Chapter 37
Shen Jinfeng’s movements as he skinned the pig were professional and swift. In less than half an hour, an entire intact pigskin had been peeled off by him in one piece.
Everyone gathered around him, waiting to see the pigskin coat take shape.
Even after the complete pigskin was removed, it still looked greasy and heavy. Its soft yet tough texture was strangely fascinating, and the “warm white skin” color was extremely conspicuous.
Gu Shengsheng had already changed back into his own clothes today. The leaf clothes he had taken off had been carefully folded and placed by the bed.
Looking at the pigskin, he naturally recalled the usual texture of pigskin when eating it.
Actually, pigskin and fatty meat were two different concepts, but he could not help thinking of fat meat.
He decided that after going back, he would cherish and protect his leaf clothes even more.
As for the beast-hide clothes that everyone was fighting over, let them fight!
In truth, the expressions of the others watching were also subtle.
So when Shen Jinfeng stood up and shook out the rather weighty pigskin in his hands, several people subconsciously took a step back. The way they looked at the pigskin in his hands was truly complicated.
Shen Jinfeng glanced at them, amused inwardly.
He comforted Qin Ye, “Don’t worry. I won’t make you look ugly.”
Qin Ye nodded without hesitation.
“I trust your taste.”
Qi Xiu looked at him with a strange expression and said nothing.
He Erwang grinned cheekily. “Boss, how long will it take to make the pigskin clothes? I want to see how it’s made.”
Shen Jinfeng said, “I can’t start making it yet. The actual making process will be faster than the leaf clothes, but the preparation beforehand will take longer.”
Pigskin was not something that could be turned into clothes as soon as it was peeled off. It still had to go through a series of processes such as softening, processing, and dyeing… There were no ready-made chemical materials or drying and baking equipment on the deserted island, so he still needed to make some preparations.
He glanced at them and suddenly put down the pigskin. Then he crouched down, skewered the skinned wild boar whole, and hung it in midair.
Then he called everyone over.
“What are we doing?” Mo Fan asked.
Were they going to hold some kind of celebration, where everyone foolishly gathered around the wild boar, cheering and jumping?
Wasn’t that how it was always acted out on TV?
If the actors who “acted it out like that” knew what he was thinking, they would definitely cough blood.
What do you mean foolishly gathering around a wild boar to celebrate?
There were reasons for scenes like that, okay! Either it was a bonfire party or a sacrificial ceremony.
Before Shen Jinfeng could answer, Qin Ye looked at his posture and immediately understood.
He explained to everyone, “Teacher Shen is about to start class.”
Shen Jinfeng’s hand, which had been about to break off a wooden stick, paused for a moment. Then he casually snapped off a stick as if nothing had happened.
He cleared his throat, deliberately making his expression serious. “That’s right. All of you, bring your little stools over and sit properly.”
The others looked at Qin Ye in astonishment.
Gu Shengsheng said, “Wow, Brother Ye, when did you and Boss become so in sync?”
Qi Xiu looked at him oddly, a hint of vigilance rising in his eyes.
Qin Ye quickly lowered his head to hide the corners of his mouth, which could not help lifting.
Shen Jinfeng’s fingers stiffened slightly around the wooden stick, then quickly returned to normal.
He raised the stick and tapped the wild boar. “Hurry up.”
Everyone gave him plenty of face. One by one, they fully displayed their acting skills. They placed their hands beneath their buttocks, bent their waists, pretended to be carrying little stools, and slowly shuffled over to him.
Shen Jinfeng tried to keep a straight face but failed. Giving them face in return, he laughed out loud.
The bullet comments were also amused.
“Hahahahaha, now who can tell the difference between big stars in the entertainment industry and kindergarten children?”
“This is really too funny. Why are they all so obedient? When I was in school, even my homeroom teacher didn’t have this much power!”
“Then your homeroom teacher was too weak. Our homeroom teacher’s voice arrived before she did. As soon as we heard her voice from afar, the students by the window on lookout duty would signal us, and everyone instantly transformed from happy teenagers releasing their true nature into serious, hardworking model students.”
“Honestly, the guests invited to the third season of ‘Being Human’ all have pretty good acting skills. Look how vivid this mime performance is!”
“No, am I the only one curious about what class Big Boss Shen is going to teach?”
“Yes, yes, only you… ah, sorry, I’m too used to being sarcastic. I almost didn’t recognize an ally!”
“Start over!”
“No, no, no, you’re not the only one curious!”
“Hahahahahaha, sure enough, turning on bullet comments while watching a livestream is the correct choice. I’m going to die laughing in the comments. I also want to shout: I’m curious too!”
