"Alright."

Zhou Yan agreed, then went to find Zhou Hao and Zhou Hai. They each took one of Zheng Qiang’s arms and hauled him away.

He grabbed a bowl and chopsticks for himself, sat down next to Xiao Lei, and poured his master a drink, chatting about the arrangements for the next day’s banquet.

In Jiazhou, the main event of an outdoor banquet was the midday meal. This was when the "nine big bowls"—all the most substantial dishes—were served to ensure the guests ate their fill and left satisfied.

The evening meal was much simpler: a couple of meat dishes and a few stir-fried vegetables would suffice. Even something like minced pork with sour long beans was considered a fine accompaniment for sweet potato congee.

In fact, it wasn’t just in Jiazhou. Zhou Yan had attended several wedding banquets within Sichuan, and the noon meal was always the most extravagant. The ceremony itself was also held at noon, which was different from Zhejiang Province, where the evening banquet was the main focus.

As for the evening meal, guests would typically play mahjong in the afternoon, have a bowl of congee to tide them over, and then head home.

’Who could possibly stomach two heavy, greasy, meat-filled feasts back-to-back anyway?’

Xiao Lei draped an arm over Zhou Yan’s shoulder and said earnestly, "Learn everything you can from your grandma. If you can master even eighty percent of her braising technique, you’ll have no trouble selling your food in Suji. People from all over town will be lining up to buy it."

"Yes, I understand," Zhou Yan nodded.

’His master wasn’t blaming him for learning from someone else. Instead, he was encouraging him to study hard. That was truly a rare thing.’

After a while, his second uncle came over with a few relatives to offer toasts. Zhou Yan’s cousins followed suit, and even Master Xiao, who could usually hold his liquor, was starting to feel the effects.

By the time dinner was over, the sky had gone dark. Xiao Lei, who had drunk a whole jin of baijiu, declined the offer to stay the night. However, after three failed attempts to mount his bicycle, Zhou Yan had to drag him away.

Zhou Yan’s bedroom hadn’t been used in a long time. The room contained only a simple wooden plank bed with an old chest at its head.

The bedding was all there, but it had a faint, musty smell from disuse.

After pulling off his drunken master’s shoes and tossing him onto the bed, Zhou Yan went to wash up. When he returned, Master Xiao had already shed his jacket, rolled over to the side against the wall, and was sleeping soundly.

His drunken demeanor was excellent. He’d just pass out without fighting, cursing, or trapping people in long, rambling conversations.

Zhou Yan was exhausted from running back and forth all day himself. He switched off the light, collapsed onto the bed, and was out in an instant, completely oblivious to the musty-smelling quilt and his master’s thunderous snoring beside him.

’If you have the energy to be picky about things like that, you’re not tired enough.’

The next day, before the sky had even begun to lighten, Zhou Yan heard a rustling sound. He opened his eyes and saw his master standing by the bed, putting on his shoes. Sitting up, Zhou Yan rubbed his eyes and said in surprise, "Master, why are you up so early?"

’He’d seen him get completely wasted last night and worried he wouldn’t be able to get up this morning. He never expected his master to be up even earlier than he was.’

"The roosters are already crowing. What do you mean, ’early’?" Xiao Lei pulled a watch from his pocket and glanced at it. "It’s four-thirty. The party to pick up the bride has to set out at six, which means they need to eat by five-thirty. I’m heading over now to fire up the wok and cook them a couple pots of noodles. The timing will be perfect."

"Got it. I’ll get up too, then," Zhou Yan said, climbing out of bed with him. It was still dark out, so he grabbed a flashlight on his way out the door.

In the courtyard, Comrade Zhou and Mrs. Zhao were already brushing their teeth, each holding an enamel cup.

"Why are you two up so early?" Zhou Yan asked, looking at them in confusion.

Mrs. Zhao rinsed her mouth and smiled. "We’re going to help. Your second uncle was worried the younger guys wouldn’t be steady enough for the bride pickup. It would be a huge problem if they ran late, so he asked your father to go along and lead the group. I didn’t get to help yesterday, so I have to go early today. They’ll need a hand cooking the noodles this morning, after all."

