The Game of Life

By the time the kitchen crew was done, Zhang Luyu and her group had already left, and Guo Mengting packed up a portion of pine nut corn to take back for her daughter. Jiang Feng stretched his limbs as he came out from the kitchen and heard Mrs. Wang Xiulian on the phone with the poultry supplier, asking them to prepare a few more live chickens.

As Ji Yue sat playing with her phone on a chair, she saw Jiang Feng come out and asked, “When do we eat?”

“The shrimp just went into the pot, ten more minutes, I guess.” Jiang Feng went to the counter to get his phone and called Wang Hao, telling him to stop slacking off under the guise of delivering orders and hurry back for the meal.

This term was generally heavy with coursework, aside from Wang Hao and Liu Zixuan, the others hardly came to help out at the shop anymore. Xiulian had wanted to find another low-cost student worker, and even posted the part-time job information in the UAL University group, but then realized it wasn’t necessary.

One Ji Yue was worth two workers’.

After surviving a fierce battle with deadlines, it was as if Ji Yue had evolved. Not only had her drawing speed increased, but she also got faster at clearing tables and serving dishes. In fact, she made people question her professional background-it didn’t seem like she was majoring in graphic design but rather in hotel service management.

“Oh right, weren’t there a lot of people eliminated in your competition this afternoon?” Ji Yue asked.

“A 96% elimination rate, why do you ask?” Jiang Feng responded, knowing that

Ji Yue wasn’t really interested in the cooking contest.

“This afternoon, just before five, An Ling, the girl who can really hold her liquor, seemed to have been eliminated. She bought some kelp shreds next door and drank 3 bottles of erguotou in the shop.” Ji Yue said.

“Was she drunk?”

“Drunk, she cried while she drank. I almost thought she had gone through a breakup. I was worried she wouldn’t be able to walk back, so I accompanied her to the bottom of her dorm building before returning.” Ji Yue shook her head, “It’s not even her major, and it’s just a competition, why take it so hard?”

Jiang Feng was stunned.

He suddenly remembered that he had once said the same thing to Chen Xiuxiu. Chen Xiuxiu had studied piano for seven years, mostly pushed by her father, similar to how Jiang Feng’s cooking lessons were in his childhood.

She wasn’t interested in the piano, played hooky for five out of seven years, and was always mediocre. In junior high, there was a local piano competition in Zet City. She entered on a whim and made it to the top thirty before being brutally eliminated.

The day she was eliminated, Chen Xiuxiu cried all afternoon. Jiang Feng had said back then, “You were just an amateur, why take a mere contest so seriously?”

What was Chen Xiuxiu’s reply again?

“You’ve been cooking for nearly ten years, and you consider yourself an amateur. If you were eliminated from a cooking competition now, wouldn’t you be upset? Who would learn something for so many years if they didn’t like it?” Back then, Jiang Feng had confidently answered that he definitely wouldn’t be upset; he felt like he would never be involved in cooking again in his life and didn’t have much affection for learning how to cook either.

Wu Minqi came out of the kitchen with dishes: “Mr. Jiang said eat in five minutes.”

“Minqi, do you like cooking?” Jiang Feng asked out of nowhere.

“I do.” Wu Minqi replied.

“Since you were a child?”

“Not really. As a kid, I was forced by my dad and grandfather. Who likes being locked in the kitchen practicing knifework as a child? Did you like it as a child?” Wu Minqi smiled nostalgically, “As a kid, of course I preferred playing. I was especially envious of my classmates who didn’t have to be cooped up in the kitchen learning how to cook. I remember my cousin and I once pretended to be sick with the same excuse, and when my grandfather found out, he beat us good. After that, we never dared again and earnestly learned cooking in the kitchen.”

“And then?” Ji Yue’s interest was piqued, “Is your cousin as good a cook as you?” “He studied for a few years but stopped after starting junior high. He didn’t really have a talent for it. Only my third cousin and I were the ones with talent in my family. My third cousin didn’t go to college and now works as an assistant to my father in the shop.” Wu Minqi said.

“I only started to like culinary arts after my dad asked me to help out in the store when I was in middle school,’

“Huh?” Ji Yue didn’t understand.

“I didn’t like learning cooking, but I loved hearing customers praise my dishes,” Wu Minqi said, “My grandfather told me when I first started learning that receiving compliments from customers is the greatest honor for a chef. Back then, I was preparing cold dishes, which were essentially just plating, and I felt as if they were my own creations. I’d go up to the customers and ask if they liked the cold dishes I made. It’s quite funny thinking about it now. I insisted on asking each of them if it was good, and I wouldn’t stop until everyone said it was delicious. Later on, my grandfather scolded me well for that.”

“You were that vain in middle school?” Ji Yue couldn’t help laughing.

“Maybe it’s because my father and grandfather rarely praised me when I was learning to cook. I just wanted some praise back then,” Wu Minqi admitted, somewhat embarrassed, “Actually, my grandfather was right. A chef’s greatest glory is indeed the praise of the customers. I like cooking because I like being praised by others, whether I can hear it or not, it always makes me happy.” “Then I’ll praise you every day from now on,” Ji Yue said with a smile, “Jiang Feng, what about you? You must have also started cooking from a young age.” “Pretty much. Originally, my grandfather forced me to learn, but then I stopped to focus on the middle school exams,” Jiang Feng said.

If it hadn’t been for the game, he would have been just helping out with cleaning, collecting money, and setting tables in the store, rather than helping out in the kitchen as he is now.

“Did you also like being praised by others like Minqi?” Ji Yue asked.

“I…” Jiang Feng was about to say he wasn’t like that, but the words got stuck as they reached his lips.

“Feng, dinner’s ready, go help your mom with serving the rice!” Jiang Jiankang came out of the kitchen, carrying a dish of braised prawns.

Wang Hao arrived just in time for dinner, a look of relief on his face: “Ah, I made it, I made it!”

He said this as he took the delivery box to the kitchen.

As Jiang Feng was serving the rice, he was a bit distracted; he had just realized that he did like being praised by others.

Whether it was making smashed cucumbers for Chen Xiuxiu or cooking clay pot pork rib rice in his dormitory during his freshman and sophomore years, he was seeking praise from others.

Making a clay pot pork rib rice in the dormitory was such a hassle, with buying groceries, washing vegetables, prepping the meat; it took a long time, especially since it was usually Wang Hao who wanted it, not him.

What he liked was the pride he felt from being praised and the satisfaction of having his cooking acknowledged by others, wasn’t it?

Jiang Feng suddenly realized that he did enjoy being a chef.

He loathed the grueling process of practicing his cooking skills, but he relished the results of that hard work.

He had spent ten years learning to cook, aiming for the praise of customers, not the satisfaction of Sir.

Jiang Feng carried three bowls of rice over to the table and sat down to eat with ease.

“What made you suddenly think to ask that just now?” Wu Minqi, sitting beside him, inquired.

“Nothing much, I just realized that I actually quite like culinary arts,” Jiang Feng replied.

Wu Minqi gave him a look: “Of course, you like it,

“If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have learned it so well..’