THE GAME OF LIFE

Chapter 733: Chapter 732: A Rare Good Cousin (4000 words)

Jiang Junlian’s words had just left her mouth when Jiang Junqing, who had already connected to Jiang Feng’s WiFi and was about to start a game, suddenly threw her phone onto the couch. Like a whirlwind, she dashed into the kitchen. Seeing the sink occupied by Jiang Junlian and not having space to exhibit her talent in pot-scrubbing, Jiang Junqing grabbed a pot and ran towards the balcony, but not without snagging another dish cloth hanging on the wall as she left.

Jiang Feng: …

“Junqing, you forgot the dish soap!”

Some fifteen minutes later, Jiang Feng stood in a kitchen that had been cleaned so spotlessly that even the grime and grease in the crevices between the extractor hood and wall tiles were gone. It dawned on him that these two cousins of his, despite possessing neither a talent for cooking nor academic learning across the many years besides their ability to eat, did have an extraordinarily high skill in cleaning.

This speed and quality, even professional cleaners wouldn’t hold a candle to it.

Jiang Feng was cutting meat.

The pork belly that had been frozen in the refrigerator was much easier to slice than a freshly butchered one, Jiang Feng had been pondering over this even though he hadn’t made Ten Thousand Fortune Meat for the past few days. Reducing the seasoning was undoubtedly too difficult; the dish was already made with extremely limited seasonings, so any further reduction would render it no longer Ten Thousand Fortune Meat.

If the seasoning couldn’t be reduced, then it had to be the main ingredient.

The day after reviewing the memory, Jiang Feng had tried once, and although he hadn’t completed the dish but only cut the meat, the difficulty was indeed non-negligible but not insurmountably so. Most importantly, Jiang Feng spent less time cutting the meat than Cao Guixiang did.

Cao Guixiang spent nearly an hour cutting four pieces of meat, while Jiang Feng took less than forty minutes. Of course, the knife was part of the reason; Jiang Feng’s knife was a quest reward prop knife. Even though it lacked the magical effect of everything glowing as soon as it was cut, and his Knifework level skyrocketing with use, but it was easy to handle. A good chef with a handy kitchen knife was like a good ADC with a good support in a game, unbeatable and precise in their attacks.

Putting aside these external factors, Jiang Feng felt Cao Guixiang’s knifework level wasn’t as high as his when she was making this Ten Thousand Fortune Meat, and even at master level, her proficiency would be much lower than his.

If Cao Guixiang’s knifework level had been high enough, Ten Thousand Fortune Meat would have been an S-class dish, not A-class.

The only method Jiang Feng could think of that would reduce ingredients without altering the taste was to cut the meat smaller.

If the meat were cut into smaller pieces, the corresponding thickness of the meat slices should also be reduced to ensure that the final product still looked like a nice flower shape. However, it couldn’t be too thin; otherwise, it would surely break during slicing and steaming, resulting in a complete disaster.

How small and thin the meat could be cut was the question.

That needed experimentation.

Lots of it.

And Jiang Feng was taking his first attempt now.

Jiang Feng was carefully cutting the meat.

This was his first attempt at creating a mini, pocket-sized version of the extremely small Ten Thousand Fortune Meat, and not wanting to embarrass himself too badly in front of his two cousins whom he hadn’t seen in half a year, he had to be extremely cautious.

Actually, Jiang Feng was overthinking it. Both Jiang Junqing and Jiang Junlian, those two kitchen novices who couldn’t even cut a daikon radish slice thin enough to see through, had no clue what Ten Thousand Fortune Meat was. After half a year of eating at the school cafeteria and enjoying their mother’s lovingly prepared dinners, they found any dish made by anyone named Jiang delicious.

As long as it wasn’t made by Jiang Zaidi, Jiang Shoucheng, or Jiang Ran.

A small piece of pork belly, marbled with fat and lean, rotated continuously in Jiang Feng’s hands. The large kitchen knife, like a fine carving tool, carefully sliced the meat into uneven strips that were uniformly thin.

One piece of meat was completed.

It took nearly twenty minutes.

