Chapter 191: The Complex Situation
“Are you hungry? Since you want to see my cooking skills, I’ll make a fool of myself.” Su Jie, without lingering, walked directly to the refrigerator in the kitchen.
He opened the refrigerator and glanced inside.
Within seconds, he analyzed everything in his mind: what ingredients and seasonings were inside.
What dishes should he make based on the ingredients? What ingredient combinations are best for nutritional balance? How to cook the dishes to maximize their color, aroma, and flavor? How to make them more appetizing?
Within half a minute, Su Jie had an idea. His cooking process appeared clearly in his mind—rhythm, procedure, how to operate—as seamlessly as a computer.
Swish, swish, swish…
Zhang Manman watched as Su Jie took a piece of fresh at from the refrigerator and sliced ????it into thin slices with incredible skill. The cuts were invisible to the naked eye, yet in the blink of an eye, it seed as if dozens of slices had been made.
Then a series of steps began: washing vegetables, cooking rice, preparing the dishes, frying, stewing, and deep-frying.
Watching him work, there was an exquisite sense of artistry. Every movent was fluid and seamless, like a pre-programd workflow, a complete assembly line operation.
Yet, this assembly line work didn’t feel monotonous; instead, it felt as natural as flowing water.
Like a stream or spring, flowing day and night along a fixed path, yet without any chanical feel.
Zhang Manman, watching Su Jie cook, gradually understood the changes in Su Jie after his advancent to the “Living Dead” realm.
The previous Su Jie, while also moving without pause, was like a chanized factory, lifeless. The current Su Jie, like the rising and setting sun, though rhythmic, felt perfectly natural.
Both were unchanging, one chanical, the other natural.
The difference in their levels was imdiately apparent.
The previous Su Jie was strictly self-disciplined, but lacked humanity.
The current Su Jie, while still strictly self-disciplined, was lively and flexible.
Within an hour, a table laden with dishes appeared before Zhang Manman, the aroma wafting through the air, seemingly reaching her very soul and whetting her appetite.
“So much food?” Zhang Manman asked. “I can’t possibly finish it all.”
“Weren’t you waiting for soone? If I’m not mistaken, soone should be arriving, and quite a few at that. Just enough for everyone,” Su Jie said.
“How did you know? I didn’t tell you,” Zhang Manman asked with a slight smile.
“I could tell from your face,” Su Jie said half-jokingly.
Sure enough, just as he finished speaking, the doorbell rang.
“I’ll open the door.” Zhang Manman opened the door, and there stood five young n and won.
“You’ve all arrived? Perfect timing, the food’s ready. Co and eat with us, and we can discuss the family annual eting while we eat,” Zhang Manman greeted them warmly. Clearly, these were her close relatives.
Su Jie had long known that the Zhang family, as a large clan with five generations living under one roof, had far more descendants than the Xu family.
Ultimately, the Xu family’s developnt in China was affected by the birth control policy; their younger generation, though smaller, was already quite complex, let alone the Zhang family.
The Zhang family’s system was much larger than the Xu family’s, especially its younger generation, which was even more intricate.
The Xu family’s attempt to form a marriage alliance with the Zhang family had been fraught with complications.
While the Xu family’s strength was considerable in Su Jie’s eyes, it paled in comparison to the Zhang family’s.
With so many people, family resources were insufficient, and coupled with boundless desires, various factions naturally erged, vying for more resources—this was a normal phenonon.
Internal family struggles have always been brutal; even brothers turning against each other can be more ruthless than enemies.
Su Jie had no intention of getting involved in the Zhang family’s infighting, but for his sister’s safety, he had no choice but to make an exception and drag himself into the turmoil.
“Wow! It slls delicious!” Five young n and won walked in. One of the girls exclaid in surprise. Then, all five noticed Su Jie, their eyes filled with doubt and inquiry.
“This is Su Jie, my business partner,” Zhang Manman began to introduce them. “This is my cousin Zhang Jia, my cousin Zhang Yun, my cousin Zhang Kaiye, my cousin Kong Guan, and my cousin Yuan Hui.”
Su Jie nodded and invited everyone to eat.
“Your cooking is truly superb! It definitely wasn’t Sister Manman who made this; it must be this Brother Su Jie. Are you perhaps from a family of master chefs? I think even Chef Bao from Yonghua Restaurant isn’t as skilled as you.”
The group sat down to eat. As the food entered their mouths, expressions of utter astonishnt appeared on their faces, and they even chewed much faster, almost losing their composure.
Zhang Kaiye couldn’t help but ask.
“I just learned a bit of ho cooking,” Su Jie observed. He could tell that Zhang Kaiye was the strongest among them, possessing a wild, untad air. He clearly had military experience, but not as a regular soldier; rather, he was more like a rcenary or a mber of a foreign legion.
Of the five, the other two n and two won showed Zhang Manman great respect, but Zhang Kaiye seed to have other intentions.
In other words, this small clique within the family wasn’t entirely subservient to Zhang Manman.
