The Game of Life

Translator: 549690339

The plating skills of the other three weren’t as good as Han Yigu’s, but kitchen apprentice cooks didn’t have particularly high requirements for plating. What mattered most was speed. Besides Sang Ming, the mahjong expert, whom Jiang Feng found difficult to decide about, the other four were all qualified.

Jiang Feng glanced at the stove interview being conducted by the two Sirs. Sun Jikai hadn’t started yet, and the ones currently cooking were two young men in their twenties. One of them clearly wasn’t up to par, with incorrect flipping techniques, making one wonder which chef had taught him.

Jiang Feng walked over for a closer look. They were cooking Kung Pao chicken. The ingredients for Kung Pao chicken had been cut at the chopping board interview. The two Sirs were managing both ends, working simultaneously.

To Jiang Feng’s surprise, the one chopping now was a female cook. Among the six chefs applying for pastry, four were women, but among the dozen or so chefs applying for chopping and stove work, there was only this one female chef.

“What are you doing over here?” Jiang Weiguo asked.

“Waiting for your finished dish so I can take it to my side for plating.” Jiang Feng said as he made efficient use of every resource around him, then turned to go back and notify the five chefs waiting on the other side.

“They’re frying Kung Pao chicken at the stove. Just like before, one plate per person, 40 seconds each.” Jiang Feng picked up a stopwatch from the table. Although the job of a kitchen apprentice cook is called plating, in reality, they have to do everything: transferring ingredients, pre-processing, and basically all sorts of miscellaneous tasks in the kitchen. Moreover, the pay is low, and it’s hard to learn anything.

A kitchen apprentice cook is like a brick, moved wherever needed. The key is to be fast.

Restaurants always have a shortage of kitchen apprentice cooks, which is why some unscrupulous restaurants post part-time job ads in university groups, offering 10 to 20 yuan per hour, deceiving people for as long as they can, especially during holidays, swindling whoever they can.

The same goes for waiters.

Restaurants like Taifeng Building, offering such high wages with commissions for kitchen apprentice cooks and waiters, are rare to find throughout Beiping.

Soon, the Kung Pao chicken from the stove was ready. Jiang Feng timed Han Yigu and Sang Ming with the stopwatch; both moved quickly and efficiently.

After 40 seconds—

Han Yigu’s plating was faultless, above-average, while Sang Ming’s wasn’t ugly, but it didn’t quite look like Kung Pao chicken.

It was circular with layers of colors, aesthetically pleasing, and yet it invoked a familiar feeling, as though it wasn’t just any circle, but a well-known one.

“What was your thought process for the plating?” Jiang Feng couldn t comprehend Sang Ming’s train of thought.

“A pie,” said Sang Ming.

Jiang Feng: ???

Young man, you’re on the wrong set; the mahjong prodigy should be next door. If that doesn’t work, there’s always the girl mahjong genius on the other side of that. You could try cross-dressing.

Jiang Feng took the two plates of Kung Pao chicken to Sir to taste, and everyone was stunned by Sang Ming’s exquisite plating.

“This…” Jiang Weiguo and Jiang Weiming had been in the kitchen for decades and had never seen Kung Pao chicken like this before.

It was fine when he carried it over, but it seemed to have turned into a different dish when it came back.

“Cough cough, one person had quite an imaginative plating,” said Jiang Feng. Jiang Weiguo and Jiang Weiming each took a pair of chopsticks and tasted the two plates of Kung Pao chicken in front of them. They glanced at each other and both looked helpless.

“Zhang Weiyu,” Jiang Weiming smiled at one of the young men wearing glasses, “would you like to try the chopping board?”

“Ah?” Zhang Weiyu was somewhat startled, not expecting that Jiang Weiming would make such a suggestion, “Yes… yes, sure!”

The applicant at the chopping board passed the knife to Zhang Weiyu, who took the cleaver, wiggled his fingers, and began chopping.

Slicing pork, dicing carrots, fast speed, stable knife skills, accurate execution, his basic skills were very solid and practiced.

Jiang Weiming watched with a hint of a smile in his eyes.

“Not bad,” said Jiang Weiguo.

The stove interview was momentarily interrupted. Oblivious that Jiang Weiming had taken an interest in him, Zhang Weiyu sat to the side, mumbling to himself, uncertain what he was muttering about.

The interview continued; two new chefs began cooking Kung Pao chicken. As an examination dish for chef grading, Kung Pao chicken was essential for every professional chef to master, making it the perfect dish for an interview. “That…” Zhang Weiyu approached Jiang Feng with an awkward smile, “what s the salary like for the chopping board position?”

