Reborn in 1977

Chen Fan's mouth twitched on the side.

He had just said he had saved some money for retirement, and now he was saying he could only rely on a little handicraft to make a living. Was this Old Peng afraid of people asking him to borrow money or what?

However, the few people sitting here didn't care. Anyway, no one wanted to borrow money from him. What did it matter to them how much money others had saved?

Besides, wealth should not be flaunted. They would definitely do the same if they were in his shoes.

Like Chen Fan, he hid some of the money he earned and exaggerated the money he spent, so that no one knew how much money he actually had.

Zhang Wenliang thought that his pockets were almost empty again. When hunting just now, he even wanted to pull him in for another collaboration to sell soft-shelled turtle meat at the next market.

After chatting for a long time, the aroma from the large pot set up on the open ground outside had already wafted over. Before long, several middle-aged women came in, each carrying a ceramic pot. After a flurry of activity, a table of wild game feast was ready.

Zhong Zihong invited everyone to the table. As the host, he would definitely sit in the main seat. With Chen Fan's insistence, Zhang Wenliang sat in the seat of honor next to him, while he sat beside him. Wu Fengfei and Wu Fengwen, the two brothers, sat opposite Chen Fan to accompany him, while Old Peng sat at the lower end, as a guest.

A pot of fox meat, processed according to the method Chen Fan taught, stir-fried with lard, and simmered with potatoes, released an aroma that assaulted the nostrils when the lid was lifted.

The other pots contained badger and wild rabbit respectively, as well as a pot of crucian carp soup, which was meant to improve the taste, as it was easy to get internal heat from eating only wild game.

Zhong Zihong proposed a toast first, and Zhang Wenliang took the first chopstick, picking up a piece of fox meat and taking two bites. Then, he nodded repeatedly, "The gamey taste is very small, almost undetectable. Delicious."

After he moved his chopsticks, the others politely declined a couple of times before picking up their chopsticks to eat.

Wu Fengfei took a bite of the meat, and his eyes lit up immediately. He smiled at Chen Fan and said, "Teacher Chen has taught us another trick. The taste is indeed much better than before after processing it according to your method."

He turned to look at Old Peng and smiled, "Master Peng, how did you used to handle wild game?"

This kind of casual chat didn't involve secret recipes. At most, it would just explain some of the key points so that the learner could make some progress, but they wouldn't be able to learn the real unique skills.

For example, Chen Fan told Captain Yang that the key to making soft-shelled turtle was to peel the skin and remove the fat, but Liu Jujang couldn't peel it off no matter what. The secret lay in the water temperature for soaking the soft-shelled turtle.

Moreover, even if they knew the secret, not everyone could make a good dish. Chen Fan taught others how to make soft-shelled turtle meat and even personally demonstrated it tirelessly, but no one could make soft-shelled turtle meat to the same level as him, or even close to it.

That's why Wu Fengfei asked Old Peng so bluntly.

Of course, Old Peng also had to have his own unique skills.

But the result was beyond everyone's expectations. Old Peng still smiled and shook his head gently, saying, "If you ask us how we make wild game dishes ourselves, then there's really nothing to say.

When we're in the wild, we either eat dry rations, or we just skin and gut the animals on the spot, and then put them on the fire to roast, at most sprinkling some salt and chili peppers.

Like the gamey taste you mentioned, we usually use chili peppers and peppercorns to cover it up. We basically don't pay attention to the taste. If you want to talk about how to roast meat until it's tender, I know that, but I can't explain it. It all depends on experience. But if you want to talk about how to process wild game ingredients and how to make it delicious, that's the chef's business. We hunters are really not good at it."

As soon as he said this, everyone thought that he didn't want to say it. How could hunters not know how to process wild game?

Zhong Zihong then chuckled, "Yes, yes, yes, what was that saying? Leaves or something? Anyway, it means that every industry is like a different mountain."

Chen Fan smiled on the side, "Specialization of skills."

Zhong Zihong nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, yes, alas, it still has to be said that educated people have higher knowledge. I've almost forgotten everything I learned in the literacy class before."

