Chapter 37: The Fragrance of Succulent Meat

In the kitchen, a rich aroma of meat was wafting through the air.

Xiao Yan, who was crouching by the stove helping to tend the fire, couldn't help but salivate at the smell of the meat.

"Brother, when can we eat?" the little one asked, unable to contain herself.

"Just a little longer of simmering, and it'll be ready."

Lu Qing actually found it difficult to stand still.

As a meat-eater in his past life, he hadn't eaten any decent meat since coming to this world, except for fish. Now, smelling that intense aroma, his cravings were being thoroughly provoked.

Lu Qing was making braised pork.

Of course, due to the lack of seasonings, he was making a simplified version of braised pork—or perhaps it would be more accurate to call it simmered meat.

The reason he was making it was that he had unexpectedly seen someone selling bean paste at the large market. It was being sold by a farm woman, kept in jars; he had almost missed it at first. Later, he tasted a bit and found that the flavor was quite similar to soy sauce, though less salty, which came as a great surprise. He bought quite a lot on the spot, much to the woman's gratitude.

Taking the opportunity, Lu Qing asked about the origin of the paste and learned that the recipe had been left by the woman's grandfather. Her grandfather had originally been a kitchen worker in a restaurant in a distant city, but due to certain changes, he had ended up here. After she married, her husband's family was poor, so she thought of making bean paste to supplement their household income. Since beans were cheap, the loss wouldn't be much even if she ruined a batch.

However, the people in this area didn't seem to have a very high acceptance of bean paste. Despite selling it at the market for so long, Lu Qing was her largest customer yet. Hearing this, Lu Qing felt a surge of sympathy and bought another jar, drawing even more gratitude from the woman.

After the unexpected windfall of the bean paste, Lu Qing had taken a very thorough stroll through the market. Unfortunately, there were no more surprises like the bean paste. He did see an old man selling sugar, so he bought some. The price of sugar was much higher than the bean paste, but Lu Qing was never stingy when it came to food.

It was thanks to these acquisitions that Lu Qing decided to make a meal of braised pork. He took pork belly with a good balance of fat and lean meat, cut it into chunks, blanched it in water first, and then fried it in the pan until the surface was slightly golden. Then, he removed the meat and began sautéing the paste. Once the fragrance of the paste was released, he poured the lightly fried meat chunks back in to stir-fry them together. Afterward, he added sugar, salt, and water, and let it simmer.

This certainly wasn't authentic braised pork, but with limited resources, this was all Lu Qing could do. Fortunately, even though the method was simple, meat was still meat. After a period of simmering, the meat aroma drifted out, continuing to make the siblings swallow hard.

Estimating that the time was about right, Lu Qing lifted the lid to begin reducing the sauce. The moment the lid was opened, steam billowed up, and the rich scent of meat rushed out, instantly filling the entire kitchen. The aroma even drifted outside, causing passing villagers to stop in their tracks when they smelled it. After sniffing for a moment and realizing the scent was coming from Lu Qing's house, they were struck with amazement.

"Such a strong meat aroma! Just how much meat is Lu Qing cooking at home?"

Some felt like going in to take a look, but felt it would be impolite. Finally, after standing there for a while and feeling their stomachs growl, they hurried home. If they stayed any longer, they were afraid they wouldn't be able to resist barging in to scavenge a meal.

The meat aroma drifted further and further, reaching several nearby households. After confirming the scent came from the Lu family, they also couldn't help but marvel.

"The Lu family's life is getting better and better. What kind of meat is that? It smells so good!"

"I thought after Lu Ming and his wife passed away, Lu Qing and Xiao Yan would be left all alone and have a hard time, but now there's no need to worry."

"I heard that this morning Lu Qing and Da'an went to the market and bought a lot of things. Lu Qing even paid back all the grain, oil, and salt he had borrowed from everyone earlier."

"Old Doctor Chen really is good to his disciples."

"It's a pity my boy is so useless, otherwise I'd want to beg the Old Doctor to take him as a disciple too."

"Give it a rest. Your boy can't even read a single character; even if you gave him a medical book, he wouldn't understand it."

"Always picking on my boy! Isn't yours the same? He can't even count past ten. We're all in the same boat."

...

