The Last Medicine

When Ji Yue found the plastic takeout containers that Comrade Wang Xiulian had stuffed in a corner of the storage room, Professor Li and his wife had already helped Li Mingyi leave the shop.

"What about the... Buddha Jumps Over the Wall?" Ji Yue asked, holding the takeout containers somewhat at a loss.

The people were gone, but the food remained.

"Why don't we try it?" Wang Hao's mouth had been watering just from the smell. Now, even though the lid was on, the aroma still lingered in the shop, refusing to dissipate.

"No!" Ji Yue glared at Wang Hao and stepped forward to block him.

"Haozi, I remember you wrote down Professor Li's phone number in your textbook yesterday morning. See if you still have your Signals and Systems textbook in your bag," Jiang Feng suddenly recalled.

"Right, right, it's in my bag, in my bag!" Wang Hao quickly went behind the counter to get his bag. He pulled out the Signals and Systems textbook from among three or four books, and opening it to the first page, he saw clearly written: Li Junming: 1xxxxxxxxxx.

Legend has it that A University's Mao Zedong Thought teachers receive calls from over ten shop owners every week, notifying them that a student left their book at the shop.

The legend was true.

Jiang Feng took out his phone and dialed the number on the page.

After about twenty seconds, the call was answered.

"Hello, Professor Li. This is Jiang Feng. Your dish is still at the shop; you forgot to take it," Jiang Feng said.

"I'm sorry, I'm getting old, and I tend to forget things easily. I'll come by with my wife to pick it up later." Professor Li's voice on the phone was accompanied by the sound of an elderly person coughing and the rhythmic thud of a cane hitting the ground.

Jiang Jiankang silently moved the jar back to the kitchen. Wang Hao, regretting that he couldn't taste the delicacy, helped Ji Yue carry the trash to the disposal area. The other students had five classes that afternoon, not getting off the "ocean of knowledge" until six o'clock.

Although Jiang Jiankang didn't show it on his face, Jiang Feng, as his son, keenly noticed his father's current dejection. Every piece of fatty meat, every bit of fat, exuded a deep sense of loss.

"Dad, what's wrong?" Jiang Feng followed Jiang Jiankang into the kitchen and saw him chopping vegetables in silence.

One cut after another, extremely slowly, each stroke filled with force, as if he harbored a deep hatred for the green peppers in front of him.

"I've wasted good ingredients," Jiang Jiankang said with a hint of melancholy.

"I think it's fine," Jiang Feng lied through his teeth. The notes on that Buddha Jumps Over the Wall dish were a long string he didn't even want to read: the cooking time was too short, there was too much shark fin, the abalone was cut too thick, the fish maw wasn't soaked long enough – it was a long list of problems.

But Buddha Jumps Over the Wall was inherently a dish of extreme difficulty, so Comrade Jiang Jiankang couldn't be blamed.

"My poor ham," Jiang Jiankang sniffled.

"And the pork knuckle wasn't stewed today either," Jiang Jiankang even sounded a bit wronged.

Jiang Feng: ...

Sorry, my bad.

The kitchen was handed back to Comrade Jiang Jiankang. The aroma of the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall had attracted many customers earlier, but they were all watching the commotion at the time and hadn't ordered anything. Now, the first floor was basically full. A flurry of menus, like snowflakes, was sent to the kitchen one after another. Comrade Jiang Jiankang picked up his spatula again, returning to the front lines of cooking.

Jiang Feng once again became a kitchen helper, relegated to washing vegetables, peeling, chopping, and plating – tasks that yielded no experience points.

Before long, four members of the Chess Club, who claimed to be there to help and hadn't even had time to put down their schoolbags, rushed into the kitchen. They took out the Sour Plum Drink and Mung Bean Soup that had been chilled in the freezer for a day and each chugged two bowls like starving wolves before putting down their bags and starting to help.

Seeing these four people, Jiang Feng suddenly felt a bit worried about next week's club recruitment.

Other clubs either had an abundance of talent or possessed unique strengths. At the very least, they had cute guys and girls to lure in new members. But the Chess Club had nothing, not even funding.

What would they perform for club recruitment?

In previous years, two terrible chess players would pretend to play chess. Were they going to perform a "chug-a-lug" session with Sour Plum Drink for everyone today?

While worrying about the club's future, Jiang Feng quietly sliced carrots into shreds.

Were carrots on sale these days? Why did Comrade Wang Xiulian buy so many carrots every day!

