The Game of Life

“`

Due to Han Youxin’s gloomy face and sluggish pace of gnawing at vegetable buns, lunchtime for the Han Guishan family was exceptionally long today.

When eating red-braised lamb, Han Youxin could consume three pieces in a minute, devouring them like a starving wolf. However, when it came to pickled vegetable buns, he could only manage one bite every three minutes, as slow as an old man eating biscuits.

The pickled vegetable buns made by Jiang Feng were not selling well, and the portion for the Han Guishan family came with a full stomach buff. Han Youxin genuinely ate half before he was too stuffed to continue. Glaring resentfully at the table’s red-braised lamb and sweet and sour spare ribs, he complained to Han Guishan and Wang Jing that he was full.

By the time Wang Hao helped them pack up the leftovers and the server responsible for clearing the table came in, it was nearly 2 p.m.

The private rooms and main dining area were nearly empty, with only a few tables of guests still dining. Most of the servers had started their lunch, gathering in small groups in corners to eat and chat.

With the New Year just around the corner, Mrs. Wang Xiulian had recently spared no expense on staff meals. The variety was abundant—chicken, duck, fish, meat; anything that flew in the sky, ran on the ground, or swam in the sea was fair game, as long as it wasn’t luxurious items like sea cucumber, abalone, bird’s nest, or shark fins. Mrs. Wang Xiulian didn’t mind.

Wang Hao would come to work at Taifeng Building as a server on weekends. Although he was a private room server, he still got to know many colleagues because of joining them for staff meals at noon and in the evening. He got along well with some of them, to the point where they could sit together and chat during meals.

Some servers who were good friends with Wang Hao greeted him enthusiastically when they saw him coming, holding their plates, “Hao, we’ve got garlic prawns and lamb ribs today, unlimited. The garlic vermicelli scallops are limited to two per person—better hurry, or they’ll be gone.”

Having spent over an hour in a private room which left him somewhat listless, Wang Hao suddenly perked up and quickly headed to the food service area.

Today’s staff meal was cooked by Zhang Guanghang and Dong Li and featured a mix of Shandong cuisine, French cuisine, and Jiangsu cuisine. Since Dong Li’s Jiangsu dishes hadn’t made it onto the menu, he could only indulge himself by cooking staff meals, delighting all the Taifeng Building employees.

After some deliberation, Wang Hao chose the garlic prawns, lamb ribs, and sweet and sour spare ribs. He didn’t forget to casually take a bottle of Coke from the fridge before leaving.

Jiang Feng was sitting alone at a small table in a corner, silently eating his lunch. He had a lot of dishes to prepare this noon, and by the time he finished and came out of the kitchen, Ji Xia, Wu Minqi, Ji Yue, and Zhang Guanghang had already taken their usual seats at a small table. Displaced by his apprentices, Jiang Feng had to find another spot.

Wang Hao walked quietly to Jiang Feng with his plate of food and sat down without a sound.

Jiang Feng glanced at Wang Hao and continued to lower his head to eat shrimps.

“Your Majesty!” Wang Hao cried out affectionately with the familiar address, swiftly transferring two of the garlic vermicelli scallops from his own plate into Jiang Feng’s bowl.

Jiang Feng…

Unwarranted flattery means mischief is afoot!

Jiang Feng cast a wary glance at Wang Hao, “There shouldn’t be any exams at the end of this term, right?”

“None.” Wang Hao said earnestly.

Jiang Feng immediately relaxed, picked up one of the garlic vermicelli scallops that Wang Hao had just given him, and, with his chopsticks, scooped all of its contents into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed quickly as if he feared Wang Hao might change his mind the next second.

“I’m broke.” Jiang Feng spoke, quickly eating the second garlic vermicelli scallop.

Wang Hao…

What kind of person is Wang Hao? He’s a pro at buttering up potential new “dads”!

Wang Hao, who had just recently repaid his debts to his newly acknowledged “third dad,” swiftly adjusted his facial expression, unbothered by Jiang Feng’s cold words, “Feng, can the father-son relationship between you and me really be measured only by money and exams?”

Jiang Feng was genuinely touched, pondered carefully, and realized that he couldn’t think of a third party that could sustain their father-son relationship aside from money and exams.

“Your Majesty, please save your subject’s graduation thesis!”

“`

Jiang Feng felt much lighter after finishing two garlic vermicelli scallops and said indifferently, “I haven’t even started on mine, how can I save you?”

Although Jiang Feng had already decided on the topic and general direction of his graduation thesis, he hadn’t actually written a single word. His initial plan was to start writing the thesis during the leisurely period of the New Year celebrations and then spend a week or two the following year to fully perfect it before submitting it to Professor Li for review and revision.

