The Game of Life

Even Zhang Guanghang, the only one among the four who had come specifically to see the art exhibition, finished his “battle” within an hour and a half.

When they left the gallery, Jiang Feng glanced at his watch, it was only 4:21 pm, 39 minutes earlier than the scheduled end time. Should he call and consult Mr. Jiang Jiankang to see if, in light of his status as a dutiful son, they could move their fried rice dinner up a bit?

After all, they were a slim bunch and wouldn’t take up much space.

Jiang Feng took out his phone.

Wu Minqi and Ji Yue led them into a beautifully decorated dessert shop near the gallery.

Jiang Feng: ???

Dessert shop???

The two maneuvered into the store with ease and found a four-person table by the wall. The lighting was soft and the angle just right; it was an excellent spot for selfies, and you could tell they were regular patrons of this place.

“Would you like something to eat? Their Black Forest cake, yellow peach tart, and plain pudding are all very well made. As for drinks, I recommend sparkling water,” Ji Yue began to recommend desserts to Jiang Feng and Zhang Guanghang.

“I think their sugar-free latte is also quite good,” Wu Minqi said.

“A sugar-free latte has no soul,” Ji Yue countered.

“Coffee with sugar has no soul,” Wu Minqi defended her preference.

“A latte is different!”

“All coffee is the same!”

Jiang Feng & Zhang Guanghang: …

“I want a sugar-free latte,” Jiang Feng declared.

“I’ll have a half-sugar latte,” Zhang Guanghang said.

Wu Minqi and Ji Yue instantly returned to being the close sisters who hand-in-hand shared desserts and put on weight together.

Compared to the deserted gallery, the dessert shop was faring much better. Even though Jiang Feng couldn’t fathom why such a spacious, well-decorated dessert shop would be located next to a gallery, after tasting the Black Forest cake ordered by Wu Minqi, he immediately understood why the two had made a special trip for these treats.

The flavor was excellent – not only perfect for photos with its delicate size and appearance, but the cream and cake were also matched just right. It melted in the mouth like half-dissolved marshmallow, and he found on his second bite that despite seeming to dissolve with a light touch of the tongue against the teeth, it actually had a nice elasticity. The first time he tried it, he couldn’t help but let the cake slide down his throat towards his stomach, and as the sweet-toothed son of Mr. Jiang Jiankang, Jiang Feng’s hidden trait was the occasional indulgence in dainty sweets that didn’t fit his tough-guy persona.

This dessert shop would definitely make it onto the list!

Jiang Feng mentally noted the shop’s name.

Next time Qiqi wanted desserts, there was no need to trouble Ji Yue to accompany her, as he was Qiqi’s boyfriend. It was better to let him take on this arduous task.

At 4:56 pm, after finishing their desserts, the four left the shop to head to the subway station, ready to catch a ride home. Wu Minqi’s planned itinerary had been executed perfectly.

Zhang Guanghang, who had specially opted to travel by subway to work this morning in anticipation of the gallery visit, signifying that he would have to ride the subway back home after eating pickled vegetable fried rice, didn’t let the hassle deter him from his pickled vegetable fried rice resolve.

Once tasted, the allure of the pickled vegetable fried rice is irresistible to anyone.

Not to mention that Mr. Jiang Jiankang was preparing his signature land-sea-air pickled vegetable fried rice tonight, the best pickled vegetable fried rice he had made thus far, a perfect representation of his two decades of fried rice culinary skills.

After more than an hour on the subway, it was their fixed time for casual conversation.

Jiang Feng, Ji Yue, and Wu Minqi were discussing several hit series from the summer season, with Zhang Guanghang standing beside them pretending to understand the conversation, unable to get a word in.

As for Zhang, whose last impression of domestic dramas was from a decade ago, he had no chance of keeping up with the times.

As they talked, Jiang Feng suddenly thought of a serious question.

“Is Ji Xue joining us for dinner tonight?” he asked.

“Xue? She said she’d just make noodles at home. Her stomach hasn’t been feeling well; eating fried rice every day recently has given her a bit of a stomachache, so she needs a couple days to eat some noodle dishes,” Ji Yue responded, then she seemed to remember something too, “Is your kitchen starting to recruit openly in early September?”

“Open recruitment?” the three from the kitchen echoed in unison.

“You don’t know? Didn’t Mrs. Wang tell you?” Ji Yue was somewhat surprised.

Jiang Feng thought to himself, how could my mom possibly tell me anything if she had something on her mind? When she and my dad bought that prime piece of real estate near UAL University without uttering a word to me, they never mentioned a thing.

“Why the sudden public recruitment? Is the lobby staff being laid off?” Jiang Feng asked.

