The Game of Life

Twenty more minutes passed, and Jiang Feng felt that the braised pork was about ready to come out of the pot.

The sauce had completely penetrated the fatty pork, most of the fat had been stewed out, and the large chunks of pork in the pot looked shiny and greasy. Although it wasn’t so tender that it would fall apart with a light poke of the chopsticks, it was soft enough to the touch.

He picked up a small piece. The ratio of fat to lean meat was just right; the fat seemed to melt away from the lean part in the mouth and could be swallowed easily, sliding down the throat, while the lean meat had also become completely tender, with distinct strands and fully permeated with flavor. Due to the addition of some sugar, a careful chew revealed a slight sweetness.

With this dish, Jiang Feng was confident that even Sir wouldn’t be able to find fault with it.

Finally came the steamed eggs. Once Jiang Feng placed the bowl with the egg mixture into the pot, he didn’t have to worry about it anymore. Seizing the moment, he sneakily ate a few bites of the dishes. Although the portions were large, served on extra-large plates, he felt he wouldn’t be able to outdo his uncles and cousins at the dining table. If his Uncle Grandfather noticed he hadn’t eaten his fill, that pot of ‘death-flavored’ braised meat would be his fate. To avoid the braised meat, everyone would surely do their utmost to feed themselves as quickly as possible.

As Jiang Feng was merrily having a taste of each dish, both meat and vegetables, Jiang Zaidi walked in and asked, “Feng, it’s almost noon, your dishes… Holy smokes, you’re actually sneaking some food.”

“What sneaking some food?” Jiang Feng quickly swallowed the food in his mouth. After all, with such a large plate, no one would notice how much he had eaten. “How can tasting for seasoning be considered sneaking food?” “Have you seen me eat a lot? I’ve only had two bites to taste for seasoning!” Jiang Feng declared earnestly.

As a chef, tasting the seasoning for ten minutes is normal, right?

Jiang Zaidi tentatively believed his tall tale, “How is it then? 1 heard Grandpa put you under pressure to learn for several months, you didn’t burn it this time, did you? Eh, let me taste the meat!”

Jiang Feng:…

Jiang Zaidi proceeded to grab the chopsticks, standing in front of a large basin of braised pork and began to eat.

“Hmm, not bad, it’s not burnt.” One piece.

“Let me check the fatty pieces.” Two pieces.

“Good, pretty tender, not greasy.” Three pieces.

Til try a lean one next.” Four pieces.

“The lean part is fine, too.” Five pieces.

“Let’s try a big one.” Six pieces.

“The big piece is a bit under-flavored, let me try a smaller one.” Seven pieces.

“The small piece is good, eh this piece looks like a good mix of fat and lean.” Eight pieces.

111 try again…” Jiang Zaidi was about to grab the ninth piece when Jiang Feng slapped the chopsticks out of his hand.

Taste any more and there’ll be none left, no more tasting. The steamed egg custard is ready, the dishes are all set, let’s serve them together.” Jiang Feng interrupted Jiang Zaidi’s brazen snacking, removed the lid from the pot, and saw the egg custard was done, any further steaming would overcook it.

Jiang Zaidi was somewhat disappointed, as the braised pork sneaked before the meal always tasted better than what was grabbed from the table, but he still acknowledged Jiang Feng’s culinary skills, “Feng, you did a decent job on the braised pork, almost as good as your dad. Hey, this egg custard looks not bad, let me help you taste for seasoning.”

With that, he reached for a spoon.

Jiang Feng quickly grabbed the spoon, “This one bowl, I steamed it for Uncle Grandfather.”

Jiang Zaidi had no choice but to give up and help serve the dishes.

The five dishes were served. Although there weren’t many, the portions were generous and they looked good.

Uncle Grandfather squinted his eyes, which were seriously affected by presbyopia, and scrutinized the dishes for a while, “Today’s dishes weren’t cooked by my daughter-in-law, were they?”

“It was Feng who cooked them,” Tian Lin said with a smile. “Dad, Feng said he practiced for a long time at home just so he could cook this meal for you today. Look at this, braised pork, eggplants, cabbage, and tofu, they all look and smell delicious.”

