The Game Of Life

Among the three pigs that were being fed, Da Hua was always the fastest to run for the food. Its body was huge and had strong back legs. Everything about the pig showed that it was the best of its kind.

Jiang Weiguo looked at Da Hua with satisfaction as he was calculating in his head how many kilos of meat he could get from it.

Dahua munched on the food it was given, not realizing that its life was coming to an end.

Shrieks from a pig could be heard throughout the next morning as Dahua became meat on the chopping board. Jiang Weiguo personally deboned the pig and separated its meat into different parts, namely the hock, loin, belly, rump, ribs, head, shoulder, and offal. After leaving his wife with a few kilograms worth of belly and rump, Jiang Weiguo mailed the rest of the meats to the Healthy Restaurant.

He went straight to the bus station with a lot of game meat and herbs.

Since the old man would get nausea from taking the plane and had never taken a train before, the only option that was left for him was to take the bus. After crossing a few cities with all his belongings and reaching A City, the pork meats that he"d sent had already arrived at the Healthy Restaurant for three days.

Jiang Jiankang was shocked when he received the parcel.

There were a ton of boxes that were just out of the freezer. Stickers that indicated they were fresh foods were stuck onto the boxes. Staring at them, Jiang Jiankang couldn"t recall when he"d made an order online.

But when he opened the parcel and took the meat out, he immediately recognized that the pig was Dahua when he saw the head.

Not only Jiang Jiankang, but even w.a.n.g Xiulian also recognized it.

The married couple talked about why Jiang Weiguo would kill his favorite pig and send it over. They couldn"t reach a conclusion, and Jiang Jiankang was wary of calling Jiang Weiguo to ask him about it. He would get a scolding from the old man.

And that was how the meats ended up in the freezer for three days until Jiang Weiguo arrived.

Even though Jiang Weiguo didn"t know how to purchase a ticket with his phone, he still knew how to operate the GPS on it. He followed the GPS and arrived at the Healthy Restaurant by dinnertime with his huge gunny sack.

"Dad?" w.a.n.g Xiulian shouted in disbelief when she saw the old man standing at the door. All the customers turned to look at the door as w.a.n.g Xiulian had a loud voice.

"Dad, why didn"t you tell us you were coming? We could"ve picked you up at the station." w.a.n.g Xiulian said as she ran to help Jiang Weiguo with his luggage. "Why are you bringing so much stuff anyway? Isn"t it tiring? Oh, we got the parcel you"d sent too."

"Did any of you touch it?" Jiang Weiguo asked.

"Of course not! We wouldn"t dare to. It"s all in the freezer," w.a.n.g Xiulian laughed and shouted towards the kitchen. "Jiankang! Jiang Jiankang! Dad"s here! Come out!"

"What? Dad"s here?" Jiang Jiankang exclaimed as he rushed out from the kitchen with a spatula in his hand.

"What are you getting so nervous about?" Jian Weiguo scolded as he noticed the piece of carrot that was still on the spatula. He then s.n.a.t.c.hed the spatula from Jiang Jiankang and went into the kitchen.

The married couple followed closely behind Jiang Weiguo.

"Looks like it"s true. Jiang Feng"s family is in a financial crisis," one of the customers, a student in a yellow jacket, sighed.

"Right? I thought they were just exaggerating, but it seems like it"s real," the other customer, another student in a red hat, nodded.

Even Ji Yue, who knew the turnover rate of Healthy Restaurant, was also compelled to believe that Jiang Feng"s family was in debt after seeing Jiang Weiguo.

No one could blame them for believing it when they saw an old man coming from the village to visit his relatives. What was more was that the old man had a cotton overcoat that was covered in dust, his face was old and dark. His hands were the hands of someone who"d gone through hard labor too.

But those were just the imaginations of the customers.

Other than being a little worn out from the long bus ride, Jiang Weiguo looked much healthier than men of his own age. He wasn"t that dark nor old and grey either. Rather than that, he was much larger than people of his age. And the overcoat that was covered in dust, it was actually bought from a Valentino Giovani outlet.

When Jiang Weiguo got into the kitchen, Jiang Feng was focused on making soup.

Even Jiang Feng himself thought that he"d gone mad from making pot after pot of soup for the past few days.

Unlike frying other dishes, making soup required patience. Because of that, Jiang Feng was already in a zone where he could barely notice the things that were happening around him. It was as if he was a martial artist from the novels, where he entered a meditation that allowed him to focus on the soup in front of him.

Jiang Feng had started to focus on the feedback that the system had given. He began to a.n.a.lyze the amount of heat that was needed for the dish, the perfect method to handle ingredients, and even things that he"d never thought he would even consider, like the compatibility of different ingredients.

These were things that Jiang Jiankang could not teach.

In just a few days, Jiang Feng"s skill in making soup has reached a whole new level.

Jiang Feng was so focused that he didn"t even notice Jiang Weiguo"s arrival.

The soup that Jiang Feng was making had oyster mushroom, yanagi-matsutake, and corn in it.

To remove the odor from the matsutake, Jiang Feng even stir-fried it in garlic, onion, and ginger first.

The soup was already in the last stage of completion.

Jiang Feng slowly stirred clockwise as steam slowly evaporated into the air, spreading the aroma from the mushrooms around him.

Jiang Weiguo took a sniff and walked over to the pot. After taking a look and noticing the three main ingredients that were mentioned earlier, he could also sniff out three other ingredients.

"Not good," Jiang Weiguo said. "Too many types of ingredient. Your skill isn"t enough to handle such dishes yet."

It was then Jiang Feng noticed his grandfather standing behind him.

"Grandpa?" Jiang Feng exclaimed as he stopped stirring the soup.

"How long have you been practicing on soup?" Jiang Weiguo asked.

"Half… half a month…" Jiang Feng replied, still in shock. He couldn"t cope with the fact that his grandfather was there without giving him any prior notice.

"Your dad told me that you looked like you were possessed by some soup making demon or something," Jiang Weiguo said as he took the soup ladle from Jiang Feng and stirred. "It"s not that bad, but you are too greedy. Let me guess, you thought that the mushroom flavor was too strong and decided to add other ingredients to thin it out. Are you trying to turn the mushroom soup into a mixed soup or something?"

Jiang Weiguo definitely lived up to his years of experience as a renowned chef. He could notice the problem with the soup at just a glance.

Jiang Feng quickly nodded.

"You are trying to make a mushroom soup, and yet you don"t want the mushroom flavor to be too strong? What are you? Dumb?" Jiang Weiguo scolded as he knocked the pot with the ladle. "Do it again!"

Jiang Weiguo"s words immediately woke Jiang Feng up.

Grandpa"s right… Why am I trying to avoid the mushroom flavor when I"m making a mushroom soup? Did I just waste all those days trying to remedy that?