The Game of Life-Chapter 655 - 653 Chef Arno
Chapter 655 -653 Chef Arno
On the second day, as soon as Jiang Feng woke up, his first reaction was to check the time on his phone, which gave him quite a start. There were 11 missed calls from an unknown number, and the caller ID displayed “express delivery/takeout.”
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All 11 of them showed that the phone had rung 8 or 9 times. Because of past occurrences of being woken up around 2 or 3 in the morning by harassing calls, Jiang Feng would set his phone to silent mode before going to sleep, not even allowing vibrations.
Jiang Feng recalled that he hadn’t ordered anything online recently, so he dismissed the unknown number as telemarketing, and couldn’t help but marvel at the dedication of today’s salespeople. Early in the morning, at around 6, they started their sales calls, persistently making so many efforts.
He didn’t appear to be someone who could afford to buy a house, could it be insurance sales?
After changing, Jiang Feng went to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth. While brushing, he still tasted the barbecue from last night, even managing to detect the flavor of lamb skewers amidst the froth of mint.
Ancient people described pleasant music as “lingering music around the beams for three days,” but Jiang Feng thought Peng Changping’s BBQ, if not lasting that long, came pretty close—it was all just hyperbolic rhetoric anyway.
...
It was just uncertain whether there would be another chance to taste Peng Changping’s BBQ. Actually, it didn’t have to be BBQ; even stir-fried vegetables would do.
When Jiang Feng was training in cooking, Sir used to criticize Jiang Chengde’s cooking by saying that even his stir-fried vegetables tasted like magical herbs, implying that Jiang Feng’s food was like pig swill in comparison. At that time, Jiang Feng didn’t believe it, since he had never tasted magical herbs and didn’t know whether they were delicious. But within just over a year, he had witnessed so many famous chefs, having tasted Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon, chicken tofu pudding, Tan Family Cuisine, and even just yesterday, Buddhas Jumping Over the Wall, now including barbecue prepared by Peng Changping, the top-ranked chef in the “Famous Chefs” series.
It was not until last night that Jiang Feng realized the reason he always thought Sir’s saying that the stir-fried vegetables Jiang Chengde cooked tasted like magical herbs was exaggeration: it was only because he lacked experience. If Peng Changping could make BBQ so delicious, why couldn’t Jiang Chengde make stir-fried vegetables taste like fresh herbs?
After washing up, Jiang Feng entered the living room only to find the house unusually quiet this morning, devoid of the familiar sizzling chili oil scent.
The living room was eerily silent, with no one else but Jiang Feng. On the dining table, there was only an empty plate and an unopened jar of pickled radish that Ji Yue’s mom had sent over the day before yesterday, with no chopsticks or traces of food to be seen.
Jiang Feng walked into the kitchen to find the stovetop clean and the slow cooker set to “Keep Warm,” containing a pot of steaming white porridge. The large iron spoon was resting next to the cooker, and it looked like the porridge hadn’t been touched. There was no reduction in the chili oil in the fridge, and the cold noodles Wu Minqi had made yesterday were still in their original place; it seemed Wu Minqi had only set up the rice cooker to make porridge last night and hadn’t prepared anything this morning.
If she hadn’t prepared anything, where was she?
Gone for morning exercise?
Just as Jiang Feng was hesitating whether to take over the breakfast duties again and cook his signature scallion and egg noodles he bought from the supermarket, the door opened.
The house immediately became lively as Wu Minqi, Ji Yue, Ji Xia, and Ji Xue walked in together.
“You’re up, Jiang Feng,” said Wu Minqi, carrying several small plastic bags—evidently the breakfast she had just gone downstairs to buy.
Ji Xia had a pancake fruit roll in her mouth; Ji Yue was holding a large bag, and Ji Xue had a plate in her hands.
“Just now, I bumped into Xiaxia buying breakfast on my way down to get sponge cake and tofu pudding. She said Yue and Xue had something for us, so I invited them to come have breakfast at our place. It just so happens I made a pot of white porridge this morning, we can each have a small bowl to warm up our stomachs,” Wu Minqi said with a smile. “We ate too many greasy barbecues last night, so let’s have something light this morning.”
Ji Xue conscientiously carried a plate over to the refrigerator and placed it inside the cooling compartment.
“This is the beef patty I made last night, you just need to fry it tomorrow morning and it’ll be ready to eat,” Ji Xue said.
The moment Ji Yue walked in the door, she dropped the bag onto the floor, clearly unwilling to lift it again as it seemed too burdensome. To Ji Yue, who was an outstanding waiter at Taifeng Building, there were very few things that could overwhelm her like this.
