Li Feng rolled up his sleeves.
He moved through the kitchen quietly, opening the refrigerator, setting things on the counter one by one. Pork belly. Ginger. Garlic. Spring onions. Shaoxing wine. Dark soy sauce. Light soy sauce. Rock sugar. Star anise.
He lined them up without rushing.
*Hong Shao Rou,* he thought, looking at everything laid out in front of him. *Simple. Just need to not rush it.*
The trick with braised pork belly was patience. Most people made the mistake of turning up the heat to move things along. The result was always the same — meat that looked right on the outside and told a lie. Low heat. Time. That was the whole secret.
He filled a pot with water and set it to boil. While he waited he cut the pork belly into even blocks, not too thick, not too thin. His knife moved clean and steady against the board. He blanched the pieces in the boiling water, skimming the surface as the impurities rose, then drained them and set them aside.
He dried the wok. Then the rock sugar went in over low heat, broken into smaller pieces, stirred slowly until it melted into a deep amber caramel that caught the light like glass.
---
The smell got to her before anything else.
Zhao Lihua drifted toward the kitchen doorway without fully meaning to. She leaned against the frame and watched him for a moment. Li Feng moved through the kitchen quietly. Unhurried. The wok hissing softly, the deep amber smell of caramel and soy filling the apartment.
She frowned.
*Since when can he cook?*
She thought back to the early days of their marriage. The one time Li Feng had attempted anything in this kitchen. She had taken one look at whatever it was sitting in that pot and made a decision very quickly. She had waited until he left the room, picked up the pot and emptied it without a second thought. She had never mentioned it. He had never brought it up. They had both moved on with their lives as though it had never happened.
And now here he was. Braising pork belly at a low steady heat like it was the most natural thing in the world.
*Was he pretending back then?* she thought. *Was the terrible cooking an act?*
She watched him add the rock sugar to the wok, stirring slowly as it melted into a deep warm caramel.
*No,* she decided. *Nobody is that committed.*
Which meant he had somehow just become good at this. She wasn't sure which answer was more unsettling.
---
Li Feng added the pork belly pieces into the caramel, turning them slowly until each piece was coated in that deep amber glaze. Then the Shaoxing wine went in. The wok exhaled a cloud of steam and the smell that followed was something else entirely.
*This is too easy,* he thought, reaching for the soy sauce.
Dark soy first for color. Light soy for salt. A measured pour of each. He added the ginger slices, the star anise, the spring onions, then enough hot water to just cover the meat. He put the lid on and turned the heat down low.
Now it just needed time.
He wiped down the counter and was reaching for a cloth when something bumped against his leg. He looked down.
Li Xian stood at his feet, head tilted all the way back, looking straight up at him. Baozi was tucked under one arm. Her nose was working very hard.
"Daddy." She tugged at his leg again. "What is that smell?"
Li Feng looked down at her for a moment then reached down and scooped her up with one arm, settling her against his side.
"Daddy is making the best dish in the world," he said. "Just for you."
Xian's eyes went wide. She leaned forward over his arm trying to see inside the pot. "Is it candy?" she asked very seriously.
Li Feng looked at her. "No."
"Is it ice cream?"
"No Xian."
She thought about this for a moment, nose still working. "Is it candy ice cream?"
Li Feng stared at her. She stared back with complete sincerity, waiting for his answer.
*This child,* he thought.
"It is pork belly," he said finally.
Xian considered this information carefully. "Is it sweet?"
"A little."
Her face broke into an enormous smile. "Then it is candy," she announced, completely satisfied with her own conclusion.
Li Feng looked at her for a long moment. He couldn't argue with that logic.
---
Li Feng carried Xian out of the kitchen and into the living room.
Zhao Lihua was sitting on the new sofa, legs tucked under her, looking up at him the way someone looks at a person they are only just realizing they do not know at all.
"Mummy! Mummy!" Xian wriggled in Li Feng's arm, reaching toward her. "Daddy is making the best dish in the world!"
Zhao Lihua couldn't help it. A small laugh escaped before she could stop it.
Li Feng caught it immediately. *Best dish in the world.* She was still smiling, shaking her head slightly. His cooking was good, she would give him that. But best in the world? That was just arrogance wrapped in an apron.
Li Feng sat down on the opposite end of the sofa, Xian still in his arm.
*You will be begging for more after the first bite,* he thought, looking at her. *Let's see who is laughing then.*
He said nothing. He simply looked away and patted Xian's head.
*Just wait.*
---
"It will take a while," Li Feng said. "The food needs time."
He glanced over at the new television on the wall, still untouched since the men had mounted it hours ago. "Why not watch a movie."
Zhao Lihua followed his gaze to the screen then back to him.
He reached for the remote, turned it on and pulled up Tetflix. He had already set up a full subscription before the TV had even been mounted. No point buying something and leaving it sitting there. The home screen filled the display, rows of thumbnails glowing across the wall.
Xian immediately sat up straight. "Xian wants to pick," she announced.
Li Feng glanced over at Zhao Lihua. Her eyes were already on the screen. She was trying not to show it but he could see it clearly. The way she leaned forward just slightly as the thumbnails moved. The way her eyes tracked across the titles before she caught herself and looked away.
"Why not let Mummy choose," he said.
Xian immediately turned and thrust the remote toward Zhao Lihua without a second thought. "Mummy pick! Mummy pick!"