The Game of Life

Zhang Guanghang stepped out from behind the cooking station.

Gasps of amazement erupted from the audience.

At 1.92 meters, his long legs were impossible to ignore, striding the short distance with the poise of a catwalk model.

Zhang Guanghang chose his ingredients quickly, taking only a few seconds to pick out the salmon he wanted from the 24 pieces available, before carrying his plate back to his cooking station.

Jiang Feng walked over.

At a glance, they all looked similar, presumably freshly killed a few hours ago and drained of blood for peak freshness. He picked a slightly fattier piece, then Jiang Feng too returned to his station with his plate.

He had never made sashimi, and most chefs present likely hadn’t either.

As someone who detested raw foods, Jiang Feng never ordered sashimi at Japanese restaurants—mainly because it was expensive and most chefs’ knifework wasn’t up to par.

But Jiang Feng still knew the basic theory: when slicing sashimi, cut along the grain, the thinner the better, and a more orange hue in the flesh was preferable. The piece he chose, for example, was away from the tail towards the belly, where the meat was delicate and the fat evenly distributed.

Choosing early had its advantages, especially for sashimi, which showcases the raw flavors and quality of the ingredients to the fullest. The better the ingredient quality, the tastier the raw fish.

As the 24 competitors all obtained their pieces of salmon, Jiang Feng had thoroughly examined his.

He’d familiarized himself with the grain, texture, and distribution of fat.

To slice a piece of sashimi only took a second.

The organizers had provided each contestant with such a large piece of salmon and ten minutes—a generous amount of time—for them to slice the five pieces of sashimi they were most satisfied with for the judges to taste.

“The competition starts,” the host announced, and the countdown appeared on the screen once again.

Jiang Feng held his kitchen knife, concentrating intently on the fish in front of him.

One cut.

[A passable piece of sashimi]

And passable wasn’t a satisfying description when it came to competition.

Knifework was Jiang Feng’s forte—he wanted to win.

He wanted to win like never before.

Another cut.

[A passable piece of sashimi]

After adjusting the salmon’s direction and position, Jiang Feng made another cut along the grain of the fish.

[A passable piece of sashimi]

Jiang Feng stopped his movements to examine the three pieces of sashimi he’d just sliced.

They were thin, but not thin enough.

Jiang Feng ate the three pieces he’d just sliced.

Tasting directly was different from just looking. Having chosen a portion with relatively more fat, Jiang Feng divided the large piece of salmon into two and again cut along the grain.

Not good enough.

Jiang Feng ate that piece too.

He sliced again.

Still not good enough.

Jiang Feng ate a piece with each cut he made. Jiang Jiankang and the two sirs could tell he was doing it to judge the quality of his own sashimi, but laypeople wouldn’t think of that. Other contestants also tasted their first few slices of sashimi, but no one did so with each piece like Jiang Feng.

“That guy who just fell must be here for a buffet!” a girl in the front rows laughed.

“Look, I feel like he’s almost full,” her companion pointed at Jiang Feng.

Jiang Feng was more than full; he was stuffed.

“Burp,” he let out a quiet belch, but he still hadn’t sliced a piece of sashimi he was satisfied with.

It was either passable or the taste was merely acceptable, none of which pleased Jiang Feng.

Adjusting the position of the salmon once more, he made another cut.

[A piece of sashimi with excellent flavor]

Jiang Feng’s eyes shone.

This was it, the rhythm of a champion!

Capitalizing on his success, Jiang Feng seized the opportunity to slice several more pieces.

[A piece of sashimi with acceptable flavor]

[A piece of sashimi with acceptable flavor]

The rest were all of acceptable flavor, with an occasional passable piece mixed in.

Turning the salmon in another direction, Jiang Feng continued to focus on slicing the fish.

Until the time was up, he hadn’t managed to slice another piece with excellent flavor.

After selecting five pieces of sashimi to place in a small dish for the staff, Jiang Feng’s gaze followed the employee carrying the dish, watching intently as it was delivered right in front of Han Guishan.

Jiang Feng:…

I’m so frustrated!

The order of tasting was determined by the order in which they chose their pieces of salmon, with the judges tasting the sashimi prepared by Zhang Guanghang first.

Without any dipping sauce, Tong Deyan was the first to pick up a piece of sashimi from the dish, examining its thickness, grain, cut, and then tasted it.

Han Guishan followed suit, picked up a piece to examine it, then tasted it.

Hmm, delicious.

