After blanching the pork belly in cool water, He Wanqing handed the rest of the cooking over to the fourth child.
“A-Ming, come here. It’s your time to shine. Do exactly what Mother tells you.”
A-Ming was already used to this routine. Sniffling, he picked up the wooden spatula.
“Carefully pour the meat into the wok and stir-fry it. Render out the fat.”
“Alright, both sides are golden now. Scoop all the meat out, but leave the oil in the wok.”
“This is white sugar. Add two spoonfuls and stir it around.”
“Okay, put the meat back in and coat it with color.”
He Wanqing handed him the prepared seasonings. “Add all of these and stir-fry.”
“Pour in three bowls of water, then add salt.”
“Jianwen, make the fire bigger. Once it boils, pull some firewood away and let it simmer on low heat.”
Finally done explaining the steps, He Wanqing’s mouth was dry from talking, and she drank several mouthfuls of water.
By the time Ye Jianshan and Ye Jianwu returned carrying firewood, the aroma of meat had already spread everywhere. Many nearby people were secretly staring at the wok—or more precisely, at the meat inside it.
On Old Master Ye’s side—
“(╯▽╰) It smells sooo good~~”
Old Master Ye kept twitching his nose, his gaze drifting over from time to time.
Old Madam Ye glanced at him and said coolly, “Does this family lack meat for you to eat?”
“Hehe, not really. I’m just curious why their meat smells so good. Old woman, why don’t you go ask how they cooked it?”
“How they cooked it? With an iron wok, obviously! Or maybe you can hand over the private money you’ve been hiding, and I’ll buy an iron wok to cook meat for you?”
Old Master Ye immediately covered the pocket inside his shirt protectively and said pitifully, “I only saved a few coins. How could I afford an iron wok? Don’t we still have money at home?”
Old Madam Ye glared at him. “We don’t even know where we’ll settle down yet, and you still dare spend money carelessly?”
Old Master Ye drooped his shoulders. “I wouldn’t dare.”
Old Madam Ye continued, gaining momentum, “Besides, your eldest grandson is already nineteen. Don’t we need to save money to get him a wife?”
“Yes, yes, we’ll get him married.”
“That’s more like it.”
Old Master Ye quieted down, but others had started scheming.
Over at Widow Liu’s side, Gou Dan was clamoring for meat. But there was no meat at home, so he rolled around on the ground throwing a tantrum.
“I don’t care, I don’t care! I want meat!”
No matter how hard Widow Liu pulled, she couldn’t get him up. Furious, she twisted Cuihua’s arm.
“You useless girl, why are you still standing there? Hurry up and pull your brother up!”
Pain filled Cuihua’s eyes with tears, but she didn’t dare say a word. Timidly, she went to pull her brother up.
But before she could touch him, he kicked her.
“Get lost! Don’t touch me!”
Cuihua lost her balance and fell to the ground, immediately feeling a burning pain in her palms. Tears silently streamed down her face.
Widow Liu cursed under her breath, “Worthless thing.”
Then she turned to Gou Dan gently. “Wait here. Mother will get you some meat.”
Gou Dan instantly scrambled up, wiping away tears that didn’t even exist.
“Mother, I’m going too!”
Carrying a basket, Widow Liu headed off with Gou Dan. Along the way, she whispered instructions:
“When we get there, act pitiful and ask for meat. If they refuse, roll around on the ground just like before, got it?”
Gou Dan grinned slyly. “Don’t worry, Mother.”
“Mother, isn’t it ready yet?”
Ye Jianwu rubbed his flat stomach while drooling at the meat in the wok.
The others weren’t much different. Their eyes were practically glued to the pork.
“Just a little longer. You don’t need to wait here. Go finish building the bathing shed first. By the time you’re done, it should be ready.”
The four children stared at the meat like hungry tigers. Even He Wanqing felt nervous under their gazes, so she hurriedly sent them away.
As soon as the children left the wok, Widow Liu arrived with Gou Dan.
From the original owner’s memories, He Wanqing already knew exactly what attitude to use toward this woman.
So she asked expressionlessly, “What do you want?”
Widow Liu smiled warmly and grabbed a handful of wild vegetables from her basket.
“I noticed you didn’t go pick wild vegetables today, so I brought some for you.”
He Wanqing rejected her coldly. “No need. We don’t want them.”
Who would want bland wild vegetables when there was braised pork to eat?
Besides, with that crafty smile on her face, who knew what bad intentions she had?
Widow Liu’s face twitched slightly.
As expected, this woman was still impossible to deal with.
But even if she didn’t fall for it, she still had another trick.
Receiving the signal, Gou Dan immediately cried pitifully,
“Mother, I want meat!”
“No, this is someone else’s meat.”
“But I want it! There’s so much meat anyway. Giving me one piece won’t hurt!”
He Wanqing merely watched the mother and son perform with a faint sneer.
Sure enough, Widow Liu turned toward He Wanqing with a troubled expression.
“Sister-in-law Jianshan, you know how hard it is for our family to eat meat. We adults can endure it, but the child is craving it terribly. Could you let him taste just one piece? I’ll trade these wild vegetables for it, alright?”
Most people probably wouldn’t have the heart to refuse.
But He Wanqing was not most people.
