Chapter 104 - 100: Eating Beef at Home on a Rainy Day

Chapter 104: Chapter 100: Eating Beef at Home on a Rainy Day

The night passed quietly.

Chen Jingle woke up in the morning and found it was raining slightly. Fortunately, the windows were either tightly shut or left with only a small crack, so no rain had blown in. With the help of the system’s deep sleep feature, he hadn’t heard the rain at all during the night.

Although it was only a light drizzle, it was undoubtedly not suitable for an outdoor run today, so he wouldn’t be going to Teacher College. The weather forecast attributed it to moisture brought in by a typhoon.

"Speaking of which, the typhoons making landfall in the country this year seem generally a bit late," he mused.

As a Jiangbei person, he was used to typhoon weather. It would be truly strange if a year went by without one. Of course, this typhoon didn’t hit Jiangbei directly; it headed north instead. However, for the next week, Jiangbei—or rather, most of the Lingnan Region—would experience rain. This made Chen Jingle, who had recently gotten used to his morning outdoor runs, feel somewhat out of his element. He had no choice but to do a simple workout at home.

However, considering the limited ingredients left in the fridge, he decided to make a trip to the supermarket. Taking advantage of a break in the rain, he rode his electric scooter out. Naturally, he kept a raincoat in the trunk, just in case a heavy downpour kept him from returning later.

Just last night, he had talked to Liang City about the salt-hoarding issue. Today at the supermarket, sure enough, quite a few people were snapping up salt—so much so that even he felt a slight urge to join in just from watching them. The thought made him shudder.

"Eww... the herd mentality is truly terrifying!"

When witnessing a frenzy of panic-buying up close, one would subconsciously develop an uncontrollable urge to join in. No wonder Xida’s zero-dollar shopping sprees were so hard to stamp out. "If everyone is grabbing things and I’m not, aren’t I losing out? Whatever the case, I should just grab some first! Right? Right?" This was exactly the mindset many people held.

Fortunately, as people regained their rational restraint, and supermarket staff urgently restocked a new batch of salt while assuring everyone that the supply was absolutely sufficient, the situation didn’t last long. Moreover, since not everyone was acting this way, the commotion soon ended. Some of the people who had enthusiastically hoarded earlier later realized their households didn’t need that much salt, so they tossed some back onto the shelves. Wasn’t this just pure nonsense?

Chen Jingle paid more attention to the beef.

"Beef prices have really plummeted lately. I didn’t expect that even in a remote little city like ours, we’d be able to eat fresh beef for thirty Yuan a catty. Thank you, Rice Saint!"

This price was unimaginable in the past. Because Jiangbei, and indeed the entire Lingnan Region, were not areas with a developed livestock industry, cows were mostly used as farming tools; ordinary people couldn’t afford to eat them. In Chen Jingle’s memory, beef prices had always hovered around fifty Yuan—it belonged to the category of high-priced meats. But starting in the latter half of this year, local beef prices had been on a steady decline. A few days ago when he bought some, fresh beef was still at thirty-five Yuan, and today it had already dropped to thirty. The price drop was staggering.

And this was locally-sourced fresh beef! Not to mention imported foreign beef, which could be bought in online grocery stores for as low as twenty-five Yuan a catty. It was almost cheaper than pork. Just a few days ago during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the price of lean pork had gone up quite a bit. If this continued, beef being cheaper than pork or poultry wouldn’t just be a dream. It was said that in some northern provinces, freshly slaughtered beef had already dropped to twenty-three or twenty-four Yuan a catty—genuinely cheaper than pork, effortlessly achieving beef freedom. How enviable!

"Keep it up, Rice Saint! I don’t know about the others, but I’ll always support you!" Chen Jingle cheered unabashedly in his heart.

As long as he—and the masses of Dongda—could eat cheap, fresh beef, everything was fine. If the little squirt Chen Qiyun ate more beef, it would be easier for her to grow tall. Since he insisted on working out every day, he also needed to eat more. Beef was a high-quality protein and tasted much better than chicken. People only bought chicken when they couldn’t afford beef, but since he could afford it now, there was no need to eat chicken or protein powder.

Especially chicken breast. That stuff was fine occasionally, but eating it too often made it increasingly unpalatable. Even if it were made into pan-fried chicken steak or shredded chicken salad, it was equally awful.

Chen Jingle bought two catties of beef brisket, planning to make traditional slow-simmered beef today. This method involved placing the meat, along with the broth, into a sealed clay pot and cooking it slowly over low heat until it was completely tender and flavorful. Although it seemed similar to stewing, there were significant differences between the two cooking techniques. Firstly, this simmering required a longer time and maintained a low heat throughout to ensure the flavors fully infused into the ingredients. Secondly, it used more broth, resulting in a thicker, stickier sauce.

For simmered beef, there was no need to choose prime cuts; scraps like tendons and trimmings would do. However, Chen Jingle wanted to eat a bit better, so he bought brisket with a bit of tendon. Pure muscle beef wouldn’t taste particularly good cooked this way, so he avoided it. Despite the seemingly large portion he bought, the meat would shrink once stir-fried.

When it came time to simmer, there shouldn’t be too much broth, as excess liquid would alter the flavor. The exact amount depended on the chef’s own judgment; it generally just needed to barely cover the beef. This was why many people failed to learn how to cook—they found these nuances troublesome. Adding a "small amount" of various seasonings was one thing, but ingredient ratios were also all about rough estimations. It relied entirely on experience. Those without it could only slowly figure it out through trial and error.

However, Chen Jingle thought, "It’s a good thing to get more hands-on practice."

Since cooking had no fixed formulas, it constantly changed and couldn’t always follow a preconceived plan. This required the person in charge of the ladle to have a certain degree of adaptability. Therefore, more practice was necessary. Only by doing it enough times could one master it proficiently. Much like how one couldn’t learn to swim just by standing on the shore, a chef who wanted to cook delicious meals had to cook often, regardless of how high their natural talent might be.