The Game of Life-Chapter 685 - 683 Anxiety

Chapter 685: Chapter 683 Anxiety

Over the following period, Jiang Feng spent most of his time at Yonghe House, learning about superior broth from Peng Changping. As time went on, many chefs at Yonghe House even began to treat Jiang Feng as one of their own, often having to think hard to remember that he was actually a chef from Taifeng Building.

To focus more on his learning, every morning Jiang Feng would wake up early to cook himself a plate of slightly sweet, sugar-glazed pork belly. Either mixed with noodles or served with porridge, he would eat this under Wu Minqi’s initially puzzled but eventually understanding gaze. Every day, he happily went to work.

And so, two months uneventfully passed by.

Actually, it wasn’t uneventful. During these two months, Taifeng Building’s revenue hit a historic low.

Jiang Feng graduated smoothly. In June, he took two days to return to his school for his defense and to complete the graduation formalities. He did not stay for an extra day; even his diploma was mailed to him and is still unopened in the drawer.

Jiang Feng was busy every day during these two months.

...

Wake up, go to Yonghe House, come home, sleep. A cycle that only deviated a few times to visit Taifeng Building.

Even so, Jiang Feng was aware that business at Taifeng Building had been very poor in the last two months.

Because he had shifted his focus entirely on learning from Peng Changping, Jiang Feng seldom returned to Taifeng Building during business hours. On the rare occasions he did, he could not help but notice the noticeable decline in customer traffic compared to before, with visible areas of the hall showing significantly lower occupancy rates, not to mention the hidden private rooms. Even the periodic cooking of Sir, the old master, had not made much difference. Compared to Chef Arno, who was ranked sixth on the Celebrity Chefs list, Sir’s cooking skills were still somewhat lacking.

In contrast, the top-floor restaurant, under the influence and assistance of Chef Arno, captured the hearts of diners from all social classes in a very short time. Even after various promotions had ended and the prices returned to their exorbitant rates, the customer flow remained impressive, and there was no significant dip in reputation.

In May and June, the top-floor restaurant shone brightly in Beiping, almost gaining a monopoly over the city’s dining scene. Taifeng Building, being a key target and located close by, suffered the heaviest loss from the migration of top-tier diners. Other established restaurants didn’t fare much better, with Yonghe House also experiencing a gradual decline in turnover despite having Grandmaster Level chef Peng Changping. Not to mention the other restaurants without such notable chefs to anchor them.

The top-floor restaurant and Chef Arno were probably the most standout and dazzling presences in Beiping’s dining industry during these two months.

Other high-end restaurants in Beiping also went through the darkest two months they had seen in years.

On July 12th, at 2 pm, Jiang Feng returned to the kitchen after lunch as usual to continue working on the broth.

With two months of effort, and under the “buff” effect, Jiang Feng studied cooking with an intensity as if he was on a stimulant, coupled with Peng Changping’s meticulous instruction, his progress with the broth was advancing by leaps and bounds. Occasionally altering methods and tweaking details, even when he tried to make broth according to Jiang Weiming’s recipes rather than following Peng Changping’s methods, he could only produce A-grade broth.

Jiang Feng was clear that while he understood the methods and principles, during these two months he had encountered and made all the mistakes that could possibly be made, and had corrected them with Peng Changping’s assistance and guidance. The reason he couldn’t produce S-grade broth was simply that his cooking skills weren’t up to scratch.

He understood the principles, but indeed, his abilities couldn’t keep up.

Jiang Feng’s objective was actually very simple. Although Peng Changping was teaching him Jiang’s Sea Cucumber Soup, what he genuinely wanted to learn was how to make superior broth. If he could make S-grade broth, then clear soups could also reach S-grade. By then, making S-grade steamed chicken with bean curd would no longer be a matter of skill, but a matter of time.

With enough practice, he would be able to make S-grade steamed chicken with bean curd.

Jiang Feng wanted to make S-grade broth and use it to improve his seasoning skills, a fact that Peng Changping was unaware of.

As usual, after lunch, Peng Changping returned to the restaurant with Lu Sheng and saw Jiang Feng tasting the broth.

“Have you eaten yet?” Peng Changping asked warmly.

“Yes,” Jiang Feng put down the soup spoon.

In terms of taste, this pot of broth was already quite satisfactory.

But what he sought was not merely satisfactory, not even excellent.

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He sought perfection, the kind that would reach the S rank.

“With your current skills, the broth you’re making is already quite good,” Peng Changping said, “wanting to practice more is of course commendable, but there’s no need for excessive practice. The broth is qualified. Now you can start learning how to prepare sea cucumbers.”