“What does your family’s difficulty eating meat have to do with me? Hurry back.”
“Waaah! I want meat!”
Gou Dan immediately rolled around on the ground again. Real tears finally welled up in his eyes this time—thinking about that delicious-looking meat he couldn’t have genuinely broke his heart.
His cries attracted everyone’s attention.
Widow Liu’s old face flushed red with anger as she cursed He Wanqing endlessly inside, while still hoping the trick would work.
Instead, what she got was a harsh dismissal.
“If you won’t accept kindness, don’t blame me for being rude!”
“Jianwu, pick up that brat and toss him onto the grass over there. The noise is giving me a headache.”
As for the adult, He Wanqing directly swung a stick at Widow Liu’s feet.
Startled, Widow Liu retreated repeatedly while crying out, then hurried after her son.
After that commotion, He Wanqing earned yet another label in the villagers’ minds: violent.
But who cared? Nothing was more important than eating braised pork!
At this point, the braised pork had reached the stage where the sauce was reducing. He Wanqing pulled out all the firewood, then filled five large bowls with white rice.
None of the bowls were completely full—she intentionally left plenty of room for the pork.
“Dinner’s ready!”
In the blink of an eye, the children appeared neatly lined up in front of the wok, startling He Wanqing.
Good grief—they’d clearly been waiting the whole time!
One jin of pork had been cut into thirty pieces. He Wanqing had counted them carefully before cooking, so she divided them evenly now.
Five bowls sat in a row, each with exactly six pieces—not one more, not one less.
Though there were only six pieces each, every chunk was large, making the bowls look generously filled.
After dividing the meat, He Wanqing also distributed the remaining sauce from the wok. The sauce was the essence of braised pork, and she refused to waste even a single drop.
“Alright, everyone take a bowl. There’s still rice in the clay pot, but this is all the meat we have. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. Eat wisely.”
Though starving, the children still knew to wait for He Wanqing to take hers first.
Carrying her bowl, He Wanqing went off to enjoy her meal alone, no longer paying attention to the children.
The remaining four bowls were instantly snatched up—even A-Ming moved surprisingly fast.
He Wanqing didn’t rush to eat. Instead, she first took a deep sniff.
“Mmm… it smells heavenly!”
She mixed the rice with the sauce and finally began eating. Carefully, she lifted a glossy red piece of pork to her mouth.
The meat melted instantly.
The taste made He Wanqing squint her eyes in bliss.
So happy!
If she could eat like this every day while fleeing famine, she could probably keep walking for another half month!
While He Wanqing savored the food, the children were doing the same.
Tasting something this delicious for the first time, A-Ming’s eyes widened in disbelief. He couldn’t believe such amazing meat had been made by his own hands.
After eating two pieces, A-Ming carried his bowl toward his mother.
“Mother,” he asked carefully, “this meat is so good… can I give one piece to Grandpa?”
He Wanqing was slightly surprised, then nodded.
“Of course you can. But why only Grandpa and not Grandma?”
A-Ming said shyly, “Grandpa used to secretly give me candy. Back then, I thought candy was the tastiest thing in the world. But now I’ve eaten something even tastier, so I want Grandpa to try it too.”
This little brat isn’t bad at all, He Wanqing thought approvingly. So young, yet he already understood gratitude.
“So that’s why. Go ahead then,” she said, adding casually, “From now on, anything given to you belongs to you. As long as it’s your own choice, I won’t interfere no matter who you share it with.”
A-Ming nodded happily and headed toward the Ye family’s main branch.
The others had already finished eating and were sitting around resting when they saw Ye Jianming carrying a bowl over.
Ye Jian’an greeted him, “A-Ming, what brings you here?”
“I’m looking for Grandpa,” A-Ming replied softly before heading toward Old Master Ye.
Old Master Ye was fiddling with his tobacco. Seeing A-Ming, his face immediately bloomed like a chrysanthemum.
“Come sit here.”
As soon as he spoke, he caught the rich aroma of meat and saw the glossy red pork chunks in A-Ming’s bowl. Quietly, he swallowed.
“You’re only starting dinner now?”
“Mhm! Grandpa, let me tell you, this meat is sooo delicious!”
In front of Old Master Ye, shy little A-Ming relaxed a lot more.
You little brat, still showing off! Do you know how hard Grandpa’s been enduring this?! Old Master Ye complained inwardly.
But in the next moment, the little brat stuffed the biggest piece of meat straight into his mouth.
Old Master Ye chewed reflexively, then stared at A-Ming in shock.
“Grandpa, isn’t it tasty?” A-Ming asked with smiling eyes.
Old Master Ye nodded repeatedly.
It was so delicious it practically exploded across his taste buds!
After reluctantly swallowing it, his gaze instinctively drifted back toward the meat in A-Ming’s bowl—but he immediately forced himself to look away and waved him off.
“Hurry back now. Don’t disturb me while I’m working.”
“Okay, Grandpa, I’m leaving.”
Yet after A-Ming truly walked away, Old Master Ye secretly stared after him while swallowing his saliva and savoring the lingering taste.
The other three children had witnessed everything.
Ye Jianwen and Ye Jianwu showed no reaction, continuing to shovel meat and rice into their mouths.
Only Ye Jianshan stood up and walked toward the main branch as well.