The Game of Life

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National Day is the last official holiday of the year.

After National Day, all working folks and student parties face a long three months of only weekends off, or maybe not even that, bracing a happy yet busy time of work or study. When Jiang Feng was still honestly a student dog, he always felt that National Day was the calm before the storm. A long holiday to let everyone have fun, and then it was time to study like mad and work oneself to the bone, like the last meal before an execution.

Regarding this, Jiang Feng just wanted to say, couldn’t Chongyang Festival be given some respect? All traditional festivals, Qingming, Dragon Boat, Mid-Autumn, not only get holidays, but the malls have sales as well, only Chongyang is the exception, as a traditional festival it’s even less acknowledged than 618.

He himself could eat an extra serving of the last meal before execution, since the Jiang Family members have big appetites.

On the morning of October 1st, Jiang Feng smelled the scent of National Day.

Because he received a WeChat message from Mrs. Wang Xiulian.

Mother: Son, the pigeons have already been delivered to the store. If you’re awake, hurry over to deal with the pigeons. Your dad and I are waiting for you at the shop.

The message was sent at 5:37 AM.

Jiang Feng, who didn’t wake up until the alarm went off at 7:30 AM, sincerely praised Mrs. Wang Xiulian’s enthusiasm and vitality towards making money. After quickly washing up, Jiang Feng and Wu Minqi left the house before 7:45 AM.

By the time Jiang Feng and Wu Minqi each rode a blue bike to Taifeng Building, Wang Xiulian was already seated in the lobby, making plans.

Upon seeing Jiang Feng and Wu Minqi’s arrival, Mrs. Wang Xiulian began assigning tasks: “Feng, why are you so late? Didn’t I tell you to come early today? Hurry to the kitchen and deal with your pigeons.”

“Minqi, go and help your Uncle Jiang in the kitchen too. I’m afraid he can’t handle it on his own. Yueyue, are the reservations for the guests and their menus confirmed yet? Call and confirm with the guests again after nine o’clock, the tables in our restaurant are very in demand during National Day, we absolutely can’t afford mistakes in this area!”

Jiang Feng and Wu Minqi walked towards the changing room. Wu Minqi looked back while walking, noticing that Wang Xiulian was more excited than usual, even louder than normal, totally unlike the usual her who would go to the surveillance room and sleep till the afternoon.

“I feel like Mrs. Wang is particularly excited today,” Wu Minqi whispered.

“Normal,” said Jiang Feng, “My mom gets very excited about spending and making money, especially during busy periods like National Day. Back when we had a health snack shop in Z city, my mom would go to the slaughterhouse at 1 AM just to scramble for meat before National Day.”

Jiang Feng looked around the hall and noticed that the decorations had indeed changed; all the two-seater, four-seater, and six-seater tables were adorned with festive looking cartoon standees, which he suspected could be reused for New Year if Taifeng Building was open then.

Before Jiang Feng even reached the changing room door, he had a close encounter with a waitress who was dragging a promotional standee.

At a glance, Jiang Feng could clearly see the bold and striking characters on the tall standee: Welcome National Day, Limited-Time Discount!

Jiang Feng peeked inside quietly, noticing that none of his dishes were there, all were Zhou Shi’s specialties. It seemed that even Mrs. Wang Xiulian, the least ambitious employee with the lowest loyalty and most likely to resign or defect, wasn’t planning on giving him a break; if sales were poor, discounts would make up for it.

“Need a hand?” asked Jiang Feng.

The standee wasn’t small in size, and it seemed quite heavy. Most importantly, it was awkward to handle, especially to drag, and lifting or carrying it would probably be impossible for the waitress given her stature. 𝐫𝒶NôʙЕS̈

“No need, Boss, go on with your work,” replied the waitress, a plain beauty from Sector A who wouldn’t dare ask Jiang Feng for help, as she contemplated her precarious employment status.

Jiang Feng nodded and walked off.

The plain beauty from Sector A continued to drag the standee with difficulty.

Jiang Jiankang, loitering at the kitchen entrance: …

How did his son manage to chase after Minqi?

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Jiang Feng quickly changed into his work uniform and entered the kitchen, only to find his own dad squatting by the door slacking off, so he reminded him, “Dad, there’s a spot behind that cabinet where people can’t see you, and there’s even a small stool there.”

Jiang Jiankang immediately got the hint, “Work hard, son. If you’re too busy, just call Dad!”

All morning, Jiang Feng had been dealing with squab, a task which required high skill to debone the whole bird, a skill only the furnace chefs at Taifeng Building possessed. Due to a large number of tables and private rooms being reserved in advance, many dishes had already been determined, keeping every furnace chef busy. Even if his father, Jiang Jiankang, who had said he would help after slacking off, wouldn’t be able to aid unless he grew a third hand or learned the art of cloning after 9 o’clock.

Even before opening hours, the kitchen bustled as if it were in full operation.

“Are the eggplants sliced already? Are there no more eggplants left?”

“Han, go check the menu to see if we missed anything.”

“What’s wrong with this oven? Zhang Weiyu, come and see what’s up with this oven?”

“I majored in Finance, not Mechanics, but let me check… it seems like the main switch is the issue. You use another one for now, are the disassembly tools in the warehouse?”

“Who has seen the plate for the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon? Does anyone have a plate for the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon?”

“This one…”

“What time is it now?”

“Where’s Sang Ming?”

“You…”

It was as hectic as if the restaurant were about to go out of business.

11:27 AM, lunch service was about to start.

Jiang Feng knew that, at this critical moment, as the boss of Taifeng Building, it was time to say something to cement his supreme position as the boss.

“Ahem, everyone, quiet down a moment,” Jiang Feng clapped his hands, and the lively kitchen fell into a brief silence.

“Today is the first day of National Day, and lunch service is about to begin in a few minutes. Everyone has done a great job with the preparations, and there have been no mistakes, the ordered dishes are all ready. But I want to emphasize again that these are the holidays of National Day, the customer flow is going to be massive, and so will everyone’s workload, including mine. Not just today, but tomorrow and the following seven days, we cannot afford to make any mistakes in our dishes.”

“National Day is the peak tourism week, and our restaurant might welcome a lot of tourists. Many of them will be visiting Taifeng Building for the first time, and it’s crucial that we leave them with a great first impression. It’s very important, so our dishes absolutely cannot have any mistakes. Direct complaints and bad reviews from customers will affect your quarterly and annual bonuses, as you all are aware.”

“These days, I ask everyone to put in the hard work. Even our two senior chefs are persevering here despite their age. I hope everyone can overcome the hardship. Once National Day is over, I will issue bonuses.”

“Great!” The crowd applauded, mostly for the last three words.

“Lunch service is about to start, let’s all get back to work,” Jiang Feng declared the meeting over.

The kitchen instantly came alive again.

“How was it?” Jiang Feng asked Wu Minqi, feeling that his speech had been outstanding, even better than expected.

“Cool!” Wu Minqi gave him face, smiling, “Your side’s pigeon soup should be about ready; it’s time to prepare the thickening sauce.”

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