“This parcel was sent by my grandma. I thought it was just some small items and didn’t pay much attention till I went to get it last night. I was shocked when I picked it up—it was a whole big box of cured meat, marinated lamb legs, pressed duck, salted fish, sauce duck, sausages, all made by my grandma recently. I picked a little of each to bring to you,” Ji Yue said.
Jiang Feng: ?
Glancing at the large bag on the floor, then back at Ji Yue, Jiang Feng asked, “That big box from yesterday… did you carry it back by yourself?”
“Yeah, I dragged and pulled it all the way back home. If I’d known my grandma was sending so much stuff, I would’ve asked Xiaxia and Yue to come with me,” Ji Yue replied.
“I was thinking of sharing some with Mrs. Wang and Grandpa Jiang as well. But my grandma called me this morning to ask if the package had arrived and said she’s sending another batch in a few days, so I’ll divide it up then. For now, you taste and see if it’s good,” she added.
While they were talking, Wu Minqi had already filled bowls with tofu pudding, inverted the steamed sponge cake into a plate, and served five bowls of white porridge on the table.
She had made a big pot of porridge because she initially planned to only have porridge this morning, hence the large quantity. But after waking up, Wu Minqi changed her mind, finding porridge too light and not filling enough, which is why she went downstairs to buy breakfast.
Although the breakfast on the table was all uniformly white, it now looked quite abundant in quantity. The steaming hot porridge was thick to just the right degree, leaving a warm feeling in the stomach.
All five sat around the dining table and started sipping their porridge together. Ji Xia’s routine of alternating between the white porridge and the pancake roll made her stand out conspicuously.
“Ji Gezi, haven’t you eaten? Why is only Xiaxia eating a pancake roll?” Jiang Feng inquired.
“We did eat. We had beef patties this morning, and I also made soy milk. But Xiaxia didn’t get full, so she went out to buy a pancake roll,” Ji Yue replied.
Jiang Feng looked at the egg and meat-stuffed pancake roll in Ji Xia’s hand and realized that his perception that Ji Xia’s appetite had been growing lately wasn’t just his impression—Ji Xia’s appetite had indeed increased.
He estimated that now, the average adult male probably didn’t eat as much as Ji Xia did.
After finishing the hot porridge, Ji Xia and the others went upstairs to get ready for work at Taifeng Building. Once they had left, Jiang Feng dared to speak up, “Qiqi, have you noticed Xiaxia’s appetite? It’s getting bigger, more than before.”
“She is eating more than before. Previously, Xiaxia’s appetite was about a bowl and a bit, now I guess it’s about two bowls,” Wu Minqi noted Jiang Feng’s concern and reassured him, “It’s normal for Xiaxia at her age to eat a lot, her appetite increases during the growth spurts of adolescence. She may seem to have gained weight, but as soon as she hits a growth spurt and shoots up, she’ll slim down quickly.”
“What if she doesn’t slim down?” Jiang Feng was somewhat unconvinced, recalling that Chen Xiuxiu could eat a lot during high school, but she never seemed to slim down.
But in his memory, Chen Xiuxiu was always able to eat.
Wu Minqi fell silent, “Generally speaking, if you don’t draw it vertically, then you can only draw it horizontally.”
Jiang Feng: …
Washing down the last mouthful of porridge, Wu Minqi forcibly shifted the topic, “But why is Ji Yue’s grandma suddenly making so much pickled meat all at once?”
“I don’t know, maybe the old lady has nothing to do at home and wants to find something to do,” Jiang Feng was successfully diverted, “My grandpa never raised anything when he was working, not even chickens or ducks. Once he retired and came back to the countryside, he started to raise pigs. It’s probably just a hobby.”
What Jiang Feng didn’t know was that Ji Yue’s grandma had started making so much pickled meat so passionately, investing a large sum of money and effort, not out of hobby but because Ji Yue’s mom’s pickles had been a huge success.
Ji Yue’s mom learned to make pickles from Ji Yue’s grandmother, and Ji Yue’s aunts and uncles could also make pickles. Initially, only Ji Yue’s mom and aunt were making pickles which were in such high demand that, besides cooking, they sometimes gave them as side dishes to guests. Later, Ji Yue’s spirited grandmother also started pickling, and with Ji Qiran often unable to finish homework and being grabbed by Ji Yue’s mom to help out, the supply gradually increased. Taifeng Building then launched an offer where ordering food over a certain amount came with a complimentary jar of pickles.
This offer led to some customers sharing tables and ordering together just for the pickles.
