The Game of Life

Chapter 586: Chapter 584: Mysterious Power from the East

The next morning, Jiang Feng brought up to Jiang Weiming his desire to learn how to steam eels.

Although there were recipe tutorials, video tutorials were not as useful as learning from a real person. Everyone found Jiang Feng’s sudden urge to learn a new dish very normal, as this was certainly not the first time he had done something like this.

Jiang Weiming gladly accepted Jiang Feng’s proposal, but he didn’t plan to start with steamed eels. He intended to teach Jiang Feng how to make clear soup and stock first.

In the Taifeng Building’s kitchen, clear soup and stock were always prepared. In most cases, Sir himself would make them, and occasionally Jiang Jiankang would take over. The Jiang Family members all liked stock, and they all were skilled at making it; even Jiang Weisheng could make a pretty good stock. Naturally, Jiang Feng knew how as well.

But knowing did not mean being good at it.

The secret to making the steamed eels fragrant enough to waft 50 meters away after lifting the lid was that one spoonful of clear soup poured over the dish right after cooking. Jiang Weiming knew the profound intricacies of this process, and he was aware that making that one spoonful of clear soup was more difficult than all the previous steps, so much so that it was the final touch in the art of bringing the essence to life.

In a sense, steamed eels were seasonal, and the eels became fat and tasty around June. The quality of the eels determined the quality of the dish. Jiang Weiming figured with Jiang Feng’s current level, it would take at most half a month for him to fully master steamed eels, so he wanted him to practice making clear soup and stock during this period.

Of course, Jiang Feng had no objections, even finding the prospect very appealing.

Thus, the teaching of clear soup and stock was scheduled, so much so that Jiang Feng’s mind was filled with the thoughts of these broths while working in the kitchen in the morning. He even felt a tinge of regret for not having gone over the stock tutorial the previous night.

Normally these days, at lunchtime, Jiang Feng would join Ji Yue, Zhang Guanghang, Ji Xia, and his boss, Mr. Wu, at the tea house to have tea and dim sum, but the refreshments were secondary; mainly, they wanted to listen to Zhang Guanghang’s stories about Rolan’s glorious achievements over the years.

As March 15th approached, the opening day of the top-floor restaurant, Jiang Feng outwardly scorned the enemy’s tactics, but inside, he was anxious.

After all, he didn’t even know what Rolan looked like.

Yes, although he claimed to take his enemy seriously, he had never bothered to search for Comrade Rolan online because he didn’t know Rolan’s full name.

To be fair, although Zhang Guanghang might look like a cool, handsome mixed-race man who never cares about mundane matters, when it came to gossip, he was incredibly engaging. The plot twists and turns he described, complex relationships, and impeccable details could captivate anyone. Jiang Feng thought if he had been born a few decades earlier, telling stories under an arch bridge, he would have definitely made a fortune.

During lunch, as Jiang Feng wolfed down a new creation by his dad — a fried rice with bamboo shoots and pickled vegetables — he looked around for Zhang Guanghang to tell him that he wouldn’t be able to make it to the tea house later to listen to him tell stories.

He should have mentioned it to Zhang Guanghang that morning, but his head was so full of clear soup and stock that he forgot.

Jiang Feng carried his bowl around the eating area looking for Zhang Guanghang but couldn’t find him. Not only was Zhang Guanghang nowhere to be seen, but Ji Yue was missing as well.

Could it be that the two of them went out on a date?

Filled with curiosity, Jiang Feng decided to seek an answer from Wu Minqi.

Wu Minqi was sitting with Ji Xia and Ji Xue, whose diet was quite coordinated: meat dominated their plates. Their plates were so full of meat, it made Wu Minqi’s predominantly green, vegetarian dish look utterly desolate by comparison.

As Jiang Feng approached with his bowl, Ji Xia and Ji Xue were busy devouring the steamed pork in their plates, while Wu Minqi was absentmindedly playing with her phone while eating.

“Qiqi, have you seen Zhang and Ji Gezi?” Jiang Feng asked, seating himself next to Wu Minqi.

“Yue was hospitalized last night; Zhang went to the hospital to see her,” Wu Minqi replied, eyes glued to her phone screen as her fingers swiftly danced across the keyboard.

“Hospitalized? What happened to her, appendicitis?” Jiang Feng asked in astonishment.

“Didn’t you see the Moments post?” Wu Minqi asked.

Jiang Feng shook his head.

“It seems like she ate something bad last night, right, Xue?” Wu Minqi turned to Ji Xue.

With her mouth full of rice, Ji Xue couldn’t reply, and Ji Xia eagerly jumped in: “Yesterday evening, Sister Ji Yue got a bellyache from eating curry she made at home, and my sister and I took her to the hospital in the middle of the night.”

“Huh?” Jiang Feng looked bewildered.

