sour peppers and sour radishes.
Mrs. Luo asked, "Your family has moved in for a few days, right? Have you adapted to the new environment? Have you walked around?"
Zhan Aiping nodded: "It's almost ready, do you want to come in and take a look?"
Mrs. Luo had exactly this in mind. As soon as she entered the door, she stared at the green double-layer refrigerator in Zhan Aiping's house. The purpose of Mrs. Luo's trip was this refrigerator. She just wanted to take a look at the refrigerator in her house.
"This is your refrigerator. It has two doors..."
Zhan Aiping led her to see the refrigerator, which was used to keep fresh food on the top and freeze things on the bottom. It was a small army green refrigerator, not even as tall as an elementary school student, and could not hold much stuff.
Mrs. Luo touched the surface of the refrigerator and asked, "Hey, why is it hot?"
Zhan Aiping said: "It cools inside and dissipates heat outside. The two sides of the refrigerator are used to dissipate heat, so it is hot."
"It's amazing!" Mrs. Luo was amazed. She opened the refrigerator and looked at it again and again. She reached out to feel the cold air inside and asked, "If I put the meat in there, how long can it stay frozen?"
Zhan Aiping said, "Put it in the freezer and it won't go bad for several months."
"That's great!" There was a cruel look in Mrs. Luo's eyes. She seemed to have made a decision, but she was heartbroken, as if a knife was cutting her heart.
Mrs. Luo's family conditions are not bad. Her husband has a job and she stays at home to take care of the children. She is good at managing her daily life and is reluctant to buy big items, but she always stocks some food at home.
In recent years, we have been eating much better and wearing better clothes than before. We can eat meat every now and then, and we have quite a bit of savings at home... But it's a pity that there are too many new things on the market, such as TVs and refrigerators.
Mrs. Luo was not envious of the TV, but she was envious of other people's refrigerators, which could be used to store things, such as vegetables and meat. She could preserve a lot of things in them, and this touched her heart.
She really wants to have a refrigerator and fill it up.
But refrigerators are so expensive, and Mrs. Luo is reluctant to spend so much money to buy one. Although their family savings are enough to buy a refrigerator, this money has been saved for a long time.
Mrs. Luo hesitated for a long time and was reluctant to buy a refrigerator.
"Doctor Zhan, this won't break easily, right?" Mrs. Luo was afraid that if she bought such a thing, it would break within a few days. What should she do then
Zhan Aiping said: "It's not easy to break."
Mrs. Luo closed her eyes and opened them again. She said, "I'm going to buy a refrigerator!"
Zhan Aiping said: "It's better to buy a refrigerator. The leftovers can be frozen in the refrigerator."
After making the decision, Luo's wife felt much more relaxed. She looked at Zhan Aiping's house again. This time she saw the TV. Her heart ached and she said enviously, "I wish I had a job like you."
It's much faster for two people to save money to buy some home appliances than for one person, and they won't have to hesitate for so long like she did to buy a refrigerator.
Zhan Aiping didn't say anything. She poured tea for Mrs. Luo and brought out some melon seeds and peanuts.
Mrs. Luo sat for a while, and before leaving, she said to Zhan Aiping, "Don't have breakfast tomorrow morning. Bring the children to my house for tea."
Zhan Aiping agreed.
The next day, Zhan Aiping brought her three children to drink tea. The tea that Mrs. Luo mentioned was different from what she understood as drinking tea. She meant oil-made tea.
A small stove, a small iron pot, and a small wooden hammer are what you need to make authentic oil tea.
It is called oil tea, but actually there is no oil. In addition to tea leaves, there is also ginger in the iron pot. It is beaten with a small wooden hammer, and the brewed tea soup is quite beautiful, like coffee, with a hint of yellow-green.
Next to it are fried popcorn, fried corn, fried oil fruit, chopped green onions, and fried rice skin. The fried rice skin is particularly fragrant and crispy, with a natural rice aroma and a slightly sweet taste. The sisters Little Tangyuan and Little Cotton love to eat it.
