The busy farming season was coming to an end, and soon the Mid-Autumn Festival, a festival for family reunion, was approaching. Xu Lai called her parents, who said they wouldn't be coming back, as they could get triple pay for working overtime at the factory.

Xu Lai didn't force them, after all, she didn't know how to get along with them after they came back.

As the holiday approached, things on the street became more expensive. She bought a pig's trotter and two ribs. Since she had almost finished the lard she had rendered last time, she asked the vendor to weigh out all the pork fat for her.

The supermarket sells mooncakes, so she bought a few boxes to give as gifts. Xu Lai also bought ingredients for making snow skin mooncakes online and will try it out when she gets home.

She put everything in the trunk and was about to go home when she saw someone selling pears by the roadside. They looked quite fresh, so she bought a few more pounds.

When she got home, she put the pig's trotters and ribs aside and started rendering the lard.

As she cut the oil, she said to the camera, "I filmed a video about oil refining before, you can go back and learn from it. I won't go into too much detail this time, just take a look."

After rendering the oil, she took a bowl and set aside some. The freshly rendered lard was great for mixing with rice. Her grandmother used to make it for her when she was little, and it also had a few pieces of cracklings mixed in.

Back then, she thought rice mixed with lard was especially delicious, but now she can't taste the same flavor as when her grandmother made it.

She didn't bother to deal with the pork cracklings; she just placed them by the stove and would scoop a spoonful into them when cooking.

She took out the pig's trotters, which the vendor at the market had already cleaned and chopped off for her, so now she just needed to blanch them.

While the ribs were blanched, she added some hot water to wash them three times, then put them on a plate, added some fermented black beans, and steamed them.

The other half can be marinated and then deep-fried in hot oil later to make salt and pepper ribs.

Rinse the blanched pig's trotters with warm water, then marinate them with salt and soy sauce, add some dark soy sauce for color, and mix well with some Lao Gan Ma chili sauce.

She filled two large bowls with pig's trotters and put them in a wood-fired pot to steam with the spare ribs.

Just as we finished doing all that, Grandpa came over carrying a cleaned chicken and said, "The chicken is all cleaned up. Chop it into pieces and steam it together."

Xu Lai looked into the pot, which was mostly filled with steamed vegetables, and said, "We already have two steamed dishes. How about we make some chicken soup? It's been a while since we've had any."

Grandpa put the chicken on the cutting board. "It's fine with me, whatever you say."

Xu Lai chopped the chicken and put it directly into the casserole. Fearing that netizens would ask why she didn't blanch it, she explained in advance: "This is a free-range chicken raised at home, so it doesn't need to be blanched to remove the fishy smell."

Add the soaked dried mushrooms to the pot, then put it on the gas stove to stew. First bring it to a boil over high heat, then simmer over low heat.

At 11:30, she started cooking. She made salt and pepper ribs, first frying the ribs until fragrant, then putting them in the pan with green and red peppers and stir-frying them. Before serving, she sprinkled salt and pepper on top.

I'll stir-fry some cucumber with meat and some garlic lettuce, and lunch is ready.

While she was stir-frying cucumber and meat, she called Zhao Qingyun to ask, "Where are you?"

Zhao Qingyun had arrived in town and said, "We're almost home. You can eat first."

She smiled and said, "No rush, I'm still cooking, I can wait for you for ten more minutes."

He grabbed a few boxes of fruit and said, "Okay, I'll try to get home in eight minutes, two minutes early."

Xu Lai hung up the phone, picked up a piece of cucumber with her chopsticks, and said, "Mmm, delicious."

She ladled out the vegetables, and just as the lettuce went into the pot, she heard the sound of a car. A moment later, Zhao Qingyun came in carrying large and small bags.

Grandma quickly said, "Oh dear, why did you bring so many things over?"

Zhao Qingyun put the food on the table and said, "It's only right. This is my first time eating here as Xu Lai's boyfriend, so it's just basic courtesy."

He put down his things but didn't sit down to wait for dinner. Instead, he went to the kitchen, took out the steamed dishes from the pot, and Xu Lai handed him a dishcloth: "It's very hot, wrap it with this to carry it."

Zhao Qingyun took it and said with a smile, "I know, I'm not stupid."

Xu Lai brought the lettuce to the table, then returned to ladle out the chicken soup. She hadn't added salt yet and didn't know how it would taste, so she took a spoon and tasted it herself.

Unsure, she grabbed Zhao Qingyun's hand, pulled her over, and said, "Try it and see if you want to add salt."

He took a sip from the spot where she had drunk, sipped it, and said, "It should be fine. It's okay if it's a little bland if you drink it straight."

Xu Lai then stopped adding salt, took a new spoon, ladled out the soup, and had him take it to the table.

Today is a holiday, and the two families are celebrating together. Unlike in the past, they have an additional layer of relationship.

Xu Lai poured herself a cup of rice wine as usual, but this time it was sweet rice wine, which her grandmother had brewed recently and was now ready to drink. She scooped some out to taste it.

She looked at Zhao Qingyun questioningly. He remembered the last time they drank together. Although he didn't get drunk to the point of passing out, the alcohol had a strong aftereffect.

Xu Lai smiled and said, "It's okay, this isn't the wine from last time. This one is sweet, and the alcohol content is really low."

He gestured with his index finger and thumb, "That'll be it then."

She poured wine and drinks for the two grandmothers, and they all raised their glasses together: "Happy Holidays."

Xu Lai ladled out a bowl of chicken soup and handed it to Grandma Jiang. Just as she was about to ladle out a second bowl for her own grandmother, Zhao Qingyun took the soup spoon from her and said, "You sit down and eat, I'll do it."

He brought the soup to his grandparents and said, "It's a little hot, so please be careful when you drink it."

Grandma smiled and said, "Okay, okay, I understand, thank you."

Xu Lai picked up a slightly fatty pig's trotter and was about to put it in her grandfather's bowl as usual when a bowl blocked her chopsticks and put the pig's trotter in his bowl instead.

"I'll eat it." Zhao Qingyun took the bowl back, picked up her chopsticks, and picked up a pig's trotter.

Grandpa smiled and said, "Okay, even if there are dishes you don't like to eat in the future, someone will eat them for you."

After the meal, Zhao Qingyun washed the dishes and cleaned up as usual, while Xu Lai helped him rinse the bowls. Remembering the pig's trotter from lunch, she asked, "Did you really eat fatty meat?"

Zhao Qingyun paused for a moment, then said honestly, "I hesitated for a while. To be honest, I don't really like it, but I can eat it."

Xu Lai pinched the soft flesh on his arm and said, "If you don't like it, don't eat it for me in the future. It's not like I can't waste a little bit."

Zhao Qingyun handed over the bowl and said, "I can eat it, it's fine. Besides, it's not shameful to eat your leftovers."

After washing the dishes, Zhao Qingyun took out a cardboard box and said, "This box contains hairy crabs. We'll steam them and eat them tonight."

Xu Lai took it and looked at it. "Did you buy this today?"

Zhao Qingyun took out several boxes and said, "My mom bought these, and two more boxes were gifts from friends."