The Game of Life

Jiang Feng woke up early the next morning and, after a haphazard yet subtly skilled skin care routine, he got dressed in the clothes he had worn for the provincial TV station’s VCR shoot and went to the Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant to chop vegetables.

Having not touched a kitchen knife in almost a week, he wasn’t rusty, but he still needed to get a feel for it—last-minute sharpening may not be ideal, but it’s better than nothing!

The new delivery of over a dozen pigeons soon all met their demise under Jiang Feng’s knife, as he deftly performed the skinning and deboning motions with the smoothness of flowing water. From meat dishes to vegetables, Jiang Feng chopped everything he could: strips, shreds, slices, chunks. He employed every cutting technique available to him.

“Son, don’t be nervous, we’re only open for lunch today. Don’t cut more than we can sell,” Jiang Jiankang consoled.

“Nervous? I’m not nervous. Dad, you’ve got it wrong. Why would I be nervous? It’s not even the finals yet, just the top 32. I’m definitely not nervous! I’ll stop after I finish these carrot shreds,” Jiang Feng said, his expression calm, his voice steady and unhurried, with a measured ease.

“You’re cutting carrot slices.”

Jiang Feng:…

“Slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue, I’m really not nervous. I’ll stop after these carrot slices.”

Jiang Jiankang:…

“Sigh.” Jiang Jiankang heaved a deep sigh.

Because Jiang Feng forgot to tell Wu Minqi that his parents had come back early, Wu Minqi didn’t come to help at the Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant at noon. By the time Jiang Feng remembered, it was already two o’clock.

He wasn’t nervous, not at all. Just that recently, his memory hadn’t been so sharp.

The organizers informed Jiang Feng that he had to be at the provincial TV station by 4 PM, so Jiang Feng set out from the Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant shortly after two. The studio wasn’t in the tall building where they had recorded the VCR before, but in a shorter building next to it. Jiang Feng asked someone for directions and, after about fifteen minutes of fuss, found the place.

It wasn’t even three o’clock by the time he reached the studio.

There were others who had arrived early besides Jiang Feng. Among the six contestants there before him, he recognized Zhao Shan from the Beiping division, who had ranked third, and that high school student named Zhang Xi. The rest were unremarkable, neither particularly handsome nor particularly ugly, the kind hard to remember.

Wait—the realization hit Jiang Feng suddenly—he was describing himself.

Although sometimes he considered himself a charming, sunny, handsome young man, the cruel eyes of society were always too harsh.

“You’re contestant Jiang Feng, right? And contestant Zhang Xi, oh, here you are. Come, Cao, take them to get makeup first,” a staff member came over to confirm their identities and called a young lad named Cao to lead Jiang Feng to the makeup room.

Once Jiang Feng was brought to the makeup room by Cao, he sat down on the chair as instructed by the makeup artist, closed his eyes, and let the artist use various brushes on his face, only opening his eyes when told to.

After the full makeup application, he looked in the mirror and seemed—a bit handsomer.

Zhang Xi was still getting her makeup done, so Jiang Feng went out first, and Cao led another gentleman into the makeup room.

The studio was quite large, seemingly no different from an evening show’s studio—it had to accommodate the competition of 32 contestants at once, so space was certainly necessary. Jiang Feng had just snuck a peek from the backstage to the front for a moment when busy staff members shooed him back.

While Jiang Feng wandered around idly, other contestants gradually arrived, including Zhang Guanghang.

Some people are photogenic; despite having average looks, they appear attractive in photos. Others seem to clash with the camera—despite looking decent, their photos do not do them justice.

Unfortunately, Zhang Guanghang belonged to the latter.

As a Chinese-French mixed-race individual standing at a victorious 1.92 meters, his photos did not even need editing!

His actual appearance was even more handsome than his photos!

Jiang Feng had seen others who were 1.92 meters tall; Jiang Jianguo was that height—big and heavy, which actually meant robust, but he looked bulky and shorter in comparison, so Jiang Feng never really felt Jianguo was much taller than himself.

Zhang Guanghang was tall, lean, and strong. Standing next to someone like that, Jiang Feng chose to quietly find a corner to sit in.

Having silently sat in the corner for about fifteen minutes, Wu Minqi arrived.

