The Game of Life

Jiang Feng left the memory, filled with confusion.

Did the bite of Sand Pot Huadiao wine Chicken that Ji Xue ate really have the taste of chicken?

What exactly did Ji Xue see?

Was it the chocolate-flavored Sand Pot Huadiao wine Chicken that was delicious, or was it the Sand Pot Huadiao wine Chicken flavored chocolate that tasted better?

I apologize for the off-topic interjection.

With a belly full of questions, Jiang Feng opened the attribute panel to check the newly acquired recipe.

As expected, this time it was Tan Weizhou’s name that was illuminated.

Tan Weizhou (1/2)

[Sand Pot Huadiao wine Chicken A+ class]

Dish Details: As a renowned Cantonese dish that resonates throughout the culinary world, Sand Pot Huadiao wine Chicken is undoubtedly a dazzling jewel among Cantonese cuisine, the number one chicken dish in the hearts of countless gourmets. Although Tan Weizhou made many mistakes in his life, he never erred in his culinary skills; even when the taste of this dish was somewhat disappointing due to the customers’ own reasons upon tasting, it still opened the door to top-tier cuisine for Ji Xue, leaving an unforgettable mark as the most memorable Lantern Festival delicacy in her life, and also becoming her original aspiration on the journey of culinary arts. Within 24 hours after consumption, there is a chance to inspire the diner to explore the original intention behind their chosen career.

Number of times it can be made per day: (0/12)

Friendly reminder: The difficulty of this dish exceeds the current culinary level of the player, and there is a high likelihood of failure. (The player may consult with Ji Xue to increase the chance of success.)

Original intention?

Jiang Feng suddenly found this recipe quite interesting.

Original intention is something some people can articulate easily, while others may find themselves hesitating when they try to speak it, and some cannot express it at all.

Take Jiang Feng, for instance; he felt he could easily state why he wanted to become a chef, but when it came to actually speaking, he found he could not. He sincerely believed that he became a chef solely because he obtained this game last year, yet there was a vague sense that this was not the case.

If you asked Jiang Feng what his original intention was when he first put effort into studying, he could tell you—it was to avoid learning cooking. That was the case for every child in the Jiang Family, and Jiang Feng believed this would be true for Jiang Junlian and Jiang Junqing for the next three years as well.

Just look at the essay that Junlian recently wrote; it was so well-written. She didn’t focus on anything other than food, adeptly combining her hobbies and strengths with her studies.

Wu Minqi belonged to those who could not articulate their original intention at all. It would be false to say she didn’t have a passion for culinary arts. Both the Wu Family and the Jiang Family were large and thriving. Wu Minqi had more cousins than Jiang Feng, and a good number of them were learning to cook; several were already working in the Wu Family Restaurant for years. There was simply no such thing as the Wu Family depending solely on her to carry on the Wu Family’s culinary arts, as if she were the last seedling and had to learn to cook whether she liked it or not—a situation that would be impossible in the Jiang Family.

Under these circumstances, Wu Minqi pursued culinary training from a young age, enduring hardships that ordinary people could not bear. Her skills could be ranked amongst the very best of her peers, yet she could not articulate her original intention.

Not at all, in fact.

Jiang Feng also knew people who could clearly state their original intention; a prime example was Jiang Weisheng. For decades, Jiang Weisheng remained true to his initial resolve, working hard and always keeping in mind the Eight Honors and Eight Shames and the core values of socialism—an exemplar in the mid-tier circle of chefs, regretfully hindered only by his modest professional competence.

Upon such comparison, it seemed that the original intention was not so important after all.

Jiang Feng glanced at his phone; it was just past eleven, not too late. As a college sophomore dropout who left the endless cycle of painting and battling super demons to preserve his hair and liver, a young man just over twenty years old, he stubbornly resisted sleeping past midnight.

Jiang Feng opened the tutorial video, not knowing or caring whether chocolate-flavored Sand Pot Huadiao wine Chicken was good, but he was determined to figure out the peculiar exchange between Tan Weizhou and Ji Xue in the memory.

Without understanding what Ji Xue had seen, he would never be able to learn the Sand Pot Huadiao wine Chicken.

He clicked play and focused intently on the tutorial video.

Like before, it began with a close-up shot of hands.

Watching live and watching a tutorial video felt entirely different; each had its own merits. Watching live was more like traditional master-apprentice teaching, offering a heightened sense of immersion, whereas tutorial videos mainly featured close-up shots, breaking down the movements meticulously, hardly missing any detail.

Although it was a tutorial video, one couldn’t pause or fast-forward while watching—a less convenient feature than using the Backtracking function. At least when employing the Backtracking function, Jiang Feng could drag the progress bar around on a screen indistinguishable from a mosaic, searching for the specific segment he needed to revisit.

The video soon reached the point where Tan Weizhou first asked, “Do you see it?”

Tan Weizhou in the video lifted the sand pot’s lid, providing a close-up of it.

Jiang Feng stared fixedly at the Sand Pot Huadiao wine Chicken inside the pot, attempting to discern some hint.

“Do you see it?” Tan Weizhou asked.

Ji Xue: “I saw it.”

Jiang Feng watching the video: …

What the hell did you both see?

Am I really the blind one here?

Jiang Feng said that he only saw the chicken in the sand pot, a perfectly normal chicken that was not yet fully cooked with a thick layer of honey glazed on its skin.

What on earth did you see?

When you added the Huadiao wine and the seasoning sauce to the pot, was there some kind of indescribable chemical reaction?

Jiang Feng continued watching with a confused face, everything seemed normal. Apart from not seeing what Tan Weizhou wanted Ji Xue to see, what Ji Xue saw but he didn’t, he saw everything else.

He even noticed that Tan Weizhou’s little finger seemed to have been nicked by something, bearing a shallow cut but not bleeding.

Jiang Feng rallied his spirit, ready to begin his second expedition and discovery.

“Ji, come a bit closer.”

Jiang Feng moved his head forward, and the video tutorial also shifted forward.

“A bit closer.”

Jiang Feng stared unblinkingly at the sand pot in the video, not daring to blink his eyes.

“Do you see it?”

“I saw it.”

Jiang Feng: ???

Damn it, what exactly did you see?

There’s only one pot here, what kind of riddle are you two trying to play?

This time was even worse than the last. At least in the previous attempt, the pot was uncovered, and there was indeed a chicken inside the pot along with seasoning and sauce, lots of elements that could have been missed, which could have been excusable.

This time, there was just one pot, even forgetting the kind with a lid, the whole screen was a close-up of this pot, so what was it that he didn’t see but Ji Xue and Tan Weizhou did?

Was it the chicken’s soul?

Jiang Feng’s patience exploded in an instant, he resolutely clicked the ‘×’ to exit the video tutorial, and reopened it to watch once more.

Twenty minutes later, he clicked ‘×’ again to exit the video tutorial, and reopened it to watch again.

Another twenty minutes later, still clicking ‘×’…

It was 3 a.m.

Jiang Feng was like an internet-addicted teenager who insisted on “just one more win before bed,” ended up playing until the next day, stubbornly fighting sleep, fueled only by sheer willpower, refusing to rest.

“Do you see it?”

“I saw it.”

Jiang Feng: …

Forget it, I’ll go to the ophthalmologist tomorrow to get checked out.

Jiang Feng admitted defeat, quitting to sleep.

If worse comes to worst, he’ll just ask Ji Xue directly tomorrow; after all, he’s got no shame.

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