In the very first week, I received more than forty orders.
One customer wrote in the reviews:
“I switched over from another shop, and the taste is exactly the same, even better. The shop owner really puts her heart into it!”
In the first month, my net profit was eighteen thousand yuan.
In the second month, thirty-six thousand.
In the third month, I opened an account on a short-video platform.
There was no “mother-in-law’s family secret.”
There was no touching, tear-jerking story either.
I simply filmed the entire process of making the smoked meat honestly.
Selecting the meat.
Removing the sinew.
Cutting it into pieces.
Marinating.
Tossing the meat.
Hanging it on the racks.
Smoking it.
Every step was filmed clearly.
For the description of my first video, I wrote:
“This is the craft my grandmother taught me. She’s gone, but the kitchen remains.”
The video surpassed one hundred thousand views.
Someone commented:
“Where can I buy this smoked meat?”
I replied:
“Link in my profile.”
Half a year later, the shop’s monthly orders surpassed one thousand.
Chen Beicheng quit his job at the company and began helping me with packing and deliveries full-time.
From an engineer who didn’t know how to do any of this, he became a skilled packer, customer-service representative, deliveryman, and taste tester all in one.
He gained five kilograms.
He said it was for quality control.
My child was born at the end of July.
A boy.
He weighed 3.4 kilograms.
I heard that when Liu Xiulan received the news, she spent half a day wiping away tears at home.
The day she came to the hospital to see her grandson, she stood outside the hospital room for a long time.
She didn’t dare go in.
It was my father-in-law, Chen Jianguo, who gave her a gentle push.
“Go in.”
She walked to the bedside and looked at the baby wrapped in a blanket.
Her lips trembled.
Then she looked at me.
I leaned against the headboard without saying anything.
She reached out as if she wanted to touch the baby’s face, but halfway there, she pulled her hand back.
“Tangtang…”
Her voice was low and hoarse.
“…I was wrong about what happened before.”
“Yes.”
“I shouldn’t have said those things.”
“Yes.”
“The smoked meat you make… really is delicious.”
The moment she finished saying that, she laughed first.
It was a bitter smile, tinged with embarrassment.
For a woman who had been proud her entire life, this was probably the greatest extent to which she could humble herself.
I knew it.
“Mom, if you want to hold him, then go ahead.”
Only then did her hand finally touch the baby’s cheek.
The little boy was asleep, but the moment she touched him, he scrunched up his nose.
Liu Xiulan smiled.
This time, it was a genuine smile.
And the tears were genuine too.
Chen Beicheng stood beside her, his eyes red, grinning foolishly.
I looked at everyone in the room.
Suddenly, I remembered the winter a year ago.
I had been sitting alone in the empty kitchen.
The refrigerator door was wide open.
Twelve kilograms of smoked meat had vanished without a trace.
Back then, I felt as if the sky had come crashing down.
Looking back now, losing those twelve kilograms of meat had not been a loss after all.
They helped me see clearly the people I needed to see clearly.
They also helped me find a path that belonged to me.
Grandma, can you see this?
Your kitchen…
is still warm.
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