The Game of Life-Chapter 626 - 624 Peak of Life

Chapter 626 -624 Peak of Life

The matter of finalizing the spring limited set menu was pressing.

Fan Mei felt that the spring limited set menu should be launched before Qingming Festival, and now it was already April 2, leaving only three days before the festival.

The restaurant on the floor above planned to debut a brand-new spring set menu after Qingming, aiming to lure back customers who were deterred by price tags once the grand opening discount period ended.

Insiders revealed that the new spring menu from the restaurant upstairs would offer significant discounts, likely delivering a striking blow to the major Beiping restaurants after the Qingming holiday.

And who was this insider? Of course, it was none other than Wang Hao, who had infiltrated the enemy ranks, now interning at an advertising company and held in high regard by his superiors.

Wang Hao’s company had recently taken on a part of the online promotion for the restaurant upstairs. Although it was a small part, it allowed Wang Hao to successfully infiltrate enemy territory, starting his days as a scrupulous spy for the unscrupulous capitalist Mr. Jiang, without a salary.

...

Although he didn’t receive a salary, he was given meals. Not to mention, during the food tasting phase, he could eat any dish he wanted. Whether it was made by Jiang Weiguo, Jiang Feng, Dong Li, Dong Shi, or the other nameless chefs in the back kitchen, he could eat his fill however he wished.

April 2 was a Friday.

After a hard day of work, and despite having written 2,000 words of various materials, an exhausted Wang Hao made his way to the Taifeng Building.

As soon as he entered the Taifeng Building, Wang Hao saw the familiar figure of Feng, idling at the front desk. A knowing smile crossed his face, and he approached him.

“Feng, what’s for dinner today?” asked Wang Hao, his visits to the Taifeng Building as casual and enjoyable as if he were going to a cafeteria — in fact, even more enjoyable than that.

Going to the cafeteria meant swiping a meal card and possibly encountering a superior asking about how his morning work went. Coming to the Taifeng Building, he had none of these worries. The waiters and cooks mostly recognized him, and no one would ask about his work. Instead, they would kindly bring dishes to him for tasting and give feedback on the flavors.

At the front desk — no, concerned about the day’s business — Jiang Feng looked up and, seeing Wang Hao, reacted as if he’d seen a savior. He stood up quickly, came out from behind the desk, and grabbed Wang Hao’s hand to head toward the kitchen.

“Didn’t you say you could leave early on Fridays? Why are you only just now arriving? It’s already 5 p.m., and if you had been any later, there would have been a fight in the kitchen!” Jiang Feng exclaimed.

Wang Hao had become much more than the unpaid weekend booth waiter he was when he first started, and even more than the valuable, unpaid spy he was now. He became even more valuable as a neutral party, not on the Taifeng staff nor on the Jiang Family’s payroll. He became the designated evaluator for the Taifeng kitchen’s spring limited menu.

As Jiang Feng and Mrs. Wang Xiulian mentioned before, there were just too many spring ingredients.

Just fish alone had more than a dozen varieties, not to mention the various vegetables. If all these ingredients were used to make dishes, there could easily be hundreds of different recipes.

Adding to the complexity, the Taifeng kitchen staff was quite diverse: Sichuan, Cantonese, Shandong, and Suzhou-style chefs, even Zhang Guanghang, who specialized in the fusion of Chinese and French cuisines. Each cuisine had its own seasonal specialties to offer.

Excluding the last cash grab set menu launched on Qixi Festival, this was the first time Taifeng was introducing a limited menu. Everyone wanted their recommended dishes to be chosen, and everybody had a bit of their own agenda.

The elder believed that since it was a set menu, it had to showcase skill and technique; only complex creations would uphold Taifeng’s reputation.

Dong Li and Dong Shi felt that the spring limited menu was practically custom-made for Suzhou-style chefs like themselves; Suzhou dishes had to take center stage in this menu.

Wu Minqi, Zhang Guanghang, Ji Xue, and Jiang Jiankang, among other chefs, felt the same.

As for Jiang Feng, the spring limited menu had little to do with him.

His tasks were to complete the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon as assigned by Mrs. Wang Xiulian, fulfill the training plan given by Sir, and deliver meals to Director Zhong at the hospital three times a day for Jiang Weiming.

Originally, Jiang Feng was also a fine choice for tasting and evaluating the dishes, but his identity was too complex, being the son of Jiang Jiankang, the grandson of Jiang Weiguo, and the boyfriend of Wu Minqi. It was hard for people to trust he wouldn’t be biased during evaluations due to unnamed pressures.

Just as the mutual distrust among everyone peaked, Wang Hao burst onto the scene.

Not only did he have a good palate and a way with words, but he could also write. With a mere wish from you, he could craft a detailed review of 1,000 words, laying out exactly why a dish was good, what made it good, how it was good now, and how it could be even better in the future.

