The Game of Life

Chapter 644: Chapter 642: Looking for the Chicken

Sang Ming actually didn’t bother Jiang Feng.

After working with Sang Ming for so long, Jiang Feng had long become used to his habit of becoming especially talkative around the holidays, chattering incessantly.

An excellent boss needs to be tolerant of their employees’ small foibles when necessary.

The reason Jiang Feng was carrying the meat was that he had just realized that tomorrow was not only his birthday but also the one-year anniversary of his relationship with Wu Minqi.

Although he didn’t think a one-year dating anniversary was anything special, not like a wedding anniversary, Minqi was his future wife, so after rounding up, there wasn’t much difference between a one-year dating anniversary and a wedding anniversary. He hadn’t managed to give the hideous pastry rose he made for Qixi Festival last time, so this time he was determined to make up for it on their dating anniversary.

As for leveling up and grinding experience, that was nothing compared to his wife.

Besides, leveling up and giving your wife a gift could be done simultaneously, and as a professional chef, what better gift than a good dish could there be for a one-year dating anniversary.

Jiang Feng carried the meat over to Ji Xia, who was pondering whether to bring potato chips or spicy strips for the picnic tomorrow.

“Xiaxia, slice this piece of meat. I’m going to make a call and will be back in half an hour to check on it,” Jiang Feng handed the meat to Ji Xia.

Ji Xia: ?

My master is back?

After washing his hands, Jiang Feng went to get his phone and squatted in a secluded spot in the lobby to call Wang Hao.

It was afternoon now, so Wang Hao was definitely not at work, as he usually finished his work in the morning and slacked off in the afternoon.

As expected, the call was answered instantly.

“Hello Feng, what brings you to call me today? I heard you’ve been so obsessed with cooking that you’ve practically gone into a trance; have you finally emerged triumphantly?” Wang Hao spoke with a relaxed tone that clearly indicated he was slacking off.

“Who did you hear that from, this ‘going into a trance’ thing? I call this striving for improvement,” Jiang Feng felt that he might indeed have been too absorbed in his work lately, as those words from Wang Hao made him feel as if he was in a different world.

“Sang Ming told me. He said these days in the restaurant, all you do is cook and cook, hardly ever using the restroom, living like a robot. No wonder I didn’t see you last Sunday when I went to your place; I thought you had the day off,” Wang Hao said.

Jiang Feng was startled; he hadn’t realized his recent behavior while engrossed in gaining experience appeared that way to others.

“Sang Ming said I’ve been like a robot lately?” Jiang Feng asked.

“He didn’t put it that way, I summarized it,” Wang Hao paused, “Let me think how he put it. He told me you’ve been arriving in the kitchen early every morning, and as soon as you arrive, you start chopping without a break. After lunch, when the service ends, you eat and then get back to cooking, going on until the evening service ends. Before heading home, you even take ingredients with you, I guess to continue cooking.”

“Sometimes people call out to you, and you don’t hear them. It’s like you’re enchanted by cooking. Doesn’t that sound like a robot? But I think that kid Sang Ming is exaggerating.

Feng, remember to save me a spot for tomorrow night’s BBQ, I’ll head over after work,” Wang Hao said.

Jiang Feng now somewhat understood why Wu Minqi and the others had been looking at him strangely these days.

He’d been eager to improve his proficiency, especially in knifework. Since the standards for knifework proficiency were very high now, he had to be fully focused and attentive while chopping. Sang Ming’s description of him being mesmerized by cooking might not be an exaggeration.

So, they couldn’t possibly think he was going crazy, could they?

Jiang Feng felt it was time to find an opportunity to have a proper talk with Minqi and explain that he wasn’t crazy; it was simply a matter of embodying the core socialist values of civility, democracy, harmony, strength, and striving for progress.

As for how to explain it, he would have to come up with something good tonight.

“Your spot is guaranteed,” Jiang Feng said, “Let’s not talk about such nonsense. I have something serious to ask you.”

“What gift did you give for your one-year dating anniversary?” Jiang Feng asked.

“You’re asking about that?”

Jerk!

“Either one’s fine.”

“That depends on the person. A one-year anniversary is a big deal, not something casual like a hundred-day anniversary. You have to consider what Ms. Wu likes,” Wang Hao said.

“You have to give a gift for the hundred-day anniversary too?” Jiang Feng was surprised; it’s not like they were celebrating a baby’s 100-day feast. If one were to give gifts for a hundred-day anniversary, they might as well do the same for a month.

“Some people give, some don’t, it mainly depends on whether the girlfriend wants it,” Wang Hao, clearly an experienced hand, said, “Feng, I remember Ms. Wu really likes Dior stuff. Wouldn’t it be fine to just buy her some clothes, shoes, or a handbag as a gift?”

In Wang Hao’s mind, Jiang Feng was like his second boss. Even though he didn’t pay him a salary, he was still the boss. How could the boss be out of money?