“Good boy, specially cooking a meal for Uncle Grandfather, such a good boy!”

Uncle Grandfather beamed with joy, “Eh, where’s the braised meat?

Daughter-in-law, go get the braised meat, and give Feng a bowl first.”

Jiang Feng was about to turn green on the spot, but thankfully, he held back, thanks to the years of honing his acting skills during New Year’s visits to his’ maternal granduncle’s home. He quickly said, “No need, no need for trouble, the braised meat is to be had with the soup at the end. Come on, let’s eat, great-uncle, you should try the dishes first. This steamed egg with egg flower is specially made for you.”

“Specially made for me, huh? Feng is really thoughtful.” The great-uncle was even happier, not mentioning the braised meat issue, “I must have a good taste.”

After taking a bite, the great-uncle praised, “Not bad, not bad, much tenderer than the steamed eggs your aunt makes, and the flavor is good too.”

Now this uncle is a chef at a state-owned restaurant, Jiankang is also a chef at a state-owned restaurant, and Feng has profound family learning. We can’t compare with that. Come, let’s taste Feng’s cooking skills.” Tian Lin was the first to pick up a piece of eggplant with her chopsticks.

Everyone began to pick up dishes.

“Impressive, Feng has made quite some progress, huh? Last Lantern Festival, he even burned the fish while frying it, and now he’s got this level of skill with red braised pork, not bad at all!” Jiang Jiandang exclaimed in shock, having never tasted Jiang Feng’s previous Jianqin version of the clear soup willow leaf swan vegetables.

Jiang Feng:… Only a small piece of the fish skin got burned last year. Can we please stop talking about that fish?

“Not bad, Feng has made progress compared to the last time with the silver ear fungus and quail egg soup,” Jiang Jianguo also complimented.

“Better fire control than the fish-flavored shredded pork you made before,”

Jiang Jiankang said with a satisfied look on his face.

Everyone was very supportive, even the usually taciturn and reticent Zhao

Tizhuang (the great-uncle’s son) nodded and praised.

By the way, Mrs. Jiang s full name is Zhao LanHua. Everyone in their village has the surname Zhao, but Mrs. Jiang really hated it when people called her by her full name.

Jiang Feng was admittedly getting a bit carried away, showered with such dense and frequent praise from so many people.

“When you were frying the tofu, the angle for flipping the spatula wasn’t enough, the sauce wasn’t evenly distributed.”

“The red braised pork needed more time for the high-heat sauteing.”

“If you’re making sweet and sour cabbage, you should tear it by hand.”

The seasoning for the eggplant was too heavy.”

Sir realized that Jiang Feng was getting ahead of himself and poured four basins of cold water on him simultaneously, bringing him instantly back to reality.

The dinner table fell silent.

“However, overall, it’s still okay, a bit better than before the new year,” Sir finally added a compliment.

“That old fellow always measuring Feng by his own standards,” Mrs. Jiang said.

“It’s only right for uncle to have high standards, being a chef at a state-owned restaurant. Back in the day, he was famous for miles around. Who didn’t know uncle’s name?” Tian Lin tried to lighten the mood.

“Yes, yes, yes, when LanHua married Weiguo, which girl wasn’t envious?” the great-uncle agreed.

“With dad’s cooking skills, Feng is far from comparison. That dinner the other night, you couldn’t find anyone in Zet City with better skills than our dad!” Wang Xiulian cleverly started praising Sir.

‘It’s our dad’s skills, which small kid among the neighbors wasn’t envious of us five brothers since we were little?” Jiang Jianguo greatly flattered.

“Feng definitely can’t match up to dad’s skills, it’s perfectly normal for dad to point out flaws!” Jiang Jiandang chimed in.

‘Little brother’s skills are nowhere near grandpa’s,” Jiang Junqing also vied to be a suck-up.

“Grandpa’s soup yesterday was simply marvelous, I haven’t had such delicious soup in my entire life!” Jiang Zaidi declared emphatically.

A group of people started to flatter Sir non-stop.

Jiang Feng: ???

This isn’t right, aren’t you supposed to be praising me?

I was the one who made this meal!