The Game of Life

Chapter 748: Chapter 747 Bringing Family Members

Jiang Feng didn’t eat much of the pigeon swallowing the swallows that he and Ji Xia had ordered, giving the rest to Ji Xia.

To be fair, the flavor of the dish was quite good. Bird’s nest itself is rather tasteless, but it becomes delicious after absorbing the essence of the broth and the saltiness of the ham. The dish didn’t need any additional seasoning; it was all about the natural flavors of the ingredients. The bird’s nest was stewed to a semi-translucent pale gold, and one had to eat the bird’s nest, pigeon meat, and pigeon skin together to experience the elegant integration of the vegetarian and meaty flavors with the freshness.

The pigeon swallow was tasty, but only to an ‘A’ standard.

Having tasted the real delicacy that could be considered a gourmet feast, the top-tier Swallow-wing Feast, Jiang Feng no longer felt surprise or excitement towards such luxurious dishes.

What he was more concerned about was whether the buff was effective or not.

Wu Minqi didn’t show much of a reaction, but Ji Yue did show some.

She became distracted.

She started to lose focus while eating, stopped moving her hands, stopped chewing, her gaze became vacant. If one didn’t know any better, they might think she was still in physics class.

It was a long time before Ji Yue suddenly snapped out of it, almost as if she would have slammed her hand down on the table had she not been holding a spoon.

“I’ve got it, I finally got it, I know how to paint it now!” Ji Yue exclaimed, setting down the unfinished pigeon swallow dish on the table, and then she was off in a flash.

Just like an art student.

Wu Minqi showed some reaction at this, looking strangely at Ji Yue’s retreating figure, and then at the uneaten pigeon swallow on the table, before continuing to eat her own food.

Jiang Feng, who was always keeping an eye on Wu Minqi, was left pondering…

Was this effective or not?

Jiang Feng couldn’t determine whether the buff was effective even after Wu Minqi had finished her portion of the pigeon swallow.

If it’s unclear, just ask outright. Without hesitation, Jiang Feng asked, “Qiqi, what do you think?”

“It’s pretty tasty,” said Wu Minqi.

Jiang Feng watched Wu Minqi.

Wu Minqi: ?

“Is there something wrong?”

Jiang Feng: …

Okay, he was sure now: it hadn’t worked.

Jiang Feng felt he needed to have a talk with Wu Minqi.

Although dealing with culinary arts is somewhat like dealing with art to a certain extent—you’re not getting anywhere without a little madness, and it can drive you to do all sorts of bizarre things when researching recipes. Jiang Feng himself was far from normal when he first started trying to improve the recipe for the clear broth swallow-shaped swallow dish; he understood that feeling of knowing while not knowing, ultimately not knowing what to do, the itching desperation and anxiety. Naturally he could also understand Wu Minqi’s current abnormal state.

But the abnormality he experienced was about torturing others, not himself—it wasn’t him who had to drink those terrible mushroom soups. Wu Minqi’s abnormality, however, was torture to herself.

Staying up late at night, squatting in the kitchen staring blankly at the fridge, soulless and absentminded, neither practicing cooking nor enjoying leisure while still having to work normally.

This kind of abnormal pattern was not only unhelpful for breakthroughs but also bad for one’s health.

“Qiqi, I’d like to have a chat,” said Jiang Feng suddenly.

Before Wu Minqi could react, Jiang Feng had already pulled her out of the kitchen and headed straight to the convenience store next door.

The convenience store next door was as empty as usual, with plenty of air conditioning. The store owner, as always, was wearing headphones watching anime, peacefully, undisturbed by anyone.

A perfect place for a serious talk.

“What is it?” Wu Minqi didn’t come around until she entered the convenience store, having been half-distracted all the while. Her response wasn’t just slow, it was like she was drunk.

“Why did you want to make spicy dumplings?” Jiang Feng wasn’t sure why, but he felt like a talent show judge asking a contestant, “What’s your dream?” when he said this.

