Reborn in 1977

Chapter 634: Celebrating the Holiday

September 17th, Mid-Autumn Festival.

At this time, the Mid-Autumn Festival was not yet a statutory holiday, but coincidentally, today was Sunday, with no work or classes. Almost all the common people were beaming with joy, treating it as a Mid-Autumn holiday, without disrupting work and still allowing for family reunions.

Early in the morning, Jiang Tiantian and Jiang Lili got up at the same time. Subsequently, Jiang Tiantian assigned tasks, leaving her younger sister at home to clean, while she went out to purchase ingredients for the festival.

She tied a string to her small handgun, tucked it into her pants pocket, and covered it with the hem of her clothes.

With her current skills, it was almost impossible to be robbed, especially with such caution.

Then, she took the money and ration coupons, and rode her bicycle to the vegetable market.

Along the way, there were significantly more people buying groceries than usual, each carrying a shopping basket, chatting and laughing as they headed to the market and non-staple food stores.

Although today was not a statutory holiday, the festive atmosphere was not much weaker than the Spring Festival.

During the Spring Festival, each resident would receive an increased quota of cooking oil, melon seeds, peanuts, candies, and other foods. The Mid-Autumn Festival was the only other day besides the Spring Festival when non-staple foods were specially supplied.

Needless to say, the special supply was naturally mooncakes.

(Buying mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival)

Therefore, children in these years loved two festivals the most: the Mid-Autumn Festival for eating mooncakes and the Spring Festival for wearing new clothes.

The amount of mooncakes supplied varied across the country, depending on the region, the organization, and the changes over time.

In some years, when resources were relatively abundant, each person could buy one mooncake. If resources were insufficient, then sorry… for example, one year in Tianjin, the standard was half a mooncake per person. If it was a family of three with two adults and one child, they would only get one, even less.

But if the child was older, and the whole family went to queue up, they could buy 1.5 mooncakes.

Therefore, in the memories of people in the 60s and 70s, “dividing mooncakes” almost became an indispensable ritual for celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival, and that small piece of mooncake received was particularly sweet.

There were also times when the quota was larger. If you were lucky, each person could get one mooncake. While it seemed to save the trouble of cutting the mooncake, children would scan the few mooncakes available with the eyes of a reconnaissance agent, hoping to get the biggest one.

In fact, they were all made from the same standard mold, and the portions were about the same. How could it be so easy to distinguish the size?

In the end, you could only choose one at random, and while nibbling on your mooncake, you would look at the ones in other people's hands, always feeling that theirs was bigger than yours.

Then, you would sigh in your heart, feeling like you had lost out!

Although there weren't enough mooncakes to go around, families with the means would find ways to make their own.

They would buy some walnuts, peanuts, white sesame seeds, candied winter melon, rock sugar, and other ingredients. The peanuts would be roasted, the walnuts peeled and crushed, and then mixed evenly with rock sugar and candied winter melon to make the mooncake filling.

If there were really no conditions, any sweet thing would do.

Then, lard would be mixed into the flour, gently rubbed and kneaded, little by little, until the flour was evenly mixed. It would then be divided into small balls, rolled out like dumpling skins, wrapped with mooncake filling, dipped in a little white sesame seeds, placed in a mold and pressed hard a few times, then gently tapped out to form the mooncake.

Finally, it would be placed in the oven, and before long, the whole house would be filled with fragrance.

If there was no oven, then it would be steamed. Anyway, it just needed to look the part.

If even that wasn't possible, then don't make it and watch others eat.

Jiang Tiantian glanced at the crowd in front of the supply and marketing cooperative, recalling the scene of making mooncakes with her parents and younger sister when she was a child, and a smile couldn't help but appear on the corner of her mouth.

Soon, she arrived at the vegetable market, pushed her bicycle to the designated parking lot, paid 1 fen, received a stamped paper ticket, and entered the market.

In these years, there were designated bicycle parking lots, which could also park tricycles and motorcycles. If it didn't exceed 1 hour, it would only cost 1 fen.

If it exceeded 1 hour, it would cost 2 fen, and you could park for a whole day.

In addition to the paper ticket as proof, there were also small wooden signs wrapped with rubber bands, which could be used repeatedly.

The parking lot attendants were usually elderly men or women. These positions did not have formal staffing and were temporary workers. Their wages were paid from the parking fees.

Small places were fine, but in big cities, a month's salary was not less than that of a formal worker. Later, when reform and opening up allowed private contracting, they mostly took over the business.

Don't underestimate this inconspicuous parking lot, which earns small money, one or two fen at a time. Hmph, hmph, perhaps among these old men and women, there are the earliest batch of ten-thousand-yuan households.

The profits here are considerable!

Jiang Tiantian entered the market, buying a piece of streaky pork here and a large white fish there. In the aquatic product area, seeing the strong and fat hairy crabs, she couldn't help but buy 10 of them in one breath.

The price of hairy crabs was very touching, similar to pork, about 7 mao per jin. Shanghai, as a big port, had many rules, and even required fish coupons.

