The Game of Life

As for how familiar he was with someone, he had his own unique set of criteria.

Take Wu Minqi, for example. Sun Jikai had known Wu Minqi since they were very young, but even now, though they cooked side by side across the stove every day, theyjustweren’tclose.

Then there was Ji Yue. They had never had any contact before, and they had nothing to do with each other at work, but just because they had often eaten barbecue together these last few nights, they had become quite close.

Another example was Jiang Feng. They were colleagues as well as boss and employee, seeing each other daily, but until before noon today, they weren’t on familiar terms. It wasn’t until that afternoon, when they made a breakthrough together while researching the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon, that they suddenly went from strangers to somewhat close.

Of course, the Sun Jikai who never said an extra word to those he wasn’t familiar with was the sober Sun Jikai. The drunk Sun Jikai was a completely different person.

When drunk, Sun Jikai was practically Pei Shenghua’s double, talkative, not just talkative but rambling on and on, even if no one paid him any attention.

Most drunkards like to tell stories after they get drunk, true ones, false ones, made-up ones, ones they’ve heard—there’s no story they can’t come up with.

And Sun Jikai just so happened to be at a phase of life rich with stories.

Once the heir to a wealthy family, he was schemed against by his uncle’s family, cast out of his grandparents’ house, his bank cards and credit cards frozen, with no friends or relatives daring to help him. He used to wear Burberry, sporting custom-made cufflinks worth tens of thousands, and now here he was, sitting with Jiang Feng, who only had four Versace shirts in his closet, eating grilled potato slices that cost three yuan each.

“I just don’t understand why Ji Xue’s stir-fried beef rice noodles are eight yuan more expensive than mine,” Sun Jikai mumbled, slightly inebriated.

“Why is it that Zhang Guanghang’s tomato sauce prawns cost sixteen yuan more than mine?”

“Zhang Guanghang is one thing; he’s got great culinary skills, and Sun Maochai even gave him guidance. I accept that his dishes are priced higher than mine. But you’re clearly a Shandong chef—why is your lychee pork six yuan more expensive than mine?” Sun Jikai pointed at Jiang Feng, his face full of sorrow and anger.

“Why? All I did was lose one competition, so why did my grandfather suddenly throw me out without a word, leaving me penniless and jobless, my girlfriend even dumping me, and I come to Beiping to work as a chef, my stir-fried beef rice noodles are eight yuan cheaper than everyone else’s!”

“Why!”

Sun Jikai’s speech was full of highs and lows, resounding with intensity, deeply sad, enough to bring listeners to tears.

Such a tragedy!

Ji Yue, who was peeling crayfish, paused. Comparing her situation with Sun Jikai’s made it seem like she was living pretty well.

All she experienced was getting cheated on by her boyfriend, failing her postgraduate entrance exams, her family’s fortunes waning, suddenly becoming broke, unable to find a job, gaining 10 kilograms, unable to control her eating—not nearly as harrowing as everything Sun Jikai had endured recently. Her past year and more seemed quite happy and satisfying in comparison.

As she had stopped peeling the crayfish midway, the red and spicy soup seeped out from the crevices of the crayfish meat, dripping down Ji Yue’s palm. She hurriedly wiped the soup off her hand with a piece of paper, while trying to piece together words in her mind to comfort Sun Jikai.

“Sir Sun probably just wanted you to go out and gain some experience,” Wu Minqi had a better understanding of Sun Jikai’s family situation.

“That’s not it. Your family situation is not like mine, all of your situations are different from mine, you wouldn’t understand. It must be my uncle who said something to my grandfather again. Otherwise, my grandfather wouldn’t have thrown me out without saying anything,” Sun Jikai mentioned his soft spot, drowning his sorrows in drink, and took a large gulp of cold beer.

“Maybe you’re overthinking it,” Ji Yue tried to console him with a laugh, not familiar with the situation.

“I’m not overthinking it; it’s definitely my uncle. He always puts on a good guy act, but what he really thinks, only he himself knows.” Sun Jikai took another big gulp of cold beer, finishing his second glass.

