The Game of Life

“Dude, what dish did you cook to get ten red cards? That’s awesome!” Zhang

Luyu exclaimed.

“Eggplant with green beans, just a simple home-cooked dish,” Jiang Feng said.

He, too, hadn’t expected to get ten red cards.

It seemed that all ten of the lay judges had good taste!

After Jiang Feng, there was only a married office worker named He Ling who had received eight red cards. Zhang Luyu could talk, and he was especially sociable. At first, Jiang Feng thought Zhang Luyu spoke so much because they were alumni, but then he realized that Zhang Luyu was talkative with everyone. If someone engaged him, he could find topics to chat about, and it was as if he saw everyone as an old classmate he hadn’t met in years. He could seamlessly switch topics and casually call people ‘dude,’ ‘girl,’ or ‘sister’ after just a couple of sentences.

He Ling’s dish was stir-fried luffa with eggs, her specialty. She said it was her husband’s favorite dish. Like Zhang Luyu, she was a casual contestant and hadn’t thought about advancing to the next round.

Another girl, who had been silent until then, couldn’t help but join in the conversation between Zhang Luyu and He Ling and introduced herself.

Her name was Wang Suli, a student at the teacher’s college. Her dish was somewhat similar to He Ling’s-an omelet with luffa soup.

“I… I’m actually not very good at cooking, I was just lucky, often cooking luffa and egg soup for my mom at home. I didn’t speak earlier because I… because I’m not from the same school as you guys, so I felt a little embarrassed, I… just… I…” Wang Suli spoke with an increasing stutter.

Jiang Feng could tell that this girl was a bit socially anxious.

“Girl, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about! Although your teacher’s college is far’from our school, we’re still classmates. It’sboring just waiting here, so let’s chat together. Dude, don’t you think?” Zhang Luyu helped ease the situation.

“Let’s chat together. I guess we’ll have to wait a bit longer since seven people haven’t finished yet. Always looking at our phones is so dull,” Jiang Feng agreed.

The three of them were chatting away enthusiastically when the few people who came in later did not receive eight red cards, and they left after knowing their results. However, the guy who got nine red cards for his scallion omelet remained aloof, silent throughout, and just quietly sat on a chair, not looking at his phone but staring at the wall as if there were a painting on it.

“That last one is really slow, huh? It’s been an hour already, right?” Zhang Luyu checked his phone. “An hour and twenty minutes now. What kind of dish is she cooking that’s taking so long?”

“There are only 27 people in our group; even the last judge wouldn’t be full.

There’s no need to rush,” He Ling said.

“But it’s annoying, waiting for over an hour. Other groups might have finished their competition already. If it were me, I’d be frustrated for sure. If someone was this slow, I’d definitely give a green card,” Zhang Luyu said.

In fact, what he said made some sense. The public judges, plainly speaking, were just temporary workers paid a hundred yuan for a day’s work, without strong professionalism. Having to wait doing nothing for over an hour would probably make the majority somewhat impatient.

“Ah, the organizers too-they don’t set a time, but the audition was supposed to be completed within an hour!” Zhang Luyu complained.

As soon as his words fell, the door opened.

“Hello, my surname is Guo, and my name is Guo Mengting.” It was rare for someone to introduce themselves as soon as they came in; almost everyone else had passively introduced themselves after being prompted by Zhang Luyu. “I’m sorry I’m a bit slow at cooking. Since there was no time limit set for the competition, I simply slowed down, so I’m sorry for makingyou wait,’’ Guo Mengting said with an apologetic smile. “I cooked eggplant pot, and since there was no meat, I wrapped the eggplant in egg and fried it in oil, which is quite troublesome and time-consuming. I like cooking at home, and my culinary skills are not bad—my husband and child both enjoy my cooking.

“You already have a child?” He Ling couldn’t help asking.

“Yes, my child is already in elementary school. You couldn’t tell, right? I m only 28 this year, and I take good care of myself. I don’t really use skincare products; with good skin, you don’t need those things,” Guo Mengting emanated an aura of confidence.

Three people: …

Actually… it’s pretty obvious.

A staff member pushed the door open, interrupting Guo Mengting’s speech, and announced, “Contestant number 21, Guo Mengting, are you here? Congratulations, you’ve received 8 red cards. Please wait a moment, everyone; we will announce the scores shortly.”

Jiang Feng couldn’t help but take a new look at this excessively confident Guo Mengting.

She was the last one to finish, but getting 8 red cards proved that her culinary skills were indeed not bad. If she had finished a bit faster, perhaps she could have obtained nine or even ten red cards.

“Dude, I have a feeling we might be in for a surprise. It’s possible that this sister here might snatch away the qualification spot,” Zhang Luyu whispered to Jiang Feng.

“The results are coming out soon; we’ll know who advances very quickly,” Jiang Feng replied.

No one spoke.

Guo Mengting exuded confidence, as if the qualification spot was already in her pocket.

The guy who made scallion pancake still maintained his cool demeanor, sticking to his corner.

He Ling, Wang Suli, and Zhang Luyu seemed resigned, already regarding themselves as mere spectators.

Around Jiang Feng…

He didn’t exude any particular aura; he was replying to Wu Minqi’s message. Wu Minqi had already advanced, and she was asking him about his situation. He was actually a bit anxious because when Guo Mengting was talking, he sneakily observed the cool guy. The callouses on his hands and the scars from oil splashes suggested that he should be a chef.

He didn’t know about his professionalism, but his skill level seemed quite good. If he were to crash out in the first round of the preliminaries, Jiang Feng feared he might be in trouble when he got back.

A few minutes passed, and the door was pushed open again, still by the previous staff member, who held a small slip of paper and said with a bright smile: “Jiang Feng: 8.9 points, Lan Ning: 8.4 points, Guo Mengting: 8.2 points, He Ling: 7.8 points, Wang Suli: 7-5 points, Zhang Luyu: 6.2 points. Contestant Jiang Feng, congratulations on advancing. This is the card for the second round of the preliminaries; please keep it safe. We will notify you of the specific time of the contest by phone.”

Jiang Feng accepted the card and glanced at it, noting it was no different from the previous one.

“Wow, I passed!” Zhang Luyu was excited rather than sad or disappointed despite ranking last.

“That’s it? There’s no standard for the scoring, and I don’t even know what he made. You just declare him the next round? This is ridiculous!” Guo Mengting was not convinced. She might not be a professional chef, but she was confident that the eggplant dish she made today was exceptionally delicious.

Moreover, Jiang Feng didn’t look like a professional chef. He probably was a student, barely in his twenties. Why on earth did he score a full 0.7 points higher than her!

“Please don’t be hasty, contestant. I haven’t finished yet. The dishes of all contestants are still in the warming boxes, and Professor Ye is just outside. Everyone can evaluate each other’s dishes. If there are any disagreements, you can raise them,” the staff member said.

Guo Mengting was the first to walk out.

The ten lay judges had already left, but Professor Ye was still sitting in his original place. Six dishes were in the warming box, each with a name tag of the creator in front. Almost everyone headed towards Jiang Feng’s eggplant with green beans to taste the dish cooked by the first-place winner, while only Jiang Feng approached Lan bling¹ s scallion pancake.