As long as he finished before the deadline for the defense.

“Father Emperor, although you haven’t started writing, you have someone to teach you!” Wang Hao said.

“Don’t you also have a thesis advisor? If you really aren’t good at it, go ask your teacher for help,” Jiang Feng replied.

Wang Hao sighed deeply, “My advisor is supervising over 20 graduates, how can they have time to guide me. Besides, I’m in Beiping now, not at UAL University. Father Emperor, didn’t Professor Li retire and move to Beiping as well? You have a good relationship with Professor Li, could you please talk to him and see if he has time to tutor me?”

Wang Hao’s request wasn’t difficult for Jiang Feng, as Professor Li had been leading a very leisurely life since his retirement, engaging in activities such as helping Chen Suhua take care of Da Hua, reading newspapers, perusing academic journals, and occasionally checking emails from his doctoral and master’s students on the computer. Wang Hao was also one of Professor Li’s students, and to top it off, Professor Li remembered him—Professor Li remembered every student who had failed his course.

Guiding students in writing their graduation theses wasn’t hard for Professor Li.

“Here’s what we’ll do, I’m going to take my Granduncle Weiming to Magic City in a couple of days, and I probably won’t have time the day after tomorrow. Let’s go today. After we finish eating, I’ll take you to Li Mansion. You go buy something first and say that you want to visit Professor Li before the New Year, then ask for his guidance. He should agree,” Jiang Feng suggested.

“Thank you, Father Emperor!” Wang Hao was so touched that he was nearly in tears.

Jiang Feng and Wang Hao continued eating. In the middle of their meal, Wang Hao suddenly asked, “Feng, what should I bring when I go to see Professor Li later? There aren’t any special local products at this time, and crabs are out of season too.”

Jiang Feng thought for a moment, “Bring some fruit, the kind that’s easy to eat, like bananas that you can eat just by peeling, no need to wash. Professor Li doesn’t like food that’s fussy to eat.”

Wang Hao nodded and immediately took out his phone to note down what Jiang Feng had just said.

After finishing their meal, Jiang Feng changed his clothes and accompanied Wang Hao to a nearby fruit shop where they bought some fresh, common fruits and picked out 5 pounds of the most expensive cherries. They took a DiDi cab with two bags of fruits, which cost half a month’s internship salary for Wang Hao, to Li Mansion.

When they arrived at Li Mansion, Chen Suhua was sitting in the living room eating grapes and watching television. Chen Suhua was sensitive to the cold, so even though there was heating in the house, she sat beside a heater turned up to the highest setting.

Da Hua rested her face in a serene demeanor behind the heater, escaping the tragic fate of becoming roast whole pig, and kept Chen Suhua company while watching a family ethics drama set in a bygone era.

“Little Feng is here!” Chen Suhua exclaimed happily upon seeing Jiang Feng. With the New Year approaching, her regular mahjong partners were either busy shopping for New Year’s goods or taking care of grandchildren, and even Mrs. Jiang hardly had time to come over, so Chen Suhua hadn’t been able to gather enough players for a table of mahjong in days.

Chen Suhua had been bored at home for several days, tired of the monotonous period dramas, and without anyone to converse with, as Professor Li wasn’t particularly talkative, she was overjoyed to see Jiang Feng.

“And this young man is?” Chen Suhua turned to Wang Hao, who was holding the fruit next to Jiang Feng, feeling that he looked familiar but couldn’t quite remember who he was.

“Aunt, this is my roommate, Wang Hao, he’s also one of Professor Li’s students. He’s doing an internship at a media company here in Beiping. Since New Year’s is coming up and their company is about to go on holiday, he thought he’d bring some fruit to visit Professor Li before he goes back,” Jiang Feng explained with a smile.

Wang Hao nodded earnestly.

Chen Suhua warmly accepted the fruit from Wang Hao’s hands, “Wang, you’re really thoughtful, just like Feng, both good kids. Come on, don’t just stand there, sit down. I’ll pour you a glass of water. I just bought some grapes this morning, they’re very sweet. I’ll go wash some for you.”

Seeing Chen Suhua’s enthusiasm, Wang Hao, who had a favor to ask, suddenly felt a bit awkward.

“Aunt, please don’t trouble yourself, we can get the water ourselves. Is Professor Li available…” Jiang Feng chuckled.

“Oh, Li has visitors as well, some students who came to see him since it’s close to the New Year. They’re chatting inside right now. You two sit here and keep me company watching TV for a while; they should be out when they’re done,” Chen Suhua said.

“Thank you so much, Madam Teacher,” Wang Hao said timidly, taking a seat.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!