The Game of Life

She realized that she might have misunderstood some things about the future.

Her life used to be filled with negative emotions: the pressure of studying, conflicts with roommates, the unpleasantness of trivial matters, obesity, mockery, and unspoken crushes. These worries and troubles that never appeared in her life before college came crashing down on her after she started university, leaving her feeling suffocated.

She attributed all of this to her weight, feeling that if she could just lose weight, everything would get better.

Until just moments ago, she believed her thoughts were correct.

But now, having calmed down and thinking objectively, if it hadn’t been for Jiang Feng stopping her from almost suicidal dieting to lose weight, her end seemed to have been nothing but self-destruction.

Compared to her obese self, the irrational, crazed dieting version of herself seemed even more terrifying and unreasonable.

Chen Xiuxiu fell silent, deep in thought, with a pen in hand, staring at the notebook but unable to write a single word.

Xu Cheng took back control of the interview and followed up on Chen Xiuxiu’s questions, “So, you started practicing cooking again for the sake of a friend’s health?”

Xu Cheng really liked the topic Chen Xiuxiu and Jiang Feng had discussed earlier; it was a great start and suitable for filling up the word count.

Xu Cheng thought that he could write at least 300 words based on the start of the story that Chen Xiuxiu and Jiang Feng had just recounted.

“You could say that,” Jiang Feng said, “At first, I just wanted to improve my Cooking Porridge skills, but then my grandfather came, and under his guidance, I began practicing cooking again. As I practiced, it became a habit, and everything naturally fell into place.”

“I’ve tried every dish from your Taifeng Building’s menu these past few days, and I was surprised that the Sweet and Sour Yam still maintained the same standard as on the competition day. But what truly amazed me was the Li Hongzhang Hodgepodge I tasted today at noon. I’ve had dishes where the chef’s emotions blend into the food, allowing diners to taste it, but it’s the first time I’ve encountered a dish like your Li Hongzhang Hodgepodge that made me feel like crying. Could you share the reason behind it, or the cooking technique, or perhaps a related story?” Xu Cheng asked.

Jiang Feng immediately perked up; this was the question he had been waiting for.

“This dish was taught to me by my grand-uncle, or more precisely, he dictated the ingredients and method to me, and I figured out the actual cooking process on my own. The dish was originally made by my grand-aunt for my grand-uncle in San Francisco. He remembered it for many years, and he never forgot it…” Jiang Feng began telling Xu Cheng the story of Li Mingyi and Jiang Huiqin as he remembered it.

“…Actually, I only discovered after I made the dish that it’s easy to make people cry with it. Maybe it’s because every time I make it, I think of the story my grand-uncle told me. It must be a coincidence; I’m not entirely sure of the exact reason,” Jiang Feng said.

Ever since Zhang Guanghang told Jiang Feng that Xu Cheng had asked if there was a story behind his dishes, Jiang Feng had thought about which dish’s story he should tell.

Since Jiang Feng looked a lot like Jiang Chengde, when Li Mingyi was still alive, he would mistake Jiang Feng for Jiang Chengde whenever he became confused, babbling incoherently and even talking about past events in a logically jumbled manner, most of which were related to Jiang Huiqin.

During the last days of Li Mingyi’s life, Jiang Feng often visited him; Li Mingyi liked Jiang Feng very much whether he was lucid or confused, always wanting to talk with him in the room. That’s when Chen Suhua would go out to do something else, leaving Li Mingyi to Jiang Feng’s company without a worry.

So as long as Jiang Feng insisted that these stories were told to him by Li Mingyi, no one would doubt or question anything.

He wasn’t lying; the story was indeed told to him by Li Mingyi, just not directly but through the memories he had witnessed.

The story of the Li Hongzhang Hodgepodge wasn’t a happy one; on the contrary, it was sad and poignant, making one feel how insignificant and powerless an individual can be under the wheels of history.

Xu Cheng sighed and said, “It’s just a pity that Ms. Jiang passed away so early, and I never had the chance to meet her.”

“By the way, when we were sorting through my grand-uncle’s belongings, we found some letters he had kept,” Jiang Feng suddenly remembered, “Some of these letters were recipes recorded by my grand-aunt. The only thing that’s a pity is that some of her recordings were vague and hard to replicate.”

Back when Jiang Huiqin was in the United States, whenever she encountered unfamiliar or differently prepared dishes, she would learn to make them. Some she mastered, others not. After learning, she would write to Jiang Chengde, describing the methods in her letters, turning the letters into recipes; after finishing, she arranged them neatly and kept them safe, thinking that she’d send all of them when she heard from Jiang Chengde.

Unfortunately, she never got to send any of those letters in her lifetime.

The recipes recorded in Jiang Huiqin’s letters were somewhat unclear, with quantities and certain terminologies that were puzzling. It was difficult for Jiang Feng to replicate them at his current skill level, and even the two Sirs couldn’t reach that level.

