The Game of Life

“Dinner time!” Han Youxin, who had already slimmed down and could no longer be called a chubby kid, leaped up from the sofa, cheering.

“Dad, I want to eat Beiping roast duck!” Han Youxin loudly expressed his deepest craving.

“There’s no Beijing roast duck,” Han Guishan said, expressionless.

“Youxin’s mattress in his room needs to be changed; he’s still growing and can’t sleep on such a soft mattress.” Wang Jing emerged from Han Youxin’s room. “There are still many things we need to buy for the house, like kitchenware. The table lamp, the cupboard, and all that need to be replaced with new ones. The walk-in closet has to be redone just like our old one, and as for the study, you see to it yourself, I’m not handling your study.”

Han Guishan and his family had just landed last night, and their new home in Beijing still required Wang Jing’s attentive redecoration and cleaning. In this regard, she never counted on Han Guishan or Han Youxin; if those two didn’t make a mess for her, she would consider it a huge blessing.

“Oh, where are we going to eat?” Wang Jing asked.

“Taifeng Building, the one that the Jiang Family runs. Xu Cheng booked a table, and it’s all delicious dishes!” Han Guishan’s eyes lit up.

“I want to eat Beiping roast duck, roast duck!” Han Youxin stood on the sofa and yelled loudly, wanting to assert his presence.

“Han Youxin, get down from there! Who climbs on the sofa with shoes on? And forget about the roast duck—if you keep this up, I won’t give you not just roast duck, but even pickled vegetable dumplings!” Wang Jing was furious.

Women who have just finished cleaning always tend to have particularly bad tempers.

Han Youxin: (´╥ω╥`)

My mom doesn’t love me anymore.

Given that there were eight people on Editor Jiang’s side, and they also had a lot of camera equipment, they split into two cars to drive to Taifeng Building. Editor Jiang, along with the intern he had high hopes for and one camera assistant with the equipment, took one car, while Deputy Editor-in-Chief Wang took three camera operators and another camera assistant in another car. Professor Ye Shi went there by himself.

Editor Jiang, while driving, didn’t forget to remind the intern he favored.

“Xiuxiu, don’t be scared or nervous when you meet the boss this time, just perform to your normal standard. Enjoy the food and drink when you’re there. After all, your job is essentially to eat. Oh, by the way, did you finish reading those books and magazines I asked you to? How is your writing coming along now?” Editor Jiang inquired.

The person sitting in the passenger seat was none other than Chen Xiuxiu. She attended university in Sail Province, which is relatively close to Magic City. She was studying finance and didn’t want to take the postgraduate entrance exam, so she got an internship in the finance department of the “Taste” magazine during the summer holiday, thanks to her boyfriend’s introduction.

Incidentally, the headquarters of “Taste” magazine is in Magic City.

“I’ve read them all, and even made notes and excerpts,” Chen Xiuxiu said.

“Good to hear. Write me two pieces after dinner to let me see what you’re capable of,” Editor Jiang said, nodding with satisfaction.

Chen Xiuxiu always felt like she might have boarded a pirate ship.

Although she loved to eat, she never bothered with gourmet magazines or food recommendations. After all, she didn’t need to rely on online reviews of which many are half truths. Who knew which reviews were paid for and which were genuine? Her own taste was much more reliable than those reviews.

She didn’t browse Weibo, and scrolling through news on a browser was about as far as she went. So when Editor Jiang mentioned that the boss of “Taste” was Xu Cheng, she didn’t really react, since she didn’t know who Xu Cheng was. Later, Chen Xiuxiu looked him up online and found that he seemed to be a very famous entrepreneur and gourmet critic, wealthy and with a lot of free time on his hands.

Since Chen Xiuxiu got hooked on fitness, her life became very fulfilling. Fitness, academics, normal social interactions, and occasionally sneaking out for a date with her boyfriend—her life was packed with these activities. Even watching dramas and variety shows was reserved for glancing at while eating. Her days were full and busy.

Although “Taste” magazine is an annual publication, because of Xu Cheng’s high standards for article quality, often more than 16 proposals are rejected for each issue. Plus, editions for China, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Europe, and America all go through the Magic City headquarters, which means the actual workload for the staff of “Taste” magazine is quite substantial.

When Chen Xiuxiu first started her internship, the work was overwhelming. Her daily routine was filled with budgets and reports, piles of which could stack up like a mountain on her desk. As an intern unfamiliar with her duties, she lacked the skills of other seasoned staff in the office. She worked so much overtime that she had no time left to meet her boyfriend or to go to the gym; she might as well have lived in the office.

