The Game of Life

When Jiang Feng entered the kitchen with two cups of iced milk tea, the two were still handling the dragonfish.

“Just now, we fried it for too long, and I think just a few drops of lemon juice would have been enough, there was no need to brush on honey,” Ji Xue said. “Brushing honey wasn’t necessary, but I think we could marinate it with honey first,” Wu Minqi contemplated.

Jiang Feng stepped forward to hand them the milk teas, smiling, “Thinking the kitchen isn t hot enough? Go out and get some fresh air.”

Wu Minqi picked up a piece of fish and fed it to Jiang Feng, “Try this, we both think something about the taste is a bit off.”

“It’s a bit odd,” Jiang Feng smacked his lips, “Weren’t we researching fishballs just before? How did it turn into fried fish?”

“Just messing around.” Wu Minqi took a sip of her lemon red tea, turned to Ji Xue with a smile, and said, “Xue, there’s still more than an hour to go before the afternoon shift. Go find a place to rest. I heard from Mr. Jiang that you came early this morning, and it’s our first day opening, so we’ll be busy tonight.” Yeah, Ji Yue said you’ve been leaving early and returning late these past few days. Today’s your first official day of work, so go back early and rest well. We can’t afford to pay you overtime with the new restaurant’s tight budget,” Jiang Feng chuckled in agreement.

Ji Xue was momentarily startled; ever since she started working at 14 after dropping out of school, apart from her parents and younger sister urging her to rest well and not overexert herself, few others would remind her to take a break.

She had been in Beiping for just a week. Ji Yue, with whom she shared a living space, would advise her to rest more. Wu Minqi would send her to rest. Jiang Feng would caution her to work less overtime and go home early to rest. Jiang Jiankang, seeing her as the first one in the kitchen every day, would tell her to sleep in and come in later. The two old men in the evening would send her home early instead of letting her busy herself in the kitchen until dawn.

Even Sang Ming, who she’d known for just a few days and had barely exchanged words with, a mere colleague, would see her tidying up the kitchen at night and tell her to stop, saying it wasn’t a job for a furnace chef.

“Alright,” Ji Xue responded to Jiang Feng and Wu Minqi with a slight smile. She liked this place.

Very much so.

She wanted to work here her whole life.

The evening business went smoothly. Since it was the first day of opening, all staff at Taifeng Building needed to work without any scheduled shifts, but Manager Fan had already prepared a shift schedule early in the morning.

Apart from the Jiang Family and Wu Minqi and Ji Xue, who volunteered to work without any days off throughout the year, other staff had one day off after six workdays, ten days of paid leave per year (with annual leave calculated separately), four times the salary for public holidays, and included work meals; it was undoubtedly a great job that was hard to come by even if you were to look for it with a lantern.

Despite that, there were still those who felt dissatisfied.

Yang Li, who had finally gotten her name after being made an example before this point, and was Qi Rou’s fellow townsfolk, complained to Qi Rou after the peak of the evening business ended.

“Qi Rou, do you think that old woman Fan Mei is sick or something? This afternoon, I just didn’t introduce that stupid Ordering System to the customers, right? It’s such a small matter. Only an idiot wouldn’t understand it without us introducing it. It was totally her looking for trouble. And she even confronted me in front of so many people. Who does she think she is?” Yang Li was full of resentment and obviously held a grudge against Fan Mei.

“She is the manager,” Qi Rou replied.

Stumped by Qi Rou’s four words, Yang Li couldn’t speak for a moment and suddenly became angry, “Whose side are you on? Qi Rou, don’t forget, if it weren’t for me taking you out, you’d be stuck in that rundown place getting married. Do you have no conscience? I never expected you to be this kind of turncoat! So what if she’s a manager? So what if she studied at that crappy University of Surrey in England? I think she’s just someone who failed the college entrance exam, relied on her family’s money to go abroad and study at some no-name university, and now flaunts it every day. What a joke!” Ji Yue had been looking everywhere for the chicken that was supposed to be slaughtered tonight. She hadn’t expected not only to find the person she was searching for but also to witness such a scene. Since she wasn’t in a hurry, she stood silently in the corner, curious to see what else shocking Yang Li could say and how Qi Rou, who always trailed behind her like a little tail, would react.

