Comrade Zhou gave a small demonstration of his skills, leaving the customers clamoring in amazement.

His hands were so precise, and his knife was unbelievably steady.

Whatever weight they requested, he’d get it in one slice, without the slightest error.

At first, everyone thought it was just a fluke. But after he cut the exact amount of pig’s head meat for several customers in a row with a single slice, they were all thoroughly convinced.

His precision was one thing, but his Knife Skills were on another level entirely.

The pig ears had to be thin and evenly sliced, which demanded a high level of skill from the prep cook.

The cleaver flew in his hands, a series of swift flashes—SWISH, SWISH, SWISH—so fast it left afterimages.

Wafer-thin slices of pig ear fell onto the cutting board, so thin they were translucent.

The pig’s head meat was an even greater feat. He controlled the thickness with freakish precision; every single slice was virtually identical.

The workers looked at Comrade Zhou with newfound respect in their eyes.

’These are the skills of a true master!’

"I’ll take one pig ear, half a pound of pig’s head meat, and an order of cold-dressed chicken." Director Wang had come early today, squeezing through the crowd with his meal box.

"You got it! Please wait a moment, Director Wang." Zhao Tieying said with a smile, taking the meal box. She had Old Zhou slice up the last pig ear for the director.

"Comrade, your Knife Skills are really impressive, but you don’t look like a professional prep cook. What did you do before this?" Wang Hongliang asked curiously, watching Zhou Miao slice the braised meat.

"I was a Cow Slaughterer for over twenty years." Zhou Miao packed the pig ear, handed it to Wang Hongliang along with the half-pound of pig’s head meat, and smiled a little sheepishly.

Wang Hongliang gave him a thumbs-up. "Then your skills as a slaughterer must have been excellent."

Zhou Miao smiled, this time with genuine happiness.

A little while later, Lin Zhiqiang arrived. He was very disappointed to see the pig ears were sold out, but thankfully there was still a piece of pig snout left. He quickly ordered it, along with five ounces of pig’s head meat.

"Old Zhou, could you cut me a leaner piece? My youngest son doesn’t eat fatty meat," Lin Zhiqiang said to Zhou Miao.

He ate at the restaurant often and was good friends with Zhou Yan, so he had naturally gotten familiar with Zhao Tieying and Zhou Miao.

"You got it!" Old Zhou nodded with a smile and picked out a piece for him that was more lean than fat.

"Has An He returned? You’re buying so much food, Director Lin," Zhao Tieying asked with a smile.

"Yes, she gets back tonight. I’m buying a couple of braised dishes to take home." Lin Zhiqiang nodded, thought for a moment, and handed over his meal box again. "Could you pack up an order of Kneeling Beef for me too?"

"You got it," Zhao Tieying said, taking the meal box with a smile.

"It’s mainly because the two kids have been craving it," Lin Zhiqiang added.

"It’s good for growing kids to eat more beef," Zhao Tieying replied. She casually grabbed a few extra slices of sirloin and blanched them in the pot. ’Director Lin’s family is so nice.’

Zhou Miao was in charge of the braised meat station, and with his exquisite Knife Skills and hands as precise as a scale, he successfully drew in many customers.

The braised pig’s head meat had been selling for a day, and word-of-mouth was already spreading. Today, people were crowding around to buy it. After hearing about it from people they knew, many workers also flocked over to get some.

In just half an hour, all the braised meat was sold out.

Thankfully, Zhou Miao’s knife was fast enough that customers barely had to wait. Someone with poorer Knife Skills would have taken at least an hour just to slice all that meat.

"I’m so sorry, we’ve already sold out of braised meat for today. We’ll try to increase the quantity a bit tomorrow," Mrs. Zhao began apologizing again to the customers who arrived late.

She had braised six pig heads today and had been a little worried this morning that they wouldn’t sell out.

She never expected Zhou Miao to slice through it all and sell it out in just half an hour.

Many of them were just curious skeptics who had joined the crowd, wanting to see for themselves if his hands were really as precise as people said—if he could really cut whatever weight was requested.

The cold-dressed chicken was also selling very well. The takeaway customers were experienced now: they would wash and dry their meal boxes after lunch, then bring them over in the evening to get their food packed directly. That way, the chili oil wouldn’t spill, and it was clean and hygienic.

The cold-dressed chicken was at its absolute best about twenty minutes after being mixed, allowing the flavors to fully permeate the meat. When you ate it, even the bones were fragrant.

The workers would get their chicken packed, carry it swaying all the way home, and by the time they put it on the table to eat, the flavor would be just perfect.

