The Game of Life

After Jiang Feng returned to the Taifeng Building’s lobby, he found that all the photographers were looking at him with a gossipy, inquisitive gaze, even Zhang Guanghang had the expression of someone enjoying the spectacle with a slice of watermelon.

“You know Editor Jiang?” Zhang Guanghang asked.

“He is my…” Jiang Feng suddenly realized he had no idea how old Jiang Yong was; by appearances, he seemed to be about the same age as Mr. Jiang Jiankang, making it impossible to determine whether Jiang Yong was his uncle or his granduncle.

“He is Granduncle Weiming’s youngest son,” Jiang Feng said.

Zhang Guanghang was surprised and exclaimed, “No wonder he can be the editor of ‘Taste.’ It’s all in the family.”

As the issues between Jiang Yong and Jiang Weiming were family matters, Jiang Feng didn’t want to delve into it and quickly changed the subject, “What was Mr. Xu’s interview like?”

“He asked me what stories there were behind those dishes,” said Zhang Guanghang.

Jiang Feng: ???

Stories???

If it was stories we’re talking about, then Jiang Feng had way too many. Behind every buff dish he created was a corresponding story, and they were all real stories, encompassing various types, plots, and romance—everything you could think of; whatever kind you wanted, he could tell.

“Is that all he asked about?” Jiang Feng asked.

“There were other things, such as views on cuisines from different countries, the differences between Chinese and French dishes, some insights into cooking, and such,” Zhang Guanghang said, thought for a moment, hesitated, but still mentioned, “There was also a very interesting question.”

“Mr. Xu said he noticed that in recent years I’ve been very fond of cooking traditional French dishes using Chinese methods. He asked me why I did that,” said Zhang Guanghang.

“Why?” Jiang Feng felt like he had become the host of an interview show.

“There aren’t that many whys,” said Zhang Guanghang, “This is just a cooking philosophy I’ve adopted over the years. I believe that Chinese and French cuisines have many similarities. Chinese cuisine started with four major styles and now has eight, French cuisine has three main factions, just the Shandong cuisine in China has more than a dozen cooking methods, and French cuisine includes all the cooking techniques of Western food.”

“Ding, an optional side quest has been detected,” the system notification tone suddenly rang out.

Jiang Feng looked at Zhang Guanghang.

His instincts and the task notification tone told him that Zhang Guanghang wasn’t telling the full truth.

Jiang Feng excused himself to go to the restroom under the guise of needing to take a leak and, once inside, opened the familiar panel and accepted the quest.

2.[Childhood Memory]: On his 11th birthday, Zhang Guanghang tasted the Shafu Roast Chicken personally cooked for him by Xia Mushi, which sparked his interest in cooking traditional French dishes using Chinese methods. After Xia Mushi passed away, Zhang Guanghang tried multiple times to replicate the dish but always failed to recreate the taste from his memory. The player is asked to help Zhang Guanghang complete the Shafu Roast Chicken from his childhood memory and find the long-lost flavor. Quest progress (0/1)

Quest Tip: A crispy apple makes a good choice.

Quest Reward: A piece of Zhang Guanghang’s memory.

So the reason Zhang Guanghang cherished cooking French food with Chinese methods was because of Xia Mushi.

Jiang Feng stared at the quest prompt, completely baffled. The quest hint had absolutely nothing to do with Shafu Roast Chicken, and it was utterly confusing.

Crispy apple.

Shafu Roast Chicken.

How did the game link these two dishes together, by using the method for making a crispy apple to make Shafu Roast Chicken?

The resulting Shafu Roast Chicken would be such a culinary disaster, it’d be like gazing into the abyss.

Jiang Feng had already left the bathroom, looking up the recipe for Shafu Roast Chicken on his phone.

Shafu Roast Chicken is a classic French dish that Jiang Feng had seen in pictures but had never tasted and didn’t know how to make. Naturally, to help Zhang Guanghang recreate the taste of the Shafu Roast Chicken that Xia Mushi made for him when he was eleven, Jiang Feng had to look into how Shafu Roast Chicken was prepared.

When Jiang Feng reached the lobby, Zhang Guanghang was looking at his phone. Seeing him come over, Zhang handed over his phone and said, “Ji Yue’s comic is almost done. She just sent it to me, take a look.”

Jiang Feng took the phone and was surprised.

Ji Yue had sprained and fractured her foot, so Wang Xiulian had given her a week off, and her leave wasn’t over yet, but her comic was already finished.

Could it be that these past few days she had really been working away at her craft with unwavering focus, not reading novels, not watching TV series, not following variety shows, not engaging in fan voting?

What kind of dedication was that!

This woman who judged by looks was really capable of doing anything to chase after Zhang Guanghang.

She hadn’t even started pursuing him yet, and she was already this dedicated. If she really set her mind to start the pursuit, then who knows what would happen.

Ji Yue’s comic was indeed almost finished; the plot was exactly as Jiang Feng had described it, without any changes, and the art style was her usual one as well.

Overall, it looked very good, as it was done with care. Some background details and costume details hadn’t been drawn yet, and the bridal gown was only sketched out roughly. However, given Ji Yue’s current terrifying speed, she could probably finish the entire comic within another week at most.

The only thing that Jiang Feng found strange was that she hadn’t drawn any wontons.

The comic was meant to promote wontons, yet Ji Yue hadn’t drawn any. The page that should have featured a close-up of wontons was left blank, and all scenes related to wontons had only been sketched with a rough outline of a bowl.

“She really worked hard to get it to this stage in such a short time,” Jiang Feng remarked with admiration.

“Is that speed considered fast?” Despite aspiring to be a comic book artist as a child, Zhang Guanghang was only a reader and didn’t have much of an understanding of drawing.

Jiang Feng didn’t really understand the actual pace at which comic artists worked either; he had mostly seen Ji Yue procrastinating while rushing her drafts, and it wasn’t that she drew slowly.

“It should be… considered fast, I guess. I feel like drawing a single picture takes quite a while,” Jiang Feng said, handing the phone back to Zhang Guanghang.

Zhang Guanghang took the phone and sent a message to Ji Yue. It seemed like he had been in contact with Ji Yue quite frequently lately.

Jiang Feng, thinking about the task he had just undertaken, tentatively asked, “I see you’ve been researching new dishes lately. What are you working on?”

Zhang Guanghang put down his phone, not expecting Jiang Feng to notice his culinary research since he conducted it at Fen Garden, not Taifeng Building.

“How did you know?” Zhang Guanghang was genuinely curious this time.

“Just a guess, you’ve been standing around lost in thought lately, and you like to stare at spices and ingredients. It’s a lot like how I was when I was researching Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon,” Jiang Feng convincingly lied.

“Recently, I’ve been trying to recreate a dish I ate as a child, but it’s been so long I can’t quite remember how it’s made. Every time I make it, it doesn’t taste like what I had back then,” Zhang Guanghang said.

“What dish?”

Zhang Guanghang hesitated for a moment, “Shafu Roast Chicken, a very special Shafu Roast Chicken.”

“Do you need help?” Jiang Feng smiled, “You helped us perfect the method for Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon, so it’s only right to repay the favor. Don’t be shy if you need assistance.”

“I will, just not for the time being,” Zhang Guanghang politely declined.