“Yes,” Ji Yue nodded, “Fan and Mrs. Wang are planning to lay off all the staff who haven’t been made permanent this month.”

“How many?” Wu Minqi asked, somewhat curious.

“Around ten, quite a few. They’re either not capable enough or have made mistakes at work, the one who answered the phones is also on the list,” Ji Yue said.

“Why suddenly lay off so many people?” Zhang Guanghang, who was a bit more knowledgeable about restaurant management than Jiang Feng, asked, “Did something happen? Is there a cash flow problem?”

Given Taifeng Building’s daily turnover, it didn’t look like it could possibly be running at a loss; if Taifeng Building was losing money, then Eight-treasure House would’ve probably gone bankrupt long ago, relying on selling property just to pay debts.

“I also find it very strange, because at first, Mrs. Wang clearly said that those who didn’t pass the probation period in the first month could stay another month for observation. Now suddenly it’s gotten this strict; I’m not sure what the specific reasons are. But I heard that Fan is persuading her former colleagues from the restaurant she worked at in Magic City to switch over to our place. Since Fan is personally poaching people, there must be something happening. Moreover, I’ve heard from sisters at other restaurants that a lot of the old establishments in Beiping are contacting renovation companies to redecorate; there seems to be a lot of action recently,” Ji Yue articulated her analysis very clearly.

After hearing Ji Yue’s explanation, Jiang Feng suddenly remembered something he hadn’t paid attention to before. A few days ago, Ling Guangzhao personally went out of town to poach a somewhat famous chef for Eight-treasure House. Ling Guangzhao frequently attempting to poach talents had become commonplace, and his efforts usually ended in failure.

The reason why Ling Guangzhao’s latest poaching effort caught Jiang Feng’s attention was that he had traveled by plane to meet the chef in person, and it was rumored that he made an offer that was way above the market rate, making the poaching so smoothly successful.

Ling Guangzhao suddenly offering a high price to poach a chef, many long-standing restaurants in Beiping preparing for renovations simultaneously, Taifeng Building urgently needing to inject fresh blood through layoffs.

This series of events made a certain idiom flash through Jiang Feng’s mind.

Before the troops move, the grain and grass go first.

Could it be that something big was about to occur in Beiping’s catering industry?

This felt like the rhythm of an impending war.

Was it because Taifeng Building’s business had become increasingly prosperous since its opening, causing the once “Five Emperors”—Eight-treasure House, Tongde House, Yonghe House, Ruyi House, and Shunhe Building—to become vigilant and wanting to act first to end the conflict for supremacy among the six, dominate the industry in Beiping, and complete the legacy no one before had achieved?

Or was it possible that Ling Guangzhao had been playing possum all these years, using the façade of poaching talent everywhere to actually recruit and discover talents? The chef he poached could be the legendary ‘Little Chinese Chef’ level of master chef that rarely makes public appearances, and other restaurants, sensing Ling Guangzhao’s schemes, decided to band together to counter the evil forces of Eight-treasure House.

In just a few short seconds, Jiang Feng thought of many possibilities, the wilder and more fantastical they became, the more he even started adding various over-the-top battle effects in his mind.

Come forth, master chef…

Cough cough.

Jiang Feng admitted that this was entirely because he read too many fantastical comics in his youth.

Jiang Feng and Wu Minqi exchanged glances and then both looked towards Zhang Guanghang. He always had the latest information. If something big was happening in the world of chefs, he would certainly know about it.

Zhang Guanghang, who had been too busy with his love life lately to care about anything else: …

“I don’t know either,” said Zhang Guanghang, “I haven’t heard about anything big happening recently.”

“Neither of you know? I thought you two might have heard something. Never mind, I’ll ask my sister at Eight-treasure House,” Ji Yue took out her phone.

Jiang Feng’s look at Ji Yue immediately changed.

“You actually have a sister at Eight-treasure House?”

Ji Gezi, your thoughts are really dangerous now, I suspect you of aiding the enemy.

“Yes, I’m very close with the supervisor over at Eight-treasure House. Us supervisors have our own group just like chefs do, and I ‘like’ my supervisor friend’s posts in the friends’ circle all the time,” Ji Yue claimed, while she might not have money, she surely had plenty of friends.

“Even if Eight-treasure House’s food isn’t all that great, their service management is really good. I think when Eight-treasure House goes under one day, we could poach their supervisor,” Ji Yue said, “She’s a graduate from the Lausanne Hotel Management School in Switzerland.”

Jiang Feng: (•̀∀•́)

Ling Guangzhao, you never imagined, huh? You’re always out there poaching others; now others have their eyes on your corner.

“Keep up the good work,” Jiang Feng patted Ji Yue’s shoulder. “If you manage to poach her, I’ll talk to my mom about giving you a raise.”