[Ding! Mission to enter Kong Qingfeng's memory fragments complete!]
[Reward: Knife Skill Proficiency +10086!]
Just as Zhou Yan lay down, a notification popped up in his eyes.
Zhou Yan's eyes lit up. There really was a reward!
And it was knife skill proficiency!
Adding points!
He glanced at the panel, the knife skill section read:
[Knife Skill (Advanced): 16686/100000]
Proficiency had increased significantly, already far surpassing his intermediate-level skills in seasoning and heat control.
Zhou Yan closed his eyes, his mind flashing back to various scenes of Kong Qingfeng honing his knife skills.
When he opened his eyes again, he seemed to have a sudden realization.
This feeling is hard to describe, it might only be truly felt when actually cutting ingredients.
In fact, once knife skills reach an advanced level, they are sufficient for most occasions and dishes.
Beyond that, it's the subtle differences in details.
Only when using certain ingredients that require precise handling can the difference in top-notch knife skills be truly revealed.
Today's trip was very beneficial for Zhou Yan.
He only had a vague understanding of the matter of teaching apprentices. Little Zhou's memory was still that of an apprentice practicing knife skills, cutting endless potatoes and radishes.
Zhou Lihui had been working as a helper at the restaurant for over a month, but he still hadn't figured out how to teach him to cook.
Through Kong Qingfeng's fragmented memories, he saw the complete closed loop of the Kong Sect's inheritance.
Starting with knife skills and techniques, the apprentices are taught how to select ingredients and how to learn simple dishes, gradually growing into qualified chefs before finally graduating.
This is the true inheritance of the Kong Sect, not just a few famous Kong Sect's dishes.
For Zhou Yan, this was even more valuable than those 10,086 points of proficiency.
With the restaurant business booming, training apprentices also needs to be put on the agenda.
...
The next day, at the crack of dawn, Comrade Little Zhou and Comrade Old Zhou went out to buy groceries.
They went back to Zhou Village to buy beef. Zhou Yan picked out the meat and asked Comrade Old Zhou to wait for it to be cut up, while he rode his bicycle back to the old house.
The sky wasn't fully light yet, but the courtyard was already illuminated by a dim, yellowish light.
"Coo coo coo—!"
The old woman's voice came from the yard, she was probably feeding the chickens.
Zhou Yan went up and knocked on the door, calling out, "Grandma!"
"Who is it?"
"It's me, Zhou Yan!"
The courtyard gate opened, and the old lady, holding a spoon, smiled at Zhou Yan, who was standing at the gate, and asked, "Zhou Yan, what brings you here so early?"
"Grandma, do you remember when my mom asked to borrow your blue and white porcelain bowl last time?" Zhou Yan said with a smile.
"Your mom said she wanted to borrow it to take pictures, that you wanted to be in some magazine. What? You want to borrow the bowl again?" the old lady asked, looking at him.
"This time I'm not borrowing your bowl. I'm inviting you to be interviewed by the deputy editor of Sichuan Cuisine magazine and talk about your story of selling braised food at Suji Bridge back then." Zhou Yan said with a smile, "I'm going to put you in a magazine, a professional culinary magazine, so that people all over the country will know that you, Zhang Shufen, make good braised food."
The old lady waved her hand upon hearing this: "What's so great about making braised food? Getting it published in a magazine would just make people laugh."
"You have so much to say about making braised food. You can tell the deputy editor how you inherited and carried forward this skill from your maternal great grandfather, how you made Zhang Ji Braised Food a delicious memory for the people of Jiazhou from a small stall, how you raised five sons with just a braised food stall, and how you passed this skill on to me so that it can be passed down." Zhou Yan looked at the old lady earnestly: "Grandma, no one will laugh at you."
The old lady looked at him in silence for a moment, then asked, "What kind of shady magazine is this? It even gets published for casual gossip?"