The chefs at Taifeng kitchen simply adored Wang Hao.

And Wang Hao adored the chefs at Taifeng just as much; after all, the last time someone eagerly fed him delicious food was during visits to his grandma in elementary school.

When Jiang Feng led Wang Hao into the kitchen, the chefs had already entered into battle by cuisine type.

“We must use mandarin fish for this season — it’s the perfect time to eat it: few bones, tender meat, customers will surely love it!” argued Dong Li.

“Cod is also a good choice. Lemon-flavored cod is simple to prepare and can fetch a high price just by plating it nicely,” Zhang Guanghang interjected.

“Chili bean paste fish is better suited for a major dish in the set menu. If not, steamed fish head with two kinds of peppers is also an option,” Wu Minqi firmly suggested.

“I think mandarin fish can be pounded into fish balls for a fish ball soup,” Ji Xue put forth, taking the opportunity to vie for her sister as well.

“But I think fish is best when it’s sweet and sour.” Ji Xia didn’t want this opportunity, and she wanted to eat sweet and sour fish.

“Right, right, right, I think so too, sweet and sour fish is delicious, sweet and sour fish!” Jiang Jiankang immediately formed an alliance with Ji Xia.

“However, our signature cuisine is Shandong cuisine, so shouldn’t such an important fish dish be prepared with…” a chef who didn’t deserve a name spoke up timidly.

“Who said our restaurant’s signature is all Shandong cuisine?” everyone chorused in agreement.

Jiang Feng: …

Despite the argument, they couldn’t forget the restaurant’s principle. Who said their restaurant’s signature wasn’t Shandong cuisine, weren’t the restaurant’s signature dishes all…

In that moment, Jiang Feng found himself unable to retort.

“Ahem.” Jiang Feng coughed twice, drawing attention to Wang Hao beside him.

Wang Hao was already prepared.

All he did this afternoon when he came to work was think about how he would lavish praise on the dishes made by the chefs after arriving at Taifeng Building. He had already revised his speech 800 times; now, even if they didn’t feed him, he could praise their efforts for five minutes without repeating a single compliment.

“Wang Hao, come and try the shepherd’s purse tofu ball soup I made. The balls are made from yellow croaker and are still hot on the stove. Just wait, I’ll go drizzle some sesame oil for you,” Ji Xue said, and without another word, went to serve Wang Hao her dish.

“Try mine first, my fried squid with leeks has been out of the wok for a quarter of an hour already; it’ll be completely cold if you don’t eat it now!” Dong Li also went to serve his dish.

“Then try theirs first, my bean paste fish will need a bit more time before it’s ready,” Wu Minqi calmly stated.

“I’ll make you a lemon-flavored codfish. Is there anything else you want to eat? Actually, eating fugu in spring isn’t bad; I happen to have the relevant certification. But this dish isn’t quite suitable as a set meal,” Zhang Guanghang said with a slight smile, feeling certain that today’s victory would be his.

“Can I also…” Ji Xia’s voice was quickly drowned out by Jiang Jiankang.

“Wang, come and try the crystal sugar turtle I made for you, taste it quickly!” Jiang Jiankang tried to use his voice to get a head start.

“I want to eat too…”

“Dad, does turtle even count as a spring seasonal dish?” Jiang Feng felt Jiang Jiankang was cheating.

Ji Xia was interrupted again.

Ji Xia: QAQ

I want to eat tooˉ﹃ˉ

“What do you know, the turtle meat in spring is the best. Turtles haven’t eaten all winter, so the meat now is the freshest and tenderest with little fat, and the earthy taste is easier to remove than at other times,” Jiang Jiankang began his impromptu lecture, “Besides, turtle is a known tonic, and when we sell it for a bit more, the customers won’t mind.”

“Tonics should be stewed with black…”

“Crystal sugar turtle is delicious!”

Ji Xia nodded furiously in agreement, even wanting a bite.

Wang Hao felt those few precious tears of gratitude almost spilling from the corners of his mouth.

Where is this place, heaven?

“Ahem.” The old master, who had been silent as the others argued, coughed twice, and suddenly, everyone fell silent and turned towards Taifeng Building’s current, and only, head chef.

“What’s there to argue about, a menu isn’t something one person can judge alone, right? Everyone has to agree,” the old master said.

“Wang, you should try the pickled bamboo shoot soup I made first.”

The 𝘮ost uptodat𝑒 novels are pub𝙡ished on freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.

The old master glanced at Jiang Jiankang: “Crystal sugar turtle, daring to call it a spring seasonal dish, pickled bamboo shoot soup is the true spring seasonal dish!”

“The first dish of the beginning of spring.”

Wang Hao: !!!

This is heaven!