The wind in the second-floor corridor was a bit cold, but compared to the lively eating scene below, this little chill was absolutely nothing.
Xu Qinghuan leaned against the railing, the ancient version of milk tea with triple sugar in her hands having completely gone cold.
Below, hundreds of weavers in new clothes were holding large bowls.
They squatted on the ground, slurping and shoveling braised pork into their mouths.
One weaver wiped away tears as she ate, a snot bubble almost falling into her bowl.
She couldn't even bear to wipe it, swallowing it down along with the meat broth. The look of pure happiness on her face made Xu Qinghuan's head buzz.
Over the past few days, the system's notification sound hadn't stopped:
Detected host's behavior of depriving citizens of personal freedom: forcing a large number of commoners to sign indentured servitude death contracts;
Detected host's cold-blooded exploitation behavior: establishing a three-shift system, implementing a policy where people rest but machines do not;
Detected host's behavior of ignoring healthy diets and forcing others to overeat: forcing laborers to consume high-fat, high-carb, and high-salt foods, and stipulating that they are not allowed to leave until they are full.
Xu Qinghuan: She exclaimed "not bad, not bad," as more retirement funds arrived in her account.
These days, why was it so hard to be a bad person?
"Miss, are you... crying from being moved?"
Li Sheng leaned over with a face full of admiration, still holding a small notebook in his hand.
"I knew it. Even though you say one thing, Miss, your heart is truly too soft."
"Shut up!"
Xu Qinghuan's face darkened, instantly putting on a mask of pain.
"Li Sheng, don't ruin my character setting! I did that so they would have the strength to work for me! Do you understand what the pig-raising strategy is?"
"I understand, I understand. Whatever you say is right, Miss."
Li Sheng nodded frantically.
"Li Sheng, let me ask you, who in our family is the most miserable right now?"
Li Sheng paused, instinctively answering, "That would definitely be the Second Young Master."
"In the letter from home the day before yesterday, it said that the provisions in the Northern Frontier are being held back by the noble families. The heavy snow has sealed off the mountains, and the soldiers are all digging up grass roots to eat."
"Grass roots?"
Xu Qinghuan's eyes lit up, and she slapped the railing fiercely.
Brilliant!
Second Brother is eating grass, while I'm feasting on fish and meat in Jiangning.
If I send over a batch of extravagant, greasy, and unhealthy junk food right now, flaunting my wealth in front of him...
Wouldn't that be the perfect example of the rich being heartless?
Not only would I be able to spend the fifty thousand taels required by the system, but I might even unlock some achievement for humiliating my own brother!
Who cares if there is one or not, I'll just do it first!
"Li Sheng!"
Xu Qinghuan let out a loud roar, scaring Li Sheng so much that he dropped the pen in his hand.
"Here! What are your orders, Miss?"
"Prepare the carriage! To the back kitchen!"
Xu Qinghuan waved her hand grandly and said aggressively, "Bring out all the Nu'er Hong wine from our Xu family's cellar, and the most expensive rock sugar and refined salt from the storehouse!"
Li Sheng turned pale with fright. "Miss, that is the fine wine the Master has saved up his entire life! What are you trying to do?"
Xu Qinghuan turned her head, revealing a villainous smile.
"What am I doing? Of course, I'm sending my pitiful Second Brother a heavy dose of love from his younger sister!"
In the large kitchen of the Liu Garden, the atmosphere was currently very tense.
Over a dozen chubby master chefs stood in a row against the wall, shivering.
The chopping boards were piled high with top-grade pork belly scoured from all over the city. The alternating layers of fat and lean meat had clear textures; one look and you could tell it was the best part of the pig.
"Listen up!"
Xu Qinghuan wore an uncoordinated pink apron and held a kitchen knife in her hand.
"Today's mission is only one thing: to ruin things! Go for the most expensive options, and cook it in the unhealthiest way possible!"
"Fatty Liu, this meat, cut it into large meat bricks for me!"
Head Chef Fatty Liu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "M-Miss, braised pork requires small pieces to absorb the flavor. With such large pieces, the inside will be undercooked..."
"Just cut it when I tell you to! Second Brother is eating grass roots in the Northern Frontier, I'm sending him meat to humiliate him!"
"How would cutting it into small pieces show off my immense wealth?"
Xu Qinghuan slammed her knife onto the chopping board. "It has to be big! It has to be rugged! It needs to have the aura of 'this lady has so much money she has nowhere to spend it, so she's going to smash you to death with meat'!"
Fatty Liu didn't dare to retort and swung his knife with tears in his eyes.
Chop, chop, chop.
Hundreds of catties of premium pork belly were turned into square meat bricks.
"Into the pot!"
Xu Qinghuan directed them to throw the meat bricks into the large iron woks.
Next, it was her time to farm points.
"Bring the sugar!"
Xu Qinghuan pointed to the vats of precious rock sugar nearby.
"Pour it! Pour it in like your life depends on it! Is this sugar free? Add it until it's saturated! I want to make this meat so sweet it turns bitter, so greasy it makes you want to throw up!"
