Huang Chen settled the bill and pre-ordered several dishes from Zhao Tieying for the following evening, when he planned to bring some friends.

"Why aren’t these braised pork trotters on the menu?" Huang Chen asked.

Zhao Tieying explained with a smile, "The braised pork trotters aren’t on the menu yet, but you can pre-order them today. We’ll be making them tomorrow for customers who’ve placed an order. We expect the price to be under one-fifty yuan."

"Alright, put me down for one," Huang Chen said with a nod. He’d seen how ravenously the little girl was eating; they had to be good.

"Of course. We’ll have everything ready for you," Zhao Tieying replied with a smiling nod. ’Just what you’d expect from the deputy town mayor,’ she thought. ’He ordered four dishes, a Kneeling Beef, and a braised pork trotter all at once.’

Huang Chen and Ma left, thoroughly satisfied. As he pedaled his bike away, Huang Chen muttered to himself with a wide grin, "He Zhiyuan, oh, He Zhiyuan... I’m going to show you the true power of Suji!"

...

After the lunch rush ended, Comrade Zhou returned.

A tractor pulled up to the restaurant’s entrance, its trailer laden with two wooden chests, a small square table, a pile of wooden planks, two long benches, and an assortment of odds and ends like pots, bowls, and two small stools.

The planks had already been washed; they were dripping wet but spotless.

Zhou Jie was driving the tractor. Zhou Miao and Zhou Hai hopped down from the back.

Zhou Momo, who had been drawing in the sand by the entrance, heard the noise and wandered over. Seeing her little stool being lifted off the tractor, she looked puzzled. "Daddy! Isn’t that my stool? Why did you bring it here?"

The little one still had no idea that their house had collapsed.

Of course, even if she did, she probably wouldn’t understand what "collapsed house" meant.

"Yes, it’s your stool," Zhou Miao confirmed, unsure of how to explain the situation.

"We’ve moved. We’re going to live at the restaurant from now on, with your Brother," Zhao Tieying said as she came outside, stroking Zhou Momo’s head. "Are you happy about that?"

"Really?! I am!" Zhou Momo jumped for joy. "I love living with Brother!"

"Then take your stool inside," Zhao Tieying said with a smile, handing the small stool to her.

"Okay!" Zhou Momo picked up the stool and trotted into the restaurant on her short little legs.

Zhou Yan came outside and watched the beaming Zhou Momo, sighing to himself. ’What a carefree age. She can be this happy even after our house collapsed.’

"Wow, you guys did great. You dug so much out, and you even washed the planks clean," Zhao Tieying said, looking at the loaded tractor with some surprise.

"The kitchen wasn’t buried, so we salvaged most of the usable things," Zhou Miao explained. "The two chests of clothes were under a part of the roof and didn’t get dirty—they’re yours and Momo’s. We dug out both bedframes. The rest was buried too deep or was crushed, so I left it. There were some farm tools, too. We don’t need those in town, so I took them to the old house for now."

"That’s great. It’s more than enough," Zhao Tieying said with a nod. Her favorite outfits were in those two chests. She then turned to the two young men. "Zhou Hai, Zhou Jie, thank you for all your hard work."

Zhou Jie waved his hand with a smile. "It was no trouble at all, Aunt Tieying. We just headed over after closing our stall for the day. All we did was borrow a tractor to move everything. It was First Uncle and Fourth Uncle who dug it all out. Where should we unload this?"

Zhao Tieying directed them, "Leave the chests and the small odds and ends by the door. The planks are wet, so drive the tractor a little farther up and unload them in the yard to dry. They’ll need a couple of days in the sun before they’re usable."

"Got it." Zhou Jie nodded, and he and Zhou Hai immediately got to work.

"Jie, have you guys eaten yet?" Zhou Yan asked.

"Not yet. We were planning to eat when we get back after unloading," Zhou Jie answered casually, standing on the tractor and passing a chest down to Zhou Hai.

"Well, you guys finish up here. I’ll go start lunch. We haven’t eaten either," Zhou Yan said with a smile. "I’ll whip up a couple of dishes, and we can all have a quick bite together."

Zhou Jie’s eyes lit up with anticipation. "Any Twice-Cooked Pork?"

Zhao Tieying chimed in with a grin, "There is, and we have braised pork trotters, too. You can each have half a trotter."

"Braised pork trotters!"

"Half a trotter each!"

