Chapter 1

【A Well-Crafted Fake Bill】

Jiang Feng did not take the money, and with a slightly apologetic smile to the burly, bald man in front of him who looked impatient, he said, "Sir, I'm sorry, but I don't have any change right now. I can't break a hundred."

"Can't break it?" The customer pulled back the money, reluctantly handed Jiang Feng a twenty-yuan note, and after receiving the change, grumbled a few more times before leaving the small shop.

"Xiaofeng, isn't there change in the box?" Hearing the commotion in the shop, Jiang Feng's mother, Comrade Wang Xiulian, poked her head out from the kitchen to ask.

"He gave me fake money." Jiang Feng skillfully cleaned the table and arranged the chairs, preparing to close the shop.

"Fake money?" Comrade Wang Xiulian instantly lost her smile, and her triple chin tightened into a double chin. "Which scoundrel dares to fool my son? If he comes again, I'll teach him a lesson for you!"

Indeed, with Comrade Wang Xiulian's build, that burly man probably wouldn't be a match for her.

"Our son is a college student; how could he be fooled by someone like that?" Jiang Feng's father, Comrade Jiang Jiankang, with his shiny bald head, walked out of the kitchen with a dish in one hand, smiling. "Come, come, son, your favorite Kung Pao Chicken."

【A Plate of Kung Pao Chicken Mixed with Sweat and Oil】

"I'm on a diet." Jiang Feng refused expressionlessly, starting to think about how to persuade his father to install an air conditioner in the kitchen, an important task.

With Comrade Jiang Jiankang's 240-pound frame, it was tough for him to stay in the small kitchen, which was less than ten square meters, during this season.

"Why are you following those girls' diets? My son could gain another hundred pounds and still not be fat!" Comrade Jiang Jiankang was most proud of his tall and slim son, who improved their family's genes. His father had five sons, four grandsons, and two granddaughters. Except for his youngest brother's twin daughters in junior high, his son was the only one under 200 pounds.

Jiang Feng suddenly remembered the scene during the New Year when the large round table at his grandfather's house couldn't even seat seven people, and the women and grandchildren had to sit at a separate table. He decided to remain silent.

"Come, come, eat some meat!" Comrade Jiang Jiankang put a large piece of meat in Jiang Feng's bowl.

"Right, listen to your father. Does my son need to diet?" Comrade Wang Xiulian echoed.

Fine, for the sake of paternal love.

Jiang Feng resignedly picked up his chopsticks.

"Dad."

"Ah!"

"It's too hot. Can you install an air conditioner in the kitchen?"

...

After finishing the meal, the three members of the Jiang family tidied up the shop and cleaned the kitchen. Comrade Wang Xiulian and Comrade Jiang Jiankang stayed to count the ingredients and sent Jiang Feng home to rest.

Before leaving, Jiang Feng glanced at the shop's sign.

【A Sign Long in Disrepair】

As soon as he turned around, Jiang Feng could no longer see any of the note-like prompts.

Indeed, he could only see them in his own shop, it seemed.

After two days of testing, Jiang Feng finally determined the range within which these strange notes appeared.

"Ding, congratulations, player Jiang Feng has activated the game. The game is loading, please wait."

A clear female voice startled Jiang Feng.

After about two minutes, the clear female voice sounded again: "Loading complete. Please check the panel, explore on your own, and strive to complete tasks."

Jiang Feng noticed a small exclamation mark in the upper right corner. On a whim, he touched it, and a status panel actually appeared.

Player Name: Jiang Feng

Level: 0 (0/100)

Remaining Experience: 0

Skills: Appraisal (Basic): You can only obtain some basic information

Main Quest: ??? (Please explore on your own)

Side Quests: None (Activated after choosing a main quest)

Achievements: None

Titles: None

Items: None

Evaluation: A novice just starting out

Game Instructions:

1. This game has a high degree of freedom. Please explore on your own.

2. The game will not interfere with any of your choices. Please strive to unlock achievements.

3. All explanations belong to the game.

Game?

This status panel really does look like a game.

Jiang Feng touched the exclamation mark in the upper right corner again, and the panel disappeared.

It looks quite interesting.

If I explore on my own...

Jiang Feng stood at the door of his house, deep in thought.

Before he could figure it out, Comrade Wang Xiulian's loud voice pulled him back to reality.

"Xiaofeng, what are you standing there for at the door?" Comrade Wang Xiulian asked from the top of the stairs. She and Comrade Jiang Jiankang stood at the corner of the small staircase, creating a sense of blocking the entire hallway.

"I forgot my keys." He lied casually.

"You child, why didn't you call? How long have you been waiting?" Comrade Wang Xiulian opened the door, and Jiang Feng quickly stepped aside.

