The Game of Life

In the blink of an eye, the end of the year had come.

Winter in Beiping was much colder than in Alan City and City Z, with the heating turned on early, ensuring the indoors was as warm as spring. In stark contrast, the outside was bitterly cold, making the commute to work all the more difficult.

The down jacket that had accompanied Jiang Feng through the long winter of the past two years was no longer sufficient, so Mrs. Wang Xiulian had spent a considerable amount on a Valentino down jacket for Jiang Feng, the same brand worn by the old man, notwithstanding Jiang Feng’s preference for the neighboring Versace.

Since the onset of winter, every evening on his way home, whenever Jiang Feng saw someone in a Versace down jacket working 996, he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy. Those wearing the Versace often wondered why Jiang Feng was donning a Valentino that seemed so incongruous with his age.

They would often exchange glances on the road, wondering about each other’s professions.

In November, Ji Xia’s Zhajiang noodles and Zhou Shi’s cold sea cucumber officially made their debut in Taifeng Building’s menu, but since Ji Xia’s Zhajiang noodles were only classified as C-grade when she made them alone, they were sold in a combo meal with Jiang Feng’s crab-filled oranges.

A single serving of crab-filled oranges was priced at 188 yuan, and a combo meal at 388 yuan apiece. Anyone who had studied mathematics and had a bit of interest could easily calculate that a bowl of Zhajiang noodles was valued at 200 yuan.

The Zhajiang noodles at Eight-treasure House were only sold for 88 yuan per bowl.

Such exorbitant prices initially made some of the more adventurous eaters hesitant.

But it quickly became apparent that the crab-filled oranges in the combo meal were far tastier than the standalone version, offering a flavor that was not even on the same level.

Those who frequented Taifeng Building were not short on cash, and those who came once or twice would do their homework and learn that the signature dishes at Taifeng were mostly limited edition or reserved. Consequently, after a few days of dismal sales, the orange and noodle combo became as coveted as sweet and sour yam, transforming into another of Taifeng’s signature dishes albeit seasonally.

As a result, Ji Xia’s bank account grew considerably. Furnace chefs received bonuses for their dishes, and although Ji Xia had no base salary, she still received bonuses.

Ji Xia requested that Jiang Feng save up her bonuses for now and give them to her just before the end-of-year vacation. It looked like she was planning to buy some things to take home during the holiday. Jiang Feng did not ask directly, but he could guess what she wanted to buy—it was probably food and clothing.

The game entered another update phase in mid-November, this time with an unprecedentedly slow progress. For the first three days, the progress bar stayed at 0%, making Jiang Feng suspect that the game company had gone bankrupt, the boss had absconded, and the servers had stopped updating due to a shutdown.

Now it was the end of December, and tomorrow would be New Year’s Day, yet the progress bar had only just reached 27%, indicating an update that seemed destined to take an eternity.

During these two months, Jiang Feng had been practicing noodle pulling, making mooncakes, and preparing sea cucumbers.

Because of his continuous practice with pastry work, his knifework hadn’t improved much, but his seasoning and fire control skills had significantly advanced.

He had attempted to make lobster with superior broth once, but after achieving only a D-grade, he abandoned the idea and lamented the waste of a fine lobster.

Jiang Feng had little experience with seafood and wasn’t adept at handling it, so challenging himself with such a difficult Cantonese dish was somewhat unrealistic.

Rather than starting from scratch to learn how to make lobster with superior broth, he figured it made more sense to stick to practicing noodle pulling to see if he could make a decent bowl of Zhajiang noodles. He didn’t need it to be A or B-grade—the buff from the combination with crab-filled oranges would automatically elevate the Zhajiang noodles to A-grade.

Of course, these were all minor matters, just like Jiang Shoucheng successfully slimming down to below 200 pounds but still failing to win over the girl he loved, or not coming to learn noodle pulling from Jiang Feng, another trivial issue. Jiang Shoucheng not only didn’t learn noodle pulling, he even canceled their department’s group meal.

It was initially just postponed, as there always seemed to be someone who had to work overtime, preventing the meal from taking place smoothly. It was pushed back until a date in mid-November when everyone was finally available.

On the day of the meal, however, a series of car accidents occurred near the Benevolent Doctor Hospital, requiring the entire emergency department to be dispatched for rescue operations. After a full day of busyness, dinner was delivered by Jiang Feng, who brought his homemade Zhajiang noodles and mooncakes, along with Mr. Jiang Jiankang’s lovingly made fried rice.

The recipients of the food were not just the busy doctors in the emergency room but also the firefighters involved in the rescue. Exhausted from the whole day’s efforts, everyone was starving, and Jiang Feng seized the opportunity to rack up a substantial amount of experience.

It was also for this reason that his game leveled up.

