Chapter 45
Chef Zhang’s Tomato Beef Brisket Soup served a dual purpose – the broth could be drunk directly as a soup, and its saltiness could be adjusted later by adding salt or soy sauce according to personal preference.
The beef brisket itself was served separately with a dipping sauce, which was exceptionally delicious. Diners could also mix their own sauces based on their tastes – salty, sweet, spicy, strong, or mild – it suited all palates.
This was one of the reasons Jiang Jitang couldn’t forget it. This was a delicious dish where the chef only completed ninety percent, leaving the final ten percent for the diner to perfect.
In a way, this intentionally created ‘imperfection’ actually achieved its perfection.
See, everyone naturally used one bowl for the soup, another for the meat, then adjusted the saltiness and mixed their own sauces, resulting in a personalized one hundred percent perfect meal.
While Jiang Jitang was heartily enjoying his meal, he also, after obtaining their consent, took photos of the table full of food and, for once, posted them on his social media.
“Went to visit Grandpa Zhang, ended up moaning delicious food again, and met many culinary magicians. Guess young people really need to have thicker skin sometimes.” He attached several photos, some of the food, others casually taken of the shopfront earlier.
He had accidentally ‘revealed’ the location.
Relationships need mutual effort to deepen. Whether it was for moaning good food or preparing for Ms. Jiang’s integration into the culinary circle upon her return, he felt he should make a gesture.
“Ding, ding, ding.”
No wonder people said Jiang Jitang had good social connections. The moment he posted, countless people responded. Some said it looked incredibly delicious, others asked which restaurant it was, and some urged him to post more photos ‘for a better meal’.
However, he didn’t reply to the comments. Instead, he carefully took a separate photo of just the Tomato Beef Brisket Soup and sent it to Parsons:
[Having been in this land of Eastern culinary delights for so long, have you ventured out to experience the local culture? If it were for you, I could certainly spare some time to play the host properly.]
Huh? He was too used to smooth talking. Actually, ‘friends’ in C-Nation weren’t like ‘friends’ in the magical world, where chatting often sounded like sweet talk.
“…” Never mind. Things like boundaries… he’d definitely manage them next time.
Feeling inexplicably somewhat guilty, Jiang Jitang directly turned off his phone and continued drinking his soup.
The saltiness of this bowl of soup was perfect for his taste, no adjustment needed. Ah, why was it so good?
“Mrs. Jiang Sujin?” The conversation at the table somehow turned to Jiang Jitang’s mother. Upon hearing the name, a few found it familiar, and upon confirmation, it really was her.
“This kid has a sharp tongue, right? His mother is even more remarkable. The first time she tasted my soup, she could pinpoint every ingredient used, the preparation steps, the cooking time – spot on. Later, she could even replicate it almost identically, at least ninety percent similar.” Chef Zhang shook his head and sighed. “If she had entered our profession earlier, she would have been incredible. Her talent was wasted before.”
“Your mother is truly something else.” Chef Ding, who had made the bread slices earlier, gave Jiang Jitang a thumbs-up. Having returned from overseas, he knew how difficult it was for C-Nation people to make a name for themselves abroad.
“In all these years, she’s the only one I’ve seen who, starting from scratch with no knowledge of Western cuisine, managed to reach the semi-finals of an international culinary competition purely through her own path. From initially knowing nothing about Western food to finally creating innovative and traditionally fused Western dishes that even proper Western chefs found stunning – that level of comprehension and learning ability…”
Speaking of this, Chef Ding felt a bit emotional.
In his day, for a poor young man to learn Western cuisine was incredibly difficult. He didn’t know how much sweat and tears it took him to get to where he was, even his opportunity to study abroad was begged for.
But precisely because of this, he was all the more delighted to see such an outstanding rising talent.
Of course, this was also related to Chef Ding being retired and no longer having the ambition to chase fame and fortune. These old-timers now wanted more than anything to pass on their skills to successors, lest their craft be lost.
Faced with everyone’s praise, Jiang Jitang just played dumb and smiled. He glanced at Chef Zhang, who nodded at him, and he immediately understood.
Just like Jiang Jitang himself, Chef Zhang was also paving the way for this ‘half-day disciple’s’ return.
Jiang Sujin would always come back. No matter how famous she became abroad, she still needed to put down roots in her homeland. Furthermore, any chef worth their salt harbors the ambition to build their own renowned brand. She wouldn’t be content being someone else’s sous-chef forever.
With the help of these old masters, it would be much easier for her later, whether she opened a restaurant or started a private kitchen.
The meal was enjoyable for both hosts and guest, and soon it was time for everyone to head home.
