The Game of Life TGOL

Chapter 540: Chapter 538 Formidable Opponent

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Jiang Feng had been so tired from the day spent on the high-speed train that upon returning home, he didn’t have the energy to tend to Wang Hao, telling him to make himself at home. After hurriedly washing up, Jiang Feng collapsed into bed and slept soundly until the next morning.

By the time Jiang Feng woke up the next day, Wang Hao was still asleep. Ever since he started working, Wang Hao cherished every opportunity to sleep in and would never miss it; every holiday morning became a tragic love affair with his bed.

With an iron body and a magnetic bed, Jiang Feng, armed with a newly purchased degaussing card—steaming hot buns—successfully dragged Wang Hao out of bed.

The two former roommates sat across from each other at the dining table, munching on buns in silence.

“Feng, aside from eating, do you have any other plans for today?” Wang Hao asked after finishing his bun.

“We’re going to Yonghe House for lunch, and we’re visiting Professor Li in the evening. Professor Li is having lunch with Elder Brother Xie and his student,” Jiang Feng replied. “By the way, Hao, if you’re free this afternoon, come with me to the train station to pick up my granduncle and my cousin.”

“Jiang Ran?” Wang Hao asked.

“No, another one of my cousins, the granduncle’s own grandson. He’s a programmer and isn’t much of a talker, so I’ll need your help to liven up the atmosphere,” said Jiang Feng.

“No problem, leave it to me,” Wang Hao promptly agreed.

Jiang Feng continued to sip on the soy milk which was only palatable after adding sugar due to its weak flavor.

Originally, Professor Li wasn’t supposed to spend the Lantern Festival with them, but Elder Brother Xie somehow found out about it. Feeling guilty that his teacher couldn’t celebrate with his relatives because of him, Elder Brother Xie suggested that they could just have a simple lunch and let Professor Li spend the Lantern Festival evening with the Jiang Family Members.

Otherwise, the Jiang Family might end up eating both meals at Yonghe House.

After breakfast, Jiang Feng and Wang Hao, like in their dorm days, each lounged on a sofa happily playing on their phones, him with his chickens and me with my continent to save.

Midgame, accompanied by the “Rampage” game notification sound, Wang Hao suddenly spoke up, “By the way, Feng, do you know if there’s any new and particularly impressive restaurant opened near Taifeng Building?”

“A new mall?” Jiang Feng thought for a moment; it seemed there was indeed one that had been under construction for a long time without opening. “There is a mall but it seems it hasn’t opened yet, what about it?”

“A few days ago, I heard a veteran colleague in our office say that a really amazing restaurant opened in that mall. They hired several marketing firms for promotions, spending generously. Our company wanted to compete for the contract, but we weren’t selected,” said Wang Hao. “I thought you’d know about it.”

“Restaurant promotions? What kind of promotions can a restaurant do? Isn’t it just placing ads in the newspapers and handing out flyers?” Jiang Feng was dismissive; Taifeng did all that as well.

“I heard they actually hired someone to shoot a commercial for the restaurant,” said Wang Hao.

Jiang Feng was taken aback, and his game character got headshot.

“Not just a commercial, but they also seem to have made contact with variety shows, claiming that right after they open, a variety show will come to film at their restaurant. It seems to be an online variety show, not a famous one,” said Wang Hao.

Jiang Feng was truly shocked.

Just a restaurant, and yet they were shooting commercials and appearing on variety shows; such grandeur was astonishing in Beiping.

Not only were they prominent, but they also had money.

One must have some serious family wealth to sustain such extravagant spending.

“That much money? Are you sure this is real?” Jiang Feng was a bit incredulous.

“Of course, it’s real, our office has been buzzing about this. Deals of this magnitude have happened before, but it’s the first time we’ve seen a restaurant go this route,” assured Wang Hao confidently.

“What else do you know? Tell me everything,” Jiang Feng put down his phone and looked serious.

This mall was very close to Taifeng Building, and if it really did house a competitive restaurant, Taifeng would be the first to suffer.

There can’t be two tigers on one mountain; the same area couldn’t accommodate two upscale restaurants.

But Wang Hao didn’t really know the details of the restaurant; he had only heard bits and pieces from his veteran colleague, and their company hadn’t even landed the deal.

Only two things were certain: one was that the restaurant’s backer was rich, not just ordinarily rich, but extravagantly so. The other was that the restaurant didn’t mainly serve Chinese cuisine. As for which country’s cuisine it was, Wang Hao was unclear.