On the screen, Shen Jinfeng carefully adjusted the wild boar’s position, suspending it horizontally in midair.
Holding the wooden stick, he gestured at the wild boar’s body from a distance and gave his opening line. “As everyone knows, every part of a wild boar is treasure.”
Everyone said, “Mm-hm, mm-hm.”
Although they did not, in fact, know.
But this phrase was always being applied to things anyway. It felt like they had heard it countless times used on all sorts of different objects.
Shen Jinfeng began his lesson. “Let us gain a deeper understanding of the wild boar together.”
“First of all, when we cooked before, we didn’t have any oil. The dishes we made were still lacking some flavor. Later, I’ll take out the leaf lard near the pig’s internal organs. Someone will be responsible for rendering the oil.”
Mo Fan took the initiative and raised his hand. “I know how to do that. I can be responsible for it.”
Shen Jinfeng nodded. “Good. Then, let’s understand the treasures found all over a pig’s body.”
He tapped the pig’s head with the wooden stick. “This is the pig’s head. What dishes can a pig’s head be made into?”
“Ah?”
Everyone finally reacted. Gaining a deeper understanding of the wild boar meant discussing how they were going to cook the wild boar later?
Qi Xiu carefully observed the pig’s head and genuinely had no idea what could be cooked from it.
He had never even seen pig heads sold in braised-food shops. Duck heads, on the other hand, were quite common. Duck heads were super delicious!
Eh, thinking of braised-food shops…
He knew!
“Boss, I love eating pig ears and pig tongue!”
In the past, when the old man rarely had a little money, the two of them would splurge.
One plate of pig ears could accompany five bowls of rice between the two of them.
Shen Jinfeng nodded. “That’s right. I’ll leave these two dishes to you.”
Qi Xiu instantly felt pressure on his shoulders, but he did not refuse.
Although among everyone here, only Boss cooked the most delicious food.
But thinking about it, it was impossible to make Boss cook every meal.
He was a future student of Peking University. He had swum through oceans of exam questions. How could he possibly not learn how to cook!
He nodded, but still shamelessly said, “Then when I make them, Boss, give me some guidance.”
“I’m very smart. I can learn.”
Shen Jinfeng could not help laughing. “Don’t worry. These two dishes are very simple.”
“Does anyone else know anything?”
He Erwang hesitated, then said, “Every hotpot restaurant has pig brain. It’s really delicious.”
?
Mo Fan was the first to jump up, his voice rising. “You like eating pig brain?”
“No way. I can’t stand it. I absolutely will not allow that ingredient to appear in my hotpot!”
“??? He Erwang likes eating pig brain? Didn’t he say otherwise in an interview before?”
“Hahaha, sister, I know which interview you’re talking about. That’s right. At that time, a host asked him whether he ate pig brain, and he said very firmly: ‘No!’ The host asked if he could try it, and he said: ‘No, I don’t eat it.’ He even asked the host back: ‘Do I look like someone who eats pig brain?’”
“Sure enough, guests on ‘Being Human’ always end up exposing places where their previous ‘personas’ collapse hahaha. But I reasonably suspect Little Purple Hair said he didn’t eat it because he thought eating brain flowers would damage his image a little.”
“Huh? Why would eating pig brain damage his image?”
“Good question. First, let me ask if you’ve eaten it. If you haven’t, do you want to eat it? Then keep asking a few people around you, and you’ll know the answer.”
“I eat pig brain… I’ll write a blood letter recommending it. It really is delicious! But last time, I recommended it to my roommate, and she refused. I didn’t give up and kept recommending it to her for half an hour. Later, I stubbornly put pig brain into the hotpot. My roommate was so angry she ignored me for half a month… Sorry, that was my fault. I’ve reflected on it. Friendly advice to sisters: even when it comes to food, respect other people’s preferences!”
“The funniest one is Mo Fan, right? This is the first time I’ve seen him react so strongly. He actually used the words ‘absolutely will not allow’! So domineering! His ‘somewhat irritable’ persona has automatically awakened! Hahaha!”
“Oh my god, if Little Purple Hair insists on being himself, will he start fighting people he dislikes next?”
“Damn, how should I put it? Suddenly I’m looking forward to it! I want to see a fight! Can we get something exciting? Go, Little Purple Hair! Stay true to yourself!”
But obviously, the bullet comments had overestimated He Erwang.
After hearing Mo Fan’s questioning, He Erwang opened his mouth, hesitated, and finally squeezed out one sentence: “I won’t eat it with you.”
“Pig brain is delicious. It’s your loss if you don’t eat it. I’ll eat it by myself!”
