The Game of Life

Cao Guixiang indeed cooked casually, heating the oil before frying the chicken pieces until they were done. There was no issue with that process, but she had scored a crosshatch pattern on the chicken pieces before frying them.

One could say she did whatever she felt like.

“Why did you score the chicken pieces?” cooking theory master Zhang Chu asked.

“It’S so the cornstarch sticks better and gets more flavorful. Otherwise, Zhiyuan would lick the sauce off the surface and then spit out the meat,” cooking practice master Cao Guixiang answered.

After the chicken pieces were fried and drained, she left a small amount of oil in the pan, added ingredients, fried the chicken pieces together until evenly coated, then removed them from the heat, thickened the sauce with cornstarch, and drizzled sesame oil over the top.

While the process seemed simple, it required a high level of mastery over the ingredients and fire control. The result, a faux General Tso’s chicken, looked no different from the authentic dish. The pieces of chicken were consistent in size, and due to the scoring, they all deformed slightly during frying, gaining a translucent, amber-like appearance once coated with the sauce, bright red and shining through, with the sweet and sour aroma tantalizing the palate.

“Wow, this looks delicious, I’ll try a piece first!’¹ cooking theory master Zhang Chu instantly became a tasting theory master, picked a small piece, and bit into it. The sauce was sweet and sour, the skin crispy, and the inside juicy.

“Wow, it’s a bit hot. Very good, very good. Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, sweet and tart,” Zhang Chu commented ostentatiously, poking his head out to call for Zhang Zhiyuan, “Zhiyuan, come eat the General Tso’s chicken

your mom made for you.”

“Call him later, aren’t you afraid the fresh-out-of-the-pan chicken will scald Zhiyuan’s mouth? You think everyone’s skin is as thick as yours. Go check if the rice is ready…” Cao Guixiang turned around, only to see the rice cooker empty, without the inner pot.

“Damn, it’s all your fault, old man, coming in here and making a mess, and I forgot to cook the rice!” Cao Guixiang’s face turned pale as she darted into the

living room.

indeed, Zhang Zhiyuan was lying on the carpet, having a grand time playing with the rice that had been soaking in the inner pot for nearly half an hour.

“Mom, I’ve washed the rice!” Zhang Zhiyuan, oblivious to the fact that he had been slacking off, got up and proudly took credit.

Cao Guixiang forced a smile, “Zhiyuan, you’re so clever. Come, give the inner pot to Mom.”

Taking the inner pot, Cao Guixiang’s expression changed instantly as she turned around and slammed the pot down on the kitchen counter with a loud

“clang.”

Zhang Chu’s heart skipped a beat.

“Ahem, Guixiang, kids like to play, don’t be mad at him!” Zhang Chu said, trying to placate her.

“The rice has been soaking for half an hour now, Chiyuan and his wife will be home from work in ten minutes, the chestnut chicken will be ready soon, and I could finish the remaining three vegetable dishes in ten minutes. Now, the dishes are ready but there’s no rice-tell me, what should we do?” Cao Guixiang said with a frown.

“Well, haha, that, haha, it’s just that I won again against Old Zhao, got too excited! A little accident, you see, we have plenty of dishes today, even without rice we could… haha…” Zhang Chu laughed weakly.

Cao Guixiang gave him a look, poured out the milky water from the rice, and put in fresh water. She opened the lid of the clay pot on the stove to taste a chestnut, confirming that it was flavored properly, then took out another clay pot from the cabinet and poured all the rice and water from the inner pot into

it.

“Bring over the chestnut chicken to the table. We’re having porridge for lunch today; a high heat can boil the porridge in ten minutes.”

Zhang Chu asked uncertainly as he carried over the clay pot, “Won’t ten minutes of boiling be too quick for the porridge to cook properly?”

Cao Guixiang glanced at him sharply, and Zhang Chu immediately shut his mouth and obediently got to work.

Porridge boiled furiously on the high flame, while Cao Guixiang fired up another burner and began to stir-fry the vegetables.

Her movements were swift, and as the last dish of stir-fried carrots left the pan and was plated, Zhang Zhiyuan’s parents arrived home from work.

“Wow, what delicious dish did mom make today?” Zhang Chiyuan exaggeratedly inhaled, “Chestnut chicken.