Seeing Jiang Feng’s furrowed brows, Wang Hao realized that the situation wasn’t as simple as he had thought and hurriedly asked, “What’s wrong, Feng? Is there something wrong with that restaurant? Will it steal your business?”

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“I don’t know if there’s a problem, but taking business away is certain. Our two restaurants are so close, customers are bound to be diverted,” Jiang Feng analyzed calmly, “And with such a heavy investment, they either have money to burn or are very confident.”

“Which restaurant is it, after all? I haven’t heard of any famous ones planning to open in Beiping recently,” Jiang Feng was also a bit puzzled.

What baffled Jiang Feng was why the restaurant was making such a big fuss with its promotion yet seemed somewhat secretive, letting everyone know that an extraordinary restaurant was about to open but keeping what they actually served under wraps.

Playing mysterious?

Doesn’t quite fit.

As its competitor, Jiang Feng always felt that this yet-to-be-opened new restaurant had something up its sleeve and did not have good intentions.

“Forget it, let’s not talk about this now. It’s going to open soon anyway. Once it does, we’ll see what they’re really up to; you don’t know if it’s a horse or a mule until you pull it out for a walk,” Jiang Feng’s greatest strength was that he would stop thinking when confused, for life becomes much easier once you learn to let go.

“It’s about time, let’s get ready to go downstairs. I’ll call my family to go eat at Yonghe House,” Jiang Feng checked his phone and decided to have a meal to relax a bit.

In the Jiang Family, there was nothing that couldn’t be solved with a meal.

Jiang Feng lifted his spirits and went to Yonghe House with his whole family.

The roadwork near Yonghe House was finished, making traffic very convenient; no longer would there be issues finding the restaurant or the road.

Jiang Feng usually chatted amiably with Lu Sheng, the owner of Yonghe House, online and sometimes brought Wu Minqi and Ji Xia there for a meal during his off days. Gradually, Jiang Feng and Lu Sheng became very good friends, to the point where Lu Sheng even started to guess that Jiang Feng wasn’t the future successor of Taifeng Building, but its current owner.

Perhaps due to the Lantern Festival, Yonghe House was particularly bustling, and being proactive as always, there were already people queuing up for tables even though it wasn’t mealtime yet.

Due to the crowd, Jiang Feng had reserved the largest private room. The manager recognized Jiang Feng and led them directly upstairs to their room upon their arrival.

“By the way, Mr. Jiang, Manager Lu asked me to invite you to his office if you’re free,” the manager whispered to Jiang Feng once they arrived at the door of the private room.

“Manager Lu wants to see me? I’ll go right now,” Jiang Feng had time to spare; ordering dishes was something that the others in the Jiang Family excelled at without his involvement.

“Dad, I’m going out for a bit and will be back soon. Remember to order the sweet almond tofu for me,” Jiang Feng told Jiang Jiankang.

“Go ahead,” Jiang Jiankang thought Jiang Feng was going to the restroom.

Lu Sheng’s office was also the surveillance room. Jiang Feng knew where it was and didn’t need the manager to show him the way.

After reaching the door, Jiang Feng knocked lightly. Not hearing a response, he pushed open the door and entered. Lu Sheng was busy looking at something and probably didn’t hear the knock because he was so engrossed.

“Jiang Feng, you’re here, have a seat. What kind of tea would you like? I recently got some Pu’er tea that’s especially good,” Lu Sheng greeted him warmly, getting up to make tea for Jiang Feng.

Jiang Feng wanted to tell him that he really preferred Vita Lemon Tea, but brewing tea was Lu Sheng’s hobby, and he didn’t want to interfere. Essentially, all teas tasted the same to him—not good.

“What did you want to see me about?” Jiang Feng knew Lu Sheng wouldn’t have specially summoned him just to boast about his latest Pu’er tea; that would be like dancing for the blind or playing the lute to a cow.

“That mall near your Taifeng Building is opening on March 15th, did you know?” Lu Sheng got straight to the point.

Jiang Feng was taken aback: “Yes, I know, and that mall seems to be hosting an impressive restaurant. What’s up, do you know something?”

Lu Sheng was somewhat stunned by Jiang Feng’s response; he had intended to share some news with Jiang Feng as a favor, not expecting that Jiang Feng would already be aware.

“You know?”

“I just know that the restaurant is about to open, but that’s really about it,” Jiang Feng replied.

Lu Sheng went to boil some water, indicating he planned to have a long talk with Jiang Feng.

“That restaurant means us no good, from what I’ve heard. It’s definitely targeting Taifeng Building. No, more precisely, it’s targeting us,” Lu Sheng said.

“Us?”n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

“Yes, us—the old, established restaurants of Beiping.”