King of the Wilderness

At that moment, Mrs. Gable, the estate manager, dressed in a tailored suit, appeared at the entrance to the living room.

She bowed slightly to Lin Yu’an and said softly in a perfect British accent, "Sir, ladies and gentlemen, lunch is ready and can begin at any time."

"Great! I’ve been starving for ages!" Garrett, the fiery-tempered second brother, was the first to cheer.

He patted his stomach and shouted loudly, "After touring for so long, it’s finally lunchtime!"

This straightforward remark once again elicited a burst of good-natured laughter, completely dispelling the slightly serious and sentimental atmosphere from just moments ago.

Lin Yu’an shook his head with a smile and then made a "please" gesture to everyone.

"Please take your seats, everyone." Lin Yu’an, like an elegant estate owner, invited everyone to sit down.

The style of the luncheon followed the typical American family gathering style—relaxed, plentiful, and unpretentious.

Huge platters were piled high with various delicacies. Sizzling venison sausages, pork ribs roasted with honey and mustard sauce, creamy baked potatoes, Caesar salad...

But among all the dishes, placed like the sun surrounded by stars, were a few thickly cut steaks, perfectly seared to a beautiful medium-rare.

The outer layer of the steaks had a lovely seared brown finish.

When cut with a knife and fork, the interior revealed a perfect medium-rare pink, with a surface bursting with juiciness due to the melted fat.

"Come, try the products of this ranch," Lin Yu’an said with a smile.

Everyone, already famished, immediately began to indulge.

Eldest brother Wyatt, the farmer who knew beef best, cut the first piece of steak without any sauce and put it directly in his mouth.

He didn’t chew immediately but closed his eyes, letting the warm beef linger on his tongue for a moment, warming it further with the temperature of his mouth to melt the surface fat.

Then a rich, pure aroma with a hint of buttery scent instantly filled his entire nasal cavity.

Only then did he start to chew slowly. After a moment, he suddenly opened his eyes, filled with unbelievable astonishment.

"Lin..." his voice altered, "Is this... is this beef you raised yourselves?"

"Yes," Lin Yu’an nodded, "This is the Giant Stone River Snowflake Beef, cultivated over decades by the former owner, Mr. Hunter."

"I see..." Wyatt cut another piece, as if to confirm his taste again.

Garrett, who had been burying his head in food, mumbled indistinctly, "That’s right! This meat melts in your mouth! So delicious, absolutely delicious, even better than mom’s steak."

"And, Wyatt, don’t just marvel, tell us what grade this thing falls under."

Wyatt slowly put down his knife and fork and, with a professional tone, said, "Let me put it this way, according to the USDA standards we’re most familiar with, the best beef is Prime grade."

"On our family farm, at most one in ten cattle reach that, and that’s already our bragging right in Montana."

He pointed with the tip of his knife at the steak on his plate.

"Beef grading looks at marbling, and that has to be done with raw meat. Once cooked, nobody can judge it accurately."

"Once cooked, the muscle fibers and fat have already changed, and precise visual grading cannot be done; it must be judged in its raw state."

"However," Wyatt’s tone became incredibly certain, filled with an unquestionable authority, "just speaking from the taste alone, this piece of meat has completely surpassed the ’Prime grade’ category!"

"When I tasted it earlier, its fat almost required no chewing, melting on my tongue and leaving only a pure buttery aroma!"

"This characteristic isn’t something we commonly find in Angus or Hereford cattle! This indicates that its fat melting point is very low, proving its highest pedigree and feeding level!"

"Although I can’t see its marbling, with my lifelong experience in cattle raising, I can conclude that beef with such taste standards must be measured with another set of scales."

"I’ve raised Angus cattle my entire life, which is already the best beef in Montana. But compared to what you’ve inherited..." he shook his head, seemingly searching for a fitting word.

"It’s like comparing a Ford pickup to a Ferrari. Gosh, Lin, you’re incredibly fortunate to have taken on such a perfect, mature top-tier brand."

At this point, Bo, who had been silently listening, took over the conversation. He wiped his mouth with a napkin, as though conducting a business analysis.

"Eldest brother is right; the world’s top-tier beef follows an implicit pyramid system."

"The base and body of the pyramid is the USDA grading system, defining the standard of good beef. But the diamond at the tip is Japan’s Wagyu grading system."

His gaze swept across the room as he began his explanation: "Japan’s grading is extremely stringent. It scores from both the perspective of production rate and meat quality."

"We’re only discussing the most critical meat quality grades, which range from level 1 to 5, with level 5 being the highest."

"The core standard for judging level 5 is something called ’BMS,’ which is the benchmark for marbling — simply put, it’s about how beautiful the marbling is."

"BMS ranges from levels 1 to 12. The USDA Prime’s marbling standard is roughly equivalent to Japan’s BMS levels 4 to 5, which translates to meat quality levels 3 to 4."

He glanced at the steak on his plate, his eyes shimmering with excitement.