Jiang Feng recalled for a moment and said, “The base salary was 8500 plus commission two months ago, and after two months we could gradually consider a raise.”

“What’s commission?” Zhang Weiyu asked.

“The more you chop, the more commission you get. You can think of it as a bonus,” Jiang Feng said, “The more you work, the more you earn; the less you work, the less you get.”

“That’s good, that’s good!” Zhang Weiyu let out a sigh of relief and went back to his seat.

Jiang Feng continued to wait for his food, when suddenly he felt the urge to go to the bathroom—it was one of the three urgent needs that couldn’t be held back, and he needed to take care of it.

“Sang Ming.” Jiang Feng walked over to Sang Ming, handing him the stopwatch, “I need to step out for a bit. If the food is ready on that side, help me stop the timer.”

“Okay!” Sang Ming said earnestly.

Xia Mushi¹ s private restaurant was quite spacious and the decor was very serene. After coming out of the bathroom, Jiang Feng accidentally walked into the yard where the server interviews were taking place. Wang Xiuhan and several of Jiang Feng’s aunts-a total of five lady bosses-were presiding over the interviews, and anyone trying to sneak through would not escape their discerning eyes.

“Feng, what are you doing here?” his aunt spotted Jiang Feng immediately, “You took a wrong turn, didn’t you? Right, someone else took a wrong turn earlier; they were supposed to go to your side for an interview. Did they make it?”

“Was it an older person?” Jiang Feng asked, recalling Jiang Shoucheng had mentioned it, but the person hadn’t yet appeared.

“Should be a few years older than me,” his aunt considered, “Still okay, quite young.”

Jiang Feng:…

“I’ll go lookoutside.” Jiang Feng said.

He probably got lost and couldn’t find the right place. If he accidentally walked out, it would be even harder to find his way back, as Xia Mushi s private restaurant had a side door.

No sooner had Jiang Feng left the yard to look for the person than the person showed up on his own.

“Young man, that back… eh, Feng? Is that you, Feng?” Jiang Weisheng, who had traveled all the way from Shu to Beiping for the interview, was delightfully surprised.

Jiang Feng was stunned.

“You’re here for an interview too? What a coincidence! What position are you interviewing for? How’s my master been lately? He hasn’t returned to Shu recently, and we haven’t spoken on the phone for almost two weeks. Oh well, I should give him a call tonight,” Jiang Weisheng babbled excitedly, thrilled to meet an old friend in a foreign place.

Jiang Feng:…

No need to make a call now. You’ll see your master in a moment.

“Pretty much,” Jiang Feng replied, “I’ll take you to the kitchen, Mr. Jiang. What position are you applying for?”

By age, Jiang Feng should call Jiang Weisheng Grandpa, but by seniority, it should be Uncle. In order not to confuse relationships, Jiang Feng thought it was better to address him as Uncle.

“Me? I can do anything. It would be best if they need me at the stove, otherwise I can work at the chopping board. If that’s not possible, the sink, and if not the sink, then as a kitchen apprentice cook, or even a learning apprentice,” Jiang Weisheng cheerfully said, “Feng, you must seize the opportunity. I’ve inquired about it, and this Taifeng Building is a major restaurant, an old one that’s been around since the Republic era. Great location, spacious, and I’ve heard the owner behind it is wealthy and well-connected. Once it opens, business will surely boom. Such opportunities to join a major restaurant at its opening are rare. These big restaurants don’t recruit often, we must grab the chance, or we’ll lose it!”

Jiang Feng: ???

Wealthy and well-connected, and me being the person in question, how come I don’t know I am that impressive?

“Mr. Jiang, coming all the way here, where is Mrs. Jiang?” Jiang Feng asked, as Jiang Weisheng was, after all, over sixty years old. How could his family agree to let him do such a high-intensity job in a hotel kitchen?

Especially traveling from Shu to Beiping, Jiang Feng even started to suspect that Jiang Weisheng had sneaked out.

“Cough, well, Feng, you mustn’t tell Granduncle Weiming about this. I ran away without telling my son and daughter-in-law. I was originally planning to save up some retirement funds to start my own business, but my son found out,” Jiang Weisheng said, looking a bit sheepish, “I arrived last week, almost missed the recruitment.”

Jiang Feng:…

So, you’re actually a runaway at the grand old age of over sixty???

“You really mustn’t tell Granduncle Weiming!” Jiang Weisheng reiterated.

Jiang Feng:…

Silently pushing open the back door of the kitchen, Jiang Feng stepped aside to let Jiang Weisheng go in first and followed behind.

“Um, Mr. Jiang, it seems a bit late for that. You should talk to Granduncle Weiming yourself.”