The Game of Life

Chapter 691: Chapter 690 [The Pursuit of a Chef]

After a night of drinking, the headache was relentless.

Although Jiang Feng spent half an hour last night in a half-drunk stupor, determined to buy a mop from the supermarket before drunkenly falling asleep as usual—with even greater physical exertion and energy spent—he still managed to wake up promptly at 6:30 am, courtesy of his reliable internal clock.

He didn’t buy the mop.

The first thing on Jiang Feng’s mind after waking up was not his headache, but the mop.

Lying in bed sorting through his thoughts for quite some time, Jiang Feng finally pieced together what he had done last night.

He remembered leaning over the table, exclaiming to Wang Hao how good his cooking was, lamenting that he hadn’t managed to improve his skills after two months of practice, and wondering why he could never produce an S-grade dish…

Jiang Feng: …

He felt he was doomed.

Jiang Feng tried to recall Wang Hao’s expression at the time, but came up blank. The fact that he could remember what he himself had said was already quite an achievement; in his memory, Wang Hao was just a mosaic, and not even a large one at that.

It was indeed quite difficult to recall the expression of a mosaic.

With a throbbing head, Jiang Feng tentatively sent Wang Hao a message testing the waters, asking if he had done anything inappropriate while drunk. Wang Hao, for some reason, also woke up early today and replied almost instantly.

Wang Hao: Feng, after you got drunk yesterday, you kept ranting about going to the supermarket to buy a mop and kept talking about proficiency and S-grade in the game. What “system” novel have you been reading lately? Is it any good? It’s been a while since I read one.

Wang Hao didn’t seem the least bit troubled by last night’s events.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated on Ɲ0νǤօ.ƈο

Jiang Feng: …

Jiang Feng replied with an emoji, ending the conversation.

Still reeling from the hangover, Jiang Feng felt dizzy, as if he were floating while walking, and it seemed like there was a lump of iron in his head that clanged at the slightest movement. He got up to brush his teeth in the bathroom, and while doing so, he lamented that his tolerance for alcohol had deteriorated. Previously, even being force-fed liquor didn’t affect him this much; now, just a few bottles of beer had left him in this sorry state.

Wu Minqi heard Jiang Feng stir and went into the kitchen to serve some Xiaomi porridge. By the time Jiang Feng emerged, breakfast was already on the dining table—Mrs. Jiang’s pan-fried buns, Xiaomi porridge, and chili oil glass noodles.

Seeing Jiang Feng’s dispirited appearance, Wu Minqi was concerned, “Fengfeng, are you feeling all right?”

“I have a bit of a headache,” Jiang Feng replied.

“Then why don’t you take a day off from Master Peng and rest at home? How many bottles did you drink last night?” Wu Minqi queried.

Jiang Feng thought for a moment, “It seems like three or four bottles, not particularly many. Maybe I’m just tired lately, so the hangover is causing a severe headache. I’ll call Master Peng now.”

As he said it, Jiang Feng called Peng Changping to ask for leave, and Peng Changping readily agreed, telling Jiang Feng to rest well at home.

Jiang Feng started eating breakfast but, for some reason—probably because he wasn’t feeling well—everything tasted bland. After just a few bites of the chili oil glass noodles, he found them too lightly flavored. He could only attribute this to the aftereffects of his hangover and finished the meal without much enjoyment.

“Qiqi, I’ll go to the store with you,” Jiang Feng said to Wu Minqi after breakfast as they cleaned up the dishes.

“Fengfeng, you look pale and lack energy today; you should rest at home instead of going to the store,” Wu Minqi felt it unwise.

“I’ll get some ingredients and come back. It’s boring to do nothing at home all day, and I haven’t made Li Hongzhang hodgepodge in a long while. I plan to make it again so I don’t get rusty,” Jiang Feng said, still mindful of what 996 had told him yesterday.

Alcohol may not drown sorrows, but Li Hongzhang hodgepodge might.

Hearing Jiang Feng’s resolve, Wu Minqi said no more, accompanied him to Taifeng Building, and helped him pick out some ingredients.

“Fengfeng, your complexion really isn’t good today. If you still feel unwell by noon, go check it out at the community clinic downstairs. Don’t ignore it if you’re sick,” Wu Minqi expressed her worries.

