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Wang Hao tallied up the money everyone had paid for the dishes. It came to more than four hundred yuan. To make it easier for Jiang Feng to keep accounts and give them discounts on future meal payments, Wang Hao even took out a small notebook and recorded how much each person had paid. He was remarkably thoughtful.

"Ding. Game update complete."

Jiang Feng turned and went into the restroom.

Player Name: Jiang Feng

Level: 5 (0/1000) Injectable: Yes/No

Remaining Experience Points: 4115

Skill: Appraisal (Intermediate): You can obtain most information.

Porridge Making (Intermediate): You can only grasp the proper proportions of some ingredients and basic heat control.

Knife Skills (Advanced): Your knife skills have surpassed those of the vast majority of chefs. (Proficiency: 0/100000)

Heat Control (Beginner): You can only control some basic heat levels. (Proficiency: 0/1000)

Seasoning (Beginner): You can only manage not to poison people to death. (Proficiency: 0/1000)

Lying (Intermediate): You can now lie without blushing. (Proficiency: 0/10000)

Mathematics (Beginner): Your level is only equivalent to that of an ordinary first-year college student. (Proficiency: 0/1000)

Physics (Beginner): Your level is equivalent to that of a high school student. (Proficiency: 0/1000)

English (Intermediate): Nothing more than the level a college student ought to have. (Proficiency: 0/10000)

Dish Tasting (Beginner): Like a cow chewing a peony, wasting nature's gifts. (Cannot be upgraded)

Note:

1. Please explore the skills on your own.

2. Experience points can be converted into proficiency at a 1:1 ratio.

Jiang Feng: ...

I know I'm terrible at studying. You don't need to remind me :)

Jiang Feng came out of the restroom looking somewhat unpleasant.

"Brother Feng, what's wrong?" Wang Hao could not help asking.

"Constipation."

That evening, after receiving a call from Comrade Jiang Jiankang, Jiang Feng took the sorted seasonings and headed to the restaurant with Wang Hao.

The families of his uncles had already arrived. The restaurant door was open, though the signboard still had not been put up. Jiang Feng first went to the kitchen and handed the seasonings to Wang Hao, then led him straight upstairs.

The moment Wang Hao stepped onto the second floor, he froze.

The room was full of burly people. Men and women, young and old, they all had the same build—fleshy faces and fierce expressions. Even the pair of twin sisters who looked like middle school students already showed the makings of future overlords through their round figures.

Wang Hao suspected he had accidentally wandered into a gathering of underworld bosses.

"B-Brother Feng, does your family inherit sumo wrestling or something?" Wang Hao swallowed nervously.

"We inherit cooking." Jiang Feng led Wang Hao to the family table. One table for the adults and one for the younger generation—the arrangement was perfectly reasonable.

All the dishes had been served and were still steaming.

As soon as Wang Hao sat down, either Jiang Junlian or Jiang Junqing turned and smiled at him. Jiang Feng's twin cousins were identically plump, and since he did not spend much time with them, even he could not tell which was which.

"Four Happiness Meatballs, Lion's Head Meatballs, Dongpo Pork Hock, Sweet and Sour Carp, Fried Potatoes, Eggplant, and Peppers, Kung Pao Chicken, Nine-Turn Large Intestine, Candied Yams, and Fish Head and Tofu Soup." Jiang Feng pointed them out one by one for Wang Hao, then glanced at the prompt and offered a friendly warning. "I advise you not to drink the Fish Head and Tofu Soup. My dad isn't good at that dish."

A basin of Fish Head and Tofu Soup with too much oil, too little salt, and improper heat control.

Comrade Jiang Jiankang had probably gotten distracted while making the soup.

At first, when Wang Hao and Jiang Feng came upstairs, Wang Hao had been too busy looking around to notice. But now that he was seated and heard Jiang Feng's introduction, he felt as if the saliva in his mouth were about to flood.

Strands of meaty fragrance kept slipping into his nose. Jiang Jiankang did not pay much attention to presentation, and the dishes did not look particularly remarkable, but one whiff was enough to tell they were good.

Wang Hao had a sweet tooth, so his first chopstickful was Candied Yams.

The syrup was evenly coated. The fried yams were not as powdery as steamed or boiled ones, and still had a little chew to them. The outer layer was tender, smooth, and crisp, while the inside was soft, glutinous, and sweet.

Wang Hao's eyes immediately grew moist.

"Brother Feng, you're so lucky to have a father like this," Wang Hao said with intense envy.

Jiang Feng silently placed a chopstickful of Kung Pao Chicken in his bowl. "This is my dad's specialty."

Wang Hao was like a cow chewing a peony. Before he had even swallowed the yams, he stuffed the Kung Pao Chicken into his mouth and mumbled, "Delicious, delicious!"

Jiang Jiankang's Kung Pao Chicken was not spicy at all, but rather on the sweet side. Who knew how Wang Hao could call it delicious while eating two sweet dishes at once?

Jiang Jiankang's signature dish was Kung Pao Chicken, but the best dish on this table was undoubtedly the Dongpo Pork Hock.

Jiang Jiankang loved pork hock, while Jiang Weiguo did not. Back then, he had sought out chefs from other State-run Restaurants who specialized in pork hock to learn from them. After years of careful exploration and improvement, he finally developed this dish. It was called Dongpo Pork Hock, but it no longer had much to do with the genuine dish.

The pork hock had been braised for at least four hours. Its sauce fragrance was rich, and with a gentle poke from chopsticks, the skin and meat separated.

Soft, tender, fragrant, and sweet—fatty without being greasy.

This exceptional spread from Jiang Jiankang somewhat made up for his uncles' regret at not getting to eat the old man's cooking.

The Jiang family had been spoiled by the old man's cooking. Faced with such a table of dishes, they could only say they were satisfied, not astonished.

Even Jiang Jiankang's exceptional performance could not compare to the old man's everyday stir-fries.

But Wang Hao was different. He did not have the foundation of tasting the old man's cooking every New Year, nor did he have the money to eat at star-rated restaurants every day. After eating and drinking his fill, Wang Hao felt as though he had visited an immortal realm, and he nearly wanted to acknowledge Comrade Jiang Jiankang as his godfather on the spot.

"Brother Feng, you really are my actual brother. Why didn't Uncle come to open a restaurant at our A University earlier? If he didn't have the money, we could've crowdfunded it!" Wang Hao stared at the clean, empty plates on the table, tears nearly falling from his eyes.

After a meal like this, how was he supposed to face the slop in the cafeteria ever again?

At that thought, Wang Hao was overcome with sorrow. He pulled out his phone and began typing frantically.

"What are you doing?" Jiang Feng asked when he saw Wang Hao composing a long message.

"Advertising. I'm going to get everyone to come taste Uncle's cooking."

Jiang Feng could not help giving him a sidelong glance.

"Ding. You have gained 1 Fame Point. Mission progress: (1/100)."