The Game of Life

At that moment, Jiang Feng was reminded of a verse:

“Born from the same root, why the urgency to prevail against each other?”

“Fengfeng, you’re back!” Wu Minqi, seeing Jiang Feng’s hurried expression and his slight panting, put down her crab shelling tools and went to pour him a glass of water, “There’s no need to run. Walking slowly would have done. Why the rush?”

“I had to run; I suddenly remembered that my grandma probably goes to bed before 11 o’clock, and I must get her portion ready and delivered before then,” Jiang Feng explained. “Otherwise, I might never get to eat her fresh meat zongzi, maltose, nougat, and scallion pancakes ever again.”

Wu Minqi: ???

Ji Xia: !!!

“Master, are Grandma’s fresh meat zongzi delicious? Which tastes better when compared to today’s fresh meat mooncakes?” Carnivore Ji Xia asked.

From a chef’s perspective, of course, Jiang Feng thought the fresh meat mooncakes were more delicious. Mrs. Jiang’s fresh meat zongzi and Eight-treasure House’s fresh meat mooncakes were worlds apart, with the only advantage being the large chunks of meat.

But as Mrs. Jiang’s dutiful grandson, this was surely the time to stand by his own grandmother’s cooking.

“The zongzi are delicious; the meat in the zongzi is large, one piece from my grandma’s zongzi is worth half a fresh meat mooncake,” Jiang Feng said. After thinking for a moment, he added, “And, the zongzi are boiled in meat broth.”

“My grandma usually puts two chunks of meat in each.”

Mrs. Jiang’s image in Ji Xia’s mind instantly became resplendent.

Jiang Feng glanced over the table, then looked at his watch.

There were enough crabmeat and oranges.

He could steam two crab-stuffed oranges for Sir and Mrs. Jiang first and deliver them. It was already 10:39, and every second counted.

Jiang Feng was very familiar with each step of making crab-stuffed oranges, a dish that he had made the most suitable for mass production. The processing of oranges and crabmeat can be delegated to different people to be done simultaneously. Once these two main parts were ready, the remaining steps were relatively quick.

Jiang Feng even believed that with enough processed crabmeat and oranges, and a sufficient number of stoves and cooking stations, he could make hundreds of crab-stuffed oranges in an hour.

If one crab-stuffed orange sold for 108 yuan, then 100 crab-stuffed oranges would amount to 10,800 yuan. By using less crabmeat and more orange flesh, one crab could make three or four crab-stuffed oranges with ease. Roughly calculating, if Taifeng Building only sold crab-stuffed oranges for a day, the revenue would be…

The logic prodigy Jiang Feng was blinded by the money.

Of course, if he really did that, he would be crippled by the business prodigy Wang Xiulian, who would break his legs in anger.

Since taking Ji Xia as his apprentice, Jiang Feng’s savings had been drastically reduced.

At 10:51, two special crab-stuffed oranges were ready.

[Crab-Stuffed Orange Grade B]

Jiang Feng could tell from a detailed inspection that, since the crabmeat had been shelled for too long and was slightly cold when stuffed into the oranges, it had a stronger fishy smell. Although these two crab-stuffed oranges were also Grade B, their quality was far inferior to those sent earlier to Wang Xiulian and Jiang Jiankang.

Jiang Feng felt that with such crab-stuffed oranges, he might be scolded to death by Sir.

However, when compared with the possibility of never again eating his grandmother’s handmade fresh meat zongzi, maltose, nougat, and scallion pancakes, being scolded to death by Sir seemed rather insignificant.

After all, if he wasn’t scolded by Sir this time, there would be other times. The opportunity to be scolded was plentiful—it wouldn’t matter if this time was added to the list.

Jiang Feng packed the two crab-stuffed oranges into bowls and went downstairs again.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Jiang was sitting seriously on the living room sofa, glaring at the more than ten pounds of nougat on the coffee table with anger.

Sir leisurely wandered from the bedroom into the living room to pour tea. Seeing the large bag of nougat on the coffee table unsealed and wide open, he reminded Mrs. Jiang.

“Old lady, with so much nougat lying around and the weather being so hot, aren’t you afraid it will spoil? Put it in the fridge,” Jiang Weiguo said.

“The nougat I made, I’ll store it wherever I please. Drink your tea and don’t meddle,” Mrs. Jiang glared at Jiang Weiguo, taking her anger out on him, and then continued to stew over the nougat in front of her.

Jiang Weiguo shook his head helplessly. The old woman was getting more childish with age; even Feng was more sensible than her.

“You’re not sleeping yet, even though it’s so late?” Jiang Weiguo continued to ask.

