Chapter 282: Chapter 281 The Organization Has Decided That You Will Take the Blame
Because heâd gone to bed late the night before, Jiang Feng also got up late the next morning. His arrival at Taifeng Building was over half an hour later than usual.
As soon as he stepped through the door, he heard Ji Yueâs screams, sounding like a pig being slaughtered.
It hurts, it hurts, it hurts! Mrs. Wang, please be gentler, I beg you, stop pressing, donât press, donât rub it, ah, itâs so painful, Mrs. Wang, go easy!â Ji Yue sat in a chair, her right foot grasped by Mrs. Wang Xiulian, who was applying an ice patch to it. Mrs. Wang Xiulianâs palm pressed down on the ice patch, completely ignoring Ji Yueâs shrieks of pain.
âNow you know it hurts. What were you doing earlier? You didnât say anything when you first twisted it, only when we noticed. A sprain needs to be treated in time. If you had iced your instep earlier, it wouldnât have swollen up like an egg.â Mrs. Wang Xiulian, after years as the lady boss, had abundant experience in treating all sorts of sprains, cuts, burns, and scalds.
âMrs. Wang, itâs my first time spraining my ankle. How was I supposed to know it was this bad? I just didnât have the experience,â Ji Yueâs eyes brimmed with tears. âGentler, please, Iâm begging you to stop pressing, ah!â
Jiang Feng couldnât bear to look at her.
âStop rubbing? How will the bruise dissipate if I donât? If I donât, tomorrow your foot will swell up like a steamed bun, then youâll really be in pain,â threatened Mrs. Wang Xiulian. âWeâll ice it today, but if itâs more swollen or painful tomorrow, youâre going to the hospital. Take care not to damage the bone. Injuries to muscles and bones take a hundred days to heal. None of you young folks give me peace of mind. My own little rabbit at home is just the same, even cutting vegetables can end up slicing his own hand.â
Suddenly cued, Jiang Feng: ???
âMom, that was ages ago, it was just an accident, why do you keep bringing it up?â Jiang Feng said, embarrassed.
âWhat happened to Ji Yue? How did she sprain her foot like that?â Jiang Feng said, looking at Ji Yueâs foot, thinking that she had managed quite a skillful sprain.
Most people swell around the ankle when they sprain it, but Ji Yue was differentâit was her instep that was swollen, bulging with a large bump that was particularly conspicuous.
âYou ask her; I have no idea how she did it. Her foot had swollen up like this, yet she was acting as if nothing was wrong. If Qi Rou hadnât noticed her limping while walking, in no time we wouldâve been calling an ambulance,â said Mrs. Wang Xiulian.
Ji Yueâs face, contorted with pain, now also showed a hint of embarrassment as she slowly explained, âItâs like this, Iâve been on a diet recently, right? So, Iâve been taking the stairs. Then last night I didnât eat much, and this morning I was really hungry. So, in my rush to get downstairs, I just⊠kind of twisted my foot a little, and tumbled down the stairs.â
Qi Rou, Ji Yueâs admiring little fan and underling who was bringing a box of ice cubes, gasped upon hearing that she had fallen down the stairs. She rushed over and gave Ji Yue a thorough checkup from head to toe, finally relaxing once she was sure there were no tears in her clothes, no scrapes on her hands or body, and her face was unharmed.
Ji Yue, how many stairs did you fall down? Are you alright?â Qi Rou said, her face full of concern.
I m fine, Iâm fine. It was probably around four or five steps. Just scraped my elbow a bit,â Ji Yue said.
âYou tumbled down four or five stairs and didnât take leave to go to the hospital, but came to work?â Jiang Feng was shocked; he hadnât realized that their restaurant had such dedicated employees. âAnd then? You went to work afterward?â
âNo, after that, I went to buy breakfast,â said Ji Yue. ÆĐłeewebnovŃl.com
Jiang Feng & Mrs. Wang Xiulian & Qi Rou: ???
The green bean buns from the steamed bun shop, the third one from the left at the entrance of our community, are especially delicious. I was running late this morning and nearly missed out on them. I picked myself up, grabbed my phone, and ran to the bun shop. They had just two left, and I managed to snatch them. Good thing I ran, otherwise I wouldnât have had green bean buns this morning!â Ji Yue explained.
Jiang Feng: ???
Friend, do you remember your footâs almost as swollen as a green bean bun?
âThen, while paying, I realized that my phoneâs front camera was smashed and it couldnât scan the code at all. Lucky for me, the lady boss is nice and knows me, she said I could put it on a tab,â Ji Yue continued.
âDoesnât your foot hurt?â Jiang Feng asked, looking at Ji Yueâs swollen trotter, which seemed even more engorged than before.
After taking a tumble and twisting her ankle, she trotted off to buy buns and then walked for over ten minutes to get to Taifeng Building, chatting and laughing as if nothing was wrong, walking everywhereâit seemed Ji Yue didnât care much for her right foot anymore.
I really didnât feel it was that painful at the time. Isnât it normal to feel a little pain after a fall? I didnât pay it much attention,â Ji Yue convincingly argued.
Jiang Feng:âŠ
As the atmosphere fell into an inexplicable silence, Sun Jikai, dressed in his work uniform, came out from the kitchen looking haggard, his face weary, hair messy and greasy, clearly having not slept all night.
