The Game of Life

Because of the National Day holiday, Taifeng Building extended its business hours, and when Jiang Feng finished work, it was already past ten o’clock.

For the first time, Jiang Feng didn’t clean up the kitchen, not even his own cooking station—just clocked out and left. The others all expressed their understanding; Jiang Feng had been the busiest that evening. The reservations for Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon were batched by time slots, and Jiang Feng was bustling with work almost every moment.

Jiang Feng’s busyness also made everyone deeply realize that it was not easy to be the Crown Prince.

Yes, these past few days, Jiang Feng had acquired a new nickname—Crown Prince.

Now, Crown Prince Jiang was encountering the famous 996 on the street.

Unlike their previous encounters, Crown Prince Jiang had just suffered through the most grueling overtime of his life, while 996 had just enjoyed one of the few vacations of the year. Crown Prince Jiang didn’t have Wu Minqi by his side (she was still cleaning up in the kitchen), whereas 996 had just added a young lady’s WeChat at the dinner table.

996, feeling like he was walking in the clouds, and Crown Prince Jiang, feeling like he had just crawled out of hell, both noticed each other.

996 instantly recognized that Crown Prince Jiang had come back from overtime. He was all too familiar with the powerlessness, anger, despair, and bewilderment that followed such a work stint, which was completely different from his own situation of having just added a beautiful young lady’s WeChat after a gathering.

996 proudly lifted his head.

996 felt he had a great chance of winning.

996, with a look of disdain, walked past Crown Prince Jiang.

Jiang Feng: ???

He felt that ever since Mid-Autumn Festival, this overworked soul he kept running into on the street had become increasingly strange.

996 hadn’t noticed at all that Jiang Feng was completely oblivious to his show of defiance and victory. After passing Jiang Feng, 996’s thoughts became more jubilant, even more so than when he got the young lady’s WeChat.

While walking and growing more thrilled, 996 slowed his pace and pulled out his phone to send the young lady a message asking, “Have you gotten home yet?” when he saw a message that popped up in a group chat he had joined long ago but in which he had always lurked.

996 quietly opened the group chat named “Stress Relief Group,” a mysterious group that a colleague, with whom he had a good relationship, had recommended to him. 996 had never spoken in it, mainly because he thought everyone in there was a bit off their rocker, behaving almost like cult members, with many of them using the names of dishes for their group aliases—crazy, if you ask him.

Li Hongzhang Hodgepodge: Tomorrow at 11:30 am, second floor of Taifeng Building, private room 17, I’ll be hogging dishes, there’s one more spot, hurry up.

Sweet and Sour Yam: Can Sweet and Sour Yam reliably snatch it?

Li Hongzhang Hodgepodge: Normally yes, but not on National Day.

Kung Pao Chicken: Ah, I didn’t know Hodgepodge was in Beiping, what a pity, I’m traveling with my wife and will miss out.

Chili Fish Head: Haha, Chicken, who asked you to go on a trip at this time? With Hodgepodge snagging dishes, tomorrow’s Li Hongzhang Hodgepodge is in the bag!

996: …

He still held on to his opinion that the people in this group seemed to have something wrong with their brains. By the way, that Chili Fish Head was his colleague.

But somehow the name Taifeng Building looked familiar.

All of a sudden, 996 looked up, and what met his eyes was the signboard of Taifeng Building.

He was standing right in front of Taifeng Building, where lights were still on and drawing attention. It was normal that 996 had not noticed it before since on usual days it was closed and dark by the time he returned.

996 was even unsure whether the Taifeng Building he was seeing now was the same one the people in the group chat were talking about. With this thought, 996 asked in the group.

Happy Overtime: Is this the Taifeng Building you guys are talking about?

Happy Overtime: [Photo]

Shredded Pork with Garlic Sauce: You must be new here, it’s this one. [Smoking]

Happy Overtime: Count me in for tomorrow noon.

Li Hongzhang Hodgepodge: Okay.

Li Hongzhang Hodgepodge: The group is full, no being late, see you tomorrow.

996 set the alarm, put away his phone and continued to walk to the shared apartment, cursing himself for being crazy – instead of asking out the girl who had just added him on WeChat, he was planning to have dinner with a bunch of strangers.

996 felt that there might be something wrong with his brain as well.

…

After taking a shower once he got home, Jiang Feng’s first action was to run downstairs to claim Mrs. Wang Xiulian’s massage chair before she returned.

The moment Jiang Feng sat on the massage chair and pressed the start button, he felt as though his life was granted by the massage chair.

Massage chair.

A splendid invention!

The savior of those who work overtime!

Comfortably lying in the massage chair, Jiang Feng began to happily play with his phone, checking his WeChat messages one by one and, amidst the general jollity, he discovered the message Wang Hao had sent in the afternoon.

Jiang Feng: …

It was over, he had completely forgotten that Wang Hao was coming to Beiping.

Jiang Feng decided to make a phone call to mend the father-son relationship between them.

The phone was quickly answered, and it sounded like Wang Hao was still eating. The sound of his chewing was loud enough to be unmistakable.

Jiang Feng’s originally planned sympathetic words instantly turned into, “What are you eating?”

You were only left with $9.67. How can you still afford to buy something to eat and make it sound so delicious that even I’m getting hungry.

“The curry beef bun from the convenience store downstairs, Feng, I’ve discovered that even though these buns from the Beiping convenience stores are expensive, they taste much better than the ones sold in our school’s canteen,” extolled Wang Hao enthusiastically about the convenience store’s beef bun before he began to praise the beef rice, “And this curry beef rice is also delicious. Although there’s not much beef, the curry is just amazing. The fragrance, the flavor, the curry is especially rich, and it tastes so good mixed with rice! I think I’m falling in love with this convenience store.”

“Where did you get the money from?” Jiang Feng asked. He could believe $9.67 would get a curry beef bun, but curry beef rice seemed a bit far-fetched.

“I borrowed two hundred bucks from the class monitor this afternoon,” said Wang Hao.

And in the process, he inadvertently found himself another father. After all, the more fathers, the merrier. No harm in acknowledging a few more.

“How’s the accommodation over there?” Jiang Feng decided to show some concern for his roommate.

“Not bad, when I was on the train I heard it was a four-person room and thought it would be like our school dorm, but it turned out to be private rooms with a shared kitchen and living room, much better than I expected,” said Wang Hao.

“Why didn’t you come over to see me tonight?” asked Jiang Feng.

“Well, I saw you didn’t reply to my messages, Feng, I was worried you were busy and that I’d be interrupting your family business. I’ve seen how busy your shop can be at school, sometimes not even having a moment to talk. Sorting out dinner at the convenience store downstairs was pretty good for me, and I’ll come see you tomorrow. I just asked around, and we interns don’t have to work during the National Day, so I’ll come to you tomorrow morning,” said Wang Hao.

Wang Hao’s considerate behavior touched Jiang Feng deeply and he immediately said, “When you come tomorrow, I’ll let my dad make you pickled vegetable fried rice!”

Anyway, I don’t feel like cooking.

“Great, I haven’t tasted Mr. Jiang’s cooking for a long time. Sometimes I feel like the times I ate at your place were all just a dream,” said Wang Hao. As he spoke, the taste of the curry beef bun in his mouth seemed to pale in comparison, his appetite waned, and all he could think about were the pork hocks he had eaten before.

“Feng, is the shop busy? Should I come over and help out tomorrow, since I’m free and broke anyway?”

“No need, no need. But if you really want to help, I can ask my mom to find some clothes that fit you. What size are you wearing now?” Jiang Feng revealed his capitalist smile once again.

Wang Hao on the other end of the phone: ???

Clothes?