Zhao Lihua looked at the remote in Xian's small outstretched hand. Then at Li Feng. He wasn't looking at her. He was looking at the screen, completely relaxed, one arm resting behind Xian.
She reached over and took the remote.
The kitchen smell drifted through softly. The new television glowing against the wall. Xian pressed between them like she belonged nowhere else in the world.
*Was I too obvious?* Zhao Lihua thought, scrolling a little faster than necessary.
She couldn't help it. It had been so long since she had sat in front of a screen with something worth watching. The old Li Feng had kept her cut off from everything. No phone. No television. Nothing. Just four walls and silence.
Then something caught her eye.
"This one," she said, leaning forward slightly, unable to keep the excitement out of her voice entirely.
*Love Blossom.*
Li Feng looked at the title.
*That is such a cliche name,* he thought. He wasn't a fan of romance series. They were just too —
Xian looked up at the screen. A man and a woman standing in a field of flowers staring at each other. "Ooooh." She pointed at the cover with great enthusiasm. "Pretty flowers!"
Li Feng looked at Xian. Then at the screen. He said nothing. He settled back against the cushion.
---
After a while Li Feng slipped quietly off the sofa.
The timer in his head had been running the whole time. He moved back into the kitchen and lifted the lid. The steam that rose up carried everything with it — deep soy, sweet rock sugar, the faint warmth of star anise. The pork belly had taken on a deep mahogany color, the fat layers soft and yielding, the sauce reduced into something thick and glossy coating the bottom of the pot.
He turned the heat up slightly, just enough to tighten the sauce. He picked up a pair of chopsticks and pressed lightly against one of the pieces. It gave way without any resistance at all.
*Good,* he thought.
He turned the pieces slowly one by one, letting the sauce climb up and coat every surface. The glaze caught the kitchen light each time he turned them. He added a final small splash of dark soy, tilted the pot slightly and spooned the sauce over the top repeatedly until each piece was shining.
He turned off the heat. He stood over the pot for a moment, the kitchen warm and fragrant around him.
*Let's see her laugh now,* he thought.
He reached for the bowls.
---
Li Feng set the table carefully. Bowls placed just right. Chopsticks aligned beside each one. A small dish of steamed rice on each side. The braised pork belly at the center, each piece sitting in that deep glossy sauce, steam still rising slowly from the pot.
He stepped back and looked at it. A proper table.
He glanced toward the living room. Zhao Lihua was completely glued to the screen, one hand resting against her cheek, giggling softly at something happening in the show. She hadn't moved an inch.
Xian had long abandoned the movie and was on the floor having a very serious conversation with Baozi about something only the two of them understood.
Li Feng straightened up. "Food is ready."
Xian was on her feet before the sentence was finished, toddling straight to the dining table and climbing into her chair without being asked.
Zhao Lihua did not move. Her eyes stayed on the screen for another moment. Something was clearly happening in the show that could not be paused.
"Food is ready," Li Feng said again.
She reached slowly for the remote and paused it. She sat there for one more second looking at the frozen screen. Then she stood up and walked to the table.
---
Everyone settled into their seats.
The braised pork belly sat at the center, each piece glazed in that deep mahogany sauce, soft and glistening under the light. Steam still curling up slowly from the pot. The smell alone was enough to make it very difficult to sit still.
Xian looked at it. Then she looked at Li Feng. Then she looked at it again. She couldn't wait. She picked up her small chopsticks, grabbed a piece and bit into it.
The outside had a very slight resistance, the sauce caramelized just enough to give it a thin glaze that gave way immediately. Inside the fat had rendered completely, soft and yielding, melting the moment it hit her tongue. Sweet and savory all at once, the rock sugar and soy having spent the last hour and a half becoming something neither of them were on their own.
Xian's eyes went wide. She chewed slowly, cheeks puffed out like a little hamster. "It's good," she said finally. Then she took another bite immediately. "It's better than candy," she announced to nobody in particular.
Zhao Lihua looked at her daughter's face. Completely lit up over a plate of braised pork belly.
*It cannot be that good,* she thought.
She glanced at Li Feng. He was looking right at her, a small smirk sitting on his face. He said nothing. He simply gestured toward her bowl.
*Go on.*
Zhao Lihua picked up her chopsticks and took her first bite.
The flavor hit her immediately. Rich and deep, the sauce clinging to the meat with that perfect balance of sweet and savory. The fat had rendered so completely it didn't feel heavy at all. Just layer after layer of something that had no business tasting this good coming out of her own kitchen. It felt like eating in a five star restaurant.
"Well?" Li Feng asked.
She looked back at him. She didn't want to admit it. She really didn't want to admit it. But this was without question the best braised pork belly she had ever eaten in her life.
"It's delicious," she said in a low voice.
Li Feng's smile widened. "Don't eat it all at once. There's more."
She looked away. *This new version of her husband was better than her at cooking.* That stung more than she expected.
A while later the table had quieted into the comfortable sound of chopsticks and bowls. Xian was on her third piece and showing no signs of stopping.
Zhao Lihua set her chopsticks down. "Oh." She looked at Li Feng. "Hmm. Mei is coming over tomorrow."
Li Feng set his chopsticks down slowly.
Mei.
The name landed somewhere in his memory and not in a pleasant place. Zhao Lihua's younger sister had always hated his guts.