The Game of Life TGOL

Chapter 536: Chapter 534: Banquet

After updating the Wang family ancestors on his latest situation, Jiang Feng rubbed his ears, which had nearly been deafened by the firecrackers, and followed the elders back to the village.

When Jiang Feng returned to the village, his grandmother’s house was already bustling with many people, and the tables and chairs were all set up—filling the hall to the courtyard, and any spillover was accommodated in the neighboring households, who were also relatives.

The Wang family was populous and mostly resided in this very village. Wang Xiulian had more than a dozen paternal cousins alone, not to mention the countless aunts and other relatives. Officially, the feast celebrated Jiang Feng’s stellar achievements this year, but really, it was a village-wide dinner.

Before the meal even started, Jiang Feng was pulled aside for some warmth and chit-chat by a crowd of uncles whose names he couldn’t recall.

“Feng, you’re doing great, turned into a handsome young man in just two years! You must have a good drink with your uncle this noon.”

“Since he was a lad, I saw potential in this kid, and there you have it—he’s on TV now! Not just TV, but there were also newspaper and magazine interviews, right? Truly outstanding. Feng, you must have a couple of drinks with your uncle at noon today!”

“Feng, got a girlfriend yet?”

“Feng, I saw you on that competition on TV—so impressive, already on television. Make sure to drink with your maternal great-uncle during lunch, all right?”

“Feng…”

Jiang Feng: …

My name’s Jiang Feng; I’m a chef with a gaming cheat, but it’s pretty useless since my alcohol tolerance is low, yet I have a bunch of uncles who love to drink and can hold their liquor well.

Jiang Feng felt that if there were words on his forehead right now, they would definitely be a four-letter English acronym followed by an exclamation mark.

HELP!

Just when Jiang Feng thought he was cornered, he suddenly heard the conversation Jiang Jiankang was having with his eldest maternal uncle.

Jiang Jiankang was smiling enthusiastically, more warmly than ever.

It wasn’t surprising to see Jiang Jiankang so warmly engaged with Jiang Feng’s uncle; Jiang Jiankang’s treatment of Jiang Feng’s uncles had always aligned with Mrs. Wang Xiulian’s attitude. The family banquet had softened Mrs. Wang Xiulian’s relationship with her two brothers significantly; Jiang Feng had noticed Mrs. Wang Xiulian replying to her brothers while on the road earlier.

Keep in mind that, due to some unpleasant events from previous years, Mrs. Wang Xiulian had become quite skilled at treating her two brothers like air—they could be invisible to her no matter how big they were.

“Big brother, take me to the kitchen to see Master Wang, will you? I haven’t seen Master Wang in years, and just now the kitchen was empty when I checked,” said Jiang Jiankang.

“The stove at home broke and hasn’t been fixed yet, Master Wang is next door, probably still busy. Let me take you over, brother-in-law,” said Jiang Feng’s eldest uncle, chuckling as he started leading the way to the kitchen.

As Jiang Feng watched them leave, an excellent idea suddenly came to him.

“Sorry, sorry, dear uncles and great-uncle, I’ll just slip away for a moment. Excuse me, excuse me,” Jiang Feng wriggled out of the encirclement and ran towards where Jiang Jiankang had gone.

“Dad, I’ll go to the kitchen with you!” Jiang Feng shouted.

“This kid, thinking of the kitchen even during New Year’s, no wonder he’s so promising,” chuckled an uncle.

“Exactly, just like his dad. No wonder he won the cooking competition,” another uncle concurred.

“Wasn’t it the runner-up?” asked another uncle, sounding confused.

“It’s all the same; an old saying goes, ‘In literature there is no first, in martial arts, no second.’ Such matters are hard to distinguish; first and second are the same,” the great-uncle said with a laugh.

Jiang Feng ran up to Jiang Jiankang, who seemed puzzled and asked, “Son, why would you suddenly want to check out the kitchen?”

“I’ve never seen how a banquet like this is prepared; I just want to take a look,” said Jiang Feng, secretly scheming.

A Wang family feast like this served dishes in succession; plates were continually brought out and consumed. If you ate quickly, the previous dish would be finished around the time the next one arrived. If the dishes were slow, by the time the last one was served, many people would already be drunk. Jiang Feng couldn’t remember making it to the last dish last time—perhaps not even the third to last.

Jiang Feng was betting on this serving process. He planned to take over the cooking from Master Wang in the kitchen or, failing that, offer to assist. He’d claim it was to showcase his culinary skills to the relatives and let everyone taste his handiwork. But the tongue was in his mouth, and ultimately, the words were his to shape.

Jiang Feng intended to employ the “delaying tactic” by lingering in the kitchen until the uncles outside were nearly drunk, then rejoining them. By then, even if he still had to drink, it would only be a few cups—not enough to knock him out.

Jiankang had no idea about his son’s cunning plans and thought Jiang Feng was genuinely curious about the banquet setup, so he enthusiastically explained: “It’s not much, really. Your maternal family’s banquet, when small, hires only one chef. Most dishes are prepared cold: salads, cooked dishes, soups made in advance. Only a few meat and vegetable dishes need to be cooked. It’s just a matter of timing; it’s probably not as busy as our shop was before New Year’s Day.”

As he spoke, Jiankang became nostalgic. “Banquets these days aren’t what they used to be. Back when I used to help your grandfather at other villagers’ banquets, there were not enough stoves to go around, and we had to build more. Your grandfather alone managed seven or eight pots—that was a sight to behold.”

“Dad, you used to help Grandpa with banquets?” Jiang Feng was quite surprised; he hadn’t realized Mr. Jiang Jiankang had such a glorious past.

