The Game of Life

The preliminary competition was once again held in the suburbs, but the venue was better than the open audition’s—it was inside a warehouse. Due to the warehouse size, the preliminaries were divided into groups of fifty, totaling nearly three thousand competitors spread across exactly sixty groups. The last group had twenty-seven, and Jiang Feng was in that group, still number thirteen.

Because there were only twenty-seven cooking stations, the warehouse seemed somewhat empty. The air was filled with floating dust, and those with a more sensitive sense of smell could even detect a faint, lingering odor from the last batch of goods.

The competitors all arrived quite early, with no absences. Seeing that everyone was present, the organizing committee’s staff decided to announce the competition rules ahead of schedule.

“Contestants, for this round of preliminaries, each group will have ten public judges and one professional food critic as judges. The critic for this group is Professor Ye Shi from the Architecture Department of Capital University, who is also a special correspondent for the ‘Taste’ magazine. The public judges will taste and score in the order of completion, based on the three cards I hold in my hand—red signifies excellent, yellow signifies passable, and green signifies dissatisfaction. A dish that obtains eight or more red cards will be tasted and scored by Professor Ye, whose scores will mainly determine the final rankings.” “As you have seen, the ingredients for this competition are not themed, hence all the ingredients on the table are available for use. Since there are fewer contestants in this group, only one contestant will advance to the second round of preliminaries. There is no time limit for this round, but it is restricted to a single dish. There are seven minutes until the start of the competition. If you have any questions, you may ask them now,” said the staff member with a smile, lifting the megaphone.

“It’s not fair that only one person out of twenty-seven can advance in our group!” a girl in the front row voiced the concerns of most of those present.

“Contestant, the number of advancement spots is calculated based on the proportion of participants in each competition area. The advancement rate for the first round of preliminaries in this area is 4%, and in other venues, only two people per competition can advance,” the staff member replied.

The crowd burst into an uproar.

For a moment, the atmosphere became as tense as if swords were drawn and bows were bent.

Those present, whether by luck or by skill, had all passed the auditions, which eliminated only 50% of the participants. No one expected that the first round of preliminaries would cut down 96% of contestants, and even though most knew that they would likely be eliminated before the national top 32 after several rounds of preliminaries, they did not anticipate the eliminations to come so soon.

“Do any contestants have any other questions?” the staff member asked.

“The ten public judges have to taste twenty-seven dishes. If they have even a slightly small appetite, won’t they be… full by the time they taste the last ones?” a bespectacled boy in the middle asked.

“That is correct, what this contestant has mentioned is true. This round of preliminary competition not only tests your culinary skills but also tests your speed,” the staff member replied. “Any other questions?”

The crowd was completely silent.

“There are five more minutes until the start of the competition. Please, contestants, do not start early, or you will be disqualified,” the staff member announced before putting down the megaphone.

Jiang Feng felt a bit panicked.

Actually, his mental fortitude was quite good, but the atmosphere in the venue was particularly heavy, and this type of grouped competition, with only the top 4% advancing, was quite dependent on luck. If a group was full of weak players, it all came down to which one had a bit more luck. If a group was full of strong contenders, the intense competition could absolutely compare to a battlefield. But no matter how you slice it…

Luck is also part of one’s strength.

Jiang Feng glanced at the ingredients provided by the organizers.

One eggplant, two eggs, a loofah, three pieces of white tofu, and a handful of long beans. Everything one needed for seasoning was readily available- onions, ginger, garlic, they had it all, there was even a small basket of cilantro. Cilantro was definitely off the table, and he couldn’t mince onions, ginger, or garlic either. The public judges were ordinary people; encountering even one or two with food aversions would result in a green card warning.

As Jiang Feng was considering what dish to make that was both quick and popular with the public, the staff member picked up the megaphone again.

“The competition begins.”

In the blink of an eye, an idea for a dish surfaced in Jiang Feng’s mind.

If he was going to do it, he had to stick with what he knew well.

Eggplant braised with long beans!

Eggplant, as a native plant of Huaguo, plays a pivotal role among vegetables as can be seen from its pricing in university cafeterias.

Eggplant is the “flower among vegetables!”

The vegetables were all washed, Jiang Feng snapped the green beans into sections, sliced the eggplant into strips, and cut the garlic into chunks. Actually, smashing the garlic into a paste would bring out its aroma better, but Jiang Feng knew some people were averse to garlic, so he cut it into chunks to prevent accidental consumption.

