The Northern Stories of Chef Lao Tan

Chapter 238 Xilinhot
Although birth, old age, sickness and death are normal phenomena, the pain of losing a loved one has not fallen on me, so I will not empathize with it.

It's hard for anyone to lose a loved one.

The comforting words are too empty and weak, and you still need to be strong.

When people come to this world, although no one intends to go back alive, they must live well.

Living well in the ordinary sense may just be living, three meals a day, sunrise and sunset, eyes open and closed.To rise to a higher level, people should live meaningfully, have value, and create something.

The reason is very simple, eat to live, live only to eat?

How many people who complain and hate understand this truth, but dare not face it, and live in cynicism with reasons full of excuses.

Crying when you are sad is just like laughing when you are happy, it is a kind of emotional catharsis.Otherwise, you won’t be able to cry when you cry, you won’t be able to laugh if you laugh, and even your normal emotional functions will be lost, so what’s the point of being alive?It's better to pack up and die.

As long as people are alive, they look forward and are happy. No one knows which will come first tomorrow, accident or surprise, and the main thing is to live well today.

No matter how far it is in the future, it will come one day, no matter how close it was yesterday, there is no going back.

Live today, live now, it doesn’t matter if you are brilliant or not, no one has ever rehearsed, just be fulfilled.

Old Tan originally planned to stay in the provincial capital for a few more days, to accompany Zhang Li and his son.In the past few days, I have established a good friendship with my son. The father and son are talking and laughing, envious of others.

But Wang Shulan called and said that she was going to open a second store in Xilinhot and asked him to check it out.

There is another thing in between.

Although Boss Bai, who has been supplying Cordyceps chickens to Ah Qiao, has expanded his breeding, the mountains in Wuchuan are limited, and there are always wolves, foxes, and boars in some places, which are not suitable for breeding, so he contacted two breeders in Xilinhot through his comrades-in-arms. merge.

In addition, Aqiao also drove to Xilinhot, so I asked Lao Tan to go and have a look.

Ah Qiao now has [-] shops, and each shop counts eight chickens per day, [-] chickens a month, and more than [-] chickens a year, which is not a small number.Although Boss Bai's farm can supply it, what about in the future?

The expansion of Aqiao's prosperity has driven Boss Bai's business along with the trend, and he has made a lot of money in the past two years.

Boss Bai should be the one who hopes for the best of Aqiao the most. If Aqiao quits, his chickens will be raised for nothing.This is the same as the food chain, not to be eaten, but to be supplied.

It stands to reason that he had nothing to do with Lao Tan when he went to visit the farm. The reason why he called Lao Tan was obvious - to take the opportunity to enhance friendship.

Lao Tan decided to go to have his own purpose - to see Dongsu mutton.

Now Aqiao has mutton dishes in his recipes, but it is not ideal. He has always wanted to serve a good mutton dish. He has the kind that no other family has, and it has become the main dish like "sautéed yellow beef".

The current main dishes include "little stupid chicken", "slightly fried yellow beef", "casserole fish head", "traditional pot-wrapped meat" and "smashing meatballs". There is no mutton dish.

The mutton in Inner Mongolia is best in Dongsu, where the pastures are good and there are slices of shallots. The sheep there eat Chinese herbal medicine, drink mineral water, and pull Liuwei Dihuang Wan.

So Dongsu mutton is called "grassland abalone".

In view of this, Lao Tan is going to have a look and try to negotiate a slaughterhouse for long-term supply.

Whether the dish is good or not, the ingredients are the most important. Only good ingredients can make a good dish with authentic taste.

So I made an appointment with Wang Shulan and Boss Bai, and he set off for Xilinhot in the provincial capital.

Xilinhot is located in the central part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, just north of the capital Beijing, and is the seat of the Xilin Gol League.It is [-] kilometers long from north to south and [-] kilometers from east to west, with an urban area of ​​[-] square kilometers.It is a frontier ethnic minority area with Mongolian as the main body, Han nationality as the majority, and multi-ethnic groups living together.

The terrain is high in the south and low in the north, with an area of ​​more than 500,000 million mu of grassland and nearly [-] mu of woodland. There are various animal and plant resources and a complete range of grassland types, suitable for breeding Cordyceps chickens.Of course, sheep are the most farmed.

You can't see the grassland scenery in this season, otherwise there are many scenic spots, the most famous ones are Beizi Temple and Xilin Jiuqu, which are worth seeing.

It was almost dark when Lao Tan arrived, so he was taken directly to the hotel.

Wang Shulan prepared a reception banquet. During the banquet, there were two city leaders, two heads of Sumu (equivalent to the district), and the father of Hohhot TV station Kang Min (the former owner of the restaurant), and Boss Bai.