Mrs. Luo smiled and said, "The children all like it very much. You should eat it too."
Zhan Aiping also ate two slices. It was greasy after eating too much. "This is quite a waste of oil."
Mrs. Luo said, "It's okay to eat a little."
Mrs. Luo is very good at saving oil when soaking rice skin. There are a lot of rapeseed and peanuts grown here, so there is no shortage of oil.
Mrs. Luo gave each of them a tea bowl, scooped a spoonful of fried rice, a spoonful of chopped green onions, poured the freshly-cooked oil tea soup, and said, "Try it."
It was the first time that Zhan Aiping saw this way of eating. The white popcorn was made from steamed and dried glutinous rice, which was then fried in oil, a bit like popcorn. It was then soaked in hot tea. How did it taste? The crispy popcorn was softened by the tea, and it was melty, soft and sticky, with a unique flavor.
—It feels like I’m getting irritated but not that irritated.
The first two cups were a bit bitter, with a spicy taste of ginger, but after drinking a bowl, I felt warm all over, because tea leaves remove oil, so when I eat fried food and then drink oil tea, I don’t feel greasy, but rather feel full.
I didn't eat anything, and I seemed to be full just by drinking tea.
Mrs. Luo said, "If you like, come to my house often for tea."
After eating it a few times, she found that this oil tea has many flavors, and you can add all kinds of things to it. In addition to tea leaves and ginger, you can also put pork, sour peppers, green beans, fried taro...
Speaking of which, Zhan Aiping was very confused about just putting green beans in the tea soup, but putting a whole sour pepper? ! ! ! Put some pork? ! Finally, putting some fried taro seemed much more normal.
It's like making dark cuisine, but it tastes amazing.
Zhan Aiping prefers oil tea made with mung beans and taro, especially the one with mung beans. After one or two cups of tea, the aroma of the mung bean paste comes out in the tea soup, which is very fragrant.
Adding sour chili peppers will give it a spicy taste.
In addition to fried popcorn and fried corn, you can also add fine rice noodles to the tea bowl, garnish with some chopped green onions, and finally pour in hot oil tea soup. It feels like you are drinking tea and eating rice noodles at the same time.
Children like to eat various snacks while drinking oil tea, especially fried rice cakes and brown sugar glutinous rice cakes.
For several days, Zhan Aiping brought her two daughters, Xiao Tangyuan and Xiao Mianhua, to Mrs. Luo's house to drink oil tea. Mrs. Luo not only invited her, but also sisters-in-law from other families. Several women gathered around a pot, drinking tea and chatting, and it was very lively.
My son Xiao Guobao doesn’t like drinking oil tea very much. He prefers rice noodles. He makes a bowl of braised rice noodles and takes it home in the morning.
As soon as Gu Sheng returned home, Guo Bao Rou said without him asking, "My mother took my sister to Aunt Luo's house for tea again."
Gu Sheng: “…”
Gu Sheng doesn't have the patience to sit there and dawdle, eating one bowl after another.
In addition to drinking tea at Mrs. Luo's house, Zhan Aiping also had to go to the medical school for classes when school started. They also had a teaching office where several female teachers gathered together, and they would drink tea every now and then early in the morning.
If you have time in the morning, drink some oil tea. If you have time in the evening, get together to drink oil tea. You don’t necessarily need a lot of fried snacks every time. Just a simple oil tea soup, fried popcorn, oil fruit, and chopped green onions can be consumed slowly over an hour or two.
It’s fun when there are more people. If everyone brings some snacks, we can get together for a table, and it’s not too expensive.
Zhan Aiping also fell in love with drinking oil tea with others.
Sweet osmanthus is fragrant in autumn, and the children go to school. Sweet and sour pork becomes the class monitor as he wished, and little Tangyuan also becomes the class monitor. Little Mianhua goes to her kindergarten, but she doesn't want to go to primary school. She wants to fight for her little red flower and five-pointed star in the kindergarten.
