The Game of Life

After a few bites of crispy apples had gone down the hatch, everyone got a little taste and began to try out the rest of the cold dishes on the table.

Jiang Feng was nibbling on tiger-skin peanuts and soy sauce cucumbers but found them bland and unexciting.

The hot dishes were still a little while off, everyone had to wait until Sir had finished cooking them all before serving them, and even once they were served, no one could touch their chopsticks until Sir arrived. It was truly agonizing to be able to see and smell the food but not eat it.

Distractedly munching on the appetizers and idly chatting, the conversation suddenly caused Jiang Jianguo to tense up.

“The pork knuckle is out of the pot!”

All eyes turned to him, and Jiang Jiankang was the most excited, “Big brother, quick, sniff and tell, what kind of pork knuckle did dad make today?”

“Hold on, hmm, jujube, goji berries, hmm, and it’s topped with chicken soup, it must be the New Year’s pork knuckle! Three kilograms of Sanhua pork hock, Dad’s definitely made the New Year’s pork knuckle!” Jiang Jianguo declared, sure of himself.

“For sure, the New Year’s pork knuckle, to bring good luck.” Jiang Jiandang nodded in agreement, also taking a sniff, “Seems like Uncle’s fish head with chopped chili is about to be ready too.”

“Yeah, the lid’s coming off,” responded Jiang Jianguo.

Everyone closed their eyes and sniffed carefully.

Because Sir’s Nine Turns Intestine was always made in limited amounts, with not even two pieces per person, and they couldn’t scramble for it like they did with the crispy apples—the elder was at the table by the time the hot dishes were served—so they had to compete in wit instead.

Whoever guessed more dishes got to eat more.

Want to eat the dishes? Sure, but only if you’ve got the skill!

Jiang Feng and the younger generation definitely couldn’t match the older ones in the art of scent-guessing, but who was Jiang Feng? He had cheated earlier in the kitchen!

Jiang Feng also pretended to close his eyes and sniff for a while. The fragrant aromas from the kitchen intermingled and were somewhat distant, so he couldn’t make anything out. Though he could detect a bit of the fish head with chopped chili, since the chili fragrance was so overpowering.

“Hmm, rice wine-stuffed duck,” said Jiang Feng.

Jiang Shoucheng, who was sitting to the left of Jiang Feng, suddenly opened his eyes wide with a shocked look, as if his face screamed, ‘I didn’t expect you, a lad with such bushy eyebrows and large eyes, to betray the cause too!’

“Rice wine-stuffed duck?” Jiang Jianguo sniffed more carefully, “It does seem similar, Feng, you’re doing great, you’ve improved quite a bit!”

“There’s sweet and sour pork,” Jiang Jiankang stated confidently.

Jiang Jiandang was immediately dissatisfied upon hearing this, arguing on the spot, “San, don’t cheat, sweet and sour pork is too easy to guess! If we’re counting that, then I can smell the pickled vegetable with pork belly and chicken soup too, which Dad makes every year, right?”

“Exactly, that doesn’t count, and oil-braised prawns don’t count either!” echoed the crowd.

Jiang Jiankang had no choice but to continue sniffing.

“Eight Treasure Tofu, it has to be Eight Treasure Tofu, I can smell it!” Jiang Jiankang was excited, “And braised bamboo shoots, too!”

But truthfully, he hadn’t smelled anything. He was just randomly guessing Eight Treasure Tofu since he remembered seeing tofu in the kitchen earlier and assumed Sir would make it.

As for the braised bamboo shoots, that was complete guesswork.

“You guessed two dishes at once, that’s impossible, how could Dad be making two dishes at the same time?” Jiang Jianye was confused.

“I just did smell them! Maybe Dad already finished them, and the aroma drifted over here just right, I smelled it just now, what about it?” Jiang Jiankang insisted shamelessly.

“Four Joyful Meatballs,” Jiang Jianshe suddenly said.

“No, I think it’s lion’s head meatballs,” Jiang Jiandang offered a differing opinion.

“I feel it’s Four Joyful Meatballs, but I can’t figure out what’s the other soup Dad made this year besides chicken soup!” grumbled Jiang Jianguo.

Lion’s head meatballs have a stronger taste than Four Joyful Meatballs, and when Sir made lion’s head meatballs, he liked using braising sauce, while he preferred clear soup for Four Joyful Meatballs, and the tastes were worlds apart.

Jiang Jianye’s skill at scent-guessing was rather poor, failing to guess a single dish, and he lacked Jiang Jiankang’s cunning to make wild claims, so he just sat in his spot, eating soy sauce cucumbers.

