The Game of Life

Early the next morning, Wang Hao headed to the Taifeng Building with his most valuable possession at the moment—a smartphone—guided by Baidu Maps. His Alipay account held the two hundred yuan he had borrowed from his second father (note ①) the day before, and although it was reduced to a little over one hundred after a long and lavish dinner, Wang Hao was unafraid.

Because starting today, he was to be looked after by his big father (same note①)!

If it wasn’t for the fact that the Taifeng Building didn’t do breakfast business, Wang Hao even had the urge to replicate his high school senior year mornings—waking at five to ride his bike to Taifeng Building.

Not having seen Mr. Jiang for a few months, Wang Hao wondered whether his cooking skills had improved.

Sitting on the subway, which was not too crowded since it wasn’t quite rush hour yet, Wang Hao had his eyes fixed on the Baidu Map navigation, looking forward to his destination and worrying that he might miss his stop if he wasn’t careful.

As for why it was Baidu Maps and not Gaode Maps, ever since Wang Hao had been directed to go straight into a river by Gaode Maps, the app had vanished from his phone for good.

Under the guidance of Baidu Maps, Wang Hao did not end up in the river but did leave early and arrive late—he set out at seven and didn’t get there until ten.

The outcome was always good, at least he had arrived.

Standing at the entrance of the retro, grand Taifeng Building, a standalone structure in the bustling commercial district that seemed to constantly emit an aroma of ‘I’m very rich,’ Wang Hao hesitated.

Feng must be the successor of a legendary hidden culinary family—no, a hidden chef family! His previous obscurity was because he hadn’t yet passed the family’s trials, and now that he had, he was surely back to inherit the family business. In the future, Feng would definitely dominate the culinary world, just waiting for him to master the legendary Jiang’s Star Blade Skill, and he would be able to…

Hold on, how could the successor of a mighty hidden chef family only inherit a single restaurant?

Wang Hao calmed down and analyzed for a while, then quickly found a satisfactory explanation.

Certainly, Feng hadn’t completely passed the family trials. Yes, that must be it. Since Feng hadn’t won the championship in the Good Taste culinary competition, he hadn’t passed the trial, and Taifeng Building was the second trial given by his family. Compared to the first one, the second would definitely be harder—perhaps to make Taifeng Building the number one restaurant in Beiping or something of the sort.

Just thinking about it made Wang Hao feel the burden on his shoulders was incredibly heavy.

He, Wang Hao, as Feng’s close friend and only roommate, should naturally shoulder the responsibility to help Feng through this difficulty without hesitation.

Wang Hao straightened his chest and walked into the Taifeng Building.

Ji Yue, looking lively and spirited after a night’s rest and in her stiletto heels navigating through the lobby, caught sight of Wang Hao at first glance.

Wang Hao was her old coworker—back at the Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant, Wang Hao frequently came to help out, excelling at cleaning and serving dishes, and when necessary, he could even help wash vegetables in the kitchen. He could be considered a capable right-hand man.

Jiang Feng had told Ji Yue the night before that Wang Hao was coming back to help today, so Ji Yue was wondering if he had changed his mind to tour around Beiping, seizing the time to have fun instead of coming. Turns out, Wang Hao did come after all.

“Wang Hao!” Ji Yue ran towards him in her heels, “You finally came; I’ve been waiting for a while.”

“I’m not familiar with the route, which caused me a long delay—otherwise, I’d have arrived much earlier.” Ji Yue’s reaction further confirmed Wang Hao’s suspicions—he knew how important he was to Feng!

“I’ll go get your uniform, wait here a sec.” Ji Yue went to fetch the uniform she had already prepared for Wang Hao from the front desk and handed it to him, saying, “It’s good that you’re here. The male waiter in Room 17 on the second floor fell down the stairs last night while playing with his phone and he’s still in the hospital. We were planning to transfer a waiter from the first floor, but now you’re here.”

Wang Hao: ???

This storyline was a bit different from what he had imagined.

“Why not transfer from the first floor?” Wang Hao asked.

“It’s not very convenient,” Ji Yue said in a hushed voice. “Last week, Mrs. Wang recruited over a dozen hospitality management interns from a university; they all have good credentials but a bit of an ego, looking down on the lobby positions and scrambling for the upstairs private rooms. Even if they are qualified, we can’t let interns take on the private room assignments, especially now during the national holiday when it’s incredibly busy. It’s better to avoid stirring up trouble—if we were to transfer someone directly from the lobby, who knows what might happen. Just help out for a few days, the private room is easy to handle. You just need to be in charge of serving dishes at the door; there’ll be specific waiters to deliver dishes to the window. If there’s any issue, just call me.”

