The Game of Life-Chapter 837 - 836 Extending Time

Chapter 837: Chapter 836: Extending Time

Chapter 837 -836: Extending Time

Chef Arno had just cursed “shit” and walked away with a grand exit, leaving behind an imposing figure and a crying muscular man, just like every other scene in a reality show where Chef Arno cursed “shit.”

“Did you get that? Did you catch all that?” The director was so excited that he practically danced on the spot, as if wanting to perform a juggling act right there and then.

“Got it, got everything!” The cameraman was equally thrilled.

The two of them remained buzzing with excitement on the spot until Chef Arno had left, without even noticing his departure.

Chef Arno was the last contestant to enter backstage. Because he had just aggressively vented at his former buddy, he was in a great mood and even nodded kindly to the four from Taifeng Building, leaving Wu Minqi and Sun Jikai quite surprised.

“Now that everyone is here, I’ll briefly introduce the final round’s content and requirements.”

“The timing of the final round hasn’t been set yet. According to our original plan, the finals are supposed to be broadcast live, but negotiations with the US broadcasters aren’t going smoothly, so there are still many uncertainties. The current tentative plan is for the competition to last six hours, from noon to six in the evening, with no restrictions on the type of dishes.”

“In summary, the final should not be very different from today’s semi-final. If any contestants have comments or suggestions, now would be a good time to speak up. Since the timing of the final is uncertain, as long as the request is reasonable and feasible, we will try our best to accommodate everyone.”

“I have a request,” Jiang Feng and Chef Arno said simultaneously, one in Chinese and the other in English.

The two glanced at each other, and Jiang Feng gestured for Chef Arno to speak first.

“The competition time is too short,” Chef Arno said, “Six hours is just not enough.”

Jiang Feng was startled; he didn’t expect Chef Arno’s concern to be the same as his—he also felt the time was too short. With only six hours, it would be impossible to make a quality broth, and Jiang’s Sea Cucumber Soup could not be properly prepared.

“I also think the competition time is too short, ideally extended to eight hours,” Jiang Feng said.

“Eight hours is not enough, at least twelve hours,” Chef Arno spoke up, doubling the originally planned competition duration, which stunned the staff.

“Twelve hours might be too long, increasing recording difficulties and imposing a significant burden on both the participants and the judges,” a staff member instinctively countered.

Twelve hours indeed was a long time, but it was also very fitting for an ultimate culinary showdown.

Twelve hours was enough for a skilled chef to produce a superior stock, and to cook with it. Although the duration was lengthy, it wouldn’t be so long as to cause mental and physical breakdowns among the chefs—it was a critical duration, approximately the same as their normal daily working hours if they forwent breaks.

“I have no objections,” Jiang Feng affirmed Chef Arno’s proposal.

“I have no objections either, provided you arrange chairs under the cooking stations like today,” Sun Maochai said with a smile.

With key individuals having no objections, the staff members were flustered and unsure of how to respond. It seemed inappropriate to agree outright, yet a direct refusal seemed equally impossible.

In their hesitation, a staff member left a message that they would consult their superiors and hurriedly left the resting room, an improper act that emphasized how bewildered they were by Chef Arno’s request.

The few in the resting room looked at each other in puzzlement.

Jiang Feng quietly observed Chef Arno, pondering what kind of dish he intended to prepare that required twelve hours.

Even for broth-based dishes, few required twelve hours of preparation.

Unless it was one of those dishes that needed long hours of freezing, refrigeration, or resting, but that seemed unlikely because twelve hours wouldn’t be sufficient for such dishes.

Jiang Feng’s thoughts raced in his mind.

Chef Arno, on the other hand, was much more direct.

Interestingly, since Chef Arno had tried Jiang Feng’s pure meat dumplings at Taifeng Building and broke down in tears, revealing his troubled past to Jiang Feng, something like a profound comradeship had formed between them.

It wasn’t friendship, but Chef Arno’s attitude towards Jiang Feng was indeed much friendlier than towards anyone else. Just from the earlier scene where Chef Arno checked if Jiang Feng needed water when he hiccupped, it could be seen. If it were anyone else hiccupping incessantly next to Chef Arno, he would’ve just cursed them to shut up, complaining that the hiccups were annoying his ears and disturbing his daydreaming.

“What dish are you planning to make?” Chef Arno suddenly asked.

His question baffled everyone present.

At that moment, the same thought crossed everyone’s mind—

Can this really be happening?

Is that even a thing?

