The Game Of Life

With the aid of the basic congee cooking skills, he was in his element when whipping up a pot of simple barley congee.

There was only one other ingredient - barley. He did not need to weigh it. With just a casual grab, Jiang Feng"s intuition would tell him how much rice was needed to compliment that handful of barley. Jian Feng, who used to dislike the game"s stinginess, was marveling at how good the game was now.

So good!

As the congee in the pot began to bubble and turn thicker, Jiang Feng began to stir.

The door opened, and he did not pay much attention to it. It was probably just w.a.n.g Xiulian coming back to fetch something.

"Cooking congee?" An old, grim, and familiar voice came from behind.

As soon as Jiang Feng turned around, he found old Jiang Weiguo standing behind him.

"Gran... Grandpa! "

Jiang Weiguo s.n.a.t.c.hed the ladle from Jiang Feng"s hand, looked closely at the contents of the pot, and scolded: "What is this thing that you"re cooking? Pig"s feed? "

Jiang Feng could only chuckle dryly beside him.

Jiang Weiguo skillfully lowered the heat and stirred the congee in the pot at a constant speed: "The heat is not well adjusted. Look at the congee, it has been thickened by you! You don"t even know how to stir. How did that rascal Jiang Jiankang even teach you?"

The old master of the Jiang family was fuming. Jiang Feng could only stand by and receive the criticism.

After a while, the congee was served.

[A bowl of barley congee with acceptable taste]

The old Jiang Weiguo had only tried to salvage the pot of congee for a dozen or so minutes and it had turned into a bowl of congee with an acceptable taste. Jiang Feng held the bowl in his hands as he blew on it to cool it down while drinking the congee. He could not help but sigh.

The gap between one cook and another could indeed be wider than the gap between humans and pigs.

Just the thought of the old Jiang Weiguo"s pigs getting pig feed made personally by him every day made Jiang Feng green with envy.

Jiang Feng brought two bowls of congee next door.

"Two bowls?" Chen Xiuxiu, who had decided that this was the last day that she was going to have congee, looked at the two bowls of congee in front of her in surprise.

"My grandfather"s here. He helped to control the heat for these. I brought some for Uncle Chen to try as well. By the way, is Uncle Chen in? " Asked Jiang Feng.

"My father is sleeping." Because the old Jiang Weiguo had been in the countryside for more than 10 years, Chen Xiuxiu had never had the honor to taste his cooking.

Jiang Feng didn"t stay long either. He needed to know why the old master had arrived here without a word of notice.

Has something happened in the countryside?

"Grandpa, why didn"t you tell me when you were arriving, I could"ve picked you up at the station!" Jiang Feng returned to see the old master inspecting the kitchen.

"I"m in good health so there was no need to fetch me." After inspecting the kitchen utensils, Jiang Weiguo opened the refrigerator and began checking the ingredients. "This is obviously hormone fed pork. Dump it."

Jiang Feng hurriedly obeyed the old master"s orders and threw the meat away.

"I saw the congee you cooked just now. It"s much better than your cooking that pigs wouldn"t even eat before. You"ve fallen in love right?" Jiang Weiguo remarked.

Jiang Feng was confused.

"It was the same situation when that rascal your eldest uncle was young, asking him to learn how to cook was akin to asking for his life. However, when he fell in love with your aunt, he would enter the kitchen every day to please her."

Jiang Feng thought that the old master was reminiscing now to draw out his unsaid words.

"I dreamed of your great grandfather last night. In the dream, he scolded me for breaking the inheritance of the Jiang family dishes, and scolded me for giving birth to five unworthy descendants, none of whom could bring the Jiang family dishes to new heights." Jiang Weiguo sighed, "Your father is going to stay that way all his life. He can only be a cook that is worse than some, and better than many. None of your male cousins have a talent for cooking. Both of your female cousins look strong but they can"t even shake a ladle."

"I"ve been thinking about it all night, and only you"ve got some talent in your generation." Jiang Weiguo looked at Jiang Feng.

Jiang Feng knew what the old master was thinking.

The children of the Jiang family would be sent to the old master to learn cooking skills every school holiday as kids. The old master thought that he was small, thin and weak. He had instructed him to hang sandbags for more than a year.

Training on the coldest day of winter and the warmest day of summer was a piece of cake compared to that.

He had practiced knife cutting skills for six years. Potatoes, cuc.u.mbers, radishes, tofu and other things that he had cut up had been taken by the old man to feed pigs.

Jiang Feng only began to touch the pot in his second year of high school.

He had only begun cooking for a year and couldn"t even be considered an amateur. He had to start preparing for the mid-term examinations in his third year of high school before he had a chance to learn about the techniques regarding heat control and side ingredients.

Later, he stayed in his high school"s dormitory and was busy with his studies. He had neglected his culinary lesson for four years, and he had never been to the old master"s place to learn cooking since.

All three of Jiang Feng"s cousins had gone through this as well, but the time they had spent learning to cook was not as long as Jiang Feng"s, they were chased back by the old master before they could finish learning their knife work.

The six years spent perfecting his knife work were hard times indeed.

Sometimes he would even dream about cutting cuc.u.mbers.

Sure enough, the things that one feared the most would always haunt them.