By the way, her boyfriend happens to be the nameless camera assistant sitting in the back seat of the car they were in, Shen Yao.

Chen Xiuxiu decided to lose weight because of him.

The busy period for Chen Xiuxiu ended with a team-building event.

The team-building activities at “Taste” magazine were quite interesting—they weren’t about hiking or picnicking, but a tasting competition.

Eating, guessing the ingredients and seasonings—the top three winners would receive a substantial cash prize.

After Chen Xiuxiu dominated and won the championship, the very next day, she was transferred from the finance department to… a miraculous department she didn’t even know existed.

Since then, Chen Xiuxiu’s daily routine involved going to various restaurants in Magic City with photographers, led by Editor Jiang, to eat and then write articles. If her writing wasn’t good enough, she had to rewrite it. Later, she was simply told to read books—various gourmet magazines and essays by famous authors—as well as to take notes and excerpts.

And now, she was directly on a business trip to Beiping for a meal.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Chen Xiuxiu began to doubt her life choices.

How has “Taste” magazine been able to keep this up for ten years?

“Editor Jiang, why have we come all the way from Magic City to Beiping anyway?” Shen Yao asked.

“Mr. Xu wants to do a feature interview with the three chefs from Taifeng Building. Last time Mr. Xu went to Hang City to interview Gu Li and it was Deputy Editor-in-Chief Liu who took a team there. This time in Beiping there are more people to interview and more things to do, otherwise you wouldn’t have had the chance to come,” Editor Jiang said.

“Thank you for the opportunity, Editor Jiang,” Shen Yao said.

Chen Xiuxiu: …

So… what can she help with?

Guess the recipes of the dishes?

As a seasoned driver with more than a decade of experience, Editor Jiang drove quickly and steadily, soon arriving at the parking lot next to Taifeng Building with Chen Xiuxiu, Shen Yao, and a carload of photography equipment.

“Come on, Shen Yao, let’s move some stuff. We’ll carry it over in two trips, and Xiuxiu, you can just take these document bags,” Editor Jiang got out of the car, ready to move things.

Shen Yao struggled to carry the heaviest piece of equipment out of the car.

Chen Xiuxiu took the equipment from his hands and easily carried it with her right hand’s fingers still holding the document strap.

“Editor Jiang, let me help. We can carry it over in one trip. Shen Yao, give me that smaller one too,” Chen Xiuxiu said.

Editor Jiang: …

He had forgotten that Chen Xiuxiu was probably the strongest of the three of them.

After distributing the gear among themselves, Editor Jiang led the way to the entrance of Taifeng Building.

Looking at the name, the sign, and the features, Chen Xiuxiu felt everything looked familiar.

It felt like she had seen it somewhere in Jiang Feng’s circle of friends.

“Editor Jiang, who are we interviewing this time?” Chen Xiuxiu asked.

“I remember it’s Zhang Guanghang, Wu Minqi, and Jiang Feng, the top 4 from the ‘Good Taste’ culinary competition. You know ‘Good Taste’, right? The cooking competition that was held in Alan City along with a variety show, it was quite popular, you young people should have seen it,” Editor Jiang said.

Chen Xiuxiu: …

She hadn’t seen it, but she knew who Jiang Feng was. Speak of the devil, my childhood crush.

Because the three of them were quite noticeable, Qi Rou, who was at the door to welcome guests, immediately figured out that they must be from the “Taste” magazine and hurried up to them.

“Sir, let me help you with that,” Qi Rou said.

“No need, these things are quite…” Before Editor Jiang could finish his sentence, he noticed that Qi Rou seemed to carry the equipment more easily than he did.

And Qi Rou was wearing high heels.

In her efforts to emulate her idol, Qi Rou had been working out quite a bit these days.

Editor Jiang: ???

What’s with all these young girls nowadays? How come they all seem to have so much strength?

“Are you three the guests for the private room reserved by Mr. Xu?” Qi Rou asked.

“Yes.”

“Please follow me, watch your step on the stairs,” Qi Rou said, leading the way.

Chen Xiuxiu and Shen Yao followed behind.

Shen Yao noticed something was off with Chen Xiuxiu’s expression and asked, “Xiuxiu, do you have a stomachache? Do you want me to carry something for you?”

“No, it’s just that I’ve suddenly realized the person we’re interviewing today seems to be my neighbor,” Chen Xiuxiu said.

“Huh?”

“It’s that neighbor I told you about, the one I used to have a crush on.”

Shen Yao: ???

!!!

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