Given another chance, Jiang Feng would choose to let Mr. Jiang Jiankang single-handedly fry rice for everyone.

But all these matters paled in comparison to the release of Taste Magazine.

Indeed, Mr. Xu Cheng, the famed pigeon gourmet of the culinary world, who had missed out on many an opportunity—including a special issue—was presumed to miss the annual publication as well, until Taste Magazine finally announced its release date.

January 1st.

New Year’s Day.

Mr. Xu Cheng ultimately bailed on last year’s magazine issue.

But that was all unimportant, as the online version of the “Taste” magazine cover revealed a close-up of Taifeng Building, with its signboard clearly visible. Although it was only the cover of the Asian edition that featured Taifeng Building, the mere fact was enough to send Jiang Feng into an ecstatic frenzy.

Mr. Xu Cheng indeed did not disappoint him—he really didn’t have the time or energy to come up with a brand new magazine cover.

Taifeng Building was set to take off.

Ever since “Taste” magazine announced the cover at the end of December, long lines had formed outside Taifeng Building, a sight once only seen during the National Day holidays, but now even ordinary Mondays through Fridays saw the building swamped with people, indistinguishable from those popular viral eateries.

After all, “Taste” magazine was truly the weather vane of the food circle, far more reliable than any so-called viral check-in places. Nowadays, many people keep a collection of “Taste” issues at home, flipping through the magazine for dining recommendations whenever they travel to a new city.

It had been several years since “Taste” magazine had directly featured a restaurant on its cover, and every restaurant that had graced the cover was one with excellent word-of-mouth, where countless fans flocked.

Overnight, Taifeng Building became renowned within the industry.

Until now, Taifeng Building’s fame had been confined to Beiping and its surrounding areas; after all, food is not like other products—it needs to be tasted to be understood. People talk about famous restaurants in a particular place, not about nationwide renowned restaurants.

To this day, domestic gourmets have not been able to select a number one restaurant that satisfies the palate of all the nation’s eateries—each region has its own tastes and preferences, and no one would be content with any selection.

Not to mention, the battle for the top spot in Beiping hadn’t even been settled as the sudden rise of Taifeng Building turned the struggle among the four emperors into a battle of five.

Many people at home and abroad buy several versions of “Taste” magazine at once, let alone that this time the interview about Taifeng Building was written personally by Mr. Xu Cheng, and would appear in every edition.

Many gourmets, who weren’t short on cash to begin with, treated the magazine like a cookbook, seeking to dine on the dishes featured within its pages, with an enthusiasm that rivaled even the most ardent fan bases.

Mrs. Wang Xiulian, a business genius, immediately started calculating how much to raise the prices. Jiang Feng promptly dissuaded her. It would be overly capitalistic and unsightly to raise prices the moment they rose to fame; they could easily wait until after the New Year’s celebrations were over.

Raising prices after the New Year was a perfectly normal move—new year, new prices. Jiang Feng believed that Taifeng Building’s patrons, both new and old, would understand.

After all, there wasn’t much time until after New Year’s, with the early celebrations this year and the Small New Year falling in mid-January. The tradition of the Jiang Family was that once the Small New Year arrived, it was considered the New Year, and there was no need for work as everyone should close shop, go home for the holidays, and look forward to enjoying the dishes cooked by Sir.

This year would be no different. No matter how good business was or how high the profit margins from the New Year’s Eve dinner, Taifeng Building would not engage in business over the festive period. In this world, there’s nothing more intoxicating and blissful than returning home for the New Year to feast on the dishes prepared by Sir for more than ten consecutive days.

Let’s set aside the future for now, as everyone in the culinary circle and those following “Taste” magazine were awaiting the January 1st release of the thickened issue to see what this restaurant, which had made it onto the cover of “Taste,” truly was like and what Mr. Xu Cheng’s assessment of it would be.

While the outside world was highly anticipating the January 1st release of “Taste” magazine, the staff in Taifeng Building’s kitchen were disinterested in the matter.

Everyone collectively pleaded with Jiang Feng, Jiang Jiankang, and the two Sirs.

Please, hire two more chefs for the kitchen!

We really can’t handle 996 anymore.

No matter how high the overtime pay, the high intensity of work is unsustainable. Although they might handle it for ten days or half a month, if it went on for half a year to a year, they feared they’d end up earning money without a life to spend it.

Jiang Feng and Jiang Jiankang actively embraced everyone’s suggestions, mainly because they too were nearly at their limits. The recent recruitment drive for chefs had been quite successful, attracting many applicants for the positions.

With the New Year bringing a new atmosphere, after discussion, it was decided that Taifeng Building would hold its second recruitment for the kitchen staff at Fen Garden at 3 PM on January 1st.

It was time for Taifeng Building’s kitchen to bring in some fresh faces.

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