Just as Chen Zhiwei had expected, when she delivered the newly braised meat to Baiwei Restaurant the next day, Manager Wang was already waiting at the door, his face full of smiles.
“Miss Chen, you’re finally here!” he greeted her warmly. “Yesterday’s braised meat was a huge hit! Customers all said it was excellent—many regulars even asked for extra portions to take away! The boss has given instructions: starting today, we want 100 jin of pork belly daily, another 100 jin of pig head meat, and… thirty portions of intestines! As for the price, we’ll go with what you proposed!”
Chen Zhiwei felt delighted inside but kept her expression calm. “Thank you for the recognition from the boss and Manager Wang. However, braising takes time and effort, and the spices are costly. For now, this is the maximum daily supply I can provide. I hope you understand.”
She deliberately left some room—partly the truth, partly to maintain a sense of scarcity.
“Of course, of course!” Manager Wang nodded repeatedly.
Now that the braised meat had become the restaurant’s new attraction, he was naturally much more polite.
While weighing and settling the payment, he lowered his voice and said, “Miss Chen, to be honest, a waiter from the restaurant across the street, ‘Zuixian Pavilion,’ came snooping around yesterday, trying to find out where this braised meat comes from. You must guard your recipe well—we agreed this is exclusive!”
“Don’t worry, Manager Wang. I keep my word,” Chen Zhiwei replied, taking the silver.
She felt reassured—her business had finally gained a firm foothold.
Chen Zhiwei’s thriving braised meat business couldn’t escape the notice of the villagers.
Every morning, she rode an ox cart to town to deliver meat, and every evening she returned with large quantities of pork. It had already become a hot topic in the village.
Some envied her, some admired her—and of course, there were those filled with jealousy.
Inside the main branch of the old Chen household, the atmosphere was tense.
“Hmph! Running to town every day—anyone who didn’t know better would think she’s latched onto some powerful connection!” Wang Shi sneered while cracking melon seeds. “She just got lucky and came up with some crooked trick!”
Liao Jinfeng’s face darkened, her narrow eyes flashing with calculation. “What do you know? Haven’t you heard? Her braised meat is selling extremely well at Baiwei Restaurant! She’s probably earning quite a lot every day! That money should belong to our Chen family!”
Chen Dashan smoked silently for a while before saying, “Mother, what’s the point of saying all this now? The severance document has already been signed…”
“So what if it has?” Liao Jinfeng slammed the table. “She has Chen family blood in her veins! Now that she’s making money, she thinks she can abandon us? No way! Dashan, go to town tomorrow and talk to your second brother. We can’t let that brat get away with this!”
Wang Shi’s eyes lit up. “That’s right! Let’s find second brother! He knows people in town—he’ll definitely have a way to deal with her! At worst, we’ll get the recipe and make it ourselves!”
..
Unaware of the commotion at the old house, Chen Zhiwei and Chen Zhiyi were busy washing pork and intestines.
After working for a while, Chen Zhiwei rubbed her slightly sore waist and sighed. “With just the two of us, who knows how long this will take!”
But Chen Zhiyi was full of energy. Now that he could eat his fill every day and no longer had to endure bullying or depend on others’ moods, he would have the strength to wash all night if needed.
“Sis, you went to the market today—you must be tired. Sit and rest, I’ll do the washing,” he said earnestly.
Though touched by her brother’s words, the work still needed to be done.
“You keep working for now. I’ll go to Aunt Zhao’s house,” Chen Zhiwei decided to seek help, thinking first of Aunt Zhao, who had helped them before.
“Aunt Zhao, are you home?”
“I am, I am! What’s the matter, Zhiwei?” Aunt Zhao stuck her head out as soon as she heard her voice.
“Aunt Zhao, you know I’ve been selling braised meat in town recently. It includes pork offal, and now the restaurant needs thirty portions a day. I can’t manage alone, so I was hoping you could help. It won’t be for free—I’ll pay one wen per piece.”
Chen Zhiwei didn’t avoid others while speaking. She wanted people to know that she repaid kindness.
“One wen per piece? Thirty pieces—that’s thirty wen! That’s more than men earn carrying loads at the docks!”
“Aunt Zhao is so lucky!”
Envious voices rose around them, and some busybodies immediately ran off to report the news to the Chen family.
“Zhiwei, if I’m helping, how can I take your money?” Aunt Zhao felt uneasy.
“Aunt Zhao, I must pay you. This will be a daily task. If you won’t accept it, I’ll find someone else.”
“You really are straightforward,” Aunt Zhao said, closing her door and heading to Chen Zhiwei’s house with her.
At the hut, Chen Zhiyi was diligently scrubbing the pork intestines.
“Zhiyi is such a good child,” Aunt Zhao praised.
Chen Zhiwei smiled and handed her a clean apron. “The most important part is removing the smell. First rub them repeatedly with plant ash and coarse salt to remove the slime, then rinse thoroughly with clean water.”
She demonstrated as she spoke, her movements swift and practiced. Aunt Zhao quickly picked it up, and the two worked in perfect coordination.
With her help, the work sped up significantly. Chen Zhiwei took the opportunity to prepare the braising broth. Using spirit spring water and spices, she set up a large pot in the yard and began simmering it slowly.
Before long, a rich, unique aroma spread through the air, causing passersby to stop and sniff.
“Zhiwei, your braised meat smells unbelievably good!” Aunt Zhao exclaimed while scrubbing intestines. “I’ve lived in this village for so many years and never smelled anything like it.”
Chen Zhiwei just smiled, knowing the spirit spring water played a big role. But she also understood that for long-term success, she couldn’t rely on it alone—she needed a real livelihood.
Just then, a noisy set of footsteps came from outside the yard.
Wang Shi and Liao Jinfeng stormed in aggressively.
“You ungrateful girl, Chen Zhiwei! You’d rather help outsiders than your own family! Zhao Chunzhi, get out! My granddaughter’s matters are for me, her grandmother, to handle—not you!”
“That’s perfect,” Chen Zhiwei said calmly, placing a piece of pork offal into each of their hands. “I was worried Aunt Zhao alone would be too slow. With both of you helping, it’ll go much faster. Get started.”
Zhao Chunzhi wanted to warn Chen Zhiwei that Liao Jinfeng surely had bad intentions, but thinking it was family business, she ultimately stayed silent.
With more hands, the work progressed quickly. Before nightfall, all thirty portions were cleaned. Zhao Chunzhi handled ten, Wang Shi and Liao Jinfeng each did eight, and the remaining four were done by Chen Zhiwei and her brother.
Chen Zhiwei took out ten wen and handed it to Aunt Zhao. “Thank you for your hard work. I’ll come get you tomorrow after delivering the meat.”
“Alright, alright,” Zhao Chunzhi said, taking the money but not leaving immediately—she was worried the other two might cause trouble.
“Zhiwei, what about ours?” Wang Shi asked eagerly, staring at the copper coins in Zhao Chunzhi’s hand.
“Yours? What do you mean?” Chen Zhiwei replied coolly. “Didn’t you say you came as family to help? I never hired you.”
From the start, she had no intention of giving them a single coin.
“You… you…” Liao Jinfeng pointed at her, too angry to speak properly.
“Grandma, I’ve said before—I don’t like people pointing at me. Did you forget?” Liao Jinfeng immediately remembered how Chen Zhiwei had once swung Wang Shi around and quickly lowered her hand in fear.
“I’ll just wait and see what kind of ending an unfilial wretch like you gets!” The two had come aggressively, worked the whole afternoon, and now slunk away in defeat.