The Game of Life

The atmosphere between Jiang Weiguo and Sun Guanyun was subtle, filled with the smell of gunpowder.

Jiang Weiming faced the situation with a smile, like a spectator who remains calmly watching from a fishing platform.

Jiang Feng looked confused and was soon to become the innocent fish that gets caught up in the trouble.

“Have you made up your mind?” Sun Guanyun asked in a deep voice.

“I have,” Jiang Feng replied seriously, “and the shrimp is washed too.”

Sun Guanyun nodded, “You start mixing them.”

Jiang Feng had been thinking about the three sauces until two or three in the morning last night.

In his opinion, the primary flavors of sauces are sweet, salty, sour, and spicy. Among them, sour is quite unique; it can be paired with salty and spicy at will. Most dipping sauces for plain chicken and blanched shrimp include some vinegar.

Vinegar can stimulate the appetite and enhance people’s desire to eat. It is one of the simplest seasoning methods, and thus, the three sauces Jiang Feng chose all included varying amounts of vinegar.

After mentally trying out many complicated sauces, Jiang Feng’s final three selections turned out to be surprisingly simple.

Salty flavor, spicy with a touch of sour, and sour-salty flavor.

Shrimp has a natural slight sweetness; using a sweet-tasting sauce would be counterproductive.

The sauce is meant to complement, not cover, the natural taste of shrimp.

Under the watchful eyes of the three elders, Jiang Feng finished mixing the sauces. He was a bit nervous, mainly because of the overpowering gazes of the elders, particularly Jiang Weiguo’s, which was almost identical to that of a high school headteacher who would always watch you from the back door.

“Okay… it’s ready,” Jiang Feng tried to glean something from Jiang Weiguo’s expression.

He couldn’t make anything out.

“Are the signs set up properly?” Jiang Weiguo asked.

“They are,” Jiang Feng had barely finished speaking when Ji Yue called out from outside.

“Jiang Feng, the taste testers are here, are you ready?”

The Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant didn’t operate during breakfast. The three girls, likely roommates, had just eaten breakfast across the street at the noodle shop and came in after seeing the sign. They hadn’t seen a sign outside the door yesterday and were participating in their first tasting at a place near UAL University, appearing somewhat uneasy.

“What does ‘customized’ mean on the sign outside?” the girl with short black hair asked.

“Are we required to give feedback during the tasting?” inquired the girl with short blonde hair.

“Tell me your preferences, what you like and what you avoid. I’ll prepare the sauces for you,” Jiang Feng responded, taking a Post-it note to jot things down.

“Hmm, no ginger, no garlic, no cilantro, not too salty, not too spicy, not too sweet, and not too sour,” the short blonde-haired girl requested.

Jiang Feng: “…”

“Stronger flavor, no sesame oil, it can be a bit spicy, but not too salty,” the only long-haired girl commented.

“I’m not fussy, just not too spicy is fine,” the girl with short black hair said.

After tearing off the Post-it note, Jiang Feng reminded Ji Yue that people had arrived and asked her to take down their preferences before he headed to the kitchen to boil the shrimp.

Jiang Feng was skilled at deveining shrimp using a toothpick without having to twist off the heads or tails to get it clean.

The shrimp vein is the digestive tract, which can affect the shrimp’s texture, especially during boiling. Dropping a couple dozen shrimp into the pot at once, Jiang Feng began to consider dipping sauces based on the three girls’ tastes.

The three dipping sauces each had varying amounts of garlic. The girl with short blonde hair asked for most of the restrictions, but everything she said after that was discarded as worthless. Jiang Feng decided to give her the third sauce, which was the most traditional sour-salty one with a bit of garlic. Naturally, the long-haired girl received the second type, spicy with a touch of sour, and the last girl also got the third type.

Two minutes later, the shrimp in the pot turned red, perfectly cooked with tender meat. Jiang Feng turned off the heat, scooped the shrimp out of the pot with a slotted spoon, and placed three shrimps on each plate using chopsticks. With four plates on a tray, Jiang Feng carried it out with both hands.

