In the kitchen, Qian Chunhua first put on a pot of plain white rice—pure white rice, without a single grain of corn or millet mixed in.

If they were going to eat, they might as well enjoy it to the fullest.

Then she took out the pork belly she had bought, cut it into pieces, blanched it in boiling water, and prepared to cook a pot of braised pork.

Everyone in the family, young and old, was sorely lacking in nourishment.

She poured oil into the pot.

While the oil was still cold, she added cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, and star anise, then stir-fried them slowly over low heat to bring out the fragrance.

These spices weren’t available at home—Qian Chunhua took them straight from her space, since she was alone in the kitchen.

Once the spices released their aroma, she added the pork belly and stir-fried it to render out the fat and cut the greasiness.

When the meat was slightly golden on both sides, she added a few pieces of rock sugar, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, and salt, then stir-fried everything until the meat was evenly coated and colored.

She poured in just enough water to cover the meat, turned up the heat until it boiled, skimmed off the foam, added ginger slices, then reduced the fire to a simmer after pulling out a few logs.

While the pork was simmering, Qian Chunhua picked a large Chinese cabbage to make another dish—sweet and sour stir-fried cabbage.

In the northern winter, night fell early. By the time the clock in her space showed five o’clock, it was already completely dark.

The aroma of braised pork had already filled the air, drawing the three children to the kitchen, their mouths watering.

Qian Chunhua lifted the pot lid and took out four pieces of pork belly, placing them in a bowl.

After letting them cool slightly, she gave one piece each to the three kids.

The last piece she gently popped into her mother’s mouth.

“Mom, tasty, isn’t it?”

Before Qian Mother could respond, the three little ones chorused, “Delicious! So delicious!”

Qian Mother closed her eyes and slowly savored the meat. It was tender and melted in her mouth.

She was reluctant to even swallow it.

Seeing everyone’s reactions, Qian Chunhua smiled with satisfaction—her cooking skills hadn’t faded.

Before transmigrating, she had been a decent cook. Living alone and unwilling to rely on takeout, she had naturally honed her culinary skills.

She added a few more logs to the stove to increase the heat so the sauce would reduce and the dish could be finished.

By the time she completed the sweet and sour cabbage, Qian Xingshan had returned home.

Two large bowls of dishes—one full of braised pork belly, the other of sweet and sour cabbage—were set in the center of the table.

Qian Xingshan’s eyes widened.

He looked at his mother, then at his sister. “What’s the occasion today? We had dry rice for lunch, and now dinner’s even fancier—a whole bowl of meat! Better than New Year’s.”

“Eat up—try your sister’s cooking!”

Qian Chunhua passed out chopsticks and served each person a bowl of white rice.

Qian Xingshan, unable to contain his amazement, picked up his bowl and scooped a bite of rice with braised pork and its sauce.

The moment it entered his mouth, his eyes lit up.

“This is delicious!”

Qian Chunhua smiled and picked up a piece of pork belly to place in her mother’s bowl. “Eat more if it’s good, Mom. Eat while it’s hot.”

She then gave a piece each to Qingfeng, Xiaoling, and Qingsong.

Lastly, she took a piece for herself.

The pork belly tasted just as she remembered.

Her body, starved of oil and fat for so long, was nearly moved to tears by just one bite of pork belly—it was filled with pure happiness.

With the braised pork on the table, the sweet and sour cabbage didn’t seem so appealing at first.

In the northern winter, it was cabbage day in and day out.

Everyone was long sick of it.

Until Qian Mother absentmindedly took a bite after several pieces of pork and her eyes widened. “Chunhua, this is really made from cabbage?”

Qian Chunhua smiled and nodded.

Yes, this dish had plenty of oil in it—naturally far tastier than the usual boiled cabbage Qian Mother made.

She kept that thought to herself and took a bite of the cabbage, chewing happily.

Qian Xingshan, seeing his mother’s reaction, tried a piece himself—and had the same surprised reaction. He couldn’t believe something so delicious had been made from plain cabbage.

