Courtyard House: In times of famine, my hamster became a spirit.

Zhou Jianguo turned around and his gaze fell on the five catties of top-quality pork belly that he had taken out from the system space.

"Since we're going to make a scene, let's make the fire burn even brighter."

He gently pressed down on the piece of meat with his left hand, while his right hand moved the cleaver.

"Duh, duh, duh——"

In less than two minutes, five rows of meat cubes were neatly arranged on the cutting board.

Each piece is exactly two centimeters square, not a millimeter more or less, so neat it's outrageous.

Fire broke out.

The flames in the honeycomb briquette stove changed from orange-red to a pure azure, and waves of heat rolled in.

Zhou Jianguo tossed the wok with one hand and scooped out a spoonful of milky white lard with the other.

As soon as the oil hit the pan, it sizzled and released a rich aroma unique to animal fat.

As the spatula stirs, the rock sugar melts from the heat, transforming from small bubbles into dense, large bubbles, and its color changes from transparent to light yellow, then to amber, and finally to a deep jujube red.

"Now."

Zhou Jianguo whispered something and tilted five pounds of pork belly into the pot.

"boom!"

The high temperature locked in the juices of the meat, and the caramel color quickly coated the skin.

Each piece of meat was rolling around in the pot, the oil being forced out by the high temperature, making a dense "sizzling" sound.

……

The backyard, the Liu family's house.

Uncle Liu Haizhong was sitting at the kang table, holding a cold, hard cornbread in his hand.

He was so excited to "send off" Yi Zhonghai that his stomach was already protesting.

He had just stuffed the cornbread into his mouth, and hadn't even had time to chew it yet.

"Slurp—"

A fragrance wafted from his nostrils straight into the top of his head.

"puff!"

A mouthful of cornbread crumbs sprayed out from Liu Haizhong's mouth, and he froze on the spot, his neck stiffly turned towards the window.

The aroma was so strong that he felt a slight tingling on the tip of his tongue.

"Where's that smell coming from? Who's stewing meat in the middle of the night?" Liu Haizhong's eyes widened, and the fat on his face jiggled.

The two brothers, Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu, who were originally huddled in their blankets, sat up, drool dripping from their mouths onto their pillows.

"Dad, it's Zhou Jian's family! They're definitely that family with no heirs!" Liu Guangtian cried, swallowing hard. "This smell...this isn't stewed meat, this is killing me!"

Liu Haizhong slammed his fist on the table, his chest heaving with rage: "Outrageous! Utterly outrageous! Yi Zhonghai was just taken away, and Old He's family is still crying over it, yet Zhou Jianguo dares to feast here? He's drinking the blood of our compound! He's provoking the class ranks!"

He cursed fiercely, but his stomach honestly let out a deafening "groan." The aroma was so overpowering that the coarse rice bun in his hand suddenly seemed worse than dog food.

……

The Intermediate People's Court, the Jia family.

The fragrance swept through the moon gate, precisely bombarding everyone's senses.

"Meat...braised pork...I want to eat meat!"

Bang Geng, whose leg was broken, rolled around on the kang (a heated brick bed). Smelling the aroma, he felt the pain from his broken leg being suppressed by his hunger.

He grabbed the bedding and roared at Qin Huairu, "Mom! That Zhou guy is stewing meat! Tell him to bring me a bowl! I'm a child, he has to give me some!"

Jia Zhangshi also woke up, her triangular eyes gleaming with greed. Her nostrils flared, and drool dripped from her chin onto the tattered quilt. "That heartless Zhou Jianguo must have stolen the meat from the factory! Qin Huairu, what are you standing there for? Go call Shazhu! Let Shazhu go and steal it!"

Qin Huairu stood in the center of the room, her face pale with a hint of bluish-purple.

She held a bowl of thin, watery cornmeal porridge in her hand, and smelled the aroma that seemed to penetrate to her very bones. Her heart felt like it was being scratched by hundreds of cat claws at the same time.

She knew all too well what that taste meant.

Zhou Jianguo is establishing his authority.

He was telling the entire hospital that even if the sky were to fall, Zhou Jianguo would still be able to eat his fill.

Qin Huairu turned her head and looked at Sha Zhu, who was sitting in the shadows and staring intently out the window.

Sha Zhu's expression was very abnormal at the moment.

His muscular body was taut, and his face, which had been filled with anger, was now etched with shock and self-doubt.

