The Game of Life

With so many days of practice behind him, cooking Eight Treasures Porridge was a small case for Jiang Feng, multitasking was no problem at all.

He continued to chop ingredients at the cooking station, letting the Eight Treasures Porridge slowly simmer in the clay pot, and soon it was 10:30 in the morning.

Wu Hanxue had arrived at the back kitchen of the Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant.

Jiang Feng’s heart skipped a beat.

Lately, Wu Hanxue showed up punctually every day to clock in and cook at the back kitchen of the Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant, making many UAL University students think that the Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant had hired a Sichuan chef, and everyone had grown accustomed to his presence.

But today was different.

In the past, Wu Hanxue’s identity was that of a friend’s father, now he was the father of his girlfriend, rounded up, that made him the future father-in-law.

Any slip-up could lead to accidentally calling him dad.

Now was the season for bamboo shoots, and the restaurant’s sauteed bamboo shoots with meat or pickled vegetables with bamboo shoots were selling hot. Jiang Feng was chopping bamboo shoots when he saw Wu Hanxue walk into the back kitchen with Wu Minqi following behind.

Jiang Feng’s mind raced, thinking what he should call out. Should he call him Uncle Wu, or just uncle? No, that’s not right – who’s older between Wu Hanxue and Jiang Jiankang, and how should he address him? Could it be—

Dad?

Wouldn’t calling him dad directly be moving too fast? But should he call him uncle or uncle Wu? He had always been calling him Uncle Wu and had never been corrected, but Wu Hanxue didn’t seem much older than Jiang Jiankang. Calling him the wrong title would be embarrassing and might cost him impression points, yet not addressing him at all would seem very impolite.

Not good, Wu Hanxue was already looking over in his direction.

In his panic, Jiang Feng’s knife slipped and he cut his left hand instead of the bamboo shoots.

“Ouch,” Jiang Feng’s hand at the base of his thumb immediately started bleeding profusely.

“What happened to you, child? How could you cut your hand while slicing bamboo shoots!” Jiang Jiankang immediately panicked, seeing the severity of the bleeding on Jiang Feng’s left hand.

The shop had an emergency first aid kit that contained iodine, gauze, and cotton swabs. Ji Yue had used it once before when she got a cut on her hand while moving a table, so Wu Minqi knew where it was and hurriedly fetched it.

Wang Xiulian came back with her.

“What happened? What happened? Who – oh dear, my goodness, Feng, what happened to your hand? Did you cut yourself with the knife? How deep is the wound, do you need to go to the hospital? Is your hand alright? Don’t you have a competition next week, what are we going to do now? Should we just forfeit?” Wang Xiulian burst in and immediately saw Jiang Feng’s bleeding hand, bombarding him with a string of questions.

Wu Minqi opened the first aid kit, Wang Xiulian took out the gauze, cotton swabs, and iodine, and skillfully started cleaning and bandaging Jiang Feng’s wound, all the while muttering, “This won’t do, how could you cut yourself at the base of the thumb like this? What were you aiming at with that knife? That wound looks quite wide, maybe we should go to the hospital, what if it gets infected!”

“It’s fine, mom, it’s not deep,” Jiang Feng said, able to judge the severity of his own cut from the moment it happened – after all, practicing cooking since young, his left hand had been cut by himself countless times.

It was just a bit of a severe cut this time.

“That’s it, you won’t cut or cook for the next few days, let your dad do the cutting and the stir-frying, and you just focus on cooking your porridge,” Wang Xiulian instructed as she finished bandaging him up.

“How could you be so careless,” Wu Minqi looked at Jiang Feng’s bandaged left hand with some distress, “After so many years of learning to cook, you still cut your hand while chopping, it’s a good thing you’re planning to cook porridge for the finals, otherwise, we really would’ve had to forfeit.”

“It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt, it just looks scary, it will heal in a couple of days,” Jiang Feng reassured.

Stripped of his rights to chop vegetables, Jiang Feng settled down next to the stove to keep an eye on the Eight Treasures Porridge.

Simmering it on a low heat, it would take at least another two hours before it was ready. Even though Wu Hanxue was extremely displeased with Jiang Feng at the moment, disliking him even if he had cut himself, he had to admit that Jiang Feng’s porridge cooking skills were truly top-notch.

He even felt inferior to him.

If only Jiang Feng were a Master White Chef, the Wu Family Restaurant was just now looking to expand that area of the business.

As Wu Hanxue tied on his apron and grabbed a kitchen knife to help Jiang Jiankang with the food prep, he thought to himself.

Because he had cut his own left hand, Jiang Feng was not only deprived of his right to chop vegetables but also of his right to cook, and consequently – because he could only use one hand – he was also stripped of his duties to carry dishes, collect plates, and clean the dining hall.