As a three-good child in the kindergarten, Xiao Mianhua would bring back a five-pointed star every week. Zhan Aiping put all her five-pointed red stars on the wall of her room.
The children were on holiday and had no classes in the morning, so Zhan Aiping bought the tools for making oil tea in advance, including a stove, a small iron pot, a small wooden hammer, local tea leaves, rice flowers... and so on. She was going to make oil tea at home.
Zhan Aiping thought that she had seen so many people make oil tea, so she would have known how to do it a long time ago. She started by frying the popcorn. It was her first time, so she didn’t control the heat very well, so the popcorn and corn were a little burnt, but it was okay and it didn’t affect anything.
The fried rice skin was okay.
Set up the iron pot, put in tea leaves, ginger, mung beans... tap with a small wooden hammer, "Yuanyuan, help mommy set the bowls."
Little Tangyuan responded and the three of them, mother and daughter, were drinking oil-tea. Dad had gone out, and the brother said he would only drink one or two cups, so four bowls had to be set out. Little Tangyuan scooped some more popcorn into her own bowl.
Zhan Aiping held a small iron pot and poured oil tea into each bowl, "Try your mother's cooking."
Little Tangyuan took the spoon, scooped a spoonful and blew on it. She was very keen on testing poison, so she tasted it first.
Zhan Aiping asked: "How is it?"
Little Tangyuan: "...Mom, it's been hard."
"It's bitter? Maybe I put too much tea leaves in it."
"Mom, you can add more ginger. I love the ginger taste."
When Gu Sheng came back, the family had already finished their tea. Zhan Aiping's eyes lit up when she saw him, and she directly used the big bowl that was used to hold popcorn to pour him the last pot of tea.
"We are all full, daddy should take all the rest, don't waste it."
Gu Sheng: “…”
What is left in the last pot of tea soup? It can no longer be called soup, but more like porridge, made of chopped tea leaves, ginger, and mung beans. You have to use a strainer to filter it.
This pot of tea always needs a man to clean up the mess.
Zhan Aiping is addicted to making oil tea. She makes it at home every now and then. She is also quite innovative and tries adding various ingredients to it.
Her daughter also drank oil tea with her and made some suggestions from time to time. Comrade Gu Sheng was still responsible for sweeping the tea at the end.
"Dad, the brown sugar glutinous rice cake made by Mom is so delicious." Little Mianhua likes to eat the brown sugar glutinous rice cake made by her mother. The glutinous rice cake is small, about the size of a human finger, drizzled with brown sugar syrup and rolled in soybean powder before eating. It is sweet, sticky, fragrant, and especially delicate and beautiful.
Gu Sheng ate a brown sugar glutinous rice cake, took a sip of tea, and said, "Wife, did you put too much salt today?"
Zhan Aiping tilted her head: "Really?"
"Wife, don't take on a job if you don't have the skills." Gu Sheng put his arm around his wife's shoulders. It was not easy for him to clean up and drink tea every day. Although the taste was not too bad, it was not very delicious either.
Even if it's not bad to drink, you can't stand it if you drink it often.
Zhan Aiping said: "You dislike me? I didn't ask you to drink it. You said it yourself, 'How can I not drink the tea made by my wife?'"
Gu Sheng touched his nose and said, "Why don't you go learn from Sister Luo again."
Zhan Aiping said: "I am still learning now, wait till I become a master."
Gu Sheng: “…”
After Zhan Aiping tried making oil tea for a while, she gave up. She still felt that Mrs. Luo's oil tea tasted better and that her own craftsmanship had some problems.
Zhan Aiping took her daughter to Mrs. Luo's house to drink oil tea from time to time. Gradually, she had an idea in her mind. She wondered whether she should invest money to open an oil tea shop.
She felt that opening an oil tea house was quite profitable, as it belonged to the catering industry and the investment was not large. Although many people would make oil tea at home, not every oil tea would taste good, and the atmosphere in the tea house was also different, so the environment could be improved.
There are also many government staff compounds, primary and secondary school teachers, doctors and nurses nearby... It is a good place for office colleagues to get together every now and then to drink tea, eat snacks and chat to kill time.