Jiang Jitang bid them farewell. After seeing the elderly gentlemen off one by one, he mounted his electric scooter. Chef Zhang’s apprentice brought out a large box of packed pastries and several cups of freshly made drinks.
“Made too much. They’ll go stale and won’t taste good tomorrow.”
Jiang Jitang accepted them with a smile. “Thank you, Uncle He. Thank you, Grandpa Zhang. I’m off now.”
“Be careful on the road. Don’t take the small paths; there are no streetlights, easy to fall.”
“Got it!”
—
He didn’t keep all these treats for himself. On his way, he bought a large box of barbecue skewers and made a detour to the university.
Although the graduation ceremony was over, not all graduates had returned home yet. Four or five from his class were still at school, having already purchased train or plane tickets.
One of them was a friend from his dorm.
This ‘dorm friend’ needed quotation marks because he hadn’t lived on campus since his sophomore year, and his bed had remained empty. Moreover, Jiang Jitang, warm on the outside but cold-hearted, was hard to befriend. It was only through this guy’s persistent efforts that they barely became friends.
This time, it wasn’t a special effort to see him off. It was just that his memory was too good, and he recalled this friend hadn’t left yet. Thinking he might as well send him off, he sent a text, leading to this small gathering.
Jiang Jitang’s initial plan was to meet at the dorm as a farewell, but He Ming said the dorm was a mess, so they decided to meet at a small eatery in the campus living area instead.
When Jiang Jitang arrived, He Ming had already been sitting there for a while and had ordered a cup of the shop’s best-selling juice drink.
“Even after graduation, still keeping this awful hairstyle?” He Ming, who was flying to another city tomorrow, first noticed Jiang Jitang’s unchanged hairstyle over the years – the slightly too-long bangs obscuring his striking eyes.
But he still remembered the first time he saw Jiang Jitang; he had a buzz cut, done at a cheap street-side barber, but the ultra-simple haircut that somehow highlighted the superiority of that face.
It was a kind of vivid charm that even gender couldn’t obscure.
It made He Ming briefly question his own sexual orientation. Fortunately, it ultimately proved he was just a simple face-appreciator.
A pity, though. Because of the incidents that happened later, Jiang Jitang intentionally kept this choppy, ‘dog-chewed’ hairstyle to lower his appeal, and had kept it ever since.
“Isn’t this hairstyle fine? I’m used to it.” Jiang Jitang didn’t answer the question directly, instead asking He Ming about his job search and postgraduate plans.
“I’ll probably live in my hometown. It’s a small town, not many jobs suitable for our major. So, I’ll try for the civil service exam. But my family pulled some strings; if the exam doesn’t work out, I’ll probably enter a traditional private school as a temporary measure.”
“Traditional private? Don’t tell me it’s something like the Yuzhang Academy (Tnote: probably a Chinese cultivation school, where they practice meditation, martial arts, and other methods to refine the body and spirit),” Jiang Jitang joked.
“Exactly! From then on, I’ll be the new generation ‘Lightning Mage’, electricity at my fingertips, the world in my grasp! Scared yet?”
“Scared? What if I summon the ‘Nanshan Cancer Ancestor, Fatal Poison Master’? All martial arts crumble before poison, only cancer is unbreakable! Are you scared yet?”
Their inner chuuni erupted, and they laughed and joked for a while. He Ming hesitated, not daring to ask about Jiang Jitang’s plans. Rumors had it that the top student of their year had failed spectacularly in the campus recruitment drive.
“You want to ask if I didn’t find a job?” Jiang Jitang saw through his hesitation at a glance.
“What happened?” He Ming asked him. How could someone who, through hard work and talent, won the national first-class scholarship for four years at the highly competitive South Union University, be turned down by all companies? No matter how bad the industry downturn was, it shouldn’t be that bad.
Hearing this, Jiang Jitang sighed. “I was originally a mediocre man with poor qualifications. It’s not strange that I can’t find a place to settle for a while.”
He Ming fell silent.
“When did you go blind?”
“…Alright,” Jiang Jitang told the truth. “I didn’t go to pharmaceutical companies or magazines. I looked into restaurants.”
Shortly before graduation, Mrs. Jiang had a talk with him.
Jiang Jitang felt he had held his mother back, trapping a dragon in shallow waters. Mrs. Jiang also felt she had failed her child by not providing him with a comfortable, affluent life. So during that talk, she said she already had a pretty good income and hoped Jiang Jitang could do what he truly wanted.
Jiang Jitang couldn’t think of anything he particularly liked. He thought, since Mrs. Jiang learned cooking and became a chef, it must be quite interesting. Why didn’t he try it too?
Unfortunately, although Jiang Jitang felt he could do it, the restaurants thought someone like him couldn’t, and thus politely declined, stating they preferred graduates from culinary schools.
