CHAPTER 65: CHAPTER 64: GRILLED PORK BELLY

Yu Xiaolian left the Mingxiang Pavilion with an empty food box. For the past few days, she had been dreaming about eating barbecue. To fulfill her longing for barbecue tonight, Yu Xiaolian took a detour to buy two carts of charcoal.

The charcoal she bought was made from redwood. According to the charcoal seller, this kind of charcoal burns hot and steadily, with less smoke, and produces a slight fragrance when burned.

Of course, it was the most expensive among all the charcoal. Two carts cost ten taels of silver.

It was indeed a splurge. If Sun and Yu Changhe found out she spent ten taels of silver just on charcoal, they’d surely be heartbroken.

Yu Xiaolian directly led the cart transporting the charcoal to her backyard and instructed the two delivery workers to unload the charcoal in the storeroom.

As they were leaving, Yu Xiaolian gave them ten coins each as a tip for their hard work.

At that moment, Yu Changhe was leaning on a walking stick Yu Xiaolian had bought for him a few days ago, sitting by the stone table in the backyard.

His eyes were fixed on the ground, on the willow leaves fluttering down, lost in thought.

Yu Xiaolian approached, "Dad, I bought charcoal. We’ll have barbecue tonight, and I’ll be the chef!"

Yu Changhe asked, "Can I eat this barbecue? Does it have chili?"

Recently, he had been eating lots of novel foods he hadn’t tried before. But since he couldn’t eat chili, he had missed out on many delicious things. Now, just thinking about those fiery red spicy flavors made his mouth water uncontrollably.

"You can eat it, Dad. I’ll make a non-spicy barbecue dip for you, and we can wrap it in lettuce leaves. It’ll be delicious!"

Yu Changhe smiled and nodded, standing up with his walking stick. "I’ll take another walk."

Recently, Yu Changhe had been able to walk independently with a stick and walk quite quickly, though he needed to sit down and rest after a few laps.

"Lian’er, how much did you buy the charcoal for?" As Yu Changhe walked to the storeroom, he peeked inside and saw the storeroom full of charcoal. It looked pitch-black and oily with excellent quality.

Fearing that Yu Changhe would accuse her of being wasteful, Yu Xiaolian halved the cost of the charcoal.

Unexpectedly, when she said five taels of silver, Yu Changhe still thought it was expensive. He remarked that if the family lacked anything, they should let Sun sell it outside; otherwise, sellers would see her as a child and take advantage.

...

That night, Yu Xiaolian took the largest frying pan from the supermarket, arranged the charcoal neatly inside, and ignited it with alcohol blocks.

She handed Yu Changhe a small fan and let him sit on a low stool to fan the charcoal.

Yu Xiaolian took out pork belly, cut it into thin, suitable slices, and washed lettuce and perilla leaves.

They planned to eat at the stone table in the backyard, so after washing, she took the items to the backyard.

She went back to the supermarket to grab two bags of barbecue sauce and dips, one spicy and one non-spicy.

Indeed, garlic slices and chili rings were a must.

After preparing these, Yu Xiaolian went to the frozen section to pick up frozen squid rings, turbot, and black pepper steak.

With the meat ready, she went to the vegetable section to get eggplants, leeks, and enoki mushrooms.

Grilled eggplant, leeks, and enoki mushrooms were also her favorites.

Although it was already autumn, it hadn’t rained much all summer, and the autumn heat was particularly intense.

Chilled beer and fruit juice were indispensable. Recently, she discovered that Sun liked iced plum juice, so she got a bottle for her mom.

Yu Changhe preferred fizzy drinks like cola and Sprite, so she grabbed those too.

With everything set, Yu Xiaolian took the small fan from Yu Changhe’s hand and vigorously fanned the charcoal.

In no time, the charcoal turned red-hot, no longer emitting thick black smoke.

Yu Xiaolian placed a clean iron grid over the charcoal and started grilling.

The pork belly had to be grilled first to satisfy her craving; the pork belly was the best.

She placed two eggplants on the edge of the iron grid to grill slowly.

Following Yu Xiaolian’s instructions, Sun prepared the dipping sauce dishes, then sat with Yu Changhe on the stone bench, drooling eagerly at the barbecuing meat on the grill.

Yu Xiaolian also found herself gulping saliva. Who could resist this smoky aroma?

She used to run into a barbecue stall every time she went out for a night run, grabbing a few skewers before heading home.

Having not had it in so long, when she saw the pork belly grilling to a crispy yellow, sizzling with oil, Yu Xiaolian couldn’t resist any longer.

She cut the meat into small pieces with scissors and, despite the heat, dipped a piece into the spicy barbecue sauce and put it straight into her mouth, not bothering to wrap it in a lettuce leaf.

Sun and Yu Changhe followed suit, mimicking Yu Xiaolian by having a bite of the pork belly.

"Delicious..." Sun praised.

Of course, the charcoal grill results were inevitably tastier than an electric grill. The taste is in the smoky, fiery flavor.

She was being lazy and hadn’t made a grill or skewers. If they could have skewered, it’d be even more perfect.

Still, this was quite good, and Yu Xiaolian was very satisfied.

After grilling pork belly, Yu Xiaolian grilled squid, turbot, and black pepper steak.

Sprinkle with versatile barbecue seasoning, and anyone can be a gourmet chef.

The family of three ate joyfully and contentedly.

That night, Sun boiled a large pot of hot water, and the family of three took a hot bath. Yu Xiaolian then plunged back into the supermarket.

She considered how those who visit the brothel are men and how few men enjoy sweet, greasy pastries?

They’d likely prefer snacks to accompany their drinks.

It seemed like her initial approach was off track. Luckily, she hadn’t gone to the brothel yet. Selling products should adapt to the situation, as not every place suits selling pastries.

Things like spicy duck neck, cured pork, beef jerky, drunken peanuts, and Spicy Chicken Feet should be more popular among those who love to drink.

Yu Xiaolian pulled out a small notebook and began picking out potential snacks to accompany drinks.

Through this search, Yu Xiaolian realized there were quite a few drink-compatible items, with various flavored dried tofu, sauce-flavored, spicy, and pickled pepper flavors.

And different flavored braised duck wings, pickled pepper pork skin, and pickled pepper chicken feet.

There was just too much.

However, most of these were individually packaged, with prices ranging from one to five yuan, and unpacking them was quite a hassle.

Never mind, she decided to have Sun and Yu Changhe come in and help her tear open the packaging.

Besides, they couldn’t sleep at night, and there were no leisure activities, so Yu Xiaolian got Yu Changhe and Sun working together in the space.

"Dad, you’re in charge of tearing these open."

"Mom, you’re in charge of tearing those."

She also gave each of them a stack of wax paper to wrap the unpacked items.

Sigh, if it weren’t for the lack of plastic in ancient times, it wouldn’t be so troublesome.

Items like pickled pepper chicken feet, which have broth, Yu Xiaolian decided not to sell for now. Once she had her own store, she could sell them then, keeping a few fresh flavors for future store openings as unique, attractive offerings.