All the Little Things

Liu Chang'an quickly finished making the brazier for grilling. Below it was an iron bucket for charcoal, with a wok ring fitted around the rim.

The wok ring was the edge of an old cast-iron wok Liu Chang'an had once used. Its bottom was full of holes, so it counted as recycling waste. Since the wok had already been broken, Shangguan Dandan could not find an opportunity to demonstrate that she understood thrift and knew how to live well. She could only collect the scrap iron Liu Chang'an had knocked off with Zhou Dongdong, secretly hoping it might be worth some money.

The Empress Dowager really knew how to live. Shangguan Dandan walked a few steps with her chin raised, then nodded in praise of herself.

Once the grilling equipment was ready, Liu Chang'an took the two little ones out to buy ingredients. He remembered seeing shark intestines and pig flower intestines for sale at that supermarket last time, though he did not know whether they still had any today.

Shark intestines, as the name suggested, were shark guts. Pig flower intestines, however, were not pig intestines at all—they were pigs' fallopian tubes.

Female pigs raised for meat were spayed when they were young. Their fallopian tubes served no purpose, and though their function degenerated, they continued to grow and remain. They merely looked like intestines.

Both shark intestines and pig flower intestines had rather strong flavors, but if handled properly, they were quite delicious.

Shangguan Dandan carried an eco-friendly shopping bag in her hand. She had received it when she attended a health seminar with Old Man Qian, Old Man Qin, Old Lady Liu, and others from the neighborhood. Although the organizers had not been particularly willing to give her the event gift, she had still gotten it through