The Game of Life-Chapter 686 - 684: The Enigmatic Man

Chapter 686: Chapter 684: The Enigmatic Man

As soon as Jiang Feng changed his clothes and came out of the dressing room, Lu Sheng and Peng Changping were already waiting for him at the door. Although Lu Sheng, the owner of Yonghe House, didn’t have culinary skills, he used to frequent the vegetable markets. However, he had been troubled by business matters for a long time and hadn’t visited the market recently. If it weren’t for Peng Changping’s suggestion, he would probably be in the office, just like the past few days, staring at spreadsheets and pulling his hair out.

He had recently been losing hair at an alarming rate, giving the perennially successful Lu Sheng a true taste of a midlife crisis.

Lu Sheng drove everyone to a relatively large vegetable market closest to Yonghe House, the place he normally went if he felt like browsing through a market.

Like all other markets across the country, this one was bustling and noisy, and even in the afternoon, it was still crowded. It was hard to find very fresh vegetables and good cuts of meat on the veggie and meat stalls, but one could still pick out some good things from the seafood vendors if they knew how to choose.

Peng Changping hadn’t strolled through such a market for many years. He had originally accompanied Jiang Feng to clear his mind, but he ended up enjoying himself the most—wandering from the vegetable stalls to the tofu stalls, and even stopping to pick out tofu at the end.

Jiang Feng and Lu Sheng followed behind Peng Changping, occasionally glancing at nearby stalls without any intention of stepping forward to inquire or haggle.

...

Somehow, Jiang Feng found that strolling through the market indeed lessened his anxiety, and the inexplicable pressure in his heart eased a lot. The invisible stone that had seemed to crush his chest and made him feel uneasy, even short of breath, at times, now felt much lighter.

Jiang Feng glanced at Lu Sheng, who was staring blankly at a leafy but not so fresh cabbage on a stall in front of him.

“Mr. Lu,” Jiang Feng called out to Lu Sheng. Even though they were quite familiar with each other, he still habitually called Lu Sheng “Mr. Lu,” “What are you thinking about?”

“Just something about the shop,” Lu Sheng said.

“If you still have unfinished business at the shop, you should go back first. I can stay here with Master Peng; we can catch a ride back,” Jiang Feng suggested.

Lu Sheng shook his head, indicating a refusal, “It won’t be done in a short while, and wandering the market is quite nice. Hey, those radishes over there look good, let’s go have a look.”

Jiang Feng followed Lu Sheng’s gaze to the radishes.

“…”

“That’s cauliflower, did you come out without your contacts on?”

Lu Sheng: …

“Cough cough cough.” All Lu Sheng could do was cough awkwardly a couple of times, then, realizing it only made things more awkward, he hurriedly shifted the topic, “Hey, I wonder what Chef Arno is thinking, to come all the way over to the rooftop restaurant with the title of America’s number one chef to be the head chef.”

“That rooftop restaurant’s owner is said to be just a Wall Street mogul’s son. A rich second generation brought out like a pawn for an experiment. You tell me what Chef Arno is thinking.”

Jiang Feng: …

Your topic change is way too abrupt.

Although Lu Sheng’s change of topic was abrupt, it was very effective. So far, in Beiping, anyone in the culinary business—particularly in Chinese cuisine—regardless of past rivalries, became like step-siblings united in criticizing Chef Arno.

This chapter is updat𝙚d by freeweɓnovel.cøm.

The maneuvers of Chef Arno were indeed puzzling.

A prominent chef from America, known for his culinary expertise and not shy to travel far and wide, came to a foreign land to pick on a bunch of chefs who couldn’t even make it into the top ten of famous chefs; if this was a hobby of his, Chef Arno’s hobby was peculiar indeed.

Within just two months, everyone had already investigated the situation with Chef Arno in detail.

This top-notch chef with a bad temper, petty mind, rebellious nature, and high self-regard, who seemed to be playing the role of a villain, often got into arguments with his bosses and colleagues in the United States over all sorts of strange issues. He boasted a legendary record of working with six different bosses over seven years. Upon his arrival at the top-floor restaurant, he bound himself to it as if the restaurant’s owner had kidnapped his wife and children, showing up to work on time every day and diligently helping the top-floor restaurant grow and strengthen in Beiping.