Zhou Jie and Zhou Hai’s eyes practically glowed with desire. Instantly energized, they shouted, "Deal! Zhou Yan, get in there and cook! We’ll have this stuff unloaded in a flash!"

"Alright." Zhou Yan smiled and turned to go. ’So much for my dream of eating a whole pork trotter today,’ he thought.

’But what can you do? When your own cousins help out without a second thought for the dirt or the labor, even a king would have to offer them his seat.’

He made a generous lunch: four hearty dishes of Twice-Cooked Pork, beef with dried bamboo shoots, spicy stir-fried pork liver, and Braised Pork Kidney. The portions were huge; he’d stir-fried a whole pound of pork liver, which filled two plates.

The braised pork trotters were cut in half, one piece for each person.

One extra trotter was chopped into smaller pieces and placed on a platter for everyone to share.

Well, except for Zhou Momo.

The large pork trotter she’d had earlier filled her up completely, and Mrs. Zhao had to finish the rest for her.

But two hours later, her appetite had returned. She was the first one to clamber into her seat at the table, her eyes gleaming as she stared at the two plates of newly stir-fried dishes.

"Whoa! What a spread!" Zhou Jie exclaimed as he came in from washing his hands, his eyes wide at the sight of a table laden with meat.

"That looks amazing! It smells incredible!" Zhou Hai said, following him in and swallowing hard.

Zhou Miao also looked surprised. "Liver and kidneys today, huh? It’s been a long time since I’ve had these."

"Come on, dig in!" Zhou Yan said, starting by scooping himself a large bowl of rice.

All the dishes on the table were savory and perfect with rice. Everyone had been doing manual labor all morning, and it was already past one. They were all ravenous.

At a time like this, nothing was more appealing than a bowl of steamed rice.

As everyone sat down, their eyes were immediately drawn to the half a braised pork trotter on the plate before them.

Their grandmother had been an expert at making braised dishes, but she had a particular fondness for pork trotters. She would typically only share half a trotter with the youngest grandchild in the family.

Every single person at the table had only ever received the "reward" of half a trotter from their grandmother back when they themselves were the youngest of their generation.

Zhao Tieying and Zhao Hong had each tasted it once, during the New Year’s celebration in their first year after marrying into the family. As soon as they had children of their own, the privilege naturally passed to the next generation.

Staring at the half trotter before them, everyone felt a sense of solemn reverence.

"What are you waiting for? An award?" Zhou Yan laughed, grabbing his trotter and taking a large bite. The meat was so tender and gelatinous it melted in his mouth. The braising liquid had seeped deep into the flesh, and even chewing on the tendons released a burst of five-spice flavor.

That broke the spell. The others could no longer hold back, and they all grabbed their trotters and began to eat.

Even half a trotter weighed a good ten or twelve ounces. Eating it with your hands was the only way to do it justice.

"This is incredible! It tastes exactly like Grandma’s!" Zhou Jie exclaimed.

"So good! I haven’t had this in... what, over a decade?" Zhou Hai agreed, nodding as he devoured his portion with gusto.

Each person found the flavor of their memories, a perfect, one-to-one match, without the slightest deviation.

Zhou Momo was given a small piece from the tip of the trotter, which she gnawed on happily.

They all gnawed their bones clean, leaving not a single scrap of sinew. Their hands were slick with grease, almost sticky to the touch.

It was just too good! If the bones weren’t so hard, they would have chewed them up too.

"I’ll take these bones home later for my dog, Xiao Hei. Give him a little treat," Zhou Jie said with a grin. He had a black dog at home, the kind that could flush out rabbits in the mountains.

"Sure thing," Zhou Yan nodded.

Everyone went to wash their hands. When they returned to their seats, they picked up their chopsticks and started attacking the rice and other dishes.

"Let’s see how tender this Braised Pork Kidney is." Zhou Jie picked up a slice. The crisscross scoring was beautiful, like an ear of wheat. After being flash-fried, the piece had curled up naturally, stained a glossy, reddish-brown by the chili bean paste oil.

He popped it into his mouth. It was still hot, but with a gentle chew, his eyes widened in delight.

’So tender!’

The "wok hei"—the unique aroma from the searing heat of the wok—erupted on his tongue, along with the numbing tingle of Sichuan peppercorns, the fire of chili peppers, and the fresh flavor of the kidney itself.

The intense heat had seared the outside to a slight crisp, but the inside remained as delicate as silken tofu, with a pleasant, springy crunch.

