Chapter 755 - Chapter 755: Chapter 754 Still Lacking
Chapter 755: Chapter 754 Still Lacking
Chef Arno had just finished speaking before he abruptly left, just as abruptly as he had arrived, his entrance and exit echoing each other, fitting his character, leaving several people still somewhat dazed, pondering in their hearts what exactly this so-called reality show was all about.
Jiang Feng was more bewildered than anyone else; besides being puzzled about the reality show, he also had to figure out how he suddenly became someone who might be Chef Arno’s rival in life. He knew his own abilities well, and if he wasn’t certain that he and Peng Changping had no past grudges or recent quarrels, he would have suspected that Peng was deliberately setting him up to be taken out by Chef Arno.
Seeing that everyone was likely to hold another small discussion session and that it would probably take some more time, Lu Sheng evaluated the situation. The private room already had everything necessary for a satisfying discussion, including tea and desserts. Lu Sheng glanced at the teapot, which was empty. Normally, he would just call a server to bring another pot, but this time he insisted on finding tea leaves from the office cabinet and brewing the tea himself, then he left with the teapot in hand.
The only ones left in the room were Peng Changping—who seemed to enjoy the drama, Xu Cheng—who was brainstorming about how to manage the reality show, Jiang Feng—who was completely confused, and Zhou Shi—who felt that the whole affair had nothing to do with him and was just there to watch the excitement.
“Master Peng, you did that on purpose just now, didn’t you?” Jiang Feng moved closer to Peng Changping and asked in a low voice.
“What do you mean ‘on purpose’?” Peng Changping put on an expression as if to say, what are you talking about, I don’t understand.
Jiang Feng looked troubled: “I mean the part about me being able to rival Chef Arno, that must have been you provoking Chef Arno on purpose.”
“Not at all, I truly believe that,” Peng Changping said with a smile.
Jiang Feng didn’t believe him; Peng’s image as someone who loved drama and acting was deeply ingrained.
“How could I possibly be a match for Chef Arno?” Jiang Feng raised his voice, which led Xu Cheng, who was deep in thought, to glance at him momentarily.
Peng Changping didn’t look at Jiang Feng but turned his head to look at Xu Cheng, giving him a look. Unfortunately, because Xu Cheng hadn’t paid attention to Peng and Jiang Feng’s previous conversation, he couldn’t understand the meaning behind that look and could only watch the two men with some confusion.
Zhou Shi silently grabbed a piece of milk crisp and began munching away.
“I’ve noticed a problem with you,” Peng Changping said, dropping the smile to adopt the stern expression he usually had in the kitchen while teaching.
This subtle change in expression made the atmosphere in the private room turn serious, and even Zhou Shi, munching on the milk crisp, couldn’t help but sit up straight.
“You lack confidence.”
Jiang Feng: ?
I’ve been super inflated recently, okay!
Peng Changping turned his head to Xu Cheng: “You think so too, right?”
Xu Cheng nodded in agreement: “A bit, but Master Jiang is still young, it’s normal to be modest.”
But Peng Changping disagreed: “It’s not normal precisely because he is young.”
“You are a genius, I am a genius; we geniuses know each other best. When I was in my teens and my culinary skills were starting to shine, I couldn’t wait to call myself the best in the world, looking down on everyone, thinking I would definitely become the next Jiang Chengde, or even surpass him. If it hadn’t been for my younger sister, a prodigy who overshadowed me, I might have become so arrogant that I wouldn’t even know my own last name.” Peng Changping didn’t mind revealing the embarrassing history of his overconfident youth, “Basically, every young prodigy who becomes famous is like that: confident, arrogant, even haughty.”
“Then they get taken down by someone even more formidable, taught a lesson in humility. Those who can’t recover fall by the wayside; those who can rise to the challenge. That’s how it usually goes. Even Chef Arno was like this; I’ve heard that when he was young, he was even more conceited, never taking anyone seriously. He’s reined it in a bit since then, but even now, you can still see his confidence, his conceit, and his arrogance.”
Jiang Feng nodded in agreement; it was more than just noticeable—a few more strokes and Chef Arno might as well have tattooed ‘I’m the second best in the world’ on his face.
“But you, you don’t have any of it. No arrogance, no conceit, and not even confidence. You’re like someone from an ancient book who has stepped out into reality, all humility and politeness. Of course, I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, I just feel that it’s not right.”
