025 The System's Braised Meat Recipe Is Truly Potent

[Daily Intelligence ①: Dong Xuan already knows that her ex-boyfriend Yan Li has returned to Beijing. She believes that if she shows interest, Yan Li will see it, and as long as he meets her halfway and shows a gesture of reconciliation, they can get back together.]

[Daily Intelligence ②: On the first day Yan Li left Hengdian, Qin Lan missed him very much.]

[Daily Intelligence ③: Lin Jiachuan is currently daydreaming about Yan Li and Dong Xuan getting back together, then having them set him up with one of her friends, XXX, so that he can be both a brother and a brother-in-law to Yan Li.]

[...]

Waking up in the morning and seeing the intelligence on the system, Yan Li silently added another mark against Lin Jiachuan.

He got dressed, washed up in the bathroom, and wandered around the apartment to wake Zhou Yiwei.

"Since you have a car, come with me to buy some things."

"Buy what?"

"A refrigerator, a television, a solar water heater, cabinets, pots, pans..."

Yan Li didn't actually have high requirements for his living conditions. Having grown up in a village, he was used to living in old adobe houses without complaint. Later, when his parents opened a restaurant, they often had to keep someone there at night to guard against thieves. Two tables pushed together served as a bed, which became his "precious couch" whenever school was on break. He lived in crowded dorms at school and cheap motels while filming; if he was broke, he could handle a basement apartment just like the other drifters in Beijing.

However, if conditions allowed, Yan Li naturally hoped to live more comfortably. That was why he organized the shared apartment with his roommates and, now that he had some spare cash, decided to add appliances to make daily life easier.

Yan Li called the landlord to get permission, then had Zhou Yiwei drive him to the second-hand market and the wholesale market, followed by a trip to the appliance mall. A second-hand TV was fine, but since a refrigerator would store food, Yan Li felt it was safer to buy a new one, as there was no telling what the previous owner might have kept in it. The same went for pots and pans. As for the solar water heater and cabinets, new or used didn't matter as long as they were functional.

Not finding anything satisfactory at the second-hand market, Yan Li ended up buying everything new. Along the way, he picked up various other knick-knacks he found useful. By the end of the trip, his already thin wallet had become significantly lighter.

After hauling everything home and scheduling the technician to install the water heater the next day, it was already afternoon. Neither Yan Li nor Zhou Yiwei had eaten lunch. Even though they had just bought a pile of kitchenware, the house lacked groceries, so they headed downstairs to a noodle shop. They devoured two large bowls of Zha Jiang Mian and a platter of cold appetizers, slurping them down with pickled Laba garlic.

Being young men in their early twenties with healthy appetites, one large bowl and appetizers weren't quite enough. Zhou Yiwei wanted to order a small bowl, but Yan Li stopped him.

"Save some room. I'm going to make something good tonight."

He told Zhou Yiwei to tidy up at home while he walked to the vegetable market. Yan Li knew how to drive—his family’s restaurant had an old van for deliveries, and he had practiced enough to be quite skilled. However, because he didn't own a car, he had never gotten his driver's license. Back home, enforcement was lax, but Beijing was different. If they got pulled over and the traffic police checked Zhou Yiwei’s father’s Passat, he would be betraying his friend.

Fortunately, the market wasn't far. Even though the produce and meat weren't as fresh as they would have been in the morning, it was just for them to eat, so he wasn't too fussy. He bought some fresh pork, beef, pig trotters, offal, and chicken legs, picked up a large bag of spices from a condiment shop, and bought a few vegetables before heading back to the apartment.

Back home, Yan Li rolled up his sleeves and started prepping the ingredients. The braised meat recipe he had obtained from the monthly intelligence report was described in such miraculous terms that he had been itching to try it. He hadn't had the facilities in Hengdian, but now that he had a kitchen back in Beijing, he couldn't wait to test the quality of the recipe.

Zhou Yiwei came over to help, his face full of anticipation. He had tasted Yan Li’s cooking about two or three months ago, when Yan Li had bribed the cafeteria staff at the Beijing Film Academy to borrow their stove to whip up a few dishes for his brothers to enjoy. The taste was, if not earth-shattering, definitely delicious—certainly better than most restaurants and lightyears ahead of the cafeteria’s standard fare.

It was a pity that although Yan Li was a skilled cook, he rarely liked to be in the kitchen. Apart from that one impulsive time, no matter how much his brothers begged, he ignored them, only making an exception in May for Zhang Songwen's birthday due to their pestering. He hadn't expected Yan Li to be so eager to cook immediately upon returning to Beijing, and with so much meat, it was clearly going to be a feast. Zhou Yiwei figured that the boxed lunches in Hengdian must have been terrible, and Yan Li was finally treating himself to some proper food.

Yan Li was busy cleaning the singed pig trotters, completely unaware of Zhou Yiwei’s assumptions; otherwise, he would have defended the honor of the Hengdian boxed lunches. Well, actually, they were quite bad. He didn't know if the catering contractors were incompetent, but the taste was inferior to the Beijing Film Academy cafeteria, and he had even received several "food poisoning" warnings from the system. His frequent socializing and dining out in Hengdian were partly driven by a desire to improve his diet.

