The Game of Life

Chapter 598: 956

PS: I got the chapter wrong; it’s chapter five hundred ninety-six (;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`) (I actually made the mistake twice)

When delivering the lunch, Jiang Feng started with the Emergency Department Director Zhong’s portion, for a simple reason: Director Zhong’s was the heaviest.

How heavy was it exactly? When Director Zhong first took the lunchbox, she almost couldn’t hold it steady and nearly dropped it on the floor.

Holding the lunchbox, Director Zhong: ?

I wasn’t that busy this morning, so how come I lack the strength now?

Director Zhong entered her office, befuddled with lunchbox in hand.

Now it was lunchtime and the emergency department wasn’t very busy. The doctors were mostly rushing to eat takeout in the office. Old Sun and Zhou also squeezed into the office— the break room was crammed with miscellaneous items from the morning that hadn’t been moved, leaving no place to sit and eat.

Originally, Director Zhong was also part of the takeout brigade, but who asked for Jiang Feng to be delivering her meals now.

“Cao, how’s the flavor of the pork cutlet rice from this place?” Director Zhong asked cheerfully as Dr. Cao was wolfing down his pork cutlet.

“Not bad, pretty fragrant,” Dr. Cao nodded.

Director Zhong went to her seat and quietly opened the lunchbox.

The aroma wafted everywhere.

Director Zhong: ∑(°Д°)

What is this on top of the rice?

That’s what Director Zhong thought, and she asked out loud.

Dr. Lu, who was looking down and eating the love-filled bento made by his wife glanced up and explained, “It should be an elbow joint. The whole thing wouldn’t fit, so they took the meat off and placed it separately on top of the rice.”

After explaining, Dr. Lu did not forget to add, “My wife has also made me an elbow joint on rice before.”

Director Zhong nodded her head, estimated how much elbow meat was on that layer of rice and how heavy it was, and felt that this layer alone should be enough to fill her up. She then lifted the second layer.

Director Zhong was stunned, so was Dr. Lu sitting opposite her.

Dr. Cao: …

The pork cutlet in his mouth suddenly lost its appeal.

Dr. Cao shed tears of regret in his heart, cursing himself for not studying harder, for not making enough effort, for his medical skills not being sharp enough.

With an anxious heart, Director Zhong opened the third layer and found that it was just normal sautéed cabbage with tofu. She relaxed slightly and let out a long breath.

Then Director Zhong felt the burning gaze of Dr. Cao and turned her head to see him holding a large piece of pork cutlet, staring intently at her lunchbox.

“Dr. Cao, would you like to share some?” Director Zhong invited with a smile.

Dr. Cao immediately abandoned the pork cutlet and other side dishes on his table, brought his bowl of white rice over, and moved his chair next to Director Zhong.

“Thanks, Director. Wow, there’s so much food, you definitely can’t finish it all by yourself,” Dr. Cao happily reached out with his chopsticks and grabbed a piece of sweet and sour spare ribs.

“Lu, I remember you love belt fish the most, do you want a piece?” Director Zhong invited.

Dr. Lu glanced at the belt fish in the lunchbox: “Fried belt fish only tastes good fresh out of the fryer. This kind of fried belt fish, steamed in the lunchbox, its flavor changes no matter how crispy it was originally.”

Despite saying that, Dr. Lu honestly extended his chopsticks and pinched a small piece.

When he took a bite, because of the steam, the once crispy fried belt fish was no longer crispy. Its skin was soft and a bit too salty, with a touch of springiness. After biting into it, the fine and loose fish inside no longer required teeth to break it apart; a slight push from the tongue dispersed the fish in the mouth.

Dr. Lu was at a loss for words.

Indeed, the fried belt fish was no longer crispy due to the steam, losing the soul of fried fish, but it was undoubtedly a very delicious belt fish.

A genuinely delectable fried belt fish, even without the crispiness, is still a very delicious belt fish.

In the end, the lunchbox Jiang Feng delivered was shared by all the doctors in the emergency room.