“After all, if you’re not arrogant, how could you face setbacks and achieve better growth?” Peng Changping chuckled.
Jiang Feng: …
It may surprise you, but the one thing I’ve never lacked in my life is setbacks.
Jiang Feng felt that even before he encountered this bug-riddled game, his life had been a series of setbacks. Although from all aspects, he could be referred to as the exemplary child in other families, he had never been short of setbacks from childhood to adulthood.
He was hammered by Sir in cooking, hammered by several cousins in his studies, and even bested in physical strength by two younger female cousins. His pocket money and New Year’s money had to be protected not only from the covetous eyes of the two cousins but also from his own father, who would slyly take his money to buy kitchen knives. Jiang Feng felt it was impossible for him not to be humble and polite.
But Jiang Feng couldn’t share such embarrassing tales with outsiders, so he had to take a more indirect approach.
“I think Zhang Guanghang’s temperament and personality are pretty good too.”
Zhang Guanghang, a prominent half-French and half-Chinese mix, 1.88 meters tall, young and rich, with assets worth hundreds of millions, owned several courtyards in Beiping, the current proprietor of Fen Garden. Calculating seriously, he might even be richer than Professor Li. A few years ago, the foreign media hailed him as a once-in-a-century culinary prodigy. With his good looks and a chef’s reputation, he enjoyed the treatment of an entertainment star in front of media friends, at the peak of which he was even followed by paparazzi.
Such an individual who lived like a Mary Sue novel protagonist was still known to everyone as Zhang, approachable and uncomplaining during unpaid overtime. Wasn’t he the 996 embodiment?
“That’s just nowadays,” Xu Cheng interjected. “Ten years ago, when I was judging a cooking competition abroad, I saw him. He must have been about eighteen or nineteen at that time, just starting to make a name in the culinary world, and he won a gold medal at a somewhat famous culinary competition.”
Xu Cheng had a nostalgic look on his face, “Back then, he was much more arrogant than now, with a ‘keep away from me’ look on his face, somewhat haughty. I even thought he was some celebrity from abroad who took a whim to participate in a cooking contest.”
Jiang Feng was surprised; he hadn’t expected Zhang to have had such a brash youth. His interest was piqued: “So how did he change later on?”
When Jiang Feng first met Zhang Guanghang, he also thought the other was quite aloof, but he felt that Zhang’s aloofness wasn’t because of arrogance or anything else—it was simply because he thought this guy was too handsome and it was better to keep a distance.
“I know about this; my apprentice told me,” said Peng Changping. “He later took part in a culinary competition and ran into Arno there. Arno loves to knock down these talented yet über-arrogant young chefs. I heard that after winning, Arno brutally ridiculed him. After that competition, Zhang Guanghang went to Japan to learn cooking and hasn’t participated in major culinary competitions since.”
“However, I remember he took part in a domestic cooking competition last year and didn’t come in first,” Peng Changping said with a laugh.
Jiang Feng: …
Indeed, I was the runner-up in that competition.
Having talked so much, Peng Changping was somewhat thirsty. He looked for tea and found none in his cup; his kettle was taken to the office by Lu Sheng, so he asked Zhou Shi to help him get a cup of hot water from outside. Drinking hot water was also good when there’s no tea.
“We’ve strayed off topic. What I want to say is that you lack arrogance, which with your age and your talent you should have,” said Peng Changping seriously. “Believe me, arrogance is an important thing. Sometimes, it can be a sharp blade pointed at you; other times, it can be your most powerful weapon.”
“You think you can’t compare to Chef Arno, don’t you? Why? Why can’t you compare to Chef Arno?”
“With your age, your culinary skills, the talent you showed when you learned how to make stock, what grounds do you have not to compare yourself to him? You are stronger than any of us, compared to you we are just ordinary humans. You’re in your twenties, at your prime age, with time, energy, vitality, creativity—things we dare not even dream about, and you have them all in abundance, at your disposal to squander. You have just started, yet you’re already at a finish line unattainable to many.”
“Believe me, just properly make that chicken tofu flower tomorrow. As long as you cook it to the standard you did at the Midsummer Feast, Arno will start seeing you as a rival.”
“Don’t be afraid. Being regarded as a rival by Arno is a good thing. Given his character, seeing someone as a rival might be the greatest respect he could show.”
Source: Webnovel.com, updated on N𝘰vgo.co