Jiang Feng let out a sigh of relief; the last few cuts were particularly difficult because the piece of meat had become so small that he had to be extremely careful at the corners, holding his breath in tension until the slicing was done before he dared to exhale.

If he had messed up on the first piece, that really would have been embarrassingly bad.

“Clap, clap, clap!”

Jiang Junlian and Jiang Junqing had just seen Jiang Feng so nervously cutting meat that they didn’t dare to make a sound. All the unwarranted compliments they had been holding back had nowhere to go, so they excitedly turned their unsaid cheers into the force of their applause, both quick and loud, mimicking the effect of thunderous clapping.

“Little brother, you’re amazing!” Jiang Junqing took the initiative and seized the first comment.

“So impressive, I’ve never seen such incredible cutting before!” Jiang Junlian also wanted to compliment with some professional terminology, like how that particular cut was simply astonishing, and the final slice was just perfect.

But she could not.

She couldn’t even cut potato slices uniformly, let alone articulate professional terminology.

Jiang Feng unconsciously wiped the sweat beads off his forehead.

He had been really nervous just now, which made him sweat.

Jiang Junlian noticed Jiang Feng’s action, darted to the living room, grabbed two napkins, and rushed back into the kitchen. Handing them to Jiang Feng, she said, “Little brother, wipe your sweat!”

Jiang Feng took the napkins to wipe his forehead, intending to step back and throw them in the trash, but Jiang Junlian smoothly took them from his hand and tossed them away for him.

Jiang Feng: ?

Jiang Feng could only move to the sink to wash his hands.

Then Jiang Junqing handed him a paper towel to dry his hands.

Jiang Feng: ?

He thought it wasn’t necessary.

With the first piece being a success, Jiang Feng pressed on. It took him roughly twenty minutes for each of the remaining three pieces, with Jiang Junlian and Jiang Junqing squatting nearby, watching eagerly. Although they didn’t know what Jiang Feng was preparing, as long as it looked delicious, that was enough for them.

After rolling up the meat and placing it neatly in the dish, Jiang Junlian knew it was finally time to steam it when she saw this action. She saw Jiang Feng about to go to the seasoning area and offered energetically, “Little brother, what do you need? I’ll get it for you.”

Jiang Junlian stood by the seasonings, and Jiang Feng said, “Just grab the soy sauce.”

Jiang Junqing stood under the cupboard, and Jiang Feng casually said, “Junqing, take out the Szechuan peppercorns and star anise from the cupboard.”

Jiang Feng went to cut scallions and ginger slices, counting them carefully, trying to use as little as possible. The peppercorns and star anise were the same, he sprinkled a few pieces of star anise and inserted a peppercorn here and there, making sure not to use more than Cao Guixiang, and certainly not less.

As for soy sauce—Jiang Feng almost wished he had a measuring cup to measure it first and then use a dropper to add it drop by drop onto the meat.

Seeing how sparingly he was seasoning, Jiang Junqing didn’t quite understand and asked, “Little brother, you’re using such a small amount of seasoning. Even if there’s less meat, the seasoning shouldn’t be this scant, right?”

Jiang Junlian gave her a warning look and said, “What do you know? Little brother is being considerate of us, reducing the amount on purpose so it’s easier for us to eat.”

Jiang Feng & Jiang Junqing: ???

Jiang Feng almost believed her nonsense, seeing the conviction on Jiang Junlian’s face.

“This dish is called Ten Thousand Fortune Meat, I’ve made some slight modifications to it, intentionally reducing the ingredients; the less you use, the tastier it gets,” Jiang Feng explained. He ladled two spoonfuls of bone broth from the pot and poured it over the meat before putting it in the steamer.

Now all that was needed was to wait. Jiang Feng, considering the good service attitude of his young cousins, thought making only four servings of Ten Thousand Fortune Meat seemed a bit stingy. But without more ingredients at hand, he didn’t know what else he could cook. Looking at the remaining Wuhua pork, which was plenty, he decided to make some braised pork for the two sisters.

It had been a long time since he had made braised pork. The sisters hadn’t done their homework today; after eating braised pork, they could go downstairs and start on it. Once finished with the homework, perhaps they could even help Auntie clean up.