“Jiang Feng, I envy you. You have two grandpas, one more than me, two uncles, two more than me, and two more aunts than me,” Sun Jikai all but collapsed onto the table, “You have so many relatives, and they’re all so good, not like me with just one uncle who’s nothing but trouble.”

“My dad is no good, my mom is no good, I’m no good, andmy uncle—he’s nothing at all, our entire family… none of us are any good…” Sun Jikai’s voice grew quieter and quieter, until he fell asleep.

Jiang Feng and his two companions:…

They had seen plenty of people who cursed others when they were drunk, but it wasn’t often that they encountered someone who cursed themselves as well.

When Sun Jikai went down, the fun of drinking ice-cold beer and eating crayfish immediately halved.

“I can’t believe he actually… actually…” Jiang Feng was at a loss for words on how to describe Sun Jikai.

Normally, he had the aura of a domineering CEO with thirty years in both Hedong and Hexi—cold and aloof on the outside but a proud tsundere at heart, seemingly with a bit of social anxiety, and when he was drunk and babbling, there was even a hint of a Cantonese accent.

“Jiang Feng, are you still going to eat the crayfish?” Ji Yue removed her gloves, signaling the end of the battle.

Jiang Feng glanced at the basin, estimating there was still more than a pound left, but eating so many spicy foods late in the night was really too much for his stomach.

Shaking his head, Jiang Feng declined, “No more, if I eat too much, I’ll have diarrhea tomorrow.”

“Okay, then I’ll go and pay. Hey, do you remember what Sun Jikai ordered? It seems these three oysters were all his, right?” Ji Yue had dined at this restaurant several times and was familiar with the prices, “I’ll put down half a pound of crayfish for you. You and Qiqi can transfer your share to me on Alipay later, I’ll go and settle the bill now to make sure they didn’t overcharge.”

After Ji Yue left to pay the bill, Jiang Feng looked at the slumped Sun Jikai on the table with a headache, then turned to Wu Minqi and asked, “What should we do with him?”

“You’ll have to take him home,” Wu Minqi chuckled.

“But where does he live?” Jiang Feng was stumped. He pushed Sun Jikai, trying to wake him up, but the drunk was sleeping like a log, utterly unmoved.

Left with no other choice, Jiang Feng had to rummage through all of Sun Jikai’s pockets until he found a keychain with a house number on it.

With Wu Minqi’s help, Jiang Feng hoisted Sun Jikai and noted that even though Sun Jikai wasn’t particularly tall or burly, he was unexpectedly heavy.

“I’ll take him home first; Qiqi, you gobackwith Ji Yue later,” Jiang Feng said.

“Okay,” Wu Minqi smiled and nodded.

Jiang Feng, tugging and dragging, set off to take Sun Jikai home. After Ji Yue finished paying, she still held a takeout box, noting that Jiang Feng and Sun Jikai had already left.

“Qiqi, your man has taken Sun Jikai home. Does he even know where Sun Jikai lives?” Ji Yue began to pack up the remaining crayfish.

“Sun Jikai’s keychain has his apartment number,” Wu Minqi explained.

Seeing that Ji Yue wasn’t just putting crayfish into the takeout box but also scooping in a couple of ladles of broth, it seemed she was planning to continue feasting at home.

“Are you going to eat more when you get back?” Wu Minqi was somewhat astonished by Ji Yue’s appetite—it initially seemed that she was aligning with the Jiang Family’s eating habits, but now it appeared she was closing in on Liu Qian’s level.

“I’ve already eaten so much tonight; how could I possibly eat anymore? I’m packing it for Xue. When we left today, I saw Xue grabbing some ingredients from the kitchen to practice with; she’s probably not asleep yet.” Ji Yue said, carefully picking out the garlic leaves and ginger slices from the crayfish.

“Xue actually really likes this kind of food. The other day, Jiang Feng bought her bubble tea, and she couldn’t bear to finish it all, sipping it until evening.

She even ate every last tapioca pearl one by one, just like a child.” Ji Yue secured the lid of the takeout box and placed it inside a plastic bag.

“You’re always so thoughtful,” Wu Minqi said, “But how can you eat crayfish without drinking cola? I’ll go buy you a bottle.”

Some people are worth all this care,” Ji Yue smiled.