MAC’60s Chapter 100.1

The underside of the pork belly had been seared in the hot oil until it developed beautiful, wrinkled “tiger skin” patterns. It was then cut into thick slices, with the reddish-brown skin facing upward, and arranged alternately with thick slices of taro and lotus root in a large bowl. This pork dish had been boiled and fried before finally being steamed in the steamer for nearly half a day. The meat and skin were so tender they practically fell apart, carrying a simple, unpretentious quality without any elaborate processing. Each thick slice of meat was unquestionably the star of the dish.

Chen Dong took a piping-hot steamed bun, tore it open in the middle, and stuffed in a slice of meat and a slice of lotus root. The meat juices immediately flowed through the opening in the bun, impossible to contain. While slurping along the edge of the bun, Chen Dong opened his enormous mouth and took a fierce bite, biting off nearly half of the bun together with the meat.

The fatty yet non-greasy slice of meat had a slight sweetness to it. It was rich and full-bodied, so delicious that it practically made his tongue melt.

Chen Dong’s eyes narrowed with delight as he ate, repeatedly praising the dish.

“You brat, your skills have improved again.”

Xu Shuang’s cooking had already been quite good before, but now he had taken it to an even higher level.

“Prepare well. In a few years, I’ll find someone to recommend you for the Special Grade.”

After passing the initial levels of the chef certification, the remaining grades were no longer that simple. They required internal recommendations and participation in certain competitions before one could qualify.

Chen Dong said, “With your skills, Special Grade Three, Two, and One won’t be difficult. Anything beyond that will depend on how good you are.”

If he could win a national-level award, then he could start setting his sights on becoming a Special Grade One chef and eventually a Master Chef or Senior Master Chef.

However, the top two levels were no longer really about competing in terms of ability. They were more like medals of honor, representing that one had reached the very peak of the profession.

The thing Chen Dong was most proud of in this life was that he had managed to snatch up such a good apprentice. Although there wasn’t much he could teach him anymore, if Xu Shuang went on to win awards, became a Special Grade chef, and perhaps even further down the road founded his own culinary school or tradition, then as his master, Chen Dong would at least be able to bask in his apprentice’s glory and leave his own name behind.

Worth it!

Chen Dong ate four steamed buns with the braised pork. It was only because Wang Ying thought he was eating too frighteningly fast that she hurriedly called a halt.

After finishing the filial offering from his apprentice, Chen Dong leisurely went back to sleep.

By now, Wang Ying was approaching her fourth month of pregnancy, and she had already gone to the hospital for checkups several times recently.

Xu Shuang had already begun consciously controlling her sugar intake, afraid that if she ate too many sweets, something would show up in her examination results. The last time they went, Wang Ying had even had a handful of candies in her pocket. The doctor had sternly warned her that although pregnant women should replenish their nutrition, the hospital did occasionally encounter relatively rare cases of gestational diabetes.

Wang Ying actually knew that herself, but…

Wasn’t she just having a little trouble controlling herself?

Xu Shuang put away all the candy in the house. The fried fresh milk they had eaten today already counted as something sweet, so he wouldn’t make any more desserts for the next few days. They would also avoid meat for a day.

Wang Ying leaned against the headboard, eating chestnuts and walnuts. The little stove Zhang Na had recommended that she buy really was useful. Dry chestnuts would soon give off a sweet, fragrant aroma after being placed in the small oven. Occasionally, she would put in one or two small sweet potatoes as well. Once their skins cracked open, revealing the golden, honey-like flesh inside, Wang Ying loved sprinkling a little five-spice chili powder over them. The combination of sweet and spicy was absolutely delicious.

While Wang Ying was happily eating braised pork, over at the family compound of the sugar factory, amidst all the lively excitement, there was one household that seemed completely out of place.

Ever since the twelfth lunar month began, Zhao Jun had been so busy that his feet practically never touched the ground.

What was he busy with?

Of course, he was busy looking for a partner.

Every year when the twelfth lunar month arrived, matchmakers were at their busiest. People chose this time for blind dates and weddings.

For one thing, everyone had more free time. For another, if the two sides hit it off, they could settle the engagement during the New Year celebrations and get married directly after the New Year, bringing in the new year with a fresh start. There was also a more practical reason: they could take advantage of the New Year to have new clothes made, saving themselves the trouble and expense of dressing up separately.

Zhao Jun certainly couldn’t miss this opportunity.

Perhaps the news of Wang Ying’s pregnancy had dealt him quite a blow, because Zhao Jun finally loosened his stance with the matchmaker.

In the past, he had been unwilling to marry a woman who already had children, but now he no longer said that.

Speaking of which, Zhao Jun’s circumstances had never been particularly bad.

He was a demobilized serviceman, and he had a sizable demobilization payment in his hands. Zhao Jun had always been careful not to spend that money. He knew that in another five or six years, the situation would undergo a major change. If he wanted to go into business then, he would need some startup capital, right?

So Zhao Jun kept his eight hundred yuan demobilization payment hidden from everyone. He tucked the money underneath the bed at home, waiting for the day he would go into business and use it as the capital for his first venture.

Zhao Jun’s salary was not low either. Although he had been parachuted in halfway through as a deputy team leader, thanks to the care and consideration of the military leaders, he was currently earning forty yuan a month.

And as for Zhao Jun himself, although he was a little sloppy, he was actually quite good-looking.

Taken together, these conditions meant that he wasn’t a bad prospect in the matchmakers’ eyes.

Unfortunately, Zhao Jun had high standards.

At first, he insisted on finding a woman who had never been married before. He didn’t want a divorcee. So the matchmakers could only look for women from the countryside.

But whenever someone came, Zhao Jun’s two children would cause trouble. The reason those rural girls wanted to marry into the city was because they wanted a man with a job and a household registration that entitled him to state-supplied grain. They also understood why Zhao Jun, despite having access to women in the city, was deliberately looking for someone from the countryside: he wanted a woman who would take good care of his two children.

The girls came prepared. They knew being a stepmother wouldn’t be easy.

But these children were simply too good at causing trouble, weren’t they?

They were both still young, yet they could actually track down the matchmaker’s home and look at their own father as though he were their mortal enemy.

The girl was willing to become a stepmother, but she wasn’t willing to become a stepmother in a hell-level difficulty scenario!

And so, the first highly promising candidate slipped right past Zhao Jun.

Later, Zhao Jun relaxed his requirements once, because after what his two children had done became known, he also realized that Zhao Dong and Zhao Xi were not easy to handle. If he looked for a woman who had never been married, she probably wouldn’t be able to manage the two of them.

So Zhao Jun thought that a divorced woman from the city would be just right.

But he still didn’t want a divorced woman who already had children.

Zhao Jun’s thinking was quite idealistic: If a woman already had children, could she really devote all her attention to Zhao Dong and Zhao Xi? What if, in the end, all his money was spent on someone else’s son?

He held onto this idea for quite some time, but the matchmakers only introduced him to a handful of women, and in the end, nothing came of any of them.

By now, Zhao Jun had no choice but to admit that he could only lower his requirements yet again.

He himself could probably hold out a little longer, but the children couldn’t wait.

At this point, Zhao Jun could no longer deceive himself.

There was no doubt that Zhao Dong and Zhao Xi had already deviated from the path they had followed in his previous life.