THE GAME OF LIFE

Chapter 696: Chapter 695: Sir Retreats Online

Jiang Weisheng was already savoring his soup with delight, and as he slurped, he said to Jiang Weiming, “Master, Feng’s cooking skills have really improved, and these few months’ efforts have paid off. His broth is nearly on par with yours.”

Jiang Weiming snapped back to reality, but did not immediately respond to Jiang Weisheng. Instead, he looked towards Jiang Weiguo.

Jiang Weiguo had already tasted several sips of the broth. At first, he hadn’t paid much attention, but his expression grew serious after tasting it. He would take a sip, then move the bowl aside to look at it, and after another sip, he’d move the bowl again to gaze at Jiang Feng.

From their expressions, Jiang Weiming could easily tell that the broth Jiang Feng brought was truly superb.

But why did it seem like he could also taste this superb quality?

Jiang Weiming didn’t dare take another sip.

“Master, Master,” Jiang Weisheng, having finished the small bowl of soup, called softly to Jiang Weiming.

“Ah, what is it?” Jiang Weiming replied, as if awakening from a dream.

“Would you not like to drink it? If you don’t, let me move this broth away for you,” Jiang Weisheng asked tentatively, thinking Jiang Weiming felt sorrowful for not being able to taste.

Jiang Weiming shook his head gently: “No need.”

He took a second sip.

It truly tasted like broth!

Jiang Weiming had no time even to savor the quality of the broth; he was completely engulfed in shock that he could actually taste the flavors in this broth before him.

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It was the umami of chicken soup, the saltiness of ham, the flavor of top-level broth achieved through careful cooking of various ingredients in just the right proportions.

He had really tasted the flavors of the broth.

The long-lost sensations of flavors in food on his tongue, the feeling of deliciousness in his mouth.

Jiang Weiming sipped carefully, as though afraid it was an illusion, and gulped down the small bowl of soup. After finishing, he smacked his lips as if to savor it longer, as if afraid the taste would escape from his mouth.

Jiang Weiming no longer cared about what the people around him were saying, nor how Jiang Weiguo reacted to Jiang Feng’s broth, nor even about the broth itself; he was only concerned with the lingering taste in his mouth.

Every bit that faded away felt like a regret.

So Jiang Weiming stood there silently, until the last remnants of the broth’s savory taste had dissipated, when he suddenly looked around as if coming from another world.

Jiang Weisheng was watching him most carefully, afraid of disturbing him.

“Weisheng,” Jiang Weiming suddenly had a wonderful, dream-like idea, “Bring over the sauce you just made.”

Jiang Weisheng hurriedly handed Jiang Weiming the sauce he had made, still unrefined with too much minced garlic.

Jiang Weiming tasted a bit with his chopsticks.

It was tasteless.

Jiang Weiming sighed.

Indeed, it was just an illusion.

Perhaps the broth smelled so appetizing that it gave him the illusion of taste.

Now that he thought about it, the taste was somewhat similar to the broth he used to make; perhaps it was just an illusion brought about by his memory.

“Master, would you like some more?” Jiang Weisheng asked.

“No, it’s all right,” Jiang Weiming waved his hand, “Let everyone else have a taste. Let them all try Feng’s craftsmanship.”

Jiang Weiguo made the same decision as Jiang Weiming and had Jiang Jiankang divide the remaining broth among the others. Jiang Weiguo himself stood silently in the corner, arms crossed over his chest and head bowed, staring at the ground, indecipherable to the onlookers.

If Mrs. Jiang were here, she would no doubt understand what was happening to Jiang Weiguo.

He was shutting down.

Back when Jiang Weiguo had four sons and wanted a daughter, the fifth child also turned out to be a boy, and he had this same expression when he saw the wrinkled Jiang Jianye for the first time.

Although Sir was reluctant to admit it, his youngest grandson seemed to have surpassed him in culinary skills.

He didn’t believe he could create broth of this caliber.

Jiang Weiguo wasn’t particularly proud of anything in his life, but he had the sense to know when to give up and when to accept his fate. He had resigned himself to the idea that his family’s craft might end with him, and then unexpectedly, his grandson turned things around—not as a prodigal son returning, but going back to the right path.

No, it wasn’t even returning to the right path; to speak so made it sound like studying optoelectronics was some sort of shady affair.

In any case, no matter what, Jiang Weiguo was feeling a bit of a shut-in now.

Although he had always hoped that one day his children and grandchildren would surpass him and truly inherit the Jiang family’s craftsmanship, completing the work he had never finished, now that the day seemed to be coming, and not in the way he had imagined, he felt somewhat unable to accept it all at once.

The grandson he had painstakingly educated for nearly ten years hadn’t improved as much as he had in the three months he’d spent with Peng Changping; Jiang Weiguo truly felt shut down now.

He had only suspected before, but now he was somewhat sure that it really was because of his own limited education level that he had held back his children and grandchildren. If he had been more educated, perhaps his sons would have started their own paths by now, and Taifeng Building wouldn’t….

“Dad, Feng is really nailing this broth. I feel like I’m catching up to you. All thanks to your guidance over the years!” Noting that nobody seemed eager to shower their own father with excessive compliments at this time, Jiang Jiankang hurried to be the first.

Jiang Weiguo: …

He took back what he had just thought. His third son couldn’t be his fault.

