The Game of Life

Zhang Weiyu was cutting potatoes.

Jiang Feng stared at his glasses.

Zhang Weiyu was cutting radishes.

Jiang Feng stared at his glasses.

Zhang Weiyu was cutting chili peppers.

Jiang Feng stared at his glasses.

Zhang Weiyu was…

Zhang Weiyu couldn’t continue cutting because he was being stared at by Jiang Feng. In exasperation, he said, “Just ask whatever you want to ask.”

All the people in the kitchen turned to look at Zhang Weiyu in unison.

“Your glasses…”

“I got myself a new pair afterwards,” Zhang Weiyu said. “How could I possibly continue to wear the glasses that fell into… whatever it was, on my nose? Am I crazy?”

“Why not?” Sang Ming asked, puzzled. “Just wash them, wipe them, soak them, and aren’t they good as new?”

Jiang Feng: ???

Everyone: ???

“You wouldn’t…” Han Yigu silently moved two steps to the side, trying to distance himself from Sang Ming.

“That body lotion was over 600 yuan; it wasn’t even opened. I mailed it to my sister this morning,” Sang Ming said.

Jiang Feng: ???

I hope your sister never finds out what that bottle of body lotion went through.

Otherwise, she might take a high-speed train to come and hit you.

Jiang Feng was very busy this morning.

Before the opening of Taifeng Building, he had many grand ambitions.

For example, he planned to defeat all the matchmaking agencies in Beiping City within three years and to make Li Hongzhang’s hodgepodge bigger and stronger, turning it into a high-profit signature dish.

The harsh reality told him that he was daydreaming.

It’s not easy for a high-end Chinese restaurant to establish itself in Beiping City, the cosmic center.

The customers are always picky and shrewd. They are busy and yet idle at the same time. They might be too busy to eat a proper meal, to the point of munching on a couple of bread loaves just to fill their stomachs, yet they also have the leisure to queue for hours to buy an expensive cup of milk tea just for a photograph to post on social media.

In Beiping City, even a century-old restaurant with a great reputation would be abandoned by the fussy customers if the chef’s skills declined, in favor of new eateries with better flavors and more value for their money.

The main quest has been quiet since the day Xue Shaoheng ordered a table full of buff dishes, stuck at (3/10), with the remaining seven destined guests yet to appear.

Jiang Feng also noticed that Taifeng Building had regular customers and its reputation was good both online and offline, but that doesn’t mean those customers thought Taifeng Building was the best restaurant in the world.

To complete the main quest, he still had to rely on buff dishes.

This type of quest with second-year syndrome hues must naturally be completed with similarly styled buff dishes.

With Jiang Feng’s current cooking skill level, it’s difficult to conquer customers with taste alone. Without enough expertise, he had to resort to publicity stunts.

If Xu Cheng even mentions a word about it in “Taste”, a large number of loyal followers of the magazine would swarm to taste Jiang Feng’s buff dishes. Among these customers, if seven were touched by the buff dishes and felt that Taifeng Building was the best restaurant in the world, then the quest would be accomplished.

This was the time when the importance of publicity came to the foreground. It couldn’t be the promotion by ordinary tabloids or those third-rate food magazines, it had to be the publicity by first-rate, even top food magazines.

For example—

“Taste”

Jiang Feng continued to chop the ingredients in his hands without looking up.

…

Xu Cheng was writing articles at home.

He had just returned from Hang City and was now rewriting the interview piece with Gu Li.

He had originally finished writing the article about the special interview with Gu Li while he was in Hang City, but upon returning home, he felt dissatisfied and decided to rewrite it.

As a well-known “Pigeon King” in the industry, Xu Cheng’s work efficiency increased the longer he delayed his commitments.

He had planned to go to Hang City two days after the opening of Taifeng Building to complete the interview with Gu Li, and then to return to Beiping to finish interviews with Jiang Feng, Zhang Guanghang, and Wu Minqi in one go. Additionally, he intended to interview Ji Xue and the two Sir Jiang, so he could complete all articles by July, allowing “Taste” to be released on time in early August, evolving from an annual publication to a semi-annual one this year.

But that was just a plan, and the reason it’s always just a plan is that changes happen faster than schedules.

On the third day of Taifeng Building’s grand opening, Sun Maochai introduced a new dish.

Xu Cheng immediately canceled his plans to go to Hang City to interview Gu Li and instead detoured to Hong Kong City. After tasting Sun Maochai’s new dish, he even stayed in Hong Kong City to write the article.

While writing the article, Xu Cheng also took the opportunity to discuss some business matters; after all, he was a businessman with a family fortune of tens of billions to manage.

Then, he made a side trip to Jubao Building to pay a visit to Sun Guanyun. He had wanted to try his luck at scoring a serving of Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon, having been turned away many times before, so he didn’t hold much hope this time either.

