Chapter 37: The Fragrance of Big Meat

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

Xiao Yan, who was squatting in front of the stove helping to watch the fire, couldn’t help but drool when she smelled the meat.

“Brother, when can we eat?” the little girl couldn’t bear it anymore.

“It’ll be ready after a little more simmering.”

Lu Qing actually felt a little unsteady on his feet as well.

As a carnivore in his previous life, he hadn’t eaten any decent meat other than fish since he came to this world.

Now, smelling the rich aroma of meat, his gluttonous worms were about to be lured out.

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 was more appropriate to call it braised meat.

The reason he was making braised pork was because he had actually seen someone selling bean paste at the big market.

It was sold by a peasant woman, and it was initially in a jar, so he almost didn’t notice it.

Later, he tasted a little and found that the taste was quite similar to soy sauce, but the saltiness was not enough. He was immediately pleasantly surprised.

He immediately bought a lot, which made the peasant woman very grateful.

Lu Qing took the opportunity to ask about the origin of this sauce and learned that the recipe was left by the peasant woman’s grandfather.

Her grandfather was originally a back kitchen worker in a restaurant in a distant city. Later, due to some changes, he ended up here.

After she got married, her husband’s family was poor, so she thought of making some bean paste to supplement the family’s income.

Anyway, beans were cheap, and even if they were made badly, the loss would not be great.

However, the people here didn’t seem to be very receptive to bean paste.

She had been selling it at the big market for so long, and Lu Qing was still the biggest customer she had ever met.

After hearing this, Lu Qing felt sympathy and bought another jar of sauce, which made the peasant woman grateful again.

After the unexpected harvest of bean paste, Lu Qing then strolled around the big market in detail.

Unfortunately, there were no more surprises like the bean paste.

However, he saw an old man selling sugar, so he bought some.

The price of sugar was much more expensive than bean paste, but Lu Qing was never stingy with money when it came to food.

It was precisely because of these gains that Lu Qing decided to make a meal of braised pork.

The half-fat, half-lean pork belly was cut into pieces, blanched first, and then pan-fried until the surface was slightly yellow.

Then he took out the meat and started to stir-fry the sauce.

After the aroma of the sauce was stir-fried, he poured the slightly pan-fried meat pieces in and stir-fried them together.

Then he added sugar, salt, and water and simmered them together.

This was definitely not the authentic braised pork, but with limited conditions, this was all Lu Qing could do.

But fortunately, even if the method was simple, meat was still meat.

After a period of simmering, the aroma of meat wafted out, which still made the two siblings swallow their saliva.

After estimating that the time was about right, Lu Qing opened the lid of the pot and prepared to reduce the sauce.

The moment the lid was opened, hot steam rose, and the rich aroma of meat rushed to his face, instantly filling the entire kitchen.

The aroma of meat even floated outside the house, causing a passing villager to stop in his tracks when he smelled it.

After smelling it for a while, he found that the aroma of meat was coming from Lu Qing’s house, and he was immediately amazed.

“Such a strong aroma of meat. How much big meat is Lu Qing cooking at home?”

He wanted to go in and take a look, but he felt that it was not very polite.

Finally, after standing for a while, he felt his stomach getting hungrier and hungrier, so he hurried home.

If he stayed any longer, he was afraid that he would not be able to resist going in to get a free meal.

The aroma of meat drifted farther and farther, and several nearby families smelled it.

After confirming that the fragrance was coming from the Lu family, they couldn’t help but sigh with emotion.

“The Lu family’s life is getting better and better. What kind of meat is this? It’s so fragrant!”

“I thought that after Lu Ming and his wife passed away, Lu Qing and Xiao Yan, two lonely children, would have a very difficult life. Now I don’t have to worry anymore.”

“I heard that Lu Qing and Da’an went to the big market this morning and bought a lot of things back. Lu Qing also returned the grain, oil, and salt that he had borrowed from everyone.”

“This Old Doctor Chen is really good to his disciple.”

“It’s a pity that my stinky boy is not up to snuff, otherwise I would also want to ask the old doctor to take him as a disciple.”

“Come on, your family’s boy doesn’t even know a single character. Even if you give him a medical book, he won’t be able to understand it.”

“You’re only talking about my family. Isn’t your boy the same? He can’t even count past ten. Let’s not talk about each other.”

…

Lu Qing did not know about the villagers’ discussion.

At this moment, he was thickening the meat juice and starting to serve the meat.