"Master Xiao, our accommodations are a bit rustic. I hope you were able to sleep well last night?" Comrade Zhou asked, looking at Xiao Lei with concern.

"I slept wonderfully. Out like a light until the rooster crowed. I haven’t had such a sound sleep in ages," Xiao Lei replied with a smile.

After quickly washing up, the group headed out the door.

Zhou Momo was still asleep. Wrapped in a small blanket, she was placed in a wicker back-basket, which Comrade Zhou hoisted onto his back as he left.

Zhou Yan glanced at the little girl in the basket, then aimed his flashlight ahead and got on his bike, pedaling toward the old family home.

It was so early that Zhou Yan assumed his grandma wouldn’t be up yet.

But as his bike rounded a corner, he saw the dim yellow glow of a lamp at the entrance to the old home.

Zhou Weiguo was there with a wet towel, meticulously wiping down every nook and cranny of a bicycle. A bundle of red silk was tied to the handlebars, giving it a festive look.

His grandma was sitting on a stone stool by the door. She was wearing a navy blue, front-fastening jacket and new cloth shoes. Her silver hair was combed back neatly, and she looked full of vigor. When she saw Zhou Yan ride up, she smiled and stood. "You’re certainly up early."

"Grandma, Uncle, why are you up so early, too?" Zhou Yan asked, stopping his bike.

"Zhou Hao’s getting married, so of course we have to be up early to prepare," Zhou Weiguo answered. "They’re using my bike for the bride pickup today, so I’m wiping it down before I take it over to him."

"Let’s go get the chickens. We have a busy morning ahead," his grandma said, walking over with a parcel and settling herself right onto the back of the bike.

"Hold on tight," Zhou Yan said with a smile as he pushed off and started pedaling.

’For Zhou Hao’s wedding, the entire family was treating it as the most important thing, all working together to make the event a beautiful success.’

’He was starting to understand what his grandma had been teaching him through her words and actions.’

Zhou Jie and Zhou Hai had been up at the crack of dawn boiling water and slaughtering chickens. By now, the birds were completely cleaned. When they saw Zhou Yan arrive, they lined a wicker back-basket with a nylon bag and placed the four chickens inside.

"You take your time and ride Grandma back to the shop. I’m going to get the beef and the pig heads. I’ll bring them to you right away," Zhou Jie told Zhou Yan before hopping on his own bicycle and taking off.

Zhou Yan strapped the flashlight to his handlebars and pedaled at a steady, unhurried pace toward town with his grandma on the back.

In those days, there were no streetlights and the roads were rough. With his elderly grandma on the back, Zhou Yan didn’t dare to be reckless.

"Grandma, why don’t we just bring the braising liquid over to the banquet site and cook there? Wouldn’t that be more convenient?" Zhou Yan asked on the way.

"Braising is a craft, a skill you can build a life on. A banquet is held in an open area, with too many people and too many prying eyes. If someone was determined to steal your technique, how would you stop them?" his grandma said in a calm, measured tone. "There are only so many spices. Someone could experiment, adding a little more here, a little less there. As long as they can replicate fifty or sixty percent of your flavor and drop their price by thirty percent, customers will go to them instead of you. That’s the first reason."

"Second, this pot of braising liquid was made using my own perpetual stock. All the jostling on the road could contaminate it and cause it to spoil. And if you were to spill it, the loss would be catastrophic. A good master stock should never be moved carelessly, and you should never, ever let anyone else touch it."

"You can bring the braised food to the banquet and slice it there. It won’t affect the flavor one bit. Back when I ran my stall, restaurants from all over Jiazhou would come every day to pick up my braised pig head meat and pig ears. They’d take them back whole and only slice them to order."

"I understand now," Zhou Yan nodded, having gained a much deeper appreciation for the importance of the master stock.

Shortly after Zhou Yan got to the shop, Zhou Jie arrived and carried the meat into the kitchen.

The wicker basket held three deboned pig heads, plus an extra eight pig ears. A regular Knife Maker wouldn’t normally sell those separately. ’Jie really knows how to pull some strings.’

