The Game of Life

Chapter 432: 430

The 996 workers were completely conquered by the Taifeng Building.

The bystander Wang Hao was already scared silly by this group of people.

Really, even with all his knowledge, he, Wang Hao, couldn’t come up with such a bizarre plot.

The waiter who was delivering dishes placed the spicy chopped pepper fish head and the vegetable-stuffed chicken at the service window. He had been about to turn away when he suddenly remembered the supervisor’s instructions and added one more thing, “The marriage combo meal.”

Wang Hao was still immersed in the shock of the recent outburst of crying and suddenly felt inspired to pick up his once abandoned forum serial novel, to step out of the palace and return to his original aspirations.

Delivery waiter: ???

Where did the supervisor find such an unprofessional waiter?

Is it for free, using such an unprofessional person?

“Buddy, buddy!” The delivery waiter raised his voice, pulling Wang Hao back from his deep thoughts into reality.

“Ah? Oh, the dishes are ready, right?” Wang Hao walked over to the small service window, ready to serve the food.

Upon inspection, hey, isn’t this the spicy chopped pepper fish head made by Feng?

During his freshman and sophomore years, Wang Hao had eaten countless rib meals and various noodles made by Jiang Feng, and in the past few months at the Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant, Jiang Feng often insisted on not wasting food by making Wang Hao a guinea pig for his new dishes. Wang Hao could still recognize Jiang Feng’s cooking.

Wang Hao stared thoughtfully at the spicy chopped pepper fish head and the vegetable-stuffed chicken in front of him, his thoughts running wild.

That dish that seemed to have tear gas hidden in it appeared to be made by Feng as well. He hadn’t expected Feng’s cooking to be not only popular but also to retain its powerful effect; the mushroom soups he used to make only caused people to want to chop up the chef, and now they could actually make people cry.

Indeed, it was classic Feng!

“This is the marriage combo meal,” instructed the delivery boy as he left.

Wang Hao picked up the tray and started serving the food.

“Marriage combo meal, please enjoy,” Wang Hao said, steadying the dishes on the table.

“Hey, hodgepodge, you even snagged the marriage combo meal, when did you grab it?” A man at the table, still with tear stains on his face, looked on in surprise.

The Li Hongzhang hodgepodge dish required a lot of prep work and was both complicated and time-consuming. Since it targeted a specific audience, the competition wasn’t fierce, so it was possible to book it in advance, but the marriage combo meal had to be snatched up.

Although most diners didn’t understand the true meaning of this dish, it didn’t stop them from trying to grab it. If they couldn’t secure Jiang Feng’s pure meat wontons or the sweet and sour yam, surely they could get the marriage combo meal? This mindset made Jiang Feng’s marriage combo meals extremely popular on the weekends.

“Did you manage to grab the sweet and sour yam?” A woman who had been crying particularly loudly earlier was now looking expectantly at the Li Hongzhang hodgepodge.

“No,” the Li Hongzhang hodgepodge shook his head.

Everyone immediately looked disappointed.

“Sigh, if hodgepodge couldn’t get it, then it must be really hard.”

“Indeed, the National Day dishes are tough to get. I didn’t expect that even hodgepodge himself couldn’t grab it this time.”

“Sigh, I’ll be posted down south in a couple of days. I thought I could take this chance to have the sweet and sour yam one last time, but I didn’t expect…”

Aside from rookies like the 996 workers, everyone else in the decompression group was a regular at the Taifeng Building. As regulars, they wouldn’t be content with just a few bites of the Li Hongzhang hodgepodge and a good cry; naturally, they aspired for something better and of a higher standard.

Like the sweet and sour yam.

The group admin of the decompression group, known as Li Hongzhang hodgepodge in the chat and affectionately called hodgepodge by everyone, was the initiator of this gathering and was the person best at securing dishes in the entire group.

The onlooking Wang Hao naturally didn’t know any of these insider details; he simply thought that this apparently successful man had such a weird name, hodgepodge, which sounded like an insult.

Now that the dishes were being served, the atmosphere in the private room returned to its convivial state as if the previous crying had never happened. Everyone’s face held a smile as they started chatting quietly with the person next to them.

The content of these conversations was nothing more than whether your company has been making you work overtime lately? You only stayed until 11 o’clock last week? Not late at all; last week, my boss made us rush on a project, and we worked overtime until one or two o’clock every day.

Or how about that difficult client of yours lately? Made you revise the work again, up to 98 times now? Sigh, I haven’t had it as tough as you; the most revisions I’ve done for a client is just over 60 times.