‘■Wrong, it’s General Tso’s chicken!” Zhang Zhiyuan loudly contradicted his own father.

“General Tso’s chicken?” Zhang Chiyuan walked into the living room, scooped up Zhang Zhiyuan, and playfully pinched his ear, “Zhiyuan, you demanded your mom make it again, huh?”

“Lalala!” Zhang Zhiyuan made faces at Zhang Chiyuan.

Zhang Zhiyuan’s mom set down her bag, rolled up her sleeves, and walked into the kitchen, “Mom, let me help you.”

“No need, everything is all set, you must be tired from working all morning. The porridge is on the stove, go and help yourself to some,” Cao Guixiang said as she brought out a dish, “Chiyuan, stop teasing Zhiyuan and come eat.” Zhang Chiyuan put down Zhang Zhiyuan, contentedly seated himself at the table, and waited for his wife to serve him food. Seeing that he was actually served porridge, he expressed his surprise, “Huh, we’re having porridge today!” “You’re just like your dad, all take and no give, too demanding, you can’t even pick up a pair of chopsticks by yourself, just sitting there waiting to be fed. When I get old and can no longer cook, you’ll just starve to death. Your dad is the same, you two are truly father and son!” Cao Guixiang scolded and turned back inside to get the chopsticks.

Zhang Chiyuan silently lifted the lid off the clay pot, glancing at Zhang Chu.

Zhang Chu gave him a helpless look.

Zhang Zhiyuan gazed longingly at the General Tso’s chicken on the table. With a “crack,” the plaster on the ceiling suddenly split, and a big piece fell down, with half still hanging there, half-detached, which made one really want to climb up on a chair and tear it off.

Everyone’s attention converged on that stubbornly clinging piece of plaster. “It’s been cracked for three or four days now, hasn’t it?” Zhang Zhu said with a sigh.

“Right, it finally fell off. Ah, it’s too damp in the south, and our home is on a lower floor. The walls are always shedding. I’ll find a plasterer tomorrow to redo the ceiling,” Zhang Chiyuan said.

Cao Guixiang came out with a pair of chopsticks, instantly drawn to the bit of plaster still hanging, and holding chopsticks for everyone, she said to Zhang Chiyuan, “Chiyuan, get in touch with a decorator tomorrow to do over our ceiling. Plaster is always flaking off, and I can’t keep up with the sweeping.” “I was just talking to dad about this,” Zhang Chiyuan said and started on the chestnut roasted chicken.

Zhang Zhiyuan picked up a large chunk of General Tso’s chicken, filling his mouth to the brim, with sauce smeared all around his lips.

After finishing the roasted chicken, Zhang Chiyuan remarked, “Mom, you really should have continued being a chef. Your cooking skills are better than those of the chefs in the big restaurants outside.”

■■The restaurant your mom worked at back in the day was way better than these outside places. It was me who had the skill to woo your mom, made her so devoted she even gave up being a chef,” Zhang Chu boasted proudly, puffing out his beer belly.

“Psh, keep dreaming,” Cao Guixiang sat down and began to eat.

Zhang Zhiyuan struggled to swallow the meat in his mouth and asked, “Mom, why did you stop working at the restaurant?”

“Your mom did it to take care of you,” Zhang Chiyuan deflects the question and framed his own son.

“Dad, you’re lying, it must have been because you were naughty as a kid, and mom had to take care of you!” Zhang Zhiyuan immediately exposed his father’s lie on the spot.

“I’ve heard from others that General Tso’s chicken is supposed to be sweet, sour, and a bit spicy, but this isn’t spicy at all?” Zhang Zhiyuan’s mother asked. “Because this isn’t General Tso’s chicken at all,” Zhang Chu couldn’t help but blurt out.

Zhang Zhiyuan was instantly upset and started to fuss, “Ah! Mom, you lied to me again, you bad person, you’re always tricking kids!’

“So, are you going to eat it or not?” Cao Guixiang asked with a stern face.

“I’ll eat.”

Zhang Zhiyuan continued to nibble on the chicken pieces in his bowl. After a while, he couldn’t sit still again and started to ask questions.

-Mom, you still haven’t told me, why did you stop working at the restaurant?” Cao Guixiang took a sip of porridge and thought for a moment.

“Because of love.”