“Sleep? What for? It’s not even 11 yet. I just want to see if anyone still remembers this old lady,” Mrs. Jiang glanced at her phone. The large font on her senior phone brightly told her it was 10:52 Beiping time.

There were 8 minutes left. If that rascal Feng didn’t show up soon, she would give all 13 pounds of this nougat to Chengcheng the next day.

Chengcheng was such a filial child. Today, when she went to give him candy, he even worried whether she had dinner and specially ordered her a portion of braised pork to eat at the hospital before coming back home.

Don’t even mention it, the delivery girl was quite pretty, one look and you could tell she was a fortunate soul.

Jiang Weiguo had no idea what had happened that afternoon, but having been married to Mrs. Jiang for so many years, he knew that her atypical behavior of making so much nougat to distribute must mean some clueless rascal had irritated her, and this was her way of declaring to the world that she was not pleased.

Jiang Weiguo shook his head helplessly. Seriously, why nougat? Doesn’t she know that he’s getting old and his teeth aren’t good enough to chew such sticky candy?

Much better to have pancakes. Although the old lady’s cooking skills aren’t that great, the pancakes she makes are truly delicious.

Scallion pancakes with a sprinkle of sesame seeds right out of the pan.

That taste, tsk tsk.

…

Jiang Feng stood at Sir’s doorstep.

He took a deep breath, calmed his racing heart, and in his mind, repeated the speech he had thought of on the way down.

Perfect, flawless. His future supply of pork dumplings, malt sugar, nougat, and scallion pancakes was secure!

Jiang Feng raised his hand and knocked on the door.

Sir, hearing someone about to knock, was preparing to open the door when Mrs. Jiang stopped him.

“You just stand there, I’ll get the door.” Mrs. Jiang stood up and glanced at the nougat on the table.

The door opened.

“Grandma!” Jiang Feng’s call was rich with emotion, tearful, and heartfelt.

“It’s so good you haven’t slept yet, I specially made crab-stuffed oranges for you to try, it’s still warm!” Jiang Feng said as he presented the bowl of crab-stuffed oranges to Mrs. Jiang, “I was a bit off this afternoon when I made them, so the taste wasn’t good enough to bring them to you. But tonight’s batch turned out perfect, I specifically chose the best crabs and oranges. Please try it and see if you like it. If you do, I’ll make this every night and bring it over!”

Mrs. Jiang looked at Jiang Feng.

Jiang Feng immediately understood.

“Are you still going to play mahjong at the usual place tomorrow? I’ll definitely bring some to you tomorrow afternoon. Eating just this might be a bit monotonous, would you like something to drink? Just let me know in advance, and I’ll make sure to bring it tomorrow!” Jiang Feng said, the epitome of filial piety among the younger generation of the Jiang Family.

Jiang Weiguo: …

How had he not realized before that Feng was like this.

Such exaggerated acting, he hadn’t inherited even 1/10 of his father’s acting skills.

But Mrs. Jiang liked this type of over-the-top performance. The severity receded and joy dawned, softening her expression as she looked at Jiang Feng.

In this moment, Jiang Feng successfully defeated Jiang Shoucheng and reclaimed his position as the most filial grandson in Mrs. Jiang’s heart.

“Come in,” Mrs. Jiang stepped aside to let Jiang Feng enter, “You child, instead of resting properly at night, you’re still fussing over cooking and making special deliveries. You should have told us in advance. What if your grandpa and I had already gone to sleep? Wouldn’t you have made a wasted trip?”

Jiang Weiguo: …

“Rest for you and Grandpa is definitely the top priority. If I make a wasted trip, then so be it,” Jiang Feng said, placing the crab-stuffed oranges on the dining table.

Mrs. Jiang walked over to the coffee table, picked up a large bag of nougat, and walked toward Jiang Feng, placing the nougat on the dining table.

The 13 pounds of nougat made a heavy and sweet sound upon contacting the table.

“I had some spare time this afternoon and made some nougat, distributed it around, and forgot to bring it to you. I was thinking of giving it to you tomorrow. But since you’ve come tonight, take it back with you. This one bag of nougat has peanuts and sesame added. Grandma knows you love sesame nougat,” Mrs. Jiang said.

Jiang Feng stared at the nougat on the table, his eyes wide.

He swore by his years-long experience of eating nougat during New Year’s, when his mouth got so sticky he couldn’t speak, that this bag must contain at least 10 pounds!

10 pounds!

He could go two days without talking!

“Grandma, I’ll get you a spoon from the kitchen. Please try it while it’s hot. The crab dish won’t taste good once it’s cold.” Jiang Feng eagerly went to get Mrs. Jiang a spoon.

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PS:

It’s the end of the month, ask for monthly tickets~