[Well made counterfeit money]Jiang Feng did not accept the money from the strongly built man in front of him.
"My apologies, dear customer, but we don"t have enough change for your 100 bucks," Jiang Feng smiled as he explained.
"Seriously?" the customer grunted and swapped his 100 bill for a 20 bill. He cursed after he got his small change and left.
"Xiao Feng, I thought we have enough change in the box?" Jiang Feng"s mother, w.a.n.g Xiulian, came out from the kitchen and asked.
"The money he had was fake," Jiang Feng explained as he cleaned the table like a well-programed machine so that he could close up the shop.
"Fake?" w.a.n.g Xiulian"s smile quickly turned into a stern look, so much that her triple chin tightened up into two. "How dare him! Let me know if he ever steps his foot here again! He"ll regret trying to scam us!"
Jiang Feng wasn"t even worried if his mother were to start a fight. Even the muscular customer from before wouldn"t be a match for her.
"Come on, our son is a university student, there"s no way such a cheap trick would get him," Jiang Feng"s father, Jiang Jiankang, smiled as he walked out from the kitchen with a plate of food in his hand. "Come, son, here"s your favorite Kung Pao Chicken."
[A plate of Kung Pao Chicken fried in oil and sweat]
"I"m on a diet," Jiang Feng shook his head as he began to wonder how to persuade his father to get an air-conditioner in the kitchen.
His father weighed around 120kg. Moving that body in a 10m2 s.p.a.ce for the whole day was a challenge for him.
"Diet? Look at yourself! You would still look good even if you put on another 50 kilos!" Jiang Jiankang laughed. The thing that Jiang Jiankang was most proud of was his tall and relatively thin son. Jiang Jiankan had four other siblings and five nieces and nephews. Except for the twin girls his youngest brother had, Jiang Feng was the only one that had not reached the 100-kilogram mark.
Jiang Jiankang"s words reminded Jiang Feng of the family gathering during last years Lunar New Year. Only six of their family members could fit in a round table that could usually sit 10 people. Only men were allowed to sit on the main table while others had to get another table to dine on.
"Here, have some chicken," Jiang Jiankang said as he placed a huge piece of chicken in Jiang Feng"s bowl.
"Your father is right. Why do you need to go on a diet anyway?" w.a.n.g Xiulian nodded.
Jiang Feng sighed and started to eat.
"Dad…"
"Yes?"
"It"s too hot in here. Just get some air-con."
…
The family cleaned the restaurant up after they finished their dinner. Since w.a.n.g Xiulian and Jiang Jianfeng had to make sure their stock was appropriate, they told Jiang Feng to go back home on his own first.
Jiang Feng left the restaurant and turned to look at the building"s sign.
[A worn-out sign]
Jiang Feng turned around, and the pop-up description was gone.
So, the pop-ups only appear inside the shop?
Jiang Feng asked himself. After testing for two days, he was sure where the pop-ups would appear.
"Ding! Congratulations, player Jiang Feng, for activating the game. Game is currently loading, please wait…" a woman"s voice appeared out of nowhere and said.
The voice made Jiang Feng jump as he looked around.
"Loading successful," the voice appeared again two minutes later. "Please check your control panel. Please do your best to complete your quests."
Jiang Feng realized there was a small exclamation mark on the top right of his vision. Without giving any second thought, he reached his finger out and pushed on the exclamation mark.
Player: Jiang Feng
Level: 0 (0/100)
Acc.u.mulated Experience: 0
Skill: Appraisal (Novice): Able to appraise basic information
Main Quest: ??? (Please explore to initiate a new Main Quest)
Side Quest: None (Available after the activation of Main Quest)
Achievement: None
t.i.tle: None
Item: None
Rating: Beginner
Game Description:
1. The main attraction of this game is its freedom. Players can progress however they want.
2. The game won"t interfere with any of the player"s choices. Please try your best to unlock all the achievements.
3. This game reserves the right of final interpretation.
A game?
Jiang Feng stared at the screen, it did look like a game to him.
Jiang Feng touched the exclamation mark again and the screen disappeared.
This looks interesting.
Jiang Feng stood in front of his apartment and began to think.
Before he could think of anything, his mother"s voice pulled him out of his thoughts.
"Xiao Feng! Why are you still standing out here?" w.a.n.g Xiulian asked.
w.a.n.g Xiulian was standing by the stairs with Jiang Jiankang behind her. Seeing them together made Jiang Feng think that they were enough to fill the whole stairs.