Originally, Jiang Tiantian and Jiang Lili were both college students, only receiving meal tickets at school, and did not have resident non-staple food booklets and coupons.

But who told Chen Fan to be so thick-skinned.

Every time he came to Shanghai, he would run to the Writers Association and shamelessly ask for coupons.

He would use national grain coupons to exchange for various oil and non-staple food coupons that the unit couldn't use up. In addition to meat and fish coupons, there were also many sugar and fruit coupons.

Originally, the Writers Association didn't lack national grain coupons, but they couldn't resist his persistent begging, and each time they suffered a "heavy loss."

Moreover, he also had Overseas Chinese Remittance Certificates and foreign exchange given by Zhou Yali. With these things, he could buy things at foreign-related stores, so there were fewer opportunities to use coupons.

Therefore, the family didn't lack coupons at all.

Not to mention ordinary coupons, he could easily get back even scarce commodities.

After buying meat, fish, and crabs, she went to buy tofu and vegetables. Carrying the full shopping basket, Jiang Tiantian turned to the non-staple food store next door.

Similar to grain coupons, she and her sister's mooncake coupons could only be redeemed at school, and only for half a mooncake.

It didn't matter, her sister had learned how to make mooncakes from Chen Fan, and there was an oven at home, so she would buy some materials and make them herself.

In fact, there was also a simple way, which was to take the Overseas Chinese Remittance Certificate and go directly to the foreign-related store to buy as many as you wanted.

But wasn't today the Mid-Autumn Festival? The two sisters didn't want to go out anyway. Since they were idle at home, they might as well make mooncakes themselves and pass the time.

Finally, she bought a bag of fruit, including pomelos, apples, and bananas, and also bought a lot of melon seeds and peanuts, which could be regarded as having equipped all the standard items for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

There were too many things, hanging on the bicycle handlebars, and it was a bit heavy.

Pushing the bicycle out, the old man stopped her at the entrance to ask for the ticket. Jiang Tiantian handed over the ticket and rode home.

When she got home, Jiang Lili had already mopped the upstairs and downstairs clean. Although the weather was already a bit cool, she was only wearing a single layer of clothing, and there was a layer of fine sweat on her forehead.

Seeing her sister come back, she immediately stepped forward to take the basket and net bag, "Oh, there are only two of us, why did you buy so many things?"

Jiang Tiantian smiled, while changing her shoes, she said, "I unknowingly bought so much."

Then she said, "It's okay, the weather is getting cooler, and there is a refrigerator. If we can't finish it today, then we'll leave it for tomorrow."

Jiang Lili walked inside carrying things, and was still saying, "It would be great if Xiao Fan was here, he could eat it all by himself."

Thinking of that morning, at the breakfast shop near Changchun Railway Station, Chen Fan's appetite stunned many people, and the two sisters couldn't help but laugh.

But in the next second, Jiang Lili's face collapsed, and she muttered, "It's a pity he's not here."

Jiang Tiantian followed her into the kitchen, tidying up the things they had bought while saying, "Missing him? Then go give him a call. I can take care of things here."

Jiang Lili blinked, turned to look at her, and after a moment of contemplation, said, "Let's go together."

Jiang Tiantian smiled, "I'll go over later when I call Mom and Dad."

"Tch."

Jiang Lili pulled her and walked out, "Don't tell me you won't talk to Xiaofan when the call connects?"

Jiang Tiantian's gaze sharpened, but she quickly returned to normal, "Alright, alright, I'll go, okay? But I have to wash my hands first."

The two sisters quickly washed up and ran to the sofa, lying down. Jiang Lili picked up the phone and dialed the number by turning the rotary dial.

Half an hour, an hour, two hours… the phone still hadn't been answered.

While waiting, Jiang Tiantian turned on the large color TV that Zhou Yali had bought when she bought the air conditioner, and snuggled up with her sister to watch TV.

Today was Sunday, and there were no TV programs during the day, only at night.

However, the local Shanghai station would rebroadcast programs that had been broadcasted on CCTV, and the content was random.

At this time, the TV was showing a performance by the famous Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa conducting the Central Orchestra Symphony Orchestra in a symphonic concert.

This was one of the activities of the Japanese delegation's visit to China not long ago.

As a result, after the symphony ended, the phone still hadn't made any sound.

Jiang Lili leaned on her sister, looking utterly despondent, "I can't even get through on the phone."

She had dialed the guest house of the Provincial Cultural Palace, the Lujiawan Brigade headquarters, and the phone at the cotton mill's home, and then waited for the echo of the call being connected.

Unfortunately, nothing.

Jiang Tiantian hugged her back, her face against the top of her head, "It's the Mid-Autumn Festival, there must be a lot of people making calls, it's normal if you can't get through."

Then she smiled and comforted, "Anyway, you're in line, you'll always get through. If they call back in the evening, it'll be just in time to enjoy the moon, wouldn't that be even better?!"

