The Game of Life

Chapter 425: Chapter 423: Things Remain the Same, But People Change

11:30 AM, Taifeng Building officially opened for business.

From 11:30 AM, the Ordering System would be activated, and regulars at Taifeng Building who had plenty of time would usually take their seats and choose their dishes before 11:30 AM, especially those aiming for the Sweet and Sour Yam and pure meat wontons. The situation for Li Hongzhang’s hodgepodge was slightly better, with a set number of customers, and occasionally it might not even sell out.

Today was destined to be a day of particularly fierce competition for Sweet and Sour Yam and pure meat wontons, and the lunch service had not even started yet. The VIP booths on the third floor had a 70% occupancy rate.

“Ding ding ding ding ding…”

“Master, six orders of Sweet and Sour Yam and three orders of pure meat wontons!” Ji Xia, stationed in front of the tablet, called out hoarsely.

“Extend the preparation time by ten minutes, I haven’t even finished thickening the sauce for the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon,” Jiang Feng responded just as loudly.

National Day was a challenge not only for all the employees of Taifeng Building but also for the patrons. Those kings of the limited dishes who were leisurely but not necessarily wealthy met their Waterloo today; almost as soon as the Ordering System was activated, the waiters in the big hall could hear more than one customer exclaiming “Damn,” “Crap,” “What the heck,” “Holy shit,” and “MMP.” In a matter of moments, the whole lobby of Taifeng Building was as noisy as a classroom distributing summer vacation homework.

Unlike the frank and open main hall, the patrons in the private dining rooms were relatively more understated.

“How’s it going, how’s it going? Did you get it?” Mr. Zhou, a wealthy and leisurely aficionado of Sweet and Sour Yam, anxiously eyed the tablet and kept asking Ouyang, who held the tablet, “Ouyang, did you manage to get it or not? Ah, come on, give me some sign. Just hand me the tablet, and I’ll check.”

“If you ask me, this restaurant’s Ordering System is too complicated. It just shows an exclamation mark here without telling you if you’ve successfully ordered or not. Who knows if we got it?” Ouyang, who once single-handedly leveled up in a game, handed over the tablet to Mr. Zhou.

Mr. Zhou took the tablet with a look of despair, “Ouyang, aren’t you so old that you’ve got presbyopia? Didn’t you see the ‘sold out’ under that exclamation point?”

“I said I should have done the ordering. You insisted on doing it, and you even bragged about how fast you were at helping your son get some flash sale items. Did you manage to snap up any? You probably only win those flash sales with a ten thousand limit!” Mr. Zhou, who had missed out on the Sweet and Sour Yam, vented his frustrations at Ouyang.

“Gentlemen, sorry to interrupt. Would you like the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon to be served now?” A young and beautiful waitress, who had been quietly standing by the door watching the two patrons about to quarrel, joined the fray and broke up the impending fight.

“Serve it now.” Ouyang was immediately excited and looked at Mr. Zhou, who was still somewhat resentfully, and offered symbolic consolation to his old friend, “It’s okay, you know. You can order it tomorrow when you come with your wife and children. Last time you didn’t let me order, I was just curious, so I said I’d try.”

“No matter how tasty Sweet and Sour Yam is, it’s just a dessert. We’re here for the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon today.”

“When have you ever missed out on eating here?” Mr. Zhou decided to shake hands and make peace, changing the subject.

Ouyang took a sip of the lemon water on the table, frowned, and turned to the waitress at the door, “Miss, your lemon water isn’t good here. Do you have any tea?”

“You come to Taifeng Building and ask for tea? If you want tea, go to Yonghe House. Waiter, bring us two glasses of sour plum drink, I forgot to order drinks when I made the reservation,” Mr. Zhou said.

“What’s there to like about that sour plum drink? It’s too sour to be enjoyable,” Ouyang dismissed Mr. Zhou’s choice, though he didn’t refuse it. “As far as I’m concerned, Jubao Building’s herbal tea is the best, especially on a hot day. None of the other places can compare.”

Mr. Zhou could only smile helplessly, knowing that Ouyang had grown up on Jubao Building’s food and was a big fan, always insisting that it was the number one restaurant in Guangdong Province, with other establishments paling in comparison.

Wasn’t he the same?

Mr. Zhou was a bona fide Beiping local. His father and Ling Guangzhao’s father were friends, and he had grown up eating the foods of Eight-treasure House. Once upon a time, Eight-treasure House was the number one restaurant in Beiping, in his heart, far surpassing places like Yonghe House, Tongde House, and Ruyi House.

Alas.

Sigh.