“My complexion isn’t good?” Jiang Feng was taken aback, took out his phone, opened the selfie camera to check his appearance. Due to the pixelation and the phone’s built-in filter, Jiang Feng couldn’t see much difference. He truly felt lackluster, and then there was his complexion—unusually pale.

“I understand, I’ll see a doctor if I feel unwell. You take care of yourself too, don’t overwork,” Jiang Feng nodded, affirmatively agreeing before leaving Taifeng Building to head home.

Upon returning home, Jiang Feng’s first task was to prepare the ingredients.

It had been over two months since he last made Li Hongzhang hodgepodge.

This dish required a variety of ingredients and involved a complicated preparation process; with careful cooking, the taste would never be too bad. Because Jiang Huiqin’s culinary skills were limited, this dish only had a C-level rating in the cookbook. Jiang Feng had been able to elevate it to B-level long ago, but never managed to reach the A-level.

The more complex the dish, the harder it is to achieve a high grade; there are too many points and details to pay attention to, and a single mistake can affect the final rating. Many times, it’s not just the level of culinary skill that determines the quality of the dish—the chef’s condition, the quality and freshness of ingredients, and the level of concentration while cooking all directly impact the final grade of a dish, something Jiang Feng knew all too well.

Just as Jiang Feng felt he was infinitely close to achieving an S-grade broth, he believed he had mastered every step and detail of making broth until it was perfect; he felt he always prepared it in an excellent state, yet he just couldn’t produce an S-grade broth.

He felt he was striving every day, forcing himself to focus and be serious every day with a serving of braised pork as a buff, but the proficiency in seasoning just wouldn’t improve.

Thinking about this, Jiang Feng became even more irritable.

For the past week and a half, almost every broth he made was A-grade, and the detailed assessment results given by the game were the same every time.

The ingredients were impeccable, the fire control nearly flawless, and even the skimming was called perfect; only in seasoning was there a slight deficiency.

A slight deficiency.

It was this slight deficiency that kept him from reaching S-grade.

Jiang Feng was slicing ham; his knifework hadn’t reached grandmaster level, but master level knifework was more than enough to slice ham. With his knifework now infinitely close to grandmaster level, he could cut anything he wanted.

Not to mention carving out a Peppa Pig from a radish, even carving a Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival…

That might be impossible, after all, Jiang Feng was a chef not professionally trained in micro-carving, but carving a warship girl was definitely doable.

Jiang Feng processed the ingredients in silence.

This was the first time in over two months he had prepared a dish other than broth.

It was also the first time in over two months he hadn’t eaten buff braised pork for breakfast.

Jiang Feng took his time and was meticulous, even when cooking for himself at home, he carefully arranged the Li Hongzhang hodgepodge on the plate. It might have been a few hours later when Jiang Feng poured cooked pork lard into the thickening sauce, ladling it over the neatly stacked, visually appealing hodgepodge.

Delicious!

In the end, Jiang Feng inserted prepared spinach stems into the dish, and the Li Hongzhang hodgepodge was ready to serve.

[Li Hongzhang Hodgepodge A-grade]

This was Jiang Feng’s first time producing an A-grade Li Hongzhang hodgepodge; he should have been excited, but he felt nothing, even a bit disappointed.

Why isn’t it S-grade?

When this thought crossed his mind, Jiang Feng was startled by himself—unbeknownst to him, he had become that arrogant.

“Ding, an optional side quest has been detected, please select at the player’s discretion.”

Just as Jiang Feng placed the entire Li Hongzhang hodgepodge on the dining table preparing to sit down and have a good cry, the game notification sound suddenly rang out.

The long-overdue main quest finally arrived!

With no one else at home, Jiang Feng sat openly at the dining table and opened the attribute panel to claim the quest.

[The Pursuit of a Chef]: To become a truly renowned chef, one must possess a heartfelt aspiration to strive higher. The player’s cooking skill has already shown some achievement, but there’s still a need for continuous effort and ever-higher self-expectations to become a truly qualified chef. The player is tasked with making a dish of S-grade rating. Progress (0/1)

Quest Reward: Unknown.

Jiang Feng didn’t feel much about this main quest; he was already aiming for S-grade dishes anyway. This main quest was just icing on the cake, like bringing a pillow to someone who is already dozing off.

Now, his focus was on the dish in front of him.

Jiang Feng picked up his chopsticks and carefully chewed on a pigeon egg placed on top.

He closed his eyes.

Negative emotions surged out of his heart like a tidal wave.

Endlessly overflowing.