In a quiet Siheyuan along the South Third Ring.
A lush sycamore tree covered most of the courtyard, bringing a hint of coolness to the scorching summer days.
Shen Jiayue sat on a stone bench under the tree, happily playing with her phone.
In the nearby kitchen, an elderly woman with silver hair was stewing Crystal Sugar pork knuckle in a clay pot.
She was Shen Jiayue’s grandmother, Grandmother Shen.
Grandmother Shen’s husband had passed away when she was thirty, leaving behind a nine-year-old daughter, Shen Guofang, and a five-year-old son, Shen Guofu. Back then, their family was extremely poor, but she clenched her teeth and raised the two children to adulthood.
Today, her son, Shen Guofu, had become a billionaire.
Her daughter, Shen Guofang, also married into the Chen Family, which was involved in the department store business, and gave birth to Chen Yan.
Yes, Shen Jiayue’s grandmother was Chen Yan’s maternal grandmother as well, making the two girls cousins.
"Grandma, is the pork knuckle ready yet?"
After hanging up the phone with her dad, Shen Jiayue stood up and walked to the kitchen doorway.
Hehe, trying to trick me into eating coarse grains, but I, sharp as ice, will not be fooled!
Grandmother Shen said with a smile, "Is my sweet granddaughter hungry? The pork knuckle isn’t tender enough yet; it needs to stew a little longer."
After receiving her granddaughter’s call at noon, Grandmother Shen, despite the scorching sun, went to the supermarket at the entrance of the alley to buy a front pork knuckle and a bag of Crystal Sugar to make Crystal Sugar pork knuckle for her granddaughter.
This was a signature dish of the Shen Family.
After Father Shen’s death, which coincided with the Spring Festival, five-year-old Shen Guofu saw other children wearing new clothes and eating meat, and he too clamored for meat.
To not disappoint her son, Mother Shen worked various jobs for others and finally exchanged her earnings for a meat ticket on New Year’s Eve.
However, by the time she got to the state-owned store, only a pork knuckle was left.
Buying meat in the past was different from now; back then, nobody wanted meat with bones because the weight was fixed, and more bones meant less meat.
Grandmother Shen bought the pork knuckle.
Once home, she stewed it in a clay pot. The only seasoning available was coarse salt, but to enhance the flavor, she added some Hawthorn berries planned for the New Year and a handful of Crystal Sugar. Unexpectedly, the stewed pork knuckle turned out to be delicious.
It was fragrant and tender, melting in the mouth with a hint of sweetness. The two children ate until their mouths were greasy.
Since then, the Shen Family had formed a bond with this dish of Crystal Sugar pork knuckle.
When they earned money from their street stall, they stewed a pork knuckle. For a child’s birthday, they stewed a pork knuckle. When relatives visited, they stewed a pork knuckle. Even at Shen Guofu’s wedding feast, the main course was still Crystal Sugar pork knuckle.
Hmm... No wonder my dad is chubby. He must have eaten too many pork knuckles as a child. And he tells me to eat coarse grains to lose weight! I think he should be the one eating more of them!
The kitchen was hot, and Shen Jiayue fanned Grandmother Shen with a palm-leaf fan, then asked, "Grandma, why don’t you move to the villa? I even dream about you."
Grandmother Shen asked with a smile, "Did you dream about the sugar triangles I made for you? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have brought these over today..."
Lin Xu had made quite a few sugar triangles in the morning. Besides those eaten by everyone and those packed by Chen Yan, there were over ten left, which Shen Jiayue brought all the way here.
As a child, she ate the sugar triangles her grandmother made; as an adult, she also brought sugar triangles for her grandmother to eat. These sugar triangles were made by my boyfriend. Grandma eating them would mean she acknowledges the fact that my Xu is my boyfriend. That makes sense, right?
"I’ve lived in this courtyard for half my life and have grown accustomed to it... Your dad and your mom have also asked many times for me to move there, but I’m not comfortable living in a villa. I prefer it here; all the old neighbors know each other."
Before long, the pork knuckle was ready.
