THE GAME OF LIFE

Chapter 699: Chapter 698 Identical

“`

“Clap clap clap clap clap clap clap.”

Sang Ming suddenly began clapping.

Unlike the sluggish, half-hearted applause often heard during a leader’s speech, Sang Ming clapped hard enough to turn his hands red, much like a joyful seal slapping its belly at an aquarium.

Sang Ming’s applause was just the beginning, he woke others to join in. A thunderous ovation filled the entire kitchen, and to the uninitiated, it might have seemed as if an exciting rally was taking place in the Taifeng Building’s kitchen. In the end, even Wu Minqi and Zhang Guanghang joined in with a couple of claps.

It was indeed thrilling.

The front-of-house staff and the kitchen hands might not have noticed, but even someone like Sang Ming, who was still green and couldn’t hold a skillet, could tell that Jiang Feng’s Chicken Bean Flower today meant he could rightly be called a master from now on.

However, given his young age, it might be rare for anyone to actually address him as such.

“Feng, you’re really amazing, you’ve made such a badass Chicken Bean Flower,” Sang Ming said, lacking in culture and adjectives, simply resorting to ‘badass’ to express his awe.

“Yes, yes, Feng, you’re truly incredible,” the crowd chimed in agreement.

Calling him a master might be tough, but a brotherly ‘Feng’ was definitely suitable.

Jiang Feng said nothing.

It was one thing for Master Wang to say it, but Mr. Jiang, why were you joining in the excitement?

Source: .com, updated on ƝονǤ0.ᴄο

Jiang Feng coughed awkwardly twice and looked at the chicken bean flower in the pot.

There was quite a lot of it in the pot. Although there wasn’t enough for everyone to have a full bowl, there was enough for everyone to have a taste. Everyone had been watching silently for so long, clapping and cheering and calling him ‘Feng’, probably more enthusiastically than they would at a concert. Jiang Feng felt it would be remiss not to let them have a taste.

“Should we let grandpa and Granduncle Weiming try it first before we eat?” Jiang Feng asked.

“Mhm,” Wu Minqi nodded.

“I’ll go call Master and Granduncle!” Jiang Weisheng decisively took on this coveted task, and with a speed that surpassed any he had shown before, squeezed through the crowd and dashed off.

Ji Yue had never eaten Chicken Bean Flower before. As a veteran employee of Taifeng Building, she had indulged in plenty of delicacies like the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon, flower-sculpted chicken in a tile jar, and even had a taste of Jiang Weiming’s Splendid Chickens Singing to Spring and Roasted Pig. Having not eaten Chicken Bean Flower didn’t mean she couldn’t recognize the difficulty of what Jiang Feng had just accomplished, and she knew how hard it was to achieve that.

“Zhang, I’ve noticed that Jiang Feng has really…changed a lot,” Ji Yue remarked with admiration. “These past few days, I saw the reviews customers left for the Sweet and Sour Yam, and Manager Fan and I thought Jiang Feng must have improved his cooking skills a lot by learning from Master Peng these past months. But now it seems, it’s more than just improvement—it’s like he has been reborn, completely transformed. Is Master Peng really that amazing?”

“Even with Master Jiang being so skilled, Mr. Jiang is still the same,” Zhang Guanghang whispered. “While the master leads you to the door, cultivation depends on the individual. It’s mostly due to Jiang Feng himself, I suppose.”

Ji Yue looked at Zhang Guanghang, “Why do I feel like you’re even happier than Jiang Feng?”

Though Zhang Guanghang managed to keep a straight face, Ji Yue, who had been in a relationship with him for so long, could still hear an unmistakable joy in his tone that he couldn’t hide.

“Maybe I’m happy on behalf of my master,” Zhang Guanghang’s lips curved into a smile, and the handsome man wore a grin.

Elsewhere, Jiang Weiming was persuading Jiang Weiguo at the teahouse.

“Little brother, I really can’t figure you out. You’ve seen the extent to which Feng has improved these days, and you’re clearly delighted, so why always the long face? Don’t you see how Feng and Jiankang have barely dared to talk to you these past two days? Jiankang even seems to be avoiding you in the kitchen.”

“To be proud of one’s grandson and yet not show it, Jiang, you’re being a bit excessive,” an old man who often drank tea with the two seniors at the next table said.

“What do you know, it’s not the same,” Jiang Weiguo replied irritably.

“How is it not the same? Didn’t you say before that you taught your grandson to cook from a young age? Now that your grandson has made something of himself, what’s there not to be happy about? If my grandson had learned painting from me and succeeded by now, I’d probably wake up laughing in the middle of the night,” the old man retorted.

