The Game of Life

This must have been the shortest memory he had ever experienced, barely over three hours in total, just the time it took to prepare a dish.

After reviewing the memory, he inexplicably felt that Sun Guanyun was a bit pitiable.

Previously, Jiang Feng was misled by a junior editor hell-bent on emulating the Hong Kong City reporters, leading him to believe that the relationship between Sun Guanyun and Sun Maochai was inherently poor. After all, it’s difficult for two tigers to share one mountain, and a genius like Sun Maochai would always inspire jealousy. The competition was just a catalyst, and the split between the Jewel Building brothers was bound to happen sooner or later.

After all, that junior editor’s story was logical, coherent, and well-argued. At that time, Jiang Feng was just a naive sweetheart with only intermediate skills in detecting lies, and he truly believed the nonsense that editor spun.

Everything Jiang Feng had just witnessed, from the reaction of the onlookers to the conversation between Qi Zhongkai and Jiang Weiguo, and even Sun Guanyun’s smile before he burst into tears, indicated that the relationship between Sun Guanyun and Sun Maochai was not bad at all.

Not just not bad, it actually seemed quite good.

So now the question arises, did Jiang Weiguo really catch Zhang Kun and give him a beating?

Jiang Feng felt that Sir’s temper probably meant he wouldn’t leave without giving someone a good thrashing.

Just like when he was a kid, Sir said if he was going to use a belt, he wouldn’t just use his hand, and if he said he’d use bamboo, he wouldn’t just grab a belt. However, Sir usually didn’t beat Jiang Feng; he would instead punish him by making him hang sandbags or carry water buckets, or clean pig intestines and the pigsty.

After all, Sir’s extensive experience in disciplining sons and grandsons came from dealing with the sturdy, thick-skinned members of the Jiang Family who weighed over 200 pounds and didn’t fear the lash, not from the much lighter Jiang Feng.

Jiang Feng was reminded of the afternoon when he had been caught shirking kitchen practice under Jiang Shoucheng’s bad influence. As punishment, Sir made him wash pig intestines for the entire afternoon.

The feeling of washing pig intestines for an afternoon is something that you’d only understand if you’ve done it yourself.

Thinking back, it seemed that he had unfairly taken the blame for Jiang Shoucheng. It was both of them who had slacked off together, so why was he the only one punished in the end!

Jiang Feng was seething with resentment!

He decided to continue preparing health and nutrition meals for Jiang Shoucheng at the Benevolent Doctor the day after tomorrow—boiled broccoli.

And he’d do the same the day after that.

Having calmed his emotions, Jiang Feng quietly opened his attribute panel and flipped to the recipes section.

A new name lit up in the recipe column: Sun Maochai (1/9)

Another culinary magnate with 9 dishes.

[Dove Swallowing Swallows A Level]

Creator: Sun Maochai

Dish Details: This is an impeccable Chaozhou signature dish, both in terms of ingredient selection and the cooking process. The premium ingredients and complex cooking method are the highlights of this dish, with the creator’s excellent culinary skill adding even more luster to it. This is not just a dish that catches the eye; it is also Sun Guanyun’s lifelong obsession, a bittersweet reminder he could never forget. Consuming this dish grants a small amount of inspiration for half an hour.

Number of times that can be cooked per day (0/3)

This “Dove Swallowing Swallows” is actually an A-level dish.

The fact that Sun Maochai made this dish when he was only 26 years old made Jiang Feng involuntarily take in a sharp breath.

What extraordinary talent and skill level!

Zhang Guanghang was already the most talented person Jiang Feng had seen amongst the living, according to Jiang Feng’s analysis, if judged by the game’s rating system, his culinary level should be solidly at B, possibly rising to B+ when cooking his specialty dishes, but it would be quite difficult to reach an A level.

Jiang Feng’s own culinary level should be between C+ and B, he had no problem cooking C-level dishes in the recipe book, but there’s still a certain chance of failure when making something like chopped pepper fish head, a B-level dish.

Not to mention A-level dishes, the friendly reminder that there was a 100% chance of failure never disappeared.

The game’s classification of dishes’ levels is very clear, very simple, and at the same time, quite vague. The differences between dishes of different levels are vast, and even within the same level, there are certain gaps.

Take the chopped pepper fish head as an example, the one Jiang Feng made when he performed exceptionally and the one he barely avoided failing with both grade as B level, but the difference can be tasted as long as your sense of taste is not compromised.

Then there’s Jiang Weisheng, according to Jiang Feng’s observations and analysis over many days, his culinary skills should be rated a solid C, the kind that doesn’t even come close to touching the threshold of B. Jiang Weisheng could handle ordinary dishes no problem, but as soon as he attempted a difficult dish, it would be a 100% failure.

As for what constitutes an A-level standard, thanks to the “Sweet and Sour Yams” Jiang Feng made with a buff bonus after establishing a relationship, he has also figured out some tricks to the game’s rating system for dishes.

F-level, the level at which pure meat dumplings are graded, is definitely a level only those with extraordinary talent can achieve. After all, to make a dish that tastes so bad also requires talent and skill. Ordinary people, unless they do it on purpose, wouldn’t be able to make such unpalatable food with their normal skills.

E-level, which referred to the initial Jiang Huiqin version of the “Pseudo” Clear Soup Willow Leaf Swallows, is a level for generally unappetizing food. Jiang Feng had practiced the “Pseudo” Clear Soup Willow Leaf Swallows for so long that he felt he had a strong say on the E-level dishes.