Some even suspected that the real boss of the top-floor restaurant wasn’t the son of a Wall Street tycoon but rather the son of an Italian mafia boss.

“Maybe he… likes this place and wants to settle down?” Jiang Feng, who only checked the WeChat group before going to bed and rarely had the chance to join the discussions, didn’t have much information.

“I heard from Ling Guangzhao that the main chef’s set menu sales at the top-floor restaurant have increased again this week.” Lu Sheng sighed, his face full of concern.

Jiang Feng gasped.

Who would have guessed that Chef Arno had the potential to be a workaholic like 007.

He’s moving straight from 996 to 007.

“You two come over and have a look, how do I use this QR code payment thing?” Peng Changping interrupted their conversation, waving his phone at Jiang Feng and Lu Sheng.

“I’ll take care of the payment for you.” Lu Sheng stepped forward first and asked the tofu stall owner, “How much is it?”

“104.3 yuan, I’ll round the change down for you, just give me 100,” the tofu stall owner said enthusiastically.

Lu Sheng & Jiang Feng: ???

Upon closer inspection, they realized that in the few minutes they had been chatting, Peng Changping had bought a huge amount of tofu—in soft, dried, skin, firm varieties, and even a large bag of bean sprouts—it was truly baffling.

“I haven’t seen a tofu stall in so many years, so seeing one made me want to buy everything.” Peng Changping explained.

Indeed, finding such a tofu stall in America is probably even harder than reaching the sky.

Lu Sheng paid, while Jiang Feng carried the tofu, and both followed Peng Changping to sweep through the next dried goods stall.

After raiding the tofu, dried goods, seasoning, and marinated food stalls, because Jiang Feng and Lu Sheng really couldn’t carry anything else, Peng Changping could only sadly give up and just look around the seafood stall without buying anything.

The purchasing power of an elderly chef who hadn’t visited the market in many years was truly astonishing!

Jiang Feng and Lu Sheng’s hands were filled with large and small plastic bags of various colors. A rough estimate suggested that each hand was carrying at least seven or eight bags, and even Peng Changping himself was carrying two bags of different types of dried chili peppers. Yonghe House had all of these items, and even if they didn’t, Lu Sheng could simply contact the suppliers and have them delivered quickly, making it unnecessary to specifically visit the market to choose and pick things up.

But since Peng Changping enjoyed it and seldom had the mood for it, Lu Sheng and Jiang Feng just helped by paying and carrying the bags without saying much.

“The price of that stall’s vegetables has gone up; I remember just last month the same ones sold for 8 yuan per jin, and now it’s actually 9.2 yuan,” Lu Sheng muttered to Jiang Feng as they carried the bags.

“It might be because of the season,” Jiang Feng guessed, as he also wasn’t very clear about the vegetable prices since he hadn’t been to the market for a long time.

This market was huge and had many stalls. If one were to shop for food the way they would browse for clothes, Jiang Feng reckoned it would take an entire afternoon to finish exploring the whole market. Fortunately, Peng Changping didn’t seem to want to buy anything else and was just casually glancing around, speeding through the process as if on a horseback tour. Soon they would reach the end of the last row of vegetable stalls.

The last stall was a fish stall that occupied a large area and offered a wide variety. Perhaps because it was too far inside, it seemed to not be doing particularly well, with Jiang Feng noticing from a distance the fish in the water tanks twisting and turning, looking lively and fresh. This was entirely different from the fish on other stalls, where they were belly-up, floating, and it was unclear whether they were dead or alive until they occasionally made a jerking movement to play dead.

At the fish stall, there was a customer squatting on the ground, choosing from the tub of fish, wearing a hat. He was a burly man, with a big beard. From a distance, Jiang Feng thought he looked a bit like a foreigner, and even found him somewhat familiar.

Peng Changping arrived at this fish stall.

“Wow, the fish here seems pretty fresh,” Peng Changping exclaimed.

