novelraw Chapter 350: This fried rice is a little bit heartbreaking
Chapter 350: This fried rice is a little bit heartbreaking
Chapter 350: This fried rice is a little bit heartbreaking
Early the next morning, Manager Li, dressed in a bespoke suit, appeared at the small courtyard gate. His polished leather shoes stood in stark contrast to the muddy ground beneath his feet.
Behind him, his assistant carried an exquisitely packaged gift box. The pair presented a sharp contrast to Teacher Yuan and Xiao Wu, who were in the courtyard studying the goose coop.
Manager Li merely offered Teacher Yuan and Xiao Wu a polite nod.
He then walked straight towards Jiang Ci, who had just stepped out of the house, and enthusiastically shook his hand. "Teacher Jiang Ci, I've finally met you."
"For a talent like you, occasionally coming to experience life like this is a good thing,"
"But staying in a place like this for too long will wear away your spirit and edge."
"I've come this time with the utmost sincerity, bringing a top-tier project tailor-made for you."
He launched into a grand description of the magnificent blueprint built upon top-tier resources and an astronomical price salary.
Jiang Ci, however, seemed not to hear him. He walked straight to a corner of the courtyard, crouched down, picked up a twig, and poked a large white goose's wing with great interest.
Annoyed, the goose stretched its neck, opened its beak, and let out a loud "Gwaa—!" at him.
Teacher Yuan and Xiao Wu stood to the side, watching Manager Li's smiling face stiffen slightly from being ignored, feeling somewhat awkward.
Approaching noon, Manager Li's patience finally ran out.
He walked over to Jiang Ci, who was still teasing the goose, and spoke directly.
"Teacher Jiang Ci, enough playing. I've already made arrangements. Let's go to the county to talk. We can eat while we discuss; it's more efficient."
He glanced at the simple kitchen and added with an unchanged smile,
"Jiang Ci, I truly appreciate your talent. But talent only has value when it's monetized."
"Look at Teacher Yuan. He's been a model of 'virtue and artistry' his whole life, but does the market still recognize him?"
"Don't waste your status ranking in a place like this. Once the heat fades, you won't even get a chance to reheat this leftover rice."
At these words, the expressions of both Teacher Yuan and Xiao Wu darkened.
Jiang Ci finally put down the twig, stood up, and patted the dust off his pant legs.
He turned around and looked at Manager Li, his tone flat.
"No need."
"I promised Teacher Yuan I'd cook lunch today."
This was also the final meal of the program recording. Jiang Ci walked into the kitchen,
deciding to end this journey with that legendary dish, and incidentally, see off this guest.
The kitchen only contained last night's leftover rice and a few free-range eggs freshly retrieved from the chicken coop.
Manager Li followed to the kitchen doorway, leaning against the frame.
He chuckled meaningfully. "Jiang Ci, you're planning to have everyone eat this? Your worth shouldn't be wasted on reheating leftovers."
Jiang Ci ignored him.
He heated the wok, poured in oil, and added the beaten eggs.
【Street Stall God: The Lonely Egg Fried Rice (Grandmaster Level)】, activate.
The golden egg mixture quickly solidified in the hot oil. He immediately poured in the cold rice. His wrist flew, the spatula clanging crisply against the iron wok.
Each grain of rice danced in the wok, evenly coated by the sizzling egg.
A peculiar aroma rose with the cooking smoke, spreading out.
The smell wasn't overpowering, but it plucked at a certain string buried deep in one's heart.
Manager Li, who had been boasting about the power of capital, stopped mid-sentence upon smelling it.
His shrewd expression froze, then became somewhat unfocused.
The fried rice was soon served on the table, a bowl for each person. It was golden and tempting, garnished with vibrant green scallions.
Teacher Yuan and Xiao Wu thanked him and picked up their spoons to eat.
Manager Li initially had no intention of touching his chopsticks, but that aroma was far too beguiling.
After a moment's hesitation, he also picked up a spoon and took a small, restrained bite.
As the rice entered his mouth, the rich wok breath and egg fragrance, mixed with an indescribable sense of familiarity, exploded on his palate.
It wasn't some rare delicacy, yet it unceremoniously pried open the floodgates of memory.
As Teacher Yuan ate, his movements gradually slowed.
He remembered the roasted sweet potato he bought on a winter street corner, after hitting walls everywhere when he first entered the industry.
He lowered his head. A drop of scalding tear silently dripped into his rice bowl.
Xiao Wu started by wolfing it down, but as he ate, he began to choke up.
Shoving rice into his mouth, he mumbled indistinctly, "Mom... I want to eat the braised pork you make..."
This wasn't the sharp sting of tragedy, but the complex flavor brewed from the forgotten bitterness and lingering sweetness intertwined within ordinary life.
The first to show an unusual reaction was Manager Li.
He only took one bite, and his face, usually so calculating, froze.
This taste... it's wrong.
This isn't the taste of rice and eggs.
This is the taste he had twenty years ago, when he first came to the capital. After drinking until his stomach bled trying to secure investment for his first project, he ate this at a stall on a winter street corner, lit by a single dim yellow bulb.
That quiet boss, seeing his pitiful state, silently gave him an extra fried egg.
As he ate back then, he told himself that once he made it big, he would definitely come back to repay him.
But twenty years have passed. That stall is gone, and that initial heart, that original intention, seems lost too.
"I'm really such a piece of trash..."
"I really want to go home... I miss my parents..."
This absurd scene stunned the program crew staff who had come after hearing the commotion.
They also received portions of the fried rice. Thus, everyone in the courtyard was crying while eating, and eating while laughing.
A set assistant, who had just been chased by a goose earlier, cried so hard that snot ran into his bowl, yet he stubbornly scraped the last grain of rice into his mouth.
This bowl of rice became the most brilliant moment of the entire program.
After the meal, Manager Li, with red-rimmed eyes, roughly wiped his face with a tissue handed by his assistant.
He stood up and walked over to Jiang Ci. The greed that had looked upon a cash cow had faded from his face, replaced by a complex reverence.
He took the multi-million dollar contract from his assistant's hands. He did not hand it to Jiang Ci.
Instead, in front of everyone, he slowly, deliberately, placed it back into his briefcase.
Manager Li bowed deeply to Jiang Ci.
"I understand."
"Teacher Jiang Ci, my apologies for disturbing you."
After saying this, he left with his assistant, somewhat disheveled, yet with utmost sincerity.
After seeing off Manager Li, the program recording also neared its end.
Just as everyone was packing their luggage and bidding each other reluctant farewells, Jiang Ci's phone rang.
It was Lin Wan.
There was a full three seconds of silence on the other end before Lin Wan's voice, caught between laughter and tears, came through.
"Jiang Ci... you ancestor... tell me, what did you do to that program crew?"
"The entire internet is now calling you the 'All-Round Film Emperor for Weddings and Funerals'!"
Lin Wan took a deep breath on the other end.
Jiang Ci, on his end, was staring intently at the two large white geese that the Village Chief had insisted on giving him.
He asked seriously, "Sister Wan, can I take these two geese with me? The program crew said they count as part of the schedule fee."
There was a five-second silence on the phone, followed by Lin Wan's scream, teetering on the edge of collapse.
"Who cares about your geese! What's even more outrageous is! The National Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Association just contacted me, asking you! If you're interested..."
"In being a 'Suona Horn Promotion Ambassador'?! Are you planning to debut holding your suona horn and your geese?!"
Jiang Ci silently moved the phone a bit farther from his ear. Looking at the two large white geese in front of him,
who were stretching their necks trying to peck at his pant legs, he fell into deep thought.