23 Chapter 23: To Learn Cooking, Go to New East
Translator: Larbre Studio
Editor: Larbre Studio
The issue with the public account was smoothly resolved, and Jiang Feng added Zhang Wei’s WeChat to discuss the details of the delivery for the next few days. Zhang Wei wasn’t picky; he told Jiang Feng about a few dishes he didn’t eat and let him decide what to deliver, depending on whatever was convenient to cook at the restaurant.
Upon meeting such an easy-going customer, Jiang Feng couldn’t help but feel a bit shocked.
After the last table of customers had left the restaurant, Jiang Jiankang spent another half hour bustling in the kitchen, finally finishing the last dish.
Looking at the table set with seven dishes and one soup of Huaiyang cuisine, Jiang Feng nearly wondered if Jiang Jiankang had poured all his lifetime’s knowledge into today’s preparation.
Yangzhou fried rice, three-set duck, clear-braised crabmeat lion’s head, Wensi tofu, pine nuts with corn, stir-fried mushrooms with greens, sautéed shrimp, and mushroom soup.
Reading the clues, Jiang Feng could tell that the Yangzhou fried rice was too oily, the fire control for the crystal pork wasn’t quite there, the Wensi tofu excelled, the pine nuts with corn were too bland, and Mrs. Wang Xiulian had surely skimped by buying not-so-fresh corn.
For Mr. Jiang Jiankang, who wasn’t very skilled in Huaiyang cuisine, this meal was yet another milestone in his culinary journey!
Ji Yue was dumbfounded by the abundant spread of dishes.
“Jiang Feng, you never told me your family’s three meals a day were this lavish!” Ji Yue said, her voice trembling as she observed the feast.
Such great meals, I wouldn’t trade them for a monthly salary of ten thousand!
“Eh, why are there two soups?” Zhao Yu pointed at the Wensi tofu and asked, “Why chop the tofu so finely for tofu soup?”
“Big brother, this is Wensi tofu!” Liu Zixuan said, frustrated with his ignorance.
!!..
But indeed, Mr. Jiang Jiankang’s unrestrained plating did make the Wensi tofu resemble more of a tofu soup.
“Come, come, sit down to eat,” Mr. Jiang Jiankang called out, warmly inviting Ji Yue, “The Huaiyang dishes I make aren’t that authentic either, showing off in front of a master. Come on, try this Wensi tofu, and let me know if it’s authentic or not.”
“Authentic, definitely authentic.” Ji Yue nodded repeatedly. She had never seen authentic Wensi tofu before, but with the tofu as fine as silk, if this wasn’t authentic, she couldn’t imagine what true Wensi tofu would be like.
“Try this three-set duck as well. Although it doesn’t have Gaoyou sesame duck or wild duck, I made it with rich broth, so the taste shouldn’t be too far off,” Mr. Jiang Jiankang continued.
“Delicious, delicious!” Ji Yue hadn’t tasted three-set duck before.
“The lion’s head is delicious, Uncle Jiang!” Liu Zixuan gave his generous praise without hesitation.
“Of course!” Mr. Jiang Jiankang was immensely proud, “Although the crabs aren’t plump right now, they’re still okay to make do with. I’ll cook it for you again when the hairy crabs are in season in a couple of months. Today, Ji Yue has to put up with this inferior dish.”
“Very tasty, very tasty!” Ji Yue nodded and smiled almost mechanically.
Since when did lion’s head require the use of crab…
After a hearty meal and wine, Ji Yue efficiently cleaned up the dishes, wiped down the table, and sanitized the place, while Mr. Jiang Jiankang and Mrs. Wang Xiulian went to do the accounting and also plan tomorrow’s drinks. Those who didn’t feel like returning to the dorm stayed back in the store to help out, meanwhile, indulging in some boasting.
“Ah, I almost chose a university in the Huaiyang area when I was filling out my college preferences,” Zhao Yu reminisced, smacking his lips as if savoring the meal he just had.
“Yeah, I didn’t realize that within our vast China the differences between dishes could be so substantial. Why doesn’t our region have any uniquely delicious specialty dishes?” Wang Hao agreed wholeheartedly.