Ji Yue’s two uncles were originally trying to reestablish business with Ji Yue’s dad when they realized the likelihood of success was lower than returning home and getting rich with their sister’s pickles. So, they abandoned Ji Yue’s dad and went home to make pickles instead.
During the New Year, Ji Yue’s family did an annual review. Ji Yue’s dad found out, much to his chagrin, that the money he had worked so hard to earn from his business all year long was less than what his wife had made from making pickles at home.
As a businessman who once monopolized more than half of the province’s garment wholesale business, Ji Yue’s dad immediately realized that instead of relying on his original connections and spending years starting from scratch, it’d be better to ride on his wife’s coattails and find another way to glory. He then gave up on making a comeback in the clothing industry and decided to make a big splash in the world of pickles.
Everyone then realized that although Ji Yue’s dad was good at doing business, astute, able to network, knew how to talk to people, and had keen instincts and intuition, he was the only one who couldn’t make pickles.
Ji Yue’s family was now so short-handed that they began to recruit apprentices from the village where Ji Yue’s grandmother lived, looking for people with a foundation in pickling who were reliable and honest.
So why did Ji Yue’s grandma start to make pickled meat?
Ever since Ji Yue’s dad’s business failed and he nearly went bankrupt, Ji Yue’s grandma had been worrying about them. As an old lady with an educational level comparable to that of Zhao Lanhua, she couldn’t think of any other way to help aside from offering her life savings, until Ji Yue’s mom’s huge success in pickling showed her a clear path.
Ji Yue’s grandma’s pickles were not on the same level as her mother’s, and the taste was far from comparable, but her pickled meat had its own unique flavor and always earned unanimous praise every New Year. However, since pickling meat was troublesome and involved many steps, Ji Yue’s grandma would only make a little pickled meat to eat during the New Year.
Ji Yue’s grandma’s thought was simple: since Ji Yue’s mom’s pickles had achieved such great success, even if her own pickled meat wasn’t as good, she didn’t need that same level of success. Even a tiny bit would satisfy her and help her son.
It just wasn’t clear whether Ji Yue’s grandma had considered that Ji Yue’s dad actually didn’t know how to make pickled meat either.
These complex stories were what Ji Yue told Jiang Feng and the others on the way to work.
Jiang Feng & Wu Minqi: …
“So your family… It hasn’t turned into a pickle workshop now, has it?” Jiang Feng asked.
“It’s a legitimate small-scale pickle factory. My family got the procedures done and obtained a license, it’s all legal!” said Ji Yue, “My dad and uncles are looking for a place recently, probably planning to set up a factory.”
Jiang Feng: …
“So Mr. Jiang, your kitchen staff really need to pull their weight! The livelihood of my entire family is closely tied to Taifeng Building!”
Jiang Feng: ?
“Business has been really good lately, right? I remember the influx of customers has been steady since we introduced the spring menu, and it’s all been profitable. The spring menu hasn’t even ended yet, so what’s the rush? We have more than half a month to go! If it really comes down to it, we can launch a summer special,” said Jiang Feng.
Ji Yue gave Wu Minqi a strange look, and Wu Minqi shook her head at him.
“What’s wrong?” Jiang Feng was baffled by the interaction between the two.
“Oh, your Minqi didn’t tell you, huh? I wondered why you seemed so relaxed and worry-free this morning. I thought you were just cool-headed,” Ji Yue opened her phone to show a screenshot of a poster, “This poster was published by the top-floor restaurant at midnight yesterday.”
Taking the phone, Jiang Feng saw there were three people in the poster, one of whom he recognized as the top-floor restaurant’s head chef, Rolan, in chef’s attire striking a very cool pose, looking straight ahead with a powerful gaze. What puzzled Jiang Feng was that Rolan was not in the central position, but a big-bearded foreign chef he had never seen before was. The foreign chef looked commanding on the poster, somewhat aged with partly white beard, emitting an inexplicable aura of supremacy.
“The top-floor restaurant changed its head chef, and to mark the change, they will launch a chef-special limited-time menu next week. During the promotion, the chef’s menu will be available at 90% off, and for the following month, they will randomly select 10 tables every day to have their meals comped,” explained Ji Yue.
“A 90% discount on the menu and 10 tables comped each day?” Jiang Feng was shocked, “Aren’t they doing charity rather than business?”
“Have they gone mad? Who has the money to wage a price war like this, don’t they feel it’s demeaning?”
“Fengfeng, do you know who the man in the middle of this poster is?” Wu Minqi asked.
“Who?”
“He is Chef Arno, ranked sixth on the Celebrity Chef Index, and the only one in the top ten who still insists on being a head chef in a restaurant.”
Jiang Feng: …
“Damn.”
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