The Game of Life

What Jiang Feng didn’t know was that Ji Xue and Tan Wenwen had also been out of touch for many years.

It was only two days ago, when Ji Xue suddenly received a call from Manager Fan Mei, who said a woman claiming to be her friend named Tan Wenwen wanted to contact her, that she reconnected with Tan Wenwen.

Feeling both surprised and nervous about the visit of an old friend, Ji Xue didn’t say much when she went to pick up Tan Wenwen from the train station, only exchanging simple greetings.

“You…”

“Can I lift the lid now?” Tan Wenwen asked.

“Of course.” Ji Xue nodded.

When Tan Wenwen lifted the lid, the rich and dominant aroma unique to clay pot Huadiao chicken, with its strong scent of Huadiao wine, wafted out. It quickly took over the area and spread rapidly in all directions.

The waitresses who were returning to Taifeng Building couldn’t help but look towards table 37, wondering why clay pot Huadiao chicken was being served so early. Wasn’t it still before opening hours? Where did these customers come from?

Tan Wenwen’s eyes slightly narrowed in a moment of intoxication upon smelling the aroma and soon opened again. Looking at the clay pot Huadiao chicken, her face showed nostalgia.

“I haven’t smelled this for many years.”

“Then… how about… you try some?” Ji Xue asked nervously and cautiously as she looked at Tan Wenwen.

Tan Wenwen picked up her chopsticks and expertly chose a piece of chicken with great texture, firm meat, and glossy skin, shining particularly bright because of the honey that had been applied.

Upon tasting, her eyebrows curved into a smile.

“Delicious, but still not quite as good as how grandfather made it,” Tan Wenwen said with a smile.

Hearing Tan Wenwen say this, Ji Xue breathed a sigh of relief, “I don’t have Master Tan’s skill.”

“But it’s already very good,” said Tan Wenwen, looking pleased.

Ji Xue, somewhat nervous, bit her lower lip and took a deep breath. “Wenwen, don’t you find it strange? Why I would know how to make this dish.”

“You think…”

“What? That you learned it by sneaking a peek while you were an apprentice in our family’s kitchen?” Tan Wenwen was very direct.

Ji Xue fell silent.

“You were an apprentice; there’s nothing wrong with learning.” Tan Wenwen suddenly remembered something, lifted her head, and looked around Taifeng Building anew. “During grandpa’s last days, I was the one taking care of him in the hospital. He kept telling me he regretted it, that he should have taken you on as his apprentice and taught you how to make the clay pot Huadiao chicken properly. He said you had a great talent for cooking but were so clumsy and dull. He would often intentionally make you work by his side so that you could see clearly how the Huadiao chicken was made in the evening, but you always kept your head down and didn’t look around.”

“Now isn’t it wonderful? Everyone is happy. You learned how to make the clay pot Huadiao chicken, and grandpa’s recipe hasn’t been lost. He must be very pleased down below.”

Ji Xue, looking at Tan Wenwen, became a little emotional, “But… but it’s your family’s dish, I’m just a…”

“Fat Fat, what are you so worried about?” laughed Tan Wenwen. “If we really get down to it, it’s our family who owes you. Why do you act like you have a guilty conscience?”

The nickname “Fat Fat” smoothed away Ji Xue’s nervous fear.

It had been a long time since anyone had called her by that nickname.

As a child, Ji Xue loved all things round—round pandas, round cats, round dogs, or even birds fed to roundness—she adored them all. She had even attempted to fatten up her little sister Ji Xia when they were young, always stuffing her with snacks.

That’s how she acquired the nickname “Fat Fat,” which didn’t really match her appearance or figure.

“Do you know how I suddenly managed to contact you?” Tan Wenwen asked.

“How did you find me?” Ji Xue was curious, too.

“It’s quite a coincidence. I’m a senior this year, you see. Since starting college, I haven’t been back home. I used loans to pay for tuition and worked part-time jobs to cover living expenses. I was always so busy that I never had time for variety shows or anything else. During the summer vacation this year, I got an internship at a decent company, which was more stable. I wanted to relax and watch some shows during the National Day holiday, so my roommate recommended the cooking competition show you were in.”

“I initially tuned in for Zhang Guanghang, but ended up seeing you in the program. I called the Good Taste Company that organized the competition, but they said they couldn’t reveal contestant information. I thought I was out of options, then it occurred to me that you had made the clay pot Huadiao chicken on the show, and might now be working in some restaurant. So, I looked up the dish online, and that’s how I found Taifeng Building.” Tan Wenwen continued with a laugh, “At first, I tried contacting Taifeng’s official microblog, but their staff didn’t even bother with me. Before calling your front desk, I was thinking if they didn’t entertain my inquiry, I’d just travel to Beiping and wait for you at the entrance of Taifeng Building—I was certain I couldn’t fail to find you.”

