The Game of Life

Xu Cheng looked at the four contestants on stage.

He felt that the most correct thing he had done over the years was to blindly get involved and hold this competition with Han Guishan.

He had discovered five pearls, exceptionally brilliant and dazzling, perhaps once clouded with dust, but they were destined to shine brightly, illuminating the entire China’s culinary arts circle.

Below the stage, Ji Xue still wore an expressionless face, concentrating intently on watching the competition.

“There haven’t been any issues with the Tan Family in Guangdong Province, have there?” Xu Cheng asked.

Han Guishan had also been paying attention to this matter: “Master Tan’s son wanted to make a fuss, but Master Sun had already returned to Guangdong Province ahead of time to suppress it, not a ripple of disturbance was caused.” “Oh? It looks like the Jubao Building is about to gain another outstanding young chef,” Xu Cheng said with a smile.

“Master Sun was rejected,” Pei Shenghua said with a laugh that carried a hint of schadenfreude about the widely known incident, “that girl Ji Xue, I don’t know which astute person recognized her talent and snagged her early on. She’s stubborn, says that since her boss has already given her an advance on her salary she couldn’t switch jobs. Even though Master Sun knew she was in need of money and offered her a monthly salary of 100,000, she still wasn’t willing to go to the Jubao Building.”

“Oh, so Master Sun was actually outmaneuvered?” Xu Cheng’s interest was piqued, “That’s really rare. Who could be this remarkable person who outmaneuvered him?”

“I don’t know, but when you see which restaurant that girl ends up in, then I will know who took her from him,” Pei Shenghua replied.

While the judges seriously digressed with their topics, Zhang Guanghang’s “Peach Blossom Fan” had entered a critical moment.

He stirred in sugar and vinegar sauce, cooked diced tomatoes until soft, and added winter bamboo shoots.

He then added chicken broth and brought it to a boil, put in the green peas, and the sauce in the pot turned a very pretty tomato red. Once the green peas were cooked, he added shrimp and slices of meat, flavored it with a few drops of honey, and the dish was complete after drizzling the sauce.

It was sufficiently thick, no need to thicken it with starch.

In another pot, the crispy rice crust was almost dry and taking shape.

This type of rice crust, evenly spread over the bottom of the pot and sprayed lightly with water to let it slowly steam and dry until it formed, only needed to have hot oil heated to about 70% hot poured over it once water dried up, and the golden, crispy rice crust would take shape amid the sizzling sound of hot oil.

Zhang Guanghang served out the sauce, quickly cleaned the pot, and from his adept pot-scrubbing moves, one could tell that he had spent years scrubbing pots while learning to cook from Xia Mushi.

He heated the oil to about 70% hot, scooped up a spoonful, and poured it over the rice crust, which instantly took shape and was ready to be removed from the pot. He waited for a moment, let the rice crust cool down slightly, and then broke it into moderately sized pieces with his hands, putting them into another pot of continuously boiling hot oil for quick deep frying before plating.

The poised staff member, with her elegant small steps, approached Zhang Guanghang.

Zhang Guanghang smiled and waved his hand at her, saying, “I’ll do it.”

The most crucial step of this dish was pouring the sauce, and it had to be done by him personally.

With the rice crust in his left hand and the sauce in his right, Zhang Guanghang, striding with his long legs, walked amid the suppressed gasps of both single and non-single, unmarried and married women to the judges’ table.

Everyone was fixated on the movements in his hands.

“Slash.”

“Crack.”

The scalding hot, tomato-colored sauce met the rice crust, bursting like thunder on the plain, the loudest moment followed by continuous crackling sounds. The original name of the dish was actually more apt than its current name.

Although “Peach Blossom Fan” reflected the scene of human faces and peach blossoms reflecting each other’s redness, which matched the color of the dish and sounded pleasant, it seemed that “Thunder on the Plain” was more fitting for the dish’s current state.

“Not bad, it’s quite interesting,” Xu Cheng was very satisfied.

The red shrimp curled up, the green peas vibrant, the rice crust golden, the winter bamboo shoots tender, and the green onions a garnish, all topped with the tomato-colored sauce, as beautiful as a painting.

At the same place last year, human faces and peach blossoms reflected each other’s redness.

The human face is gone without a trace, but the peach blossoms still laugh in the spring breeze.

