Jiang Le also found it terrifying. He gave his honest and kind-looking father a horrified glance, quickly put down the bottle, and went to wash his hands. Only then did he feel a bit better.  

Jiang Le: [I’m not eating bugs!] 

He made up his mind—tomorrow, no matter how his grandma cooked those bamboo worms, he absolutely would not eat them!  

The whole family came to help, cutting the bamboo into sections and splitting them into small strips. One end was sharpened into a triangular point to make it easier to stick into the soil.  

Working together, the family moved quickly. Before long, they had prepared enough bamboo strips. They inserted some into the gaps in the fence and, following Jiang Le’s suggestion, nailed wooden slats diagonally onto the fence with wooden pegs. This made the wall sturdier, and there was no worry about someone deliberately widening the gaps.  

While they were repairing the fence, Wang Shitou came out to take a look. Without a word, he silently returned to his house.  

Once the fence was fixed, the family could finally rest easy and go to bed.  

Early the next morning, Grandma Jiang indeed stir-fried bamboo worms. These worms weren’t easy to catch—even though Jiang De and Jiang Junqing had gathered so many, there was only half a plate after cooking.  

When Jiang Huan saw the bamboo worms, she didn’t even rush to eat the meat, taking a bite of the worms first. “So delicious! I wish we could eat this every day.”  

Jiang Le shot his sister a shocked look. Eating bugs every day? Is my sister a demon?  

But… why did these bugs smell so good?  

Zhao Meilian laughed. “Silly child, do you think bamboo worms are easy to find?”  

The worms lived inside bamboo, so catching them required chopping the bamboo open. With good luck, you might find a whole nest, but with bad luck, you might only get one or two.  

If Jiang De and Jiang Junqing hadn’t needed to cut bamboo yesterday, they wouldn’t have been able to catch any.  

Jiang Huan grinned. “I’m just dreaming!”  

Then she turned to Jiang Le. “Little brother, why aren’t you eating? You always fight me for them before.”  

Jiang Le: “…”  

Jiang De: “Come on, eat up, or there won’t be any left.”  

Jiang Le was on the verge of tears as he cautiously picked up a bamboo worm, closed his eyes, and popped it into his mouth. To his surprise—it was delicious!  

His eyes lit up. He hadn’t expected bamboo worms to taste so good. Suddenly, those pale little bugs seemed a lot cuter.  

After that, no one needed to urge him. Jiang Le kept reaching for more with his chopsticks, and when he realized they were all gone, he was actually a little disappointed.  

Guagua teased sarcastically: [I’m not eating bugs~] 

Jiang Le: […]

He decided to ignore it.

Today, he discussed with Yu Hezhong the plan to go to town to sell the pork. After breakfast, he headed to the Yu family, intending to set off immediately. Unexpectedly, Yu Hezhong asked, “Does braised pork sell for more than regular pork?”  

Jiang Le nodded. “Of course! Braised pork is ready to eat.”  

Yu Hezhong’s eyes lit up. “Then how about we marinate the pork before selling it?”  

Jiang Le’s eyes sparkled too. “Wow, Hezhong, you’re so smart! Why didn’t I think of that?”  

Yu Hezhong smiled shyly. “It was only after eating your grandma’s braised pork that I got the idea.”  

Jiang Le showered him with praise. “That still makes you a genius—no arguments!”  

Yu Hezhong chuckled.  

Jiang Le agreed. “Alright, then we’ll just have to trouble my grandma a bit.”  

After all, there were still fifty or sixty pounds of pork left!  

But Yu Hezhong said, “No need. I’ve already learned how to make it.”  

Jiang Le was skeptical. Yu Hezhong had only watched once yesterday—was he just trying not to inconvenience Grandma Jiang?  

Just as he was about to say something, he noticed that Yu Hezhong had already prepared all the marinade ingredients. Clearly, he had been busy with this since morning.  

Watching with a mix of doubt and curiosity, Jiang Le only fully believed it when the familiar aroma filled the air—Yu Hezhong really had mastered it.  

Jiang Le was stunned. [No way, Yu Hezhong isn’t human!]