All the flavors trapped within the scored cuts were released at once. It was absolutely delicious!

Zhou Jie felt an internal scream of joy building up.

’Dad, I was right to say we should make the delivery before eating!’

’If we’d gone home to eat Mom’s pickled vegetable and beef offal stir-fry, we would’ve missed out on this incredible Braised Pork Kidney.’

Zhou Jie was feeling incredibly smug. He shoveled a big mouthful of rice, then reached for a piece of the spicy stir-fried pork liver.

’Tender! Fresh!’

’There wasn’t the slightest hint of any off-flavor.’

Unlike the kidney, the thinly sliced liver was coated in a gossamer-thin layer of starch, making it exceptionally tender and smooth to the bite.

The numbing, spicy, and savory fragrance was, of course, a given.

And even though the ingredients were similar to the Braised Pork Kidney, the resulting texture and feel were completely different.

’This is the ultimate rice-killer!’

"Delicious!" Zhou Jie barely managed to get the word out before he went back to shoveling rice.

And the Twice-Cooked Pork... it was the king of dishes to eat with rice. He’d been craving it ever since he’d tasted it last time, and now he could finally have it again.

Zhou Hai didn’t say a word. He just kept his head down and ate, and in no time, he was already on his second bowl of rice.

Even Zhou Momo, a master of eating rice herself, couldn’t help but look up to watch him for a moment.

’Brother Hai’s bowl is huge! It’s as big as my face!’

’Brother Hai is amazing!’

"Mmm, this really is delicious. It’s cooked so tenderly," Zhao Tieying agreed, nodding repeatedly.

She wasn’t actually a fan of pork liver. She’d tried cooking it many times herself, but the texture always came out tough and slightly bitter. The one time she’d managed to get it tender, the entire family had spent the night with diarrhea.

But the liver Zhou Yan made today was perfect in both texture and flavor.

It’s just...

’If it’s this tender... it’s not undercooked, is it? We’re not all going to get sick, are we?’

Zhao Tieying’s chopsticks, which had been heading for the liver, changed course and moved toward the Twice-Cooked Pork instead.

’Right, the Twice-Cooked Pork is delicious, too.’

"Don’t worry, it’s fully cooked. No one’s going to get sick," Zhou Yan said with a smile, seeing right through Mrs. Zhao’s concerns. "I wouldn’t mess around with a dish that’s going on the menu. It’s tender because of the technique, not because it’s undercooked."

"I know that. I just prefer pork belly," Mrs. Zhao said, nodding... as she picked up a piece of the Braised Pork Kidney.

’Mmm, delicious!’

Zhou Yan was quite satisfied with his spicy stir-fried pork liver. His Fire Control had been perfect. He had pursued the ultimate tenderness without sacrificing doneness, finding that crucial tipping point.

The Braised Pork Kidney, however, was a little lacking.

[A Passable Braised Pork Kidney]

That was the evaluation from the Identification.

Passable, but not quite there.

Both the Fire Control and the seasoning needed adjustments.

For dishes that rely heavily on Fire Control, even the slightest deviation can make a huge difference in the final product.

The margin for error was just too small.

Still, for his first attempt, getting a [Passable] rating and earning everyone’s praise was something Zhou Yan could be satisfied with.

He decided not to add it to the menu just yet. He could wait until it reached a [Good] rating.

By the end of the meal, every last grain of rice in the wooden bucket was gone.

Zhou Jie and Zhou Hai, thoroughly satisfied, drove the tractor home.

Just as Zhou Miao was about to clear the table, Zhao Tieying called him aside. Zhou Yan was summoned as well.

The father-son duo stood there with their hands clasped, looking like a pair of primary school students waiting for a scolding from their teacher.

Zhou Yan wondered, ’Don’t tell me Mom found Comrade Zhou’s secret stash of money and he ratted me out?’

Comrade Zhou was thinking the exact same thing.

"Old Zhou," Zhao Tieying began, her expression serious as she looked at Zhou Miao, "why don’t you stop butchering and selling beef on your own? From now on, you can still go if someone hires you for a job, but when you’re free, you can work at the restaurant. You’ll be in charge of slicing and weighing the braised meats." She added, "Zhou Yan was planning to hire a prep cook for that anyway, and a family member will always be more dedicated. Let’s all work hard together as a family, and we’ll earn the money to rebuild our house!"