The Game of Life-Chapter 643 - 641: Team Building
Chapter 643 -641: Team Building
Wu Minqi and Zhang Guanghang wanted to take Jiang Feng out to unwind, while Mrs. Wang Xiulian and a group of elders looked for an opportunity to have a heart-to-heart with him. Just when everyone was at a loss for what reason to use to orchestrate this seemingly abrupt event, a perfect excuse presented itself.
Jiang Feng was about to celebrate his birthday.
April 16th was Jiang Feng’s birthday, which also marked the one-year anniversary of his relationship with Wu Minqi.
After a brief discussion, Mrs. Wang Xiulian decided to give everyone the day off.
Yes, a day off—Crown Prince’s birthdays are just that significant.
When Jiang Feng heard the news, he was utterly bewildered.
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Truth be told, this was the first time he felt his birthday could have such grandeur, comparable to Jiang Weiming’s 99th birthday!
A celebration for one, a holiday for the entire store.
That being said, Jiang Feng had felt something strange about everyone’s behavior these past few days. Ever since he overheard Jiang Weisheng mention Mrs. Wang Xiulian and his great-aunt’s meeting at the coffee shop, he sensed people were looking at him differently.
He couldn’t pinpoint exactly how their gazes had changed, but they were decidedly not the way one looks at a regular person. Moreover, everyone’s gaze seemed identical, leading Jiang Feng to suspect they were privy to some incredible secret about him.
Wu Minqi’s looks made him feel like he might be cheated on, Zhang Guanghang’s gaze made him suspect Zhang could be the one cheating on him, and Ji Yue’s looks made him think she might know about Zhang cheating on him.
Besides, Zhang Guanghang and Wu Minqi had been whispering together a lot these past two days. If it weren’t for Ji Yue frequently joining in their hushed conversations, Jiang Feng would seriously start to suspect he had been cheated on.
In short, everything was extremely weird.
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At 3 p.m. on April 15th, the kitchen, usually occupied by just a few, was bustling and as lively as it was during regular business hours.
Sang Ming stood beside Jiang Feng, eagerly asking what they should bring for the next day’s team-building event, whether they could bring Mahjong or playing cards.
Even though Mrs. Wang Xiulian officially stated that April 16th was set as the new team-building day, everybody knew it was actually to celebrate the Crown Prince’s birthday.
Ji Yue, Ji Xue, Zhang Guanghang, and Wu Minqi stood with arms crossed over their chests, leaning against the wall in a corner, watching from afar as Jiang Feng, busy responding to Sang Ming’s relentless chatter while prepping ingredients, looked like someone from a mafia organization.
“Qiqi, has your man been like this the past two days?” Ji Yue asked.
“He’s been like this the whole time, waking up, eating, cooking, eating, cooking, eating, cooking, sleeping. Except suddenly last night he started mumbling about 970,000 repeatedly; I’m starting to wonder if it’s my fault he became like this,” Wu Minqi said with a worried expression.
“What did you do?” Ji Yue turned her head to look at her.
“After I hung up with my mom that night, it suddenly hit me that something else happened to Fengfeng before he became like this,” Wu Minqi sighed. “The morning before, I made him breakfast and told him I would keep making breakfast for him from then on.”
Ji Yue: ?
“Jiang Feng isn’t happy with you cooking breakfast for him?” Ji Yue couldn’t understand. If Ji Xue got up early to make something nice for breakfast, she and Ji Xia would be as happy as if they had received a bonus.
“The main thing was that the noodles I made that day were a bit numbing.” Wu Minqi bit her lower lip hard, “I think Fengfeng might not be used to it and too embarrassed to say something, so he’s been practicing cooking diligently, trying to take over our household’s breakfast duty.”
Zhang Guanghang & Ji Yue & Ji Xue: ???
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“Not at all, not at all,” the three said in unison.
“Is the place for tomorrow’s team building set?” Zhang Guanghang asked, “Are we climbing the Great Wall, or going for a hike?”
