Wen Jiajia had no idea that Wei Dai had returned.

Her biological clock was slightly overdue by more than ten minutes today, so she didn’t feel refreshed when she woke up and just felt like she didn’t get enough sleep.

After waking up, she lay on her back in bed for a long time before her sleepiness slowly subsided and her spirit gradually recovered.

Experts have said that you have to take it slow after getting up and give your body time to adapt, and she deeply believes this makes sense.

Well, that’s not a reason for her to stay in bed.

The aroma of the chicken in the casserole gradually filled the room, seeming far and near, strong and weak, but it had not yet reached its strongest.

Wen Jiajia stood up, stretched her arms up, covered her mouth and yawned, and said to herself, “Let’s start working.”

To stir-fry pork trotters with spicy sauce, you need to braise the trotters first.

Braised pig’s trotters is Wen Jiajia’s specialty. To be more precise, braised food is her specialty.

When her grandmother was young, she ran a braised food shop at the entrance of the community. It had been open for more than 30 years and could be called a “time-honored brand.”

A braised food shop that has been open for more than 30 years must be very skilled, but her grandmother was more than just skilled.

Her braised food shop was so good that it became a must-visit spot for local city tourists. Countless people lined up every day. Some even asked her to sell the recipe, which shows how delicious her braised food was.

If her uncle hadn’t fallen ill later, her grandmother would have been a millionaire or even a multi-millionaire.

When Wen Jiajia was still in elementary school, her mother would leave her at her grandmother’s house during every summer vacation.

In bits and pieces, she also learned how to make braised food, and she still remembers it now.

It’s just… she remembers it, but the ingredients are not complete. There are only common spices at home, and there are no slightly less popular ones like angelica and cloves.

Wen Jiajia scratched her head and thought, okay, there are no spices, so we can just make do with the seasonings.

She blanched the pig’s feet, fried sugar color, added seasonings, and finally added spices.

It looks easy to make, but actually, every step requires a lot of skill. Even the timing for adding the spices is very particular.

The sun in the spring afternoon is not too hot. At least the plants in the yard are still vigorous.

The grass in the yard has become greener and greener, and she could occasionally find some wild vegetables in it.

For example, purslane, which is just emerging now, is best eaten cold.

Wen Jiajia was half lying on the sofa. Half an hour later, the aroma from the pot began to waft through the house.

This was a fragrance that was several times stronger than chicken soup.

Wen Jiajia couldn’t help swallowing her saliva, secretly regretting that chicken feet and chicken wings were not sold by weight in those days, and even beef was rarely available.

However, the braised ingredients are diverse, including chicken feet, chicken wings, beef, gluten tofu slices, and monk meat^[1]“Monk meat” (和尚肉) is a term that refers to a specific type of meat product in Chinese cuisine, particularly found in vegetarian Buddhist cooking. Despite the name, it does not … Continue reading.

Wen Jiajia thought that sooner or later she would have to buy a lot of them and braise them to her heart’s content.

The fragrance not only filled the Wen family’s home but also gradually spread to the Xie family next door with the wind.

It even passed by Xie’s house and went to the house next door.

Wen Jiajia underestimated the power of braised food and even more so the sensitivity of people’s noses in this era.

When Wen Chun and Wen Xuan rushed home like firecrackers, Wen Jiajia’s heart skipped a beat.

Ah, it’s over.

She couldn’t control the smell; she really couldn’t control it.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, the children who did not go to the red-raising class^[2]refer to a specific kind of class or activity, likely related to political or ideological education in a communist context. gathered at the gate of her yard.

They just wandered around outside, peeked in at the door, and some even leaned on the door sill, drooling.

“…”

Is the smell really that strong? Wen Jiajia’s nose twitched, but she couldn’t smell it very well herself.

An aunt came over and gave her the answer.

“Wei Dai’s wife, what did you cook at home? How come the smell has spread to my house?”

Wen Jiajia came out of the kitchen holding a spatula. After a pause, she said, “Hello, there’s a moving party today, and I’m cooking braised pig’s trotters.”

