The Game of Life - Chapter 523

Chapter 523: Chapter 521 Spring Rolls

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The New Year visits went smoothly.

On the first day of the New Year, no one wore a frown, even if their hearts were unhappy for some reason, it would not show on their faces. In such a joyous and peaceful day, when everyone wore smiles and blessings were never far from their lips, the most adept at dishing out extravagant praises among the Jiang family’s younger generation were naturally the most welcomed.

There were no set times for lunch or dinner on New Year’s Day; it was a day of eating wherever you stopped by, going from house to house. If you couldn’t finish, you could simply take it with you.

The only slight disappointment was at the village chief’s home, where the sunflower seeds and flaky pastries were too delicious; everyone got so caught up in cracking seeds and munching pastries that by the time they returned home with stuffed bellies, it was already dark outside.

If we were to make glutinous rice lotus root at this time, Mrs. Jiang wouldn’t be able to have her dessert soup until before bedtime.

Jiang Feng certainly did not dare to do that—drinking a bowl of sweet syrup, with the sweetness turned up four jin, right before superbly falling asleep. In case Mrs. Jiang grew fond of this bedtime ritual and ended up harming her health from it. Jiang Feng would be branded the Jiang family’s sinner, forever nailed to the Jiang family’s pillar of shame, unable to rid himself of the label or turn over a new leaf for the rest of his life.

Jiang Feng delicately brought up with Mrs. Jiang the matter of postponing the glutinous rice lotus root. Mrs. Jiang, though a bit disappointed, still expressed her understanding and repeatedly urged, “Then Feng, you make it tomorrow, get up early to make it, it’d be best if we could have it by noon. Tomorrow your grandpa is cooking goose in the iron pot, and glutinous rice lotus root goes especially well with it.”

Jiang Feng: ???

Glutinous rice lotus root paired with goose stewed in an iron pot?

What kind of fresh pairing was this?

Even if he didn’t understand, Jiang Feng still had to outwardly agree, “Don’t worry, Grandma, I’ll definitely get up early tomorrow morning to make it for you!”

Although Jiang Feng loved to sleep in, he was also Mrs. Jiang’s dutiful grandson.

Compared to being dutiful to Grandma, what’s a little sleep-in?

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Moreover, getting up early not only fulfilled his filial duties to Grandma but also meant getting to eat the flatbreads she made—a win-win situation. As the number one filial figure among the younger Jiang family members, how could Jiang Feng miss this excellent opportunity to show his devotion to Grandma?

The morning of the second day of the New Year, as soon as the alarm rang, Jiang Feng sprang out of bed like a rabbit shooting from an eagle’s grasp, the winter chill quickly sobering him up as he hurriedly dressed and washed up, rushing into the kitchen.

Mrs. Jiang had already finished making the flatbreads, not only that but Sir had already started eating them. Seeing Jiang Feng dash frantically into the kitchen, Sir continued munching on his flatbread at a leisurely pace, pointing to a goose on the chopping board that had been washed clean and had lost its life.

“Now that you’re here, take care of the goose,” Sir said.

Jiang Feng: ?

Jiang Feng glanced at the flatbread in Sir’s hand; the extravagant Sir ate three at a time, stacking them together.

And it was the kind of flatbread sprinkled with both black and white sesame seeds, with more black ones, clearly specially made by Mrs. Jiang for him.

“Grandpa, what are we eating this morning?” Jiang Feng subtly reminded.

Sir was unmoved, continuing to stack and bite into his three flatbreads, showing no fear of them being too chewy for his teeth, as if to prove just how good his teeth were.

“There are spring rolls in your uncle’s room, I put them there because they were in the way in the kitchen and I was afraid they’d get cold in the living room. There are noodles in the pot, braised intestines are also in your uncle’s room. If you want breakfast, just help yourself to some noodles and go to your uncle’s room to eat,” Sir said.

Spring rolls! Braised intestines!