Wang Hao felt that he had become slightly more important once again.

Wang Hao took the uniform to the changing room and got dressed. The newly appointed temporary waiter for Taifeng Building’s second-floor Room 17, Wang Hao, officially started his shift. ℞ä𝐍𝔬BΕṨ

The temporary worker, Wang Hao, was a bit nervous.

He had experience being a waiter. As someone who was chronically short of money, Wang Hao often worked part-time during his summer and winter breaks to earn some pocket money. When he couldn’t find a tutoring job, he would take on odd jobs as a waiter at some Alan City hotels for a day or two, being paid daily, earning more than ten yuan an hour and getting two meals for carrying plates in the lobby.

It was his first time being a box room attendant.

All thanks to Feng’s blessing!

Wang Hao exclaimed.

After a moment of reflection, Wang Hao suddenly realized, wait a minute, Feng seemed to only take care of the meals and not the money.

Wang Hao decided to eat a bit more at lunch to make up for the money squeezed out of him by the capitalist Jiang Feng.

At that moment, the capitalist Jiang Feng was closely observing the fire control for the Li Hongzhang hodgepodge in the kitchen.

With Jianguo’s help, Jiang Feng’s day was much easier, and he even managed to find occasional opportunities to slack off and compete with his biological father, Jiang Jiankang, for the right to claim the slacking off sanctuary. If it weren’t for the Li Hongzhang hodgepodge being almost ready, Jiang Feng felt he could slack off a bit longer.

Ji Xia was next to Jiang Feng, observing the Li Hongzhang hodgepodge with him.

After being fed by the Jiang Family’s food for a while, Ji Xia’s palate had also become a bit spoiled. With broader horizons and more exposure, she no longer solely pursued meat, but started a higher level of pursuit.

Ji Xia now started pursuing delicious meat.

For instance, the Li Hongzhang hodgepodge.

Every day Ji Xia could see Jiang Feng making 6 portions of sweet and sour yam and 3 portions of pure meat dumplings as well as many other dishes. Even pickled vegetable dumplings, Jiang Feng could sometimes make several portions in a day, yet there would only be one portion of Li Hongzhang hodgepodge made, and sometimes not even that.

Ji Xia really didn’t understand, the Li Hongzhang hodgepodge was so good, ample in portion and good-looking, full of vegetables and meat that seemed very healthy at a glance, and was stewed in chicken soup that smelled delicious. How could such a great dish be overlooked by customers?

The master was the same, making such a great dish only once a day. If it was a matter of being troublesome, the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon and the orange-stuffed crab were much more difficult than the Li Hongzhang hodgepodge, yet the master still made many portions of those each day, didn’t he?

Ji Xia stared at the Li Hongzhang hodgepodge in front of her, her eyes filled with desire to eat.

It must be delicious!

“Xiaxia, what time did the customer who reserved the Li Hongzhang hodgepodge specify?” Jiang Feng asked.

“Half past eleven,” Ji Xia replied.

“The time is about right,” Jiang Feng said as he turned off the heat and began plating.

He taught while plating.

“Xiaxia, look, there aren’t any fixed requirements for plating this dish; it’s all based on our feeling. Take this Li Hongzhang hodgepodge, for example, since the ingredients have different colors, if you arrange them according to color like I do, layer by layer, circle by circle, it will have a sense of hierarchy when overturned. The colors should progress in order, similar to a gradient. Otherwise, it will look abrupt to the diner,” Jiang Feng explained while he worked.

Ji Xia watched from the side, her mouth watering internally.

Arranging the ingredients was a meticulous task, requiring consideration of not just colors but also shapes and sizes of the ingredients. Jiang Feng layered them slowly, like the petals of a rose blooming layer by layer, each layer more captivating than the last.

It took Jiang Feng almost ten minutes to arrange the food before he topped it with the chopped ingredients, poured on the original broth, and placed it into the steamer.

“Many dishes, especially the big ones, require multiple and even repeated processes to be properly flavored. So, when cooking, you have to be patient and cannot be annoyed by the trouble it might take. A single misstep could ruin the flavor of the entire dish. Good food is worth the wait. To become a good chef, whether Red Chef or White Chef, but especially White Chef, you must first have patience,” Jiang Feng said.

Ji Xia nodded on the side, showing she had taken note.

“Steam this for another ten minutes, and it should be about ready to come out. You watch it from here, see if you can notice anything. I need to go take care of something else,” Jiang Feng said, then he went off to deal with the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon.

Ji Xia stood by the pot. The lid covered everything, so she couldn’t see much, but she could definitely smell it.

This dish must be delicious!

The closer she got to its aroma, the more delicious it seemed, the chicken soup particularly fragrant!