"Isn"t your father going to your school to open a new shop? That stupid photoelectric information course that you"re taking now definitely won"t land you a job. You shall inherit your father"s shop and bring our Jiang family dishes to new heights. " Jiang Weiguo and Jiang Jiankang were indeed father and son, they both liked to dream.

"From today on, you shall follow me and learn culinary skills!"

"What?!" Jiang Feng could almost see himself a few years ago when he had been cutting pigs feed every day. "Grandpa, I still have to attend cla.s.ses normally!"

"During the winter and summer holidays! After graduating from University, practice for another dozen years. They all say that diligence can make up for weaknesses. Your grandfather is still in good health. It"s not a problem for me to teach you for a dozen more years! " Jiang Weiguo was full of ambition.

Yes Grandpa, no problem Grandpa, what you said is right Grandpa.

How did the saying go? Elders always liked to place the burden of their unfinished dreams on their children.

It"s better to pa.s.s the great dream of reviving the Jiang family dishes to our future children to accomplish!

Child, Dad has confidence in you!

The arrival of Jiang Weiguo created quite a stir in the entire Jiang family.

Jiang Jiankang didn"t open his shop. After receiving Jiang Weiguo"s instruction, he went to the farmer"s market to buy vegetables. Jiang Jiandang and Li Mingli, his second eldest uncle and aunt also visited when they got news of his arrival. Even Jiang Feng"s cousin, Jiang Shoucheng (his second eldest uncle"s child), bought the latest high-speed rail ticket and rushed back as well.

At lunchtime, four tall and fat people gathered around the door of the Jiang family kitchen, drooling at the smell.

"Third brother, you are blessed!" Jiang Jiandang exclaimed.

"I didn"t expect Xiao Feng to have such good fortune as well." Jiang Jiankang sighed, "Last night, I was just thinking that Xiao Feng was a little gifted at cooking, and father arrived today."

"Our father"s cooking skills have improved again." When Jiang Jiandang got a whiff of the aroma, he recalled the happy times when he could eat the dishes made by the old master when he was a child. "This pot of double-cooked pork slices is more fragrant than last year"s new year"s eve."

"You two little rascals want to work me to death before you come in to help?" The flames in Jiang Weiguo"s heart burned when he looked at his two sons whose culinary skills were not as good as his own. "When your great-grandpa was alive, he could make cabbage taste like fairy gra.s.s!"

Jiang Jiankang and Jiang Jiandang rushed into the kitchen to cut vegetables and wash dishes, cramming up the kitchen that was usually quite s.p.a.cious.

At 12 noon, the table was full of eight dishes and one soup that were full of color and fragrance.

Jiang Feng sat among five fat people and felt that he was not one with the Jiang family.

That"s right.

It was the feeling of the Chinese New Year!

Braised pork b.a.l.l.s in gravy, braised intestine, double-cooked pork slices, shredded potatoes with vinegar, pork pieces simmered in an earthenware jar, stir-fried pig tripe and kidney, steamed tofu stuffed with vegetables, stir-fried water spinach, and a west lake beef soup. They didn"t even have this kind of treatment during the new year!

w.a.n.g Xiulian and Li Mingli had married into the Jiang family for so many years and had never seen such grandeur.

"Go on, eat, what are you guys waiting for?" Jiang Weiguo didn"t like the look of inexperienced ignorance on their faces.

"Eat, eat!" Everyone chimed in.

"By the way, Xiao Feng, go and invite Xiuxiu and Uncle Chen over to eat together." Jiang Jiankang suddenly remembered and turned to explain to Jiang Weiguo, "They are our old neighbors. You should remember Chen Duxiu, right?"

Jiang Weiguo nodded: "That kid always used to come to our house to freeload meals when he was a child."

Jiang Feng went next door and Chen Duxiu happened to be at home.

"Uncle Chen, my grandfather has prepared a table of dishes, my father asked me to come and invite you to eat together." Jiang Feng said.

"Uncle Jiang is here?" Chen Duxiu was suddenly excited and strode quickly to the door, just like an old lady who was ready to s.n.a.t.c.h the supermarket clean of discounted goods. "Xiuxiu, let"s hurry and go to your Uncle Jiang"s house, you won"t be able to eat if you"re late!"

Jiang Feng looked at the two empty dishes on the table, and looked at Chen Xiuxiu in puzzlement: "Didn"t you tell Uncle Chen that the congee had been made by my grandpa in the morning?"

She turned her head away slightly to avoid looking at Jiang Feng as she said: "I forgot."

Jiang Feng had just entered the door with Chen XIuxiu, but before he could reach the table, he heard the old master say, "Xiao Feng, your girlfriend is a little thin!"

"Look at your second aunt. You should find a daughter-in-law who looks blessed like her!"

Li Mingli raised her head proudly.

In terms of weight and tonnage, w.a.n.g Xiulian was faring a little worse than Li Mingli.

"Yes, yes, yes, Uncle Jiang is right." Chen Duxiu gobbled up the pork pieces simmered in an earthenware jar happily. "Xiuxiu, girls need to be a little chubby to look good. Come here, eat some meat."

Two more sets of chopsticks had been added to the table.

Chen Xiuxiu looked at a table full of succulent meat and felt that her mouth was secreting saliva rapidly.

Ok… So good!