Su Jie now judged people with uncanny insight, discerning their worth and character at a glance, much like Jiu Fanggao judging horses—regardless of gender or color, focusing solely on inner spirit and temperant.
“Manman, you handled that order from the Xu family brilliantly. You persuaded the warlord Awasi without shedding a drop of blood and even opened up trade routes. The older generation in the family speaks very highly of you.” Zhang Kaiye nodded. “This brother’s cooking is quite good. Want to partner with you to open a restaurant?”
“Cousin, you really misjudged him this ti,” Zhang Manman laughed. “He’s not a master chef I hired. He’s going to attend the family conference to gain more business share and authority. Do you want to team up with ?”
“Nonsense,” Zhang Kaiye put down his chopsticks, his expression displeased. “Outsiders aren’t allowed to attend the family annual eting. Kong Guan and Yuan Hui aren’t surnad Zhang, so they can only wait outside the ancestral hall. Although your father is the head of the family, doing things this way will only make you a target of public criticism.”
“Don’t worry about this matter. I’ll handle the older generation in the family. Besides, even if they know I’ve invited such a master, they won’t say much. For example, I know that our Zhang family’s annual eting seems to have invited so important figures from the Mao family. The rules have already been broken; are we just going to stand by and wait to suffer?” Zhang Manman’s few words made Su Jie sense that this Zhang family’s annual eting was fraught with tension and hidden danger.
“The Mao family is a powerful force that has crossed the river; this is different.” Zhang Kaiye suddenly understood the aning behind Zhang Manman’s words: “A master?”
He looked sharply at Su Jie, but couldn’t see any masterly aura in this person.
“Cousin, you can try if you don’t believe ,” Zhang Manman said with a smile, intentionally using Su Jie to intimidate her small group. “I know you spent a long ti in the honey badger training camp and participated in several rcenary battles, accumulating a lot of practical experience, but compared to my friend, you’re still far behind.”
“Is that so?” Zhang Kaiye smiled dismissively. Suddenly, he moved, pulled out a gun, and pointed it at Su Jie. “I rember a master in a movie who, to show off his martial arts skills, shot himself in the head, then cocked the bullet, saying that speed is the only way to break through all martial arts. I wonder if you can do that? In Arica, everyone has a gun. No matter how good your kung fu is, it’s not as good as your marksmanship, don’t you think?”
“That makes so sense.” Su Jie wasn’t afraid at all, nor was he worried about the gun going off accidentally. Besides, he had already seen that the safety was off, only… With a flick of his wrist, the bullet fired instantly. He smiled and spoke eloquently: “In ancient martial arts, archery and horsemanship were first, concealed weapons second, spears and staffs third, swords and shields fourth, and finally, hand-to-hand combat. Hand-to-hand combat was rely a street perforr’s art. Your gun-drawing speed is fast, your hand is perfectly steady; you’ve received rigorous shooting training and have real combat experience, which is quite rare.”
“Interesting.” Zhang Kaiye still pointed the gun at Su Jie: “To remain calm even with a gun pointed at you shows first-rate ntal fortitude, but that’s still useless. What will you do when I fire?”
“Sure.” Su Jie nodded: “You can try firing. No problem. If you kill , it’s because I’m not skilled enough. I definitely won’t bla you.”
“Manman, is this appropriate?” Zhang Jia frowned, but she wasn’t alard. As expected of soone from the Zhang family, even the younger generation of girls seed accustod to so fighting and killing.
“It’s nothing.” Zhang Manman wasn’t bothered. She knew Su Jie’s strength and seed very confident: “Cousin, I know your marksmanship is unparalleled, you have the five-star combo technique. Five people, standing in different positions, simultaneously throw small balls in their hands, and you fire five shots in a row, all exploding in mid-air, not to ntion how people can dodge.”
“Are you reminding him of my special skill, making him wary?” Zhang Kaiye chuckled: “Manman, I know you’ve always wanted that important position in the family, but you’re a girl, and once you get married, you won’t belong to the Zhang family anymore…Bringing outside reinforcents wouldn’t really help much. How about you help
seize that position? My biggest threats right now are Zhang Kaiyu, Zhang Kaiyuan, Zhang Kailin, Zhang Kaiqian, and your brother Zhang Kaitai—five people in total. But if you help , my chances of success will be much higher if you express your support at the family annual eting. That way, you can still exercise power. Why bother fighting for it?”
“Cousin, what era are we living in? Playing these gas? Even if it were my brother, I wouldn’t support him. Let alone you!” Zhang Manman completely ignored Zhang Kaiye’s offer.
“How about this, let’s make a bet,” Zhang Kaiye said. “If I hit this ‘expert’ you brought, you’ll support
at the family eting, okay? Conversely, if I miss, I’ll support you. How about it? Also, don’t worry, my marksmanship is excellent. At most, I’ll hit non-lethal areas. He’ll only need a month or two of rest to recover.”
“Okay.” Su Jie nodded, agreeing without waiting for Zhang Manman’s opinion.
Swish! His outstretched finger moved on the trigger!
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