Tan Wenwen made it sound like Ji Xue was some kind of unfaithful scoundrel.

Ji Xue burst into laughter, “And you weren’t afraid of waiting in vain and getting arrested by the police?”

“I was just waiting at the door, not causing any trouble inside. Why would the police arrest me?” Tan Wenwen widened her eyes.

After the laughter and teasing, the atmosphere between the two became much lighter, almost like it was back when they were younger.

“Fat Fat, do you remember the last time we met?” Tan Wenwen propped her head, looking at the earthen jar of Huadiao wine chicken.

“Actually, it was two years ago,” Ji Xue said. “I attended the funeral of Master Tan, but I didn’t dare enter, only dared to watch from the door. I saw you, but your parents were by your side, and I didn’t dare to come over to greet you.”

Ji Xue remembered very clearly that Tan Weizhou’s funeral was a grand affair, even flashy. She easily learned the time of the funeral and hurried over early, yet only dared to watch from a distance, afraid of being recognized by Mr. and Mrs. Tan Lin.

That day, Mr. and Mrs. Tan Lin, Tan Wenwen, and Tan Rui all stood at the entrance. Even from a distance, she could clearly see their expressions. Only Tan Wenwen and Tan Rui were truly grieving; what Mr. Tan Lin was grieving over, only he himself knew.

She hid outside throughout the entire funeral that day, not daring to enter, even her tribute was done stealthily—waiting until everyone had left before daring to go to the cemetery and place a bunch of flowers by Tan Weizhou’s grave.

“Actually, I’ve also tried looking for you afterward,” Tan Wenwen said. “After I got my college admission notice upon graduating from senior year, I went to look for you at your house, but after ringing the doorbell, the people living there told me your family had sold the house a long time ago,” Tan Wenwen said. “I didn’t know where you moved to and didn’t have your phone number. We didn’t even have each other on QQ.”

Ji Xue was stunned, having not expected that after she left Tan Family Small Restaurant, Tan Wenwen would actually take the trouble to find her at her house.

Once she started, she couldn’t hold the words in any longer. Tan Wenwen had so many things to say that she didn’t dare speak out when she disembarked from the train; but now that she had started, she naturally wanted to pour out her heart.

“The truth is, when my mother reported to the police that you stole the tuna, she was framing you, and I’ve always been very clear about that in my heart. At that time, I really wanted to tell the police that my mother was lying, but after she glared at me, I didn’t dare speak up,” Tan Wenwen said with a bitter smile.

“Tuna?”

“You really didn’t know. How could the police possibly come out for a yellow croaker? When my mother filed the report, she claimed you had stolen a bluefin tuna from our restaurant,” Tan Wenwen explained. “Actually, I saw it that day my mother went into the kitchen at night, threw a yellow croaker on the cooking bench, and said we didn’t need it and to throw it away. Afterward, I saw you take it home.”

“When my mother called the police, I originally wanted to tell the truth to them. But she was watching me, and I didn’t dare. She deceived you with her words; she asked if you had stolen a fish, and there you were, naively admitting it in front of the police. Later, when you seemed to be fine, I deceived myself for comfort, thinking that you were only expelled by my mother, who wanted to dismiss you ever since my grandfather showed an inclination to take you as an apprentice.”

“But I never imagined they would go so far!” Tan Wenwen’s voice grew agitated, her tone even edged with anger, “They made you have a criminal record at the police station, they even initially wanted to pursue the case, to have you sentenced and jailed. If it weren’t for my grandfather putting his foot down and making a scene at home, she might have…”

Ji Xue held Tan Wenwen’s hand, comforting her, “I can understand why you didn’t dare to speak up back then, and I’ve never blamed you. Although I never stole any bluefin tuna, it’s true that I took the yellow croaker.”

“What kind of truth is that? She said herself that she didn’t want that yellow croaker, and you taking it was with my acquiescence. If that’s called stealing, then what isn’t!” Tan Wenwen exclaimed furiously.

Tan Wenwen calmed herself down, “Back then I didn’t dare to speak up, but after going to high school and learning more, I understood how terrible it is for a person to have a criminal record, and I’ve always felt guilty. I really wanted to go to your house to apologize to you, to take you to my grandfather and say you actually didn’t steal anything, to retract your confession at the police station, but I still didn’t dare.”