Your Majesty, you are mistaken!
Knowing the real reason, He Ming almost yelled: You, a Nutrition major, want to learn cooking? Is a film critic the same as a filmmaker?
But remembering that he himself was preparing to work in a field completely unrelated to his major and just wanted to laze around like a salted fish with no ambition, he lowered his voice. “As long as you’re happy.”
“Quite happy.” Jiang Jitang nodded. Although he didn’t become a chef and accidentally became a delivery guy instead, he was very satisfied with his current life.
While they were talking, passersby secretly took photos of them. He Ming glanced but didn’t say anything.
This always happened when he was with Jiang Jitang; he was used to it. Even more accustomed to being in the photos but ending up photoshopped out when they appeared on social media.
What the heck? Are NPCs that insignificant?
“Anyway, enough of that. I have a budget flight early in the morning.”
“Text me when you arrive.”
“Bro, it’ll be past two AM when I get home. Don’t worry, I’ll find you. I still owe you that ‘hometown specialty’. Get ready to eat lake delicacies until you’re sick of them.”
Their cups clinked together, and they both laughed.
Talking and laughing, time slipped away unnoticed. Jiang Jitang had already been full, but now he had gulped down a bellyful of juice and eaten two pastries. He was unbearably stuffed, half-slumping on the table to recover.
Tree of Life magic could resurrect, but it didn’t aid digestion. If you overate, you still felt stuffed.
“This little bit and you’re done? You’re too fragile.” He Ming ate the small barbecue skewers and drank the beverages Jiang Jitang brought. The chef’s fresh-made ones were indeed better than the shop-bought ones, just not sweet enough.
A few seconds later, He Ming saw Jiang Jitang sitting motionless and worried he was having stomach trouble again. He was about to scoot over to show concern when he saw a tall, handsome foreign man sit down next to Jiang Jitang.
This guy was seriously handsome!
Although the lighting was dim, it didn’t stop He Ming’s eyes from glazing over. Broad shoulders, narrow waist, a model’s physique, sculpted features, silver hair…
His breath hitched, but He Ming immediately turned his gaze to his friend, and his pounding heart settled down.
Phew, good, good. He indeed still preferred his friend’s looks.
“This friend…” He Ming tried to communicate with the other in a foreign language, telling him there were many empty seats nearby and he really didn’t need to squeeze in with them.
“You’re here?” Jiang Jitang interrupted He Ming.
Although he hadn’t seen him, he recognized the familiar woody scent and knew who it was. Jiang Jitang couldn’t be bothered to look up, just turned his head, resting his chin on his arm, his eyes holding a faint gleam under the light. “How did you know I was here?”
Parsons looked at him inscrutably, but under the table, he handed over a pack of digestion aid belly button patches, labeled ‘For treating infant indigestion, babies love it, hypoallergenic’.
Jiang Jitang took the infant belly patches, his eyes smiling as he stared at Parsons.
He stared until Parsons couldn’t withstand the probing gaze and turned his head away, silently cursing himself three times in his heart.
Damn habit.
After cursing, he couldn’t help but think of the instigator and that text message.
‘Spare some leisure time for me’?
Parsons then looked at the bewildered He Ming across the table, his gaze as cold as the water in the River Styx.
Little liar.
Jiang Jitang held the infant belly patches, not having used them yet, but his body already felt warm.
The campus pharmacy closed around nine. He didn’t know where this pack of belly patches was bought, nor how long Parsons had been following and watching.
If he hadn’t overeaten and felt uncomfortable, would Parsons never have appeared?
The legendary knight’s footsteps were as soft and silent as a cat’s, capable of evading his ears and eyes. But in the end, he was defeated by his own soft heart.
So easy to fool.
“Ah, Jitang, this is…”
Before He Ming could finish his sentence, he saw his friend, who just moments ago looked completely drained, stand up. “It’s getting late. You have a flight to catch late at night. You should head back and rest early.”
“Ah?”
He Ming watched him leave dumbfounded. That foreign handsome guy followed him. In just half a minute, only He Ming and a table of leftovers remained.
“Strange,” He Ming rubbed his chin. “He looked like he was afraid someone would discover his treasure and hurried to hide it away. Could it be? No, it can’t be. I’m his friend of four years. Jitang wouldn’t be that stingy.”
Jiang Jitang had already walked away with the other person into the garden path dappled with tree shadows.
The surrounding area had only very dim lawn lights, and some were broken and not yet repaired. Naturally, there was no one else on such a path, only the two of them, one after the other, stepping into this little world.
The moon is really round tonight.
Jiang Jitang strolled leisurely ahead, listening to the slow, rhythmic breathing behind him, his mood as light and buoyant as the evening breeze.
