Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 58 The Dormitory is Clean

After slicing the meat, Xiaowei learned from Master Wang and switched to a slicing knife. The slicing knife is a thin-bladed knife specifically designed for this action.

Separating the flesh along the fascia is quite simple. As long as you don't use too much force and tear the fascia, you can separate it in a few strokes. However, the next step of removing the fascia is a mountain for Xiaowei.

The entire piece of meat wrapped in fascia is spindle-shaped, thick in the middle and tapering at both ends, forming a round shape overall. Master Wang's cut removed the entire fascia intact, creating a fan shape, and even peeled the meat from the tip of the spindle without damaging the meat at all.

Sister Jin took a piece of meat that Xiao Wei had cut and said, "Like this, remove both ends, it'll be easier to handle this way. Make a cut along the grain, then place the cut side against the cutting board and slice it horizontally with the knife. Take your time, it's okay if you mess it up. Give it a try."

Sure enough, besides cutting off the two sharp corners, Sister Jin also cut off the entire fascia in one slice, leaving it completely clean.

Sister Jin tossed the two small pieces of meat she had cut off into the bowl at the staff canteen, put the tendon in a plate and said, "Don't throw this away, we'll fry it later, it's delicious."

Xiao Wei nodded, carefully focusing on dealing with the piece of meat in front of him.

Cut off the sharp corners, make a cut along the grain of the meat to remove the fascia, then place the cut side down on the cutting board and slice along the inside of the fascia with a slicing knife. Little by little, slowly and carefully, remove the first piece of fascia. Then look at the meat; the surface is bumpy, with layers of lean meat of varying depths on the fascia.

Sister Jin said, "It's alright, not bad for the first time. The key is that you didn't hold the knife level; it was always one end higher than the other. It needs to be level with the table. Then, when you cut, you must always keep the blade level and not wobble. If you're always afraid that the blade won't be level, the more you're afraid, the more level it will become. Just cut it right the first time. It will naturally become level over time."

As she spoke, she used a knife to cut the meat slices attached to the fascia and threw them into the bowl. She then placed the fascia on a plate and said, "Continue. This is for mincing. It's okay if you mess it up. It's good practice. When you're done, just shave the meat off the fascia."

Xiao Wei nodded, looked at the knife in his hand, took a breath, and continued slicing.

Just then, several people rushed in through the doorway: Chen Hui, Li Guangzhao, Yang Tiebin, Yang Changjiu, and Xiao Hong. They looked around curiously. Xiao Hong spotted Xiao Wei immediately and ran over with a smile, asking, "What are you doing?"

Xiao Wei turned to look at Xiao Hong and said, "I'm cutting meat. I've been cutting meat all afternoon. Stand there and watch for a while while I finish." Xiao Hong nodded and stood by the chopping block watching.

Sister Jin asked, "Is this your boyfriend?"

Xiao Wei nodded, carefully moving the knife without looking up, and said, "Yes, Xiao Hong, this is Sister Jin, she's teaching me how to cut meat."

Xiao Hong smiled at Sister Jin and said, "Hello, Sister Jin." Sister Jin smiled back.

Yang Tiebin went over and woke Xia Maosheng up. The group laughed and joked around for a while before crowding around to watch Xiao Wei shave the meat. For them, this was already one of their instincts, but watching Xiao Wei clumsily was quite amusing.

Actually, chopping vegetables is something that really requires skill. Xiaowei has been a bricklayer for several years. He can easily smooth the plastered walls and use his eyes to find the straight and vertical lines when laying bricks. His hand feel and hand-eye coordination are already at a high level. He's just not familiar with the tools and hasn't used them before. After processing three or four pieces, there's basically very little meat left on the fascia. After half a basin, he can not only remove the fascia completely, but also speed up the process.

Xiao Wei felt that shaving meat was much easier than cutting potatoes, so he would cut potatoes more often in the future.

After finishing the meat, Xiao Wei put down the slicing knife and stretched his wrists. Xia Maosheng and the others actually started clapping. Yang Tiebin said, "Congratulations to Chef Zhang on successfully slicing the meat. Let's give him a round of applause." Everyone laughed.

Sister Jin handed Xiao Wei a different knife and said, "Here, continue. Slice, then shred, then chop. There's enough time, so you can practice." Master Wang smiled and nodded from the side.

Xiao Wei's right arm was actually a bit tired. He had been cutting non-stop since the afternoon. You know, although cutting things doesn't look tiring, the muscles from his fingers to his forearm are constantly in high-intensity exercise. But after looking at everyone and Xiao Hong, he reached out and took the kitchen knife.

Everyone is helping me, so I can't let them down.

He was quite relaxed at this point. The initial tension and caution from doing this for the first time had been completely gone. Besides, the meat was for filling, so no matter how it was cut, it would just end up being chopped up anyway. There was no pressure at all.

Swish, swish, swish, under everyone's gaze, Xiao Wei's knife moved faster and faster, and the chunks of meat quickly turned into a pile of slices, and then into a large pile of shredded meat.

Master Wang walked over, picked up a few shredded pieces of meat, examined them, nodded, and said, "It's only the first day, not bad. You've got potential. Alright, stretch your hands, get a basin of hot water to scald them, you're going to have a tough time tonight, haha. Let them chop the meat. This is for making lion's head meatballs, but my lion's head meatballs are a family recipe, a little different from what you get elsewhere. I'll teach you another time you make them. Take a break today."

Xiao Wei didn't stand on ceremony. He was indeed tired, his right arm was aching slightly, and he felt like he was going to cramp up when he clenched his fist. He shook his hand and said, "Then let's go to the night market."

Sister Jin said, "The night market starts early, around 8 o'clock. There aren't many stalls yet. Why don't you get some hot water to soak your face and rest for a while? Or you can go upstairs and lie down for a bit."

Xiao Wei thought for a moment and said, "Okay, I'll go up first. The duty roster hasn't been set up yet." He pulled Xiao Hong along and went upstairs with Xia Maosheng, Yang Tiebin, and the others. The dormitory had changed. At noon, Xiao Wei and Xia Maosheng brought in brooms, mops, trash cans, and other things, but since they had classes, they hadn't assigned them. Now, when they came in, they found that the dormitory had been cleaned up. The trash had been put in the trash can, the ashtray was on the table, the floor had been mopped, the windows were open, and there was no smell in the room. There were a few pairs of socks hanging on the pillar of the upper bunk.

A few people were still playing cards, but they were sitting around the table. Two of them were smoking, each with an ashtray next to them. Xiao Wei looked around; Li Mingguang was still not there, but An Saijun had returned and was lying on his bunk reading a book.

Xiao Wei's gaze fell on the guy near the door. It seemed that aside from going to class and eating, this guy was always lying in bed like that. "How are you feeling? Are you able to sleep comfortably this time?"

The guy turned to look at Xiaowei, sat up from under the covers, and said with a smile, "That's right, who doesn't care about cleanliness? I even mopped the floor today. It's more tidy to clean up afterward. I wouldn't have wanted to do it even if you paid me yesterday."

Xiao Wei smiled, sat down next to his bed, and asked in a low voice, "Brother An, Brother An, where's that Li Mingguang?"