The Game of Life TGOL

Chapter 286: 285: Side Quest in the Small Kitchen

Jiang Feng followed the route Jiang Shoucheng had given him and quickly found the Orthopedic Department’s Canteen Kitchen and the small market next to the canteen.

The so-called small market was actually a small bungalow with a limited space, yet it featured a complete variety of vegetables. The sales method was interesting, too; aside from selling by weight, they also sold in meal sets.

Such as braised pork belly meal set, beer duck meal set, scallions with tofu meal set, and kung pao chicken meal set — they sold all the raw materials, already portioned out.

When Jiang Feng entered, there was a lady picking vegetables. He saw there were chicken, duck, and pork available, and he even spotted several live fish in a tank. However, he didn’t see the beef that Jiang Shoucheng had mentioned, which probably meant it was sold out.

There were plenty of vegetable varieties, with all the seasonal vegetables on the market, as well as various grains and cereals.

Jiang Feng mentally drafted a menu, making preliminary decisions on what to cook.

Braised pork belly was a must-have, as large pieces of braised Wuhua pork with some sugar was Jiang Shoucheng’s favorite.

Having seen the lively carps in the water tank, having sweet and sour carp was a definite part of the plan.

He decided to prepare two more main dishes, braised chicken and beer duck. On the shelf, Jiang Feng noticed salted duck eggs that could be used to make steamed lion’s head meatballs with egg yolks; then, he’d casually whip up two vegetarian dishes such as “earth three fresh” and eight treasure tofu for the sake of health.

He had already completed the six therapeutic Sweet and Sour Yams, but now Jiang Feng’s skill in making Sweet and Sour Yam was quite good, and even without the special effects, they tasted great.

With dessert, vegetarian dishes, and meat dishes all ready, he’d also cook a pot of preserved egg and lean meat porridge; that way, Jiang Shoucheng could have something to fill his stomach when working the night shift.

Eight dishes and one soup — Jiang Feng had just seen in the emergency room that the doctors and nurses were all quite busy and probably hadn’t had time to eat. He decided to cook the eight dishes and one soup in the portions the Jiang Family usually had — large, extra-large!

Enough to feed all the doctors and nurses in the emergency room.

Having decided what to cook, Jiang Feng began to pick out the ingredients.

Wuhua pork, two big strips.

Chicken, two please.

And two ducks as well.

He needed to cut a pound of lean meat and grab a few more preserved eggs; he’d also need to weigh more rice.

The kind-hearted lady beside him, who was also picking vegetables, was almost stupefied when she saw Jiang Feng grabbing so much food; her face showed her surprise, “Young man, do you have that many family members in the hospital?”

After saying this, the lady felt that something about her question was off, but she wasn’t sure how to correct it.

“Ah, no, I’m not a family member. My cousin is an intern in the emergency room, and I’ve noticed they didn’t have lunch. I’m planning to cook a meal for the doctors and nurses there,” said Jiang Feng.

Upon hearing this, the market owner became interested, as this was quite a novel idea.

The owner of the market, a woman in her thirties, asked, “Young man, which doctor is your brother?”

“Jiang Shoucheng,” replied Jiang Feng.

“Dr. Jiang, I see. So he’s been rotating in the emergency room, no wonder I haven’t seen him in the canteen for quite a few days,” the market owner realized suddenly, “our Chinese cabbages are very fresh today, take a couple more, I’ll give them to you.”

It seemed that Jiang Shoucheng was indeed quite popular here; the market owner was willing to give away two Chinese cabbages for free.

“The person in charge of the small kitchen over there is my husband. I’ll talk to him later and tell him not to charge you for using the stove, how can we charge someone cooking for our hospital’s doctors?” The market owner smiled faintly, keeping her connection to the insider low-key.

The lady who had joined the conversation belatedly reacted, “Is it that particularly strong Dr. Jiang?”

“That’s the one, the Dr. Jiang who pried the elevator doors open by hand when there was a malfunction,” said the market owner.

Jiang Feng: ???

Jiang Shoucheng had such heroic feats???

“Oh my, so it’s for Dr. Jiang! He really helped us out a lot before. Young man, I have a pot of beef stewing over there; I’ll give you a pound of it!” said the lady.

“Thank you, ma’am,” Jiang Feng said with a smile as he expressed his gratitude.

