Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

  Wearing a mask and a coat, and carrying a digital drawing board, Lu Yiyun left her apartment. She stepped on the crisp snow, lowered her head, and passed by the office workers and students on the road, heading straight for the Amazing Fate Pet Shop in the morning. The regular work schedule had made her feel a little bit more confident, so that she no longer felt like a loser who stayed in her room all day long. When she arrived and opened the door to the pet shop, the shop was filled with some sort of delicious scent.

  “Wow, it smells so good. Mr. Store Manager, what are you cooking?” she could not help but swallow her saliva and ask curiously. People generally had a light breakfast in the morning, but such a tempting aroma was rarely found.

  “I just made some stewed beef with potato. Do you want some?” asked Zhang Zian. Wearing an old apron, he was putting the beef into double-decker lunchboxes. After he came back from the Studio last night, he made a trip to the supermarket, bought several bags of beef brisket and potatoes, and went to Uncle Li’s restaurant to ask him how to cook stewed beef with potato. He brazenly took some spices such as pepper, aniseed, and cinnamon back to his place. After he got up this morning, he simmered the ingredients according to Uncle Li’s method, because it would be easier for a rookie cook like him to control the heat. He just turned off the heat before Lu Yiyun came in.

  “Stewed beef? Mr. Store Manager, aren’t you shooting a movie? Doesn’t the studio provide meals for you?” Lu Yiyun put down the digital drawing board and tried to divert her attention. After all, it was embarrassing to ask for free meal in the morning.

  She seldom ate stewed beef with potato because it was time-consuming to prepare. She was the kind of person who would be engrossed in her painting and did not have the time to prepare foods that took a long time to cook. But that didn’t mean she did not like to eat it.

  “It does. But the meals are poor quality; there is barely any meat. I feel just as hungry after I eat.” Zhang Zian neatly arranged the pieces of beef and potato in the larger part of the double-decker lunchboxes. He picked up a few small bags and stuffed them into the smaller layer.

  “What’s that? Sauce?” She asked curiously.

  “Nope. Those are inedible.” Zhang Zian threw a bag to her.

  She hastily grabbed the bag and took a closer look. It said: “food-specific heating package, do not eat” on the bag.

  “I bought a large bag of those from an outdoor equipment store nearby. They should be enough for several days. The lunch time in the studio is unstable, and completely depends on the director’s mood. The food in the lunchbox yesterday was cold, and I felt very uncomfortable eating it,” Zhang Zian explained.

  Due to the freezing weather in winter, food quickly became cold. The beef was hot in the pot and was already lukewarm in the lunchboxes. Zhang Zian thought that the beef in a heavy insulated lunchbox might go cold at one or two o’clock in the afternoon, so he decided to use an ordinary lunchbox and solve the temperature problem with the heating packages. When it was time for lunch, he could just pour some water into the lower layer of the lunchbox, and he could eat the warm stewed beef with potato in a matter of minutes.

  “Superb, Mr. Store Manager! How did you think of this?!” Lu Yiyun said with admiration.

  “I thought of this because I tried self-heating bentos before. Putting the flavor of that bento aside, I could actually eat hot food.” Zhang Zian had stewed a large pot of beef with potato. When the four lunchboxes were filled, there was still a lot left in the pot.

  When the aroma of the stew began to drift from the pot, Famous and the two police dogs were restless. Famous could still maintain its composure, and although the two well-trained police dogs did not behave rudely, their frequent glances towards the kitchen upstairs explained everything. However, when Zhang Zian carried the pot and went downstairs, it was Snowy Lionet who approached him first.

  “Meow~ meow! I want to eat beef!” It said bluntly, “Do you know how hard it is for me to miss beef every day?” While speaking, it jumped up to the pot as if it was going to devour all the beef. Unfortunately, it had short limbs and poor motor skills. No matter how hard it tried to jump, it couldn’t get past Zhang Zian’s knees.

  “Meow~ meow! Why are you holding the pot so high? Do you believe me when I say I’m going to break your knee?” Snowy Lionet angrily threatened him. However, its appearance was too sweet, and its anger possessed a unique glamor that didn’t make it scary at all.

  “There is salt in the stewed beef that cats can’t eat. There is still some uncooked raw beef brisket left for you. Do you want some?” Zhang Zian easily ignored its threat.

  “Raw beef brisket?” Snowy Lionet’s saliva was pouring relentlessly like a flood. In the descriptions in Chin Ping Mei, Snowy Lionet’s favorite food was raw beef, but after it came to the pet shop, it had been eating chicken breast and fish as Fina did. It was so ravenous when it heard there was raw beef.

  “Where is it? Where’s the raw beef brisket?” it croaked and asked, completely ignoring its image.

  “Upstairs. If you wait here obediently, I’ll give it to you in a while, otherwise…” Zhang Zian’s threat was more effective. Although Snowy Lionet was anxiously scratching its body, it did not dare to act rashly.