Jiang Feng instantly forgot about flatbreads; what flatbreads, what sesame seed topped flatbreads, are they as important as spring rolls?

It was a rare occasion for Sir to make spring rolls!

“Okay Grandpa, I’m going now!” Jiang Feng grabbed about half a bowl of noodles and ran off with the bowl.

Luckily he got up early today; had he overslept like usual, he might not have even gotten the leftover bits of the spring rolls.

Indeed, the grandson who showed filial piety to his grandma was always fortunate.

When Jiang Feng burst into the Jiang Jianguo’s room with his bowl, there were only three people in the room, all clad in landlord-style cotton pajamas, huddled together.

Jiang Jianguo, Aunt, and Jiang Jianshe.

The rest were likely still soundly asleep.

Aunt was holding a soup basin, which contained half a basin of steaming noodles with soup, covered with a layer of braised intestines, turning the broth a murky and thick color from the mixture.

Jiang Feng took a deep breath; the entire room was filled with the enchanting aroma of braised intestines and the fragrant scent of freshly fried spring rolls—it was clear they were just out of the fryer.

“Feng’s up pretty early today, huh? Why didn’t you sleep longer?” Jiang Jianguo, seeing that it was Jiang Feng, let out a sigh of relief, silently bringing out the basin full of spring rolls from behind him and placing it back on the table.

“I woke up and just got up, never expected to be so lucky to catch Grandpa frying spring rolls,” Jiang Feng said cheerfully, as he joined them next to Aunt.

“Well begun is half done, getting up early is good. Come on, Feng, eat while it’s hot. Spring rolls have to be eaten straight out of the fryer to be delicious; once they cool, they lose that special something,” Jiang Jianshe enthusiastically said.

“Yes, Fifth Brother is right; the spring rolls Dad made must be eaten fresh out of the fryer,” Aunt wholeheartedly agreed, demonstrating her agreement by picking up a spring roll with her chopsticks and stuffing the entire thing into her mouth.

“Crunch, crunch.”

The crisp and clear crunching sound came from the mouth of the eldest aunt, who had just swallowed a spring roll and lowered her head to slurp a large mouthful of noodles. The noodles, coated in braising sauce, slid into her mouth, making Jiang Feng swallow his saliva in silence.

Despite having the braised meats and spring rolls right in front of him, and even as he was holding a bowl of noodles, Jiang Feng felt that the food tasted better when the eldest aunt ate it. It seemed that whatever entered her mouth became even more delicious.

“Eldest aunt, aren’t you on a diet?” Jiang Feng blurted out all of a sudden.

“It’s Chinese New Year, we don’t talk about that now.” The eldest aunt picked up the bowl again and took a sip of the soup, “Feng, you too, eat while it’s hot.”

Jiang Feng reached out with his chopsticks towards the spring rolls.

Jiang Feng had known since he was a child that the spring rolls made by the old man were different from those made outside.

There wasn’t a tradition in Z city to eat spring rolls for the New Year, but if you were willing to walk the streets during this time, you’d encounter many vendors selling fried spring rolls. These vendors, rarely seen on other days, would suddenly appear everywhere during the New Year, disappearing gradually a week after the Lantern Festival.

The quality of spring rolls sold on the streets was inconsistent, ranging from perfectly fried to overly crisp and tough. There were mainly two types of fillings: shredded pork with cabbage, and tofu with wild vegetables. Generally, the pork and cabbage filling was slightly more expensive, sold by weight.

The variability of the old man’s spring roll fillings was much greater, usually made with whatever was available in the kitchen.

Spring rolls were a hassle to make, from the wrapper to the filling everything had to be prepared by hand by the old man himself, and he insisted on personally frying them. The old man’s spring rolls were only finger-thin, small and delicate, with a thin wrapper through which you could clearly see the filling after they were fried, especially if they were filled with shepherd’s purse.