“What does Feng’s broth have to do with me? I didn’t teach him.” Sir said irritably, and after a thought, still not over his irritation, he gave his third son a love tap on the back that wasn’t very strong, “What are you standing around for? What’s the time now and you’re still slacking off? Finish that soup and get to work.”

“Feng’s cooking skills are this good now, and you still slack off every day. Look at Feng, aren’t you ashamed? I really taught you to the dogs. Even if I had taught Da Hua to cook, she might be better than you by now. Stop dawdling and get to work. You don’t even reflect on yourself. You’re an adult but not even as good as a child,” Sir scolded.

Jiang Jiankang: QAQ

I clearly came here to flatter and now something went wrong.

Jiang Feng, who had witnessed the whole scene: …

His dad was really…

Deserved to be scolded!

Is this the time to flatter Grandpa? Grandpa’s compliments could be given anytime, but now Feng had made a pot of S-grade broth. Shouldn’t they be flattering him?

Why has he been standing in the center of the kitchen for so long, in such an obvious spot, and yet not a single person had come over to flatter him!

If others don’t, that’s fine, but why didn’t Xiaxia come over? Shouldn’t she be running over at this time to say, “Master, you are so amazing, you actually made such a delicious broth!” Isn’t that the basic play?

Jiang Feng had a lot to say but couldn’t.

Ah, he missed his aunt so much.

No wonder Grandpa admired his aunt the most. At times like these, we need a wise person like his aunt to take the lead in blowing the right kind of flattery.

With no one to flatter him, Jiang Feng had to focus on the real work.

He wasn’t too daring to mess with Sir, although he didn’t know why. But from what Sir had just scolded Jiang Jiankang, at least Jiang Feng could tell that Sir wasn’t in a good mood. Jiang Feng was not brave enough to provoke him at that time.

Jiang Feng approached Jiang Weiming.

Since finishing the broth, Jiang Weiming had been very calm. Aside from spacing out for a bit, there were no abnormalities, and Jiang Feng couldn’t tell if he had tasted the flavor or not.

The broth’s buff was supposed to slightly enhance the tongue’s sensitivity for six hours after consumption. Jiang Feng was well-versed in the ins and outs of game dish buffs. The six hours mentioned could mean any period within that time, not necessarily a full six hours. For example, the buff from Li Hongzhang’s hodgepodge is an overwhelming desire to cry within 20 minutes of eating. However, the eater usually wouldn’t cry for a full 20 minutes; a few minutes of crying would suffice, and they would no longer feel the urge. Like Feng last time, crying that long was rare.

If Jiang Feng remembered correctly, he was crying for more than twenty minutes last time. By the time he stopped crying, his throat was hoarse from it.

Buffs differed from person to person; the same buff could have different effects on different people. Jiang Feng had long suspected while researching the broth’s buff that both the effective time and the degree of enhancement might vary from person to person and no two individuals would be the same.

Take himself, for example—he felt nothing after drinking it.

“Slight enhancement” is a very broad term. 0.1% is slight, and so is 9%. Jiang Feng couldn’t be certain if the broth’s buff would enable Jiang Weiming to recover his sense of taste, and even if it did, he had no idea how long the effect would last. His intention today in having Jiang Weiming taste the broth was simply to test it. If the broth could temporarily restore Jiang Weiming’s sense of taste, then Chicken Flower Mushroom Soup could surely recover it fully.

He had not yet begun practicing making Chicken Flower Mushroom Soup. Having made an S-grade broth and knowing that the methodology for clear soup was almost the same, he figured he could probably make S-grade clear soup if he focused intensively for a couple of days.

Perfecting clear soup would mean with his current culinary skills, Chicken Flower Mushroom Soup would naturally fall into place.

Jiang Feng’s original plan was to make S-grade broth, and within a week, produce an S-grade Chicken Flower Mushroom Soup to help Jiang Weiming regain his sense of taste.

“Granduncle Weiming, how did you find the broth I just made?” Jiang Feng asked tentatively.

“The broth? It was quite good,” Jiang Weiming said with a smile.

“Do you think…” Before Jiang Feng could ask in more detail, Jiang Weisheng quietly tugged at his sleeve, signaling him to stop.

“Feng, come help me taste this sauce,” Jiang Weisheng said, then looked at Jiang Weiming, “Master, could you help me find some dried chili peppers?”

“The dried chili peppers aren’t with you?” Jiang Weiming was distracted by his disciple’s subtle facial expression, “You’re this old and still so forgetful. Didn’t I just ask you to take the dried chili peppers? Wait there, I’ll go find another bag for you somewhere else.”

After seeing Jiang Weiming walk away, Jiang Weisheng quickly said, “Feng, don’t ask Master about that.”

Jiang Feng: ?

“You know Master can’t taste. He was just daydreaming while drinking it. I think he might be a little sad. I didn’t dare to mention it. Next time you make such dishes, just talk to Master about it, don’t let him taste, so as not to make him sad again,” said Jiang Weisheng somewhat dejectedly.

Jiang Feng: ?

Sad?

That can’t be right.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Jiang,” Jiang Feng said with a smile. “Next time I ask Granduncle Weiming to taste a dish, it will be Chicken Flower Mushroom Soup.”

Jiang Weisheng: ?

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