With skilled knifework, Jiang Feng processed the ingredients quickly. The oil was already in the wok while most people were still pondering what to make.

He heated the oil to about sixty percent hot and poured in the eggplant, constantly turning it with chopsticks in the wok, not daring to slack off for even a moment. As he was doing that, someone raised a hand to signal they had finished.

The person was right in front of Jiang Feng on the right. He glanced over, Scallion Fried Eggs.

Jiang Feng:…

Well, you’re quite the clever one, aren’t you?

Jiang Feng even felt a little annoyed that he hadn’t thought of Scallion Fried Eggs himself. Not only is the dish easy to make, but it’s also delicious when done right, and even those who aren’t fond of scallions can enjoy it.

Once you’ve started, there’s no turning back. Being the first to make a dish is clever, but the second is just following the trend. Jiang Feng continued to tend to the eggplant in the wok, waiting for its surface to turn golden brown and soft before swiftly removing it to drain off the oil. Without turning off the heat, he poured the green beans in to deep-fry; deep-fried green beans aren’t just more fragrant, they have a better texture, and it’s easier for them to absorb flavors when stir-fried later on.

After frying the green beans, it was time for the main event. Leaving some oil in the wok and heating it up, he sauteed the garlic until it was fragrant, then added both the eggplant and green beans into the wok for a high-heat stir-fry, continuously tossing and stirring, adding salt, sugar, and other seasonings. He finished off with a touch of dark soy sauce for color, constantly stirring and tossing to ensure the green beans and eggplant heated evenly and absorbed the flavors.

The dish was ready, out of the wok.

Because they had been deep-fried, the green beans’ skins looked wrinkled and glossy, making them appear very fresh and tender. The eggplant’s skin was a deep purple, also glossed with oil, its flesh a pale yellow. All of the sauce had been absorbed by the eggplant and green beans, leaving the plate clean.

Jiang Feng quickly arranged the dish, burying the eggplant under the green beans to create a small mound. The deep purple skin and the pale yellow flesh were subtly visible. Although it didn’t achieve the “hand covering half the lute” effect Jiang Feng wanted, it was still pretty good. He placed two sprigs of cilantro at the top right corner of the plate as a garnish, then raised his hand to indicate he had finished.

The judges were seated at the front, and the staff took the dish up and told him that he could go to the rest area to wait.

The rest area was a small partition in a warehouse, with a dozen or so chairs. When Jiang Feng entered, there were only three people inside.

One girl and two guys, one of whom was the clever sprite who made the Scallion Fried Eggs.

“I’m the fourth to finish?” Jiang Feng found it hard to believe.

“Brother, you’re thinking too much, you’re the seventeenth,” another guy with glasses spoke up. “The few before you didn’t even get eight red cards, got no score at all, no chance of advancing so they left early.”

“Do all three of you have the same score?” Jiang Feng asked.

“Not exactly, the girl and I both have eight red cards, but this guy is awesome. He managed to get nine red cards with Scallion Fried Eggs, and the score isn’t out yet. The organizers are keeping us in suspense until the very end to announce the scores,” said the guy with glasses. “By the way, my name is Zhang Luyu, I’m from UAL University. You seem about my age, which university are you from?”

“I’m also from UAL University, Jiang Feng,” Jiang Feng said.

Coming across a schoolmate, the conversation naturally grew lively. Zhang Luyu was the restless and eloquent type, and he quickly spilled all his beans. A sophomore majoring in Animation, from Hebei, he usually cooked at home, and it was sheer luck that he made a steamed egg dish that got him eight red cards. He hadn’t really expected to advance and was just curious to see how many points Professor Ye would give him.

Since Jiang had walked in, the other two hadn’t said a word, quite aloof.

Just as the two were chatting, staff entered.

“Who is contestant number 13, Jiang Feng?”

Jiang Feng raised his hand.

“Congratulations, ten red cards. We’ll announce the judges’ scores at the end, please wait patiently,” the staff member said.

“Damn, bro, you’re freaking awesome, you’re on fire!” Zhang Luyu couldn’t help but curse in his excitement.

*Beep beep, a 1/4 chance, what a tricky nickname, your requested cameo has arrived, please check it out. Please leave a five-star review, thanks.