Jiang Feng gently declined, “But Master Peng, I feel that my broth is still not enough.”

Peng Changping casually took a soup spoon from the side, scooped up a little less than half a spoonful of the piping hot broth, blew on it, and tasted it.

“It’s already good enough. If I could have made broth like this at your age, my father would probably be so happy that he would have thrown a special soup banquet for me,” Peng Changping even made a small joke, “Don’t be too stressed. When I first started managing my own restaurant, I used to be very anxious. I would worry myself sleepless over small fluctuations and then act as if nothing was wrong the next day in the restaurant, though I was actually very nervous inside.”

“When you get a few more years on you, when you reach Lu Sheng’s age, you’ll understand that managing a restaurant is all about money and chefs. As long as the chefs are skilled and there are no financial problems, as long as there are no major accidents, the restaurant’s business will always be booming. Occasional fluctuations and downturns are normal, and there’s no need to worry about them.”

After listening for a while, Jiang Feng realized what Peng Changping was doing—he was comforting him not to worry too much or rush about Taifeng Building’s business.

Perhaps there was some truth in that. Jiang Feng had been eager to improve his seasoning skills, but the progress was far slower than he had hoped. With two months’ time and under Peng Changping’s guidance, he thought it should have been enough to level up his seasoning to the grandmaster level, but the reality was stark: until now, Jiang Feng was still lacking ten thousand points in proficiency.

In this period, he had hardly practiced his knifework; even his knifework was only four thousand points away, while seasoning was still lacking ten thousand.

The hardest ten thousand.

The longer the time, the less noticeable the proficiency gains, the more anxious Jiang Feng became. In the recent half-month, he had become increasingly anxious, feeling as if he had come down with a case of ‘pre-exam syndrome.’ Jiang Feng had only felt this way in the few months before the college entrance exam—no matter how hard he felt he was working every day, it seemed as though he was making no real progress. As the deadline approached, the more panic he felt, the harder it became to learn anything.

A vicious cycle.

“I’m actually not because…” Jiang Feng tried to explain but found he couldn’t clarify.

Taifeng Building’s business wasn’t as bad as the outside rumors suggested. Unlike Eight-treasure House, which spent a large amount of money on publicity and operations each year, Taifeng Building’s expenditure in this area was very small. Moreover, with no rent expenses—even though business had indeed been poor these two months—Taifeng Building was not on the brink of bankruptcy.

Taifeng Building’s financial situation was very healthy; there weren’t even any bank loans.

Jiang Feng couldn’t quite articulate why he had become so anxious lately. He knew that Taifeng Building’s sluggish business couldn’t possibly be causing him this much distress, a state that was obvious to everyone, nor was the struggle with proficiency gains something that had only happened in the last half-month. It seemed like he was becoming anxious for reasons even he himself couldn’t explain, and perhaps it was because he couldn’t figure them out that he was so anxious.

“I understand. Don’t wear yourself out too much. Humans are incredible creatures; sometimes pushing oneself hard can lead to progress, but pushing too hard can lead straight to a dead end. People always get stuck in dead ends; I did many times when I was young. You’ve probably been nowhere but the kitchen these days,” Peng Changping said.

Jiang Feng nodded.

“Go out for a walk. It’s nice now, no strong sun, and it just rained this morning so it’s cool. Don’t just stay in the kitchen all the time,” Peng Changping thought for a moment, “How about we take a stroll at the market?”

“Ah?”

“Since retiring, I haven’t had much to do. My days are mostly spent wandering around supermarkets buying groceries, and sometimes I go to the countryside farms to pick fresh produce. It’s been so long since I returned to the country, and I don’t think I’ve ever shopped for groceries. Today’s nice and cool, so how about you accompany me to the market?” Peng Changping suggested.

“Okay, just give me a moment. I’ll turn off the stove and change clothes,” Jiang Feng replied, still wearing Yonghe House’s staff uniform.

There was no choice; you couldn’t wear your own clothes in a kitchen, and Jiang Feng couldn’t wear Taifeng Building’s uniform in Yonghe House, so he blended in by getting Lu Sheng to give him two sets of Yonghe House’s staff uniform.

Now, Jiang Feng even had his own locker at Yonghe House.

“Go on, I’ll call Lu Sheng. He’s just like you, always stuck in that little room except for meals and getting off work. He probably hasn’t gone out for who knows how long. It’ll be good for you both to get out and walk around together.”