Since Zhou Yan only needed to prepare the cold-dressed chicken tonight, he was much more relaxed. The kitchen wasn’t the chaotic battlefield it had been yesterday.

Comrade Zhou was truly an outstanding, plug-and-play employee.

They had prepped the same amount of food as yesterday. In the end, only one order of braised pork ribs was left over. There were also a dozen or so crucian carp swimming energetically in the fish tank, which would be perfectly fine to use tomorrow.

Zhou Yan packed up the leftover ribs and told Zhao Hong to take them home for her two children.

"These ribs are so expensive, you should save them for Momo..." Zhao Hong said, looking embarrassed. This single portion of ribs cost more than her entire day’s wages.

"She already had ribs for dinner tonight. Take these home, and you’ll have one less dish to cook. I’ll be making a fresh batch tomorrow," Zhou Yan said with a smile, placing the meal box in her hands.

They had eaten dinner before opening for business. Zhao Hong had only eaten until she was half-full, planning to have another meal at home with Zhou Fei and her two kids.

According to her, a family had to eat together to truly feel like a family.

"Come on, let’s go bring the wooden planks back, son. The humidity by the river is heavy at night. If they get damp, today’s sunning will have been for nothing." Zhou Miao called to Zhou Yan, and together they carried all the planks that had been drying in the yard back into the shop.

After drying for a whole afternoon, the planks were half-dry. It looked like they’d be ready to sleep on after another two days in the sun.

Zhou Yan changed into a tank top, carried his bedding downstairs, and set it on the counter. He said to Zhao Tieying, "Mom, I brought my bedding down. You guys can make the bed with the new bedding and sleep upstairs. I’ll just push four benches together to make a single bed. I can sleep like this for a couple of days."

"Okay," Zhao Tieying called back from the kitchen, where she was boiling water.

"Brother, where are you going? Can I come too?" Zhou Momo slid off her stool the moment she saw Zhou Yan heading for the door, her eyes full of anticipation as she looked at him.

"I’m going for a run. Don’t you have to take your bath?" Zhou Yan paused and said with a smile.

"I don’t wanna take a bath..."

"Zhou Momo?" Mrs. Zhao’s voice called out from the kitchen.

"Yes! I have to take a bath! To get all clean and fragrant! I love taking baths!"

Zhou Momo nodded her head, her eyes as determined as if she were pledging to join the Party.

Zhou Yan chuckled and headed out the door. ’That’s what you call a bloodline suppression, alright.’

Zhou Yan ran to the entrance of the family residential compound, where Lin Zhiqiang was warming up. Seeing Zhou Yan, he smiled and fell into step beside him. "Ah, Zhou, that braised pig’s head meat and snout you make is just too delicious. My wife and two sons couldn’t stop praising it after they ate. They complained I didn’t buy enough."

"I learned the craft from my grandmother. She made the best braised food in all of Jiazhou back in the day. My Fire Control still has a ways to go," Zhou Yan said with a laugh.

Lin Zhiqiang’s eyes lit up. "I heard you also have braised pig trotters? Meng loves those. When are you adding them to the menu? Save two for me. If I have to line up and fight for them, I’ll definitely lose out."

"I’m planning to add braised pig trotters tomorrow, actually. They’ll be one-twenty yuan each, and they weigh about a pound and a quarter. If you’d like some, Lin, I’ll save two for you," Zhou Yan said with a smile.

"One-twenty each? That’s a pretty good price. Perfect. Save two for me tomorrow. I’ll come pick them up after work." Lin Zhiqiang nodded, readily reserving two braised pig trotters.

The two of them chatted idly as they ran.

Lin Zhiqiang had been running for a week, and his stamina had improved significantly. He must have had a good foundation from his younger days, as he quickly got back into shape after resuming his exercise routine.

As a twenty-year-old young man, Zhou Yan’s stamina was a given. He was deliberately holding back his pace to run with Lin.

"Are you still writing letters with Yaoyao?" After they were done discussing matters of state, Lin switched to gossip mode. ’Of course, it was mainly a mission from his wife.’

"I’m not sure if she’s received the last letter I sent," Zhou Yan said with a small smile. ’I’ve been so busy these past few days I’d completely forgotten about it.’

"No, no, that’s not the right rhythm at all." Lin Zhiqiang shook his head repeatedly. "Back when I was in Suzhou and your Meng was in Hang City, I would write her over three hundred love letters a year. To this day, there’s a box in her old family home in Hang City filled with the thousand-plus love letters I wrote her."