“Climbing the Great Wall. Tomorrow is neither a rest day nor a holiday, so there should be fewer tourists. It’s good to go somewhere with a view and fresh air, which is just what Jiang Feng needs to clear his head. That’s what Mrs. Wang suggests,” Ji Yue said, “We’ll meet at 8 a.m., bring something simple for lunch, and after climbing in the afternoon, we’ll go to a BBQ. Manager Fan has the place booked.”
“During the lunch break tomorrow, Mrs. Wang and Jiang Feng’s aunt will take the opportunity to talk to Jiang Feng alone to see if they can extract some information from him. But, Zhang, do you really think Jiang Feng is not ill? I feel like he looks seriously unwell. Look, Sang Ming usually just needs to strike up a conversation with him and he’d stop slacking off, but now he’s still cutting meat,” Ji Yue said. Over the past few days, he had searched for similar news stories again and felt that Jiang Feng must either be sick or reborn.
There couldn’t be a third option.
“It’s not an illness,” Zhang Guanghang shook his head, “But can Grandpa Jiang handle climbing the Great Wall tomorrow?”
“The two seniors won’t be coming; they’re going to the teahouse,” Ji Yue said.
“Do you guys think Jiang Feng is suddenly so dedicated to practicing cooking because he’s worried about the restaurant’s business?” Ji Xue was trying to understand from his own perspective.
“Impossible,” Ji Yue denied immediately, “If it were a month and a half ago, maybe, but since we launched the spring limited menu, business has picked up a lot. The revenue isn’t like before—sure, the rooftop restaurant has taken a lot of our customers—but compared to our worst window, we’ve recovered quite a bit. Jiang Feng must know this.”
“How is the rooftop restaurant doing now?” Zhang Guanghang was probably the only person in the entire Taifeng Building who still cared about the state of the next-door rooftop restaurant.
“Seems like it’s the same. Wasn’t the variety show that advertised for them broadcast the day before yesterday? I saw people posting on their social media; the business is booming. The average wait time is six hours. If you want lunch, you’d have to wait until dinner time. The more people wait, the longer the queue, which is really envious,” Ji Yue sighed, “But advertising effectiveness really depends on the cost-effectiveness. Our advertising costs are low, and the impact isn’t bad. Theirs are effective, but I heard their advertising budget is in the eight figures.”
“Eight figures!” Ji Xue was shocked, “Can they even recoup such high advertising costs?”
“They can,” Zhang Guanghang nodded affirmatively.
“Difficult, I recall our restaurant’s total revenue was also eight figures last year, and we don’t even have to pay rent,” Ji Yue didn’t quite understand these matters.
“If they can crush a competitor, they can, if not, they’ll have to close,” Zhang Guanghang said, “Their current menu is priced high, but with weekend discounts, holiday deals, plus the coupons they hand out regularly, the prices are not extremely high. Once they’ve squeezed out competitors like us and cancel the discounts, they can break even in a couple of years.”
“It can’t be possible to crush everyone, can it?” Wu Minqi said.
“They don’t need to crush everyone. Just pick out the weakest one and take it down in a short period of time to draw away its customers. If possible, they can even poach its staff. Create a gap, and slowly eat away at the rest,” Zhang Guanghang explained.
All three looked at Zhang Guanghang with expressions that read, ‘How do you know so much?’
“That’s how Fen Garden developed back in the day. There was a state-owned diner that went private near where Fen Garden is now. Shortly after Fen Garden opened, that diner went out of business, and its chefs were poached by other restaurants,” Zhang Guanghang remembered, “I recall the head chef went to Yonghe House, and the rest went to Eight-treasure House.”
Ji Yue took a deep breath, suddenly feeling a chill.
“Stop it. If you keep talking, I’m going to feel like I’m about to lose my job. I don’t want to go back to helping my mom pickle vegetables. Every time my brother’s grades drop even a bit, my mom makes him go help with pickling vegetables. Hey, what’s up with Jiang Feng?” Ji Yue pointed at Jiang Feng.
Jiang Feng, who had been slicing meat just fine, suddenly stopped and walked away with the meat in his arms.
“Probably…” Wu Minqi tilted her head and thought for a few seconds, “He finds Sang Ming too noisy, maybe.”
“I always find him a bit noisy before the holidays,” Ji Yue added.
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