Shen Jinfeng looked at him in confusion. “Why do you sound so guilty just because you eat pig brain?”
“Even the celery and coriander debate has more dignity than your pig brain.”
He Erwang said aggrievedly, “My family doesn’t eat it. I have a cousin. She said that every time she sees me eating pig brain, she’ll beat me up once.”
“Although if we fought, I’d definitely win, but—but a good man doesn’t fight with women.”
“So I go out alone to eat hotpot and eat it by myself.”
Shen Jinfeng: “…”
That really sounded quite pitiful.
“Case solved, hahahahaha. He couldn’t have been afraid that his cousin would hear the interview and beat him up too, right?”
“Cousin is mighty!!! People who eat pig brain are no good! Of course, Little Purple Hair, as long as you don’t eat it, you’re still good!”
“Hahaha, Little Purple Hair’s face is full of grief and indignation: What else do you want from me? What do you want? I’ve already gone to eat brain flowers alone~”
Shen Jinfeng asked the others, “Does anyone else eat pig brain?”
He Erwang raised his head, his expectant little gaze sweeping around.
The others shook their heads one after another.
Qi Xiu hesitated slightly. “I’ve never eaten pig brain. I don’t know if it tastes good.”
Gu Shengsheng advised him, “It’s not a question of whether it tastes good. It’s that once you see it, you’ll be scared, disgusted, and have no appetite.”
Qi Xiu: “…Then I’ll take a look later.”
The light in He Erwang’s eyes dimmed.
Shen Jinfeng sighed.
Actually, pig brain was not bad, right?
Compared to the brains of zombies in the apocalypse, it was still a little cuter.
No. What exactly was he comparing?
Shen Jinfeng deeply reflected on himself for two seconds, then said, “Pig brain is very delicious. He Erwang, I’ll eat it with you. When the time comes, the two of us will share one pot.”
He Erwang’s eyes lit up with a whoosh. “Yay!”
Seeing that the others had no knowledge of pig brain, Shen Jinfeng licked his lips and began his food lecture.
“Apart from the few parts mentioned just now, braised pig head meat is especially delicious.”
“It’s more delicious than braised chicken feet!” he concluded.
“There’s also cold-dressed pig head meat. This one is the simplest to make. Once the rain stops, the weather will get hot. After boiling the pig head meat, slice it thinly. As long as you add a little seasoning and mix it evenly, it will be delicious! It also cools you down!”
“Unfortunately, we don’t have an iron wok. Otherwise, stir-fried pig head meat is also delicious. It can also be used for twice-cooked pork, boiled pig cheek meat…”
He listed more than a dozen cooking methods without stopping.
There was no helping it. After living through so many worlds, except in the apocalypse, he had never mistreated himself when it came to food.
At first, the others listened with great interest. But after hearing him list a string of dishes, and even describe their flavors and methods in detail… they became somewhat dazed.
“Boss, are you… a foodie?” Qi Xiu asked hesitantly.
Shen Jinfeng stopped, still wanting to continue. “You don’t like eating delicious food?”
Qi Xiu nodded. “I do, but…”
Shen Jinfeng made the final verdict. “Then you’re a foodie too. If you like it, you should understand it more.”
“Do you want to take notes?”
The others: “…”
That was not impossible.
“Hahaha, Qi Xiu’s soul-deep question: Are you a foodie? Eh, I’m a foodie too? So I’m a foodie.”
“Only today do I know who I am, right? Hahaha.”
“To be fair, I also love eating, but I really can’t put in this much effort just for food.”
“No, it’s because you have too many choices! Just go study abroad, and you’ll discover you underestimated how much you love eating… The environment will force you to love it more! Before going abroad, I ignored recipes. After going abroad, when I hugged instant noodles and cried bitter tears, I understood. Now, no matter which country I go to, I bring several cookbooks with me, because I’m afraid something will happen to my phone and I won’t be able to watch my saved cooking videos. Humble.”
“Why are there so many choices? Why are restaurants everywhere? Because Chinese people all love food!”
After Shen Jinfeng finished talking about pig brain, he summarized, “So why do people say every part of a pig is treasure? Just one pig brain is already this excellent!”
Holding the wooden stick, he first circled the pork neck closest to the pig’s head. “This piece is pork neck. The most famous dish made with pork neck might be Thai-style pork neck from Thai cuisine. Paired with a secret sauce, it has a smooth, refreshing texture. After tasting just a few slices, you’ll feel it’s a delicacy of the mortal world.”
“Continuing on, behind the pig’s head, below the pork neck, this piece is pork shoulder butt. It can be made into char siu. In barbecue restaurants, it’s often grilled over charcoal. Pan-frying it is also good.”
