From the History of the Republic of China to Raising Children in the 1970s

25

Hu Liren winked at him mysteriously, "I'll take you to a nice place!"

"Okay, you arrange it!" Li Chengye was already a little worried about dinner, and he didn't want to go home to bother Li's mother. Since Hu Liren had a place to eat, it would save trouble.

"Let's go, let's go quickly." Upon hearing his promise, Hu Liren started to pack up without delay, and casually urged Li Chengye to hurry up.

After locking the door, the two went outside. At this time, there were no people in the union. Except for some people on duty in the workshop, the outside was already empty.

Under the leadership of Hu Liren, they turned left and right after leaving the factory gate, and after about ten minutes, they arrived at a remote alley. It was hot in the summer, and there were still many people in the alley enjoying the cool outside. Some people even took down the door panels, set them up with two benches, and put them in the yard to sleep outside at night.

Walking to the end of the alley, a wall appeared in front of them, and there was no way out.

Hu Liren took two quick steps and knocked on the door of the house closest to the wall.

The door of the yard was closed, and there was a strong sweet-scented osmanthus fragrance coming from inside. It seemed that the knocking sound was relatively quiet, and the people inside did not hear it. Hu Liren knocked heavily a few more times.

"Uncle Jiu, it's me, Hu Liren, open the door!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Soon the door was opened from the inside, and a middle-aged man in a black cloth shirt and a sturdy figure appeared in front of them.

"Why are you here at this time?" The man was a little surprised to see him, and hurriedly asked them to come in, and carefully looked outside the yard, as if he was afraid that someone would know they were here.

"I just got off work, and I was hungry, so I thought about a bite of food from you." Hu Liren was obviously very familiar with him, and he was very casual as if he was at home. He went straight into the main room, found a table and sat down, and also pulled Li Chengye to sit down.

"Hey, kid, you didn't tell me in advance that there aren't many things left now!" The man was used to it, and followed them in, but his eyes were always on Li Chengye, with some scrutiny in his eyes.

"Hey, make whatever you have, but you have to be more careful today, the taste must be good, this guy is my good brother, I have to treat him well." Hu Liren saw the worry in his eyes and hurried to introduce them.

"Brother Li, this is Uncle Jiu, his cooking skills are quite good, today we have a good meal."

"You are the only one who can talk." As long as they are chefs, most of them hope that others will praise their cooking skills. Uncle Jiu was very happy with Hu Liren's praise.

"Uncle Jiu, I'm sorry to bother you today." Li Chengye smiled and nodded at the other party.

"No, no, is there anything you can't eat? I'll pay attention to it later." Since Hu Liren said he was a good brother, Uncle Jiu was naturally relieved. He learned cooking from a master since he was a child. Before liberation, he worked in a very famous restaurant. Unfortunately, these restaurants were nationalized later, and he lost his job and became a worker in a textile factory.

In the past few years, the crackdown was very strict, and private transactions were not allowed at all. He just cooked at home. This year, the situation has improved a lot, and he secretly opened a private restaurant. Of course, it is called a private restaurant, but in fact, there are only a few very familiar customers, and there are only one or two tables every day. Sometimes he would just cook it and bring it back, for fear that others would know and cause trouble.