The fully stewed meat pieces were served, trembling in the bowl, looking extremely tempting.

Looking at the color of this braised pork, Lu Qing couldn’t stand it anymore.

He quickly stir-fried a green vegetable over high heat and then announced that it was time to eat.

“Xiao Yan, this is yours. Eat slowly, be careful it’s hot.”

At the dinner table, Lu Qing first picked up a piece of meat for Xiao Yan and placed it on her rice.

“I know, brother.”

Xiao Yan replied obediently, then began to blow on the meat in her bowl, wanting it to cool down quickly.

After giving some to Xiao Yan, Lu Qing also picked up a piece of braised pork for himself.

After blowing on it to cool it down a bit, he took a bite and his eyes immediately lit up.

This meat had been simmered by him for a long time and was already fully flavored.

It was soft and glutinous with a hint of elasticity, and the texture was excellent.

After eating a piece of braised pork, Lu Qing showed a satisfied expression.

It was not in vain that he had spent so much time preparing it.

Although the taste of this braised pork was not as good as the one he made in his previous life due to the lack of seasonings, being able to eat such a piece of meat under the current conditions was enough to satisfy him.

“Brother, this meat is so delicious!”

At this time, Xiao Yan also had a mouthful of oil and said happily to Lu Qing.

“Haha, of course. This is something that brother spent a lot of effort to make,” Lu Qing said proudly.

“Brother’s cooking is so delicious. In the future, I also want to learn how to cook from brother, and then I can make a lot of delicious food myself!”

The little foodie expressed her lofty ambitions.

“Then Xiao Yan has to eat well. When you grow up a little, brother will teach you how to cook.”

“Okay!”

The two siblings had another delicious dinner.

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

“Grandpa Zhang, Grandpa Zhang!”

“What’s the matter, Ah Qing?” Grandpa Zhang came out of the house.

“Is my second aunt at home?”

Second Aunt, who was also Grandpa Zhang’s second daughter-in-law, was famous in the village for her good needlework.

“She’s in the house. Are you looking for her?” Grandpa Zhang shouted into the house, “Second son’s wife, come out quickly. Ah Qing has something to ask you.”

“What does Ah Qing want from me?” A woman came out of the house.

“It’s like this. I bought a piece of cloth at the big market this morning and wanted to make two sets of clothes for Xiao Yan. But I don’t know how to sew, so I wanted to ask Second Aunt to help. I will pay for the labor.”

Lu Qing showed the cloth in his hand.

“You child, what are you talking about labor costs? We are neighbors, and it’s right to help each other. Give me the cloth. I’ll think about it. I’ll ask Xiao Yan to come to my place tomorrow, and I’ll take her measurements. I’ll make them for her in these two days,” Second Aunt Zhang took the cloth and said.

“That’s right. You were too polite to bring such a large piece of meat at noon,” Grandpa Zhang also said.

“I can’t let Second Aunt work for nothing,” Lu Qing said with a smile. “Then it’s settled. I have to go back to read.”

“Alright, alright, reading is important. You should go back quickly.”

After returning home, Lu Qing looked at Xiao Yan playing in the courtyard and smiled.

The little girl’s clothes were originally altered from his old clothes, and now they were full of patches.

When he was washing clothes these two days, he found that some of the seams were cracked.

It just so happened that he saw someone selling cloth at the big market today. Although the quality was average and the price was expensive, Lu Qing still bought some back, wanting to ask someone to help make two new sets of clothes.

Without telling Xiao Yan that she was about to have new clothes, Lu Qing planned to give her a surprise tomorrow.

That night, Xiao Yan still fell asleep without waiting for the black beast to arrive.

When she woke up early the next morning, she was still unhappy.

But soon, her depression disappeared because she knew about the new clothes.

Two days later, the new clothes were sewn. After the little girl put them on, she was so happy that she showed them off for several days.

Because he had gone to the big market to buy a lot of things, his living materials were sufficient.

In the following days, Lu Qing stayed in the village and did not go out.

Every day, he went to Old Doctor Chen’s place to study, and then came back to do some farm work, such as planting vegetables in the courtyard. In the afternoon, he thought about how to make delicious food with limited conditions.

Occasionally, he would go fishing to feed the Night Spirit Cat.

His life was very regular.

Finally, this morning, when he and Xiao Yan went to the small courtyard on the half-slope again, the old doctor told him that he no longer needed to read the “Hundred Herbs Classic.”

(End of this chapter)