Out of the 32 finalists, there were a total of 10 women, which was a fairly high percentage for a chef competition, influenced by age restrictions. If the age limit had been under 45 for this competition, the proportion of female contestants would likely have been frighteningly low.

The chef profession has never been particularly friendly towards women.

Wu Minqi didn’t notice Jiang Feng, who was hiding in the corner, and was whisked away by the staff to get makeup done.

By the time all the contestants had finished their makeup, it was almost four o’clock. The staff gathered all the participants to introduce some basic precautions and competition rules.

Jiang Feng finally emerged from the dark little corner that the lights didn’t reach, back into the light.

Seeing Jiang Feng, Wu Minqi was surprised and said, “Where were you just now? I didn’t see you. I thought you had forfeited.”

Jiang Feng: “… Why would I forfeit?”

“Didn’t you just ask to borrow my VIP account to watch shows yesterday?”

Jiang Feng:…

Please stop talking about it, forget that minor detail!

“That was actually an accident…”

“Okay, I’ve finished explaining the precautions. Now, let’s introduce the rules for the round of 32 to 16.” The staff said.

Everyone looked attentively at him.

“This competition’s format is quite special, so it will remain confidential for now, but I can introduce the judges’ information to everyone.”

“The first is Mr. Tong Deyan, I’m sure everyone is already familiar with him, the head chef of Zhengde Building. No need for me to go into more detail.”

“The second is Mr. Zang Mu, a grandmaster of Huaiyang cuisine, which I’m sure everyone knows.”

“The third is Mr. Zhu Chang, a disciple of Mr. Zang Mu, also a grandmaster of Huaiyang cuisine. You should all have heard of his name too.”

“The fourth is Mr. Pei Shenghua, the head chef of Chengfang House, also a master of Huaiyang cuisine.”

“The fifth one needs a special introduction from me. He’s the sponsor of this competition, the owner of Good Taste Company, Mr. Han Guishan! Mr. Han Guishan is also a food enthusiast and knows a bit about food tasting, so all competitors can rest assured.”

“We have randomly assigned slots for the competition. Here is the sorting list for everyone to check. In a while, we need your cooperation to go on stage for a run-through, so our staff can confirm the lighting and camera positions. Please bear with us.”

There were only a few tables for everyone to pass around, and Jiang Feng checked his number: 13.

He and this number had been peculiarly fated recently.

It wasn’t two minutes before a staff member directed them to the front stage to do a walk-through.

Although it was a live TV broadcast, this was, after all, a cooking competition, so there was no background music, no slow motions, and certainly nobody making a stylish entrance like on a runway. Everyone just had to stand in front of their cooking stations, and when the live broadcast began, and once the competition was over, so too would the broadcast end.

There was a host, whose role was to introduce the judges to the audience. The contestants’ information wasn’t even introduced. There were no VCRs to play; the staff had explained that VCRs would be edited into the online show a few days later.

Anyway, 16 people out of the 32 were going to be eliminated on the spot, so it was just a waste of time to introduce each one individually.

Though it was just a run-through, some issues like adjusting the lighting took so much time that by the time everything was ready and everyone returned backstage, it was already 7 o’clock.

Jiang Feng continued to sit in his dim little corner, absentmindedly eating his boxed meal.

He had just glanced at the game update progress: 99.9%.

Such an exhilarating progress bar; indeed, he was born to be the protagonist!

“Why are you hiding here?” Wu Minqi came over with her boxed meal.

“Just… it’s quiet here in the corner, not many people.” Jiang Feng said.

Wu Minqi, unable to comprehend Jiang Feng’s thought process, took a bite of cauliflower and said, “This round is about knifework.”

Jiang Feng was startled: “How do you know that?”

“Apart from Han Guishan, the other four judges are all masters renowned for their knifework, especially Zhu Chang; apart from his knifework, his other skills are mediocre. The organizers have specifically invited so many Huaiyang cuisine masters, so this round must be about knifework.” Wu Minqi said.

Jiang Feng didn’t have the heart to tell her that, apart from Han Guishan and Tong Deyan, who had already been announced, he hadn’t heard of any of the other three judges.

“Your knifework is strong; advancing to the next round shouldn’t be a problem,” Wu Minqi said before walking away.

Jiang Feng sat still, only to belatedly realize after a while.

Wu Minqi just now… was comforting him.

He, he wasn’t nervous at all!