During the busy lunch service, everyone was running off their feet, but Jiang Feng was more leisurely than any of the diners, diligently tending to the critical pot of Eight Treasures Porridge by the stove.

After the rush, Fang Zheng quietly arrived.

Although the two establishments had agreed to cooperate, Fang Yu, the boss of the once dominant Fang’s Porridge Shop on the gourmet street, still refused to dine at the Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant that had usurped his throne; only Fang Zheng, the second-in-command who, for the sake of his appetite, instantly turned traitor and even became a spy and lobbyist, came alone.

Jiang Feng cooked a large clay pot of Eight-Treasure Porridge, which was quite a lot. If Jiang Jiankang and Wang Xiulian didn’t perform above their level, they would probably not be able to finish it.

When Fang Zheng saw Jiang Feng with a bandaged left hand, he was a bit stunned, thinking to himself that he was fine when he came in the morning, how did he manage to get hurt by noon.

Did he burn himself while cooking porridge?

“Kids are careless when they work. He was distracted while chopping vegetables this morning and cut his hand, scared his mother and me to death,” Jiang Jiankang explained as he enthusiastically served Fang Zheng some porridge.

“You can’t be distracted while chopping vegetables. My wife used to often cut her hand when she was distracted, so much so that I was afraid to let her chop vegetables,” Fang Zheng said, accepting the porridge.

The temperature was just right, perfect for eating.

“Ding! Side quest [Fang Zheng’s Appreciation] completed. Quest reward item: Preserved Egg and Lean Meat Porridge Recipe obtained. Please ask Fang Zheng for the recipe.”

Jiang Feng: ???

If I have to get the quest reward myself, what’s the damned use of this lousy game!

Jiang Feng hesitated, how should he ask?

Master Fang, may I ask if there’s a trick to making Preserved Egg and Lean Meat Porridge?

Master Fang, could you teach me how to make a good Preserved Egg and Lean Meat Porridge?

Master Fang, I ran into some problems when I was cooking Preserved Egg and Lean Meat Porridge this morning, could you please give me some advice?

Jiang Feng was rehearsing in his mind, but Fang Zheng spoke first.

“Little Feng, I’m not callingyou incorrectly, am I? That should be your name.” After receiving a nod of confirmation from Jiang Feng, Fang Zheng breathed a sigh of relief, “Emmm, I wanted to ask, what brand of osmanthus sugar did you use in the Eight-Treasure Porridge?”

As expected of a master chef with over 20 years of porridge-cooking experience, he could tell right away that the osmanthus sugar in the Eight- Treasure Porridge was different from what’s sold on the market.

Fang Zheng felt embarrassed right after he asked. He could taste that this batch of Eight-Treasure Porridge was exceptionally delicious, not just because of Jiang Feng’s excellent porridge-cooking skills, but also because of the addition of osmanthus sugar. However, such ingredients are usually a closely guarded secret in others’ porridge recipes, and his sudden inquiry was somewhat impolite.

It even carried a hint of taking advantage of Jiang Feng’s youth and inexperience.

“If it’s inconvenient, you don’t have to mention it. I just asked out of curiosity, it’s not that I must know,” Fang Zheng quickly tried to remedy the situation, not wanting to put Jiang Feng in a spot.

“It’s nothing inconvenient. My dad bought it from the commercial street next to UAL University. It’s made by an old man at home, and I have his WeChat. He also sells osmanthus sugar on WeChat. If Master Fang needs it, I can give it to you,” Jiang Feng said. “By the way, there’s also a jar of osmanthus sugar in the fridge. Do you need it, Master Fang?”

“I’d really appreciate that,” Fang Zheng said with joy.

Jiang Feng led Fang Zheng to the back kitchen to get the osmanthus sugar, thinking about how to ask for the secret of cooking Preserved Egg and Lean Meat Porridge as they walked.

Would it be impolite to ask outright?

But he just shared the secrets of cooking Eight-Treasure Porridge with Fang Zheng; that should be considered an exchange of courtesies, right?

Jiang Feng was internally conflicted.

“The Preserved Egg and Lean Meat Porridge you cooked this morning— ” Before Jiang Feng had settled on how to ask, Fang Zheng handed it to him on a silver platter.

“Hmm?”

Happiness came too suddenly.

“When you turn off the heat, just add a few drops of sesame oil, let it sit covered for three minutes, and then stir it well. The flavor will be much better,” Fang Zheng said.

This had been Fang Zheng’s secret for making Preserved Egg and Lean Meat Porridge for many years, one he rarely shared with others.

Jiang Feng’s eyes lit up, eager to try it out right there and then.

“You can try it this afternoon. If there are any issues, come find me at Fang’s Porridge Shop,” Fang Zheng said.

His face bore a smile of a proud mentor.

Preserved Egg and Lean Meat Porridge Recipe, get!