Once Jiang Feng finished buying the ingredients and carried several large bags, the market owner enthusiastically led the way to the small kitchen hidden inside the Orthopedic Department’s Canteen.

It truly was a small kitchen, with about a dozen stoves, four of which had pots stewing something on them. The stoves were very close to each other, and there was a small cooking station in the corner with two sinks beside it; the cooking station was equipped with several chopping boards for preparing food for others.

Although the kitchen was small, it was fully equipped.

The market owner and her husband learned about Jiang Feng’s situation, and her husband said cheerfully, “Young man, we have all sorts of pots and our seasoning selection is very complete here, feel free to cook whatever you want, and if you need help, just ask me.”

Seeing the amount of vegetables Jiang Feng bought, he also asked, “What are you planning to make?”

“Red braised meat, red-braised chicken, beer duck, eight-treasure tofu, di san xian, crab meat lion’s head, sweet and sour carp, sweet and sour yam, and lean meat and preserved egg porridge,” Jiang Feng reeled off a list of dishes without hesitation.

Everyone around was stupefied.

The reason why the Orthopedic Department’s Canteen Kitchen had specially set aside this small kitchen for patients’ families to cook in was because the canteen was close to the hospital ward, with the hospital building right next door, and because the canteen had limited meal supply times, it was simpler for the families of the patients to cook themselves.

But most family members only came here to stew a soup or cook a porridge; at most, stir-frying a couple of small dishes was the limit. Jiang Feng was the first to use this small kitchen as if it were the back kitchen of a restaurant.

“Young man… Seems very professional,” the market owner’s husband didn’t quite know what to say at the moment.

“I am a chef,” Jiang Feng said.

“No wonder, the pots are in the cabinet, take what you need, and if you don’t understand something, come find me.” Saying so, he stepped out, the small kitchen was cramped and not well-ventilated, and with the flames burning on the stove, it was tremendously stuffy.

Now, only Jiang Feng and the lady who had just bought vegetables were left in the small kitchen.

“Young man, if you need help with anything, just tell this old woman. My beef still needs to stew for a while longer,” the lady said eagerly as she walked over to the pot where she was stewing beef to check on it.

Jiang Feng smelled that it was beef stew with carrots, and judging by the scent and the look of the beef in the pot from afar, the lady’s culinary skills seemed somewhat lacking.

“Eh, why does the beef still look like this after stewing for so long?” The lady expressed a question typical of a cooking novice.

Jiang Feng stepped forward, looked in the pot, and forwardly analyzed, “Auntie, you added too few seasonings.”

“Did you stir-fry the beef before stewing it?”

“The beef needs to be stir-fried?”

Jiang Feng:…

“Moreover, when making beef stew with carrots, you should add the carrots at the end, not put them in from the start,” Jiang Feng said.

“Ah, is there still hope for this dish?” It seemed that the old lady was somewhat self-aware, knowing that her dish was probably beyond saving.

“It’s difficult to make the beef tender, but we can still salvage the taste a bit. Auntie, turn off the heat for now and take out the carrots; they’re already overcooked. Where are the seasonings?” Jiang Feng asked.

“Over here, they’re all in this cabinet.” The lady went to get Jiang Feng the seasonings.

“Ding, a new optional side quest has been discovered, please player choose at your discretion.”

Eh?

Another side quest has appeared.

“Auntie, by the way, where is the toilet?” Jiang Feng decided to put aside the task of the beef for now since it was practically a lost cause.

“Do you see that building over there? That’s the hospital ward. On the first floor, take a right and keep going; the men’s restroom is at the very end,” the lady said.

Jiang Feng sprinted toward the men’s restroom.

He hastily picked a stall, locked the door, and opened the attributes panel to accept the quest.

[Famous Doctor]: The Orthopedic Department’s Canteen Kitchen has received much acclaim since its establishment, but due to the limited culinary skills of the patients’ families, it has never truly fulfilled its purpose. Please help the Benevolent Doctor’s hospital ward patients’ families complete 100 dishes, ensuring the Orthopedic Department’s Canteen Kitchen is put to full use. Quest progress(0/100)

Quest hint: This mission is quite simple, no hint needed.

Quest reward: Slight increase in the popularity of Taifeng Building.

This side quest seems a bit too simple.

Jiang Feng had not taken on such an easy side quest in a long time.

Jiang Feng thought, Auntie, leave that beef stew with carrots to me!

I will definitely bring it back to life!