Chapter 291: Chapter 290: Special Offer Dish (Vote for
Monthly Ticket!)
“Come on, Second Brother, have some chicken!”
“Try the beer duck.”
“Have a couple more slices of braised pork.”
“Eat this piece of sweet and sour carp, it’s boneless, fried until crispy, and the sauce is even.”
“Second Brother, let me get you some porridge.”
To make up for the hurt Jiang Shoucheng felt earlier when he missed out on the beef, Jiang Feng was diligently serving him food, even more attentively than when he tried to avoid tutoring Jiang Junlian and Jiang Junqing during New
Year’s.
“Alright, alright, you’ve been busy all afternoon too, eat your meal, I can serve myself,”’Jiang Shoucheng said, as Jiang Feng’s serving noticeably slowed down his food-grabbing efficiency.
At the table with nine doctors dining together, Jiang Feng could easily assess their ranks in the emergency department’s food hierarchy based on their reactions when serving dishes.
Mr. Zhong was undoubtedly at the top of the food chain; although he only picked at vegetarian dishes like eight treasures tofu, stir-fried three earthy treasures, and tomato scrambled eggs, his bowl was never short of meat.
Dr. Cao would serve two pieces of braised pork for every piece he took for himself, one always for Mr. Zhong; Dr. Lu would recommend the tenderest- looking piece of tofu to Mr. Zhong from the perspective of a food connoisseur; and Xu, being Mr. Zhong’s direct disciple, his chopsticks were an extension of Mr. Zhong’s will, reaching wherever Mr. Zhong’s gaze fell.
For someone like Zhou, an intern at the bottom of the emergency department’s food hierarchy, he didn’t even have the privilege to serve Mr. Zhong.
Jiang Feng initially thought that with all the dishes he had prepared, some of which were quite elaborate, along with a large pot of preserved egg and lean pork porridge he made, there would be leftovers from the nine people including himself for that night’s on-call doctors.
What he hadn’t anticipated was the astonishing combat power of emergency doctors who had been starving for 14 hours.
Included were Dr. Cao who had been on call for two nights, Zhou who hadn’t had meat for months, Jiang Shoucheng who consistently weighed over 200 pounds, and Sun, who had just been jilted (unrequited love) and converted his sorrow into appetite.
The eleven dishes, one soup, and one porridge on the table were completely devoured in just half an hour.
If it hadn’t been for Dr. Cao going out to stitch up a patient, Jiang Shoucheng and Xu lifting stretchers twice, Zhou cleaning wounds for two casualties, and Director Zhong checking on a car accident victim with a broken leg during the meal, they might have finished even faster.
Jiang Shoucheng, who had the last plate, scraped the pot of porridge clean with a metal spoon as if it had just been washed. In the plate that previously held the sweet and sour carp, only a perfect skeleton remained. Jiang Feng even suspected that if he hadn’t deboned the chicken and duck, the bones that remained would have been as clean as freshly shaven ones.
People are lazy after a full meal, especially emergency doctors who, after starving for over a dozen hours, suddenly indulged in a feast and now slumped in their chairs, not wanting to move, not even willing to organize patient records.
There’s nothing more comfortable than chatting and boasting after a hearty meal.
Dr. Lu, well-informed and sensing Jiang Feng’s cooking was not that of an ordinary small restaurant chef, curiously asked, “Jiang, which restaurant are you a chef at?”
“Taifeng Building,” Jiang Shoucheng answered quickly, his speech as swift as when he ate.
Dr. Lu’s eyes brightened, “That’s really fortunate. I have next Saturday off and was planning to take my wife, kid, and parents to Taifeng Building for a meal.” Those at the bottom of the emergency food chain like Xu, Zhou, and Sun could only look on enviously at Dr. Lu.
Winners in life like him, who owned property in the second ring of Beijing, had a beautiful wife, children, high education, and even less hair loss, having a head start of thousands of steps from birth, were planning to dine at a restaurant that those at the bottom earning less than 3000 a month could never afford.
Zhou, still savoring the taste of the braised pork, braised chicken, beer duck, and sweet and sour carp he had just eaten, not to mention the lingering aftertaste of the preserved egg and lean pork porridge, firmly believed it to be the most delicious meal he had ever had since he could remember.
Though to a great extent, it was because he hadn’t had meat for months, and any meat tasted good to him.
“Is Taifeng Building close to our hospital?” Zhou timidly asked. “It’s quite close, you can get there directly by subway,” Jiang Feng said.
“Is the food expensive?” Zhou’s voice grew even weaker.
After thinking for a moment, Jiang Feng honestly replied, “It’s not cheap, the least expensive dry-fried beef ho fun is 48.”
Zhou felt a twinge in his heart.
“A pot of preserved egg and lean pork congee costs over too, and I’m the one who cooks all the congee in our shop,” Jiang Feng continued.
Zhou’s heart twinged twice more.
His fiancee was coming to Beiping next month, and he wanted to take her out for a good meal.
Not just any random restaurant on the street, but a truly good meal at one of those venerable eateries, and order the most expensive signature dishes they had.
He had been gnawing on radishes, cabbage, and steamed buns for so many months, not even buying discounted instant noodles or mooching others for Lao Gan Ma – all to save money to treat his fiancee and parents to a fine meal. There were no lack of time-honored restaurants in Beiping, plus various high- end dining options from international cuisines. Zhou had so many choices that his head grew heavy with all the planning, yet he had never been to any of these places.
Now, having tasted Jiang Feng’s culinary skills, he felt that if Jiang Feng was this impressive at such a young age, the other chefs at Taifeng Building must be even better.
He had come from a local hospital to the Benevolent Doctor for further training, which was a one-year program, and he had two months left.
He wasn’t particularly talented, and had graduated from a second-tier medical school with mediocre grades. It was sheer luck that allowed him to perform exceptionally well and be admitted to the Benevolent Doctor’s training program. With his current abilities, he was bound to return to the county hospital upon completing the program, without a chance to stay.
Once his training was over, he probably wouldn’t have another opportunity to visit Beiping.
Next month his fiancee was visiting, and the following month his parents would come. Even if he didn’t have time to take them to climb the Great Wall or visit the Forbidden Palace, Zhou wanted to treat them to a good meal, not just go to the orthopedic canteen like last time and order a serving of braised pork. It wouldn’t do for him to return to the county hospital after his training, and when asked about Beijing, only to tell people that the braised pork in the canteen at Benevolent Doctor was especially delicious.
Sun was filled with myriad thoughts, a whirlwind of worries and sorrows.
Jiang Shoucheng had previously told Jiang Feng that these doctors’ basic salary during the training period was very low, and he could tell that Sun was financially embarrassed.
“But our restaurant does trial dishes for the new menu, and all the trial dishes are offered at a special price, and they all taste pretty good,” Jiang Feng said. The special-priced dishes were my own creations that didn’t sell. “Special-priced dishes!” Sun’s eyes lit up, “Will there be special-priced dishes next month too?”
In a world filled with lie-spewing heavyweights, Jiang Feng, who was struggling to survive, rarely encountered someone as honest as Sun and suddenly felt a bit guilty for trying to coax him into ordering his own dishes. “Next month, it should be Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon,” Jiang Feng didn’t lie; the trial run of the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon had gone smoothly, and it would definitely make the menu next month.
“Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon?”
“Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon!” Dr. Lu suddenly perked up, “Your restaurant has a chef who can make Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon?”
I am that humble person.
“Yes, Master Sun Guanyun’s grandson, Sun Jikai, happens to work in our restaurant,” Jiang Feng said with a slight smile.