The key point is that it can kill time. It's not like drinking at a table, drinking cup after cup of wine. Instead, you can drink tea and eat snacks and sunflower seeds, drink cup after cup of hot tea, and chat with teachers and colleagues. The consumption is not high and most people can afford it.
What is the hottest selling item at this time? It is the fool's sunflower seeds. It is such a cheap and time-killing food that can earn huge profits.
In addition to selling oil tea, we can also sell Pu'er tea. Zhan Mingzhao also has connections with tea factories...
The cost of opening an oil tea house should be within 10,000 yuan. Even if you make a loss, it won't be too disastrous. If you open your own oil tea house, it can also be a great place to gather and spend time.
After thinking about it, Zhan Aiping discussed with Gu Sheng before going to bed that night, "What do you think... I should go find Sister Luo to open a tea shop together? We can invest money and let Sister Luo provide the technology. I have tasted tea from many shops, but I still think hers tastes good."
Gu Sheng hugged her and said, "Opening a teahouse? That's great!"
Zhan Aiping laughed: "What's good about that?"
"There's a place for you to mess around."
Zhan Aiping hugged his neck and kissed his chin: "I'll take that as your agreement."
"You can do whatever you want. You are the one who manages our family's money. I will listen to my wife."
Zhan Aiping said: "Thank goodness you didn't kick me into the river to feed the fish."
Gu Sheng laughed: "How could I bear to do that."
After discussing it with Gu Sheng, Zhan Aiping found a time to go to Sister Luo downstairs to talk about this matter, "Sister Luo, let's open a tea house together."
Zhan Aiping has already thought about how to decorate the teahouse. The environment must have an ancient flavor, and the teacups, tea bowls and utensils must be customized individually. When people go out to the oil teahouse to drink tea, they are buying the environment and service.
Mrs. Luo misunderstood what Zhan Aiping meant. She looked at Zhan Aiping in disbelief and said, "Are you saying that we should open a tea stall on the street?"
It is not difficult to set up an oil tea stall on the street.
After individual business was allowed, many simple small stalls appeared on the streets of Jiangmian, selling all kinds of things. Mrs. Luo had thought about this before, but her husband disagreed. He felt that his job was decent and his salary was not low, and he could support the family. There was no need for him to let his woman go out on the street to do small business, which was not decent and would only earn hard-earned money.
"Can't you just stay at home and enjoy yourself? You're always thinking about going out to do things. If you go out to do things, who will take care of the things at home?"
Mrs. Luo couldn't refute this, but she didn't quite agree with it. Now that the two children are grown up and go to school, how much housework can there be at home? Most of the day is idle. Seeing them set up a small stall to make some money, Mrs. Luo had some ideas in her mind.
She also wanted to earn more money. When others bought new home appliances, she also wanted to buy more. After buying the refrigerator, she heard about the washing machine and the TV. How long would it take to save money with her husband's salary
Zhan Aiping said: "I mean to open an oil tea shop. We should get a house instead of setting up a stall outside."
"Ah?!" After hearing what Zhan Aiping said, Mrs. Luo felt it was unreliable again. It was relatively simple to set up a tea stall on the street. It was a bit not very decent, but the cost was low and not troublesome. But to really set up a teahouse, that would be a very troublesome thing and a lot of money would have to be invested at the beginning.
Zhan Aiping said, "Isn't there an abandoned tile-roofed house next to the government compound? It's a public property. Let's rent it, renovate it, paint it, add some new tiles, and make it into an antique little teahouse. I think that's a good place."
With various pilot reforms now, many obsolete state-owned assets are being contracted out and rented out. Zhan Aiping has recently taken a fancy to a place. It is not a popular place, not on the main road, and a little off the beaten track, but the location is good. It is not suitable for opening a shop that requires a lot of traffic, but it is a good location for a teahouse and it is big enough.
Mrs. Luo blinked her eyes and said, "Have you even thought of a place?"
(End of this chapter)