MAC’60s Chapter 101.1

The Twenty-Eighth Day of the Twelfth Lunar Month.

The lively atmosphere had begun early in the morning. That was how it was during the New Year—the closer it got, the more excited people became.

The streets were crowded with people everywhere. Regardless of whether they had come out to scramble to buy New Year’s goods, everyone was willing to join in the excitement. Even though there were no longer street performers putting on shows like there had been in the earlier years, the streets were still bustling and lively.

Groups of three or five children ran around setting off firecrackers. Some had small holes burned into their clothes by the firecrackers and were crying their hearts out.

A man with his head and face wrapped up walked through the streets and alleys, his eyes constantly scanning both sides without missing a thing.

Someone was selling roasted sunflower seeds without requiring ration coupons. After all, today was the twenty-eighth. Even the Office for Combating Speculation and Profiteering had to celebrate the New Year, right? So these people were a little bolder than usual.

A boy who looked to be in his early teens noticed the man looking around like this and quietly tried to attract his business.

“Comrade, would you like some roasted sunflower seeds?”

The man with his head wrapped up looked at the children with greed in his eyes. In a fierce, low voice, he said, “No!”

The boy took a step back.

This man is really fierce!

The man with his head wrapped up stared at the children for a while longer before finally turning around and leaving reluctantly.

Not far behind him, the people tailing him: “……”

No, seriously, you’re a child trafficker. Is it really okay for you to be so brazen in the way you speak and act?

Didn’t you notice that even the man selling sunflower seeds just now was staring at you?

Ordinary people in this era were very enthusiastic about helping others. Whenever they encountered bad elements, they would do their best to contribute their own share of effort.

One of the people tailing the man quietly said to his companion, “I’ve made some inquiries. This man seems to be responsible for receiving and assisting the others in their gang.”

In other words, even though this fellow was a child trafficker, he wasn’t one of the main figures.

No wonder this gang of traffickers was so detestable. The main figures responsible for abducting people were the two women, the dwarf, and a young man with a pleasant, approachable appearance.

It was precisely because they looked like people who wouldn’t arouse suspicion that they could commit crimes so recklessly.

Over the past few days, they had compiled the case files from several surrounding counties into one collection. There were at least twenty or thirty children who had been abducted, along with more than a dozen children from rural areas who had gone missing. The statistics for young married women were incomplete, but there were at least a dozen of them as well.

And these were only the cases from several nearby counties. Who knew whether this gang had committed crimes elsewhere, too?

Tell me, weren’t they hateful?

These people had several methods they commonly used. One was to have their informants scout locations in advance. Another was to use the dwarf to lure children, just as they had done last time.

They also had the two women come forward and deceive children by claiming that their own child had gone missing, asking the children to help them look for the child.

The most infuriating method was to have the fierce-looking man from just now pretend to be a married couple with one of the women in their gang. The two would quarrel in the middle of the street, or the man would grab the woman by the hair and accuse her of cheating on him.

Everyone knew that this kind of scandalous spectacle always attracted a crowd, no matter the era. The other members of their gang would take advantage of the commotion to carry the children away.

By the time the parents discovered that their children were missing, these people would have already fled far away.

The two people tailing the man gritted their teeth in anger.

“Tell me, why won’t our leaders arrest them? Haven’t they already been identified as suspects?”

Even though these people were careful in how they operated, there had still been some eyewitnesses over the past few years. Wouldn’t arresting them help get to the bottom of everything?

“You fool! Didn’t you hear what the higher-ups said? This gang is incredibly cunning. Why do you think they dare to come here despite having committed so many crimes? It’s because they have informants in several of the surrounding counties. What we want is to arrest the informants along with them! We also need to obtain solid evidence of their crimes, preferably enough to convict all of them of serious offenses!”

Compared with how hateful the traffickers themselves were, those informants were no less shameless.

Normally, they acted perfectly respectable, no different from ordinary members of the public. Yet secretly, they scouted locations for the traffickers. When the traffickers arrived somewhere, where they should hide, how they should abduct the children, and how they could leave without being caught—all of this was handled by these informants!