Grandmother Shen carefully placed the tenderly stewed pork knuckle on a plate lined with lettuce leaves. Then, she ladled out two spoons of the original broth, boiled it on the gas stove, added some starch to thicken it, and poured the thickened sauce over the pork knuckle.
The Crystal Sugar pork knuckle was ready.
"You can eat now, my sweet granddaughter."
The elderly lady placed the pork knuckle on the stone table under the tree, along with a freshly stir-fried dish of garlic water spinach and a plate of fermented bean curd. Meanwhile, Shen Jiayue helped her grandmother bring out a basket of freshly warmed sugar triangles and two bowls of rice.
The pork knuckle had been simmered over low heat for much of the afternoon and had become tender, achieving Bone Removal. As for the skin, it was stewed to be jelly-like and could easily be cut through with chopsticks.
Once seated, Shen Jiayue picked up a piece of the meat skin with her chopsticks and put it into her mouth.
She didn’t even need to chew. With a gentle press of her tongue, the fragrant and sweet skin, with a hint of Hawthorn flavor, melted in her mouth, truly achieving that melt-in-the-mouth quality.
For someone who enjoys a sweet and sour taste, this flavor and texture were simply irresistible.
Seeing how much her granddaughter enjoyed eating, Grandmother Shen smiled affectionately, then picked up one of the freshly warmed sugar triangles from the basket.
After taking a bite, the elderly lady commented with a smile, "Mmm, these sugar triangles are made well. They knew to use cooked flour to mix the Brown Sugar, so it’s sweet and fragrant, and the dough has risen perfectly. The craftsmanship is indeed good."
Seeing her grandmother happy, Shen Jiayue took the opportunity to say, "Grandma, I’ve started dating someone, and I’m afraid my parents won’t agree..."
Grandmother Shen smiled. "If they don’t agree, then let them be. In matters of the heart, parents often disapprove, but what does it matter if they do? When your aunt was dating your uncle back then, I was strongly against it. But now, isn’t your cousin Yan almost thirty?"
The elderly lady took a bite of a sugar triangle and continued, "And your dad... back when he was dating your mom, your granddad chased him down several streets with a shovel. He threatened to break his legs if he came any closer to your mom. Now look at you, all grown up, and your granddad even brags about having a good son-in-law."
Huh? My dad was actually chased by my granddad? It’s hard to imagine my cultured and easygoing granddad doing such a thing. But then again, back then, Dad was just a street vendor, while Granddad’s family was a well-known medical family in Beijing. They weren’t even in the same social class. Yet Dad still proved himself through his efforts. Even Granddad is proud of him. If Dad could do it, then my Lin Xu definitely can!
「In the small dining room on the second floor of the West Fourth Ring Villa.」
Shen Guofu tasted the Pickled Pork on the table, his face instantly filled with delight, "Oh my, this pork is steamed so deliciously! I should buy two portions for Grandmother later—she loves this kind of tender meat that doesn’t require much chewing."
Han Shuzhen tasted it and nodded, "It’s truly nice, but I still prefer the Crystal Sugar pork knuckle Mom used to make... I remember the first time I went to your house, your mom cooked a pork knuckle, and I still remember that taste."
Shen Guofu picked up a couple of dried tofu slices from the large communal meal’s container and placed them in his wife’s bowl, "I remember too. Right after we finished eating the pork knuckle, Yueyue’s granddad chased me for several streets with a shovel and even said he’d break my legs... It really scared me back then!"
"You’re still talking about it! Back then, you were running around shouting that I was the only one you’d marry, making everyone in several streets aware of our affair. Even the matchmakers stopped visiting. My dad had no choice but to grit his teeth and let me marry you. If Yueyue starts dating someone, would you go after him with a shovel like my dad did?"
Shen Guofu laughed heartily, "That would depend on the person. If it’s someone like Brother Lin... Oh, why do I keep thinking only of good scenarios? Let’s drop it, let’s eat!"
Outside Lin Ji’s Food on Yingchun Street, the leopard-print lady who had visited in the morning now appeared again at the entrance...
Second update delivered! Please send your Monthly Tickets and recommendation votes, brothers!