"Grandma, 'Sichuan Cuisine' magazine is a professional cooking magazine, sponsored by the Provincial Catering Service Company. It's a legitimate magazine, and many professional chefs would love to be featured in it." Zhou Yan couldn't help but laugh as he earnestly explained to the old lady, taking the magazine out of the cloth bag in the bicycle basket: "Look, this cover is the one with the blue and white porcelain bowl that my mom borrowed from you last time, and it's the one with the Cross-legged Beef in it."
The old lady held the magazine up to the light, squinted at it for a while, and nodded: "Hmm, well done, quite skillful."
Zhou Yan then opened the magazine and introduced, "Look, these two pages are about the Cross-legged Beef I made. The previous article introduced Master Hua, a top chef at Rongleyuan, and the next article is about Master Xu, a top chef, explaining the methods for making several kinds of noodles with minced pork and vegetables."
"Your Cross-legged Beef is a truly excellent improvement to the soup pot base, and the other dishes are also very well cooked. You deserve the evaluation of a professional chef, and you might even surpass those two master chefs in the future." The old lady looked up at him, smiling, and said, "But do you think it's appropriate for an illiterate old woman from the countryside like me to be placed alongside these masters?"
"This is perfect! Absolutely perfect!" Zhou Yan closed the magazine and looked at the old lady, saying, "Grandma, you're not just a rural old lady, you're a master of braised food, the founder of Zhang Ji Braised Food, the head of the Old Zhou family, the mentor of Zhou Yan, the rising star in the culinary world, the wife of a first-class meritorious official, and the mother of a first-class meritorious official—Comrade Zhang Shufen!"
The old lady stared at him for a moment, a glint of light appearing in her eyes.
"Grandma, you've made braised food for half your life, turning Zhang Ji Braised Food into a delicious memory for a generation of people in Suji. You deserve the title of 'master.'" Zhou Yan said earnestly, "I think you witnessed that turbulent half-century, and a pot of braised food was a part of it all. I think it's worth recording."
The old lady remained silent for a long time before nodding: "Okay, I'll listen to you."
Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Then it's settled. After I finish working at the restaurant at noon today, I'll take Editor-in-Chief He to your home for an interview."
After returning to the stone bridge with the beef, Zhou Yan parked his bicycle in front of Zhang Laosan's meat stall. He glanced at the pig's head and meat and found them to be of good quality. He then asked Comrade Old Zhou to weigh and load the meat onto the bicycle, while he headed towards Laifu's tofu stall.
Today is market day, and there are a lot of people setting up stalls. Some are carrying their own free-range eggs, chickens, ducks, and geese to sell, while others are carrying handmade products such as winnowing baskets, wooden shovels, and brooms. But most of them are selling vegetables.
There were many people rushing to buy things, shoulder to shoulder, and the sounds of hawking and bargaining could be heard everywhere.
"Eighty cents a winnowing basket! No bargaining."
"Forty cents!"
"Where can you cut it in half? That's too low. I only make one a night."
"Thirty cents."
"Fine, fine, I'll sell it to you for forty cents. I'll buy two pieces of tofu to cook with meat."
Zhou Yan bought two bunches of fresh, tender bok choy and saw the tofu stall surrounded by people from afar.
Laifu was weighing tofu for a customer with a smile on his face. The scale was as high as ever, and business was booming.
As Zhou Yan approached, an older woman was paying for a block of tofu, muttering, "Make more next time. I was planning to buy two more blocks to fry and send to my youngest daughter. Your tofu is better than others."
"He can't hear." Zhou Yan reminded her with a smile.
"I know, I just like to recite a few lines." The aunt smiled and handed the money to Laifu, then looked at Zhou Yan and recommended, "This boy is very honest. He always gives extra when weighing tofu, and the tofu he makes is delicious. But he's sold out today, so you'll have to come earlier next time if you want to buy some."
"Okay." Zhou Yan nodded with a smile.
On the small table, the two slabs of tofu were sold out. A few customers glanced at them, then left somewhat disappointed.
Laifu looked at Zhou Yan and smiled broadly, his smile as pure as ever.
He handed Zhou Yan a basket covered with gauze, along with a large bundle of bundled dried bean curd sticks.
