David Carter was, after all, from a family with deep culinary roots. He picked up the pork, glanced at it, and nodded repeatedly. The meat was pink, with fat content not exceeding forty percent, and the lean fibers were fine—truly top-quality pork. Only with such pork could you make real braised pork belly that was rich but not greasy, lean but not dry.

This was authentic East China white pork! Tom Brooks's business was getting more and more genuine!

“Be careful! If you ruin the meat while washing it, I won’t let you off!”

Mr. Carter called out from afar, reminding his eldest son. Others might not care, but he knew the importance of washing ingredients. Even with the same top-quality East China white pork, why could he make delicious braised pork belly, while ordinary people would lose some of the meat’s aroma?

Of course, heat and seasoning were key, but washing the meat was the very first step.

If you over-wash the meat, some of its flavor would be lost; if you under-wash it, the unique porky odor would remain.

Most people relied on thick sauces and strong flavors when making braised pork belly, but the The Carter Family prized the original taste of the meat, so they paid even more attention to the washing process.

His son had naturally learned how to wash meat from him, but it had been nearly half a year since he last did it himself. He was genuinely worried the boy might accidentally ruin the meat.

“Dad, just watch me!”

As soon as David Carter placed his hand on the pork, countless images flashed through his mind—rinsing, kneading, turning, slapping, rolling, smoothing... all sorts of techniques came to him, even more comprehensive than what his father had taught!

Chunks of pork belly were tossed into the basin. He turned on the faucet and let the water run for half a minute to flush out any rust or odor, then started filling the basin. Both hands stirred the water clockwise, making the pork float and spin a few times before he quickly scooped them out, then added warm water to start scrubbing.

“Hm?”

Mr. Carter put down his chopsticks and looked at his eldest son with some doubt.

The technique was correct—this was his boy! There were even some new and varied moves he couldn’t quite make out, but with his years of experience handling pork, he could tell his son’s technique was flawless!

After decades of dealing with pork, Mr. Carter could tell from fifty meters away, just by the smell, whether the meat was washed right!

When his hand touched the pork, David Carter's vision suddenly changed—he could see the internal structure of the meat: epidermis, dermis, superficial fascia, muscle, fat...

He could tell which areas were cleaner, where moisture had seeped in, and where residual blood hadn’t yet been forced out...

Everything was revealed in the finest detail!

The washing technique his father taught him was already superb, but it was still “blind washing.” With the blessing of “Master-level Vegetable Washing,” David Carter was now like the Bian Que of the kitchen.

The legendary doctor Bian Que once said, “If the illness is in the skin, it can be treated with hot compresses; if in the flesh, with acupuncture; if in the intestines and stomach, with decoctions; if in the bone marrow, it is the domain of fate and cannot be helped. Now that it is in the bone marrow, I dare not attempt treatment.”

Just like this divine doctor, David Carter's skills could reach deep into the pork. With a gentle squeeze of his fingers, a hidden bruise beneath the skin was pressed out; lifting a piece of pork and patting it a few times, the infiltrated moisture was completely expelled.

“Master-level Vegetable Washing” not only let him see the problems inside the ingredients, but also gave his hands magical powers. Ordinary people could never remove water and blood from meat just by patting it a few times, but he could do it with ease.

In just over ten minutes, he had washed all ten large pieces—thirty pounds—of East China white pork until they were spotless. Looking at the nearly flawless pork, David Carter felt a wave of satisfaction and a deep sense of peace.

How long had it been since he felt so calm? Washing ingredients seemed to help his condition a lot—better than taking medicine! What a pity there weren’t more things to wash at home...

The kelp and greens had long been snatched up and washed by his doting mother, Mrs. Carter. The tofu and other side dishes barely needed cleaning. Looking at the now spotless pork, David Carter felt a bit regretful, really wanting to rewash the vegetables his mom had already cleaned. But in the end, he restrained himself—if his parents thought he was having another episode, that would be a big problem.

The system interface appeared before his eyes. The experience for Master-level Vegetable Washing was now 30/3000. So, washing one pound of ingredients gives one experience point?

Recalling the miraculous scenes while washing the meat, David Carter was now very curious—what would happen when Master-level Vegetable Washing leveled up? Could he make East China white pork taste like organic black pork?

He was really looking forward to it.

There just weren’t enough ingredients to wash at home. His dad was a stubborn philosopher, and the rule of selling only a hundred portions of braised pork belly a day would never change. Luckily, he’d be reporting to Jiuzhou Dingshi the day after tomorrow. Such a big food company should have plenty of ingredients to wash, right?

After discovering that washing ingredients could lift his mood and ease his illness, David Carter began to look forward to becoming a happy vegetable washer as soon as possible.

“Not bad, kid! You haven’t done this in half a year, and you can still keep up this standard?”

Mr. Carter walked over to the meat tray, bent down, and carefully examined the pieces, occasionally picking one up to sniff.

Perfect!

With his years of experience handling pork, just a glance was enough to confirm his son had done an excellent job—he’d even surpassed him!

“Not bad, you’re almost catching up to your old man!”

Mr. Carter gave his eldest son a hearty slap on the shoulder. “Keep it up, kid.”