I Came Back to Life

I Came Back to Life

"Only twenty percent? At least fifty."

"You're too greedy. Thirty percent at most."

"Forty percent. Any less and I'm out."

"Forty percent works, but you'll be responsible for the upfront funding, setting up the company, recruiting the team, product production, promotion, and marketing," Jiang Hao said.

Zhen Xiaoqiu glared at Jiang Hao and said indignantly, "If I'm doing all that, what are you doing?"

"Me? I'll provide technical guidance."

Setting up a company in Hong Kong was very simple. There were agencies for registration, specialized recruitment firms for staff, and contract factories for food production. The most important thing was promotion and marketing, and Jiang Hao already had a complete plan.

In just a few days, the company was established. Jiang Hao and Zhen Xiaoqiu each invested five hundred thousand. Zhen Xiaoqiu was the legal representative and held forty percent of the shares, while Jiang Hao was the majority shareholder with sixty percent.

Producing Pissing Beef Balls was not complicated. As long as the recipe was right, they could be easily made. Several cans sat on the table as Jiang Hao said to everyone, "To make a good product, the most important thing is to understand your own product. Come on, everyone, try our Exploding Pissing Beef Balls. You'll need to work hard selling them later."

Everyone gathered around and ate them one by one. Every single person said they were delicious.

Zhen Xiaoqiu ate one, her brows slightly furrowed. "They seem... not as tasty as the ones you made that day. They feel like they're missing something."

Jiang Hao lowered his voice. "Miss, I made those meatballs myself that day. Every step was painstakingly done, every technique was in place. Just pounding the beef took half a day. This is mechanized production now. How could it possibly reach that standard?"

"But they're still pretty good. If the meatballs I made that day were a ten, today's are at least an eight. Look how happily they're eating. Don't worry, lots of people will definitely like them," Jiang Hao said.

It was like a work of art. When a master painstakingly carved it, the result possessed spirit and could be called art. Something processed by a carving machine could only be called a craft item. There was a vast difference between them, but industrialization meant sacrificing artistry.

This episode of Gourmet Roast also aired on television. This time, instead of visiting a restaurant or hotel to roast it, the title had changed to: "The Miraculous Pissing Beef Balls."

At the start of the program, Jiang Hao wore a chef's uniform and scooped a spoonful of beef balls from a pot. The beef balls spun merrily in the milky-white broth, looking exceptionally appetizing, as the voice-over began.

"More than two hundred years ago, in Songjiang, Jiangnan, an imperial chef surnamed Zhou retired and returned home. By then, he had already achieved both fame and success, and was one of the renowned chefs of the realm personally recognized by Emperor Qianlong."

"In his old age, while enjoying time with his grandchildren, one of them suddenly developed anorexia, causing great worry for the family. Chef Zhou came up with a solution. He combined beef with mantis shrimp to create Pissing Beef Balls. After his grandson ate them, his anorexia was actually cured."

"Afterward, Pissing Beef Balls spread far and wide, surviving for centuries. During the Victorian era, a seafaring fleet came to China and tasted this delicacy. Astounded, they brought it back and presented it to Queen Victoria. The Queen praised it highly, and it was bestowed the name Tribute Balls."

"But with the country ravaged by war, this craft gradually disappeared. Today, we are introducing Chef Zhou's ninth-generation descendant, God of Cookery Stephen Chow, who has recreated Pissing Beef Balls according to his ancestors' methods. This time, we will verify whether these Pissing Beef Balls truly have the power to treat anorexia. Stay tuned."

The suspense was left hanging, thoroughly whetting everyone's appetite. By then, no one cared why today's food program was different from the previous ones.

It was food either way.

But a tiny Pissing Beef Ball curing anorexia? Hah. What would doctors be for, then?

Jiang Hao traveled with ATV's camera crew to St. Mary's Hospital, which treated the most anorexia patients in Hong Kong. Jiang Hao and Zhen Xiaoqiu spoke with the director, hoping to test the effects of the Pissing Beef Balls, but neither the director nor the doctors believed they could attract anorexia patients.

"How could a single beef ball cure anorexia? That's absurd. If it could cure patients, wouldn't your beef balls be Immortal Pills?" a young doctor said disdainfully.

"Why not give it a try? What if it works? Even if they don't like it, there's nothing to lose, right?" Jiang Hao said.

The director considered it. "You can try, but you cannot use coercive methods."

"Of course," Jiang Hao said with a nod.

The doctors brought more than thirty anorexia patients to the cafeteria. Their faces were yellow and gaunt, their eyes dull, their steps weak. Each of them looked like a zombie, as though they were on the verge of starving to death.

They were tormented by illness. It was not that they did not want to eat; otherwise, they would not have come to the hospital for treatment. Rather, neurological or physiological causes made them loathe eating, and whenever they ate, they vomited.

A large pot was set up. The beef balls brought this time were not canned products. To make a name for them, Jiang Hao had specially prepared this batch with great care.

The aroma of Beef Bone Seafood Soup drifted out, and every doctor watching nearby could not help swallowing. Someone whispered, "It smells so good. It should taste pretty good too."

The young doctor who had spoken against them earlier said, "Smelling good doesn't necessarily mean tasting good. It could just be all show."

Bowl after bowl of Pissing Beef Balls came out of the pot, but not a single patient was willing to try them. They had already developed a fear of food. To them, eating was more agonizing than taking medicine.

Jiang Hao stepped forward. "People need the courage to take that first step. Once you do, you may find that the sky is no longer gray. It may have become blue skies and white clouds."

"You suffer every day. Don't you want to end that suffering? Don't you want to live like normal people? You can find a girlfriend, you can find a boyfriend, you can spend time with your family, you can travel happily. Isn't that right?"

At last, a young girl was moved. She was the first to reach out. Her hand was nothing but skin stretched over bone, like a chicken claw. She picked up a beef ball and said in a tearful voice, "I'm only nineteen. I want to wear pretty clothes. I want to swim at the beach. I want to find a boyfriend. Boohoo..."

She closed her eyes, gathered every bit of courage and strength she had, and sobbing, stuffed a beef ball into her mouth. Everyone watched her. The girl bit down hard, and suddenly her expression froze.

Everyone else froze as well. Had it failed? Perhaps she would start vomiting the next second.

"Delicious. It's so delicious."

The girl opened her eyes, which shone like they were filled with stars. Her mouth moved quickly as she said indistinctly, "It's so delicious. I haven't felt like this in so, so long. I feel like I've come back to life. I can eat."

As she said that, tears streamed from the girl's eyes.