Bitter Memories

Later, Comrade Jiang Jiankang and Wang Xiulian returned, full of vigor and high spirits. Judging by their appearance, the negotiation with the farm owner had been successful.

"That pig was something else – fat and strong, lean where it should be lean, and plump where it should be plump. I've got the two hind legs memorized," Jiang Jiankang was clearly still thinking about the pig he'd seen that day.

Wang Xiulian nodded in agreement, "Yes, one leg can be sent back for Dad to make ham, and the other can be chopped up for braised trotters."

With just a few words, the two of them had perfectly allocated the two hind legs of a pig.

"Boss Qian really knows how to raise pigs!" Jiang Jiankang clicked his tongue, eager to share the day's haul. Jiang Feng was cleaning the back kitchen, and only Ji Yue was in the front. Jiang Jiankang seized the opportunity, grabbing Ji Yue and opening his phone's photo album to share the pictures he'd taken that day.

"Little Ji, take a look. This spotted pig, you can tell it ate well, slept well, and moved well. The meat quality must be firm, perfect for stir-fried pork. And this sow, look at that fat. And this one, we'll slaughter it tomorrow morning. I've claimed its two hind legs. This one..." Jiang Jiankang kept swiping through his phone screen, showing off the pigs he'd chosen that day.

Ji Yue: ...

All she could see were fat pigs waiting to be slaughtered, their emotions impossible to discern. She couldn't see anything else...

"Alright, alright, what are you looking at? Your son is still cleaning the kitchen, and you're here looking at pigs. Aren't you going to help?" Seeing Jiang Jiankang slacking off in the hall, Comrade Wang Xiulian unhappily slapped the counter, making the wooden surface tremble.

Looking at the day's earnings, which were clearly lower than yesterday's, Wang Xiulian couldn't help but raise her voice: "Have the debts been paid? You owe Second Brother so much money and you're still being lazy here. Do you expect your son to pay off your debts!"

Jiang Jiankang sheepishly slipped into the kitchen.

Jiang Feng had actually finished cleaning the back kitchen and was following a recipe from the game to make pure meat wontons.

Even though these were bound to be terrible wontons, Jiang Feng wanted to taste what they would be like.

He especially wanted to know what his most bitter memory from his youth was.

The wontons had been boiling in the pot for ten minutes. Jiang Feng figured that even with thick wrappers, they should be cooked by now. No, they should be mushy.

Wang Shitou's cooking skills were truly terrible. If it weren't for the fact that people in the Republic of China era lacked food and had low expectations for taste, Jiang Feng suspected his wonton stall wouldn't have lasted a week.

"You child, you're going to boil the wontons to death. Hurry up and take them out." As soon as Jiang Jiankang entered, he saw the wontons tumbling around in the soup. He quickly grabbed a slotted spoon and scooped the wontons, which had already separated into skin and filling, into a bowl.

Jiang Feng added two drops of sesame oil to the bowl.

Jiang Jiankang tried to add a few pieces of seaweed and a handful of small dried shrimp, but Jiang Feng sternly refused.

Jiang Feng waited for the wontons to cool down a bit.

Jiang Jiankang stared at the wontons in the bowl, swallowing hard.

To negotiate prices with Boss Qian at the farm that day, he and Wang Xiulian had left early in the morning. Since morning, he had only eaten three large bowls of the shredded pork mixed noodles he'd made himself, and those were eaten before leaving that morning. They had already been digested.

Although the wontons in the bowl were overcooked and only had two drops of sesame oil, and they didn't smell particularly delicious, they were still meat.

Jiang Jiankang was a carnivore.

"Son, did you make these wontons today?" Jiang Jiankang asked, feigning ignorance.

Jiang Feng nodded, "I followed an online tutorial to make them. I only made a few, and I cooked them all at once."

"Dad will try them for you."

Jiang Jiankang's hands moved as fast as his words. As soon as he spoke, three wontons were in his mouth.

They were truly awful!

Jiang Jiankang hadn't expected his son to make such terrible wontons.

But in the next second, he didn't have the energy to think about that anymore.

He suddenly remembered when he was twenty years old.

That year, the state-run restaurant where he had worked for six years went bankrupt.

He had started working at the state-run restaurant as an assistant to Jiang Weiguo since he was a child. At fourteen, he took over his father's position as head chef. At nineteen, he married Wang Xiulian, who was then a textile factory worker. Before he turned twenty, he thought he would work at the state-run restaurant his entire life, just like his father, until his son took over.

What awaited him instead was layoff and a mere 600 yuan in compensation.

Six months later, Wang Xiulian was also laid off.

The couple borrowed money from all their relatives and friends, scraped together tens of thousands of yuan, and opened Jiankang Stir-fry.

Jiang Jiankang recalled that business was bad back then, and he couldn't sleep for nights from worry. To save money, Wang Xiulian would go to the market and pick up vegetable leaves that others had stepped on and discarded to stir-fry. At noon, they would sell stir-fried carrots, and in the evening, they would eat carrot peels.

Because they hadn't repaid the money borrowed from Wang Xiulian's parents and elder brother for a long time, Wang Xiulian didn't dare to visit her parents for Chinese New Year.

As he thought about it, Jiang Jiankang squatted on the ground and burst into tears.

"What's wrong, what's wrong? What's going on? Xiao Feng, why is your dad suddenly crying?" Hearing the crying, Wang Xiulian put down her calculator and rushed into the kitchen. Ji Yue followed closely behind.

"Xiulian, Xiulian, I'm sorry I failed you. It's all my fault for being useless and making you suffer with me!" Jiang Jiankang cried, hugging Wang Xiulian.

Wang Xiulian was holding him, completely bewildered.

"What's wrong with your dad?"

Wang Xiulian was starting to suspect if her constant nagging about owing money to Second Brother had caused Jiang Jiankang too much stress, leading to a sudden breakdown.

"Dad ate a wonton," Jiang Feng said, also a bit stunned.

How bitter could Comrade Jiang Jiankang's most bitter memory from his youth be to make him cry like this!

"Wontons?" Wang Xiulian looked at the wontons on the table, clearly unable to understand how a single bite of wonton could lead to such a reaction.

"Jiankang, I only nag sometimes, don't take it to heart. I haven't suffered or been wronged. Stop crying, stop crying, my dear." Wang Xiulian patted Jiang Jiankang's back as if comforting a child.

As she was comforting him, Wang Xiulian also felt her throat getting dry.

Wang Xiulian picked up the bowl on the table and took a big gulp of the wonton soup. Because the wontons were cooked too soft, a piece of wonton skin went down with the soup.

Whoever made these wontons, they're truly awful!

Wang Xiulian's eyes widened, and the next second, her eyes were filled with tears.

The couple embraced and wept together.

Jiang Feng and Ji Yue were completely stunned.

Jiang Feng picked up the wontons on the table and silently poured them into the slop bucket.

What a disaster, what a disaster!

"Senior, you should go back first. I... I need to talk to my parents."

"Ah, okay. Oh." Ji Yue replied dazedly, only realizing after a moment that she was free to leave.

After Ji Yue left, Jiang Feng used all his might to help Comrade Jiang Jiankang and Wang Xiulian stabilize their emotions.

The next day, the two were in complete agreement about the explanation from the previous night.

The wontons were too awful to eat, so awful they cried!