Guagua teased: [Just because you didn’t learn it doesn’t mean you can insult people.]  

Jiang Le realized his words could be misinterpreted. [What I mean is, Yu Hezhong is a genius, right?]  

Guagua: [Don’t forget, Yu Hezhong is the future villain boss—a mechanical prodigy.]  

Jiang Le was confused. [But what does machinery have to do with cooking?] 

Guagua: [It proves Yu Hezhong is smart.]  

Jiang Le: […] Fair point.  

Jiang Le took a moment to go home and tell Grandma Jiang that he wouldn’t be back for lunch. They planned to finish braising the meat and head straight to town.

While Yu Hezhong busied himself with the braised meat, Jiang Le found some cornmeal and ended up making a few cornmeal flatbreads—a skill he’d picked up from an old woman in the village.

Once the flatbreads were ready, he took a piece of braised pork, chopped it finely, stuffed it into the bread, and poured in a spoonful of the meat broth. A homemade roujiamo (Chinese pork burger) was complete!

He handed one to Yu Hezhong and took one for himself. Taking an eager bite, his eyes lit up.

The cornmeal flatbread had a subtle sweetness, blending perfectly with the rich meat juices soaked into the bread and the generous filling. It was incredibly delicious.

Jiang Le remembered that there was still some uneaten braised meat at home, and he planned to make roujiamo (Chinese meat burgers) for his family to try when he got back.  

Yu Hezhong didn’t say anything, but it was clear he loved it—after all, he ate five roujiamo in one go.  

Although the flatbread Jiang Le made wasn’t very big, that was still a huge appetite. Jiang Le thought that if Yu Hezhong kept eating like this, he would definitely grow taller.  

After finishing the roujiamo, the last pot of braised meat was finally ready. The two packed the meat into a bamboo basket lined with clean, large leaves, covering the top with another thick layer of leaves.  

At Jiang Le’s insistence, he also carried about ten pounds of meat. The two of them trudged toward town, huffing and puffing.  

Though Jiang Le still couldn’t match Yu Hezhong’s strength, after so much training, he had gradually adapted to prolonged physical exertion. This time, even while carrying over ten pounds of meat, he moved faster than he had on his first trip.  

Soon, he arrived at the burly man’s house, following his memory.  

Jiang Le knocked on the door, but there was no response for a while. He started to worry that the man might not be home and thought today’s trip would be wasted. Maybe he should try his luck at the black market, which happened to be open.  

Just then, the door suddenly swung open. The burly man squinted, as if he had just woken up, and roared like thunder, “Who the hell is knocking in broad daylight, disturbing my sleep?!”  

Seeing him, Jiang Le was overjoyed. Noticing Yu Hezhong warily stepping in front of him, Jiang Le felt touched. He patted Yu Hezhong reassuringly and said to the burly man, “Big bro, it’s me! Do you remember?”  

The man sobered up a little, looking at the smiling Jiang Le. After a moment of thought, it finally clicked. “Oh, it’s you, kid! What’re you here for?”  

Jiang Le let out a sigh of relief—at least he remembered.  

Before he could answer, the burly man’s nose twitched like a dog’s. “What’s that? Smells damn good. Kid, what’d you bring this time?”  

Jiang Le realized the man was probably a foodie—his eyes had noticeably widened the moment he caught the scent.  

A foodie was good—it made his sales pitch much easier!  

Worried someone might pass by the alley, Jiang Le said, “Big bro, can we talk inside?”  

The burly man was completely captivated by the mouthwatering aroma. He was certain the smell was coming from the baskets the two kids were carrying.  

It smelled like… meat? But richer and more fragrant than any meat he’d ever encountered.  

Besides, Jiang Le’s politeness was refreshing. The people the burly man usually hung out with were rough and loud—when they got excited, they’d slap you hard enough to send you flying. He’d never interacted with someone like Jiang Le before.  

Jiang Le had an air of refinement about him, something the burly man had only seen in the office workers from his transport team—except those guys always looked down on rough folks like him.  

So Jiang Le’s attitude greatly pleased the burly man. He boomed heartily, “Sure, why not? Come on in, little bro!”