Chapter 4

Perhaps the parents' intentions were also that simple.

As long as their son could shake off the somewhat listless or confused mood from before and return to his cheerful self, selling grilled meat was not such an outlandish thing. For a family like the Bas, it was not even embarrassing.

So, Ba Dacheng was genuinely happy. He took his son to the workshop, leaning on his cane, and introduced him to his coworkers with ease: "We're making a barbecue grill. My son is skilled, so come and eat the skewers he grills in the future!"

Indeed, this tone made Ba Ke think that if Ba Dacheng knew his real job was healing through killing, he would probably recommend it with the same pride. He could only follow along, calling the uncles and aunts, which drew the curious attention of many coworkers who offered enthusiastic suggestions and help.

In a state-owned enterprise, no one found it strange to use public equipment and materials during working hours to make something personal. They were all professionals, and with their collective effort, they cut, trimmed, rolled, folded, welded, stamped, and drilled, all using machine tools, to create a full-metal barbecue rack based on Ba Ke's sketch. They proudly helped carry it home, and it only took two hours!

The decision was made a bit late, so there was no time to buy tables and chairs. They could only open for business the next day, but Ba Ke still wanted to show enthusiasm to make his parents proud: "Tonight, everyone come to the open space outside my house for a barbecue and beer!"

The working class, after all, was the easiest to rally. Hearing this suggestion from the usually quiet and recently returned Xiao Ba, everyone cheered. Some brought beer, others carried tables and chairs, found charcoal, and called friends and family, asking their wives to cut meat after work. The warm and enthusiastic atmosphere made Ba Ke feel like he should open up a bit more and communicate more with the outside world.

Liu Shufen was the main force in procurement. Following the list her son provided, she led a group of women to the market to buy supplies, using a tricycle to transport them back. If they couldn't finish eating it all, they would start selling it, which was her plan. She just wanted her son to be happy, and she would be happy too.

As a result, the bustling dormitory courtyard was filled with dozens or even hundreds of coworkers and their families, eagerly watching Ba Ke prepare the charcoal and skewer the meat, ready to help as soon as he set an example.

This setup was indeed a bit beyond everyone's usual impression of barbecue skewers. Even during the machining process, they suspected Ba Ke had made a mistake with the dimensions. Ba Dacheng had to assure them it was a foreign size, and they were only half-convinced.

Each metal skewer was over half a meter long!

So, the barbecue rack was also quite large, no wonder it took several people to carry it back. Fortunately, it was made of galvanized iron, so it wasn't too heavy.

Ba Ke specifically instructed that the meat should not be sliced or cut into strips but brought back as a whole half-side. However, the market's capacity was limited, and it was closing in the afternoon, so there wasn't much meat available. They only managed to get about ten kilograms of beef, a half-side of pork, and less than half a sheep. The fish, however, was more abundant. Large farmed fish were hard to sell and were cheaper, so Liu Shufen, being shrewd, decided to buy as much fish as possible to meet her son's requirement of over a hundred kilograms of meat.

The women squatted by the water trough in the courtyard, turning on the tap, and quickly cleaned and gutted the fish. The large white carp, about 60 to 70 centimeters long, were laid out in a row on a plastic sheet.

Ba Ke, who had returned from abroad with nothing, not even his last boot knife, now held two long boning knives, sharpening them by rubbing them together. His face showed no pride or joy of starting a business. In front of everyone, he simply divided the half-side of pork into large pieces along the ribs, then threw down the knives and started skewering the meat with the half-meter-long skewers!

If the street barbecue skewers were compared to this, it would be like a skinny deer versus a fat elephant. Everyone was a bit stunned. Could this be eaten?

Not to mention, with such large pieces of meat, the outside would be charred while the inside would still be raw, right?

What kind of barbecue did this Ba family boy learn abroad? It seemed unreliable!

Ba Dacheng was only happy for his son. He usually deliberated over cooking a dish like fish-flavored shredded pork, but now he didn't care about the hundreds of kilograms of meat. To avoid putting pressure on his son, he invited the coworkers to sit down and drink, but no one listened. They were all curious and surrounded Ba Ke in layers to watch him show off his skills.

In the end, the whole fish and large pieces of lamb were prepared the same way. Watching the hundreds of kilograms of meat, they skewered it with about seven or eight steel skewers and placed it on the charcoal fire. Fortunately, the iron trough on both sides of the grill had slots to hold the skewers in place, allowing them to be rotated evenly.

Only the small pieces of beef were spread on the iron plate, and the two boning knives, like Western dining knives, quickly divided the meat into small chunks, about the size of a baby's fist, and skewered them with the long iron skewers along with onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, and even broccoli. This looked colorful and appetizing, but the two boning knives were not of high quality, making Ba Ke's normally fluid knife skills seem a bit clumsy.

This made everyone a bit skeptical.

Ba Ke, not being formal, casually invited the uncles and aunts to help turn the skewers, demonstrating a slow speed: "Just keep turning..." Many people reached out, and he finally had his hands free.

He continued to use the boning knives to chop a large pile of onions, tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, and other vegetables. At this point, his skill was evident. The vegetables were quickly chopped into pieces, forming a small mountain, and the two knives chopped together, his hands moving swiftly, the rhythmic knife work and occasional rotation of the knife on his fingers even drew applause!

This made Ba Dacheng even more convinced that his son had been working hard abroad all these years!

The iron plate, nearly half a square meter, had a half-palm-high edge on all four sides. It now looked like a shallow square box. He directly placed it on the grill, taking up a small portion of the space, and it became a pan for the side dishes and seasonings.

He poured in whole bottles and packets of seasonings. When he poured in a packet of cumin powder, a gust of wind scattered the strong smell, making the children standing nearby sneeze one after another, causing laughter and making the atmosphere even better.

Ba Ke, expressionless and focused, used the boning knife as a spatula to stir and heat the large pile of chopped ingredients. The fragrant smell quickly spread, and Liu Shufen, with a proud smile, even brought a fan to spread the aroma: "Smell that? It's so fragrant! Zhiming learned this skill abroad..."

At this point, more people were praising him, but on the other side of the grill, it was clear that the outside of the meat skewers was starting to char, even giving off a burnt smell. Ba Dacheng tried to cover it up, repeatedly telling the people turning the skewers to slow down.

But even if they slowed down, the skewers were still over the fire. Fortunately, the charcoal fire was not too intense, so it wasn't too serious.

However, Ba Ke scooped a large spoonful of water and poured it into the iron box, grabbed another iron lid to cover it, and started steaming and boiling. He then took the fan from his mother and vigorously fanned at the air intake of the grill. The flames suddenly shot up, startling everyone, and a nearby child almost got his eyebrows singed!

Is this even grilling? It's more like roasting!

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