There were also fifteen jin of beef shank, freshly slaughtered that day. Zhou Village had no shortage of beef. His family were Cow Slaughterers, so all they had to do was give their peers a heads-up.

Finally, he pulled out four palm-sized pig’s trotters.

"Are we braising pig’s trotters, too?" Zhou Yan asked, surprised. This item wasn’t on the menu.

Zhou Jie smiled. "They’re from the pig slaughtered yesterday. My dad said Grandma and Momo love them, so he told me to have you braise them separately. One for Grandma to enjoy with her drink, and one for Momo to gnaw on."

"You bet," Zhou Yan nodded with a smile. ’His second uncle really knows how to respect the old and care for the young. Since I’m the one braising them, I wonder if I’ll get to taste-test for saltiness.’

"Do you need any more help?" Zhou Jie asked.

"No, you go join the bride-pickup party. I’ve got it handled here," Zhou Yan said with a wave of his hand, already drawing water to wash the ingredients.

"Grandma, I’m heading back now," Zhou Jie said to her, then trotted out the door.

Picking up the bride is the most important part of the wedding ceremony.

’As Zhou Hao’s own brother, of course he wanted to be there for it.’

In the kitchen, Zhou Yan did the work while his grandma stood by and supervised.

Zhou Yan was already an expert at braising pig head meat and ears, so he handled the ingredients with deft confidence.

He separated the ears and snout, halved the head meat, and performed each step with meticulous care.

He also prepped the pig’s trotters and set them aside.

At first, his grandma offered a few pointers, but eventually, she just pulled up a stool and sat to one side, chatting with Zhou Yan. Her eyes, however, never strayed from his work, and she would occasionally nod in approval.

"Did you learn cold dish preparation from Master Xiao?" his grandma finally asked, unable to contain her curiosity as she watched Zhou Yan finish butchering the pig’s head.

"I learned a little," Zhou Yan said with a smile. "But my master said your skills are far better than his and told me to study hard with you."

Grandma nodded. "I can see his skills are nothing to scoff at. The techniques he taught you for handling a pig’s head show a high level of expertise."

"Well, he is a Second-Grade Chef," Zhou Yan said with a nod. ’Grandma’s eye for detail is just too sharp. I have no choice but to use my master as a shield.’

"Grandma, I’ve never prepared beef or chicken like this before. How long does the beef shank need to braise? I need to know so I can decide what to put in the pot first," Zhou Yan said, his tone becoming serious as he earnestly sought her guidance.

’Braised beef and cold-tossed chicken are both incredible dishes!’

’The System won’t give me the recipes, so I’ll just have to learn from Grandma.’

Zhou Yan was no longer his old self. He had now mastered Knife Skills, his seasoning and Fire Control had improved by leaps and bounds, and he was an expert in a whole range of braised pork dishes. His understanding of the art of braising was already at a respectable level.

’If Grandma is willing to teach, I’m sure I can learn quickly.’

His grandma pulled a watch from her pocket, set it on the stovetop, and began to instruct him. "After you wash the beef shank, it goes in the pot to braise for an hour and a half. Of all the things we’re cooking today, it takes the longest, so it goes in first. The pig’s trotters braise for one hour. The pig ears, snout, and head meat all take forty minutes.

"The cold-tossed chicken is different. You can’t just put it in the main pot. You have to prepare a separate ’white’ braising liquid. That’s how you get the meat to be perfectly white. After you shred it and toss it with some chili oil, the color becomes vibrant. It’s as beautiful as it is delicious..."

As his grandma instructed, Zhou Yan executed. He added each ingredient to the pot right on schedule, making virtually no mistakes and working with incredible efficiency.

Even his grandma, who was notoriously stingy with praise when it came to cooking, couldn’t resist complimenting him a few times:

"Your fundamentals really are solid."

"The seasoning is perfect. Not too much salt, not too little. Exactly right."

Outside, the sky began to grow light.

The fire beneath the braising pot was slowly extinguished.

The braised meats were left to steep in the pot, quietly awaiting the start of the feast.

There’s a saying for braising: thirty percent cooking, seventy percent steeping. The flavors had to soak deep into the meat for the dish to be considered perfect.