Jiang Weiguo said nothing.

But now the problem was that his grandson’s success hadn’t come from his own teachings, but from someone else’s!

Jiang Weiguo remained silent.

“`

Jiang Weiming took a sip of tea, “Still feeling uneasy?”

Jiang Weiguo remained silent, which was as good as a confirmation.

“Feng’s culinary skills were taught by you, his foundation was laid by you, and his basic techniques were also learned from you. Even though he only reached his current level after studying with Master Peng for three months, it was you who allowed him to achieve such progress in just three months. You were the one who guided him onto this path, the one who prepared him. You are Feng’s true master; the rest of us have merely gilded the lily.”

“Although Feng has been practicing clear soup with me these past few days, if he really encounters a problem, you’re still the first person he thinks of asking for help. Think about it, whenever Feng practices cooking in the kitchen, doesn’t he always seek your help first? It’s only when you’re not around that he thinks of me. It’s instinct, a habit that can’t be changed, just as Feng’s culinary skills were taught by you—those are things that won’t change.” Jiang Weiming felt he hadn’t invested as much heart when teaching Jiang Weisheng back in the day.

Sir’s face seemed to brighten a little.

“The clear soup Feng made yesterday was already excellent, not at all inferior to mine. I think the reason he dismissed me today is probably that he wanted to practice chicken and bean curd jelly and was afraid of failing and causing embarrassment in front of you and me. Feng hasn’t ever made chicken and bean curd jelly before. He said he had learned from Master Peng a while back, but I suspect he won’t be successful this time either. Let’s go back later and give him some instruction. Just don’t frighten him with that look on your face.”

Finally, Sir spoke up, “Scare him? With his current skill, he could strut around Beiping with confidence; I’m afraid I might not even measure up to him. Who could scare him? Throwing himself into making chicken and bean curd jelly so soon, he isn’t afraid of moving too quickly and stumbling.”

“That’s how young people are. I was the same when I first learned to make Roasted Pig from my father—even after I’d only done a bit, I wanted to make the whole set. Daring to try is a good thing. Making mistakes is the only way to improve quickly. Everyone learns cooking by taking lessons from their failures. It’s great that Feng is willing to try and doesn’t get discouraged when he fails.”

“I know,” Sir sighed, his expression softening significantly, “I’m just not used to it.”

Seeing his grandson suddenly reach a master’s level made him suddenly feel old.

But he was indeed old. Although he didn’t like to admit it, sometimes when he secretly cooked a few dishes for himself at home, he would add extra salt because it made the food taste better.

“Granduncle, I understand; I’ll pay attention to that from now on,” Sir relented.

Jiang Weiming was about to say something more to comfort his younger brother when he noticed someone looking around at the stairway—it looked like his own apprentice.

Jiang Weisheng also saw Jiang Weiming and Jiang Weiguo.

“Master, Uncle Master!” Jiang Weisheng ran towards the two men, his forehead drenched with sweat from his brisk walk.

“What’s the hurry?” Jiang Weiming initially thought something had happened at Taifeng Building.

“Feng… oh, not Feng, Xiao Feng, he’s made the chicken and bean curd jelly, and I’ve come to ask you both to try it,” Jiang Weisheng said, unable to hide his eagerness.

“Feng actually made it, little brother, see what I told you? It seems that this kid Feng is even more remarkable than I thought,” Jiang Weiming said with a smile, not taking it too seriously.

There’s a world of difference between making chicken and bean curd jelly and making it to his level.

Jiang Weiguo: ?

What did you just say?

“No, no,” Jiang Weisheng, thinking he hadn’t made himself clear, said, “Master, the chicken and bean curd jelly that Xiao Feng made looks just like the real thing. Not just that, it’s exactly like the ones you made, just like the ones you used to make!”

Jiang Weiming was stunned.

Jiang Weiguo was stunned as well.

“Say that again, Xiao Feng’s chicken and bean curd jelly looks exactly like what?” Jiang Weiming began to think he had misheard.

“It’s exactly like the ones you used to make; who knows it better than me? When Xiao Feng’s chicken and bean curd jelly came out of the pot, it was just like the ones you made back then!” Jiang Weisheng felt he was about to stutter saying ‘exactly alike’.

“Feng is still in the kitchen waiting for you to come and taste it!”

Jiang Weiming stood up, moving extremely quickly, “Weisheng, you go ahead and take over the accounts for now. Little brother, we…”

When Jiang Weiming turned his head, Jiang Weiguo had already left, reaching the stairway in the blink of an eye.

He was in a very big hurry.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!