Zhou Yan reached out and took it, glancing at his hands covered in blood blisters. The basket was filled with dried tofu, quite heavy, and that large bunch of dried bean curd sticks weighed at least ten jin.
There was a note on the basket that read: Dried tofu – 10 jin, dried bean curd sticks – 16 jin, Total: 16.8 yuan.
Zhou Yan put down the basket, picked up the scale nearby, and weighed the dried bean curd sticks again: 16 jin and 6 liang.
Then he weighed the dried tofu: 10 jin and 7 liang.
He knew it. Laifu was a simpleton who loved to round down the price.
Zhou Yan handed him seventeen yuan and fifty cents, then took out a pen and paper and wrote, "If the scale is inaccurate next time, I won't buy any more."
Laifu took the money and scratched his head somewhat awkwardly.
Zhou Yan wrote another sentence: "The production of dried bean curd sticks has increased quite a bit, that's good."
Laifu took the pen and paper and wrote, "I helped make some."
Zhou Yan wrote, "How are your grandma's eyes and legs?"
Laifu smiled and wrote, "Her eyes are a little better, but her legs are still the same."
Zhou Yan smiled too. It seemed that his aunt was in a good mood lately. "You've been doing very well lately. I'll go see her later."
Putting away his paper and pen, Zhou Yan picked up his things and turned to leave.
Laifu only sells two slabs (20 jin) of tofu a day now, and it was already sold out before six o'clock.
Zhou Yan estimated that even if he carried four slabs (40 jin) of tofu, he could still sell them all.
But Zhou Yan didn't mention this to him.
Laifu was too thin. With that frail body, carrying 20 jin of tofu, plus 10 jin of dried tofu and 16 jin of dried bean curd sticks all the way to town, the hardship he endured was unimaginable.
Zhou Yan calculated that the dried bean curd stick production capacity had reached 8 jin, and he needed 10 jin of dried tofu a day. Laifu could earn 10.4 yuan a day just from him.
The profit margin is over 50%, which is about 5.2 yuan.
They earn two yuan for every two slabs of tofu they make.
The grandmother and grandson now earn over seven yuan a day.
That's nearly two hundred yuan a month.
This income far exceeds that of an average textile factory worker.
Of course, Zhou Yan didn't need to see the process of grinding tofu, making dried bean curd sticks, and drying tofu by hand to fully imagine how arduous it was, they must be busy all day long.
But being tired is better than seeing no hope at all.
His aunt's medical treatment cost money, and Laifu had to earn that money with his own hands.
"Zhou Yan, your dad said you were on the cover of a magazine? You're quite the promising kid!" Zhang Laosan exclaimed, looking at Zhou Yan as he approached, his eyes filled with envy for someone else's child.
Zhou Yan glanced at Comrade Old Zhou beside him, a smile playing on his lips, and nodded. "Yes, it's the latest issue of 'Sichuan Cuisine' magazine. Uncle Zhang, you can subscribe to a copy later."
"Okay." Zhang Laosan nodded, then looked at the large bundle of dried bean curd sticks he was carrying and said, "So much dried bean curd sticks? I heard that this stuff is very troublesome to make, and it doesn't weigh much."
"Yes, the restaurant needs a lot of braised vegetables, so it's quite a hassle to make." Zhou Yan nodded.
"This kid is really sensible. Yesterday he came to my stall and bought a piece of lard and pork belly. I charged him eighty cents a jin. This morning he came and brought me two pieces of tofu, insisting on not taking any money." Zhang Laosan said with emotion. "Although he can't speak, but he's as clear-headed as a mirror."
"Thank you for taking care of him, Uncle Zhang." Zhou Yan said.
Zhang Laosan patted his chest and said, "No need to thank me. Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on him. If anyone dares to bully him, I'll definitely stand up for him."
"That's good." Zhou Yan and Comrade Old Zhou rode their bicycles back, their hearts warmed. They were all such good people.
The morning was still busy.
Business closed.
Zhou Yan emerged from the kitchen and noticed a message popping up on the corner of his eye:
[Side Quest: The Battle to Protect the Heritage of Xiba Tofu! Progress: 50%]