Han Guishan nodded his head.

The rest of the four judges began scoring. Han Guishan initially wanted to sneak a peek at Zhu Chang’s score next to him, only to see nothing with a quick glance, and he worried that a second look might be too conspicuous, so he had to rely on himself.

It’s all or nothing now, forget it, ten points, full marks!

The five judges revealed their scores.

Scoring on the spot could definitely be described as thrilling.

9.3 points, an absolute high score.

The second dish was Jiang Feng’s.

This time Han Guishan had experience. He mimicked the motions, picking up a piece to inspect it, checking the distribution of fat on the fish and its thickness. Only after the other judges had started tasting did he take a bite.

Huh? Why does it feel even tastier than the previous one?

Han Guishan began to doubt his own taste.

Forget it, continue with ten points.

The five judges showed their scores, 8.8 points.

Han Guishan: ???

“Mr. Han, is something wrong?” asked Zhu Chang upon noticing Han Guishan’s expression.

“It’s nothing,” said Han Guishan.

Is my taste really that different from the professionals?

The third dish belonged to Zhang Xi, whose knifework wasn’t very good, earning only 8.1 points, but Han Guishan still gave it ten.

For each subsequent dish, Han Guishan continued to give ten points, completely letting go, demonstrating to everyone that though he might not be a professional gourmet, he had a professional heart, treating all equally with a philosophy of absolute fairness in scoring.

As one score after another was announced, some contestants’ faces began to look very grim.

At this stage, everyone had an idea in their minds about the possibility of elimination. With the last contestant’s score announced, this competition had come to an end.

“Regrettably, the eight contestants with the lowest rankings have been eliminated,” the host announced. “Congratulations to the remaining 16 contestants, you’ve advanced to the national top 16. The competition from 16 to 8 will start in three days at the same time. We invite our audience to watch on time!”

“We would also like to thank Good Taste, Somepoint Live and Somepoint Video for their strong support. Our audience friends can take out your mobile phones, log in to WeChat, follow the official public account of the Good Taste Cooking Competition, and cheer for your favorite contestants every day. The contestant with the highest number of votes will receive a year’s endorsement for Good Taste soy sauce.”

“That concludes today’s competition. Thank you all for watching.”

“You’re really amazing!” exclaimed Zhang Xi to Jiang Feng. “You were second in both rounds. Maybe you’ll end up in second place too!”

Jiang Feng:…

I don’t like hearing that. Can’t I beat someone like Zhang Guanghang?

Jiang Feng turned to look at Zhang Guanghang, who stood out like a crane among chickens with an air of a champion.

“Borrowing your good luck then!”

Backstage, the staff gathered everyone to announce the details of the competition in three days.

“The theme for the round from 16 to 8 is chicken,” the staff member said straightforwardly.

Everyone was stunned for a moment, as the organizers usually kept the theme a secret until the last minute, but this time they were generous, disclosing it in advance.

“Contestants may bring their own cutting tools. Please inform us of your required ingredients at least 8 hours before the competition. The phone number is on your entry card. Our phone line will be open 24 hours during these few days.”

“Any ingredients?” asked a contestant.

“Any ingredients, as long as we can find them in a short time, we will do our best to provide,” the staff member replied with a smile.

“What about pastries? Can I use chicken in pastry?” Zhao Shan from Eight-treasure House asked.

“Of course.”

“What about chicken soup?”

“Can I use just the chicken offal?”

“I…”

Everyone began to ask their questions all at once, and someone like Jiang Feng, who had no questions, naturally got squeezed to the side. He casually asked a staff member if it was okay to leave now if he had no other questions, and after getting a clear answer, he was ready to go.

“Leaving?” Jiang Feng asked Wu Minqi.

“You go ahead. My mom went to the restroom; I need to wait for her,” said Wu Minqi.

Jiang Feng was surprised: “Both your parents came?”

“No, just my mom. My dad and grandfather couldn’t get away,” said Wu Minqi, texting on her phone with her head down. “I saw Mr. Jiang and Mrs. Wang in the audience just now. Will you open the shop tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, see you tomorrow.”

As Jiang Feng prepared to leave, he took out his phone to message Jiang Jiankang to let him know he was coming out.

“By the way,” Wu Minqi looked up, “you did very well today.”

A smile.

Jiang Feng: (Oflfi)

Why did he feel that Wu Minqi’s smile just now was so similar to the female lead in that silly domineering boss drama?