“You can say that again,” the vendor quickly responded upon seeing another customer, “Sir, let me tell you, my fish is not like the others. I have the best fish, caught today, sent here just this dawn. Not only do I have farm-raised fish, but I also have ones caught from rivers and streams, a wide variety, excellent quality, and the prices are fair too. I absolutely don’t fleece customers. Look, even that foreigner comes here to buy fish.”

The vendor pointed at the strong man picking out fish.

Jiang Feng and Lu Sheng were standing to the side with their bags, and Jiang Feng was thinking to himself that this vendor sure could talk. Among all the stalls he had visited, this one talked the most, while others wouldn’t even bother to greet you if they saw you weren’t planning to buy anything.

“Is it that rich in variety?” Peng Changping asked with a smile.

“Indeed it is. Don’t be fooled by the location of my stall; business is actually pretty good. Many restaurants in Beiping place orders from me. I deliver goods every morning before I start my business here. I have to start delivering as early as three or four in the morning; it’s hard-earned money,” the vendor said.

“Oh? Boss, you’re doing some serious business here, supplying even to restaurants,” Peng Changping engaged further in conversation without minding.

“You might not believe it, but it’s true. Even the fish for Yonghe House is supplied by me,” the vendor lowered his voice deliberately, as if he was sharing some incredible secret.

Lu Sheng: …

It’s not me, I didn’t say that, don’t talk nonsense, my supplier isn’t you.

“Boss, how much does it weigh?” asked the foreign strong man who had been squatting and picking fish all this time. His Chinese was somewhat choppy and spoken slowly, but at least understandable, which was not bad.

Not every foreigner can speak fluent Beiping dialect like Zhang Guanghang.

After all, universities abroad don’t require passing Chinese Level Four before issuing a diploma.

“Alright, just a moment,” the vendor stopped boasting and went to weigh the fish.

The strong man stood up.

The strong man turned around.

Jiang Feng got a clear view of the strong man’s face.

Jiang Feng felt the strong man looked familiar and seemed to have seen him somewhere before.

“Master Arno?” Peng Changping was a bit surprised and said in English, “I didn’t expect you to enjoy strolling around the market at this time.”

Chef Arno, upon seeing Peng Changping, displayed not too many expressions on his face, and Jiang Feng felt as if he was deliberately keeping a stiff face in order to not reveal too much, his expression management spot on.

“Just browsing occasionally,” Chef Arno said, looking towards Jiang Feng.

Jiang Feng also looked at Chef Arno.

Then he saw Chef Arno reveal a smile that was part contemptuous, part disdainful, part mocking, and slightly smug—a pie-chart-like smile of the standard, intelligence-lowering villain.

That smile was directed at Jiang Feng.

After smiling, Chef Arno also glanced at Peng Changping.

Jiang Feng: ???

Had he somehow offended this grudge-holding big shot?

Perhaps was it because he didn’t warmly praise Chef Arno’s culinary skills during their last meal?

No, that wasn’t right. Last time, Chef Arno didn’t give him the chance to speak at all, leaving after reporting his English listening test without anyone complimenting him.

Jiang Feng was deeply perplexed.

Then Chef Arno walked towards Jiang Feng.

He stopped in front of him, looking down from on high.

Jiang Feng didn’t mind it, even feeling a bit of familiarity and warmth.

Chef Arno spoke up, with clear and round Chinese words: “Taifeng Building’s business must be pretty bad recently.”

“If you really can’t keep it up, I suggest you ask your master for help.”

Like a true villain.

After saying that, Chef Arno walked away with his face full of satisfaction, leaving Jiang Feng, Lu Sheng, and Peng Changping with faces full of question marks.

“Did you offend him?” asked Lu Sheng.

“This is only the second time I’ve met him today,” Jiang Feng felt wronged, “I didn’t even manage to speak to him last time!”

“Did your master offend him?” Lu Sheng continued to inquire.

“My grandfather hasn’t even met him.”

Lu Sheng and Jiang Feng could only be silent.

Jiang Feng suddenly understood other people’s evaluations of Chef Arno.

This big shot was indeed an individual with a bizarre and enigmatic temperament. Criticizing him behind his back, one wouldn’t even know where to start with such a baffling man.

It was really perplexing.