"By the way, Dad, what do you think about installing an air conditioner in the kitchen?" Jiang Feng let Comrade Jiang Jiankang enter first, closing the door as he asked.

"No need. We've been like this for so many years; why do we need an air conditioner? Your second uncle's clinic is being demolished, and he lent us 700,000 yuan. I bought a shop near your school. When you start school, your mother and I will move there too." Comrade Jiang Jiankang said casually, starting to imagine their future life. "Look, how good it will be for your mother and me to open a shop there. You won't have to eat in the cafeteria anymore. I heard from your older cousin that the university cafeteria food is terrible, like tomatoes and mooncakes. Is that even food? Your mother and I..."

Jiang Feng didn't even have time to think about how Comrade Jiang Jiankang could buy a shop near the school with just 700,000 yuan from his second uncle, or how much money their family had, or whether he could graduate from college and stay home as a couch potato, when he heard the familiar female voice.

"Ding, a selectable main quest has been discovered: [The Advancing Shop] Make Jiankang's Stir-Fry House well-known at A University."

Their current shop is called Jiankang Snack Bar.

"Dad, what will the new shop be called?" Jiang Feng asked.

"Name?" Comrade Jiang Jiankang was taken aback, then chuckled. "Jiankang's Stir-Fry House. How does that sound? Not bad, right! Your mother thinks the name is too simple, but for a stir-fry shop, it needs to be straightforward. If we use a fancy name, customers won't come."

"This shop was actually chosen by your older uncle. It has two floors, a total of 180 square meters. We didn't have enough money, and your mother and I didn't want to take a loan, so we were still looking. But then the demolition money for your second uncle's clinic came in, and he lent us 700,000 yuan. It was just right. Isn't that a coincidence?"

What a coincidence, it's almost too coincidental.

Jiang Feng even suspected that the game had planned it.

"Your second uncle also bought a shop next to our restaurant. Now, all five of us brothers are in the same city again. You don't need to worry about the new shop. Your older uncle is taking care of the renovation and everything."

Jiang Feng's uncles and aunts originally worked in this small city. Including Jiang Feng, the four grandsons of the Jiang family graduated from the same primary, middle, and high schools. When they were young, except for Jiang Feng, who had a normal build, his three cousins were all tall and strong, and the four brothers together were never bothered by local troublemakers.

Going back further, Jiang Feng's grandfather, Jiang Weiguo, was a chef at a state-owned restaurant before he retired. Even in the era of scarce resources, he was the most prominent fat man among the skinny people. He even turned his grandmother, his father, and his four uncles and aunts into well-known fat people. Even his younger uncle's two daughters showed the characteristics of the Jiang family.

Of the five Jiang brothers, Comrade Jiang Jiankang, the third, took over from Jiang Weiguo and later opened a small restaurant after the state-owned restaurant went bankrupt. The eldest, Jiang Jianguo, was a tailor. Because business was not good in this small city, he borrowed money a few years ago and moved his tailor shop to A City, where it is now thriving. The second, Jiang Jian dang, opened a small clinic. The fourth, Jiang Jianye, and the fifth, Jiang Jianshe, opened a pet shop together in A City.

Jiang Feng thought about how his uncles, aunts, and three cousins and two younger cousins would often gather at their restaurant, and he understood Comrade Jiang Jiankang's intention to buy a large shop.

In the living room, Comrade Jiang Jiankang was already imagining the future, where his grandson would take over Jiankang's Stir-Fry House and make it even more successful. Comrade Wang Xiulian, who had already finished washing up, came into the living room with a look of disgust and interrupted him, "Hurry up and go take a shower and go to bed. You owe your second brother a lot of money, and you're still bragging to your son!"

Look at how ambitious Comrade Wang Xiulian is.

Back in his room, Jiang Feng opened the status panel, which had changed to—

Player Name: Jiang Feng

Level: 0 (0/100)

Remaining Experience: 0

Skills: Appraisal (Basic): You can only obtain some basic information

Main Quest: 1. (Optional) [The Advancing Shop] Make Jiankang's Stir-Fry House well-known at A University [Choose: Yes/No]

2. ??? (Please explore on your own)

Side Quests: None (Activated after choosing a main quest)

Achievements: None

Titles: None

Items: None

Evaluation: A novice just starting out

Jiang Feng clicked "Yes," and the main quest became:

1. [The Advancing Shop] Make Jiankang's Stir-Fry House well-known at A University, Task Progress (0/100).

Task Hint: Reputation is key to developing a new shop. The reputation can only be gained from the students and faculty of A University.

Task Reward: Unknown

Students and faculty...

Jiang Feng had a deep understanding of Comrade Jiang Jiankang's cooking skills, after all, he was a former chef at a state-owned restaurant. A University would be starting in a month, and this main quest seemed quite achievable to Jiang Feng.

As for exploring on his own, he had a month to do so.