Perhaps the recipes that Jiang Huiqin left for Jiang Chengde could only be mastered by Jiang Chengde himself.

Jiang Feng and Xu Cheng’s conversation drifted further and further off-topic, eventually straying completely from the main theme, and they ended up forgetting that this was supposed to be a culinary interview, turning it into a story session instead.

Chen Xiuxiu, on the other hand, was like an audience member at a storytelling session, listening intently to the stories.

It wasn’t until Xu Cheng’s assistant came in to remind him that he had a video conference to attend and that the interview needed to be temporarily concluded that they realized the topic had strayed this far.

“`

Jiang Yong had already returned, organizing the content of the previous interviews next door with Deputy Editor-in-Chief Wang. The off-topic nature of Jiang Feng and Xu Cheng’s interview was so severe that it would probably add quite a bit of work to their evening’s editing.

Xu Cheng, after finishing the video conference, planned to go dine at Yonghe House, and his itinerary was packed. The other employees of “Taste” also had their own things to do. Not only did they have to join Xu Cheng at Yonghe House for a free meal, but the photographers had to go back and sort through the photos they took today, and Chen Xiuxiu had to write up an article based on the interview content for Xu Cheng to review tomorrow.

As for why Professor Ye Shi came for lunch today, it was, of course, to mooch a meal.

He was a friend of Xu Cheng’s, and they had a pretty good relationship. All of Xu Cheng’s friends who were close to him knew one thing: if Xu Cheng came to their place for an interview, they had to follow him for a meal.

Xu Cheng loved making friends and didn’t mind at all when they came over to grab a bite. On the contrary, he welcomed it, which was why he had friends all over the world.

Dining with Xu Cheng was an incredibly comfortable affair; you didn’t need to think about where to eat or what dishes to order. Just follow Xu Cheng’s lead, and he’d never make a mistake in choosing the dishes.

Xu Cheng, when going downstairs, roughly agreed with Jiang Feng on the time for shooting and a follow-up interview tomorrow. It was just a preliminary arrangement, and whether he would actually show up depended on Xu Cheng’s own situation.

It was getting late, and Taifeng Building was getting ready for the evening business. Wang Xiulian was surprised to see Chen Xiuxiu and couldn’t help but chat with her for a moment. Jiang Feng still felt that Shen Yao’s gaze was strange, but he couldn’t figure out what he had done to offend him.

Just like on the way there, the return trip was again with Jiang Yong, Chen Xiuxiu, Shen Yao, and a load of equipment in one vehicle.

“You’re in a bad mood,” Chen Xiuxiu keenly observed that something was off with Shen Yao’s emotions.

Shen Yao indeed was not in a great mood; he had just searched Jiang Feng’s background and found that his hidden rival was a bit more impressive than he had expected.

Yes, Jiang Feng even had his own Wikipedia page.

“I had a crush on him in high school, but then he went off to Alan City for university, and my crush ended with that. Isn’t that how all high school crushes go?” Chen Xiuxiu said.

“Who knows what that guy thought back in high school,” Shen Yao said sourly.

“I was over 180 pounds in high school.”

Shen Yao: …

“Besides, he’s already got a girlfriend. That Wu Minqi, interviewed by Boss Xu, she’s his girlfriend. They probably started dating around April. I remember he even posted about it on his social circle; I teased him about finally escaping 21 years of singledom,” laughed Chen Xiuxiu.

Suddenly, Shen Yao felt like maybe he could become friends with Jiang Feng.

From the moment I knew you weren’t single, I decided you’re going to be my friend for sure!

“Do you know why I suddenly brought this up?” Chen Xiuxiu asked with a mischievous smile.

Shen Yao suddenly had a bad premonition.

“A few days ago, a girl claiming to be your high school ex-girlfriend sent me a message through QQ. Didn’t you say I was your first love?” Chen Xiuxiu looked at Shen Yao.

Shen Yao nervously swallowed; he knew very well that if he and Chen Xiuxiu came to blows, he definitely would not win against her.

“How many did you date back in high school?”

“2… 2 of them, just in my freshman year. It was a rebellious phase, you know. While others rebelled by going to internet cafes to play games, I rebelled… by being in puppy love.” Shen Yao expressed his current regret, a deep regret, for why he had been possessed to tell Chen Xiuxiu that she was his first love back then.

“What about now?”

“Long over, ages ago. It was just adolescent folly back then, making eternal vows in the QQ space, plus writing thousand-word declarations like middle schoolers do these days, and then breaking up and deleting each other from friends lists a few days later.” Shen Yao confessed, hoping for leniency. “I didn’t expect anyone to bring that up now; I’ve lost contact with them long ago. We deleted each other as friends after breaking up back then.”

Chen Xiuxiu couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing.

As Jiang Yong drove, he shook his head helplessly. The young people these days… sigh, back in his days, he would never flip-flop… ahem, would never lie to his wife.

“`