Jiang Jiankang blushed with a shy smile, “Just helped out chopping vegetables. It was an excuse to skip school when I was in primary school.”

Jiang Feng: …

Talking along the way, Jiang Feng’s elder uncle led the two to the kitchen, where Master Wang was vigorously manning the wok, sweating profusely in his thin clothes despite the cold outside.

The temperature in the kitchen was far from low, especially near the wood-fired stove.

“Master Wang!” called out Jiang Jiankang.

Seeing Jiang Jiankang, Master Wang smiled, “Jiang’s here, huh? You’ll have to taste my cooking later and see if my skills have rusted while I lazed at home.”

Master Wang was originally from a state-owned restaurant as well, though not from Z city, and he had some acquaintance with Mr. Jiang Jiankang.

“I heard that you have expanded your business to Beiping. How’s the business there? Is it easy to make a good living?” Master Wang asked. He had been invited to cook for the banquet and was not aware of the reason for the celebration.

“It’s not bad, the business is quite booming,” Mr. Jiang Jiankang said with a smile, patting Jiang Feng, “This is my son, Jiang Feng. It’s been a few years since you’ve seen him, right?”

Master Wang couldn’t help but take another look at Jiang Feng: “It has been years indeed. I believe the last time I saw him he was still in junior high school. I didn’t recognize him at first; he must be close to university age now. How’s it going, is he in a relationship? Is he working?”

Mr. Jiang Jiankang cheerfully repeated to Master Wang the exact same words that Mrs. Wang Xiulian had said in front of the Wang family ancestors at the graveyard.

Hearing about Jiang Feng’s achievements over the past year took Master Wang by surprise, as he exclaimed, “Indeed, a tiger father has no dog sons. I’ve always envied your father’s skill, and now your son is just as remarkable.”

Although the saying sounded a bit odd, Mr. Jiang Jiankang took it as a compliment.

Finding the atmosphere sufficiently warmed up, Jiang Feng spoke up, “Master Wang, why don’t you take a break and let me take over? You look quite tired.”

Master Wang waved his hands dismissively, “How could I? You’ve paid me to come here, it wouldn’t be right for me to rest. I’m not tired, I’m just getting started.”

Jiang Feng’s smile grew even brighter, that’s exactly what he wanted—to have just started: “It’s fine, just take a break. We’re all fellow villagers here, and you and my dad are old colleagues. There’s no question of hiring or not hiring. You’re here to help, so why even mention it? You’re my elder, and it wouldn’t be right for the elder to work while the younger watches. Plus, I only get to visit here during the New Year, and I rarely see my maternal grandparents and uncles. They’ve never tasted my cooking, and you’ve all gone to such lengths to throw this celebration banquet for me. How could I just sit and enjoy without contributing? It’s only right, both emotionally and logically, that I cook a few dishes for the elders to try. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Master Wang, who was not used to this kind of persuasion, got utterly confused by Jiang Feng’s words, unsure whether to continue cooking or to stop. In his moment of bewilderment, Jiang Feng seized the spatula from him.

“Master Wang, why don’t you tell me what dishes you were planning to cook?” Jiang Feng, having successfully taken over, was already surveying his newly acquired territory.

“This…”

“Old Wang, Feng has a point. His maternal grandparents and uncles have never experienced his cooking. It’s only right that he should cook a couple dishes,” Mr. Jiang Jiankang found Feng’s argument reasonable.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“But this…” Master Wang thought that Jiang Feng and Mr. Jiang Jiankang made sense, but…

He felt a bit guilty for taking money and then slacking off.

“Master Wang, why don’t you take a break for now? Just oversee my cooking and feel free to give me some pointers,” Jiang Feng said.

The word “pointers” struck a soft chord in Master Wang’s heart, and he immediately agreed.

Jiang Feng, having successfully staged his coup, grinned as he cooked from the second dish till the last, even adding two more dishes to the original menu with the leftover ingredients. Though exhausted, he was happy—happier than he had ever been, without having to be plied with drink by his uncles.

Master Wang, who reveled in the joy of slacking off and always enjoyed it, declared: he would happily cook for ten such banquets, desiring to cook at all ten!

After finishing the last dish, Jiang Feng stretched and loosened his muscles in the kitchen. He felt refreshed, and even the air seemed sweeter.

Jiang Feng stepped out of the kitchen, ready to greet his uncles, who had likely had a bit too much to drink, exchange some pleasantries, have a symbolic drink or two, and then slip away.

But then—

He saw his more than a dozen cousins who were surprisingly sober.

Not only were they sober but their faces weren’t even flushed, clearly not drinking nearly as much as one would expect given his cousins’ usual style.

Jiang Feng: ???

????

?????

“Hey, Feng,” the leading cousin approached Jiang Feng with a wineglass in hand.

This cousin looked like he might be the third cousin, or maybe not; with so many cousins, Jiang Feng really couldn’t keep track.

“I just heard from your dad, all these dishes here were made by you. That’s very thoughtful of you. We were supposed to be celebrating your achievements for the year, and yet you ended up cooking. I’m truly touched. No more words, come Feng, let me toast you!”

Jiang Feng noticed several of his nearby cousins were starting to pour wine into their glasses.

He also noticed that the food on the table seemed barely touched.

“Third uncle, why aren’t you eating? Don’t you like it?” Jiang Feng’s smile was a bit stiff as he found it hard to laugh.

“We were waiting for you. You’ve worked so hard, how could we, your uncles, feel right about eating? And your cousins didn’t feel right about reaching for more either!” the third cousin said with a laugh.

Jiang Feng: …

Damn, I messed up.

“Who has a wineglass? Quickly pour Feng a glass!”