The Game of Life

Chapter 469: Chapter 467: Almond Pig Lung Soup

After parting from Dong Shi, Jiang Feng found his words quite amusing and shared Dong Shi’s speech about not having a girlfriend meaning no expenses and therefore being able to rent any kind of house with Wu Minqi as they walked. To his surprise, Wu Minqi nodded in agreement after hearing it and didn’t see any issue.

“Actually, that’s quite normal. If Dong Shi and his peers really grew up learning the craft by Master Huang’s side, having such a mindset is normal,” Wu Minqi said, suddenly leaning in to sniff Jiang Feng’s collar. “Fengfeng, did you eat Oden?”

“Oden? What Oden? Oh, it was too cold outside, and I made a call from the convenience store next door. I might have caught the scent of Oden while on the phone.” Jiang Feng denied having secretly eaten Oden, as he and Wu Minqi had just recently set a winter weight loss plan together.

Jiang Feng thought he needed to find a chance to reveal to Qiqi the fate of the last person who made a weight loss plan with him; Wang Hao’s physique was a bloody lesson.

“Why is that normal?”

Wu Minqi, actually just tempted by the smell of Oden and not giving it much thought, replied, “The culinary profession has a significant gender disparity, and apprentices don’t generally have much income before they finish their training. It might have been okay in the past, but nowadays people tend to prioritize financial stability, making it difficult for those without a steady income post-apprenticeship to find partners. My dad had two apprentices who were pushed by their families to go on arranged dates and marry only in their thirties. At the age of Dong Shi and Dong Li, they aren’t considered old bachelors in the apprentice circles.”

After hearing this, Jiang Feng was somewhat disheartened, realizing that the culinary industry carried such risks.

Luckily, with his keen eye for talent, he had found a boss girlfriend before he began his career.

Rounding up, he was practically a winner in life.

“How’s Granduncle Weiming doing?” Wu Minqi asked.

“Just a common cold, but the doctor said considering Granduncle Weiming’s age, even a minor illness requires great care. They prescribed medicine and told him to rest at home and return to the hospital for observation if there’s no improvement,” Jiang Feng explained, relaying the medical advice, which Jiang Zaidi had promptly shared with the family group. “However, he can’t have his physical exam tomorrow. Tomorrow, De will accompany Granduncle for his physical exam, and my uncle will stay home to take care of Granduncle Weiming.”

Wu Minqi nodded, then paused before saying, “My mom called me at noon, my third male cousin’s engagement banquet has been set for January 23rd. They need to start preparing and arranging seating. So…”

“Fengfeng, I remember you saying you would go with me last time. January 23rd is almost Chinese New Year, and I don’t know if you…” Wu Minqi looked at Jiang Feng.

“Of course I’ll go. It’s not yet Chinese New Year on January 23rd. I can accompany you to our cousin’s engagement banquet then head back to Z city,” Jiang Feng agreed promptly, his eyes resolute.

“Alright, then I’ll go back and give my mom the update,” Wu Minqi said, her face breaking into a brilliant smile.

Jiang Feng returned a genuine smile, but inside, he felt a bit shaky, wishing he had a universal search engine in his brain that knew about weddings, banquets, raising children, falling in love, engagements, and meeting parents—ready to answer any query, an essential for men.

How should one behave on their first visit to a girl’s family home? Looking for advice online, quite urgent!

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On January 2nd, in the Taifeng Building’s kitchen, the two head chefs were still not back at work.

Compared to the previous day’s operations, the Taifeng Building’s kitchen staff was clearly coping well without the head chefs on the second day, no longer making small mistakes like they did on the first day. Even if there were significant errors, Jiang Feng could handle them in time or shift the blame to his real dad to deal with.

The three new employees had adapted well too. Master Wang was like the ordinary chef found in the kitchen of every restaurant, unremarkable and without any significant role but still indispensable. Like a standard but fully competent screw that could do its job well anywhere, ensuring the smooth functioning of its machine.

