The Game of Life TGOL

Chapter 428: Chapter 426: Has He Gone Mad?

In the afternoon, the sunlight was just right.

Although the tea house was tucked away in a corner of the market street, the sunlight still spilled through the glass windows, falling squarely on the sleeping Zhang Guanghang’s face as he lay on the wicker chair. It shimmered on his collar and in his hair. Combined with his peaceful sleeping face, it just made one feel the tranquility of the passing years.

Indeed, in this scene that seemed as if it belonged only in idol dramas or manga, Jiang Feng, Ji Yue, and Wu Minqi, who were sleeping next to Zhang Guanghang and not favored by the sunshine, had no names. They could only be three shadows hidden in the background.

If this were a cafe, surrounded by countless petty bourgeois—or those pretending to be, both girls wearing makeup and those whose makeup was almost worn off—would whip out their phones to snap ten continuous shots of Zhang Guanghang. They would select the best angle, pair it with their countless times retouched photo, post it on their moments with text like: “Met a hunky mixed-race guy at the cafe today. His countenance as he peacefully rests, makes me wish time could stand still.”, or something along those lines.

It was a pity this was a tea house, not a cafe, surrounded not by young girls but old men. Zhang Guanghang was leaning not on a sofa but a wicker chair, and the audience was none other than the waiter bringing up four cups of lemon tea.

?

The waiter looked at the four sleeping people in front of him and slowly formed a question mark in his mind.

The waiter deftly placed the lemon tea in front of the sleeping quartet and then tiptoed away.

The four slept until Zhang Guanghang’s alarm went off, waking them. Still groggy, Jiang Feng suddenly realized Zhang Guanghang’s wishful thinking as he looked at the now cold lemon tea in front of him.

To refresh and awaken!

Jiang Feng picked up his lemon tea and took a big gulp.

Almost sprayed it out on the spot.

Indeed, it was deserving of the name lemon tea, it was sour.

“Let’s go,” Jiang Feng quietly put down the lemon tea. Zhang Guanghang had already gone to the first floor to pay the bill. Among the four of them, only Zhang Guanghang had brought his phone; thus, the heavy task of settling the bill naturally fell on him.

“Let’s go,” Ji Yue stood up, glancing back wistfully at the wicker chair and sighed, “This tea house’s wicker chairs are really comfortable to sleep on. After I get my paycheck, I’ll buy the same model on Taobao.”

The tea house owner would never know what really drew the customers to their place.

Once the group returned to Taifeng Building, they headed straight for the dressing room to change clothes. The first thing Jiang Feng did upon opening his locker was to check his phone to see if the world had undergone any major changes while he hadn’t checked it, because the last time he woke up and checked his phone, a country had just left the EU.

Jiang Feng didn’t know if the world had undergone any significant events, but he could tell that his WeChat had as he was normally someone with just a few friends, hardly anyone to chat with on WeChat, and all group chats muted. His WeChat had never been this lively.

Wang Hao’s message had already been submerged in the revelry of others.

Glancing at his WeChat for a moment, Jiang Feng put his phone back into the locker, got dressed in his work clothes, and went to work in the kitchen. Even though he felt like he had forgotten something, when he saw the row of squab waiting to be slaughtered in the kitchen, he temporarily put aside all thoughts unrelated to the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon.

Even if the sky were falling down, it would have to wait until he had dealt with these Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeons.

Looking at the row of pigeons in front of him, Jiang Feng thought it was time to seriously cultivate the kitchen’s chopping block chefs because he might otherwise drown in the endless task of deboning whole pigeons.

To properly cultivate the chopping block chefs and hand over the task of deboning whole pigeons to them was the only way out!

Jiang Feng set his sights on Jiang Weisheng and Zhang Weiyu.

There were several chopping block chefs at Taifeng Building, but only these two had names. Jiang Weisheng, as a disciple of Jiang Weiming, occasionally took on the role of a Furnace Chef, while Zhang Weiyu had a natural talent and was often advised by the two old Sirs whenever they had time, evidently being nurtured for a Furnace Chef position.

“Mr. Jiang,” Jiang Feng decided to start with the diligent and eager-to-learn Jiang Weisheng, “would you be interested in learning how to debone whole pigeons?”

“Debone whole pigeons?” Jiang Weisheng, who was busily chopping vegetables, suddenly looked up, stars sparkling in his eyes, the words “I’m willing” written all over his face, “You know my level, Feng. I’m slow at learning new things, and I’m afraid I might not do well with such delicate tasks as deboning whole pigeons.”

“Don’t worry, take your time to learn, you’ve been a chef for so many years and your knifework is excellent, don’t be so concerned. You see, I’m obviously too busy to manage by myself, saying you should learn is actually my way of asking for your help,” Jiang Feng said.

“Helping out is certainly no problem, but I must say the workload for this Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon is too much, the scheduling isn’t reasonable,” Jiang Weisheng said, “But your aunt will bring my son, daughter-in-law, and grandson to visit me tomorrow, so during this National Day period, I probably won’t be able to learn.”

“No problem, there’s no rush for that, thanks, Mr. Jiang,” Jiang Feng replied with a smile.

The surge of orders for Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon today was actually a mistake by Mrs. Wang Xiulian, a problem Jiang Jiankang addressed with her after the lunch service had ended. But the bookings for National Day had already been taken, so even if they wanted to make adjustments, they would have to wait until after National Day, which meant Jiang Feng still had to endure the workload.

Once the first task was done, Jiang Feng turned his attention to the second one.

The bespectacled Zhang Weiyu.

Zhang Weiyu had just overheard Jiang Feng’s conversation with Jiang Weisheng, and knowing what was coming when Jiang Feng started looking at him, took the initiative to ask: “Does it come with a pay raise?”

Jiang Feng: ???

How can you, a Capital University finance major skilled in ironing, have nothing but money on your mind?

“Indeed, a raise,” Jiang Feng said, knowing workload increases should come with a financial incentive.

“I’ll learn,” Zhang Weiyu agreed, “after National Day.”

During National Day, everyone was exhausted to death; even for extra money, he didn’t have the energy to learn something new.

Zhou Shi, who had been closely monitoring Jiang Feng’s movements: …

Having worked as a chef for many years and at various restaurants, Zhou Shi knew that while Taifeng Building was known for its peculiar style, he had not expected it to be this quirky.

It was a place where the boss could personally ask each chopping board chef if they wanted to learn how to debone a pigeon.

Zhou Shi sighed.

If only he could have encountered a place like this when he first started out as a chef, it would have been great. Unfortunately, as good as the restaurant was, it couldn’t give him what he wanted.

Zhou Shi looked at Jiang Feng, who seemed to notice and turned to look back at him. Their eyes met, and Zhou Shi gave him a sincere smile from the heart.

Jiang Feng: ???

Zhou Shi’s sudden friendly smile seemed a bit incongruent with his 19-point loyalty character.

Jiang Feng returned to the cooking station, thinking about the friendly smile Zhou Shi had just given him, wondering whether Zhou Shi had been moved by their love and decided not to jump ship but to continue being exploited at Taifeng Building as a furnace chef who would have his bonus deducted every month?

Jiang Feng looked around, everyone was busy with their own work, even Zhou Shi was actively prepping ingredients, so he quietly opened the employee management system.

As expected, Zhou Shi’s loyalty score had changed, from 19 to 17.

Jiang Feng: …

Is the game broken or is Zhou Shi out of his mind?