She took a careful look and made sure she didn’t know this person.

Fortunately, the auntie quickly introduced herself: “My last name is Bao. I’m definitely older than you; you can just call me Sister Bao. I live next door to the Xie family, and the smell of your braised pig’s trotters is so delicious that I can’t stand it. I have never smelled such delicious food.”

Wen Jiajia smiled and said, “Hello, Sister Bao. I’m Wen Jia. You can just call me Jiajia.”

Sister Bao was cheerful and outgoing. She didn’t leave but stood in the kitchen and chatted with Wen Jiajia.

“You look so young, but you are such a good cook.” She was surprised. The closer they got to the kitchen, the stronger the smell became.

Wen Jiajia was flipping the pot and replied, “I have been cooking since I was a child. I am 20 years old and have been in the industry for 12 years.”

Sister Bao laughed so hard that her shoulders were shaking. She thought Wen Jia was such a funny kid.

“Sister, are you from Northeast China?” Wen Jiajia couldn’t help but ask. Sister Bao’s tone and accent were clearly Northeastern.

“How do you know?”

“…I heard it.”

Bao said, “Oh my! I’ve been here for more than ten years, and my accent hasn’t changed at all.”

Wen Jiajia nodded. Indeed, it hadn’t changed at all.

People from Northeast China can only assimilate others and will never be assimilated by others.

Sister Bao was really good at chatting.

As they spoke, the pig’s trotters in the pot were almost cooked. They smelled so good that Wen Chun and Wen Xuan lay on the stove, drooling.

Wen Jiajia was asking Sister Bao for advice on how to make sweet and sour pork. She found some pork tenderloin in the cupboard, which Wei Dai probably brought back while she was sleeping. It seemed like a good choice to make sweet and sour pork.

She was a little greedy for the sweet and sour pork.

Sister Bao was obviously an expert at making sweet and sour pork. She rolled up her sleeves and said, “Take out the meat and I’ll tell you how to cook it while you do it.”

“Okay.”

Wen Jiajia took out the pork tenderloin from the cupboard, washed it carefully, and then cut it into slices.

“In our area, sweet and sour pork used to be called scorched pork strips,” Bao said, with a hint of nostalgia in her eyes. “My dad is the best at making this dish.”

“Sister Bao, how long have you been in the South?”

“How long… more than ten years. My husband is also from the Northeast. He was originally assigned to Hebei Province and later came here.” Sister Bao frowned and said, “You don’t know, many people in our family compound are from all over the world, not all of them are from the South.”

Wen Jiajia thought to herself that she would have to make the dishes for this meal more diverse and the flavors more varied.

“Ah! If you want to talk about life, life here is better. Life in Hebei Province was really hard, especially ten years ago. It was so hard that it made people feel bitter.”

Wen Jiajia frowned slightly. The original owner’s mother’s hometown was in Hebei Province. She ran away because she couldn’t get enough food.

On the way, she met the original owner’s father. Although his hometown was in Shan Province, it was actually quite close to the original owner’s mother’s hometown, so the two got together.

She didn’t have the ability or the idea to look for the original owner’s mother’s family, but when she heard about Hebei Province, she couldn’t help but think more about it.

“Sister Bao, I’ve finished cutting. Now I have to marinate it, right?” Wen Jiajia took out an egg and the bag of starch from the cupboard.

“Yes. If I were to make it, I would only add salt, but since you people here like to use wine, you can also add some wine.”

Wen Jiajia sprinkled salt, poured wine, then cracked an egg, and added a handful of starch.

The pig’s trotters in the pot were thoroughly braised. She poured them into a bowl and washed the pot clean.

Wen Jiajia gave a small piece to Wen Chun and Wen Xuan, and then gave another piece to Sister Bao: “Sister, please help me taste it.”

“That’s too embarrassing.” Sister Bao waved her hands.

“You’ve already taught me a dish, why are you embarrassed?”