Though Jubao Building was not what it used to be, it still had its brand name and reputation wasn’t too shoddy, with Grandpa Sun at the helm. Ouyang could shamelessly boast about Jubao Building being the number one restaurant in Guangdong Province all day long. But Eight-treasure House was utterly different. Without the old master chef, the flavor of the dishes had completely changed, and Mr. Zhou, try as he might, couldn’t find it in him to blindly praise Eight-treasure House like Ouyang did.

Ouyang, seeing Mr. Zhou suddenly start sighing for no apparent reason, wasn’t sure what to say. Just then, the waitress came in with two glasses of sour plum drink, giving Ouyang an opportunity to praise Jubao Building.

“Why the sigh all of a sudden? I think you’re just hot and haven’t had any herbal tea. If you drank herbal tea every day like I do at Jubao Building, you definitely wouldn’t be sighing,” he said.

Mr. Zhou: ???

Mr. Zhou decided to take a sip of sour plum drink to calm down.

“Little sister, the sour plum drink is already here, why hasn’t the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon been served yet?” Ouyang began to urge the dishes.

He had put aside his business and especially returned from Australia just for the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon.

“The Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon needs to be thickened with a sauce after coming out of the pot, it should be served shortly. Please wait a moment longer, I’ll go and hurry them up,” the waiter said.

After the waiter left, Ouyang genuinely praised, “Professional, even the waiters know the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon needs thickening right after coming out of the pot.”

“Ah,” Ouyang, recalling some rumors he had heard before, let out an involuntary sigh.

Hearing Ouyang’s sigh, Mr. Zhou couldn’t help but laugh, “Yo, have you not been to Jubao House for a drink of herbal tea recently? What’s with sighing just like me? Did the negotiations in Australia not go smoothly? Do you want me to pull some strings for you?”

Ouyang gave Mr. Zhou a look that said you wouldn’t understand, “There’s no problem with business. If there were, would I have the spare time to run back here to eat? I heard some insider news before, Jubao House might really be splitting up this time.”

Mr. Zhou immediately sat up straight, serious, “Splitting up? Ouyang, you can’t just say things like that. It’s one thing for others to spread rumors or for tabloid journalists to write nonsense, but it’s different coming from our mouths.”

“I know, I also thought it was just a baseless rumor at first, but a few days ago I heard something.”

“What did you hear?”

Even though they were the only two left in the private room, Ouyang still lowered his voice, “Sun Channing (Sun Jikai’s second uncle) sold all his property outside.”

“He sold them? For real?” Mr. Zhou looked incredulous, thinking that Sun Channing must be off his rocker to sell even the real estate.

“There’s an eighty to ninety percent chance it’s true. I caught wind of this before the news got out; apparently, the prices were said to be quite lower than the market value, definitely in urgent need of cash. Sun Channing, who for decades stayed away from drugs, gambling, and vice, living like a model student, how could he suddenly be so desperate for money that he would dispose of his real estate at a low price?” Ouyang said with a sneer, “This battle between the Sun brothers is making life uneasy for us patrons. You have no idea how much the quality of Jubao House’s dishes has declined recently; their fight affects even us unrelated bystanders.”

Ouyang’s words were full of resentment.

“Isn’t Master Sun taking care of it?” asked Mr. Zhou.

“Master Sun is in the hospital. You know how it is with the old man, once he gets sick it tends to come and go. Master Sun hasn’t fully recovered since his last hospitalization and barely visits Jubao House anymore, always recuperating. Otherwise, would Sun Channing dare to overtly defy his elder brother and not play his role as the dutiful and filial son and grandson?”

“That shouldn’t be the case. Master Sun is just in the hospital temporarily and isn’t always unwell. Isn’t Sun Channing afraid that Master Sun will settle scores with him after recovering?” Mr. Zhou felt there was more to it.

“How can he settle scores with his own flesh and blood? Before, when the Huang Family was causing a fuss…”

As the waiter entered with a push of the door, their conversation came to an abrupt halt.

“Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon, please enjoy,” the waitress said as she placed the freshly cooked Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon on the table. “Do you need any assistance in slicing open the pigeon’s belly?”

“No need, I’ll do it myself,” Ouyang replied, taking the knife from the waitress’s hand.

Looking at the steaming Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon in front of him, which, at first glance, appeared no different from the ones made by Sun Guanyun back in the day, Ouyang couldn’t help but sigh as he sliced open the belly.

The stuffing tumbled out, scattering across half the plate, with the sauce sticking to it.

It was as beautiful as a painting, almost too perfect to disturb with a spoon.

Just like the first time Ouyang ate the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon at Jubao House.

Ouyang scooped up a spoonful and brought it to his mouth.

Delicate but still flavorful, seemingly identical to what he ate back then.

Yet it seemed to be missing something; although it was also quite good, it didn’t quite measure up to his memory.

Times have changed.