As for Zhou Yiwei thinking he didn't like cooking, that was a bit one-sided. Yan Li grew up in a restaurant and had spent plenty of time working in the kitchen, so he had honed his skills. He was neither enthusiastic nor resistant to cooking. He didn't cook for his brothers often because borrowing the cafeteria kitchen was a hassle; he only did it that one time to test the recipe he’d obtained. Furthermore, he followed a principle his father taught him: "Scarcity creates value."

If you cook every day, people just see you as a common cook; it becomes an expectation rather than something to be rewarded or appreciated. But if you do it occasionally, keeping others in suspense, you become a "God of Cooking" who is begged and courted, which gives you higher status and potential perks. Yan Li applied this lesson well, and the results were effective. Being pampered felt good, and the others, having begged for the meal, cherished it more and felt greater satisfaction while eating, which even made the food taste better to them. Just like now, as Zhou Yiwei helped out and offered praise, Yan Li didn't find the work tedious at all.

Braised meat was nothing new to Yan Li. His family’s restaurant had a signature cold dish of braised pig head meat. He had helped prepare many such dishes at home. To make a good pot of braised meat, there were three keys: ingredients, heat control, and spices. Although the meat he bought wasn't the freshest of the day, it was decent quality, and he followed the system’s recipe exactly for the heat control and spice ratios.

At first, the pot of meat looked ordinary. But as time passed, the power of the system-certified [Centennial Secret Recipe] began to manifest. Zhou Yiwei, watching TV in the living room, could smell the rich aroma wafting from the kitchen and grew restless.

"Brother, is it ready yet?"

Yan Li was also surprised by the intensity of the aroma; it was aggressive, drilling straight into his nostrils, making his mouth water uncontrollably and his stomach growl. However, a chef’s dignity kept him calm as he checked the time.

"Wait another 45 minutes."

"Ah," Zhou Yiwei let out a pained groan. It was torture to smell something so good and not be able to eat it.

As time went on, the fragrance grew thicker. Zhou Yiwei set the table, repeatedly glancing toward the kitchen. Yan Li couldn't sit still either; under the guise of checking the meat, he walked into the kitchen. The moment he lifted the lid, the rich, mellow fragrance flooded the room, nearly knocking him over. It was simply too aromatic!

The smell drifted outside, and Zhou Yiwei, like a dog smelling a bone, scrambled over, staring longingly at the meat in the pot.

"Brother, is it ready?"

"Wait another 15 minutes."

With great self-control, Yan Li replaced the lid and dragged Zhou Yiwei back to the living room to keep waiting. After those final 15 minutes, without waiting for Zhou Yiwei to ask, Yan Li stepped into the kitchen and fished out two pieces of braised meat and a pig trotter, bringing them to the living room.

Zhou Yiwei was already waiting, drooling as he looked at the glistening, bright red meat on the plate. They didn't speak; they simply reached out with their chopsticks in unison.

The moment the meat touched his tongue, Yan Li’s eyes lit up. He knew it would be good from the smell, but he hadn't expected it to be this good. The meat, having simmered for hours with various spices, was tender yet firm, the flavor mellow, rich, and savory. The fat melted in his mouth, and the lean meat became more fragrant the more he chewed. He tasted the trotter; it was just as good, with a chewier, gelatinous texture and a lingering, savory aftertaste.

They ate in silence, finishing half the pot in one go. Zhou Yiwei loosened his belt, oil still on his lips, and sighed sincerely, "Brother, you becoming an actor is a major loss to the culinary world."

Yan Li knew his own limits. The success of the dish was largely due to the secret recipe; his own skills were just "good," nowhere near the level of a legendary chef. Besides, even if it were a loss, he wouldn't choose to be a cook. Putting aside the income, the service industry was exhausting, whereas being an actor was easier, more prestigious, and more popular.

After savoring the flavor, Yan Li felt there was room for improvement. It was his first time, and he wasn't entirely familiar with the steps. The recipe also mentioned that "old master stock" was best, which he didn't have yet. He would have to braise more meat in the future to develop the stock, which should make the flavor even better. He also identified a drawback: while delicious, it was meat, and eating too much of it was greasy. He would need to pair it with some braised vegetables, pickles, or sauces to cut the richness.

Yan Li made mental notes and even pulled out a notebook. He had originally just been curious about the recipe, but after witnessing its power, he wondered if he could make money from it. Perhaps open a shop specializing in braised meats, or at the very least, run a deli stall. It would provide some extra income during his spare time, which was better than just waiting for his savings to run out.

Just as he was lost in thought, there was a knock at the door. Yan Li glanced at the stuffed Zhou Yiwei, who was slumped on the couch, and got up to open it. Outside stood a woman in her thirties, accompanied by a small child with red, teary eyes and a runny nose.

"I'm so sorry," the woman said, looking a bit embarrassed. "I'm your neighbor from across the hall. Your braised meat smells so good that my child is crying and begging to eat some. Could you spare us a little? I'm happy to pay for it."

Yan Li: "..."

This braised meat business was definitely viable—he hadn't even officially opened, and he was already making money...