As a successor of the Tan family cuisine, Sha Zhu has an almost pathological sensitivity to flavors.

This meaty smell is off.

In his more than forty years of culinary experience, braised pork should not taste like this.

The aroma, rich in oils, was transformed by some incredibly skillful technique into a mellow, rich flavor, without even the slightest hint of porky odor. The heat... the heat control was impeccable.

Even if he were a fool, even if he gave the factory leaders special treatment, he could never make a dish of this caliber!

"Impossible..." Sha Zhu muttered under his breath, his fists clenching tightly. "How could someone who grew up without parents and no descendants possibly make something that tastes like this?"

Upon seeing this, a cold glint flashed in Qin Huairu's eyes.

She knew that this was Sha Zhu's Achilles' heel.

She deliberately walked up to Sha Zhu, her shoulders slumped, and tears streamed down her face, landing on the back of Sha Zhu's hand.

"Zhu Zi...can you smell it? That's the smell of braised pork." Qin Huairu's voice was soft. "This old man's case hasn't even been resolved yet, and Zhou Jianguo is already having a feast in the backyard. Who is he laughing at? He's laughing at you, silly Zhu, for being incompetent, unable to protect your father, and just watching him eat meat."

Sha Zhu's breathing became heavy and labored.

Qin Huairu continued to press the issue, gently tugging at Sha Zhu's clothes and shaking her head in despair: "Look at Bang Geng, the child's leg is broken, and now he's crying and begging for a bite of meat... When did it become the case that such a vicious person in our compound gets to enjoy life while honest people have to go hungry? Zhu Zi, who knows where he got that meat? As the head chef of the canteen, you have to go and find out."

"Snapped!"

Sha Zhu suddenly stood up, knocking the wooden stool behind him to the ground with a crisp sound.

"That's enough!"

Sha Zhu's eyes were bloodshot.

Qin Huairu's words were like salt sprinkled on his pride as a chef.

That suffocating feeling of being completely crushed eventually transformed into destructive jealousy.

"He's a childless man, does he even deserve to eat this kind of meat?" Sha Zhu gritted his teeth, his tone filled with madness. "Sister Qin, you wait. I'm bringing this pot of meat back to Bang Geng today. If I let him eat this meat so easily, I'll change my name to 'Sha Zhu'!"

Having said that, Sha Zhu didn't even put on his coat. He rolled up his sleeves and strode out of the house, a gust of cold wind he brought with him causing the kerosene lamp to flicker.

Qin Huairu stood at the door, watching Sha Zhu rush into the snowstorm, a triumphant smile flashing across her lips.

She turned around and whispered to Jia Zhangshi, who was still drooling, "Mom, prepare that big porcelain basin in a bit."

……

In the backyard, Zhou Jian's family.

Inside the house, the soup had almost completely reduced.

The thick sauce has a translucent, gelatinous texture, evenly coating every cut surface of the meat.

Zhou Jianguo didn't rush to eat; he calmly took out a pair of clean bamboo chopsticks.

"Five, four, three..."

He counted silently in his mind.

"Two, one."

"Bang--!"

A violent, loud crash shattered the deathly silence of the backyard.

The not-so-sturdy door of Zhou Jianguo's house was smashed open from the frame by the brute force of the impact, and half of the door panel crashed heavily to the ground, scattering ice shards and dust everywhere.

A fierce wind howled into the warm room, and the fire in the stove flickered violently.

Sha Zhu's burly body, radiating anger and chill, stepped across the threshold.

"Zhou Jianguo! You get the hell out here!"

Sha Zhu's roar echoed in the room, making the paper windows rustle.

However, the next second, all of Sha Zhu's angry curses and rage froze.

He froze.

His gaze was drawn to the steaming bowl of braised pork on the table.

The visual impact up close is far more stunning than the fragrance you smell in the yard.

His Adam's apple bobbed violently, a primal craving of a living being.

All the profanities I had prepared seemed to be stuck in my throat, and I couldn't utter a single word.

Zhou Jianguo sat steadily on the bench, not even lifting his eyelids.

He held chopsticks in his right hand and elegantly picked up a trembling piece of braised pork.

"Silly Pillar."

Zhou Jianguo's voice was calm, yet it carried a chilling undertone that sent shivers down one's spine.

He slowly raised his head, his gaze sweeping indifferently over Sha Zhu's shocked and angry face.

"Did you kick the door?"

"Have you figured out how you're going to compensate for that kick?"