The Game of Life

Everyone’s first reaction to this dish was that it was beautiful.

Really beautiful!

Layer upon layer, rich in color, just like a landscape painting.

The two Sirs were also surprised; they had not expected Jiang Feng to be so competent in his presentation, and they began sampling the dish with avid interest.

The next second, the kitchen of Taifeng Building was awash with tears again.

Sun Jikai, who couldn’t resist sampling it with his chopsticks, also cried, the whole kitchen resonated with sobbing, tears intermingled, each person more miserable than the last.

“Third… third brother, why are you too…” Jiang Weiguo felt as if the whole world had changed the moment he put down his chopsticks, even Jiang Weiming was crying, though silently, his tears were tumultuous.

Jiang Weiming had hidden too many negative emotions over the years, disappointment in his eldest son, guilt towards his youngest, including his current hopes for Jiang Feng. Although he always appeared cheerful, never prone to anger, the burden in his heart grew heavier each day.

From the moment the food touched his tongue, he had an impulse to indulge in a robust cry, to vent out all the pressures within his heart.

He did just that, and even though he was crying, he felt much better.

Some weren’t just crying, they were also talking.

Sang Ming, pulling Han Yigu along and crying, said, “Look at my sister, she’s dark, short, not clever, not diligent, can’t even play mahjong, not pretty and our family has no money. Apart from being good at studying, she has no merits. What will she do if she doesn’t get into a good university?”

Han Yigu cried even harder, “Brother, why do I feel like you’re insulting me? I’m not even good at studying.”

The two hugged their heads and wept together.

Zhang Weiyu, who was on the side eating melon seeds, was dumbfounded. He nudged the person next to him and asked, “Is the dish that bad?”

Why is everyone crying even harder than when they ate wontons before?

“It’s not bad, actually quite delicious, just feel like crying,” the person replied, and then continued sobbing with his head down.

Jiang Weiguo looked at Jiang Feng.

Jiang Feng looked at Jiang Weiguo.

Jiang Weiguo thought his little grandson must have taken a wrong turn somewhere, wondering what on earth kind of dishes he was making. Over the years, he had seen many dishes that delighted people, but this was the first time he had seen dishes that made people cry as they ate.

Jiang Feng was also bewildered.

Why hadn’t Grandpa cried? He had been looking forward to seeing the old Sir burst into tears.

Jiang Feng recalled the details of the Li Hongzhang hodgepodge: consumption triggers an intense desire to cry within twenty minutes, releasing negative emotions.

No way, Sir has such a sunny disposition that he harbors no negative emotions at all?

“Why are you crying again, what did you just make?” Wu Minqi took the chrysanthemum fish out of the pot, saw that the Kitchen Apprentice Cooks were crying and nobody was doing the plating, so she spontaneously plated it herself.

The fish head pointing upwards, the fried flower cuts resembling several blooming chrysanthemums, the fish meat placed in the middle, and the tail pressed down to show just a pointed tip.

Not to mention, the upward-facing fish head did carry a bit of the feel of the famous British dish “Fish Gazing at the Stars,” with the dead fish’s eyes wide open.

“Maybe they’ve been under too much stress lately, and got moved by my cooking to the point that they needed to release it,” Jiang Feng said blithely.

Jiang Feng pondered over the dishes Wu Minqi had made and found it strange: “You haven’t really made any spicy dishes!”

“Didn’t have much choice, the people here in Beiping don’t eat much spicy food, even the hot pot is mixed with sesame sauce. I was worried that making those spicy dishes might affect the business,” Wu Minqi explained.

“Wu, don’t worry so much, just go for it,” Jiang Weiguo said.

Wu Minqi paused for a moment, then smiled: “Okay.”

Then she went to fetch chopped chili and Sichuan peppercorns to prepare for the next dish.

Jiang Feng:…

He had the nagging feeling that Wu Minqi had just unsealed something.

Once the buff from the twenty minutes passed, everyone gradually stopped crying, except for Han Yigu who was still in torrents of tears, inconsolable.

“Brother, stop crying, think about my sister, she’s dark and…” Sang Ming tried to comfort him.

“Shut up!” Han Yigu grew even more distraught.

Aside from a few unavoidable minor mishaps, today’s trial cooking session was quite successful. Both Sirs had made up their minds: they had tried the specialty dishes today and would try the standard dishes tomorrow. After finalizing the menu and allowing the kitchen staff a couple more days to integrate, it would be time to open for business.

Everything was going smoothly for Mrs. Wang Xiulian and the senior aunt too, despite some small issues that were not too serious. They were all professional proprietresses, and with the help of the professional hotel lobby managers, as well as Ji Yue, whose Talent Skills in hotel management were maxed out, there were no major problems, all things considered quite smooth.