"I forgot my keys," Jiang Feng lied.
"You could have given us a call" w.a.n.g Xiuyliuan sighed and took her keys out.
"Right… Dad, how about the A/C?" Jiang Feng asked after they were in their apartment.
"We don"t need it. Plus, your second uncle just borrowed 700k since he was forced to move his clinic by the government," Jiang Jiankang replied. "Oh! Right! I haven"t told you this, but we bought a shop lot just across from your campus. I"ve heard from your cousin that the foods in the canteen are trash. With this, you can come over to eat whenever you want…"
As Jiang Jiankang kept on rambling, Jiang Feng was wondering how his father got the money to purchase a new shop when he just lent out 700,000 dollars. But before he could think of other things, the familiar female voice sounded again.
"Ding! Main Quest found: [The Rising Restaurant] Raise the fame of the Healthy Restaurant next to A University to 100."
The restaurant Jiang Feng"s family owned at the moment was called the Healthy Snack Bar.
"Dad, what"s the new name of the restaurant?" Jiang Feng suddenly asked.
"The name?" Jiang Jiankang was stunned and laughed. "Healthy Restaurant! Not bad right? We need a name that"s simple but can still attract customers. And the shop, it"s a two-floor lot with more than 180m2 of s.p.a.ce. We thought of getting loans from the bank, but your uncle got his compensation for moving. He paid us back the money we borrowed him, and he lent us another 700k. Isn"t that great?"
What a coincidence… Jiang Feng laughed wryly as he began to think that it was all planned out by the game.
"And guess what? Your second uncle"s new clinic will be set up next to our new restaurant! All of your uncles will live in the same city from now on!" Jiang Jiankang added.
In the past, all of Jiang Jiankang"s siblings stayed in the same city. Even all of their children went to the same schools. Other than Jiang Feng, who had an average body, all three of his cousins were tall and ma.s.sive. No bullies would ever want to deal with the four of them.
Jiang Feng"s grandfather, Jiang Weiguo, was a chef at a state-owned restaurant before his retirement. Even when the country was at war and foods were scarce, Jiang Weiguo would still be the biggest among all the skinny dudes. Jiang Weiguo and his wife would feed their children until they became the most famous big people in the city.
Jiang Jiankang was the only one out of the five siblings to take over the state-owned restaurant after Jiang Weiguo"s retirement. After the state-owned restaurant filled for bankruptcy, Jiang Jiankang opened his own restaurant.
The eldest of the siblings, Jiang Jianguo, was a tailor. Since his business in the small city wasn"t doing so well, he borrowed some money and moved to A City. His business was doing good after that. The second of the siblings, Jiang Jiandang, opened a small clinic in the city. The fourth and fifth brothers, Jiang Jianye and Jiang Jianshe, opened a pet shop together in A City.
Since everyone would move to A City after that, Jiang Jiankang decided to get a bigger shop so that his family could gather together whenever they wanted.
Jiang Jiankang was talking about how the restaurant would progress when w.a.n.g Xiulian came into the living room after showering.
"Hurry up and go shower!" w.a.n.g Xiuliu scolded at Jiang Jiankang. "Don"t brag until you pay off all your debt to your brother."
Jiang Feng returned to his room and touched the exclamation mark.
The information on the screen had slightly changed.
Player: Jiang Feng
Level: 0 (0/100)
Acc.u.mulated Experience: 0
Skill: Appraisal (Novice): Able to appraise basic information
Main Quest:
1. (Available) [The Rising Restaurant] Raise the fame of the Healthy Restaurant next to A University to 100. [Select this quest? Yes/No]
2. ??? (Please explore around to initiate a new Main Quest)
Side Quest: None (Available after the activation of Main Quest)
Achievement: None
t.i.tle: None
Item: None
Rating: Beginner
Jiang Feng touched the first option on the main quest column, and the screen changed.
1. [The Rising Restaurant] Raise the fame of the Healthy Restaurant next to A University to 100. Progress: 0/100.
Tips: The reputation is vital to a restaurant"s success. Reputation gained is limited to students and teachers of A University.
Reward: Unknown
Students and teachers…
Jiang Feng was confident in Jiang Jiankang"s skills as he used to run a state-owned restaurant. Only a month was left until his semester started.
Since the game kept telling him to move at his own pace, Jiang Feng made up his mind to come up with a plan during that month.