Jiang Feng even temporarily put aside his carving work on the little lamb Suzy, staring at the crackling “Peach Blossom Fan” at the judges’ table.

The only person in the entire arena not attracted by Zhang Guanghang’s dish was Gu Li, who was focused on making golden silk siu mai.

After serving the dish, Zhang Guanghang returned to his cooking station.

Although the staff sister didn’t get to serve a dish, she received a smile from Zhang Guanghang and a three-word phrase that was enough to make her swoon and incite jealousy among the other staff sisters who had not succeeded.

Peach Blossom Overflowing was sour and sweet, rich in ingredients, with a crispy rice crust that Han Guishan couldn’t stop eating, all the while he kept exclaiming admiringly.

“Not bad, this dish is really good, quite delicious!”

“It’s okay, it has a bit of a beginner’s taste,” Xu Cheng agreed.

“Wu is still a bit lacking in fire control compared to him,” Pei Shenghua said.

“They are nearly 10 years apart, of course there’s a difference in fire control,” Tong Deyan said.

“Ten years? Wu isn’t even twenty?” Zhu Chang asked.

“She’s not even 19 yet,” Tong Deyan said. “I remember she’s three years younger than my apprentice, and isn’t my apprentice 22 this year?”

“Yo-ho,” Pei Shenghua’s smile gradually turned wretched.

Since it was the finals, naturally, some suspense had to be maintained. Even though everyone had a score in mind and had made a decision about their rankings, they couldn’t reveal anything. They all had to wait until the end to give their comments and reveal the results together.

“However,” Pei Shenghua suddenly hesitated, “the topics of the competition for the top four are exactly the same, and if Zhang Guanghang’s score is higher than the previous two, there will likely be quite a controversy online!”

“Let there be controversy, there’s no need to dock his points,” Xu Cheng said. “This is just a temporary victory or defeat; the road ahead is still long. Anything can be faked, but culinary skills can’t; good is good, and bad is bad.”

“Old Pei, you’re just over thinking,” Zhu Chang chimed in. “What’s there to argue about? Competitions are like this, there are winners and losers, sometimes you go with the flow and sometimes you go against it. My biggest fear is giving in to the moment and yet opposing it in your heart for a lifetime.”

Han Guishan couldn’t understand what they were talking about, or even who they were talking about, but he was used to it. He had finished the rice crust on his plate and turned to eating the shrimp and meat slices.

The dishes of Jiang Feng and Gu Li both took a significant amount of time. Gu Li was slow, still wrapping siu mai, carefully pinching each pleat one by one, with the egg skin already cut into fine threads placed in a dish beside him.

Jiang Feng continued to carve radishes. He had finished the Peppa Pig series, with three different versions of George the Porcupine. Lately, the grandson of the family from Shaxian Snacks next door had been watching “Boonie Bears” every day, filling Jiang Feng’s head with thoughts of Bear Boss and Xionger. After pondering for a while, Jiang Feng started to carve Bear Boss.

As soon as Han Guishan saw a bear’s head, he recognized that it was Bear Boss carved by Jiang Feng’s hand and was immediately energized.

“He’s carving Bear Boss!” Han Guishan exclaimed with excitement. “My son has been particularly fond of eating Bear Boss lately!”

The other five judges: ???

After finishing the Bear Boss he was working on, Jiang Feng glanced at the clay pot and sniffed the aroma, feeling it needed more time. He could still carve an Xionger and a Bald Qiang to complete the Boonie Bears cast.

Turning the heat down further, Jiang Feng picked up his knife to continue carving Xionger.

Gu Li finally finished wrapping 10 siu mai, tying a knot at the opening of each with the finely cut egg skin strings, his movements gentle and unhurried, filled with composure.

Jiang Feng, having finished with the Boonie Bears cast, placed it together with the Peppa Pig cast, creating an exceptionally harmonious display.

Gu Li placed the 10 golden silk siu mai into the steamer basket and began to steam them.

Jiang Feng lifted the lid; the fire control was perfect.

Gu Li stood quietly beside the steamer.

Jiang Feng raised his hand.

The eyes of the entire crowd were fixed on Jiang Feng’s raised hand, which still had a bandage wrapped around it.

Everyone knew the moment that would decide the winner had arrived..