The Game of Life-Chapter 735 - 734: Madness (Short and Compact, Two in One, 4600+)

Chapter 735 -734: Madness (Short and Compact, Two in One, 4600+)

Regarding Peng Changping’s intention to speak of Zhou Shi as a potential last disciple, Jiang Feng didn’t feel much beyond the initial shock.

His friendship with Zhou Shi wasn’t particularly deep, but it wasn’t shallow either—they were just ordinary friends. From a friend’s perspective, if Zhou Shi really had the fate to become Peng Changping’s disciple, Jiang Feng would of course be happy for him. Although Peng Changping was old and lacked energy, and wouldn’t be able to teach hands-on like most masters do, nor could he often demonstrate in person, most likely just oral teaching, being able to be his disciple, with his cooking skills and his standing in today’s culinary world, was definitely something countless young, and even middle-aged, chefs dreamt of.

It’s just that having the assessment at Taifeng Building made Jiang Feng feel somewhat troubled.

How to subtly lure Zhou Shi to Taifeng Building and then subtly have him prepare a high-level signature dish, which would then be subtly presented to Peng Changping for tasting, was a very serious problem.

After all, Jiang Feng didn’t even know where Zhou Shi lived at the moment.

After returning home, Jiang Feng pondered for a long time, mulling it over until Wu Minqi came back, still without any idea how to approach Zhou Shi about coming to Taifeng Building. Eventually, Jiang Feng couldn’t bear it and told Wu Minqi everything that happened that evening in full detail, seeking her advice.

“This is a good thing. If Master Peng is willing to take Zhou Shi as a disciple, and Zhou Shi has this opportunity, why not just do as Master Peng says?” Wu Minqi wasn’t very familiar with Zhou Shi, but she was happy for him to have this opportunity.

“But…how do we get him to come to the restaurant, and then to cook?” This was actually what Jiang Feng was agonizing over.

Wu Minqi didn’t understand why Jiang Feng found this troubling at all: “When he comes, just tell him that the restaurant is extremely busy today, everyone is occupied, and ask him to lend a hand. Just like before, his information is still in the system backend, just put his recipes on the menu.”

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Jiang Feng: ?

That doesn’t seem quite right, saying come to the restaurant to catch up but actually having someone come in to work.

Sigh, thinking about it, it seems quite reasonable.

One of Taifeng Building’s main features is to serve diners from afar. Since they are coming over anyway, why not make a couple of dishes before they leave?

“That might actually work,” Jiang Feng mused.

More than Zhou Shi’s matter, Wu Minqi was concerned about another issue: “Fengfeng, I remember you went to Yonghe House to learn Jiang’s Sea Cucumber Soup from Master Peng. Have you finished learning your dish?”

“Not yet, I’ve only learned how to make the superior stock, I haven’t started learning how to prepare the sea cucumber yet.”

“If Master Peng really takes a liking to Zhou Shi, then he will certainly put effort into teaching Zhou Shi. Your dish may then be put aside… I think you should make the most of your time recently, especially since the restaurant’s business has been picking up, and with Master Sun in charge, I think you can focus less on the business, like before, and continue learning the dish from Master Peng,” Wu Minqi suggested.

Wu Minqi’s words reminded Jiang Feng that with all that had happened recently, he had forgotten about this most important matter. Peng Changping’s return to the country was for the selection of the Culinary Masters List, whose rankings are usually announced at the end of October. Although Xu Cheng, Ji Gezi, and others had dropped out of several issues of “Taste” and other matters, they definitely wouldn’t miss such an important event as the Culinary Masters List.

Peng Changping may stay in the country for a long time, but there will always be a day when he’ll have to return, as visas always have an expiration date.

If Jiang Feng didn’t want to travel across the ocean just to learn one dish, he would need to make the most of his time and learn Jiang’s Sea Cucumber Soup before the end of October.

It’s already August, which leaves Jiang Feng with just two months.

It’s not quite enough.

It’s worth noting that Jiang Feng spent over two months just learning to make the superior stock, but one can’t calculate it that way. When Jiang Feng was learning the stock, his seasoning and fire control skills had yet to reach the grandmaster level, but now, he has substantially improved and already has some foundation in preparing sea cucumber dishes, so learning Jiang’s Sea Cucumber Soup probably won’t take too much time.

Wu Minqi’s words left Jiang Feng in a difficult position: should he strike while the iron is hot and work on improving his knifework to the grandmaster level, or should he set aside his knifework and the burgeoning business of Taifeng Building to learn Jiang’s Sea Cucumber Soup from Peng Changping at Yonghe House in a short period?

To be honest, he was somewhat worried about Chef Arno.

Considering the chef’s volatile temper, his unpredictability, and his wealth allowing him to do as he pleases, no one knew what he might do when pleased or annoyed. After the successful Midsummer Banquet and the surge to the top of the trending searches, everyone had been paying close attention to the Top Floor Restaurant, but there had been no movement at all.

It’s been several days, and there was still no action from the Top Floor Restaurant. Chef Arno just stopped working for several days, playing disappearing acts, allowing the customer traffic to fall off, and it has been declining.