The world actually still has such a brilliant operation where competitors directly ask each other before the match what dish you are planning to make.

“Jiang’s Sea Cucumber Soup.” Jiang Feng wasn’t afraid to say it, since even if he told Chef Arno, he wouldn’t know what it was.

Peng Changping was a man who kept promises, even if it was his father who had made those promises. He knew how to make Jiang’s Sea Cucumber Soup, but only learned it as a dish, never selling it in restaurants or serving it to others.

Those who had tasted Jiang Chengde’s personally cooked Jiang’s Sea Cucumber Soup were probably long deceased, and the dish, like the name Jiang Chengde, once renowned, was now scarcely known.

“Jiang’s Sea Cucumber Soup?” Chef Arno repeated Jiang Feng’s words in his accurate Mandarin and revealed a slightly puzzled expression, evidently pondering what kind of dish it was.

Chef Arno pondered for a few minutes to no avail.

“It’s your family’s dish.” Chef Arno was a clever man, who guessed the connection between the dish and the Jiang Family from the name alone, turning what should have been a question into a statement of certainty.

“Yes,” Jiang Feng said. “It was my great-grandfather’s signature dish. Back in his day during a culinary exchange, he taught it to Master Peng’s father, who then taught it to him, and this year Master Peng taught it to me.”

Hearing Jiang Feng say this, Chef Arno’s eyes suddenly lit up as if a flame named competitiveness was burning in his eyes.

“The dish I plan to make is also a family dish, taught to me by my father, and it’s not trivial like today’s Flame Beef or the last Beef Tart.”

“When the time comes, you better bring your A-game, otherwise I’m afraid you’ll lose badly. I will definitely defeat you with an absolute advantage in the finals, letting you know my true strength.”

For some reason, Jiang Feng felt that Chef Arno’s expression when he uttered the last word was somewhat akin to the legendary sly smirk.

A six-foot-three, muscular, bearded strong man flashing a sly smirk at him.

Jiang Feng felt slightly frightened and even considered advising Chef Arno to read fewer novels.

Having finished, Chef Arno turned and left like the ultimate villain in every movie who has just hurled threats at the protagonist, with disdain, pride, and confidence, walking briskly as if he had the whole world beneath his feet, totally unconcerned with whether the staff had returned to answer the critical question of whether the competition duration could be extended to twelve hours.

Jiang Feng was stunned.

He snapped out of it only when the door banged shut.

“Chef Arno actually has a father,” Jiang Feng muttered.

He was not trying to insult Chef Arno; rather, Chef Arno usually gave the impression that he didn’t seem to have any family.

It wasn’t just the absence of a family-like impression; he didn’t even seem to have a master. It felt as if he was simply sprung from the cracks of rocks, and so was his culinary skill.

“No, I mean, I didn’t expect his father to be a chef, I’ve never heard that before.” Realizing he misspoke, Jiang Feng quickly corrected himself.

Sun Maochai was also a bit surprised; over the years, he had encountered Chef Arno in numerous culinary competitions and had been thoroughly defeated by him. Even he had never heard that Chef Arno’s father was a chef, nor did he know who Chef Arno had learnt from.

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“It’s my first time hearing he has a father too,” Sun Maochai nodded.

The crowd: ?

“Everyone, we’ve just discussed and think that a twelve-hour competition is actually feasible…” As Sun Maochai was about to explain, thestaff member who had fled earlier burst in excitedly, only to be perplexed when he found the protagonist had vanished.

“Where’s Chef Arno?” the staff member was confused.

“He left,” Jiang Feng said expressionlessly.

“Ah…”

“You can explain to them,” Jiang Feng gestured towards Rolan and the other two nameless henchmen left behind by Chef Arno.

These three, due to not understanding Chinese, were still unclear about the situation, not knowing why Chef Arno suddenly became very excited and confident, and then left.

“Oh, okay.” The staff member seemed well accustomed to Chef Arno’s unusual behaviors and continued discussing the results, “We think if everyone agrees to extend the competition time, for the betterment of the contest and to allow everyone to perform their best, twelve hours would be acceptable. Correspondingly, we may adjust other aspects of the final, and the timing of the final might also be postponed, likely by one to two weeks. We will notify everyone immediately once we have any updates.”

Everyone was quite accustomed to scheduling extensions, as this wasn’t the first time the semi-finals were delayed, and they were quite used to it.

Since Chef Arno had left and there were no objections, and it was getting late, both the competitors and staff were quite weary, so they dispersed.

Everyone went home, geared up for the finals, happy you, me, and everyone.