The Game of Life TGOL

Chapter 532: Chapter 530: Teaching Completed

Zhao Mei was stuffed.

It wasn’t strange for her to overeat, as she had been doing it more often since she got pregnant. For instance, she stuffed herself with the chicken noodle soup her husband cooked for her last night.

But this time was different.

This time it was a blissful kind of stuffed, a satisfied sort of stuffed, the kind of stuffed where you can’t eat another bite and you only wish you had another stomach.

Since becoming pregnant, Zhao Mei’s tastes had changed a lot. The snacks she used to love no longer appealed to her, sometimes she craved sour things so badly that even plum pickled in vinegar wasn’t sour enough, at other times she longed for sweets so much that rice mixed with sugar and drizzled with honey didn’t seem sweet enough.

Even her once-favorite dish made by Tian Lin, the braised chicken, had lost its charm after having it once a week for the past few months.

It had been a long time since she had eaten meat so heartily.

Ordinary people tend to feel sleepy after a full meal, let alone a pregnant woman like Zhao Mei, who felt drowsy within minutes of finishing her meal. This sleepiness was genuine, not feigned, as she sat there struggling to keep her eyelids open.

So her husband helped her into the house to sleep.

Zhao Mei’s joyful eating delighted Tian Lin the most, her eyebrows raised in happiness as she cleared the table, glancing at Jiang Feng now and then as if she had something to say to him.

Jiang Feng casually picked up a dish and followed Tian Lin into the kitchen.

“Feng, did you hear what Meimei said to me during lunch?” Tian Lin asked, unable to contain her eagerness as soon as they entered the kitchen.

Jiang Feng didn’t dare to respond. Zhao Mei had said so much, with things like “Mom, I want ribs,” “Mom, give me two more pieces of meat,” “Mom, I want an egg.” It was endless. He was at a loss as to which comment had touched Tian Lin’s heart—was it about the ribs, the meat, or the eggs?

“When Meimei was eating the lion’s head meatballs, she told me how delicious the fatty part was. She hasn’t said that to me in so many years!”

“Now I understand why she has barely touched the braised meat this year, or the braised pork with bamboo shoots. It turns out she has changed her tastes and only wants to eat stewed lion’s head meatballs!” Tian Lin was thrilled to have discovered the dish her daughter wanted to eat.

Jiang Feng: …

Aunt, it’s not really a matter of taste.

It’s about you.

“Yeah, who would have thought Meimei would now like lion’s head meatballs,” Jiang Feng said, nodding earnestly in agreement.

“Feng, you don’t have to teach me braised pork or pork stewed with bamboo shoots. Just teach me how to make lion’s head meatballs. Meimei loves those,” Tian Lin decided she had found the definite answer.

“Sure!”

Jiang Feng nodded, agreeing to teach just the lion’s head meatballs, which was fine with him. As long as Tian Lin was willing to follow his instructions and season correctly without haphazardly adding salt and soy sauce, even if her meat chopping and mixing techniques weren’t perfect and the lion’s head meatballs came out a bit loose and couldn’t retain their juices, they definitely wouldn’t taste bad.

When teaching Tian Lin to cook, he couldn’t set too high a standard. The food just needed to be edible.

Seeing Jiang Feng agree, Tian Lin asked tentatively, “Feng, your grandma and the others will probably go back soon, and we finished eating the lion’s head meatballs at lunch today. Could you stay and teach me this afternoon, so Meimei can have some to eat tonight?”

Jiang Feng laughed and said, “Aunt, you make it sound so difficult. Didn’t we agree to do it this afternoon? As long as I get back in time for dinner, it’s fine.”

Mission is precious, but the price of a meal is higher.

Tian Lin was beaming with joy and after washing the dishes, she kept thinking about giving Jiang Feng something to show her gratitude. After much consideration, she realized that only by offering Jiang Feng a bowl of braised meat could she properly express her thanks.

“There’s still some braised meat left in the pot, Aunt will serve you a bowl!” Tian Lin was all about action. While Jiang Feng was lost in thoughts, she had already served the braised meat.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Caught up with thinking about the task at hand and how to teach Tian Lin to make lion’s head meatballs that afternoon, Jiang Feng forgot he was actually on the most dangerous battlefield. It wasn’t until the braised meat was placed in front of him that he realized the seriousness of the situation.

“Aunt, I ate too much at lunch and I really can’t eat any more,” Jiang Feng said, covering his stomach and pretending he was really full.

All Tian Lin could do was look disappointed as she took the braised meat back and started eating it herself.

At lunch, she had been so focused on serving Zhao Mei that she hardly ate a thing.

Tian Lin devoured two bowls of the braised meat before she put down her chopsticks and started learning how to make lion’s head meatballs from Jiang Feng.

Jiang Feng started with teaching her how to pick pork belly.

For someone like Tian Lin, who only had eyes for fatty meat and had believed for years that fat represents justice, Jiang Feng had reason to believe she would select the fattiest piece she could see for the lion’s head meatballs.

To ensure the safety of Zhao Mei’s meals for the next few days, Jiang Feng emphasized repeatedly that when choosing pork belly, if she wasn’t confident, she should err on the side of lean rather than fatty. If the meat was a bit lean, the worst they could expect was slightly tough lion’s head meatballs. If it was too fatty, they might end up with meat similar to her previous attempts at braised meat—only this time formed into meatballs instead of stewed in chunks.

