The Game of Life-Chapter 804 - 803 Radish Rib Soup

Chapter 804: Chapter 803: Radish Rib Soup

Chapter 804 -803: Radish Rib Soup

Choosing a dish for your opponent is a very delicate matter.

If I wanted to go easy on someone out of charity, Jiang Feng could have selected a simple, popular, and well-liked home cooking dish like braised pork, sweet and sour pork loin, or kung pao chicken. But if I wanted to strike hard, Jidou Hua, Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon, and stuffed crab in orange would all be good choices.

To be even more ruthless, I could opt for pure meat dumplings, which have an equal opportunity of getting bad reviews, whether they taste good or bad.

Delicious yet get a bad review, disgusting and also get a bad review.

The announcement from the production team came on Tuesday morning at ten o’clock, and Ji Yue had just taken the day off, spending the early morning shopping, dining, and getting a beauty treatment with Wu Minqi. After seeing the announcement, Jiang Feng messaged Wu Minqi to ask for her thoughts but didn’t receive a reply for a long time; Wu Minqi was probably having such a good time shopping that she didn’t even look at her phone.

Then Jiang Feng asked in the WeChat group, and only Sun Maochai replied. There was no news from Sun Jikai, who was probably sleeping.

Sun Maochai suggested they wait until both Wu Minqi and Sun Jikai responded, then they could discuss and decide together.

The rule set by the production team required each of the four members to come up with a recipe, and these four dishes had to achieve a combined sales of one hundred within a week, with more than fifty positive reviews. Sun Maochai felt that since Taifeng Building was already in first place overall, there was no need to go for the kill and choose four diabolical dishes that would obviously make their opponents lose two thousand points. However, they couldn’t be too charitable either, in case the top-tier restaurant drew Taifeng Building and they ended up giving points away with their four charitable dishes.

They needed a balanced choice of dishes.

Two impossible dishes, two that could be challenged, leaving the opponents a lifeline while strewing sharp stones along their path.

After chatting with Sun Maochai, Jiang Feng shoved his phone into a corner of the sofa, turned over to fish out the TV remote that had been uncomfortably squashed under his rear, and turned on the TV.

He had been lounging on the couch all morning like a salted fish, not even bothering to order takeout.

He really didn’t want to move; being a salted fish makes one feel decadent.

Yesterday, Jiang Feng had watched TV all day, not only finishing the latest episodes of the variety show from both the Chinese and American versions, but he had also watched some of the recently popular dramas and found them mediocre and unappealing.

After aimlessly clicking the remote for a few minutes, Jiang Feng couldn’t find anything interesting to watch on TV.

He wanted to watch something interesting.

Wait, something interesting.

Jiang Feng jolted upright from the sofa like a carp leaping out of water.

He still had several unwatched memories in his inventory.

As the competition was about to enter its second phase, it would be too late if he didn’t watch them now.

There were actually quite a few memories in the inventory: [A Memory of Jiang Weiguo], [A Memory of Zhao LanHua], [A Memory Fragment of Sun Maochai], and another he had obtained from a side mission—he couldn’t remember when—which was [A Memory of Ouyang Yang]. Except for Ouyang Yang, the others were all familiar faces: his grandparents and the strongest head chef of Taifeng Building.

Jiang Feng decided to spend the next few days off to watch all four memories; a great dish might emerge and give him an advantage in the upcoming competition.

After some thought, Jiang Feng chose [A Memory Fragment of Sun Maochai] and clicked yes.

A haze.

It was a fog full of malicious talk.

Jiang Feng was used to entering so many memories that he would first listen to the sounds to figure out where he was, then wait for the fog to clear to confirm his location. However, never had he experienced a memory like this one, filled with voices—even whispers that were so clear and sharp, gossiping about someone behind their backs—being in the midst of the fog made listening feel even more intense.

“Master Sun, what was he thinking, actually taking a thief as a disciple?”

[A Memory of Jiang Weiguo]

“Exactly, if word of this gets out, how could we possibly have customers daring to come to Jubao Building to dine? It would utterly ruin our establishment’s reputation,” another said.

“From now on, you all need to be extra careful. He’s now Master Sun’s disciple, and if something gets lost without evidence, you won’t be able to clear your name,” someone warned.

“I knew he was no good from the start. In my opinion, he must have deliberately stolen something and got caught by Jiang on purpose, just so he could find a way to stay in the restaurant. Such a young kid and already so scheming, these orphaned street children are really cunning,” another chimed in spitefully.

As the discussion grew more vicious, the fog slowly dissipated, and Jiang Feng gradually began to see his surroundings more clearly, as well as the child standing beside him.

Ten-year-old Sun Maochai.

Although Sun Maochai was already accepted as Master Sun Zheran’s closed-door disciple by then, he still looked weak and frail, his body slender, with skinny arms and legs that made him appear not to be a ten-year-old at all; you might believe him if he told you he was seven or eight.

Sun Maochai was wearing a cheap, old, long-sleeved grey outfit, stained with water and bits of green vegetable leaves, standing by the doorway, which was half open, just a wall away from the people inside who were eating whilst concurrently engaging in distasteful gossip.