Clatter, clatter, massive amounts of rock sugar were poured into the pots.
"Soy sauce! That's three-year aged soy sauce, right? Don't save it! Pour it all in! I want this meat to turn pitch black!"
"Salt! Pour all those bags of refined salt in too!"
Fatty Liu completely broke down, dropping to his knees with a thud. "Miss! You can't do this! With all this sugar, salt, and soy sauce going into one pot, it will be so salty it could kill someone! Even though the Second Young Master has thick skin and tough flesh, he can't withstand this kind of torment!"
Xu Qinghuan kicked him aside, a look of fanaticism on her face.
"What do you know! This is the taste of wealth!"
She laughed wildly in her heart: System, watch closely! I am adding seasonings to the death!
This stuff is high in oil, high in sugar, and high in salt. It's definitely the fighter jet of junk food.
With one bite of this, won't Second Brother hate me, his prodigal sister, to death? That's exactly right!
"Cook it! High heat to reduce the sauce!"
Xu Qinghuan held a large iron ladle, stirring frantically in the pot.
"Boil away all the moisture! Boil it until this meat becomes so hard and black that even its own mother wouldn't recognize it!"
Flames leaped into the air.
As time passed, the broth in the pot grew less and less, until finally, only a thick layer of blackish-red grease remained, coating the dehydrated meat bricks.
"Stop the fire!"
Xu Qinghuan scooped out a piece with the ladle and placed it on a plate. It made a crisp clinking sound, very hard.
Fatty Liu closed his eyes in despair. It was over. Perfectly good pork belly had been turned into dry, hard chunks of meat.
Xu Qinghuan, however, had shining eyes. She picked up that black-gold meat brick and took a cautious, tiny bite.
Crunch. The outer skin was actually crispy.
Immediately after, a complex flavor that was so salty it was bitter, and so sweet it was sickening, exploded in her mouth.
The taste was bitterly salty and nauseatingly greasy.
Blergh—
Xu Qinghuan almost threw up on the spot.
It was too disgusting! This thing was simply not meant for human consumption!
If this was given to Second Brother to eat, he would probably carry his broadsword overnight back to Jiangning to righteously execute his own family member!
But the expression on her face instantly switched to wild joy.
"Perfect! It needs to be this awful!"
Xu Qinghuan forced down her nausea and swallowed the piece of meat. "Quick! Pack it into jars for me!"
"Use those antique clay pots! Put ten pieces in each pot! Then seal them tight with yellow mud!"
"The final step!"
Xu Qinghuan walked to the corner and pointed at the dozen or so jars of Nu'er Hong wine treasured by Xu Youde.
"Open these wines! Find some cotton cloth, soak them thoroughly, and wrap the clay pots in them! I want Second Brother to smell the aroma of the wine but not be able to drink it, frustrating him to death!"
Li Sheng was truly about to cry this time. "Miss! This is the dowry wine the Master saved up for you!"
"Dowry my foot!"
Xu Qinghuan carelessly smacked open the mud seal, and the rich aroma of wine instantly filled the kitchen.
Soon, hundreds of clay pots filled with sugar-and-salt meat bricks wrapped in fine wine-soaked cloths were piled up into a massive mound.
Xu Qinghuan looked at this pile of incriminating evidence and clapped her hands in satisfaction.
"Li Sheng, ship them out!"
"Make sure to attach a letter. Say that your little sister has struck it rich in Jiangning, feasting on fish and meat every meal. Tell him I specifically took these leftover scraps and made them into meat bricks for my second brother, so he can taste what true worldly luxury is!"
Li Sheng watched as jars of fine wine were simply poured onto rags to wrap those unpalatable meat bricks.
His heart was bleeding.
This wasn't wrapping meat; this was simply squandering money.
"Miss... what exactly are you hoping to achieve?"
Li Sheng slumped on the ground, his eyes hollow.
Xu Qinghuan looked at the pile of wine-scented canned meat bricks and clapped her hands in satisfaction, her palms still covered in grease.
She looked up at the moon outside the window with a profound gaze, though in reality, she was just calculating how much money she had lost on this stunt.
"What am I hoping to achieve?"
"Oh, Li Sheng, you just don't understand."
"This is called... deep sibling affection."
"Think about it. Second Brother is up in the Northern Frontier, gnawing on grass roots and drinking the bitter northwest wind."
"Then suddenly, one day, he receives this super braised pork wrapped in premium Nu'er Hong wine, sent by his little sister from thousands of miles away."
"Even though it's hard enough to chip a tooth and salty enough to choke a camel."
"Every single bite tastes like pure silver!"
Xu Qinghuan turned around and flashed a brilliant smile at the group of chefs who were still questioning their life choices.
"Don't just stand there!"
"How could only Second Brother get to enjoy such a wonderful thing?"
"Keep making them! Better yet, buy up all the pork in the neighboring counties!"
"I want all of Second Brother's comrades to taste this masterpiece, personally developed by this County Princess..."
Xu Qinghuan paused, trying to think of a catchy name for it.