It’s almost down to the same level as Eight-treasure House.

Speaking of which, the business of Eight-treasure House seemed to have improved slightly these past few days. Yesterday, Jiang Feng even snagged a red envelope worth 12.88 in the group chat.

“Let’s wait until the matter regarding Zhou Shi is settled. After that, I’ll find an opportunity to ask Master Peng when he is returning to America, and then we’ll see,” Jiang Feng hadn’t made up his mind.

Wu Minqi nodded. She had only meant to give him a reminder, “As long as you remember this.”

“Speaking of which, how was the business at the restaurant today?” Jiang Feng felt it was more practical to be concerned about Taifeng Building’s business, considering the money hadn’t been paid off yet.

“It was pretty good, it’s just that many customers didn’t know you were off today. Ji Yue said those art academy students were sighing all through lunch, looking more distressed than if they had eaten pure meat wontons.” Wu Minqi said with a laugh, then seemingly recalling something, pulled out her phone, found a picture in the album, and handed the phone to Jiang Feng.

Jiang Feng took the phone and saw it was a painting.

A very monotonous painting with only two people in it.

One was a woman who looked very haggard. Her hair was messily scattered, and she wore old and thin clothing, appearing very slender with a hint of madness in her eyes.

The other was a young girl, who also looked malnourished, with fear showing in her eyes.

The woman was tall, and the girl was short. In the painting, the woman was standing while the little girl in the corner looked up at her.

The painting seemed somewhat oppressive but was incredibly real, as if it wasn’t a painting but a photograph depicting living people, with an atmosphere that was indescribable.

Most importantly, Jiang Feng felt that the little girl in the painting looked familiar. He seemed to have seen her somewhere before.

“This was painted by Xue Shaoheng,” Wu Minqi said.

“Painted by Xue Shaoheng?” Jiang Feng was surprised. If he remembered correctly, Xue Hua had once said that Xue Shaoheng never painted portraits.

That being said, he hadn’t seen the sibling pair for quite a long time.

“I feel like they haven’t come to the restaurant for a long time,” Jiang Feng said.

“They haven’t been here since their New Year holiday ended. Xue Hua came alone at lunch today. She was looking for you, but since you weren’t here, she spoke with us,” Wu Minqi said, a gleam of joy in her eyes suggesting some good news, “Xue Shaoheng’s painting has won an award.”

Wu Minqi mentioned a name Jiang Feng had never heard of, but from her tone, he could tell it must be a very prestigious award.

“Xue Hua said the painting depicts her and her mother, and Xue Shaoheng named it ‘Mother and Sister.’ Xue Shaoheng started the painting in December, spent over half a year on it, and only finished at the end of June. They’ve been abroad these two months and just got off the plane early this morning,” Wu Minqi explained, “Xue Shaoheng can now even speak complete phrases. Do you know what he said in a media interview yesterday?”

“What?” Jiang Feng finally realized that this situation might not be as simple as he thought.

“Yesterday, a journalist asked him if the inspiration for the painting came from his mother and sister.”

Jiang Feng thought that the journalist’s question was stupid, as the painting was of the mother and sister and was even named ‘Mother and Sister.’ Where else could the inspiration have come from if not them?

“He said no.”

“Huh?”

“He said the inspiration came from your pure meat wontons.”

Jiang Feng: …

He actually didn’t know what to say.

If the art academy students could see this interview, they would probably go crazy.

The only question is whether they would see it or not.

Unbeknownst to Jiang Feng, the art academy students had already gone crazy.

The award that Xue Shaoheng received was actually even more prestigious than Jiang Feng had imagined.

How awesome was he? Well, after that, whenever Jiang Feng walked out in public, any painter who saw him would have to call him “Master Xue.”

Ji Gezi had once dreamed of being an artist, and never in those dreams had he imagined winning this award.

There were already buyers offering millions, and even tens of millions, to purchase Xue Shaoheng’s painting, but of course, that was an inflated price. After all, everyone understands the nature of hype, but Xue Shaoheng insisted on not selling it.

Although he was now able to articulate complete phrases, conveying the complex emotions in his heart was still a difficult task. He didn’t sell the painting for a simple reason: it was the only evidence of the normal world he had once seen.

Xue Shaoheng struggled to communicate his thoughts completely, and sometimes his expressions would even be misinterpreted by others and the media. Therefore, understanding his interviews was genuinely difficult.

The interview where he said his inspiration came from pure meat dumplings was probably the only one that everyone could understand.

Xue Shaoheng spoke in Chinese, mentioning only the pure meat dumplings without naming Taifeng Building or Jiang Feng. The fact that he could manage to say “pure meat dumplings” was already quite an accomplishment. The interview was fresh from last night, and because of the time difference, it wasn’t until this afternoon that the domestic media started to report and share the video.

Foreign journalists were still scratching their heads, trying to figure out what exactly pure meat dumplings were. They knew what dumplings were, of course, but didn’t believe that such a full phrase from Xue Shaoheng’s mouth could mean the simple dumplings in their minds.

Could it be some mystical food from the East?