“After you left the restaurant, my grandfather was actually angry for many years, thinking you really had stolen that fish. In the summer of my senior year, I was in a really bad mood after going to your house and finding out you’d moved. When I helped out at the restaurant, my mother still liked bringing up that incident, telling my grandfather how he had poor judgment in wanting to take you, someone of questionable character, as an apprentice. One day I couldn’t stand it anymore and argued with my mother in front of my grandfather, saying that you never stole the tuna—it was my mother who made the false report to frame you.”

“My grandfather was so furious he wanted to take the case to the police to have it overturned, but then my parents knelt down and begged him, saying that if my grandfather went through with it, they would be prosecuted and go to jail for making a false report and framing someone. Thus, the argument went on for several days, and my father angered my grandfather so much that he fell ill. He was hospitalized ever since and never recovered until he passed away.”

“The idea to frame you by calling the police was devised by my dad. He was afraid Grandpa would take you as an apprentice and pass on the recipe for the Huadiao chicken in the clay jar. He came up with that trick. At that time, my grandpa called him a wolf-hearted and dog-lunged beast, whose heart if discarded was utterly black.”

As Tan Wenwen spoke, she became agitated again, “My grandpa didn’t curse him without reason—my dad is worse than a beast. After Grandpa fell ill and Tan Family Small Restaurant was without a head chef, my mom even hired another chef, but the business declined significantly. My dad hated me, declaring he’d cut me off without a penny. If it wasn’t for my brother sneaking me all the New Year’s money and pocket money he had saved up over the years, I might have really starved to death outside.”

“Afterward, he stopped visiting Grandpa in the hospital. It was mainly my brother who went. Near the end, I took leave from school to accompany and care for Grandpa in the hospital for more than two weeks until he passed away.”

“Fat Fat, I never believed in what they say about karma and divine retribution, but now it seems that karma is real and it does not lie. If you commit too many sins, you are asking to be struck by lightning.” Tan Wenwen spoke with a sense of vindication, but her expression revealed that she was actually not very happy.

“After Grandpa died, Tan Family Small Restaurant went downhill. Eventually, even the restaurant was sold. All the odds and ends inside that couldn’t be sold were thrown away. I had my brother secretly keep a clay pot I wanted for keepsake, never expecting that it would come in handy now. I remember Grandpa saying that the older the clay pot used for making Huadiao chicken, the better the chicken would turn out. It’s like the teapot used for brewing herbal medicine—the older it is, the better the effect.” Tan Wenwen said and laughed, “I just wanted to keep it as a memory, but it looks like I was right to do so.”

“How is your family doing now?” Ji Xue asked tentatively.

“Not great. My dad has always been extravagant and lives like a prodigal son. Without any real skills, the money from selling the restaurant is almost gone after two years. Now life is tight, and he quarrels with my mom every day at home. It’s just sad for my brother, who is still in high school and must stay at home. It’s been years since I’ve gone back, not even for the New Year. I just bring my brother over during the holidays.” Tan Wenwen said, “Let’s not talk about these unhappy things. How about you? How have you been these years?”

“Pretty good,” Ji Xue smiled, “My mom’s breast cancer has healed, and although my dad is still sick, at least he’s alive. Work was pretty unstable before, constantly changing and doing odd jobs here and there. Since July this year, I started working at this restaurant. The one who helped me serve the dishes earlier is my boss; he also works in the kitchen. Their culinary art is ancestral.”

“Xiaxia is apprenticing under him, learning the trade alongside him now. I live and eat here, and the salary is high. The boss and colleagues are all very nice. Everything’s going well.”

Ji Xue did not want to tell Tan Wenwen about the past few years because she knew it would only make Tan Wenwen feel more guilty.

Not every fourteen or fifteen-year-old child has the courage to defy their parents, even if they know their parents are wrong. They only dare to bury that righteousness deep in their hearts.

“That’s wonderful,” Tan Wenwen smiled.

“Let’s eat before the food gets cold. We’ve been talking for so long. This dish is called Crab-Stuffed Oranges, a specialty of my boss. This bowl of Zhajiang noodles is Xiaxia’s creation,” Ji Xue introduced.

“Oh my, you should have said so sooner. You should have told me right from the start to eat the noodles Xiaxia made. After sitting this long, they must have all clumped together,” Tan Wenwen pretended to be angry, the previous unpleasantness brought up by their conversation instantly vanishing.

“The one who met me at the door just now, that was Xiaxia, right? I recognized her, but she didn’t recognize me at all! To think I stuffed her with so many Dove chocolates back then, what an ungrateful kid,” Tan Wenwen laughed and scolded.

“You were giving Xiaxia chocolates when she was not even 10 years old. So many years have passed, there’s no way Xiaxia would remember that,” Ji Xue naturally defended Xiaxia.

“Alright, you win. Let’s eat, the noodles are clumping together indeed,”

A scene filled with laughter and cheerful voices.