Old Peng was also a person who had seen the world, so how could he not see that they didn't believe what he said? He couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart and said, "Team Leader Zhong, you've hit the nail on the head. Things like hunting, skinning, and deboning are all things that our hunting team is good at, but when it comes to processing ingredients, it still has to be done by professional chefs. The hunters I know all have very rough skills."

Seeing Old Peng mention this again, everyone turned their attention back to him.

Old Peng took a sip of wine and said with a smile, "Let me give you an example, like wild chickens. Our most common method is to directly cut them open, without even plucking the feathers, and then get some silt from the bottom of the stream and smear it on top to make a big mud ball, and then throw it into the fire to roast.

When the mud ball is burned and cracked, the chicken is also cooked. Then, the mud ball is smashed open, and the feathers fall off with the mud, revealing the chicken meat inside. Then, we sprinkle some salt and chili peppers on the chicken, and that's how we eat it.

To be honest, the taste is really good when eaten hot, fresh, tender, and juicy. The gamey taste is also a fresh taste, but once it cools down a little, it's full of gamey taste. If we're not hungry, we can't even swallow it.

The chefs in those wild game restaurants do it differently. A wild chicken can be made into a flower in their hands. The whole roasted chicken still has feathers as decorations. The wild chicken soup is so fresh that you can't taste the gamey taste, even when it's cold. The braised chicken pieces are stir-fried, and the chicken is tender and chewy. The taste is several times better than ordinary chicken."

(Roasted Wild Chicken)

After listening to what Old Peng said, everyone was a little skeptical of what he had said just now.

The reason why they didn't fully believe him was because he had held back just now, saying that he had no savings. 135 a month is 1620 yuan a year, and that doesn't include bonuses and extra money. It is said that people who live near the mountains live off the mountains. How could people like them not have extra income channels? With such a high income, and only himself and a daughter at home, there's nowhere to spend the money even if they have it. How could he have no savings?

He has a previous record, so even if he says it with certainty now, no one will believe it all at once.

However, this remark still changed everyone's impression of him to some extent.

It's still that sentence, wealth should not be flaunted. Hiding money is understandable, but it's not right to tell lies even when chatting.

Chen Fan raised his glass and toasted him, then asked, "Master Peng, what kind of dishes do those wild game restaurants have? Does the taste really taste as good as you said?"

Old Peng's smile deepened when he saw Chen Fan toasting him.

He was also clear that he had accidentally said the wrong thing just now. He shouldn't have mentioned words like high income and saving money for retirement. He was an outsider, and now it was a collective society. If the team leader had a prejudice against him, then he would be in trouble in this small village.

And Chen Fan's status in Lujiawan was unusual. First, he selflessly taught his skills, and later he opened a veterinary class. Each team had his students, and he was also a cadre of the brigade headquarters. As long as he had a good relationship with him and proved that he was not lying now, Team Leader Zhong would definitely look at him differently. The matter just now was nothing at all.

He carefully returned a toast with his wine, and then said with a smile, "Seeing is believing. You may not believe what I say. In this way, you eat first, and I'll go back and get something to show you, and you'll know what kind of level that wild game restaurant is at."

With that, he put down his glass, got up, and prepared to leave.

Seeing this, Zhong Zihong finally completely believed him, but he was also very curious about what Old Peng said, so he quickly said, "Your legs and feet are not convenient, don't go by yourself."

Then, he pointed to Wu Fengwen, "Let Xiaowen call Dajiang and run an errand together."

Then, he said to Wu Fengwen, "Dajiang should be outside, go call him."

Wu Fengwen immediately ran out.

Old Peng turned around and took a look, and without being polite, he sat down with a smile.

Before long, Wu Fengwen led a young man in his twenties in, greeted the people at the table, and Zhong Zihong immediately got up, handed him a cigarette, and Chen Fan and Zhang Wenliang also waved to greet him.

Old Peng turned around and said to him, "In the drawer of my room, there is a picture album of 《Wild Game Recipes》, go get it."

Wu Fengwen said, "Brother Jiang, I'll go with you."

As a result, Dajiang waved his hand, "I'll go, you eat yours."