Ah, he really was a considerate cousin.

Braising pork was quick and simple, and it didn’t require any special ingredients other than remembering to add some sugar at the end. With quick knifework, Jiang Feng cut the remaining Wuhua pork into pieces, marinated them briefly, and then threw them into the pot to fry.

Jiang Feng was still cooking, while Jiang Junlian and Jiang Junqing started scrubbing the cutting board and washing dishes. Auntie would probably shed tears of joy if she could see this scene.

After a few dozen minutes, the braised pork was ready first.

The game was still updating, so Jiang Feng couldn’t see the rating. Based on the color and his performance, it should fall between a B and A. He was tired after making Ten Thousand Fortune Meat, so he didn’t put as much effort into the braised pork.

Even if this plate of braised pork was not of A grade, it was close to the level he achieved during the New Year.

That’s more or less how the dishes turned out when Jiang Feng cooked during the New Year.

Red-braised pork was served on the table.

There was a full plate of it, with the perfect balance of fat and lean. Jiang Feng couldn’t quite remember why he initially bought the piece of Wuhua meat, perhaps he and Wu Minqi had planned to make dumplings but were too busy to do so. When purchasing, he specifically chose a piece with a bit more fat, roughly a fifty-fifty balance between fat and lean. The meat was stewed until very tender, with the fatty parts almost melting in the mouth, devoid of the greasiness of fat. It felt like sipping a mouthful of meat soup when eaten, its difference from Ten Thousand Fortune Meat being that Jiang Feng was very generous with the ingredients. The meat on the plate was dyed in a beautiful sauce, shiny and glossy.

Jiang Junlian felt hungry again.

It had been a long time since she had eaten such meat.

The school canteen couldn’t produce red-braised pork of this quality, to put it accurately, the school canteen generally didn’t serve red-braised pork, and her own mother couldn’t cook it to this standard, nor could she bet her own father could.

If it were a usual day, once the meat was served, Jiang Junlian and Jiang Junqing would grab a pair of chopsticks each and devour it heartily.

But now was different, Jiang Junlian and Jiang Junqing had profoundly realized who was the most deserving of respect and admiration in the Jiang family now.

“Little brother, you go first,” Jiang Junlian said with a smile as she handed the chopsticks to Jiang Feng.

Jiang Feng waved his hands repeatedly; he was off today and really didn’t want to make any effort.

He planned to go to Yonghe House for a meal tonight and maybe bond with the chefs in the back kitchen, though that would depend on the situation. If it was still warm at six o’clock, he would order takeout. If the temperature dropped, he would go to Yonghe House.

“I’m not eating, I had enough at lunch. I made this specifically for you guys, eat more, and I’ll take you out for something delicious this evening,” said Jiang Feng with a smile.

“Thank you, little brother!” The sisters said in unison, taking turns eating, each taking a bite.

Such a spectacle, where they directly ate a plate of red-braised pork without any main food and consumed it greedily, bite by bite without stopping, could probably only be seen at the Jiang family’s dining table.

The twins had grown up eating together and were extremely in sync, taking turns to eat at the same speed, neither eating more than the other. Soon, only the soup was left on the plate of red-braised pork. If it wasn’t for the absence of rice, Jiang Feng didn’t think they would want to leave even the soup.

“Little brother, the red-braised pork you made is really delicious. I haven’t had such tasty red-braised pork in a long time!” Jiang Junlian exclaimed from her heart, without any embellishments, which showed she hadn’t prepared her words but just spoke them directly.

“Exactly!” Jiang Junqing added enthusiastically.

Jiang Feng looked at the time and figured it was almost time to take out the Ten Thousand Fortune Meat, so he went to check the kitchen. It seemed about ready, and he turned down the heat for another two minutes before lifting the lid, plating the dish, and thickening the sauce.

Delicious.

The bone broth Jiang Feng used was of much higher quality than what Cao Guixiang remembered using, which correspondingly made the meat’s aroma much stronger. Even though Jiang Junqing and Jiang Junlian had had a normal lunch and eaten a plate of red-braised pork, they still found the aroma of this meat enticing and wanted to eat it, showing no diminished primitive desire for food despite being nearly full.