Sun Maochai didn’t enter, didn’t move, didn’t speak, he didn’t even have an expression on his face. He just stood quietly outside, overhearing others speak about him like this.

When Jiang Feng phased through the wall to take a look inside, he saw only five people in the room. Three of them were gossiping, while the other two clearly disagreed with their opinions but remained silent, frowning as they ate in silence.

The five were gathered around a table, on which several dishes were set, one of meat and three of vegetables—decent in appearance. However, the dish that was supposed to contain meat was almost devoid of it, leaving one to infer from the layer of oil at the bottom of the basin what it once held. The other three vegetable dishes seemed very ordinary, lacking in oil, fresh enough yet slightly overcooked, and not particularly appetizing.

The mouths of the three gossips weren’t even stopped by their food as they continued with their discussion.

“I heard that he’s been secretly learning while washing dishes, never concentrating on his work, always looking around with shifty eyes; you just know…”

“Enough,” a middle-aged man who had been eating quietly finally could not stand it any longer. “He’s just a ten-year-old child. You should be ashamed, discussing him behind his back like this; Aren’t you afraid of developing a rotten tongue?”

When someone spoke up to interrupt, the three previously unbridled gossips finally quieted, their faces showing some discomfort.

“Liu…” The one who had been the most vocal began weakly.

“Please, I can’t bear to be your ‘brother Liu.’ I wouldn’t want the honor, lest someday I get lucky and am taken as an official disciple by Master Sun, only to be bad-mouthed by my dear fellow disciples,” said Brother Liu as he slammed his bowl down on the table and walked out, pausing briefly when he saw Sun Maochai standing silently by the wall. He looked at Sun Maochai, a bit startled, and then just shook his head helplessly without saying anything.

Sun Maochai stood by the wall a little longer. No one inside dared to resume their previous discussion. He didn’t enter either, just silently walked away.

Jiang Feng was unsure whether Sun Maochai had eaten or not, but soon after, the boy returned to the kitchen to start washing vegetables.

Washing radishes.

After washing, cutting the radishes.

At this point, Sun Maochai clearly had not had any systematic training or learning in the culinary arts; his knifework was very amateurish, the thickness of the radish slices uneven, only slightly better than an average housewife’s skills.

It seemed to be break time at that moment, and in the kitchen, only Sun Maochai was silently cutting radishes, probably unnoticed by anyone else.

Jiang Feng just watched Sun Maochai silently cutting radishes in the kitchen for half an hour.

In half an hour, nearly half a crate of white radishes disappeared.

“What on earth is this you’re cutting? You can’t even cut radishes properly, and you want to slice them thin now? You should be cutting thick slices first, get better at that, then attempt thin slices,” said Sun Guanyun, who had suddenly appeared behind Sun Maochai while he was focused on cutting the radishes.

It was strange that, as a native southerner, Sun Guanyun spoke with a touch of northern accent at that moment—a clear influence from the old man, Sir.

With such a remark from Sun Guanyun, Sun Maochai hesitated, almost afraid to continue cutting.

“Keep cutting, if you want to practice your knife skills, you need to start with radishes. Carry on practicing. You cut the radishes this way and you still have the nerve not to practice?” Sun Guanyun urged.

“Oh.” Sun Maochai continued cutting the radish.

After just making two cuts, he was stopped again by Sun Guanyun.

“That’s not right at all, didn’t my dad teach you? Didn’t he tell you yesterday? The way you’re holding the knife is all wrong,” Sun Guanyun directly took over, showing Sun Maochai hand over hand how to properly hold the kitchen knife, “Look at how I cut it, I’m now going to cut it into thick slices for you.”

Sun Maochai concentrated intently on the movements of Sun Guanyun’s hands.

“Got it now?”

“No.”

“How can you be so dumb? How did my dad ever decide to take you on as my junior disciple? It’s been so many years since he last took on a disciple,” Sun Guanyun said with full disdain in his voice.

“Brother, you only demonstrated it once,” Sun Maochai weakly protested.

Sun Guanyun: …

Sun Guanyun had no choice but to demonstrate for Sun Maochai once more.

“Practice on your own, I’ll come check on you in two hours,” Sun Guanyun left after dropping that line and never came back to check, but Sun Maochai practiced solidly for two full hours.

It wasn’t until mid-afternoon when they needed to prepare for the evening business that Sun Guanyun returned to the kitchen. By then, Sun Maochai had finished cutting three whole baskets of radishes. The slices were piled up like little hills, inconsistent in thickness, but there was a clear improvement compared to noon. For a beginner to have such visible progress in knife skills within a single afternoon was truly a monstrous culinary talent.

Jiang Feng was dumbfounded.

With such talent, no wonder Sun Zheran was moved to take him on as a closed-door disciple.

Sun Guanyun was also stunned, it was like he was meeting the junior disciple Sun Maochai for the first time. But the young Sun Guanyun was a person who would rather die than lose face—and the old Sun Guanyun was a bit like that too.

Sun Guanyun put on a face that read ‘You did okay, but just so so,’ “Not bad, but you still need a lot more practice.”