After Jiang Feng had sliced all the carrots, Professor Li and his wife returned to the shop.

Professor Li held an envelope in his hand and carried a lunchbox.

Taking the entire wine jar would have best preserved the original flavor, but not to mention how heavy the wine jar was, it was generally not a good idea to have customers carry a wine jar out directly. Ji Yue carefully scooped the food out of the wine jar and put it into the lunchbox. This dish was currently worth more than her annual salary, so it had to be handled with extreme care.

"Student Jiang Feng, I'd like to ask for your help," Professor Li said, handing the envelope to Jiang Feng. "My father has late-stage stomach cancer and has lost his appetite. I'd like to ask you to be responsible for his lunch and dinner."

Facing such an important task, Jiang Feng felt a bit flustered and was about to refuse when a system prompt sounded in his mind.

"Ding, an optional side quest has appeared. Please choose your path."

Another side quest.

Jiang Feng was startled. This meant there were now two side quests related to the elder Mr. Li. The game actually valued this old gentleman so much that it had given him two side quests.

Jiang Feng took the envelope, still a bit curious. "Actually, you should have asked my dad. His cooking skills are much better than mine."

"My father specifically requested you; he likes you very much," Professor Li said with a gentle smile. "My father was very happy today. He hasn't been this happy in a long time."

Jiang Feng unconsciously touched his face.

He didn't seem to have a face that made people happy upon seeing it.

Although he also thought he was quite handsome, he shouldn't have been so universally loved, right?

"Please," Professor Li said.

"Of course, of course." Being treated so kindly by the usually strict Professor Li made Jiang Feng feel a little uneasy.

Ji Yue had already packed the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall into the lunchbox. Professor Li's wife carried the lunchbox and left with Professor Li. As they were leaving, she smiled gently at Jiang Feng.

"Your professor seems to like you quite a bit," Ji Yue remarked.

"Huh?"

"He was quite serious when he came over at noon today; he reminded me of the foreign teacher I had in my freshman year," Ji Yue said, looking up as if recalling her strict Filipino English teacher from freshman year. "That old woman used to yell at me in English every day, taking advantage of my poor English."

Women really hold grudges.

Jiang Feng opened the envelope. Inside were over a dozen banknotes and a letter.

He took out the letter, unfolded it. The handwriting was bold and powerful, a recipe for Stomach-Soothing Congee.

The ingredients were almost identical to the Stomach-Soothing Congee made by Comrade Jiang Jiankang, with only minor changes in a few places, adding pig liver.

Although Comrade Jiang Jiankang learned to make congee from the old master at the congee shop, the recipe for Stomach-Soothing Congee was given to him by Grandpa Jiang.

Professor Li, how could he have the Jiang Family's Stomach-Soothing Congee recipe?

"Dad, was the recipe for the Stomach-Soothing Congee you used to make for me passed down from Grandpa?" Jiang Feng even doubted his own memory as he ran to the kitchen to ask Comrade Jiang Jiankang.

"It's been passed down in our family for generations," Comrade Jiang Jiankang said, mid-toss of the wok.

Professor Li... could he be related to our family?

Jiang Feng's imagination ran wild. Could it be that Grandpa had six brothers back then, but only one survived, living in anonymity, changing his name, appearance, and even his surname to Li?

If he gave this material to Wang Hao, it could probably be developed into something more complete.

Going to the storage room, Jiang Feng opened the attribute panel.

[The Last Medicine]: Li Mingyi is suffering from late-stage stomach cancer, loss of appetite, and anorexia. The prolonged and painful chemotherapy treatment is causing him unbearable suffering. As a chef, the only thing he can do is offer comfort through his diet. Please give him the last medicine. Please help him resume normal eating for 15 days. [Choose: Yes/No]

He clicked Yes.

[The Last Medicine]: Li Mingyi is suffering from late-stage stomach cancer, loss of appetite, and anorexia. The prolonged and painful chemotherapy treatment is causing him unbearable suffering. As a chef, the only thing he can do is offer comfort through his diet. Please give him the last medicine. Please help him resume normal eating for 15 days. Quest Progress (0/15)

Quest Hint: Complete the quest by following the recipe provided by Mr. Li.

Quest Reward: A memory from Li Mingyi.

It turned out to be late-stage stomach cancer. No wonder Li Mingyi looked so abnormally thin. Jiang Feng had initially thought it was just old age.

And this was the first time the game had given a clear quest reward, but the reward was a memory.

Could this memory have something to do with Tai Feng Lou?