It was said that some of the informants were actually relatives or friends of the families whose children had been abducted.

How despicable was that?

Suppressing their anger, the two people continued following the man until they watched him enter a dilapidated residential building. Only then did they stop.

Their job was to keep this place under surveillance and ensure that when these people made their move, they could catch every one of them red-handed.

However, one of the people keeping watch quietly asked his companion, “But you said they came here to lie low until things cooled down. What if they stop abducting children? How are we supposed to catch them in the act then?”

This question was troubling not only the two young men keeping watch, but also the people at the police station.

The veteran policeman frowned. Several officers from other police stations were gathered around him.

This was no small matter. Almost every police officer in their county had been mobilized.

If they managed to solve this case, perhaps all their police stations would receive commendations this year!

“If you ask me, we should just arrest all of them. Once we arrest them and interrogate them, we’ll naturally be able to get some answers.”

“That won’t work. If you don’t catch them in the act, they can simply stubbornly deny everything and get away with it.”

“Then what if they don’t make a move?”

“…In any case, we mustn’t alert the enemy. We still need to catch them at the scene of the crime, round them all up in one sweep, and break through their psychological defenses.”

“That’s easy for you to say. What if they escape again?”

…

The veteran policeman tapped on the table, equally troubled.

At this point, the best approach would be to make these people panic. Once they panicked, they would want to flee. And judging by the nature of this gang, before leaving, they would certainly think about abducting a few children to take along with them.

The key question was, how could they make them panic?

And then there was that Xu Lei. That fellow was quite cautious. With him around, there was a real possibility that he might persuade the traffickers not to act rashly.

The veteran policeman thought to himself that it would be wonderful if an opportunity arose to arrest Xu Lei right now.

…

Xu Lei had sneezed several times in succession ever since getting up early that morning.

Zhang Yun looked nervous. “Have you caught a cold? How about I make you some eggs stewed with ginger?”

Xu Lei rubbed his nose. “I’m fine.”

He really thought this woman, Zhang Yun, was something else. If she wanted to make it, shouldn’t she just prepare it and bring it to him?

Instead, she put on an act and asked whether he wanted any. She really had no ability to read the situation at all!

“I’m going out for a while.”

Xu Lei put on his clothes and quietly took the dozen or so cooked multigrain flatbreads he had brought from home, then went out to deliver food to the gang.

Although those people had money and ration coupons, they didn’t dare light a fire to cook. Therefore, he could only bring them some food every day.

A dozen or so flatbreads certainly wouldn’t be enough. Xu Lei still had to go to a restaurant to buy some braised dishes and other food to deliver along with them.

When Xu Lei stepped out through the main gate, he happened to run into Wang Ying and Xu Shuang at the entrance.

Wang Ying was holding a stick of tanghulu, happily eating it.

Although Xu Shuang had already made up his mind yesterday to forbid her from eating sweets for two days, it was rare to find someone selling tanghulu on the streets!

Wang Ying had stared at Xu Shuang with longing eyes for quite a while, until she finally softened his heart.

They bought one stick of tanghulu. Wang Ying carefully counted out and ate two candied hawthorns, while Xu Shuang had already claimed all the remaining ones.

Xu Lei narrowed his eyes and greeted the young couple.

“Have you two gone out to buy New Year’s goods?”

Xu Shuang gave a brief hum of acknowledgment.

He had already learned from his master why Xu Lei had been secretly carrying food out so frequently lately.

Now, looking at Xu Lei, his already negative first impression of the man sank even lower. He even felt that a trafficker like this shouldn’t be allowed to speak to his pregnant wife.

Seeing how harmonious and affectionate the couple was made Xu Lei feel uncomfortable.

He pretended to speak casually.

“It really is easier when you don’t have children. Your sister-in-law and I haven’t had the time to go out and enjoy ourselves these past few years. Once you have children, you have to put them first in everything.”

Wang Ying sneered inwardly.

Heh. You’re a human trafficker, and you actually have the nerve to stand here talking about putting children first?

Xu Lei exchanged a few more pleasantries before carrying his things and walking away.