That's what she said, but in her eyes, there was also a hint of invisible loss.

These days, to make a long-distance call, you had to dial the other side's telephone bureau first, and then enter a queue to wait. At this time, you could hang up the phone, and when the other side connected, the telephone bureau would call back, and then you could talk.

As for when it would get through, just wait.

Jiang Lili understood this principle, she was just complaining.

After listening to her sister's words, she immediately cheered up and sat up straight, saying, "Then let's go make mooncakes."

Jiang Tiantian tightened her arm around her, and said as she stood up, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go."

Turning off the TV, the two sisters ran to the kitchen to get busy.

They ate something simple for lunch, and by evening, when the sky was turning dark, the two of them carried a small round table to the yard in front of the house.

The yard here was relatively simple, with an open space just inside the iron gate. The van that was left here was parked in the side yard, and there was a large tree planted in a flower bed between the two yards.

They moved the table to the center of the front yard, and above them was a patch of sky.

Then, plates of dishes were brought to the table, including someone's favorite braised pork, someone's favorite big white fish, someone's favorite hairy crabs, someone's favorite West Lake beef soup, and someone's favorite…

When they saw this table of delicacies, the two sisters realized, how come everything was someone's favorite?

Jiang Tiantian glanced at her sister guiltily, she herself was also a little dazed.

She hadn't paid attention at all when she was buying them, she just bought them because they looked good.

Jiang Lili scratched her head, and suddenly grinned, "If Xiaofan were here, he would definitely be very happy."

Jiang Tiantian pursed her lips, wanting to explain, but in the end, she swallowed it back.

Forget it, there was no way to explain this, the more she explained, the more confusing it would be. Anyway, they also liked these things, so let it be.

Today was a special day, and the two of them carried four chairs, because Ban Jin and Ba Liang were also at the table.

With a stool added to the chairs, the two cats squatted on the stools, staring eagerly at the table full of delicacies, and couldn't help but push their plates forward.

Jiang Tiantian smiled and gave them dried small fish, and the two cats immediately started eating.

Jiang Lili then picked up a bottle of old yellow wine and poured a glass for herself and her sister, "Last year during the Mid-Autumn Festival, we drank Xiaofan's own brewed yellow wine. He said that yellow wine is best drunk during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and it should be heated with ginger and red dates to neutralize the coldness of the crabs."

Putting down the wine bottle, Jiang Lili couldn't help but be a little lost in thought.

Jiang Tiantian pulled her chair closer to her and sat down, gently putting her arm around her shoulder, "If you miss him, go see him."

Jiang Lili came back to her senses, pursed her lips and smiled, "I'd rather not, what if he has something important to do."

As she spoke, her gaze unconsciously drifted to the telephone in the living room, but unfortunately, it still hadn't rung.

There were so many people making calls today, it was a bit annoying.

Jiang Tiantian took a deep breath, then smiled softly, "That means he's capable. Lujiawan, the machinery factory, and even the Writers Association can't do without him. He helped them set up breeding and sideline factories in Lujiawan, and designed cars at the machinery factory, adding a car factory to Yunhu.

Even in the Writers Association, he set up a correspondence course for literary training and started a new magazine…"

Speaking here, she stopped without warning, and actually began to stare blankly with her sister.

After an unknown amount of time, the two cats suddenly meowed twice. Jiang Tiantian suddenly woke up and realized that the plates in front of them were already empty. She couldn't help but smile dumbly, "You really are two gluttonous cats."

Ban Jin and Ba Liang didn't understand what she was saying, and still looked at her expectantly. Otherwise, the two cats would have argued a few words, eating some small dried fish makes them gluttonous cats?

You guys still eat so many dishes!

The two sisters together gave the two cats dried fish in their plates, then put down their chopsticks, smiled at each other, picked up the wine glasses in front of them, and clinked them together.

Jiang Lili, "Sister, I wish you a happy, fulfilling, healthy, and peaceful Mid-Autumn Festival."

Jiang Tiantian also said with a smile, "I also wish you a happy Mid-Autumn Festival, peace, and happiness."

Just as the two sisters were about to drink, there was a sound at the door.

They all looked at the cold iron gate.

The next second, a familiar voice rang out, "Hey, are you guys drinking? You didn't even wait for me, hurry up and open the door."

Jiang Lili jumped up with a whoosh, ran over quickly, opened the small iron gate, and a familiar face appeared in front of her. At this time, she didn't even care that her sister was behind her, and hugged Chen Fan's neck, "Ah, how did you come here?"

There was no need to raise a glass to invite the bright moon, there were already three people in front of them.

Chen Fan sat down at the table and put the homemade yellow wine he had brought on the table, "What's so good about your wine? Drink this, I brewed it myself, it's much better than that."

With one more person, the atmosphere at this time was completely different, and bursts of laughter were heard from the small courtyard from time to time.

Only the two cats stared expectantly at the three little chicks in front of their masters, which seemed to have grown a little bigger than last time, and had more meat.

But they were still small and tender, and looked very delicious.