After the Grain Rain, the rain follows the solar term as expected.
Last night, the rain was heavy, and I was awakened by the sound of it at 2 a.m. My mind conjured images of floods raging outside, the building I was in swaying precariously in the deluge, and before I knew it, I fell back asleep.
This morning, I took a shower and started studying. I’ve come to appreciate the phrase “Stillness begets wisdom” even more—only in stillness can one observe and reflect, complete the learning process, and gain wisdom.
Yesterday, I sliced the ham I brought home and searched on Bilibili for recipes like “ham stir-fried with XX.” I came across a dish of ham and spare ribs stewed with bamboo shoots. Inspired, I decided to buy some spare ribs and bamboo shoots to make it. However, I ended up buying too much—two ribs along with the chunk of meat attached, totaling 3 jin (1.5 kg), priced at 23 yuan per jin.
Here’s where I really disliked the butcher. I kept emphasizing that I was cooking for myself and asked him to give me one less rib or leave out the attached meat. He kept mumbling that he’d lose money if he didn’t sell it to me and quickly stuffed it all into a bag.
At noon, my mom brought me a watermelon and mentioned that spare ribs cost 20 yuan per jin where she bought them. That made me even more dissatisfied with the butcher. I thought he seemed honest, even making small talk, but upon reflection, he wasn’t a good person at all. If I were a butcher and someone came to buy 3 jin of meat, I’d definitely ask if they could finish it alone, rather than forcing it on them or wishing they’d buy 30 jin.
Warning
This shop is blacklisted—I’m never going back there again.
After blanching the spare ribs, I divided them into two portions. One portion was pan-fried and stewed with corn, carrots, and lotus root, while the other was used to make sweet and sour ribs. As for the chunk of meat attached to the ribs—I’m not even sure what it’s called—it felt like it weighed about a jin (500g), which was way too much. I sliced it, fried it until dry, and preserved it in oil. Both rib dishes turned out delicious, and I’m increasingly pleased with my cooking skills.
By the way, the stir-fried ham with green peppers I had at noon was incredibly tasty. After blanching the ham, I stir-fried the peppers until just cooked and tossed them together. No additional seasoning was needed since the ham was already salty. It reinforced my belief that cooking is about subtraction. Next time, I’ll save some for Xiaohuanhuan.
Tonight, Xiaohuanhuan shared Chronicle of a Blood Merchant with me, and we had a long chat. Though I might have rambled a bit, and Huanhuan was also feeling down due to some minor family issues.
I saw Dapeng sharing this song on social media—hope it brings you a good mood too.