While foreign journalists were still grappling with how to write about that damned explosive interview, and people from other regions in the country saw the interview but still didn’t understand what pure meat dumplings were, the art students from the university were going insane.

They knew pure meat dumplings well!

How could they not? That dish, both loved and hated, had driven countless classmates mad over the years.

Taking a look at Xue Shaoheng’s biography, it was clear that when he referred to pure meat dumplings, it had to be the ones they were thinking of!

The fact that a bowl of pure meat dumplings once inspired “Destruction” was enough motivation for countless art students to bravely follow suit, let alone now that they also gave rise to Xue Shaoheng.

It’s just crying, it’s just utter despair, right?

After so many years, what won’t artists do for the sake of their art? What’s a bowl of dumplings in comparison?

The next day, Ji Yue was shocked to find many new faces in the shop.

There were many faces that looked like art students at first glance.

Some others had a similar aura but appeared too old to be students, making her suspect they might be some quirky professors from the university.

She even thought she saw a painter who had gained some fame in recent years, but Ji Yue wasn’t sure; she suspected she might have been mistaken.

These people packed the lobby full, cramming six people into a four-person table, eight into a six-person, not just taking up seats, but simply appearing very strange.

They were constantly muttering to themselves, passing tablets from one person to the next. Each person who took the tablet seemed as if they had been handed a daunting task, with serious faces, distracted yet determined eyes, gripping the tablet so tightly they might punch holes through it.

The most peculiar thing was that all these people holding tablets seemed to have developed Parkinson’s, with not just their hands shaking, but their legs and even their entire bodies trembling. This resulted in the constant passing of the tablet, as each person began shaking the moment they took it, then returned to normal once they let it go, even breathing a sigh of relief.

Ji Yue: ?

“Qi Rou,” Ji Yue decided to send their most approachable and skilled waiter at gathering information to find out what was going on with this group of customers.

They were acting as if they had taken the wrong medicine, and she didn’t want any trouble arising.

“Go over there and see what’s up with that group of art students; they seem a bit off today,” Ji Yue whispered.

Qi Rou nodded and walked towards an art student she recognized and had exchanged a few words with before.

And then, Qi Rou just asked directly.

Ji Yue: ?

The most crucial part was that the art student really did respond, and not only did she respond, but she also directly took out her phone and showed Qi Rou the video.

Qi Rou excitedly went back to report to Ji Yue exactly what had happened.

Ji Yue knew that it was Xue Hua who had come looking for Jiang Feng yesterday, as it was she who had led her to find Wu Minqi. Later, Wu Minqi also told her that Xue Hua had come over to share some good news because of Jiang Feng’s pure meat dumplings, Xue Shaoheng had won a prize abroad. But Wu Minqi hadn’t mentioned at the time exactly what prize it was, probably because the name was a bit of a tongue twister to remember on the spot, and Ji Yue hadn’t paid it much attention. In this day and age, there were plenty of young artists going abroad to win prizes, who then came back to China being hailed as geniuses by the media before everything just blew over.

Not to mention that even though Xue Shaoheng seemed very young and childlike, he was actually not that young anymore.

Ji Yue hadn’t expected the prize he had won to be so prestigious.

Upon hearing Qi Rou’s report, Ji Yue was dumbfounded.

She understood why all these art students and even professors seemed to be acting as if they had taken the wrong medication.

Without a second thought, Ji Yue headed straight for the serving window, telling the busboy closest to her to call Jiang Feng out.

Jiang Feng was already wrapping dumplings and was about to cook them: ?

“I think you can sell your dumplings in a different way,” Ji Yue got straight to the point.

Jiang Feng: ?

How else could I sell my 10 yuan a bowl dumplings?

Ji Yue pointed at the customers in the hall, especially those at 4-person tables squeezed with 6 people, and 6-person tables squeezed with 8 people.

“Do you see?”

“I see, so what?” Jiang Feng just thought that today there seemed to be a lot more customers, even more than usual, and wondered if they had added more tables.

“They’re all here to eat your dumplings.”

Jiang Feng: !

“Do you see that person?” Ji Yue pointed at the painter she had recognized earlier but hadn’t been sure about, now she was certain.

“I see.”

“One of his paintings sells for six figures, and he’s here to eat your dumplings too.”

Jiang Feng: !!!

“Got it?” Ji Yue asked.

“Got it!” Jiang Feng immediately understood, there was nothing left to misunderstand.

He was now going to get in touch with Sun Maochai and have Ji Yue contact Wang Xiulian; they needed to discuss quickly within the next twenty minutes on how best to sell the dumplings.

Because in 20 more minutes, lunch service would begin.

“Wait, there’s one more thing,” Ji Yue said with a serious face, stopping Jiang Feng.

Seeing Ji Yue’s expression turn so solemn, Jiang Feng tensed up, thinking there was some other urgent matter, “What else is there?”

“Could you possibly sell one less bowl of dumplings today and save a bowl for me, just consider it an employee perk?” Ji Yue looked at Jiang Feng with a pitiful face, like a poor child who hadn’t eaten pure meat dumplings in a whole year.

Jiang Feng: ???