After finishing their meal, the three girls unanimously gave positive reviews.

“Not bad, pretty good.”

“Delicious.”

“Not too shabby.”

The short blonde-haired girl, who had said she didn’t eat onions, garlic, or cilantro, seemed satisfied even though there was garlic in the dipping sauce. “Any dissatisfaction?” Jiang Feng asked.

“Just a bit of garlic, but the taste isn’t strong, I can hardly tell, so it’s okay, maybe a tad salty?” the short blonde-haired girl stated.

“Hmm, nothing wrong, I think it’s pretty good, would it be even better with some sesame oil?” the girl with short black hair pondered.

“It’s good, could be spicier though,” the long-haired woman said.

“That’s it, right?” the three said in unison.

Jiang Feng nodded, “That’s it.”

After the three girls left, they couldn’t help but start discussing among themselves.

“Hey, come to think of it, I didn’t even eat shrimp over the New Year.”

“Yeah, I want shrimp now too. Do they sell it here at lunch?”

“They probably don’t sell it. Didn’t you see the tasting sign at the door? They must be waiting for the tasting to end before selling it.”

“Alas, I’ll probably lose the craving in a couple of days.”

“Doesn’t the canteen sell shrimp, though? It’s a bit bad and not too fresh. If you want, you can go eat shrimp in the canteen at noon.”

“The canteen’s is just too…”

Jiang Feng was clearing plates and wiping tables when he suddenly heard Ji Yue, who was holding a digital tablet, blurt out.

“Why do I feel the sauce you gave those two short-haired girls was the same?”

Jiang Feng was startled. The two girls who were eating hadn’t noticed, but Ji Yue, who was drawing on the side, somehow did.

“You noticed?”

“Smelled it. I’m at your restaurant every day dealing with food; I’ve got that level of skill.” Ji Yue kept her focus on the digital tablet, not looking up, “What’s with the gimmicks today? Since it’s all the same, why bother asking them about their taste preferences.”

“Just consider it a test question, but don’t tell the customers, okay!” Jiang Feng reminded.

“Oh.”

The tasting event lasted until ten-thirty, and after that, people started coming in for lunch. The flow of customers wasn’t as heavy as the previous afternoon; very few students could drag themselves out of bed to eat breakfast when there were no early morning classes. Around thirty people came to taste, giving feedback similar to that of the previous afternoon.

It was all positive reviews, and amazingly, the suggestions were nearly the same as the day before.

It was either a bit too salty, not spicy enough, or just needed a bit more vinegar.

Jiang Weiguo was in a very good mood, helping to cook quite a few dishes at noon. Jiang Weiming and Sun Guanyun saw Jiang Weiguo in action and got excited themselves, itching to cook and snatching Jiang Feng’s work, sending him up front to help serve dishes and wipe tables. Jiang Weiming, being the eldest, took a break after cooking just a couple of dishes, but it was Sun Guanyun who found the same feeling he had back when he was head chef at Jubao Building, cooking beside Jiang Weiguo from start to finish.

The students who caught wind of what was happening were going crazy, especially those from Guangdong Province. They almost cried with joy when they heard they could order Cantonese dishes, treasuring a portion of stir-fried beef ho fun as if it were a full Manchu Han Imperial Feast.

It wasn’t even noon yet, only half-past eleven, and the wave of students who’d finish classes at noon hadn’t started their assault on the various cafeterias and restaurants. Yet the Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant was already full to the brim with patrons.

Six people squeezed together at a four-person table, and it was no big deal to share a meal with strangers. There were those eating inside the restaurant, outside the restaurant, and some even stood in front of the neighboring stew shop to eat. Take-away food might cool down and not taste as good, so many preferred to stand by the road with their plates rather than pack their meals to eat at the dormitory later.

Ji Yue’s shouts had become: “Fellow students, please eat a little faster. Those who are eating rice bowls, try to stand while eating, and give up your seats to those who are ordering dishes!”