“Okay, I’m really craving the pig’s trotters in your pot. My family is making leek pancakes today. I’ll bring you a few later so that you can have another dish.”

Sister Bao swallowed her saliva and took a bite. The sticky pig skin almost stuck to her mouth.

The next second, it was fragrant and then sweet.

The locals prefer sweet food, so she wasn’t used to it. But she loved this pig’s trotter.

It was sweet but not greasy, fragrant, soft, and tender. After eating, you could suck out the gravy and marrow by sucking on the bones.

“Why fry it again? The pig’s trotters are delicious as they are now,” said Sister Bao.

Wen Jiajia said confidently, “It tastes better if it is stir-fried with spicy sauce.”

The sun was setting, and Wen Jiajia glanced at the time and decided to speed up.

Sister Bao weighed the tenderloin, then helped her prepare the sweet and sour sauce and told Wen Jiajia the proportions in detail.

“You have to fry it twice, once to cook it, and then fry it to color it. You can only take it out when the skin of the meat is yellow with a hint of orange,” she reminded.

After saying that, Sister Bao had to go home to cook.

After she left, Wen Jiajia started killing the fish.

Sweet and sour pork cannot be made now; it tastes best when it is just out of the pot.

If it’s done now, the skin will easily soften.

Because she had chicken soup, Wen Jiajia did not prepare fish soup. She planned to braise the fish.

As for the spareribs, Wen Jiajia bit her lip and hesitated again and again. She wanted to eat sweet and sour ones.

Wen Jiajia is not a slow person.

After killing the fish, she put the pork belly that she had marinated last night into the pan and fried it at the right time.

She missed her frying pan, but unfortunately, she didn’t bring it with her.

No, I have to think of a way to make a frying pan. She loves frying things and can’t stand this big pot.

The pork belly was made into barbecued pork. Well, due to the lack of seasoning, the taste was a little different from what she made in her previous life. But because the meat was good and honey was added, it tasted pretty good.

“Auntie, have another bite.”

Wen Chun and Wen Xuan are so beautiful that they are almost heavenly!

They placed their hands on the stove, raised their heads, and opened their mouths, like two hungry young birds.

Wen Jiajia then gave each of them a piece of barbecued pork.

Wen Chun and Wen Xuan narrowed their eyes; they had never eaten meat cooked in this way.

“Aunt, your cooking is so delicious,” Wen Chun’s eyes were full of stars. She didn’t know yet that when she grew up and recalled her childhood, the first thing she would think of would be today.

The setting sun filled the courtyard, and the light and shadows passed through the window and fell into the kitchen. In the beam of light, you could see the dust dancing.

The wind blew, blowing the reed curtains rolled up on the windows, and the mottled shadows on the ground changed accordingly.

She was happy at this moment.

In the evening, it was time to go home.

Genes make humans feel lonely and panic every evening, so Wei Dai’s pace became much faster.

He was accompanied by his friends, and Wen Jiajia was frying wok-fried pork at this time.

She had just finished cooking the fish and frying the pig’s trotters, and then served the sweet and sour spare ribs and two dishes of vegetables on the table.

It only took half an hour, and Wen Jiajia felt that she was super awesome.

The sweet and sour pork was really choking when it was fried. When Wei Dai and his friends came in, the house was filled with all kinds of aromas, the strongest of which was the sour smell of white vinegar.

“Wow! Such an authentic sweet and sour pork smell,” a comrade from Northeast China exclaimed.

Then everyone was surprised when they saw the table full of delicious dishes.

Wei Dai married a great chef.

Wen Jiajia came out of the kitchen carrying sweet and sour pork. She called one sister-in-law and another sister-in-law. Wei Dai took her around to introduce everyone and then invited them to eat.

Most people did not bring their families, but a few brought their children.

The children ate alone at the coffee table, and the big table was made up of two tables put together, enough to seat more than a dozen people.

The moving party had begun.

After the meal, Wen Jiajia officially began her life in the family courtyard.