  He had bought more raw beef brisket than usual this time. Not only did he need to stew the beef for Famous and the two police dogs, but he saved the rest of the raw beef brisket for the cats. It was better for cats to eat raw beef on a regular basis, since raw beef replenished amino acids, enhanced physical fitness and muscles, making the cats’ fur shinier and glistening.

  However, not all cats can eat raw beef. The bowel functions of kittens under three months old are underdeveloped, so they better not eat raw beef. High-quality cat food or cooked chicken breast is more suitable for them.

  Some cats naturally had sensitive stomachs, so they weren’t fond of raw meat. It was assumed that this was the case with Fina, who didn’t give a damn about raw meat, not even if the raw meat was dangling next to its mouth.

  As for why Old Time Tea didn’t eat raw meat, it was because it considered eating raw animal meat an unethical barbaric behavior. As a cat of integrity in the country of decorum, it would certainly avoid such a practice.

  The biggest concern of eating raw beef was parasites, so the beef brisket Zhang Zian bought this time was not completely fresh, but the refrigerated beef brisket from the supermarket. After being refrigerated at minus 20 Celsius degrees for more than 72 hours, the threat of parasites could be minimized, but periodic deworming was still a requirement regardless.

  Zhang Zian only intended to feed the raw beef to Snowy Lionet and the seven Abyssinian Cats, but not the other kittens. Firstly, raw beef was not suitable for the kittens in the shop that were around three months old. Secondly, though the probability of raw beef carrying parasites was very low, it couldn’t be completely ruled out. If the kittens ate raw meat and were infected with parasites, then purchased by customers, he would get into serious trouble if the customers suspected him as a swindler.

  When Zhang Zian was placing beef in the lunchboxes, Snowy Lionet kept pacing around him, but it did not dare to make noise.

  He checked the lunchboxes again, fastened the lids of the lunchboxes, then turned them over to see if they would leak. Confirming that there was no problem, he placed the four lunchboxes into his backpack, which he would carry with him to the set.

  “Go and get your chopsticks,” he urged Lu Yiyun who was still stunned and frozen in place.

  She was startled. She quickly shook her head and refused, “No, it would be rude.”


  “If you keep stalling, the beef will be cold and not taste good.” Zhang Zian knew she was too shy to comply, so he prepared a full bowl of beef for her. “I will put this pot here, and Wang Qian and Li Kun can have the remaining beef if they come. If you don’t eat it now, nothing will be left for you after they finish eating.”


  Lu Yiyun remembered how Wang Qian and Li Kun gobbled up food, so she could not help but swallow her saliva and say awkwardly, “Then…then I’ll eat a little bit…”


  At this point, the beef was not too hot nor too cold—the temperature was just about right. The texture of the beef was so soft after being stewed in the pressure cooker that it almost melted the moment Lu Yiyun put it into her mouth. Coupled with the balanced mix of spices prepared by Uncle Li, even as a rookie cook, Zhang Zian had produced a master-level flavor. The potatoes that were cut into small pieces had fully absorbed the essence of the beef broth. The potatoes were a bit hot, but with every piece she ate, she could comfortably exhale a puff of hot air.

  Lu Yiyun had eaten bland cereal as breakfast. She was usually a light eater, but she had just finished a whole bowl of stewed beef with potato and burped like a child. Beads of sweat had emerged from the tip of her nose.

  “This is so delicious! Mr. Store Manager, your culinary skill is awesome!” She put down her chopsticks and wiped her mouth with a paper towel, praising Zhang Zian heartily. The only regret was that although the stew was not salty, it would be better if she could also have a bowl of white rice.

  “Do you want more? There is enough in the pot.” Zhang Zian asked.

  “No, no, I’m full. I don’t think I need to have lunch.” She waved her hands in panic and blushed. She took Jasmine out of her bag and shyly use it to block her face.

  “Well, you’re welcome to eat if you want more.” Zhang Zian glanced at Jasmine and added, “Make your cat have some raw beef today. It’s good for its body.”


  “What? Raw beef?” Lu Yiyun was stunned. She had never thought of feeding her cat raw meat.

  Zhang Zian did not explain further for the time being, nor did he begin to eat his meal. He filled three bowls of beef for Famous and the two police dog, then placed the bowls on the ground.

  “Famous, Red Dragon, Prince! Come and eat your food! I looked at the script, you have hard work for today’s shooting. You won’t be able to make it if you don’t fill up your stomachs!” he waved towards the three German Shepherds.

  Famous took the lead and came to him. It used to eat medium-well steak, and stewed beef with tomato, but it had never tried the Oriental-style stewed beef with potato. It bowed down to sniff the beef and tried to taste it. The soft and waxy muscle fibers and plant starch immediately conquered its tongue.

  Red Dragon and Prince were hesitating behind Famous. After eating a few mouthfuls, Famous turned around and whispered to them. They immediately came together to enjoy the feast.

  Only now did Zhang Zian hold up his own bowl to savor the product of his labor. “Damn it! It’s so delicious! Should I change my career and become a chef?”