Dong Li, on the other hand, was a pensive, flexible yet reticent worker who silently did his job without chatting with others but could adapt when necessary—a type of outstanding employee every capitalist boss would appreciate. Taifeng Building had many such employees; among the old staff, the furnace chefs other than Jiang Feng and Jiang Jiankang were just like that, very capable and not talkative, but never missed a piece of gossip.

Jiang Feng doubted that with Dong Li’s seemingly stable, non-contentious demeanor, and apparent disinterest in everything, he must be able to sneakily find out quite a bit of gossip behind the scenes.

Dong Shi, on the other hand, was a completely different story, he was talkative, sociable and had almost the same temperament as Sang Ming; it was just a pity that he didn’t play mahjong, otherwise Jiang Feng would have to wonder whether they were long-lost half-brothers separated at birth.

After the lunch service ended, Jiang Feng contemplated whether he should sneak to the convenience store next door and have a couple of pieces of the radish from their Oden selection. The Oden at the convenience store next door didn’t sell well because the owner was too engrossed in watching series and neglected it, leaving the ingredients to stew in the pot from morning until they were sold or thrown out at night. Most ingredients would lose their texture being stewed for that long, but radishes, which become more flavorful and absorb the soup the longer they’re cooked, were simply perfect for such cooking.

Although you could tell from one taste that the base of the Oden was made with a seasoning pack and water, it was still irresistibly delicious!

The radish Jiang Feng had eaten the night before had fallen apart as soon as it was picked up because it had been cooked for too long, but it had practically melted in his mouth. The entire radish had turned the color of the soup sauce and was drenched in flavor. The quality of the radish itself was good too, very juicy, without any astringency, and it was the best he had ever had in Oden.

This kind of feeling was like Mr. Jiang Jiankang knowing that cola was unhealthy but still wanting to drink it; it might be unhealthy, but it’s a pleasure.

Having had another meal prepared by Jiang Weisheng, Jiang Feng was feeling a bit restless.

“Jiang Feng, I’ve asked your Minqi to go shopping at the mall with me,” Ji Yue called out to Jiang Feng before whisking Wu Minqi away.

Jiang Feng felt his opportunity had arrived.

Watching the departing figures of Wu Minqi and Ji Yue, Jiang Feng was already surreptitiously getting ready to throw on a jacket and rush to the convenience store next door.

Jiang Feng quietly put away his phone, preparing to casually walk over to the changing room.

“Young Boss!” Dong Shi suddenly called out to Jiang Feng.

“What’s up?” Jiang Feng slowly turned around.

“I was chatting with Brother Zhou yesterday when I heard from him that the head chef has a sore throat and is resting at home. My brother and I went to the market this morning and bought some pig lungs and north almonds to make a north almond pig lung soup for the head chef. The soup is ready now, and my brother asked me to come and get the head chef’s address from you so we can deliver it,” Dong Shi explained.

Jiang Feng was taken aback, not expecting such thoughtfulness from the two brothers: “My Granduncle Weiming just caught a cold, it’s really not necessary.”

Upon reflection, Jiang Feng realized that Dong Shi and Dong Li had indeed been carrying something when they arrived that morning, but he had been busy snatching a red packet Ling Guangzhao posted in the WeChat group and hadn’t paid much attention.

The back kitchen staff often brought in things in the morning, mostly breakfast they hadn’t had time to eat; occasionally, it was snacks they planned to save for lunch.

Speaking of which, Jiang Feng had snatched more than 60 yuan from the 100-yuan red packet, containing 10 shares, that Ling Guangzhao had sent out that morning; he intended to brag about it until the New Year’s.

When it came to the dish, Dong Shi was quite serious: “My master often caught a cold and coughed in winter. As long as my brother made him this north almond pig lung soup a few times, and he drank it, he would get better; it’s really effective.”

Jiang Feng showed a smile: “Thank you very much for that, and for being so considerate. I recall the store has the lunchbox I used to deliver meals to my cousin before. How about this: I’ll retrieve it and put the soup into the lunchbox first, then you two get changed, and I’ll take you there. It’s not far; a brisk walk would get us there in twenty minutes.”

“Thanks a lot, Young Boss.”

“It is I who should thank you.”