“Hey, excuse me, let me through, let those sitting down there scoot over so I can deliver the food.”

“Sorry, there’s no time to wipe the table, would you mind—oh, great, thank you!”

Jiang Feng even doubted whether there would be enough dishes for everyone if the back kitchen didn’t have such a large supply of bowls and plates.

“Jiang Feng, what are you spacing out for? Didn’t you see that the table over there has finished eating? Go clear the table!”

“Yeah!” Picking up the cloth, Jiang Feng made his way over, “Excuse me, let me through, careful not to spill your food, empty plates, see the table by the window? Put it there!”

The online delivery orders from the WeChat mini-program were about to explode. Liu Zixuan and Wang Hao were supposed to take the day off, but Jiang Feng called them last minute to deliver orders. Liu Zixuan didn’t have morning classes and had been comfortably being a happy fatty at his dormitory, but was shocked upon seeing so many people in the restaurant.

“Feng, what’s the occasion today, are we doing a promotion? Fifty percent off?” Liu Zixuan thought only the train stations during the Spring Festival could compare to this scene.

“My grandpa, Granduncle Weiming, and the former head chef from Jubao Building are all in the back kitchen,” said Jiang Feng.

“The FJ Jubao Building?” Liu Zixuan exclaimed, someone who had seen his fair share of the world.

Jiang Feng nodded.

“Awesome, truly awesome. I’ll eat here at noon!” For a moment, Liu Zixuan didn’t know what else to say and went off to deliver the orders.

“Jiang Feng, why are you standing there? Clear the table by the window, it’s finished!” Chief commander Ji Yue was issuing orders again, yelling at the top of her lungs towards the second floor, “Mrs. Wang, can we add more seats upstairs?”

The congestion at Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant ended with the generosity of the neighboring stew shop, Shaxian Snacks, and the ramen shop across the street.

With so many customers at Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant, the other shops were quiet by comparison.

Everyone got along well on regular days, and Mrs. Wang Xiulian, a clever businesswoman, had already successfully negotiated deals to sell stew in collaboration with the stew shop, Shaxian Snacks to sell clay pot soups, and with the ramen shop across the street to sell braised beef. With their own businesses being quiet, the owners of these three shops generously offered up their spare tables and chairs, allowing AUL University students with no seats to bring their food from Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant into their establishments to eat.

Though the crowd in the restaurant dispersed, Jiang Feng’s heart was still hanging in the air.

Because the ordinary-looking student in front of him had already eaten 3 plates of stir-fried beef ho fun, three large plates!

And now he was working on the fourth.

“Zhang Zhiyuan, are you okay?” His roommate who came with him was somewhat alarmed.

“I’m fine, really fine,” Zhang Zhiyuan responded, “This stir-fried beef ho fun is really good. It tastes just like what we have back home, the same feeling. My grandmother used to make this for me, it’s—wow—just this flavor.” As he spoke, with a mouthful of stir-fried beef ho fun, Zhang Zhiyuan started to cry.

“When my grandma was still around, it tasted just like this. I haven’t had this flavor in so many years, it’s exactly the same.” Sobbing, Zhang Zhiyuan lifted his plate and shoveled the stir-fried beef ho fun into his mouth.

Large tears fell straight down into his lap and onto the table.

After finishing the fourth plate, Zhang Zhiyuan decided not to eat anymore. He wiped his tears, paid the bill, and asked, “Classmate, will your restaurant continue to sell this?”

“It’s probably just for this afternoon,” said Jiang Feng.

“Then pack one for me.” Zhang Zhiyuan took out his phone again to scan and pay.

“Are you insane? You want to burst?” His roommate tried to stop him.

“I’m taking it back for dinner tonight!”

As Jiang Feng cleared the plates and wiped the table, his palm brushed across the still-wet tears on the table’s surface.

“Drip.”

Jiang Feng: ?

Another stupid game’s resurrection?