The two city leaders were a man and a woman. The man was in charge of personnel affairs and was transferred from Hohhot. He and Wang Shulan were old acquaintances.The woman is in the Food and Drug Administration and is the mother-in-law of the restaurant.

The two leaders of Su Mu are both men, and they are in charge of Chaoke Wula and Bao Ligen.

In Inner Mongolia, even the Han people have the hospitality and boldness of the Mongolian people, so the meal was very lively and happy, and they drank a lot of wine, on average, one bottle per person.

It is also good for Lao Tan to drink a lot. After drinking half a catty with several leaders, he began to call him brothers. After drinking one catty, he became old friends for many years.

"Mr. Tan, you really can drink." After sending Lao Tan to the hotel, Wang Shulan said while sitting on the sofa.

"It doesn't work anymore, I have high blood pressure, so I dare not drink too hard." Old Tan said.

"The people here are very hospitable and nice. I have a good relationship with them."

"You can make friends wherever you go, the shop is open."

Wang Shulan smiled and said, "Tomorrow morning, I will go to the store. At noon, the leader of Baoligen will serve a table to eat at Xibei here. Come and see how Xibei is. The store we are looking at is next to Xibei."

"Okay." Old Tan said.

"Go to Boss Bai's comrade-in-arms the day after tomorrow. His comrade-in-arms is in a pastoral area. It's far away from here. You have to leave early, or you won't be able to come back at night, and you have to change to an off-road vehicle."

"Oh, is that so, how far?" Old Tan asked.

"Nearly eighty kilometers."

"The grassland is still big." Lao Tan sighed.

"Yes. Dongsu is far away from here. I have to walk for a day. I asked them to say hello to the banner chief. We will be received when we arrive." Wang Shulan said.

"You really have the ability to do things." Old Tan praised.

"What ability does this have? We are all friends. It's a matter of one sentence. Besides, it's for ourselves. We're not a family."

Come to think of it, it is indeed a family, and she is also the director of Aqiao.

"You're tired too. After a day's driving, go to bed early. I'll live in the next room. Call me if you need anything."

Wang Shulan got up and went out. She also drank a lot of wine. When she got up, she swayed a little, staggered two steps, her high heels got in the way, and she almost fell.

Lao Tan hurried forward to help him, but he didn't fall down, but his body fell into his arms.

Both of them were embarrassed and blushed a little.

Wang Shulan stood upright, her red face matched with the redness after drinking, she was quite charming.

Old Tan took a step back subconsciously, blushing and said: "Be careful, walk slowly."

"Heck, look at your blushing, I'm your sister, what are you afraid of?"

After speaking, Wang Shulan chuckled, opened the door and left.

Old Tan stood there mumbling: "This woman is scary."

This woman is indeed frightening, almost all the men she likes can win, this cannot be said to be frivolous, everyone has the right to like the person they admire.

In the current words, I appreciate and I like it, and I will give birth to monkeys for you.

The charm of Lao Tan is that he looks like a man, he is a man, although he looks fierce, he is not a handsome man, but he is the idol of middle-aged and elderly women.

In fact, seducing him is very simple, just show the tenderness of a woman - he hasn't eaten meat for more than ten years.

It doesn't hurt to bury old Tan here.

When he was lying on the bed and was about to go to sleep, the phone rang and Zhang Li called.

"Are you there?" Zhang Li asked.

"We're here, we've finished eating." Old Tan said.

"I went to play golf with your son today." Zhang Li said, she was very happy to hear the voice, and it was no longer the sadness of the first few days.

"Go with Yanhua?" Old Tan asked.

Zhang Li hummed, and then said: "Your son is handsome, sensible, and good at playing football."

"Really, then follow me."

"Smelly, you are not as handsome as your son, you are just a bandit."

"Hehe, there are bandits in the first place, and those who work in the kitchen are all bandits and hooligans."

"Looking at your son, I want a child. If only I had a child as old as your son—"

"Hurry up and start a family, and hurry up to have a baby." Old Tan said.

There was silence for a while, and said: "Old Tan, let's have a baby, and I will raise it myself after the birth, without you."

Lao Tan was speechless and didn't know what to say.

"I like girls—" Zhang Li said leisurely.

"Very good." Old Tan said bravely.

"I don't know if I can still give birth—"

"can."

"I'm 46, that's enough - I'll go to the hospital for a check-up one day, and I'm not normal recently, and it still hurts."

"What day is it, I will go tomorrow, don't delay."

"It's nothing serious, it's just a feeling—don't worry, you won't die."

"What do you say?"

The two chatted for a while, and before hanging up the phone, Zhang Li said to wait for Lao Tan to come back to the hospital, but Lao Tan told her not to wait, because he would return directly to Hohhot, and the soonest would be the provincial capital before the Spring Festival.

(End of this chapter)