Doctors like Cao and Lu could share the dishes on the second layer, whereas trainee interns with lower status, like Old Sun and Xu, could only nibble on the third layer’s sautéed cabbage with tofu. Director Zhong single-handedly devoured the first layer’s elbow joint on rice by herself.

The cost of doing so was feeling a bit too full.

Meanwhile, when Jiang Feng delivered two lunches to Jiang Weiming’s hospital room, only Jiang Weiming and Mrs. Zhu were there. The young man in the next bed and his caregiver had gone out, apparently to get some tests done.

Jiang Weisheng was not there, so his meal had to be given to Mrs. Zhu. Jiang Feng sat on the edge of the bed, chatting with Jiang Weiming for a while. After they finished their meal, and Mrs. Zhu had cleaned the lunchbox, Jiang Feng headed back with the lunchbox.

For some reason, Jiang Feng felt that Mrs. Zhu’s attitude towards her was exceptionally warm this time.

His encounter with Dr. Lu, who handed over the lunchbox to him at the emergency department, was also extra warm.

After Jiang Feng returned to Taifeng Building, the lunch service had not yet ended, but Old Master Jiang was nowhere to be found. According to Sang Ming, Old Master Jiang had only stayed a few minutes after Jiang Feng left and then went to change clothes and leave, seemingly to go for tea.

In those tens of minutes while Old Master Jiang was away, a small incident occurred in the kitchen and was handled by Zhang Guanghang and Wu Minqi.

At lunchtime, Jiang Feng threw a knowing look at Zhang Guanghang and Wu Minqi, who got his meaning and gave him a ‘message received’ hand signal. A few minutes later, all three gathered at the neighboring convenience store.

Yes, their secret meeting spot had now become the convenience store next door.

The main reason was that the convenience store had recently launched a fresh juice and brewed milk tea beverage service. Although the store owner’s skills weren’t great, the quality of his ingredients was excellent. As long as the milk tea wasn’t overcooked, it always tasted incredibly good.

However, Jiang Feng once suspected that the owner offered these drinks simply because he wanted to drink them himself—every time Jiang Feng walked into the convenience store, he would see the owner sitting at the front desk, drinking juice or milk tea while looking at houses.

It was a life full of capitalist decay, a fat cat’s existence.

“Where’s Ji Gezi?” Jiang Feng took a couple of sips of fresh orange juice before realizing that a teammate was missing.

Although he hadn’t given Ji Gezi the secret signal at lunch, by giving it to Zhang, he had essentially given it to Ji Gezi as well.

“She’s rushing to finish the second edition of the comic and is currently drawing in the upstairs booth. I’ll just pass on to her what we discussed today this evening,” Zhang Guanghang said.

“The second edition?”

“Aren’t they distributing the first edition in the lobby now? That version was rushed and had cut corners by Orchid. The restaurant’s revenue plummeted yesterday and today, and that made her anxious, so she decided to draw a better version to attract customers,” Zhang Guanghang explained.

Jiang Feng was deeply moved; he hadn’t expected Ji Gezi to love the company and think of its interests to such an extent, he even wanted to award her a banner of honor.

“Has there been a significant drop in revenue these past couple of days?” Wu Minqi asked, clearly puzzled. She had never concerned herself with revenue-related matters.

“The decline is quite noticeable, but it’s unavoidable. The top-floor restaurant has just opened and is currently offering discounts, drawing away a large number of diners. I suspect that revenues of all major restaurants in Beiping have dipped to some extent. It should rebound once the top-floor restaurant’s discount period ends,” Zhang Guanghang said.

“How long are they offering discounts?” Jiang Feng asked, since Jiang Weiming had been hospitalized yesterday morning, he hadn’t paid any attention to the top-floor restaurant, even forgetting about it in just a day.

Had Zhang Guanghang not brought it up, Jiang Feng might have even forgotten they had such a formidable competitor.

“Drinks at 20% off, select set meals at a 50% discount, for three days,” Zhang Guanghang said.

Jiang Feng couldn’t help but click his tongue.