“Huh?” Wu Minqi finally snapped fully out of her distracted state, possibly because Jiang Feng’s question didn’t allow for any more distractions, “It’s because… because…”

Wu Minqi felt like she had an answer on the tip of her tongue, but she just couldn’t say it.

She herself was confused.

“So what were you thinking about yesterday and today? Or rather, what were you searching for?” Jiang Feng continued.

“That taste. I remember that taste, but I can’t quite recall it. At first, I thought I could remember if I made it right, but after making so many, it’s still not that taste,” Wu Minqi replied quickly this time.

“Qiqi, let’s sort out your thoughts again,” Jiang Feng suggested.

Wu Minqi sat up straight, listening to Jiang Feng as if he were a teacher giving a lecture.

“You started making breakfast because you wanted to control the spiciness of the food.”

Wu Minqi nodded.

“Did you manage to do it?” Jiang Feng asked.

Wu Minqi shook her head: “No, it feels the same as before.”

“Actually, it’s even worse than before. When I wasn’t in Beiping, I never thought about using less. I worried about using too much, wondering if the customer could handle it. Now when cooking, I always feel a bit timid,” Wu Minqi sighed.

Jiang Feng also had this feeling. He remembered when Wu Minqi was in Alan City, specifically when she was interning at Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant, she was so generous with Sichuan peppercorns and chili peppers, which made the UAL University students cry over the spiciness yet also made them crave more.

It directly boosted Jiang Feng’s beverage sales.

“So when did you become like this?”

Wu Minqi thought for a long time, her face showing confusion as she shook her head: “I don’t remember.”

“Then when did you start deliberately controlling the amount of seasoning you put in dishes?” Jiang Feng asked in a different way.

“Probably… maybe after ‘Taste’ was published, Mr. Xu Cheng said I hadn’t found the critical point for handling spiciness, and that the pain brought by my dishes outweighed the pleasure.”

Jiang Feng nodded, although he was very clear that Wu Minqi had begun controlling the amount of seasoning long before the release of ‘Taste’, he couldn’t blame Xu Cheng for it, but for now, since he didn’t know who else to blame, he gave the responsibility to Xu Cheng temporarily.

“Well, Qiqi, now the situation is very clear, we’ll assume you wanted to control the amount of seasoning after ‘Taste’ was published, and a few months ago you wanted to practice it by making breakfast. The logic is all there. But this doesn’t explain why you would make spicy dumplings. You were just looking for that critical point, so what does that have to do with dumplings?” Jiang Feng pointed out the crux of the problem.

Wu Minqi had no answer.

“There has to be a reason, Qiqi. You wouldn’t suddenly just think to make dumplings, especially as we don’t even sell spicy dumplings here, so it’s not possible that you saw them somewhere and decided to make some. Before, when you were making breakfast, you’d make a variety of things like cold noodles, dumplings, and pancakes, each day different from the last. You wouldn’t just suddenly fixate on dumplings unless there was a reason,” Jiang Feng said.

Wu Minqi bit her lip and frowned slightly, pondering for a long time: “I don’t know, I just suddenly thought of it, I had a feeling.”

“Just…” Wu Minqi herself couldn’t articulate, “it’s just a feeling, I just felt I had to make spicy dumplings.”

“Then make it,” Jiang Feng said with a smile.

“But I feel like I am getting kind of…”

Jiang Feng cut Wu Minqi off: “Qiqi, do you remember the time two years ago when I was making mushroom soup?”

Of course, Wu Minqi remembered; she had also eaten at the Healthy Stir-Fry Restaurant and was among the victims.

“I had fallen into the wrong idea then, thinking the taste of the mushroom soup was too strong and would disrupt the overall flavor of the dish, so I tried covering up that taste. I added many things, tried different methods, but somehow it always felt wrong, and the problem, I felt, was with my approach, which is why I made so many terrible mushroom soups and served them as the soup of the day.”