“Crunch, crunch.”

“Crunch, crunch.”

Half a plate of soy sauce cucumbers had been devoured.

Just when everyone had started to chat again, the sound of footsteps was heard.

The dining room fell suddenly silent.

Sir came out, two plates of braised pork with preserved vegetables in his hands. “Feng, Shoucheng, Zaide, Ran, aren’t you going to help serve the dishes?” Mrs.

Jiang followed behind, also carrying two plates of braised prawns.

Apart from the soup, Sir made every dish in two servings, with a communal pot of soup at the table for anyone who wanted some. Those called upon quickly rushed to the kitchen to get the dishes, while the rest craned their necks, eager to see if their guesses were correct.

As soon as Jiang Shoucheng entered the kitchen, he saw two ducks stuffed full with filling and with golden skin, and he exclaimed in surprise, “Hey, Feng, you really guessed it right, Grandpa did make duck.”

“Impressive,” Jiang Ran and Jiang Zaidi also praised.

“Uncle San is amazing, there’s even tofu and bamboo shoots. He got two right this year!” Jiang Zaidi exclaimed.

“This must be the Four Joyful Meatballs, ah, my dad guessed wrong again,” Jiang Shoucheng sighed.

The four of them quickly glanced over all the dishes. Not wanting to delay, they carried a plate in each hand, and held the duck and soup together with both hands. After two or three trips, all the dishes were on the table.

“San, you’re impressive, your skills are really improving, you guessed them all right!” Jiang Jianguo admitted defeat upon actually seeing the Eight Treasure Tofu and the braised bamboo shoots.

Wang Xiulian patted Jiang Jiankang on the shoulder.

Jiang Jiankang immediately got the hint and smiled, “Wife, don’t worry. I’ll give you those two extra servings of mine!”

Jiang Feng’s great-aunt and Aunt Five turned to look at their husbands. The smug smiles of Jiang Jianguo and Jiang Jianshe instantly froze.

“The extra servings are definitely for the wives, right!” The two men hurried to say, one after the other.

Then, they shot Jiang Jiankang with death glares.

Jiang Jiankang pretended that the small piece of marinated goose in his bowl was extremely interesting.

“What are they talking about, guessing right?” Jiang Weiming didn’t understand a word of what they were saying.

“A bunch of stuffed rabbits, trying to guess what I’ve cooked instead of practicing their cooking. Jianguo, turn on the TV and see if the Spring Festival Gala has started,” Jiang Weiguo said.

Jiang Jianguo hurriedly turned on the TV and glanced at the time, “Dad, it’s still sixteen minutes away.”

They started with the Nine Turns Intestine, a delicacy that Sir personally made with pig intestines, from which twenty pigs could yield only two plates. It was only available to eat during the New Year. Even though Jiang Jiankang was well acquainted with the slaughterhouse owner and could get his hands on a dozen or more pig intestines in a day, he was too lazy to process and cook them.

You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone in UAL University willing to spend hundreds of RMB for an authentic serving of Nine Turns Intestine.

Jiang Jiankang handed Wang Xiulian two pieces of Nine Turns Intestine. Wang Xiulian immediately took the opportunity to offer one piece to Jiang Weiguo, saying, “Dad, you’ve worked hard cooking, have an extra piece!”

Such a smooth and exquisite brown-nosing maneuver stunned everyone.

Sir was very pleased and praised, “Jiankang’s wife really thinks of me.”

The next second, everyone started offering dishes to Sir, not forgetting to serve Jiang Weiming as well, heaping praise upon them.

“Dad, you’ve really worked hard these days, come on, eat more of this pork knuckle to replenish yourself!”

“Dad, you’ve really put in so much effort; look how tired you are!”

“Here, Uncle San, this tofu is so tender. You’ve worked hard. Eat more vegetables.”

“Dad, let me get you some soup!”

Everyone was vying to be the best brown-noser, but in Sir’s eyes, none were as pleasing as Wang Xiulian, the first to act.

Jiang Feng quietly looked at the two pieces of Nine Turns Intestine in his bowl.

If it weren’t for his diligent assistance in the kitchen these past few days, he wouldn’t have known that there would be sticky rice-stuffed duck for the New Year’s Eve dinner, nor would he have received this extra piece of Nine Turns Intestine.

He took a bite.

The texture was tender; sour, sweet, fragrant, spicy, and salty—all the flavors were there.

When it comes to brown-nosing, those who do it until the very end have it all..