Then, he walked out.

After Old Peng sat up straight, he continued, "This 《Wild Game Recipe》 is published by China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Import and Export Corporation. It's not a good thing, but it's not sold in China. It's mainly printed for foreigners to see. In addition to our country's characters, there are also foreign characters.

Because some of the dishes inside are made by the Wild Game Restaurant, and also because foreigners often eat at the Wild Game Restaurant, some people want to take some wild game back to their country when they leave, but they don't know how to do it or what to buy, so we prepared this book for them.

The dishes in this cookbook are all made in advance by the master chefs of the Wild Game Restaurant, then sealed in plastic bags and placed in a beautiful box, so you can just take it with you. When you get home, you can just heat it up and eat it, which is very convenient.

Chen Fan felt a little dizzy listening to this. Pre-made meals in the 1970s? And a wild game version?

Was that really necessary?

At this time, Zhang Wenliang asked curiously, "Master Peng, do many foreigners go to the Wild Game Restaurant to eat?"

In this era, people in small places rarely saw even people from other places, let alone foreigners. Hearing Lao Peng mention foreigners, they were naturally very curious.

Moreover, even in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, foreigners were rare. As soon as a foreigner appeared, countless people would follow and watch, office workers forgetting to go to work, students forgetting to go to school. The scene was like people in later generations seeing a giant panda, basically unable to move.

Even in the 1980s, "No Spectating Foreign Guests" was written into elementary school textbooks on ideology and morality, but it only changed "close viewing" to "distant viewing." This phenomenon gradually disappeared only after the 1990s.

Although Lao Peng was sitting at the lower seat today, he was the absolute center of attention at the dinner table. Even Chen Fan was attracted by his experiences, let alone Zhang Wenliang and the others who had never seen the world.

Seeing Zhang Wenliang asking about foreigners, Lao Peng muttered to himself, 'Why aren't we talking about wild game anymore?' But his face remained calm, and he smiled nonchalantly,

"Yes, there are foreigners, and many of them. I heard people from the import and export company say that thousands of foreigners come to our country every year to travel, but they can't just run around. They must obey the arrangements of the travel company. There are regulations for where they go, what hotels they stay in, and where they eat. Units that are not qualified are not allowed to receive foreigners.

The Wild Game Hotel is one of the designated restaurants for international travel companies, so foreigners often come to eat."

After a pause, he added, "Actually, there are still few foreigners here. There are only one or two thousand a year. The most are in Beijing and Shanghai. Their first stop is basically in these two places, so there are the most people. A foreign tourist can spend almost a thousand US dollars in China, and they earn a lot of foreign exchange."

Wu Fengwen widened his eyes, "Spend more than a thousand yuan on one trip?"

Lao Peng chuckled, "It's more than a thousand yuan. One US dollar can be exchanged for 1.73 yuan at the bank. Their spending of more than a thousand yuan is equivalent to two or three thousand, or even more, for us."

Even Zhang Wenliang smacked his lips a little, "Are people abroad so rich?"

Lao Peng thought for a while and shook his head slightly, "Not really. Besides the foreigners who fly over here, there are also Hong Kong people who come through the port on their own. They don't have to travel with a group. With a travel permit, they have to report to the local police station and get a stamp every time they arrive in a place to register a temporary residence. When they leave, they also have to cancel their residence, otherwise they won't be able to cross the port when they go back.

A large part of these people don't have much money. The most valuable thing they might have is a camera. They are also stingy when eating, unable to afford the dishes at the Wild Game Restaurant, and can only eat at ordinary state-owned restaurants. They can only stay in designated small guesthouses. They don't work hard in their units and come here to suffer. I don't know why."

(Hong Kong independent travelers in the 1970s buy orange juice on the streets of Chengdu. Travel permits can be applied for directly at international travel agency stores.)

Lao Peng took another sip of wine and said with a smile, "I can't understand what those foreigners are saying, and I can't understand what those people from Hong Kong are saying. I heard some things from people at the import and export company. They said that there are also many poor people in foreign countries. Some people can't even get enough to eat, and no one cares about them. In short, it's not that good."

