Reborn as the Villain's Wife, I Shine in 80s-Chapter 136 - 132 skewers

Tian Sangsang immediately reacted as if facing a formidable enemy and said, "Yanyan just went out to the street to play. I’ll go look for him."

Where’s Meng Shuyan? He better not run into Jiang Jinghuai!

Little Milk Tea barked a few times and happily scurried ahead. When it comes to knowing where Meng Shuyan is, she’s always spot on.

Tian Sangsang and Chen Ying followed along quickly, and soon they saw Meng Shuyan standing in the middle of the street, looking devastated.

"Yanyan, what happened? Why do you look so messy?" Tian Sangsang squatted down, her heart aching as she checked on him. His brand-new clothes were smudged with dirt, his face streaked with tear stains, and his little expression made him look pitiful beyond words.

"Mom... I—I think I just saw Dad." Meng Shuyan sniffled and said through sobs, "But I... I didn’t see him clearly... I lost Dad."

Chen Ying looked absolutely heartbroken. The little kid must really have seen his father—why did he miss the chance?!

"It’s all my fault. I should’ve told Ye Jiang earlier," she said, blaming herself bitterly.

"It’s okay, it’s okay now. Don’t cry, Yanyan." Tian Sangsang picked him up, gently rubbing his back as she soothed him warmly. "Maybe you mistook someone for him. That was probably just a stranger, not your dad. If it really were your dad, he’d have a special aura, something so unique that among thousands of people, you would recognize each other through a kind of unspoken bond."

What nonsense. Tian Sangsang talks like she’s describing something out of a fantasy novel. Chen Ying was baffled.

Meng Shuyan wiped his tears with his hand and hugged Tian Sangsang’s neck tightly, burying his head in her shoulder, feeling as though he had missed something important.

"The chance was right in front of me, and I let it slip away." Meng Shuyan murmured in frustration, suddenly panicking again.

What if Dad did see him but felt disappointed and walked away? The thought made the little boy even sadder...

"Alright, alright, let’s go home now, okay?" Tian Sangsang carried Meng Shuyan as she walked ahead, with Chen Ying and Little Milk Tea following behind.

Looking at the little boy’s red, tear-filled eyes, Chen Ying couldn’t help but feel a pang of sorrow. Poor, fragile Yanyan—he needs a father’s love. She had misunderstood Tian Sangsang and her son all these years and felt deeply guilty about it. She had to help little Yanyan find his father to ease that guilt.

Out of everyone’s sight, Tian Sangsang’s eyes burned with uncontainable anger. In her heart, she had already sentenced Jiang Jinghuai to a thousand deaths! That scoundrel! She better not run into him again—otherwise, she’d beat him every single time!

...

The hot pot from that day had given Tian Sangsang an idea. She thought she could add something new to her shop: skewers of various ingredients cooked in flavored broth—串串香 (chuan chuan xiang). She wasn’t hoping to make a fortune out of this addition, as this small town wasn’t like the city—it had only about a hundred households, and the population was limited. But when people had leisure time, they could afford to spend money on some skewers. After all, skewers were affordable.

She continued to sell her pastries and braised meat as usual and added the skewers to her menu. She also set up one or two tables inside the shop, essentially turning it into a small eatery.

This day, just before dawn, Tian Sangsang got up to prepare. She had bought pork bones the day before, simmering them overnight in a pot. By morning, the marrow had melted into the broth, enriching it with pure essence. The pork bone broth was mainly for making the base of the soup for the skewers, enhanced with white cardamom, cloves, and other Chinese herbs.

Tian Sangsang made three types of soup bases: spicy red broth, creamy white bone broth, and fragrant clear broth.

As for seafood broth and products, she couldn’t manage those for now. The villagers didn’t eat much seafood. Common fish were the norm, but oysters, razor clams, and abalone were absent from this remote little mountain village.

There were two ways to eat the skewers—boiled, or dipped after cooking.

For ingredients, she kept it simple, using items readily available in the market—not strange or exotic ones that would draw undue attention.

Most of the people in town knew Tian Sangsang and would often come to buy her goods. Now, the irresistible aroma wafting from her shop made the passersby take deep, savoring breaths.

Soon, a group of curious women stood outside her shop. Leading them was her regular customer, Sister Qiu.

Sister Qiu stared at the nine-square-grid pot bubbling on Tian Sangsang’s stove and craned her neck, asking inquisitively, "Sangsang, what are you making now? It smells incredible! We caught a whiff from far away, and our mouths are already watering." As she spoke, Sister Qiu couldn’t help but instinctively swallow some saliva.

The other women were the same—just sniffing the aroma made their mouths water uncontrollably.

Skewers were a food with wide appeal—simple and down-to-earth, something most people could enjoy.

Tian Sangsang wasn’t surprised by their reaction and smiled. "This is the latest addition to the shop. I call it chuan chuan xiang—Skewer Delights."

The women glanced over, and indeed, there were skewers—strand after strand, stacked together—and the boiling broth in that pot was clearly meant for cooking them. Of course, it had to be called ’Skewer Delights.’ freёnovelkiss.com

"That’s a great name!"

"How do you eat it? Tell us more."

Tian Sangsang didn’t bother explaining that this was common street food elsewhere—it would only fuel their curiosity further. She preferred to keep things simple.

She patiently explained, "Skewer Delights comes in two types—vegetarian and meat. Meat skewers include pork pieces, pork ribs, pork offals, and so on, all strung together; veggie skewers offer a wider variety: lettuce, rice cakes, mushrooms, tofu, sweet potato, and so forth. You pick whichever skewers catch your fancy, then cook them in the broth until they’re done and ready to eat." After covering this, Tian Sangsang went on to describe the broths and continued, "If you cook them in spicy broth, you can eat them directly once done. But if you use bone broth or fragrant clear broth, you’ll need to dip them in sauce before eating. The dipping sauces come in spicy and non-spicy versions, so you can choose based on your preference."

"What a unique way to eat!"

"Yes, I’ve never heard of this before."

"It seems really tasty."

Sister Qiu’s excitement was contagious, and the other women could hardly contain their eagerness.

Someone couldn’t wait any longer and asked, "How much does it cost?" They were itching to try but worried the price might be too high.

Tian Sangsang replied sweetly, "The vegetarian skewers are one cent for four strands, and the meat ones are one cent for two strands. Ladies, I run a modest business and always set fair prices. You all come here regularly—you know about my character, don’t you? The ingredients on the skewers are things most households have, but once they’re cooked in my broth, the flavor will be extraordinary. I guarantee you won’t be able to stop eating once you start."

"Can it really taste as good as you say?"

"How exactly did you make the soup?"

Tian Sangsang chuckled and said, "That’s my exclusive recipe—it’s not for sharing."

The women understood. If the recipe were out there, it would undermine her business—they could make it themselves, after all!

Little did they know, the broth recipe was something Tian Sangsang had developed after watching numerous online tutorial videos and conducting countless experiments in her own kitchen—the flavor was unique and unmatched.