With many mouths to feed and large appetites in the Jiang family, two big basins of spring rolls were simply not enough. Although the old man never minded his children and grandchildren eating a lot, as a chef, it bothered him if they ate too much, so he seldom made spring rolls. It was a rare treat that might come every few years.

A single small spring roll with leek and pork filling, even Jiang Feng could devour it in one bite.

Jiang Feng hadn’t tasted the old man’s spring rolls in years and ended up eating four or five in a row before he paused to take a mouthful of noodles.

Delicious!

Braised sauce mixed with noodles, accompanied by freshly fried crisp and fragrant leek and pork stuffed spring rolls, were so good that he wouldn’t trade them for 10 of Grandma Jiang’s pan-fried pancakes.

As he ate, Jiang Feng noticed that there was something off about the people present in the room.

Chinese New Year was the Jiang family members’ fixed time for sleeping in. After all, who would want to get up early in a southern winter without central heating to welcome the chilly morning and the cold wind?

It was only the elderly, who were used to waking up early, such as the old man and Mrs. Jiang, as well as the eldest aunt who loved health and wellness, and therefore woke up early, and Jiang Jianguo who had to wake up because his wife did, that would be around.

So why was Jiang Jianshe up as well?

The doors and windows of the room were tightly shut, and not a whiff of spring roll aroma could be detected outside. Jiang Feng hadn’t smelled anything before he pushed open the door, so how did Jianshe appear here, and even earlier than Jiang Feng at that?

You should know, Jiang Feng had set a 6:10 A.M. alarm just so he could eat the freshly made pancakes.

“Uncle Five, why did you get up so early today?” Jiang Feng said, holding an empty bowl, continuing to leisurely stuff spring rolls into his mouth.

He was almost full, estimating that eating three more spring rolls at most would end the feast.

Jiang Jianshe, holding a soup bowl slightly smaller than the eldest aunt’s, said with a happy expression, “It’s a funny story, I didn’t plan on waking up. I just came out to use the bathroom and was going back to sleep, but then I saw your eldest uncle carrying spring rolls, so I followed him in.”

“So you see, it’s not just about waking up early but also about waking up at the right moment. If I hadn’t woken up at that time to go to the bathroom, I would have missed out on today’s spring rolls. It’s quite rare, your grandfather made such a big basin of spring rolls this early in the morning. If I remember correctly, it’s been several years since he last fried spring rolls,” Jianshe reflected.

“What about Aunt Five…”

Jianshe gestured dismissively, “Your Aunt Five has been having trouble sleeping recently, hardly getting any rest. When she finally sleeps soundly, how could I bear to disturb her? It’s just some spring rolls, nothing is as important as sleep.”

Jiang Feng: …

“Wife, do you want to eat some more?” Jianguo asked.

The eldest aunt shook her head and lifted the soup basin to drink the rest of the noodle soup in one go, “Even during the New Year, I have to control what I eat and not overindulge. Jianguo, you should eat less too, and not overeat just because it’s the New Year.”

Jianguo pretended not to hear the latter part of her statement, turning to Jianshe to say, “Old Five, there are some spring rolls left, why don’t we split them, Feng, do you still want some?”

Jiang Feng picked up the last spring roll, “I’m good, you uncles go ahead and share.”

Jianguo and Jianshe each took one, and the basin that held the spring rolls was quickly emptied.

After eating his fill, Jianguo, with a satisfied face, exclaimed, “Jianshe, what day is this? Dad got up early to fry spring rolls and didn’t scold me when he saw me come into the kitchen. Instead, he asked me to take the spring rolls back to the room to eat. His attitude toward me was so good all of a sudden; it made me feel a bit uncomfortable.”

Jianshe said, “Brother, you overthink things. What do you mean by ‘Dad’s attitude toward you is suddenly so good’? Maybe Dad was just in a good mood this morning. Maybe if I had been the one to go in there, he would have let me take the spring rolls back to the room as well.”

“True, Dad’s temper has been getting harder to predict lately,” Jianguo agreed, “But it’s good anyway, as long as there’s food to eat.”