Unexpectedly, Sun Guanyun was surprisingly accommodating this time—he didn’t just score one serving; he scored three!

For three consecutive days, each day he indulged in a serving, completely satisfying his discerning palate.

Previously, at the Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant, he felt that Sun Guanyun’s Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon was somewhat different from before, but because he only had a bite at that time and it had been many years since he last ate the dish personally made by Sun Guanyun, he was only suspicious but not certain.

After eating it for three days in a row, Xu Cheng became certain of his thoughts—Sun Guanyun had improved the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon, returning to basics and reaching new heights.

So, Xu Cheng stayed in FJ to finish writing the article on the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon before returning to Beiping.

Of course, it was still July when he returned to Beiping.

And he had not gone to Hang City to interview Gu Li.

After neglecting his duties and abandoning his original plan to go to Hong Kong City and Jubao Building to write two unrelated articles, Xu Cheng felt he had worked very hard and decided to reward himself by continuing to skip deadlines.

Xu Cheng rewarded himself by eating around at various famous restaurants in Beiping for most of the month. Eventually, he managed to find time to sort out the interview with Gu Li in Hang City, which is why he’s now at home rewriting the article.

By the way, Xu Cheng loved buying houses. Everywhere in the country and around the world known for its cuisine, he had a house. Each time after he finished sampling a dish and decided to feature it in Taste magazine, he’d return to his own home and not leave until the article was completed.

After all, he was the king of procrastination—if he didn’t push himself, Taste magazine might permanently miss its publication dates.

It’s not easy running a gourmet magazine these days. There are only a few well-known food critics, and most of them, like Xu Cheng, are wealthy, carefree winners in life who write only when they’re in the mood. If magazines truly relied on these food critics for content, they would have gone bankrupt long ago.

Nowadays, a gourmet magazine isn’t considered one unless it includes little stories related to food, delves into the tears and hardships behind the food, the happiness and fulfillment, or showcases a city’s culture and historical depth through its cuisine, history, and urban landscape.

There was a time when Xu Cheng scorned these gourmet magazines. Taste was famously hardcore, focusing solely on food and ignoring everything else.

That was until Taste went from a monthly to a quarterly, then to a bi-annual, and finally to an annual publication. Xu Cheng realized that the writing methods he had once disdained were actually quite effective for padding word counts.

So, Xu Cheng changed; he began to uncover the stories behind the food.

But this time’s article was particularly tough to write, mainly because Gu Li was not good with words. Even the most exciting, inspirational, and touching stories that would be perfect for TV dramas seemed unremarkable and lackluster coming from him, and there seemed to be nothing notable to write about his background.

That’s why Xu Cheng planned to rewrite the article.

Xu Cheng felt troubled.

He was considering skipping the deadline again.

A knock sounded at the door.

“Come in.”

“Mr. Xu, Editor Jiang asked when you plan to go to Taifeng Building; everything on their end is ready,” Xu Cheng’s assistant said.

“What time is it now?”

“11:09 am. Our appointment is at 12:30 pm,” the assistant replied.

Xu Cheng tossed his pen aside, glanced at the few lines he’d written, and thought—

Forget it; the original draft is good enough, no need to rewrite. Rewriting is such a waste of time; might as well go eat.

“Who’s with Editor Jiang?” Xu Cheng asked.

“There are nine people in total: three photographers, two photographer assistants, Editor Jiang, Deputy Editor-in-Chief Wang, Professor Ye Shi from Capital University, and one intern,” the assistant said.

“An intern? Who brought the intern along?” Xu Cheng wasn’t angry but just found it strange. He was very clear about his staff; they were all extremely capable and didn’t mix personal with professional. If the intern was brought along, there must have been a reason.

“Editor Jiang brought the intern specially from Magic City. Didn’t you say a few years ago that you wanted to train a food critic to take over your role? He brought this intern specifically for you to meet. This intern has a very keen sense of taste and is an excellent prospect as a food critic,” the assistant explained.

Xu Cheng nodded, “Tell Editor Jiang to set off now, and call Mr. Han to leave in five minutes.”

Xu Cheng couldn’t keep writing for Taste forever. As he got older, he preferred not to travel so much. He had built Taste from scratch and didn’t want the magazine to shut down or be ruined. Therefore, he was preparing to train new, talented critics who could attain his level of expertise.

Food critics of Taste.

He just hoped that the intern Editor Jiang brought this time wouldn’t disappoint him.

To cultivate an outstanding food critic, one needs time, a lot of manpower, material, and financial resources—none of which were lacking for Xu Cheng.

What he lacked were talented individuals with the potential to be food critics.

Even if the people he cultivated didn’t end up as exclusive critics for Taste, he’d be willing.

The circle and life of top food critics were too lonely. He needed some newcomers to break that solitude.

Otherwise, it would be a shame if the world were full of potential, but there were not enough true connoisseurs to recognize it.