The Game of Life - Chapter 60

Chapter 60: Han Guishan

Mr. Han couldn’t stop himself from staring at the Cornmeal Dumpling.

No matter how Mr. Han looked at it, it was a normal dumpling that was almost identical to the ones he had when he was little. The only difference was that the cornmeal that was used when he was a kid was coarser than the one that could be found in the dumpling.

Yet, the dumpling reminded Mr. Han of his late mother.

His mother was the daughter of a cook, but she could make the best Cornmeal Dumpling with Stuffed Vegetables in the world.

“Who made this dumpling?” Mr. Han asked.

…

The one who had made the dumplings was crying because of the spicy Stir-fried Chicken with Pepper.

Jiang Feng could not even recall how many cups of water he had drunk. All he knew was that he had to drink water whenever he took a bite into the chicken.

He could even tell that his lips were swelling because of the heat.

As a daughter in a Sichuanese family, Wu Qimin could not sympathize with Jiang Feng’s pain. She found it hard to understand why Jiang Feng could be in so much pain just from the Stir-fried Chicken with Pepper. She even used less chili because they were made for children.

In Jiang Feng’s 20 years of life, the spiciest food he has ever had was the Grilled Lamb Skewers behind his high school that was introduced to him by Chen Xiuxiu. He even got admitted into the hospital for two days because of that. But compared to Wu Qimin’s Stir-fried Chicken with Pepper, the lamb skewers were child’s play.

Yet, even though Jiang Feng’s lips were swelling to the point as if they were stung by bees, Jiang Feng managed to finish the chicken dish.

“Are we making dinner too?” Wu Qimin asked excitedly.

Unlike Jiang Feng, who got to practice his cooking skill daily, Wu Qimin never had the chance to cook in a professional kitchen ever since she started college. Cooking at Zephyr Primary School was her first time cooking in A City.

Jiang Feng could tell Wu Qimin was eager to take advantage of the chance.

But Jiang Feng’s reply put out that eagerness. “No. We don’t need to make dinner.”

Wu Qimin’s face was filled with disappointment.

“I really envy you…” Wu Qimin sighed. “You are lucky that your family restaurant is right next to the campus.”

Jiang Feng thought of the lunch he just had, and an idea came to his mind.

“Do… do you have a lot of classes?” Jiang Feng asked, knowing that Wu Qimin was majoring in Food Nutrition, which was a major with a lot of classes and projects.

“I don’t go to classes that often,” Wu Qimin shook her head. “I thought the major was about learning different ingredients, but it’s actually just all chemistry.”

“…”

Jiang Feng was speechless as to how Wu Qimin was trying to justify skipping classes.

Aren’t you supposed to go to the New Oriental Cuisine School if you want to learn about ingredients?

“Well, since you’re skipping… since you don’t have a lot of classes, why don’t you come and help out at the restaurant?” Jiang Feng coughed and asked. “We have four stoves that you could use freely.”

Jiang Feng invited Wu Qimin because the Healthy Restaurant still needed someone good at making Sichuan Cuisine.

And since Jiang Jiankang had a sweet tooth, none of the dishes in the restaurant were spicy.

“I can use those stoves freely?” Wu Qimin asked as her eyes lit up.

“Only when a customer makes an order.”

“I’m in!” Wu Qimin exclaimed. She has been dying to work in a kitchen ever since school started.

After the 7-day long National Day of the People’s Republic of China holiday had ended, Wu Qimin had not touched a chef knife for three months. She would even dream of cutting carrots from time to time.

From another’s point of view, she was a cooking maniac.

“Then, you can come whenever you’re free,” Jiang Feng smiled while not mentioning her pay.

Wu Qimin did not realize that Jiang Feng was actually asking her to work as a chef in the Healthy Restaurant. Moreover, she was thankful that Jiang Feng gave her a chance to practice her skills in a real kitchen.

What was more was that Wu Qimin did not have any problem with money. Even though her grandfather was very strict with everyone in the family, he never restricted their money use as long as no gambling or drugs were involved.

After coming to a deal, the two of them walked around the campus.

Since the students from the College of Music and Dancing were going to perform after lunch, Jiang Feng decided to proceed to the hall earlier so that he could get a good seat. The reason behind Jiang Feng’s decision was because any performance from that particular college was very crowded. Even getting one or two seats by the aisle would be considered as lucky.

That was why Jiang Feng decided to get a seat where he could drool over the beauties that would be dancing on the stage.

But before Jiang Feng could locate the hall, the all-knowing Ms. Chen appeared out of nowhere and pulled Jiang Feng away.

“Mr. Han is asking for you,” Ms. Chen said as she pulled Jiang Feng to the hall.

Lucky for Jiang Feng, Mr. Han was waiting for him at the performing hall, which was Jiang Feng’s destination from the beginning.

“Mr. Han?” Jiang Feng raised a question.

“He’s one of Zephyr’s 5 school board members. He wanted to talk to you about the dumplings you made.”