“Manager is from the University of Surrey,” Qi Rou said.

“What are you implying, Qi Rou?” Yang Li raised her voice. “Are you saying now that you’re siding with that old woman, Fan Mei? Don’t forget who brought you out here. If it wasn’t for me, you’d still be stuck in that backwater town, arranged by your parents to meet suitors and waiting to get married! It was because of me that you came to Beiping! Now I see your true colors; you’re ungrateful! From day one, you were like a little lapdog, always pandering to Ji Yue, and nowyou thinkyou don’t need me because you’ve cozied up to her, with that smug and underhanded look on your face. You two really are birds of a feather! Then fine, don’t live with me anymore, get out today!”

“First off, Yang Li, we only come from the same village. It was Yanyan who persuaded my parents to let me come to Beiping, and they’re the ones who bought my train ticket. My brother secretly gave me some money; it had nothing to do with you. Secondly, the rent was paid by Yanyan and me; you didn’t contribute a cent. If you have any complaints about me, feel free to move out anytime. I don’t owe you anything, nor do I need your incessant nagging about every aspect of my life. I have the right to choose my friends and I’m capable of deciding whom to befriend,” Qi Rou replied calmly.

“I don’t like you; we are merely fellow villagers, so whatever you say won’t affect me. But I do like Sister Ji Yue, so please watch your language when talking about her.” After saying this, Qi Rou stopped looking at Yang Li and turned to leave.

She bumped right into Ji Yue, who had been eavesdropping in the corner.

Even though Ji Yue got caught listening in, she didn’t feel any embarrassment. Smiling, she emerged from the corner as if she hadn’t noticed Yang Li’s sudden change of expression and said, “Manager Fan is looking for you.”

Yang Li glared at Qi Rou bitterly, convinced that Qi Rou had known all along that Ji Yue was listening and had intentionally provoked her to say those things.

“Be careful in the future, Qi Rou, or you might get struck by lightning one of these days,” Ji Yue said after having enjoyed the show and having gained a devoted admirer. “Let’s go eat. Today’s dishes were cooked by Jiang Feng; they’re not as tasty as the ones Mr. Jiang cooked yesterday. I’ll call you over when he makes Sweet and Sour Yam another day.”

“Okay!” Qi Rou followed Ji Yue like a little tail.

You just said you really like me. Why do you like me?” Ji Yue asked. She couldn’t recall doing anything special for Qi Rou, nor had she ever gone out of her way to look after her.

“Because 1 saw the painting Sister Ji Yue did the other day,” Qi Rou said softly, nervous in front of her idol. “I love painting too, and I think you paint exceptionally well, whichis why I really like you, Sister Ji Yue.”

Ji Yue suddenly understood. She had indeed been painting in the restaurant a few days ago, the four-panel comics of Taifeng Building that Zhang Guanghang had mentioned before. She had casually drawn a few sketches on paper and brought them for Jiang Feng and the others to see.

“Have you studied it?”

“No.”

“Where do you live?” Ji Yue asked.

“What?” Startled, Qi Rou provided an address. It was a remote suburb with very cheap rent, the kind of place she could afford.

“We both have the next Wednesday off. You can come to my place, and I’ll teach you,” Ji Yue offered.

“Okay!”

The kitchen wasn’t busy anymore, and the staff could take turns eating. Zhang Weiyu, who had just returned from eating, was tidying up while talking to Jiang Feng.

Something’s going on in the hall; no one has come to eat. I just saw them all gathered together as if they were having a meeting,” said Zhang Weiyu.

“Slaughtering the chicken,” replied Jiang Feng.

Zhang Weiyu: ???

Slaughter the chicken???