The Game of Life

“Cut,” the director poked his head out from behind the monitor, his face calm, “Next.”

He was clearly someone who had weathered great storms.

“May I leave now?” Ji Xue asked.

“Yes, you may.”

Ji Xue silently left, leaving behind a solitary and dashing figure to everyone.

Jiang Feng:…

Are all the contestants on this show so full of character?

Thinking about his own cliched self-introduction he had prepared all night, lines like “I’ve loved cooking since I was young, I feel very honored to make it to the top 32 in this competition, and I’m very aspire to be the champion,” seemed nutrition-less compared to Ji Xue’s blunt job-seeking declaration.

Compared to Ji Xue’s 20 seconds of a smooth take, Jiang Feng’s minute and a half of cliched introduction took a good five or six takes.

But nobody was in a hurry, the director was composed throughout, mainly because there was plenty of time, even after Jiang Feng finished recording his VCR, the next contestant had yet to arrive.

After the recording ended, Jiang Feng checked his phone, it wasn’t even half-past nine.

“Director Hu, we’re moving through the recording quite fast!” the assistant director exclaimed.

The well-experienced Director Hu nodded and said to the only crew member who had paid any attention to Jiang Feng, “Wang, get in touch with the contestants who are scheduled for this afternoon and try to finish recording today.”

“Okay, Director Hu,” the busy Wang hurried off to continue his busyness.

Jiang Feng silently left.

Mrs. Wang Xiulian dragged Jiankang off to splurge in Hong Kong, so with the Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant closed, Jiang Feng had nothing to do. He sent a WeChat message to Wu Minqi with this sad news and then decided to do something meaningful.

Like checking how the lousy game update was progressing.

Back at the dorm, Wang Hao had gone to class, and no one else was present; Jiang Feng could randomly click in the air without anyone thinking he was a lunatic. Opening the game panel, the familiar bugs were still there, and the interface for Sweet and Sour Yam hung on the update screen as stubbornly as a small web pop-up.

The progress bar read: 99.7%.

Jiang Feng almost cried tears of joy.

Such a perfectly timed update rate, could it be that he was really the protagonist of those urban culinary novels, where the game that always disconnects miraculously comes online just at the critical moment?

Just like the tv show where the protagonist’s assistant only appears at the most critical times.

Jiang Feng was invigorated, opened his phone, and started reading Wang Hao’s updates from the past few days.

After accumulating for over a week, Jiang Feng took a bit over an hour to finish reading, and even after he was done, he felt unsatisfied and checked the time of the latest update.

Thirteen minutes ago.

He then checked today’s class schedule.

Optical Information Processing.

He found the textbook that had been issued a month ago but was still brand new, without even a name written on it, and flipped to the table of contents, the first chapter.

Two-dimensional Fourier analysis.

Great. Wang Hao’s understanding of Fourier series in “Signals and Systems” was so terrible, and this class was even more difficult than “Signals and Systems.” He still dared to goof off, play with his phone, and write stories; it looked like another course would be added to next year’s retake list.

With time on his hands, Jiang Feng started reading “Theory and Application of Information Optics” in the dormitory. By studying now, he could avoid it during finals, and since there were no places to practice cooking, he might as well study.

After swimming in the sea of knowledge for a day, calling for takeout twice, Jiang Feng finally dragged himself ashore at ten in the evening, ready to wash up and sleep.

Before going to sleep, he glanced at the game panel.

99.7%.

Jiang Feng believed that tomorrow would definitely be a brand-new day with the game update completed.

He truly was the destined protagonist!

The next morning, 99.7%.

The next evening, 99.7%.

The morning of the third day, 99.7%.

The morning of the fourth day, 99.7%.

The morning of the fifth day, 99.8%.

Jiang Feng almost cried tears of joy when he saw the progress bar had only increased by 0.1% in five days, a change that was virtually imperceptible to the naked eye.

What kind of internet speed must it be to only rise by 0.1% in five days?

In those five days, Jiang Feng had finished reading all the textbooks for his courses. Although the game had no art design, no customer service, was shoddily made, and riddled with bugs, the cheat it came with worked pretty well. Jiang Feng said he would definitely give it a one-star rave review if there was a rating system.

Tomorrow is Qingming Festival, and although barely anyone from UAL University would actually go home specifically to tend to family graves, it is still an official public holiday that deserves to be celebrated. For instance, Wang Hao launched a Qingming Festival special, offering a free bottle of regular temperature cola with any single person purchase over 30!

Having a room for two but living alone greatly benefited Wang Hao; he could bring in loads of stock and store them however he liked. Slip the dorm supervisor some cigarettes and fruits periodically, and the old man would turn a blind eye during inspections.

Jiang Feng borrowed Wu Minqi’s VIP account and logged in on his computer with a QR code to binge-watch shows. The shop’s closure these past few days meant that he wasn’t able to keep up with Ji Yue watching series together, and he’d fallen behind by quite some episodes. Today, he was finally able to catch up in one go, which was immensely satisfying.

Engrossed in melodramatic romance dramas until noon, Jiang Feng was about to order takeout when he received a WeChat message from Jiang Jiankang, informing him that Mrs. Wang Xiulian had thoroughly enjoyed her spending spree and decided to return early.

After switching to an even more upscale skincare range and pricier facial masks, Xiulian felt so good that she even bought a new pair of leather shoes for Jiankang and a new hat for Jiang Feng, feeling that there was nothing much left to enjoy in Hong Kong City. After all, having visited once a year, it no longer felt fresh to her. She booked a ticket for the afternoon flight and could reach Alan City by evening.

“Don’t mention anything about SK-II to your mom, and make sure to hide the previous set well. The facial masks are under the bedside table drawer; take those and hide them too.” Thirty seconds after sending this message, Jiankang quickly retracted it.

Xuilian was not only fickle but also could hold a grudge.

Jiankang had sacrificed his own little treasury to upgrade Xiulian’s skincare products, and by doing so, Jiang Feng also got his share at a bargain. Jiang Feng hurried back to Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant, moved all the skincare products and facial masks back to his dorm, and was momentarily at a loss with his sudden windfall.

Last time he applied the skincare products, Jiang Feng just slathered them on any old way. Now with the full set including facial masks all to himself, he decided it was time to seriously research proper skincare techniques.

He didn’t have that many female friends to begin with. Xiuxiu was the first to be ruled out—as if she would laugh for a whole year if she found out he was using facial masks. Minqi was quite casual with skincare, slapping on expensive products with the confidence of someone who had money. Liu Qian actually had quite some insights on beauty and skincare since becoming a streamer, but she didn’t respond to his messages promptly, likely busy with alive stream.

That left only one option—Ji Yue.

Though Ji Yue was poor, procrastinated, delayed her work, grew increasingly gluttonous, gained ten pounds over the New Year, and failed her postgraduate entrance exams, she was a good girl. As an unqualified art student, she was well-versed in all kinds of makeup and skincare techniques, and her response to messages was always especially prompt when she was procrastinating on her drawings.

Sure enough, Ji Yue replied instantly as soon as Jiang Feng sent her a message.

“What skincare products? Send me a photo to see.”

Jiang Feng sent a photo over.

Then there was silence.

Ten minutes later, Ji Yue updated her Moments.

“What is going on with guys these days? They’re richer than you, more refined than you, and even their skincare products are ten times more expensive than yours!!! No more procrastinating, I’m taking orders!”

Jiang Feng: ???