Ten minutes later, the Li Hongzhang hodgepodge was ready.

Jiang Feng finished his last plating, then poured over Li Hongzhang’s hodgepodge the thickened sauce prepared with rice broth and original broth, and finally drizzled it with cooked lard, instantly making the dish so aromatic that even within the kitchen it was very eye-catching.

Who could have imagined that such a dish, brimming with color, fragrance, and flavor, would move everyone who tasted it to tears?

“Xiaxia, could you go check if the guests in Room 17 have arrived?” Jiang Feng said. The dishes were ready earlier than expected—it was only 11:17 am, and Jiang Feng worried that the guests had not yet arrived.

Ji Xia quickly went to inquire.

Within two minutes, Ji Xia came back: “Master, they’ve arrived, and it seems quite a few people have come. I’ve already had Sister Hui to ask if we can serve the food.”

In Room 17, 996 was a bit nervous.

He had a strong feeling that something was off about these people.

They had agreed to meet at 11:30 am. In a time when being flaky was common, it was already quite extraordinary to not be late, but not only were these people punctual, they had all arrived so early.

He was actually the last to arrive!

Bear in mind, he had arrived at 11:15 am!

And he had arrived early!

996 nervously observed his surroundings.

Everyone looked exhausted—just like him, corporate drones who were probably also suffering from the 996 work schedule, and maybe even worse off. Despite this, they were all excited in an unusual way, not like the excitement of having a day off or getting a raise, more like the thrill of scolding a superior or beating up a customer.

996 glanced at the waitress at the door again.

She too was different.

The other servers at the restaurant were either young and beautiful ladies or handsome young men, and even the less stunning ones provided a pleasing view at a glance.

Only this one seemed out of place, with her average looks, a bit of weight, and slightly dark complexion, not fitting in with the other servers at this establishment.

996 thought about a lot of things.

He remembered news stories he’d seen before.

A man meets up with someone from the internet he’s never met before, and the next day, is found dead in the wilderness.

A man meets up with someone from the internet he’s never met before, and the next day, discovers he’s missing a kidney.

A man meets up with someone from the internet he’s never met before, and is never heard from again.

996 wanted to leave.

Just as he was about to stand up and say, “Ah, my boss just messaged me to fix a bug, I have to work overtime. Sorry guys, I’ll have to leave first,” the door opened.

A young, beautiful waitress came in and asked, “Sorry to disturb, but is it possible to serve the dishes now? The Li Hongzhang hodgepodge is ready in the kitchen.”

“Serve the dishes,” the organizer of the gathering, Red Chef, said.

996 was horrified to find everyone in the room buzzing with excitement.

The private room, to him, no longer held any difference from a scene in a horror movie. Even the bright lights seemed dim in his eyes, the guests’ use of their phones felt like a sign, and every time the waitress at the door lifted her head, it was like a secret signal.

996, trembling, picked up his phone, intending to interrogate his colleagues about just who were these people in the group.

The dishes were served.

Wang Hao, who had been daydreaming by the door concocting marketing copy, suddenly sprang to life and went to collect the dishes, and boy, they were heavy.

It truly lived up to being a dish from Mr. Jiang’s establishment.

996 looked at the dish Wang Hao was holding.

Lifting the lid.

996 was stunned.

It looked good.

And it smelled nice.

One look, one sniff, and he knew it was delicious.

996, accustomed to surviving on cafeteria food below his company’s building, had never tasted such delicious pigeon eggs.

Even though he didn’t know they were pigeon eggs, it didn’t stop him from thinking they tasted great.

Better than the tea eggs his grandmother used to make!

Just as 996 was about to reach for a second helping, tears streamed down his face.

Not from sadness, but from release.

Crying, yet the man felt extremely relieved as if all the pent-up misery accumulated over the years was suddenly being expelled through his tears.

The bitterness of overtime, coding, fixing bugs, taking blame for bugs he didn’t write because he took a leave of absence, not having anyone to pass the buck to when clients come knocking after a colleague leaves.

All negative emotions left his body with the tears at that moment.

Crying, yet he felt happy.

An unprecedented sense of relief.

He almost wanted to cry more, to experience this intense, cathartic release a few more times.

The entire private room was filled with crying.

Everyone cried openly and unabashedly, tears streaming down their faces. The single box of tissues on the dining table was no longer sufficient; the seasoned diners all had their own tissues while 996, new to the scene, had to borrow from someone next to him.

Wang Hao was stunned.

Were these people… mad?

Was Feng’s family restaurant this stirring?

.

Note①: The use of “Big Daddy” is taken from Chapter 428: by bookfriend 2019082193725824.

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