The Game of Life - Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Sour Prune Drink

Translator: Larbre Studio

Editor: Larbre Studio

When lunchtime came, the number of customers slowly increased. Some of them were like Qiu Chen, who learned about the restaurant from Wang Hao, while the others were like the couple who came in out of curiosity.

Most who were acquainted with Jiang Feng frowned at first when they saw the pricing. But they would still find a seat and tasted the free Sour Prune Drink. The refreshing sour drink was enough to disperse all of their dissatisfaction with the price.

Only a few of the customers who entered the restaurant out of curiosity stayed after they saw the price. Some even thought that restaurant was just a front because of how many customers were in there despite the pricing.

“How many?” Qiu Chen asked about how many customers had come in and left without ordering anything while he laid back on the chair. He and his three friends were still putting up an act as if they were still waiting for the rest of their food to be served.

The plates that were on their table were squeaky clean. Not even a drop of sauce was left.

“Six,” Lian Jianzai, who majored in Chinese Language and Literature, answered. “They didn’t even try the drink. Well, it’s their loss.”

Qiu Chen massaged his belly and scanned the customers on the first floor. Even though it was only a few minutes past 12, the first floor was already half-filled with people. The sight of it made him anxious.

“Hey, look around,” Qiu Chen said. “The restaurant is almost full even though everything is so pricey. Won’t we have to wait for at least a few hours just to get in here when the semester starts?”

After hearing what Qiu Chen has said, the other three students also shared his concern.

“Then… Why don’t we come here for dinner later?” Liu Zixuan, who wasn’t worried about his pocket money, suggested.

“Good idea!” the other three agreed.

It was then that a group of people showed up at the doorway.

Since Liu Zixuan and Qiu Chen were facing the door, they immediately stood up when they saw the group of people.

“Good Afternoon, Professor Wang!”

“Good Afternoon, Mr. Li!”

“Good Afternoon, Professor Chen!”

“G… Good Afternoon, Department Head!”

Among the nine Physics lecturers and Professors, four of them had taught Li Zixuan and Chen Qiu before.

“Professor Wang?” Jiang Feng greeted them after he heard the commotion. “Good afternoon!”

“Professor Wang is treating us to lunch,” Professor Chen, the youngest amongst the group, smiled. “I’ve never thought I would meet so many of our students here. Jiang Feng, are you part-timing here?”

“No, I’m just helping out,” Jiang Feng smiled and explained.

When the group of teachers went into the restaurant, they were shocked to see almost half of the customers were students of Physics.

“What? Are the Physics majors having a party here?” Professor Wang, who usually was stern and serious, couldn’t help but crack a joke.

“This is my parents’ restaurant,” Jiang Feng explained. “They are here for the opening day. We have large tables and private rooms on the second floor. Should I prepare a room?”

“That won’t be necessary,” Professor Chen smiled. “We’ll take the round table.”

Since there was a menu on the second floor too, Jiang Feng guided the teachers to the second floor and went down to get them their free Sour Prune Drinks while they decided what to order.

“I can’t believe there’s a restaurant that sells such a wide variation of Shandong Cuisine here near A University,” Professor Li said after he went through the menu.

Even though the foods in Healthy Restaurant were expensive for the students, the price for such a complete and a rather lavish menu was reasonable to teachers of A University who had good pay.

The teachers did not hold back and ordered a few dishes. Among the ordered foods were Sweet and Sour Carp and Braised Pork Hock with Brown Sauce too.

After serving the teachers their free drinks, Jiang Feng checked their ordered foods and relayed the order to Jiang Jiankang in the kitchen.

Jiang Jiankang had braised two pork hocks earlier, he was planning to have them for lunch and dinner. But since the ones who ordered the pork hock were Jiang Feng’s teachers, Jiang Jiankang decided to have one less for himself. They were lucky to have carps in their inventory too. After learning about the wholesale market from Jiang Feng, Jiang Jiankang decided to visit it earlier that morning and found two fresh carps there. He’d decided to buy them and keep them if sudden situations arose.

Jiang Jiankang never thought that he would have to cook one straightaway.

Professor Chen took a sip of the Sour Prune Juice and complimented, “This is really good!”

“No way,” Professor Li said.

Since Professor Li was from Beijing, where Sour Prune Juice originated, he knew about the juice more than anyone else.