“Delicious.”

Suddenly, the sweet and sour cabbage was just as popular as the pork.

In the end, both dishes were completely wiped clean.

Even the sauce from the braised pork was mixed with rice and eaten by Qian Xingshan.

After finishing, he declared, “This is the best, most satisfying meal I’ve ever had in my life.”

The three kids echoed, “Me too! Me too!”

Qian Mother smiled and silently agreed in her heart: This is also the best meal I’ve had in my life—white rice, all-you-can-eat braised pork. Even landlords wouldn’t dare eat like this.

Zhao Qingfeng looked at Qian Chunhua with innocent eyes. “Mom, can we have braised pork every New Year from now on?”

Qian Chunhua nodded. “Yes, and not just for New Year. I’ll make it for you on regular days too.”

Qian Mother grew anxious. “If we eat like this often, how will we make ends meet?”

Qian Chunhua just smiled, not arguing.

For someone who had lived in poverty for so long, this reaction was completely normal.

After dinner, Qian Mother took care of washing the dishes.

Qian Chunhua had to go collect the household registration papers from Village Chief Wang.

“Mom, I’m taking Qingsong with me. I’ll come back later for Xiaoling and Qingfeng.”

She didn’t want to be burdened with the two younger ones during the errand.

She brought Qingsong because he was the eldest of the Zhao children and wanted him to gain some experience.

“Go ahead, Sis. I’ll watch them,” Qian Xingshan said, letting out a satisfied burp.

With the prepared brown sugar in hand, Qian Chunhua brought Qingsong to Village Chief Wang’s home. They had just finished dinner too.

“Chunhua’s here,” said Village Chief Wang, having expected her arrival.

Qian Chunhua handed over the brown sugar. “Good evening, Uncle Wang.”

Qingsong also greeted politely, “Good evening, Village Chief Grandpa.”

Village Chief Wang’s daughter-in-law, Sun Hongying, came forward with a big smile to take the sugar. “Sister Chunhua, come in and have a seat.”

Qian Chunhua and Qingsong sat at the main table in the central room. The table still hadn’t been cleared, and they could faintly see remnants of cornmeal porridge and dark wheat buns from the village chief’s dinner.

Sun Hongying offered politely, “Sister Chunhua, have you eaten? Want something?”

Seeing the nearly empty bowls and plates, Qian Chunhua smiled and declined gently, “Thank you, Hongying, but we’ve just had dinner.”

Village Chief Wang brought out the household registration papers and handed them to Qian Chunhua. “Here are your documents. That’ll be ten copper coins.”

Qian Chunhua quickly counted out ten coins from her pouch and handed them over with both hands. “Thank you, Uncle Wang.”

She looked at the household paper, made from yellowish hemp paper. It recorded her family of four in detail—origin, household head, number of people, number of males, females, their relations, assets, and so on.

This was their official identity now. With this, everything she’d done last night would truly be recognized.

Qian Chunhua carefully put the paper away, finally feeling at ease.

After finishing the formalities, she asked, “Uncle Wang, I wanted to ask—on the official road outside the village, is there no post station or tea shop anymore?”

From the original host’s memories, she remembered there used to be a post station less than a mile from the village. But the three men she met earlier that day hadn’t found anything.

Village Chief Wang looked at her in surprise.

A village woman—interested in the outside world?

He sighed, but still answered, “That old post station has long been abandoned. The government couldn’t pay the soldiers anymore, so no one stayed.”

Ah, so that’s what happened. Qian Chunhua understood now.

“Uncle Wang, I’m thinking of opening a tea shop at the village entrance, to offer convenience to passing merchant caravans. Would that be alright?”

This was her second reason for coming tonight.

Village Chief Wang was quite curious why she had this idea. From a village head’s point of view, he said, “That’s fine. Your family happens to have a plot of land next to the road. You can build the tea shop there.”

“But…”