“If I had the money for Dior, would I be calling you?” The boss told Wang Hao he really was broke.

“Then just give something Ms. Wu likes!”

“Of course, I know that. I plan to cook a dish for Minqi. Didn’t you come to the kitchen to try dishes every day recently? Did you manage to figure out anything, like what Minqi has been liking lately?” Jiang Feng asked.

Wang Hao: ?

Can you even discern that?

After thinking for a bit, Wang Hao said, “Ms. Wu likes spicy food.”

“I don’t know how.”

Wang Hao: …

“Then make something that’s both delicious and complex, the more complex the better, the more complex the better to show your sincerity! Like ‘Buddhas Jumping Over the Wall’ or ‘Boiled Cabbage in Broth,’ if you can’t do that then… then… then make something similar!” Wang Hao burst out with another brilliant idea.

Jiang Feng immediately felt that this adviser had some use after all.

“Okay, let’s leave it at that for now. Call me before you come over tomorrow night,” Jiang Feng hung up the phone.

He knew what he had to do.

He was going to make Ji Yue clear soup noodles tomorrow morning!

The kind of clear soup noodles that Jiang Weiming made in his memory!

The kind that took eight hours to simmer the broth!

Even if he couldn’t produce top-notch clear broth, after all the hard work he, Jiang Feng, had put into practicing, there was no way he hadn’t improved at all.

His seasoning and fire control skills had leveled up by 700,000!

His knifework was nearly at 970,000!

Round it up a bit, and it was Grandmaster Level.

Round up his culinary skills a bit more, and he would be on par with Sir.

These days, Jiang Feng had been cooking all sorts of soups and also consulted Jiang Weiming for advice on making clear broth, as well as other techniques for various soups. Although he’d never actually made a complete batch of clear broth or stock from scratch, he had helped Jiang Weiming skim broth a few times.

Although it might not turn out perfect, he was confident that he could make it.

Using the first pot of clear broth he made in his life to prepare clear soup noodles for his girlfriend as a gift for their one-year anniversary – could there be a better gift in the world?

Jiang Feng thought he was simply a genius when it came to love.

The kind that could write a book.

Having figured it out, Jiang Feng immediately went back to the kitchen to look for a chicken.

To make an excellent clear soup, the quality of the ingredients was crucial, especially when the chef’s skills might not be enough; the quality of the chicken directly determined the quality of the soup.

If the chef falls short, rely on a good mother chicken.

“Master, has it been half an hour yet? Because I haven’t finished with the meat…” Ji Xia, seeing Jiang Feng rush back, thought it was time and became a bit flustered, hurriedly explaining to Jiang Feng.

Then Jiang Feng walked right past her without paying any attention.

Jiang Feng circled the kitchen and storeroom but didn’t see a single whole chicken.

They were all processed, and many were already marinated.

“Dad, do we have any whole chickens in the store?” Jiang Feng went to find Jiang Jiankang.

“Whole chicken?” Jiang Jiankang was puzzled, “Don’t think we have any left. We order a fixed amount of whole chickens for the store, reserved mostly for Ji Xue to use for her Clay Pot Hua Diao Chicken. Son, are you planning to stew chicken soup tonight? You don’t necessarily need a whole chicken for that, right? Isn’t there a lot of sliced chicken legs and wings over there? Just use them to stew, those parts taste better than the others anyway.”

Jiang Feng felt it wasn’t right; the essence of clear soup and stock was to use one or several whole chickens to stew.

“Dad, do you think there’s anywhere that still sells live chickens now, preferably free-range chickens?” asked Jiang Feng.

“Free-range chickens are hard to find nowadays, and even if there are, they wouldn’t be able to deliver them immediately,” Jiang Jiankang began to seriously ponder the problem.

Mainly because he thought if Jiang Feng was going to stew chicken tonight, Jiang Feng and Wu Minqi probably couldn’t finish it all by themselves, and he could help eat some too.

“Grandma Chen has them at her house!” Jiang Jiankang slapped his thigh excitedly, “Doesn’t Grandma Chen raise a flock of chickens in her yard?”

Hearing this, Jiang Feng was about to go to the changing room to get changed and head to Li Mansion to borrow a chicken.

“Sonny, business hours are about to start, where are you heading off to now!” Jiang Jiankang called out loudly.

“Dad, I’m just going to Li Mansion to borrow a chicken, I’ll be back soon. I’ve already finished processing the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon, you just need to steam them and keep an eye on them,” said Jiang Feng, as he dashed off with the speed of the wind.

The four people standing in the corner watching the whole process: …

Ji Yue glanced at Zhang Guanghang, her face a picture of stupefaction.

“Do you think… is he acting normally?”

Zhang Guanghang was a bit stupefied too.

“It seems like he is a bit…”@@novelbin@@

“Not quite normal.”