“Most Sour Prune Juice sold in supermarkets have food additives in them,” Professor Li then explained. “It’s different from the ones we got when I was younger. Back then, we had to cook the prunes in rock sugar slowly. The people in palaces only used a certain plum…”

Professor Li suddenly stopped talking after he took a sip of the juice.

The lightly smoked flavor enveloped his mouth. It was the same taste like the ones he had when he was still a kid.

No… This is better.

“Certain what?” Professor Chen asked.

“Plums…” Professor Li swallowed the juice and answered. “This is your student’s family’s shop?”

“Yes, Jiang Feng. That kid almost failed my class last semester,” Professor Chen said and took another sip of the juice. “I think this is the best I’ve ever had.”

“This is the authentic way that palace cooks used to make,” Professor Li said dumbfoundedly. “Ever since all the old shops in Beijing closed down, I’ve never had such authentic Sour Prune Juice since.”

“Looks like we are in for a treat today,” one of the professors laughed.

In the kitchen, Jiang Jiankang prepared the pork hock while holding back his tears.

Jiang Jiankang has gone through all of the nearby markets and malls just to buy the two pork hocks that he’d chosen out of hundreds the night before. He then soaked the meat in ice water for more than 12 hours just to get rid of the smell of blood. Even the food from the night before didn’t get such treatment from him.

The reason Jiang Jiankang would do so was that the pork hock was his favorite food. He would give extra care if he was making the pork for himself.

Jiang Jiankang then took out a bottle of Huadiao Wine and poured it into the wok.

“Xiao Feng, know that I’m using this good bottle of wine for you,” Jiang Jiankang said sadly.

“…”

Whenever a customer ordered a Braised Pork Hock, Jiang Jiankang would act like he was losing a precious family member.

Yeah, right! That’s probably the worst bottle among the 100 bottles that you’ve collected.

After the pork was heated through, Jiang Jiankang poured a ladle of hot stock into it.

That was Jiang Jiankang’s unique way of cooking. He would add stock into anything he cooked. That was why there was a big pot of stock in the kitchen all the time.

Even though the stock thinned the brown sauce out, it enhanced the overall flavor of the dish. When Jiang Feng took the Braised Pork Hock to the second floor, everyone on the first floor had their eyes glued onto him.

“It smells so good,” one of the customers couldn’t help but exclaim.

Even though they were salivating, none of the customers ordered the pork hock.

There was no way students would waste more than a hundred just for on dish.

The professors on the second floor also caught onto the aroma coming up.

“What’s that smell?” Professor Chen asked as the smell made him even hungry.

“Braised Pork Hock in Brown Sauce,” Jiang Feng said as he served the professors their food. “Enjoy.”

“Professor Chen, isn’t this a famous dish from your hometown. Don’t you recognize it?” one of the professors asked.

“No, this isn’t like the ones we have back home,” Professor Chen said as he grabbed a piece of the meat and put it in his bowl. “They probably used the same name. But this smells better than any pork hock I’ve ever had.”

Professor Chen then took a bite of the meat, and it instantly melted in his mouth.

“This is way too tasty!” Professor Chen exclaimed.

Upon hearing Professor Chen’s remark, the other professors started to reach for the meat.

The first floor was already full of customers by then. Since it was too much for Jiang Feng and Wang Hao to handle alone, Qiu Chen and the other three friends who were ready to pay their bill and helped out.

“Oh, right. If you post a photo of your emptied plates online, we will give a 10% discount,” Jiang Feng said.

“Seriously?” the girl that was with her boyfriend exclaimed as she overheard Jiang Feng.

The plates on their table were clean, too, only the stock of the vegetable was left.

She couldn’t control herself while they ate and ordered another plate of Simple Stir-fry Water Spinach.

Not only had she exposed how much she could eat, she even spent a few days of pocket money.

“Yup,” Jiang Feng nodded. “The promotion is limited to students from A University only.”

“We are students there!” the girl quickly said. “You can check my student ID if you want!”

When the girl saw that even the sauces on Qiu Feng’s table were gone too, she quickly took the plate with the stock left and drank it.

“…”

Jiang Feng couldn’t help but find the girl amusing.

The girl then put the plate down and took a picture for posting online.

“Ding! Reputation gained. Quest progress: 2/100.”