E-level dishes are like the ones you find in UAL University’s discounted canteen. You know they taste awful, but they are not so bad that you can’t swallow them. You eat them because you’re poor.

D-level represents the average person’s standard of cooking a consumable, not unpleasant, but also not particularly delicious standard.

From C-level dishes onward, they can be called tasty. Described in Jiang Feng’s poor choice of words, a C-level dish makes people feel it’s good to eat, a B-level dish delights with its luscious flavors, while an A-level dish leaves a lasting impression, perhaps even becoming unforgettable.

Taifeng Building had only been open for just over a month, and the “Sweet and Sour Yams” with a daily limit of 6 servings had already become somewhat well-known in Beiping City. Now, it had even reached the stage where people had to scramble to buy it. That’s the charm of A-level dishes.

Incidentally, there were rumors outside that Jiang Feng had a special recipe for the “Sweet and Sour Yams,” which could only support him in making 6 servings per day.

Some people thought this was a hunger marketing strategy by Taifeng Building for fame, that only the first 6 servings of “Sweet and Sour Yams” of the day had that distinctive taste.

While Jiang Feng was staring blankly at the wall, Wu Minqi had already finished her shower, wearing a new nightgown she emerged from the bathroom, drying her hair as she walked.

Her hair wasn’t very long, and with the hot summer weather, she also didn’t like using a hairdryer, so she would typically wash her hair at night, using a towel to dry it and let it air dry naturally afterwards.

“What are you daydreaming about, go take a shower,” said Wu Minqi.

Jiang Feng obediently went to take a shower.

When Jiang Feng finished his shower and came out, he saw Wu Minqi sitting on the sofa with her phone, her expression somewhat grave, as if she was pondering over something.

“What’s up?” Jiang Feng asked, noticing that Wu Minqi rarely seemed puzzled by things on a regular basis.

“Check the WeChat group,” Wu Minqi suggested, then paused in thought.

Jiang Feng opened his phone to find the Taifeng Building kitchen staff’s WeChat group buzzing with excitement.

5 minutes later, Jiang Feng and Wu Minqi sat on the couch together, holding their phones with somewhat solemn expressions, as if pondering over something.

10 minutes earlier, Sang Ming had posted a photo of the toilet in the apartment he shared.

The apartment he shared was in an old-fashioned tube-shaped building, in a village within the city, the location was not very good—it was quite dirty and messy, with terrazzo flooring, and a small toilet. The sink was right next to the squat pit, only a step away.

The photo he posted clearly showed that he and his roommates apparently didn’t love cleaning the toilet, as the white ceramic tiles had started to yellow, matching the discolored squat pit.

Of course, that wasn’t the point; the point was the message Sang Ming posted afterward.

“I accidentally dropped the body lotion I was going to send to my sister tomorrow into the pit. What should I do?! Waiting online, it’s pretty urgent!”

Then, the employees of Taifeng Building launched into an intense discussion about the depth of the pit, whether a hook could be used to retrieve the body lotion, and other related questions.

Jiang Feng, looking at his phone, realized that like him, everyone else couldn’t think of any other method, aside from using tweezers or hooks, which didn’t seem feasible at first glance.

“I remember the bottle of body lotion Sang Ming bought was quite large, how could such a big bottle fall into that small hole?” Jiang Feng was baffled.

Sang Ming’s sister, Mulberry, had not stayed in Beiping for long and returned home after just a few days. Sang Ming said on the last day of shopping with his sister, he noticed her staring at the body lotion for a long time, which he took as a sign that she really wanted it, so he bought it for her at the mall the day after he got paid.

Everyone had seen that bottle of body lotion; it was quite large and tall like a pillar, almost as tall as a bottle of shower gel.

“Maybe it just… fell straight in?” Wu Minqi couldn’t picture it either.

After a couple of minutes, even the often silent Zhang Guanghang chimed in.

Zhang Guanghang: Use a hook with an adhesive side, break a clothes rack to hang the hook, and use the adhesive side to stick the body lotion up.

Ji Yue: Brilliant!

Ji Yue: [Applause][Applause][Applause]

Ji Yue: This method is so awesome, I definitely couldn’t have thought of it! [Thumbs up]

Jiang Feng, holding his phone: ???

Isn’t this the kitchen staff’s work group? How did Ji Yue get in here?

Sang Ming: …

Sang Ming: [Cry]

Sang Ming: Zhang bro, you’re too late!

Jiang Feng: …

Zhang Weiyu: …

Wu Minqi: …

Ji Xue: …

Ji Yue: You… you didn’t…

Han Yigu: Did you really…

Sang Ming: [Cry][Cry] I just used my hand to dig it out.

The way the word ‘dig’ is used here is incredibly expressive, indirectly reflecting that Sang Ming’s Chinese score in the college entrance exam should not have been just that.

Ji Yue: [Vomiting]

Jiang Feng: Sorry to bother.

Han Yigu: You’re strong.

Tang Tang: Aren’t you disgusted?

…

In the midst of everyone’s amazement, admiration, queries, and confusion, the comforting words of Zhang Weiyu seemed so heartwarming.

Zhang Weiyu: Hey, it’s okay, my glasses have fallen into the toilet before as well.

Sang Ming: That was a toilet, but this is… [Cry][Cry][Cry]

Zhang Weiyu: But my glasses were on my nose.

Zhang Weiyu:

.

PS: (Not about money)

[Guess what I experienced this morning :)]

I want monthly votes, monthly votes!! (Not just louder, but also banging on the table!)