“So, the way I’m cutting radishes now is correct, Brother?” Sun Maochai asked.

“Of course it’s correct, could there be anything wrong with what I teach?” Sun Guanyun said with a self-satisfied expression, picking up one of the baskets of white radish that Sun Maochai had cut and walked away.

Sun Maochai & Jiang Feng: ?

Sun Maochai had spent the whole afternoon cutting radishes that were essentially not needed. He didn’t have to do anything during the evening business; all he had to do was follow Master Sun Zheran and listen to his explanations.

Master Sun Zheran obviously had a lot of patience for his newly accepted little disciple. Regardless of whether Sun Maochai could use what was being explained at the moment, he explained everything with great care. From the selection of ingredients, the importance of knife skills, the details of seasoning, to the control of fire, he broke down everything in great detail to Sun Maochai—giving him the full picture before starting from the beginning to learn.

Master Sun Zheran was undoubtedly a good mentor.

After teaching, Master Sun Zheran didn’t forget to inquire about Sun Maochai’s progress in cutting radishes.

The most uptodate nove𝙡s are published on frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓.

“Did Guanyun give you any pointers on your knife skills this afternoon?” Master Sun Zheran asked with a smile.

“Senior Brother Sun instructed me all afternoon on how to cut white radishes.”

“He would lose his patience to instruct you all afternoon? I guess he probably taught you a bit and then left to do his own thing. Since he’s your senior brother, ask him anything you don’t understand or can’t do; this is the task I assigned to him, and he must complete it.”

“Don’t mind his rough way of talking sometimes; he is actually a kind-hearted and enthusiastic person, so don’t be afraid to ask questions.”

Sun Maochai nodded.

“Are you hungry? I used the radishes you chopped this afternoon to make a radish and pork rib soup. It’s in the small kitchen of the next room. Go serve yourself some soup to fill your belly first.”

“I’m not hungry,” Sun Maochai said.

“How can you not be hungry if you didn’t eat lunch?” Sun Zheran exposed Sun Maochai’s lie.

Sun Maochai was taken aback.

“Today at noon, I sent Guanyun to find you. He searched the dining area and couldn’t find you, then he went to your room and you weren’t there either. Finally, he found you in the kitchen. He guessed you probably skipped lunch and went back to the kitchen to practice your knife skills. You can’t do this next time. You are at the age where your body is growing. How can you not eat? The most important thing for a chef is to have a good physique. Without good stamina and strength, you can’t become a good chef,” Sun Zheran started explaining.

“Your clothes are too old and a bit small, making them inconvenient for everyday wear. I had Guanyun look for his old clothes from when he was young. Although they are used, they are durable and sturdy, all hand-made by your master’s wife. That’s why she couldn’t bear to get rid of them, never thinking they would be useful now. I originally wanted him to give them to you personally, which would also be a good opportunity to strengthen the bond between you brothers. But since he couldn’t find you, he found it troublesome and just threw them in your room.”

At this point, Sun Zheran again couldn’t help but reveal a smile, “That’s just his temperament, impatient and quick-tempered.”

Sun Maochai didn’t know what to say, so he simply bowed his head slightly, looking at the ground, not daring to look at Sun Zheran, “Thank you, Master.”

“Study hard, and when the New Year arrives, I’ll have your master’s wife make you a new set of clothes. Now go drink the pork rib soup,” he said.

Maochai obediently went to the small kitchen in the next room. The radish and pork rib soup was still simmering on the stove, smelling fragrant, soft and tender, and most crucially, with lots of meat.

There was so much meat that it hardly seemed like radish and pork rib soup, but more like radish meat soup. The ribs shouldn’t have had this much meat on them.

A proper serving of radish and pork rib soup shouldn’t contain so much meat. But in an era where meat was still somewhat of a delicacy, this “improper” serving of radish and pork rib soup was even more tantalizing and irresistible than most “proper” servings.

Who doesn’t like large, tempting, fragrant pieces of meat after all?

The soup had clearly been stewing for a while, as the whole compartment was filled with the tempting aroma of the radish and pork rib soup. The unevenly sliced pieces of radish that Maochai had cut were floating on the surface, bobbing up and down, seemingly on the verge of falling apart.

Obviously, although the pot of soup was cooked by Sun Zheran, he had not tended to it throughout.

Maochai found a small bowl and ladled himself a full bowl of meat.

Purely from the heart, without a single piece of radish.

At that moment, Maochai obviously didn’t have many opportunities to eat meat. Faced with such a bowl of fragrant and tempting meat, he didn’t hesitate, eating big mouthfuls despite the heat, chewing and swallowing heartily.

He devoured the food ravenously, non-stop, bowl after bowl, even appearing somewhat fierce, like a starving wolf pouncing on its meal after days of hunger.

The scene froze on the opened wide mouth of Sun Maochai.

It grew foggy.

Jiang Feng left the memory.

After leaving the memory, the only thought Jiang Feng had was—

That was way too short!

Indeed, befitting of a memory fragment, it really was just a fragment!

That’s it?