Lu Qing was unaware of the villagers' discussions. At this moment, he was reducing the sauce until it was thick and starting to serve the meat. The fully stewed meat chunks wobbled as they were placed into the bowl, looking extremely appetizing. Looking at the color of the braised pork, even Lu Qing found it hard to resist.

He quickly stir-fried a green vegetable over high heat and then announced that dinner was ready.

"Xiao Yan, this is yours. Eat slowly, be careful it's hot."

At the dining table, Lu Qing first placed a piece of meat onto Xiao Yan's rice.

"I know, Brother."

Xiao Yan responded obediently, then began blowing on the meat in her bowl to make it cool down faster. After serving Xiao Yan, Lu Qing also took a piece of braised pork for himself. He blew on it slightly to cool it, took a bite, and his eyes instantly lit up.

The meat had been simmered for a long time and was completely infused with flavor. It was soft and tender yet retained a hint of elasticity; the texture was excellent. After a piece of braised pork went down, Lu Qing showed a look of satisfaction. It was well worth the time he spent preparing it.

Although the lack of seasonings meant the flavor profile couldn't compare to the braised pork he made in his past life, being able to eat meat like this under current conditions was more than enough to satisfy him.

"Brother, this meat is delicious!" Xiao Yan said happily, her mouth already oily from eating.

"Haha, of course! This took your brother a lot of effort to make," Lu Qing said proudly.

"Brother's cooking is so good! In the future, Xiao Yan wants to learn how to cook from you, so I can make lots and lots of yummy things myself!" the little foodie declared her grand ambition.

"Then Xiao Yan must eat well. Once you grow up a bit more, Brother will teach you how to cook."

"Okay!"

The siblings enjoyed another wonderful dinner.

After eating and cleaning up, Lu Qing took a piece of cloth and went to Grandpa Zhang's house next door.

"Grandpa Zhang, Grandpa Zhang!"

"What is it, Ah Qing?" Grandpa Zhang came out of the house.

"Is my second aunt home?"

The second aunt, who was Grandpa Zhang's second wife, was famous in the village for her excellent needlework.

"She's in the house. You're looking for her?" Grandpa Zhang called into the house, "Second wife, come out quickly, Ah Qing has something to ask you."

"What does Ah Qing want with me?" a woman emerged from the house.

"It's like this: I bought a piece of cloth at the market this morning and want to make two outfits for Xiao Yan. But I don't know how to sew, so I wanted to ask Second Aunt for help. I will pay the wages accordingly." Lu Qing showed the cloth in his hand.

"You child, what are you talking about with wages? We're neighbors; helping each other is only right. Give me the cloth and I'll take a look. Tell Xiao Yan to come to my place tomorrow so I can take her measurements, and I'll have them finished in a couple of days," Aunt Zhang said as she took the cloth.

"Exactly. You were already too polite by bringing such a large piece of meat over at noon," Grandpa Zhang added.

"I can't let Second Aunt work for nothing," Lu Qing smiled. "Then it's a deal. I need to head back to study."

"Alright, alright, studying is important. Hurry back."

Returning home, Lu Qing looked at Xiao Yan playing in the courtyard and smiled. The little one's clothes had originally been made from his old clothes, and now they were covered in patches. While washing clothes these past two days, he had noticed some of the seams were splitting. It just so happened that he saw someone selling cloth at the market today; although the quality was average and the price was high, Lu Qing bought some anyway, intending to have someone make her two new outfits.

He didn't tell Xiao Yan about the upcoming new clothes, planning to give her a surprise tomorrow.

That night, Xiao Yan still didn't wait for the arrival of the little black beast before falling asleep. When she woke up the next morning, she felt a bit gloomy. However, her gloom quickly vanished when she learned about the new clothes. Two days later, when the new clothes were finished, the little one was so happy upon putting them on that she showed them off for several days.

Because of the shopping trip to the market, their supplies were ample. In the following days, Lu Qing stayed in the village without going out. Every day, he went to Old Doctor Chen to study, returned to do some farm work like planting vegetables in the courtyard, and spent his afternoons thinking about how to make delicious food with limited ingredients. Occasionally, he would go fishing to feed the Night Spirit Fox.

Life was incredibly regular.

Finally, one morning, when he and Xiao Yan arrived at the Small Mountain Courtyard, the Old Doctor told him that he no longer needed to read the *Classic of a Hundred Herbs*.

(End of Chapter)