Wang Ying leaned close to Xu Shuang’s ear and complained, “This guy really is something. You can’t tell at all just by looking at him.”

Even she had only learned the truth afterward. Looking at him face-to-face, who could possibly know that Xu Lei was a beast in human clothing?

Xu Shuang tightened his grip on her hand.

“Don’t meet him face-to-face for the next few days. Let’s just stay inside. I’ll cook for you.”

It seemed that his master had made some arrangements. Moreover, Xu Shuang had recently begun to sense quite clearly that someone appeared to be watching their residential compound.

They were probably preparing to take action against Xu Lei.

Wang Ying was very willing to listen to his advice.

“Sure!”

Their household had an extremely abundant supply of food. Recently, Wang Ying had been eating all sorts of different dishes without stopping.

“How about making some dǎlǔmiàn today?”

Yesterday, she had eaten so much meat that it had nearly choked her. Today, she ought to have some warm, comforting noodle soup.

Xu Shuang replied, “Sure. What kind of dǎlǔmiàn do you want? Old Beijing-style dǎlǔmiàn or egg sauce noodles? Tianjin-style or old Taiyuan-style?”

There was quite a bit of particularity involved in making dǎlǔmiàn.

Old Beijing-style dǎlǔmiàn used rehydrated shiitake mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, and dried daylily buds. The eggs were stir-fried until broken into small pieces, while pork belly was fried to render out its fat. Button mushrooms were added to enhance the umami flavor.

Once the various rehydrated dried ingredients had been stir-fried until nearly cooked, the sauce was thickened with a starch slurry. The slurry had to be added in two separate batches.

The thickened sauce was then ladled over hand-rolled noodles. Ideally, a small spoonful of freshly fried Sichuan peppercorn oil would be poured over the top.

When eaten, it carried a faint numbing fragrance and the distinctive punch of the fried peppercorn oil. The broth and noodles together had a reddish, glossy sheen from the thickened sauce, making them fragrant, savory, and extremely appetizing.

The noodle sauce and noodles blended together beautifully.

There was also something to pay attention to when eating it: you mustn’t stir everything around carelessly.

By the time you finished eating the noodles, the thickened sauce should not have thinned out or separated. You could then finish the meal perfectly by drinking up the remaining broth and sauce together.

How satisfying!

Compared with Old Beijing-style dǎlǔmiàn, the Northeastern-style dǎlǔmiàn with egg sauce used somewhat fewer ingredients.

Its preparation was straightforward and simple, just as bold and hearty as the personalities of people from Northeast China.

The seasonings and accompanying ingredients were not subject to such strict requirements.

You could make it simply by combining eggs with fermented soybean paste.

If you wanted to be a little more particular, you could stir-fry the eggs first, then add some green peppers, long thin chili peppers, or small millet chilies.

The thick sauce would coat the golden pieces of egg.

It could be served with noodles, or you could even put some inside a steamed bun for breakfast.

Tianjin-style dǎlǔmiàn looked quite similar to Old Beijing-style dǎlǔmiàn, but the ingredients used were different.

The two most essential ingredients were shrimp and wheat gluten.

Even after preparing the three-delicacy sauce, the dish was not considered complete. There was also particular attention paid to the custom of “four dishes and eight toppings.”

When entertaining guests on a grand occasion, more than a dozen different toppings had to be prepared.

Taiyuan-style dǎlǔmiàn used roasted pork.

The roasted pork was combined with wood ear mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, dried tofu skin sticks, and dried daylily buds.

A little vinegar was poured along the side of the wok, and the sauce was thickened with starch before being removed from the heat.

Finally, a handful of Chinese chives was sprinkled over the top, and the rich sauce coated every strand of noodles…

Just thinking about it made Wang Ying’s mouth water.

“Do we have any roasted pork at home?”

She wanted to eat Taiyuan-style dǎlǔmiàn. If they could have some roasted pork left over, then in a couple of days, during the New Year celebrations, they could also put together another meal of dry hot pot using their old copper hot pot.

Xu Shuang said, “No, but we can make some.”

After all, they didn’t have any relatives to visit during the New Year. If they weren’t thinking about what to eat, what else were they supposed to think about?