The specific details were beyond Ji Xia’s explanation; it was only after Ji Xue swallowed her food that she began to recount last night’s unpredictable and convoluted events to Jiang Feng.

It turned out that after completing the first draft of the Li Hongzhang hodgepodge manga, Ji Gezi had a sudden epiphany that she should strive for excellence. She resolved to create a more refined version that the customers and the boss would like, and perhaps, earn an additional bonus.

Therefore, Ji Gezi spent last night working through the night on the manga instead of sleeping.

As a result of staying up late to work, Ji Gezi, predictably, got hungry around 2 a.m.

Hunger is a dreadful thing. If Ji Gezi’s wallet were as stuffed as Jiang Feng’s, she would probably also choose, like Jiang Feng, to pay the hefty delivery fees and order some fancy but insubstantial takeaway in the dead of night. Alas, having taken more than half a month off for the holidays and with this month’s salary yet to arrive, Ji Gezi’s wallet was empty. So, she decided to roll up her sleeves and fend for herself.

After rummaging through her cabinets, Ji Gezi unearthed a cabbage, a potato, a small piece of pork, and a box of curry paste that had been sitting in the house for so long, discovered only by chance.

With her wealth of experience in hosting hot pot sessions in the dorm, Ji Gezi opted to cook the curry on her own.

And then she poisoned herself.

By the time Ji Xue and Ji Xia were woken up by Ji Yue, it was past 4 a.m. After suffering from both vomiting and diarrhea, making three urgent trips to the bathroom, Ji Yue realized that she might have gotten food poisoning. Ji Xue and Ji Xia took her to the hospital, sparing her the tragic fate of dying from dehydration due to diarrhea at home and ending up in the local news.

According to Wu Minqi, Ji Gezi now lies listlessly on a hospital bed receiving an IV drip. Even though her stomach had been pumped by the doctor, she still felt the taste of curry churning in her stomach, lingering in her mouth far too long.

At the end of the story, Wu Minqi also thoughtfully shared the Moments posts that Ji Yue had put up last night and this morning.

The previous one was, “I might be a culinary genius, my first time cooking curry turned out such a perfect dish.” [Image][Image]

The one after that was, “I swear I’m never eating curry again in my life :)”

Jiang Feng: …

Such a fine bowl of potato and pork stew!

But whether it was the beauty camera or the filter that was too strong, Jiang Feng felt that the meat looked a bit undercooked.

Jiang Feng sighed and remarked, “Ah, why bother with curry in the middle of the night.”

Wu Minqi: ???

You, who eats spicy hot pot in the middle of the night, have any right to criticize someone upstairs eating curry at the same time?

“However, Yue has really been down on her luck recently. She dropped her facial cream last week, her phone screen shattered the day before yesterday, and last night she got food poisoning,” lamented Ji Xue. “When Xiaxia and I took her to the hospital last night, she kept complaining that her luck must be in retrograde recently.”

“What’s ‘retrograde’?” Ji Xia asked curiously.

“Mercury Retrograde, it’s said to be because of the discrepancy in the angle of the ecliptic as a result of Mercury’s orbit and Earth’s rotation…” Jiang Feng began explaining but suddenly realized that Ji Xia probably didn’t understand it, as Ji Xue also looked like she didn’t get it, Wu Minqi as well, and of course, he didn’t really understand it either.

“It just means bad luck,” Jiang Feng said.

“Yue has indeed been unlucky lately,” Wu Minqi said. “She just told me that she found out she still owes 2000 on her Huabei account which she thought she had no debt on.”

Jiang Feng: …

I think it’s a matter of being broke, not bad luck.

“But luck is such a thing. Sometimes you just hit a streak of bad luck, and nothing goes your way. After that phase passes, your luck will pick up. There was a time when I was also looking for a job and couldn’t find one,” Ji Xue began discussing the metaphysical nature of luck with Wu Minqi.

Wu Minqi nodded in agreement, “Right, when you’re in a streak of bad luck, it really feels like nothing works out…”

Jiang Feng quietly listened while eating his fried rice on the side.

Speaking of luck, Jiang Feng suddenly remembered his unbeatable lucky buff of carrot and beef stew that could only be made once every 100 days.

He had never cooked that dish because there was no need.

The best luck of the year had to be put to good use, such as on the eve of a lottery draw.

Just now, when Ji Xue mentioned luck, he suddenly realized that it was time for the carrot and beef stew to shine.

If he were to come to Taifeng Building early on March 15th and stew a big pot of carrot and beef stew, giving a little to each of the kitchen staff and leaders in the lobby to savor a few bites, would that not also improve Taifeng Building’s luck?

Since he might not be able to outperform the competition in terms of ability, then he could overwhelm them with metaphysical forces.

It was time to let Comrade Rolan know what the mysterious power of the East was all about.