The Game of Life - Chapter 57

Chapter 57: Hungry

Truth be told, Wu Minqi was very good at cooking congee.

The Millet Congee, one of the signature dishes of the Wu Family Restaurant, had been made by her. With simple ingredients and precise control of heat, the congee was soft, sweet, and fragrant. The texture was smooth and flowing, she could restore the original taste of the food and give full play to the characteristics of the ingredients. She could even declare with confidence that the standard of the Millet Congee she cooked was comparable to a master of congee cooking who had practiced for 20-30 years.

But there was a catch.

She had to keep an eye on it.

She had to be nearby, adjusting the fire according to how cooked the congee was, judging whether to stir according to the fragrance it gave off, and she had to have a precise grasp of when and how strong the heat should be. For her, cooking a pot of Millet Congee was no easier than cooking a day’s meal.

But it was not the same for Jiang Feng.

She had seen with her own eyes that Jiang Feng had been busy with other things throughout. From beginning to end, he had only gone to check on the pot three times, holding a child in his arms the first time, adding sweet potatoes the second time, stirring and turning down the heat the third time.

It had appeared so simple, but he had made a pot of Sweet Potato Congee that was so excellent and couldn’t be faulted.

Wu Minqi stared at the Sweet Potato Congee, but her body trembled with excitement.

This feeling was akin to a lonely master swordsman who sought defeat and had finally found their dream competition.

“Minqi, your congee cooking skills are as good as the president’s!” Liu Qian sighed as she grabbed the ladle from her hand and scooped out a bowl for herself.

A full bowl, with a huge chunk of sweet potato on top.

“I didn’t cook the Sweet Potato Congee, the president did.” Wu Minqi would never steal credit. Seeing Liu Qian’s enlightened expression, she grew curious, “Have you ever had congee cooked by the president?”

“Yes, I have. In the first few days of their restaurant’s opening, the congee cooked by the president was given out for free. The president’s Minced Pork Congee with Preserved Egg is delicious! That taste, that fragrance, it was amazing! It was exceptionally soft. How would you describe it? It was smooth and delicious? No, it was fragrant and it was just scrumptious!” Liu Qian stumbled on her words trying to describe Jiang Feng’s Minced Pork Congee with Preserved Egg, but couldn’t find any apt descriptions, her expression of yearning had already told Wu Minqi that she was longing for that bowl of congee.

“Why isn’t he cooking congee now?” Wu Minqi asked as she took back the iron ladle from Liu Qian and began to give out the congee.

“The president went on to study how to brew soup later. The soup he made was really horrible! He would randomly add ingredients, he would add anything, all kinds of mushrooms, and different ingredients every day too, but he doesn’t brew soup now, he also doesn’t cook congee anymore.” Liu Qian sighed, “To be honest, the president’s cooking is very good, and I don’t disdain his cooking, but his father and his grandfather’s dishes are obviously more delicious. Every time we go there to eat, it would be like a lottery situation, it would be great if he would continue to cook congee.”

“Being a cook, of course, requires constant learning.” Wu Minqi agreed with Jiang Feng’s behavior.

The two chatted idly for a few more moments, as fellow villagers who were in another city for college, they would have much to talk about, not to mention that they were from the same high school, while they were talking, they had given out all the congee and egg custards, with a bottle of warm milk for everyone as well.

The others were still faring well, but the students who had been assigned to move and clean things were already famished.

They had been called up early in the morning, and then put to manual labor, anyone would get hungry in those situations.

Then, their hearts went cold upon seeing their breakfast.

A bowl of sweet potato or pumpkin congee, a 245ml bottle of warm milk, and a small bowl of egg custard.

The female students who were in charge of talking with the lonely elderly were fine with it. However, after more than an hour’s work, the male students, who originally had big appetites, felt their hearts die.

“Everyone, there will be noodles later. If you want noodles, please raise your hand.” Cried Liu Qian.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh, almost all of the male students had their hands raised, and some of the teachers as well, sharper and more orderly than primary school students raising their hands to answer questions in class.

“Luckily there are noodles as well, or I’ll starve to death this afternoon. Ah, you rascal, you’ve brought bread!” The eyes of the young officer of the student union who had been brought here to help glazed over when he saw his companion sitting beside him quietly take out four buns from his pocket, “Come on, give me one!”

“Aren’t there noodles? You can just have more noodles.” A brotherhood as fake a plastic caused the companion to be reluctant to share his treasured buns.

“The guy in charge of counting the number of people was doing it blindly. If Jiang Feng could cook, it would be considered good, but Liu Qian is a food steamer. There is another girl who probably doesn’t know anything about cooking. Jiang Feng might be the only one who is making all the food for so many of us. It’s better to just have two home economics club members preparing our food. With a group of schoolchildren causing trouble in the back kitchen, it would be good if the noodles were edible.” The students’ Union officials made a sound analysis.

“Share one with me, you already have four. If I have to carry and move things around later, I’ll starve to death.” The student union official pleaded.

His companion hesitated for a moment and was attracted by the large piece of sweet potato on his bowl of Sweet Potato Congee. It was bright orange and stimulated his appetite just by looking at it.

“I’ll give you one, but give me some Sweet Potato Congee .”

“All right!” The student union official agreed without hesitation. He had no interest in the congee. He pushed the bowl to his companion.

His companion picked up the sweet potato with his chopsticks.

The companion scooped up a large spoonful of congee.

The companion scooped up another tablespoon of congee.

The companion scooped up another spoonful of congee again.

The companion scooped up another spoonful of congee once again.

The bowl was empty.

“Ahem.” The companion wiped his mouth awkwardly. He had just thought that the sweet potato looked quite delicious. After tasting the sweet potato, he thought that the congee should also be good. After drinking one mouthful, he thought why not have another mouthful. Then the situation turned uncontrollable and irrecoverable.

“Umm, I’ve accidentally finished it. I’ll give you two more buns.” The companion tried to remedy it.

“Sure, is the Sweet Potato Congee that good?” The Student Union officer accepted the bun happily without knowing what he had missed.

“Not bad. I like Sweet Potato Congees.” The companion said with a normal expression.

When they were almost finished, Jiang Feng and the teacher that had been helping him came out carrying a bucket of noodles and a bucket of noodle soup.

He had already contacted Wu Minqi on his cell phone to ask her to give out the bowls and divide the seasoning properly, and then he would give out the noodles when he came.

How should he describe the noodles this time?

He felt that they were edible. Nobody would die from eating them. They were just a little thick, a little rough. They had been broken quite a few times and appeared quite irregularly shaped. The taste and texture were probably not that far from their appearance, and they would probably lump together.

It was edible!

The noodles were distributed to everyone, and everyone started to gobble it up with bowls in their hands as if the bowl was filled with unique delicacies.

Especially those who have been given the Sweet Potato Congee, they were even hungrier after the appetizer.

Jiang Feng was shocked to see the scene.

Could it be that… His noodles were in fact very well made. His real talent was in pastry and flour-based foods. He had been working in the wrong direction all these years. He was in fact, an undiscovered culinary genius?

“What I made…Is it really that delicious?” Jiang Feng couldn’t help but ask.

After tasting it, Wu Minqi put the bowl down in silence and said, “They are just hungry.”

Oh.