A high-end restaurant offering such substantial discounts must be well-funded.

It’s good to have money.

“How’s the quality of their dishes?” Wu Minqi inquired.

“Overall, the quality is decent; the ingredients are fresh, and the dishes have been improved to a certain extent, likely matching the tastes of the Beiping region,” Zhang Guanghang gave an objective assessment. “Prices are slightly inflated, but with the Michelin brand backing them up, there should be plenty of takers.”

“Also, from what I’ve heard, their reservations are already booked up four days in advance.”

“Business is booming,” Jiang Feng couldn’t help but remark.

“However—” Zhang Guanghang changed the subject, “I’ve realized that the top-floor restaurant doesn’t really affect us that much.”

Jiang Feng & Wu Minqi: ?

“Although our restaurants are close to each other, they’re not in the same shopping mall and are somewhat distant. Yesterday, I asked Manager Fan to analyze it and found that the customer overlap rate between Taifeng Building and the top-floor restaurant isn’t very high. The establishment most affected by customer overlap is probably Eight-treasure House,” Zhang Guanghang said. “The top-floor restaurant has bought out the search placement above Eight-treasure House.”

Jiang Feng silently lit a candle in his heart for Ling Guangzhao.

“Let’s not talk about this anymore.” Jiang Feng called Wu Minqi and Zhang Guanghang to the convenience store for a small meeting, not to discuss the neighboring top-floor restaurant.

Even if the top-floor restaurant did well, it wouldn’t have much to do with them. With Jiang Weiming hospitalized, the old sir was restless, and the kitchen staff at Taifeng Building were demoralized. Even without the top-floor restaurant, a substantial decline in revenue was inevitable.

“Do you guys know about Sun Jikai’s grandfather’s situation?” Jiang Feng asked.

Zhang Guanghang and Wu Minqi nodded, the atmosphere suddenly became heavy.

“From this morning, when Grandpa received Sun Jikai’s call, he hasn’t been right. And you saw how he was in the kitchen this morning—absent-minded and dispirited. I have never seen my grandpa like this before.”

“In a few days, my grandpa and I will have to go to FJ for Sir Sun’s funeral. Honestly, I am a bit worried about him,” Jiang Feng furrowed his brow. “I fear he might get caught up in his thoughts, fixate on it—he’s just not himself right now.”

Hearing Jiang Feng say this, Wu Minqi also started worrying about the old sir, but she had never faced such a situation before and didn’t know what to do.

Zhang Guanghang offered comfort: “This is normal.”

Jiang Feng: ?

Wu Minqi: ?

Seeing both of them looking almost synchronously puzzled, Zhang Guanghang smiled and said, “Severe illness and death are two different concepts.”

“As long as someone is alive, even if they are gravely ill and barely hanging on, they are still alive, and as long as they live, we have a sense of reality.”

“But death is different. Even anticipated death, when the day arrives and the final sense of reality fades, everything changes.”

“When you begin to remember the person, it’s like grasping sand with an empty hand—the tighter you grasp, the faster it slips through. The harder you try to remember, the less you can recall. It’s as though with their departure, memories leave as well, leaving only a blurry face you can’t remember in detail, and you may even feel a strangeness when seeing their photograph.”

“You’ll think they are still alive, leaving home you feel they are at home, and returning home you feel they are elsewhere. Even if you can barely remember their appearance, you feel they are always by your side.”

Realizing he had digressed, Zhang Guanghang added, “I just got caught up in the moment. I think Master Jiang might be affected because the death of Master Sun and Old Master Jiang are too closely linked. After all, Master Jiang is also well over 80, and it’s natural for him to have some empathy, possibly feeling the loss himself.”

“My grandfather used to be the same way. He would only ever casually read about murders in the newspaper, but when he read about someone his age dying unexpectedly at home, he would be scared for a long time. It will be okay after a while.”

Jiang Feng looked at Zhang Guanghang, feeling that what he said was in remembrance of Xia Mushi.

But it wasn’t just about Xia Mushi.