Ji Yue: …
I think you guys might have some misunderstandings about my hometown. I’ve also eaten many of these dishes for the first time.
Not wanting to shatter her juniors’ aspirations for a good life, Ji Yue decided to keep this secret buried in her heart.
After closing the shop, everyone headed back to their dorms. Jiang Feng had a full schedule the next day, not finishing class until twelve. When he returned to the dorm, he looked at tomorrow’s textbooks intending to be a good student. After a glance and failing to grasp the material, he joyfully closed the books and climbed into bed to play with his phone.
Five minutes before sleep, immense joy was like being in heaven.
The next day, having gleefully devoured four custard buns on the way to class, he discovered that the first thing everyone asked upon meeting was “Did you eat yesterday?”
What, is this some new internet catchphrase?
“Feng!” Qian Tang burst over to Jiang Feng as soon as he saw him, “Save the child, please!”
The expression on a student’s face when asking the teacher to outline the exam scope couldn’t be more vivid.
“Wha…what’s wrong?” Jiang Feng was startled.
“We have five classes today, Feng!” Qian Tang’s face was etched with sorrow, “There’s no chance to grab a seat for meals!”
Jiang Feng wondered internally why it was his problem that the canteen was too crowded to find a seat, as he couldn’t find one either.
“Order takeout!” That’s what everyone did last year, just place an order after the fourth period and specify a delivery time.
“Feng, doesn’t your family do takeout? I checked all the delivery apps, and couldn’t find your place,” Jiang Feng thought Qian Tang’s acting skills were lacking. If it were his uncle here, there would already be two lines of tears streaming down his cheeks.
“Oh, that, we’ll start doing it in a few days. Wait until I set up a WeChat official account, then you can order takeout through it,” Jiang Feng said, and a few other people gathered around immediately.
“Feng, how many more days until we can order takeout?”
“Feng, save us chubbies!”
“Feng, does your restaurant charge for the containers in the takeout?”
“Feng…”
As the teacher walked in, he noticed everyone enthusiastically calling Jiang Feng “Feng.” Originally, Wang Hao had coined the nickname just to coerce Jiang Feng into making extra pork rib rice, but now everyone had picked it up, and no one called him by his real name anymore.
“Whoa, Jiang Feng got an upgrade to ‘Feng’ after just one summer vacation. Come on, Feng, did you do the prep work? I’ve got a question for you,” Mr. Wang had taught Jiang Feng’s class last semester and was a youthful teacher who enjoyed joking around.
Jiang Feng: …
Looking at a line of formulae on the blackboard, Jiang Feng felt the system’s assessment of him was spot-on; his physics was indeed at a high school level. He couldn’t even read the formulae written there.
Mr. Wang continued to write until half the blackboard was filled.
The whole class stared at each other, dumbfounded.
Teacher, you’ve changed. You used to start every class by talking for five minutes about the love-hate story between Edison and Tesla.
Jiang Feng quietly bowed his head and opened his attributes panel, allocating experience points to physics, upgrading it from beginner to intermediate.
Physics (Intermediate): You can master most of the physics knowledge at the undergraduate level.
When he looked up again, the previously incomprehensible formulae suddenly made sense, and he instinctively knew what they were and how they could be applied to various types of problems.
“Feng, what were you just tapping on the table?” Wang Hao asked.
“I was opening the game panel to upgrade my skills,” Jiang Feng said.
“Haha, Feng, you’re really funny.”
“Come on, Feng, tell me what these eight formulas are about?” Mr. Wang circled the eight equations on the left.
“They’re all Maxwell’s equations,” Jiang Feng said.
“Not bad, you still remember some of last year’s electromagnetism content. Okay, Li Bin, tell me what these three equations over here are about?”
“We learned Maxwell’s equations in electromagnetism?” Wang Hao looked utterly perplexed, his attributes as a slacker exposed beyond doubt.
“Maybe,” Jiang Feng said with an expressionless face.
If only I had known, I would’ve gone to New East.
At least then I would’ve had an equal footing with Lanxiang.