“Later it turned out my instincts were right; my method and approach were incorrect. That dish was supposed to use mushroom soup; how could I forget the essentials and try to cover up the taste of mushrooms? Qiqi, you have to believe in your instincts. Even if the process or approach is wrong, your instincts won’t be. If you can’t trust even your instincts, then there’s probably nothing left you can trust,” Jiang Feng said with certainty.

Wu Minqi felt as if a fog in her heart had begun to lift just a little.

A beam of light had pierced through the layers of fog, illuminating a spot that was meant to be bright.

“But Fengfeng,” Wu Minqi was a bit conflicted, “eating spicy dumplings every morning, don’t you think it gets a bit monotonous? I feel like I’m almost sick of them.”

Jiang Feng: …

Is this really the time to worry about getting tired of spicy dumplings?

But, as someone who had seen how Wang Hao had chased his ex-girlfriends back in the day, Jiang Feng knew exactly what kind of nonsense to say at times like this.

“Of course not,” Jiang Feng said with a smile, “as long as you’re the one who made them, I’ll never get tired of eating them.”

It just would be spicy.

Wu Minqi laughed, “Have you been talking to Wang Hao a lot recently? I feel like you’re starting to sound like him.”

Jiang Feng: …

Just when Jiang Feng was pondering what to say to alleviate the cheesiness of his previous remark, his phone vibrated with a WeChat message. He hurriedly took out his phone, pretending to check the message in an attempt to dissolve the awkward moment.

The message was from Lu Sheng, telling him Master Peng’s apprentice welcome banquet was scheduled for tomorrow night at 7 p.m. in Yonghe House’s largest private room that could seat 20 people.

As for why a room for 20 people—it was because there would be 27 dishes at the banquet.

Yes, 27 dishes. Jiang Feng wasn’t sure whether Peng Changping could handle cooking so many dishes all at once.

Those with smaller appetites would probably be full after just one taste of each dish.

Lu Sheng also delicately hinted because there were too few people and too many dishes, there was a chance not all food would be eaten. Leaving too much food on the table would embarrass Peng Changping, suggesting it looked like his cooking was not appreciated, so he implied that Jiang Feng might bring one or two family members along.

Preferably a girlfriend or an apprentice, who you have a very close relationship with and can take to a banquet.

Lu Sheng knew that Jiang Feng had an apprentice.

Jiang Feng hadn’t expected to encounter such a pleasant surprise.

But it was true that Peng Changping really couldn’t find many people to invite. He hardly knew anyone in the country. Zhou Shi was not socially adept and Tao Shu was his only close friend, while the rest of the relatively close connections were probably his old colleagues at Taifeng Building. But Taifeng Building had to stay open for business as usual, if one chef like Jiang Feng and another like Sun Maochai were to leave for the banquet, plus a few more chefs leaving, Taifeng Building could just close for the night and give the staff a holiday.

Peng Changping had invited Sun Maochai and Han Guishan. If he were to think outside the box for people he knew to invite, the only option would be Chef Arno.

“Qiqi, Lu Sheng said I could bring a few more family members to dinner tomorrow night, do you want to take the opportunity to take a half-day off and try out Master Peng’s culinary skills?” Jiang Feng asked.

Being able to taste a banquet prepared personally by Peng Changping, Wu Minqi naturally agreed; why wouldn’t she agree to such an opportunity? Even if she had to crawl there with broken legs, she would.

“Tomorrow night’s banquet is Master Peng’s apprentice welcoming feast, right?” Wu Minqi asked.

Jiang Feng nodded.

“It’s a bit short notice, Fengfeng, you should quickly ask Mr. Lu what Master Peng likes, so we can prepare a gift today and tomorrow, and take it with us tomorrow night.”

“Prepare a gift?” Jiang Feng was stunned; he didn’t prepare a gift the last time he attended a Swallow-wing Feast, and nobody else did either.

Wu Minqi looked at him as if she was disappointed: “Of course you prepare a gift. Tomorrow is Master Peng’s apprentice welcoming feast, not only do you need to prepare a gift, but it has to be a serious one, carefully chosen.”

“Ask quickly; we don’t have much time!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated on N𝘰vgo.co