Four small pieces of meat, attractive, not a lot.

Not to brag, but Jiang Junlian could easily eat all four pieces of meat in one bite.

This time, Jiang Feng didn’t hold back and reached for the chopsticks first, picking up a piece and gulping it down in one go.

Though there wasn’t much sauce, it was delicious.

Truly delicious.

The slices were thin, and after a long period of steaming, they were thoroughly seasoned. Although there was not much sauce, all the essential flavors were present, with the reduced amount of sauce highlighting the inherent deliciousness of the pork.

It was definitely A-grade, perhaps even S-grade.

Jiang Feng chewed thoughtfully.

Jiang Junlian and Jiang Junqing each picked up a piece of Ten Thousand Fortune Meat just like him, and simultaneously brought the meat to their mouths.

“Holy shit.” That was Jiang Junlian.

“Damn.” That was Jiang Junqing.

The sisters were stunned.

Although they had already learned through WeChat groups, Moments, and Weibo that their little brother had changed a lot compared to before, they had never realized quite so directly and deeply just how much he had changed.

The two sisters held the Ten Thousand Fortune Meat in their mouths, unsure whether to chew or continue savoring it.

To speak a heretical truth, they felt that even Sir couldn’t make meat dishes of this caliber.

Though the meat was a bit small, it was delicious!

So delicious that you could write an 800-word essay on it, from the end-of-term exam in the first year of high school to the end of the third year!

Jiang Junlian held the meat in her mouth for a while before she was willing to start chewing. Normally, she could swallow meat of this size after chewing it a couple of times, but this time she chewed more than thirty times, until there was nothing left to chew before reluctantly swallowing it.

Jiang Feng had already finished the last piece of meat on the plate.

“Little brother, you really are…” Jiang Junlian was about to use a new idiom she had learned over the past six months to enthusiastically praise Jiang Feng with all the compliments she could muster, and if her cultural literacy had been up to it, she might have even tried writing a poem.

Like something along the lines of “Without bamboo, one is common; without meat, one becomes thin; neither common nor thin, therefore, bamboo shoots braised with pork.” Yes, if Su Dongpo could write it, so could Jiang Junlian!

Jiang Feng interrupted the flattery that was about to spill from Jiang Junlian’s lips.

“It’s getting late now, Junqing, Junlian, you haven’t done your homework yet, have you? Maybe you should go down and start on it?” Jiang Feng said with a smile.

Jiang Junlian: ?

Jiang Junqing: ??

Homework???

Just as Jiang Junlian was about to ask why they had to do homework since they didn’t need to do any today, she suddenly felt like doing it.

Yes, today’s homework hadn’t been done yet, so how could they slack off and eat goodies here?

Of course, they had to finish their homework before eating!

“Little brother, I’m going to do my homework now!” Jiang Junlian made a quick decision, leaving without even bothering to wash her dish as she went down to study.

Jiang Junqing: ???

Jiang Feng looked towards Jiang Junqing.

Jiang Junqing was about to say there was no need for homework today when suddenly, like Jiang Junlian just a moment ago, he found himself very eager to do it.

Right now, immediately, this very instant kind of eager.

The kind of eagerness where he wouldn’t feel comfortable unless the homework was done.

Jiang Junqing looked somewhat conflicted at the plate on the table: “Little brother, let me wash the dishes for you, and then I’ll go do my homework afterward.”

Jiang Feng smiled and nodded, noting that Jiang Junqing was even less enthusiastic about studying than Jiang Junlian.

It might also be that the buff wasn’t as effective on him as quickly as it was on Jiang Junlian.

After washing the dishes, Jiang Junqing left.

Jiang Feng looked at the unusually clean kitchen and took out his phone to send a message to Lu Sheng, asking him to keep a table for him because he wanted to have a feast at Yonghe House that night.

By the way, he wanted to reward his cousins for their hard work studying all afternoon.

Ah, he really was an exceptionally good cousin.

Source: .com, updated on N𝘰vgo.co

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