The service manager at Taifeng Building was named Fan Mei, 31 years old, who used to lead teams at Michelin restaurants in New York for a few years before moving back to Magic City after getting married to work at star-rated hotels for a while. She was headhunted for this position. She was kind-hearted and experienced, knew when to be soft and when to be strict, and Mrs. Wang Xiulian liked her very much.

Ji Yue, on the other hand, was a supervisor, but her work hours and salary were quite flexible. In her words, she was a manga artist, and serving was just a way to find inspiration for her drawings.

“Ji Yue, are we getting dinner provided tonight?” In just one afternoon, Ji Yue had gained a little shadow.

That shadow was named Qi Rou, 18 years old, who, like Sang Ming, had moved to the city after high school graduation, following fellow villagers. She was timid and indecisive; moving to the city was the boldest thing she had ever done in her life.

If she had not come to Beiping, she would have stayed in her hometown and, arranged by her parents, married a man of similar age, then started having children. Many of her elementary and junior high schoolmates were already mothers of at least one child. She did not want that kind of life.

She felt that if she were to marry, she should have earned a bit of money first, so that she would have some confidence when she got married.

“Brown-noser,” Qi Rou’s fellow villager said with a sideways glance.

“Today the kitchen had a trial run, so dinner’s definitely on,” Ji Yue said, casting a stealthy glance at Qi Rou’ s fellow villager.

Fan Mei frowned.

It was hard to recruit service staff, even harder to recruit those with high quality. The Jiang Family had no experience in recruitment, and although they offered high wages, the short recruitment period led to inconsistent quality among the hires.

They could only wait until after opening to recruit more slowly or to train employees with potential.

Fan Mei planned to bring this up a little later with the proprietresses.

Ji Yue leisurely made her way to the kitchen. Everything was in order, except everyone had slightly red eyes and a few had tear stains on their faces. Ji Yue, with her rich experience of being experimented on by Jiang Feng, guessed right away that Jiang Feng had made Li Hongzhang hodgepodge.

“You’re really planning to sell this dish?” Ji Yue couldn’t believe it. Although the dish tasted good, its side effects were dramatic—it made people cry, and after crying, one felt relieved.

Back in May, under the pressure of deadlines and not daring to procrastinate, she had to eat the Li Hongzhang hodgepodge and cry every two days to relax. During that time, Mrs. Wang Xiulian spoke to her with comforting tones, thinking she was being moody because of a heartbreak.

At that time, Mrs. Wang Xiulian didn’t realize that Ji Yue had been single for one or two years without even a chance of experiencing a heartbreak.

“This dish is a signature one, it’s famous and can fetch a high price, of course we’ll sell it!” Jiang Feng believed he had a bit of a business brain.

Ji Yue:…

Well, as long as you’re happy.

The main course for dinner was two pots of porridge boiled by Jiang Feng, complemented by the remaining dishes from the kitchen staff’s trials—which simply needed reheating since they had cooled. Jiang Feng didn’t dare serve the leftover Li Hongzhang hodgepodge since he feared it would make the new employees at Taifeng Building cry and leave.

Qi Rou was thrilled to see such a rich assortment of dishes for dinner, but her fellow villager frowned, muttering softly, “Capitalists, just trying to woo us with these leftover dishes and plain porridge.”

She thought she was speaking softly, but Ji Yue, who was three people away, heard her.

Ji Yue couldn’t help but take another look at the young woman with a plain appearance and a face that seemed to suggest she was owed eight hundred million, puzzled about how Mrs. Wang had recruited her.

Changing her train of thought, Ji Yue figured it was none of her business; anyway, if there were issues with her work, she would surely be let go.

“Jiang Feng, which dish was made by Zhang Guanghang?” Ji Yue whispered to Jiang Feng as she approached him.

“That spinach pile, the Four Joyful Meatballs at the front, and the lamb chops next to you, and also…” Jiang Feng proceeded to list everything he saw until Ji Yue cut him off.

“Enough, enough,” Ji Yue said, swiftly grabbing a piece of lamb chop.

“Actually, Ji Xue’s clay pot rice wine chicken tastes the best, but it wasn’t brought out to the kitchen. Do you want to go in and try it?” Jiang Feng suggested.

“No rush, no rush. We’ve got plenty of days ahead. What kind of lamb chop is this, what’s the full name?” Ji Yue asked.

“French Rosemary Roasted Lamb Chops,” Jiang Feng didn’t understand why Ji Yue was asking this.

The next second, he got it.

“My goodness, these French Rosemary Roasted Lamb Chops are incredibly delicious, absolutely exquisite! Juicy and savory, a treat for the eyes and the palate, Jade Plate Delicacy pales in comparison!” Ji Yue said with much enthusiasm, lavishing praise.

Jiang Feng:…

“You’ve gone over the top,” Jiang Feng murmured quietly.

Quickly adjusting her expression to seem a tad more sincere, Ji Yue said, “I got too excited, couldn’t quite control my expression.”

Jiang Feng:…

Heh, women.