After picking out the meat, it was time to chop it. Jiang Feng let Tian Lin do the chopping herself while he supervised.

Tian Lin, strong and detail-oriented, exhibited extraordinary patience when it came to her daughter’s dietary matters. She sliced and chopped the meat with precision and force, yielding a very sticky minced meat that was definitely up to standard.

Jiang Feng didn’t personally handle the seasoning step. He said that Tian Lin did everything smoothly.

It wasn’t until it was time to beat the meat that Jiang Feng began to work. He didn’t expect Tian Lin to learn this step—as it was one most people couldn’t do well. It might look easy, just tossing and stirring, but the strength, rhythm, and technique involved required years of culinary experience and could not be learned by simply watching or listening to someone else explain.

Strength alone might make the meat firm when tossed, but how to toss it, where to toss it, and what it should look like afterward was not something that could be solved by brute force. Prolonged beating would break down the meat. Not only would your hands be covered in minced meat, but the surface of the “Lion’s Head” meatballs would also have a lot of snowy flotsam when braised.

Therefore, Jiang Feng could only tell Tian Lin to toss and stir as she liked, without taking too long—it was enough to just go through the motions.

It didn’t matter if the “Lion’s Head” meatballs fell apart during stewing, as they would be broken up in the mouth anyway. It also didn’t matter if the juice from the meat couldn’t be retained, as it would still be juicy with chicken broth poured over it.

Jiang Feng believed that Zhao Mei would definitely not mind these little issues when it came to eating.

After the meat beating was done, it was time to roll the meatballs. Once the meatballs were shaped, they could be put in the pot to stew. There was plenty of time to simmer them slowly. To prevent Tian Lin from not controlling the heat properly, Jiang Feng specifically used a gas stove this time and instructed her to stew them for three hours before they could be removed from the pot.

Remember to add some salt to the broth before stewing. Over such a long cooking time, the salt within the “Lion’s Head” meatballs would seep out. Without adding salt, the meatballs would taste somewhat bland and insipid once served.

After going over all of this, Jiang Feng realized he seemed to have nothing left to do.

The chicken broth leftover from lunch could be used once the “Lion’s Head” meatballs were almost ready. Tian Lin could simply heat the broth and pour it over the meatballs when they were done.

Jiang Feng looked at the meatballs in the stewing pot, now covered with a lid, feeling that his teaching for the day was over.

His teaching duties had ended a bit early—Mrs. Jiang and the others had left less than half an hour ago.

Jiang Feng struggled to think if there was anything else he needed to remind Tian Lin of. After a moment, his eyes brightened, “There’s one more thing, auntie. Remember that the chicken broth you pour over after taking it out of the pot should be…”

“Skim off the oil!” Tian Lin had even learned to answer ahead.

Jiang Feng nodded in satisfaction, feeling that there was really nothing left to advise Tian Lin on this time.

“Auntie, that’s pretty much it for the ‘Lion’s Head’ meatballs. You just need to wait for them to finish stewing in three hours and then they can be taken out of the pot. I have nothing else here, so I will just…” Jiang Feng was ready to make his exit.

Staying at the Zhao Family’s home always made him feel uneasy, as if a bowl of Braised Meat might suddenly appear from somewhere to invite him for a meal.

“Feng, you’ve worked hard today. Go back and rest. Your aunt has learned almost everything. Tomorrow, I will make ‘Lion’s Head’ meatballs myself for your Meimei to enjoy,” Tian Lin said with a smile.

Hearing Tian Lin say this, Jiang Feng became somewhat worried, “Auntie, how about I come over again tomorrow morning? You can make the ‘Lion’s Head’ meatballs, and I’ll just watch to see how you do.”

“How could that be okay, troubling you to come by again?” Tian Lin’s smile was radiant.

“It’s no trouble, no trouble at all. It’s not far, just a few steps away,” Jiang Feng said with a smile, well aware of the pretense in the adult world.

And so, the matter was pleasantly settled. Jiang Feng would return to his Happy Fatty abode and come back the next morning to check on the instructional work to see how Tian Lin’s ‘Lion’s Head’ meatballs turned out.

But then Jiang Feng overslept the next day.

This wasn’t really his fault; he had been getting up early far too many days in a row. Since New Year’s Eve, he had been rising early, four days straight without a break, blatantly disrespecting the fundamental privilege of a holiday by not sleeping in even once.

So, on the morning of the fourth day of the New Year, without an alarm clock, Mrs. Jiang not making pancakes, and Sir not frying spring rolls on a sunny day, Jiang Feng unsurprisingly overslept.

When he woke up, his phone showed it was 10:43 am.

If he woke up half an hour later, the Zhao Family would probably already have started their meal.

Realizing he had overslept, Jiang Feng hurriedly dressed, only brushed his teeth, and didn’t even have time to wash his face before throwing on his down jacket and sprinting towards the Zhao Family’s home.

When he arrived, Tian Lin’s dishes were nearly ready, and the kitchen was filled with the aroma of food and a rich scent of chicken broth—Tian Lin, exceptionally, did not cook Braised Meat.

It all smelled normal.

Then Jiang Feng witnessed a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.

“Auntie! Tomato and scrambled eggs don’t need chicken broth poured on top!! Really, they don’t!!!” (Note ①)

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PS:

Note ①From a chapter published by Yueye Bingyan on December 8th in the 529th chapter.