The talks sounded as if they were describing some kind of earthly hell.

Everyone seemed like old friends who hadn’t seen each other in days, gathering to collectively complain about their bosses and clients, instantly filling the air with a sense of joy.

Only the 996 could not blend in with them.

The 996 worker felt like there was still something unexpressed inside of him, yearning for another bite of the Li Hongzhang hodgepodge. But he didn’t want to spoil everyone’s festive mood by crying alone, so he just sat there, conflicted.

“Young man, you’re new here, aren’t you? A programmer?” The middle-aged man who had earlier lent him a tissue, sitting beside 996, took the initiative to strike up a conversation.

996 was taken aback, “How did you know?”

He couldn’t help but use honorific language.

The middle-aged man smiled without saying a word.

“Sigh, that young guy over there must be a newcomer, right? Come on, don’t compete with the rookie for food. Pass the dishes around, leave him a chicken wrapped in leaves.” The woman who had asked if anyone got the sweet and sour yam earlier noticed 996.

“Exactly, exactly, don’t fight with the newcomer for food.” The others chimed in one after another.

The fish head with chopped chili and chicken wrapped in leaves made their way in front of 996.

“The fish head with chopped chili in this ‘Fate Combo’ tastes alright, eat it while it’s hot,” the middle-aged man said.

996 picked up a piece of fish.

A thick layer of chopped chili covered the fish, which was exceptionally fragrant due to the hot oil, making the spiciness particularly intense. However, if one just peeled away the outer layer of skin, the fish meat underneath was still snowy white. As 996 didn’t eat spicy food, he didn’t dip it in the soup and just picked a white, tender piece of fish meat.

Upon tasting it, it was fresh and delicious, with a hint of spiciness.

Then, 996 turned his gaze to the chicken wrapped in leaves next to him. Seeing that there were only three pieces left on the plate, he hesitated for a moment: “This…doesn’t seem quite right.”

“What’s wrong with that? It was the same for us when we came for the first time. We’ve all had these dishes before; it’s fine, just go ahead and help yourself,” the woman said.

996 took a piece of the chicken wrapped in leaves.

He tasted it.

It didn’t make much of an impression.

He wasn’t a Beiping person and had no special memories associated with the chicken wrapped in leaves; he hadn’t even heard of it before coming to Beiping. Moreover, Jiang Feng’s chicken wrapped in leaves was just mediocre, so for 996, it didn’t appeal to him as much as the fish head with chopped chili did.

996 wanted to pick up another piece of fish head with chopped chili, but before he could extend his chopsticks, he remembered the young lady from last night who had given him her WeChat ID at dinner.

996 had fallen in love with the young lady at first sight the previous night, which was why he’d mustered the courage to ask for her WeChat ID.

He had expected to be rejected, but to his surprise, the young lady had given it to him quite readily—a readiness that led 996 to the delusion she might also have a good impression of him.

996 was planning to engage in some awkward chat for a few days before confessing his feelings, but now he felt there was no need to wait.

996 took out his phone.

996 opened WeChat.

996 sent a message.

996 looked anxious.

Unexpectedly, the reply came instantly.

A Jing: Yeah, handsome, what’s up?

996 was still pondering how to start the conversation when another message popped up.

A Jing: Handsome, you were the one wearing the white shirt last night, right? I remember you, you were the only one drinking tea while everyone else was drinking alcohol.

A Jing: Handsome, looking to buy some tea? Xiao Guan Tea, absolutely guaranteed quality.

996’s romance had come to an end.

996 was inconsolably sad.

“What’s wrong? What happened? Sigh, don’t talk, just pass the dishes here, pass the Li Hongzhang hodgepodge over.”

Everyone else was happily eating, but only 996 was sadly crying.

“This newcomer seems to really be under a lot of pressure; he’s been crying longer than I did when I first came here.” A person at the same table couldn’t help but shake their head and sigh.

Wang Hao: …

Why is there crying again?

“Kung Pao chicken.” The food delivery guy called for Wang Hao from outside, and when Wang Hao showed up, he turned to leave.

“Hey, hey, buddy, wait a second, can I ask you something!” Wang Hao stopped the delivery guy.

“Shouldn’t we be calling the police or dialing 120 for the customer who has been crying since earlier?” Wang Hao asked.

“No need, they ordered the Li Hongzhang hodgepodge; it’s normal for them. You didn’t see downstairs—there are a few crying even harder than this in the lobby. I heard they’re art students looking for inspiration and came here to cry. But it’s okay; they only shed tears without making noise and don’t disturb other customers.” The delivery guy explained.

Wang Hao: ???