"Elder Meng looked down on me back then. It was my mother-in-law who was moved by my sincerity and made the decision to approve our marriage."

’Do you really have that much bullshit to write about every single day?’ Zhou Yan pursed his lips, holding back the words he shouldn’t say.

"One a day? Did the mail get delivered that fast?" Zhou Yan asked.

"Not exactly. An He would only write me back once a week. But while I was writing the letter in my hand, I’d have three more already in the mail," Lin Zhiqiang said with a laugh. "When you really like someone, you want to share everything with them, even a cute kitten you see on the street. Naturally, you’ll have something new to write about every day."

Zhou Yan understood.

’So he was a simp. A simp who, in the end, won it all.’

’Meng had studied abroad, was highly educated, capable, and beautiful. You could tell from her aura that she was from a wealthy, distinguished family.’

’Of course, Lin was no slouch either.’

’But asking Zhou Yan to write a letter a day? You might as well just kill him.’

’Either way, he was definitely not going to do it!’

’He refused to be a simp.’

Back at the entrance to the family residential compound, a sweat-drenched Lin Zhiqiang waved goodbye and headed home. Behind his back, Zhou Yan secretly added another five kilometers to his run.

On his way back, Zhou Yan came across a fisherman. The man was bare-chested, a massive carp of over ten pounds slung over his back, and he was pacing back and forth in a crowded area on the dam, as if he were lost.

After last night’s heavy rain, the river had risen, and many of the "air force" anglers who usually came home empty-handed had finally broken their unlucky streaks and caught fish.

"Holy shit, man, that’s incredible! Where’d you catch a fish that big?" Zhou Yan asked, sidling up to him.

Hearing the commotion, a crowd of people out for a stroll gathered around to have a look.

The man’s face immediately lit up, and he started talking excitedly, spit flying. "Oh, it’s not that big, not that big. Just about fifteen pounds. Last time, I caught a black carp that was over thirty pounds. When I killed it, I took out a Cyan Fish Stone as big as a kid’s fist..."

By then, Zhou Yan was already walking away, having accomplished his mission and faded into the background.

’If Comrade Zhou found out about this, he’d probably chase the guy for three blocks asking where his fishing spot was.’

When he got back to the restaurant, Mrs. Zhao and Zhou Momo were playing catch with a beanbag. Zhou Miao sat off to the side, watching them with a broad smile on his face.

’See? Comrade Zhou is smiling just fine.’

Mrs. Zhao turned to look at the sweat-drenched Zhou Yan and said, "I’ve boiled some hot water for you in the pot. Catch your breath for a minute, then go take a shower. Use the hot water."

"It’s fine, I’m used to well water. A quick rinse is all I need," Zhou Yan said nonchalantly.

SLAP! Mrs. Zhao slammed the beanbag on the table, her expression turning serious. "Winter is almost here and you’re still taking cold showers? You’ll be suffering from rheumatism when you’re older! Now get in there and use the hot water, and don’t make me come over there and tan your hide!"

"Your mother’s right!" Comrade Zhou immediately took her side.

"Mommy’s right!" Zhou Momo chimed in, taking her side as well.

"Yes, ma’am..." Zhou Yan ducked his head, not daring to defy Mrs. Zhao’s authority.

The water in the pot was still scalding hot. Adding a ladleful of it to a bucket of well water made for a perfectly warm shower that warmed Zhou Yan’s heart.

’In his previous life, no one had ever cared whether he’d get rheumatism from taking cold showers.’

’It’s so good to have a mom.’

"Come on, play a couple rounds of chess with me." As soon as Zhou Yan came out from his shower, he was pulled into a game of Chinese chess by Comrade Zhou.

The chess set was among the pile of things he had dug out earlier that day.

Comrade Zhou had carved the pieces himself from wood many years ago. The woodworking was a bit rough, but they were sanded reasonably smooth.

Two terrible players with equally bad skills. It was a classic case of novices pecking at each other, yet their game was surprisingly intense and hard-fought.

Mrs. Zhao watched for a while, then carried the drowsy Zhou Momo upstairs to bed.

...

Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, dormitory.

Xia Yao sat under her desk lamp, looking at the letter she had just received. Her expression shifted between a smile, deep thought, and sudden realization.

Zhou Yan’s reply had arrived two days later than she had expected.

When she got the letter, she wasn’t even sure why the corners of her mouth turned up in an unconscious smile.

"Xia Yao:

The joy of receiving your letter feels like we have met again..."