宠物灵魂觉醒

Chapter 12: Is This A5 Wagyu?

As Dai Xiaomeng's cheerfully loud request for five kilos of A5 Wagyu echoed through the market, the cameramen trailing her hesitated, unsure whether to keep filming. Just then, Uncle Wu, the butcher she was addressing, leaned out from his stall with a look of amused surprise.

"Wow, Xiaomeng, did you strike it rich today asking for five kilos of top-tier Wagyu?"

"That's right! Boss was amazing today, made a good sum!" Dai Xiaomeng replied proudly, her chin lifted triumphantly.

"Alright, alright. But five kilos of A5 Wagyu is no small request. Let me see what I've got," Uncle Wu said as he stuck his cleaver into the chopping board and began to gather various scraps of meat from his butcher block. He then pulled out a bag of scraps from beneath the stall, indiscriminately mixing everything together, and dumped it on the scale.

"Your lucky day, you asked for five kilos and it just so happens I've got exactly that," he chuckled as he casually bundled it up, slipped an additional bag over it, and handed it to Dai Xiaomeng.

"How much?"

With a content weight in her hands, Dai Xiaomeng asked cheerily.

"Since it's been a few days since you last visited, let's just make it fifty," Uncle Wu said with a touch of kindness in his eyes.

"Thank you, Uncle Wu! Here's the money," Dai Xiaomeng said, handing over the cash. Uncle Wu sighed as he took the money, and without waiting for a response, he sliced off about two hundred grams of fresh beef from a hanging slab, ignoring Dai Xiaomeng's reaction, and stuffed it into the bag of supposed 'A5 Wagyu'.

"Young lady, you're still growing; it's not good to eat tough, sinewy cuts all the time," he advised, handing back the fifty yuan bill.

Dai Xiaomeng's eyes watered slightly, and she started to say something but quickly shut up when Uncle Wu gave her a stern look. Taking her change, she turned and left.

Back in the live chat, the initially boisterous comments quieted down.

"This is A5 Wagyu?"

"My face feels so hot."

"It's tough for her!"

"Such scraps, I only ever ate these during my poorest days as a child."

"Those who said she was lying and acting, what do you have to say now?"

"Seeing isn't always believing, plus, even if it's just for the dog, it's still beef, isn't it that bad?"

"Making excuses! Did you not see that scene just now?"

"Yes, didn't you hear what the vendor said? She usually eats this stuff."

"Looking at young Xiaomeng and then at my pampered child, sigh!"

"Feel for the young lady!"

While Dai Xiaomeng couldn't hear these comments, they didn't prevent her from feeling joy over her splurge. She happily continued shopping at the market with Boss, picking up some cheap but healthy vegetables before heading back to their home—a dilapidated old building.

The filming crew struggled up seven flights of stairs before reaching her apartment. Inside, the furnishings were modest, hardly the bedroom of a blooming young woman, yet everything was meticulously organized, making the space comfortable.

She invited the two cameramen inside somewhat sheepishly and quickly boiled some water for them. Then, with the bag of beef, she went to her makeshift kitchen on the balcony.

She meticulously washed the mixed cuts of beef several times. Such scraps, while all from the cow, often included inedible parts. Her skilled hands quickly separated the lymph nodes and blood clots, disposing of them in a bag which Boss promptly took downstairs to the trash.

"Boss, today we feast!" Xiaomeng declared after dividing the less tough meat, saving some in the fridge and prepping the rest for cooking, along with some previously uneaten frozen meat.

She decided, "I'm going to cook a real steak for you today." As she spoke, she returned to the kitchen, her actions silencing the lively chat room once again.