“Further down is the front rib meat. It’s very delicious when cooked with pineapple into sweet and sour pork.”
“Now we get to the key point: pork knuckle and pig trotters.”
Shen Jinfeng’s eyes brightened slightly, and he tapped the wild boar’s knuckle heavily twice with the wooden stick.
“There are many ways to cook pork knuckle. Personally, my favorite is roasted pig trotters. At night markets, I wonder if you’ve experienced this before, but you can smell roasted pig trotters from a whole street away! Many small vendors travel through streets and alleys, and the fragrance of roasted pig trotters spreads for ten li. As long as the technique is right and the seasoning is sprinkled well, it becomes fatty but not greasy, soft, tender, and flavorful. It’s so fragrant it can make you swallow your own tongue.”
Everyone still knew about roasted pig trotters.
In the real world, there was a specialty chain store opened in major tourist spots. What was strange was that the most popular item in that specialty shop was not any local specialty, but pig trotters.
As a result, people from every region all thought those roasted pig trotters were their own local specialty.
However, Qin Ye raised a small question.
“If you can smell it from a street away and its fragrance spreads for ten li, wouldn’t the street vendor be very easily caught by urban management officers?”
Shen Jinfeng’s explanatory movements paused.
He turned his head and replied in a way that did not seem like a joke. “Then how about inviting the urban management officers to eat a bite too?”
“Pfft, hahahahahaha, what the hell do you mean, invite the urban management officers to eat a bite too? Are they catching you just for that one bite of food?”
“I’m dying of laughter. Is he worried he won’t get caught fast enough? Add another charge: bribing urban management officers!”
“But what Big Boss Shen said is real. At my school’s south gate, there’s a roasted pig trotter stall at night. Oh my god, it smells so good! But stalls aren’t allowed at the south gate, and urban management often comes. To avoid them, the vendor always comes after eleven. After eleven, our dorm doesn’t let us out anymore! We’ll get our names written down! But for that bite of roasted pig trotter, our entire dorm building actually made a group chat. We checked who could still afford to have points deducted and took turns buying… The group order for roasted pig trotters was spectacular.”
Shen Jinfeng said very seriously, “If I were an urban management officer and I ate an especially delicious roasted pig trotter, I would definitely let that vendor go and let him set up his stall in my area every day.”
The bullet comments were amused by him once again.
“Can a real urban management officer come out and testify? Would you really do this? For a bite of food?”
“I’m really laughing to death. Earlier, I thought Big Boss Shen was a little too powerful, as if he could do anything! Now, seeing him go this far for one bite of food, he suddenly feels so much more down-to-earth, hahahaha.”
“Qi Xiu was right. Big Boss Shen is a true foodie! And he really knows so much. Even professional pig slaughterers probably don’t know as much as him, right?”
“Big Boss Shen: If you like eating, shouldn’t you understand and study it more? From now on, all celebrities in the entertainment industry who set up foodie personas should seriously learn, okay! Don’t claim to love a food and then know nothing when asked about it!”
Perhaps because they had spent several days together and he was familiar with the others now, once Shen Jinfeng started talking about food, his chatterbox completely opened.
“Pig trotters can also be braised. The fragrance of braised pig trotters is even more domineering. As soon as you smell it, your taste buds start secreting like crazy, making you want to eat it with white rice.”
“Pig trotters are also very delicious when stewed. They’re suitable for nourishing the body. But perhaps more people choose to use pig feet for stewing. No need for a gas stove—just use a coal stove and stew the pig feet for an entire afternoon. When you lift the lid off the pot, the rich aroma rushes straight into your nose.”
Originally, everyone had not felt much. Although they had gotten a wild boar, it had just been an ordinary, common excitement about soon being able to eat meat.
But after Shen Jinfeng’s nonstop introduction, everyone became more and more expectant because of his words. They only felt saliva madly gathering in their mouths.
Subtle changes appeared in everyone’s expressions. When they looked at the wild boar hanging in midair, their eyes were several times brighter than before the “class” had begun.
Shen Jinfeng picked up the wooden stick and changed direction, coming to the largest middle section of the wild boar.
“At the very top here is the tenderloin that everyone is familiar with. When eating barbecue, tenderloin is essential. Sweet and sour tenderloin is one of those life-would-be-incomplete-without-trying-it dishes for people who like sweet flavors! In addition, if you fry tenderloin into guobaorou, it will be crispy outside and tender inside. Very delicious.”
“I’ve learned something. So such a big piece here on a pig is tenderloin! Big Boss Shen is right. Eating barbecue without ordering tenderloin isn’t complete! I love sweet and sour tenderloin too! But what’s guobaorou? I’ve never eaten it, but just based on Big Boss Shen’s passionate recommendation, I have to try it!”
