The Game of Life

The next morning, Jiang Feng went to help open up the Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant.

Last night, he had searched online for the Good Taste Cooking Competition. The first competition was held in March of this year, a small and unremarkable event with the first prize being 10,000 yuan, the second prize 6,000 yuan, and the third prize 3,000 yuan. The participants were all cooking enthusiasts or young chefs from small diners, and the event didn’t attract much attention, which explains why Jiang Feng knew nothing about it.

Perhaps because the first competition went well, Good Taste’s second competition was much more ambitious. Not only were the prizes significantly richer, but they also advertised heavily on the Good Taste official website. When Jiang Feng searched, he found many news reports promoting the event. Compared with the last edition, the competition process this time seemed much more formal.

Registration began in January, followed by preliminary selections to determine the top 32,16, 8, and then 4 finalists, culminating in the battle for the championship. This time, the promotion wasn’t limited to the area around Alan City, Good Taste was aiming high and had set up 6 regional selection events across the country, while also having full coverage through television and online streaming. Seeing this, the 100,000 yuan prize for the champion seemed almost trivial. If the competition truly became popular, it would be an excellent opportunity for talented young chefs to make a name for themselves.

No wonder Wu Minqi was eager to sign up.

The competition was set for March of next year as well, with more than four months to go.

The gap between Jiang Feng and Wu Minqi couldn’t be bridged in just four short months.

Jiang Feng absentmindedly chopped vegetables.

“By the way, Feng, I’ve been thinking about the question you asked me yesterday. The mushroom flavor in the mushroom soup of your dish is too overpowering; it needs to be changed. How about replacing it with white radish soup?” likewise chopping vegetables, Jiang Jiankang suddenly remembered and suggested.

“White radish soup?” White radish soup did sound more compatible with the other ingredients, but this would change the basic components of the dish.

However, Jiang Jiankang’s suggestion gave Jiang Feng an idea. Indeed, white radish was a wonderful ingredient, available all year round, moisturizing for the lungs and phlegm-dispelling, slightly spicy and sweet when raw, and could clear heat and cut greasiness when cooked in soup. Most importantly, it absorbed flavors well and was tolerant, capable of melding with other ingredients that had distinct and unique tastes.

Making a pot of white radish and mushroom soup as an accompaniment seemed like a good choice.

Throughout the morning service, Jiang Feng was still contemplating what other ingredients to add to the soup.

Liu Qian, with her backpack, sat as usual in her regular seat by the window, ordered a dish of plum vegetable chicken feet, a portion of hand-torn cabbage, and a cup of hot milk tea.

As the weather had gotten colder, the Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant switched from selling cold drinks like plum juice and mung bean soup to warm beverages like soy milk and milk tea. However, the sales of milk tea weren’t very good, as not everyone took to the taste of sugar-free, manually brewed milk tea, especially given that its price was several times that of other milk tea shops.

Once the dishes were served, Liu Qian began her livestream as usual, but she was startled by the sudden surge in her number of followers.

From a single digit to breaking through the thousand mark.

Could it be, am I about to become famous?

Liu Qian thought to herself.

With her livestream titled “Daily Lunch,” Liu Qian waved to her audience of 6 viewers and said, “Hi everyone, I’m Qianqian. Today, as usual, I’m having lunch at the shop owned by our club president. I’ve ordered plum vegetable chicken feet, hand-torn cabbage, and hot milk tea, and now I’m going to start eating!” After speaking, she focused on eating without saying another word.

The angle of the camera remained the same suffocating nostril-focused one. “Annoying host, hand over the recipe for yesterday’s seasoning!” “Right, annoying livestream, give us the recipe for the seasoning already!” “Annoying host, online to annoy.”

“Annoying host is a big spender, huh, having such a lavish daily lunch.”

Netizens continued to join in, all of whom had watched the stream the day before and had hit the follow button, clamoring for Liu Qian to reveal the recipe for the hot pot seasoning she used the previous day.

There were also some newcomers who were curious why everyone was calling her the annoying host and, without leaving the stream, casually asked, “Why do you guys call her annoying host?”

Yan Xiaoyu, who was one of the most active at typing “annoying host,” immediately responded, “Because she’s really annoying!”

Soon, Liu Qian proved through her actions what it meant to be the annoying host.

She didn’t look at her phone at all when she was eating, or rather, she didn’t even think to check it. A few weeks ago, her livestream was usually dead silent, with viewership hovering around thirty or forty people. No one spoke, and she wasn’t in the habit of interacting with the audience. Over time, she barely glanced at her phone.

The chicken feet from Jiang Jiankang’s Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant were so tender and flavorful that they fell off the bone with a slight suck. Liu Qian was a regular customer and a member of Jiang Feng’s society, so thanks to her recognizable face, she always got a larger serving than others.

As Liu Qian was gleefully spitting out bones, she lifted her head and glanced at her phone by chance, only to discover to her surprise that there were actually quite a few comments streaming in.

“Annoying livestream, why do you all call me the annoying host?” Liu Qian asked with her mouth full.

“Because you’re very annoying.” Dozens of comments floated up in unison.

Seeing that Liu Qian finally paid attention to the livestream, the viewers who were asking for the seasoning mix hurriedly took the opportunity to press her to reveal the recipe.

“No, no, your comments are too dense, I can’t really see clearly. Can you slow down a bit?” In order to eat comfortably, Liu Qian had placed her phone quite far away.

It was the first time the audience had seen a host who complained about their comments being too frequent, leaving the viewers a bit stunned for a moment. Still, Yan Xiaoyu quickly sent a comment, taking advantage of her quick typing skills.

“Why don’t you use two phones, one for the livestream and another to read the comments?”

“That won’t work, I don’t have two phones.” Liu Qian wasn’t a professional host, so why would she buy another phone just for livestreaming?

Everyone began to flood the chat with requests for the seasoning recipe again.

Just then, the kitchen had a lull, and Jiang Feng came out to find a chair to take a break.

“President,” Liu Qian called him out urgently, “my viewers want to know the seasoning mix you added to the hotpot yesterday.”

Jiang Feng walked over, curiously glanced at Liu Qian’s phone, and without intending to, half of his face got into frame. He quickly turned his head away and said, “Salt, sesame oil, chopped green onion, soy sauce, and crushed chili pepper. However, it’s hard for most people to get the proportions right—I suggest you just add a bit of salt to enhance the flavor.”

“Got it! z)_”

“Looks so professionalz(<ij z)_”

“Just adding salt is a bit dismissive!”

“Is the host’s president working in a restaurant? No wonder he knows so much!”

“No, this restaurant is actually owned by our president’s family, and it’s really delicious. It’s right next to our UAL University; you should all come and try it when you have the time!” Liu Qian seized the chance to advertise for Jiang Feng’s family restaurant and even purposefully picked up an uneaten chicken foot to show it off in front of the camera.

The plump chicken foot, coated with a rich sauce and two strands of pickled mustard, glistened with collagen, making mouths water.

After chatting with the viewers for a while longer, because her phone was running out of battery, Liu Qian turned off the livestream.

“Wait, did the annoying host just advertise without even mentioning the restaurant’s name?” Yan Xiaoyu suddenly realized.

“Annoying host, living up to the name.”

“Indeed, worthy of being the annoying host!”

“Annoying host, even your advertising is annoying.”

A bunch of people chatted and laughed to their hearts’ content in the black-screened livestream.

After paying the bill, Liu Qian prepared to head back to her dorm. Jiang Feng suddenly had a thought and asked:

“Liu Qian, what do you think would make mushroom and radish soup taste better?”

“Mushroom and radish soup?”