Zhong Zihong smacked his lips, a look of regret on his face, "That's pitiful."

Afterward, Zhang Wenliang asked Lao Peng about his experiences in the provincial capital. While they were talking, Dajiang hurried in and handed a book to Lao Peng, "Dad, is this the one?"

Lao Peng took it in his hand, "Yes, yes, this is it."

Zhong Zihong raised his head and smiled, "Dajiang, eat with us here."

But Dajiang smiled and waved his hand, while walking out, "No, no, there's some outside, you guys eat yours."

As he spoke, he disappeared.

Lao Peng handed the album in his hand to Zhong Zihong and said with a smile, "This is the 'Wild Game Cookbook'. I've eaten a few of the dishes inside, and they taste really good."

Zhong Zihong didn't take it, but raised his hand and declined, smiling, "I can't understand it, please let Teacher Chen take a look."

Lao Peng then handed it to Chen Fan.

Chen Fan was not polite, and took it directly. He flipped through it briefly and found that this book was more like a menu than a cookbook. Cookbooks would have detailed introductions to the cooking methods, but this only talked about a little about the cooking methods, making it almost impossible to replicate.

It introduced the varieties and packaging specifications of the import and export company's wild game, with more than 20 kinds of wild game.

There were 27 finished dish recipes, from "Braised Bear's Paw" to "Lilac Roe Deer Leg", from "Grilled Lamb Skewers" to "Salt and Pepper Reed Buntings", enough for two tables of wild game feasts.

(Braised Bear's Paw)

With this cookbook, Zhong Zihong and the others no longer doubted Lao Peng's earlier statement that he couldn't cook wild game.

They had never even heard of these dishes in the book, let alone seen them. Could someone like Lao Peng make them?

So, after briefly circulating the cookbook, they talked about the interesting stories Lao Peng had just told.

Finally, the cookbook was passed back to Lao Peng, but he reached out and handed it to Chen Fan, smiling, "Teacher Chen, it's a waste to keep this in my hands. I heard that you are good at cooking, so I'll give this to you."

Chen Fan thought that his level five cooking skills had not gained experience points for "a long time", and he was indeed very interested in wild game, so he did not decline. After thanking him, he took it in his hand.

However, besides cooking, he was more interested in Lao Peng's skills. He put the book on the bench, raised his wine glass and toasted him, smiling, "Master Peng, besides using guns, what other methods do you use for hunting?"

Lao Peng understood the implication. If Chen Fan was just curious, he should have asked him about the hunting process, rather than what skills he used. Since he asked this, he probably wanted to learn hunting skills from him.

He pondered for two seconds, then raised his head and smiled, "Besides being good at shooting, the people in the hunting team basically have a unique skill. Some set traps, and some use poison. At that time, there was a Guangxi guy in the team who could hit wherever he aimed with a flying stone, even hitting around corners. Everyone thought it was amazing."

Chen Fan widened his eyes. He also thought it was amazing. Stones turning corners? Isn't that the primitive version of gun fu?

He quickly asked, "Do you know this skill?"

Lao Peng shook his head and smiled, "He did teach us, but no one could learn it. He said that you have to start practicing from a young age. He also practiced for nearly twenty years before he mastered this flying stone skill."

After a pause, he added, "I can't do flying stones, and I can't use poison. I only know a little about setting traps, and then there's archery."

Speaking of archery, he couldn't help but smile, "I've been practicing my archery since I was a child. Although it can't turn corners, it can also hit wherever it's aimed, without deviating at all."

After speaking, his face became a little黯然, "Unfortunately, everyone used guns later, so the skill of archery was used less and less. Later, my leg was broken, and I couldn't use my waist and legs, so half of my archery skills were gone. I can only shoot things closer, I can't shoot far."

Chen Fan blinked. You can't shoot far, but I can!

He immediately chuckled, "Master Peng, I have a request."

Lao Peng turned to look at him and smiled, "Want to learn archery?"

Chen Fan nodded repeatedly, "Is it possible?"

Lao Peng had been mentally prepared for this, and immediately laughed, "It's rare that Teacher Chen is interested, why not."