“You’ve never eaten guobaorou? Come to the Northeast and eat it! Any random restaurant you find will make it super delicious! The portions are huge, filling, and cost-effective!”
“Everyone try it, everyone try it! Let me finish listening to Big Boss Shen’s ‘Approaching Piggy’ lesson!”
After Shen Jinfeng finished introducing tenderloin, he drew a large area below it with the wooden stick. “This large section here is the pork belly you should all have heard of. No need to introduce it, right? Dongpo pork, the king of famous historical dishes, mainly uses this part of the meat. The red-braised pork that Chinese teachers loved talking about in school, the kind made by Mom, also uses meat from this section. It’s also very good for twice-cooked pork.”
“However, the simplest method for us here is to imitate barbecue restaurants: grill pork belly and wrap it in a vegetable leaf.”
Everyone nodded together.
That was simple.
It sounded like anyone with hands could do it, and the taste was usually pretty good.
Arriving at the last section, Shen Jinfeng tapped the wild boar’s rump with the wooden stick.
“This is rump tip meat. Personally, compared with other parts, I think the meat here is average. But it’s still good for making fried pork chunks.”
“Lastly, below the rump tip is the leg bone meat. Leg bone meat is very nourishing when used to make soup. You don’t need to add many seasonings, and it’ll already be very fresh and delicious. Or you can make sauced big bones. The thick sauce clings to the bones. One slurp and you’ll feel you’ve reached the peak of life.”
Everyone stared somewhat dazedly at Shen Jinfeng, who had spoken in one breath until now.
They felt that Boss was different from usual!
Although the usual Shen Jinfeng could not be called cold or quiet, there was still a certain distance in how he interacted with them.
There was always a casual feeling of indifference, ease, and complete control.
But now, Shen Jinfeng was holding a wooden stick, tapping a wild boar, and speaking eloquently.
Damn. Was this the true nature of a foodie?
The viewers who had also been listening to “Approaching the Wild Boar” for quite a while were already hungry.
“I opened my food delivery app and searched all the pork cooking methods Big Boss Shen just mentioned. Oh-ho, most of them are actually available! Okay, this directly covers my meals for the next month!”
“Hahahahaha, Piggy is terrified: Are you going to spend the next month catching only me, one pig, to eat?”
“I’m really hungry now. I’m convinced. I’ve eaten pork for more than twenty years, but only after hearing Big Boss Shen talk did I realize I’ve eaten so many kinds of pork. So all those dishes are made from pork? Shocked.”
“I agree with Big Boss Shen now. Piggy really is treasure from head to toe! If Piggy has one hundred cooking methods, I think I’ll submit to the hundred and first!”
“Big Boss Shen changes as soon as he brings up food… Actually, I vaguely noticed it a long time ago, but I wasn’t sure. When he ate seafood before, his whole aura—I don’t know how to describe it—just felt very relaxed and happy. Just now, it became really obvious. My god, it’s like a young man seeing a beauty. He suddenly got excited.”
“That description of yours is goddamn genius!”
Shen Jinfeng looked at the pig with curved, smiling eyes. “It would be great if a few more wild boars like this one fell from the sky.”
That would save him the trouble of specifically going to catch them.
Bullet comments: “…”
Sun Xinping: “…”
The people on the screen nodded in strong agreement.
Shen Jinfeng waved his hand, his tone light. “All right, process the pig properly. At noon, everyone will be responsible for one dish. We’ll have a whole-hog feast!”
“Good grief. He said ‘whole-hog feast’ with the grandeur of a Manchu-Han imperial banquet!”
“Hmph. Who can’t afford pork? I’m going to call my mom to go buy pig right now! Pork neck, pork belly, shoulder butt—buy them all!”
“I’ll wait and see what Big Boss Shen cooks later. I’ll learn along with him! Somehow, I feel like he’s more reliable than those short-video food tutorials, and the food will genuinely be delicious!”
Inside the production control room.
Little Li licked his dry lips and sighed. “How pleasant.”
A staff member muttered quietly in the corner, “Those who know understand they’re filming a survival variety show. Those who don’t would think they’re filming A Beautiful Life.”
The corners of Sun Xinping’s mouth twitched.
At that moment, the head of the equipment team asked him, “Director, is it still going to rain tomorrow? It’s already been three days.”
Sun Xinping was silent for two seconds, then waved his hand weakly.
“No more rain.”
“If the rain still doesn’t stop, am I supposed to watch them give me one hundred and eighty wild-boar cooking tutorials inside the wooden cabin every day?”