Jiang Feng was shocked when he heard it was about the dumpling.

Wait… Did he get sick or something because of the dumpling? But I didn’t even use any coarse cornmeal…

Jiang Feng uneasily followed Ms. Chen to where Mr. Han was waiting.

As soon as Jiang Feng arrived at the hall, he could see kids decorating in it. Some were placing flowers on the chairs, while the others were putting up decorations. Judging from the ugly looking decorations, Jiang Feng could tell they were handmade.

Jiang Feng did not see any students from the A University in the crowd and deduced they were helping out backstage.

Jiang Feng has heard from others that the students from the College of Music and Dancing had been preparing for weeks.

Jiang Feng was probably the only one who didn’t know that the event was held at the Zephyr Primary School because he didn’t pay any attention to it. Even Liu Qian knew about the location three days before the event.

Mr. Han was already waiting on the second floor.

After guiding Jiang Feng to where Mr. Han was, Ms. Chen left.

Jiang Feng was worried until he saw Mr. Han smiling warmly at him without any signs of having a bad stomach. While Jiang Feng could relax a little, he was curious as to why Mr. Han, the board member of an elite school, wanted to meet with him.

The most confusing part for Jiang Feng was that Mr. Han looked familiar.

It was as if he had seen Mr. Han’s picture before.

Could it be that he’s actually a customer at the restaurant? Did the Healthy Restaurant get famous already?

“Mr. Jiang,” Mr. Han opened his mouth and spoke. “Don’t be so stiff. I actually have a favor to ask of you.”

“Ding!”

What’s with the notification sound?

Where’s the content after that?

Jiang Feng scolded in his head as the game did not give Jiang Feng any details of the notification.

“Mr. Han, have we met before?” Jiang Feng asked as the more he looked at Mr. Han, the more he felt like he’d seen the man somewhere before.

Mr. Han was briefly stunned by the sudden question and smiled. “You might’ve seen my picture before. Sorry for the late introduction. My name is Han Guishan.”

Han Guishan? As in the boss of Good Taste?

Jiang Feng finally recalled where he’d seen Han Guishan’s face before. It was when he was searching for the competition on Good Taste’s official website.

The only difference was that the photo was heavily photoshopped to make Han Guishan look younger with larger eyes and smoother skin.

“Can I be of any help to you, Mr. Han?” Jiang Feng asked, wondering what the boss of Good Taste could possibly ask from him.

“It’s about the dumpling. As soon as I tasted one, I could instantly understand the meaning behind the theme of this event,” Han Guishan explained. “I was thinking of hosting a similar event at my company too. To remind my employees of their bittersweet past. That’s why I hope you can help me make a batch of the same dumplings.”

Jiang Feng was stunned when he heard Han Guishan’s request.

How did he even come up with that idea just from eating a cornmeal dumpling?

But since the dumpling was one of the game’s recipes, Jiang Feng could only make 60 a day.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Han, but I can only make 60 dumplings per day. I might not be able to meet your needs.”

“That’s more than enough. Actually, 10 per day is enough,” Han Guishan said and continued to explain when he saw Jiang Feng’s surprised expression. “I’m thinking of starting with the people in the highest chain of command first.”

“…”

His way of thinking is definitely different from other peoples…

Jiang Feng smiled wryly. “I can make 6 in one batch. How about 12 per day?”

“That’s good. And, I have another small favor to ask of you. Can you come to my home and make me some of the dumplings too?” Han Guishan requested.

Jiang Feng was utterly taken aback by the request.

It’s like he has some grudge with the dumplings or something.

“I’m thinking of learning how to make the dumplings and make them for my son too,” Han Guishan explained. “It’s time that little brat gets some taste of what bittersweet means. Money is not a problem. How about a thousand per day?”

One thousand?

Jiang Feng was instantly subdued by the billionaire in front of him.

From Jiang Feng’s perspective, even though Han Guishan had a unique way of thinking, he was generous. Jiang Feng could not believe that a 6 dollar dumpling could land him thousands of dollars per day.

Jiang Feng agreed to Han Guishan’s request immediately.

He even got to add Han Guishan on WeChat after that.

As Jiang Feng went down the stairs, he felt like he was floating.

It was the feeling of money falling from the sky.

One of the Student Council members noticed Jiang Feng coming down and stopped him. “Jiang Feng, where have you been? What is your club going to perform?”

“Perform? What?”

“Didn’t you get the notice? It was sent a week ago. Every club must prepare a performance for this event.”

Jiang Feng quickly took his phone out and rummaged through his message. He finally found the notice in his blocked messages.

As for why Jiang Feng blocked the Student Council’s phone number, well, that was another story.

“Perform… What am I going to perform…” Jiang Feng pondered.

Other than cooking, there was nothing Jiang Feng could think of that he was good at.

“I… I’ll be performing food cutting!” Jiang Feng decided.

“What? As in chopping food?”

“That’s right!”