âJiang Feng, youâre here! I think Iâm getting close to something. Wu Minqi just tasted it and said itâs decent. Have a taste and see if thereâs anything wrong with it,â Sun Jikai said, yawning.
âDonât tell me you stayed in the kitchen all night practicing?â Jiang Feng asked. If that was indeed the case, then Sun Jikaiâs condition seemed a bit riskyâit was like the prelude to obsession.
âNo, I went home at three in the morning to catch some sleep, then came over at just past five. Iâll just nap for a couple of hours later; I used to do the same thing at Wharton when working on my papers,â Sun Jikai replied.
âBy the way, Mrs. Wang, deduct the extra pigeon portions Iâve used this period from my salary,â he added.
âWeâve never had a policy of deducting the cost of practice ingredients from the chefâs salary,â although Mrs. Wang Xiulian loved money, she knew what was important. âEven if you tried your hardest, how much money could you use in a month? Just use whatever you need, itâs okay. Jiang Feng wasted God knows how many good ingredients learning to cook when he was little. Isnât that how all you chefs started out? I understand.â
Sun Jikai was taken aback. Pigeons were not cheap, and he had been prepared to have a large portion of his salary docked for the month.
âThank you, Mrs. Wang,â he said.
âHow many Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeons did you make?â asked Jiang Feng.
âJust finished two portions,â Sun Jikai replied.
âJi Yue, do you want one to make up for it?â Jiang Feng felt that among all the people present, Ji Yue was the one who most needed an Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon.
Like cures like, Ji Gezi needed to eat more of her own kindâs feet to heal faster.
Ji Yueâs heart stirred, and she silently swallowed a gulp of saliva.
She thought about the hard-earned and arduous efforts sheâd made to lose weight recently, about the surprise or disappointment each time she stepped on the scale.
She had worked so hard to lose weight for so long-plus, her foot had gotten injured todayâit was time to treat herself well.
Besides, the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon had a vegetarian filling, and eating vegetarian wouldnât lead to weight gain.
âYes!â Ji Yue nodded fervently.
Jiang Feng and Sun Jikai went to the kitchen to get her the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon.
Sun Jikai was previously oblivious to what was happening around him, engrossed in preparing pigeons without knowing about Ji Yueâs heroic episode that morning.
âWhat happened to Ji Yueâs foot? Why is it so swollen?â Sun Jikai asked.
âShe rolled down the stairs today,â Jiang Feng said.
That serious? Shouldnât she eat some pork feet to recover?â Sun Jikai, too, thought of like curing like, but his idea of like wasnât the same as Jiang Fengâs, âServe that one on the right.â
Jiang Feng took a knife to slice open the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon on the right, picked up a spoon, and carried the plate over.
âPork feet? Clear-stewed pork feet?â Jiang Feng asked, âWe seem to have pork feet in the restaurant, but I donât really know how to cook them.â
âIâll do it. 1 know how to make Braised Pork Feet in Red Fermented Tofu,â Sun Jikai said.
âBraised Pork Feet in Red Fermented Tofu?â Jiang Feng remembered the dish- it seemed to be one of Jubao Buildingâs signature dishes, very famous, and one of the Sun Familyâs exclusive recipes.
âYouâre not afraid weâll steal the recipe by making it here in Taifeng Building?â Jiang Feng asked with a smile.
âYouâre welcome to try,â Sun Jikai replied with a smile.
He was very willing for them to learn from such an almost magnificent restaurant.
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Jiang Feng went to serve Ji Yue the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon, and Sun Jikai followed closely behind, eager to hear her evaluation of the dish.
On her first taste, Ji Yue pretended to scoop up only the vegetarian filling, but on her next, she couldnât wait to engulf a whole pigeon wing.
Through her actions, she proved that there are indeed people in the world who ate the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon for the pigeon as well.
âMmm, you guys did much better this time around!â Ji Yue praised.
âWhatâs better?â Sun Jikai asked.
âThe pigeonâs better. The Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon you made before only had edible vegetarian filling, with pigeon meat that was utterly tasteless. This time, not only is the vegetarian filling more delicious than before, but the pigeon meat is also tastier than previously,â Ji Yue smacked her lips, âBut itâs still not as delicious as the one I had at Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant. Although I only had a mouthful of vegetarian filling then, I ate all of the pigeon, and the meat was particularly flavorful and tender.â
After another bite of the vegetarian filling, Ji Yue looked up only to find Jiang Feng and Sun Jikai giving her strange looks.
Jiang Fengâs eyes conveyed mixed feelings of joy and sorrow, while Sun Jikaiâs eyes explicitly told Ji Yue that sadness outweighed happiness for him.
âWhy didnât you say so earlier?â they both exclaimed in unison, with mixed emotions of sorrow and joy.
âIf you had told us earlier, we wouldnât have gone through so many wrong turns,â Sun Jikai lamented.
âIf you had told us earlier, we wouldnât have wasted so many pigeons,â Jiang Feng bemoaned.
Ji Yue: ???
Although she didnât grasp what they meant, her instincts told her they seemed to be trying to pass the buck to her.
âSigh.â Jiang Feng let out a breath.
âSigh.â Sun Jikai did the same.
The two walked away, looking utterly dejected.
Ji Yue: ???
So was the blame being dumped on her after all?
???