Old Master Jiang has recently lost his appetite.
He hasn't eaten much for many consecutive days, and his family can see him growing thinner, which makes his children and grandchildren worried.
Old Master Jiang is an open-minded and easygoing person who gets along well with his children and grandchildren, which is rare among the upper class.
After he got older, his families took turns to invite him over and take care of him.
Knowing that the Old Master loves to eat, they always ask the chefs to cook delicacies for him.
All kinds of delicious food have been served without interruption, from local street snacks to popular restaurant dishes.
They even ordered dishes from other cities and had them air-couriered.
The family chef is hired with a high salary.
Recently, Old Master Jiang's appetite has been poor. But he forces himself to eat a few bites to avoid worrying his children too much.
He has never been a good actor, so his forced eating only makes his children and grandchildren more anxious.
They want to make sure Old Master Jiang eats well.
Old Master Jiang waved his hand and said, "Enough, I know you all are being filial."
"My father's generation didn't live long lives, and I've already lived past sixty. Don't worry, life and death are dictated by fate, and fortune is in the hands of Heaven."
His words made everyone present cry.
Older Son of Jiang Family said, "Dad, what are you saying?"
Second Son of Jiang Family said, "Don't say that."
Older Son's Wife said, "You'll definitely be able to live to 80 steadily."
Older Grandson said, "80 is too little, Grandpa can at least live to 120."
This childish remark made Old Master Jiang laugh, "If I live to 120, won't I be a monster?"
Little Kid said, "I don't care, I just want Grandpa to live to 120."
Old Master Jiang laughed and said, "Okay, I'll listen to the kid!" He forced himself to eat a few bites and then went out for a walk.
The two families of sons were left in the living room, sighing, "The chef won't work, we need to change another one."
Older Son's Wife said, "We've changed 10 chefs this month already, and the agency is starting to complain. If we keep this up, we might get blacklisted by the agency."
"Then we'll increase the salary, I'm sure..."
"Does Old Master have some hidden worries?" Younger Son's Wife suggested.
Older Son suddenly remembered, "Oh, I'll call our sister overseas now."
He then immediately called the overseas number.
It was daytime where they were, but it was midnight for the recipient.
Younger Sister Jiang picked up the phone, sounding sleepy with a nasal voice, "What's up?"
"You should come back, Dad misses you."
"Oh...okay..." There was silence on the other end before she agreed.
An hour later, she called back, "I've bought the plane ticket, Brother, now tell me what's going on?"
Younger Sister Jiang had obtained permanent residency overseas and hadn't been back for over 10 years.
Suddenly hearing that Dad missed her, she became alert.
Her brother didn't expect his call to wake her from sleep due to the time difference.
But since she had bought the ticket, he had to explain, "Dad hasn't been eating well these days. We've changed about 10 chefs at home."
As for Old Master Jiang's dejected words, he didn't mention them to his sister.
But his sister became anxious, "I'll go back and cook for Dad myself!" She started to cry over the phone.
Finally, her sister-in-law took over the call.
"I've told you before that your brother is unreliable and only says scary things. It's nothing serious, Sister, don't worry. We have everything under control here. Old Master Jiang might just be feeling a bit low."
"He definitely doesn't have any major health issues. We get annual check-ups!"
Hearing this, Younger Sister Jiang overseas finally felt relieved.
"Okay, Sister-in-law, I'm reassured with you there. I have to take a 12-hour flight back. Don't tell Dad, I want to surprise him."
"Of course we won't tell him. Get a first-class ticket, don't torture yourself. Your brother will reimburse you."
Her return ticket wouldn't be cheap, especially since it's last minute. And she had to transit once.
Sitting on a plane for so long would be quite uncomfortable.
After hanging up, Younger Son's Wife said, "Do you think it's because the Chef from Yuhui Restaurant resigned that's affecting Dad?"
"It's possible."
Old Master Jiang didn't have many hobbies. He had already handed over his business. His children and grandchildren were all doing well. In his old age, he enjoyed eating.
A few years ago, he still went restaurant-hopping with some old friends and was in good spirits.
But after having some bad experiences, he only frequented a few places.
His favorite was Yuhui Restaurant.
However, after the chef there left, Old Master Jiang said the food quality had dropped off a cliff.
Although they had eaten there once after that, and it didn't seem as exaggerated as Old Master Jiang described.
It had only been a month or two since that incident, but Old Master Jiang had lost his appetite and was visibly losing weight in his cheeks.
Older Son of Jiang Family said, "Let's find out where this chef went and invite him back. If he opened a restaurant elsewhere, we'll buy a property there and take Dad on a vacation."
Money wasn't the issue; the main thing was their one and only dad.
As they were discussing this, suddenly Nini, the older daughter of Second Son of Jiang Family, exclaimed from the sofa, "Mom, I got tickets to the flash sale at Starry Sky Kindergarten!"
Starry Sky Kindergarten is currently a popular place.
Second Son's Wife said, "Nini, I heard their buffet is particularly delicious. Why don't you give it to Grandpa? Mom will reward you with a Lego set."
Nini pouted, "But I got these tickets with great difficulty."
"Good girl, Grandma has a set of amber bracelets you like. Grandma will give them to you."
Only then did the little girl agree.
Old Master Jiang's loss of appetite has become the biggest issue in the family now.
Many people are truly worried about it.
Even the aunt living overseas is flying back from thousands of miles away.
As a younger generation, Nini also has to take care of her grandfather.
When Old Master Jiang returned, everyone suggested he go to the kindergarten to relax and try their buffet.
Old Master Jiang was furious, blowing his beard, "You're really treating me like a child! The old Jiang patriarch going to a kindergarten to compete with kids for food? I won't do such a thing!"
It did sound quite embarrassing.
Nini said, "But it's the food made by Chef Chen."
As soon as Old Master Jiang heard that, he immediately asked, "The Chef Chen from the private kitchen?"
He had eaten Chef Chen's food when he was young, but that was over ten or twenty years ago.
He felt that Chef Chen's culinary skills were indeed superb, just that his temper was a bit big.
But how could Old Master Jiang not believe that Chef Chen could handle the buffet?
His granddaughter Nini saw his attitude soften a bit: "That's right, and there's also Liu Chef, the head chef at Jiangbei Grand Restaurant!"
"I've heard about this!" Foodies had passed it around, saying that Liu Chef took in a useless apprentice, tsk tsk tsk, what a waste of Liu Chef's talent.
After Jiangbei Grand Restaurant fired Liu Chef, the hotel went out of business within a few months.
Many foodie friends of Old Master Jiang's joined him in cursing Liu Chef's apprentice: "He had only learned for a few years and thought he could take over the kitchen, not even considering if he had the skills for it."
