Persona: Devil Summoner

Unexpectedly, she not only looked down on me, but also continued to ask questions with a sarcastic look on her face.

"what?".

"Prove it to me."

"How to prove it?".

"Cook for me!"

"Hey guys, you're waiting for me here?"

Jiang Tianwei then realized the true meaning behind her words. It turned out that this little girl was here to cheat for food! She really knows how to play.

The two chatted and laughed as they got off the subway and walked towards their shabby apartment. Suddenly, from a distance, Jiang Tianwei noticed a figure that didn't fit in.

He was a man in a suit.

Even if you just look at it, you can tell that this is a very expensive suit, with first-class workmanship, cutting and fabrics. It fits his temperament very well, showing the arrogance of an elite white-collar worker to the fullest.

This elitist atmosphere is really incompatible with the shabby apartment where Jiang Tianwei lives.

As mentioned before, it's almost summer vacation now, and it seems like God has started the summer carnival early, and has literally heated up the air.

It is extremely rare to find someone who can still insist on wearing a long-sleeved black suit in this kind of weather.

This guy was standing downstairs in front of Jiang Tianwei's house, talking on the phone with one hand and raising the other hand to his chest. His eyes were scanning left and right, and kept drifting towards the brand-name watch on his wrist. It was obvious that he had taken a break from his busy schedule to come here.

The man confirmed Jiang Tianwei's face with the corner of his eye, and immediately said something to the person on the other end of the phone, hung up, and took two steps at a time and strode towards this side.

It was obvious that his target was Jiang Tianwei.

This person's face always gave Jiang Tianwei the feeling that he had seen him somewhere, but he couldn't remember where exactly.

Until the other person walked up to him and said, "Mr. Jiang Tianwei, right? Can I bother you for a moment?"

Upon hearing this voice, Jiang Tianwei suddenly realized: I know this person! Isn't this Master Liu's son?

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 416 A decisive difference?

In a high-rise hotel in the center of Shibuya, a man in a suit and tie sat opposite Jiang Tianwei.

To be honest, it's a bit embarrassing.

Unless you are a "Yang Jiao" who is particularly good at socializing, everyone will feel this awkward when eating alone with someone they don't know, right? Always feel uncomfortable all over, and Jiang Tianwei is like this now. Because he can't understand why the other party is so determined to treat him to a meal.

Jiang Tianwei vaguely noticed that the reason he was looking for him must be related to Master Liu.

There is almost no intersection between these two people, and they can only be connected through a third person. Speaking of which, there was a famous saying back then, "As long as you are not an orphan living in the mountains and forests with no relatives, then you only need three middlemen to connect with anyone on earth."

However, no matter how fancy this statement is, in the end it cannot really allow you to have a relationship with the person you love, otherwise Jiang Tianwei would have become the President of the Earth long ago. Why would you still feel so aggrieved?

While I was thinking about all these things, Master Liu's son opposite had already ordered the dishes. He closed the menu and handed it to the waiter on the side. The waiter bowed, took the menu and left quickly.

As if to ease the embarrassment, he formally took out a business card from his pocket and handed it over with both hands. Jiang Tianwei took it, skipped the long list of meaningless titles, and confirmed his name again: Liu Haofei.

"Student Jiang, I heard that you have a close relationship with my father."

Jiang Tianwei noticed that when this fellow countryman spoke to him, his first reaction was not to use Chinese.

I have heard that some people who have lived abroad for a long time will gradually become uncomfortable speaking their native language. For example, in variety shows, you often see overseas Chinese speaking half Chinese and half English. For many words, they can say them in English, but when you switch to Chinese, they don't know the corresponding words.

It seems that Manager Liu is the same. After living in Japan for a long time, he has gradually become "Japanese-style".

"Yes, the old man has always taken good care of me."

Jiang Tianwei is not the type who has to correct others' personalities. After all, he can switch between Chinese and Japanese seamlessly, so he can chat however he likes. If you have to control other people's speaking habits, then isn't that too much? If it were a few decades ago, someone would probably call him a fake foreigner. But now? Everyone is so busy, who has the time to care what language you speak?

"Really? That's good. I took the liberty of visiting you today because I hope you can help persuade my stubborn father."

When Jiang Tianwei heard him say this, his heart skipped a beat and he thought to himself: It is indeed so.

It is said that one does not visit a temple without a request. What the ancients said makes sense.

He was not in a hurry to give a conclusion, and waited silently for the other party to speak. He knew very well how much modern people valued face. For a social elite to bow his head and make a request to a high school student, it was obvious that he had reached a very critical juncture.

As mentioned before, he signed a pledge in front of the company's top management, saying that this Chinese cuisine would definitely conquer Japan and open up new markets, but... the response... You can tell from Jiang Tianwei's "meeting notes" before.

Now the deadline given by the top management is getting closer and closer. If I don’t hurry up and show some progress, my situation will be very delicate.

Jiang Tianwei thought: (It’s subtle, so what? I’m not firing you, am I?)

Perhaps this mood of watching the fire from the other side of the river was conveyed to Manager Liu through his expression. He sighed and changed the question: "Student Jiang, do you know where the core deviation lies between the understanding of society by adults and minors?"

"do not know."

Jiang Tianwei shook his head. Like Dongxiang Yiersan, he also grew up with the voices of "you don't understand this society". Naturally, he didn't know the difference between his understanding of society and that of adults.

Manager Liu closed his eyes, as if recalling something very painful. After a long while, he slowly said, "The core of the cognitive bias of these two groups lies in the perception that "if you work hard, you will succeed."

Manager Liu's next words became fragmented, and his tone changed a lot, sometimes he seemed to be talking about his own affairs, and sometimes he seemed to be talking about others. But he expressed his point very clearly: only children would believe that hard work will lead to success.

Society is very complex. This is what Manager Liu felt after working hard in Japan.

Not to mention that there are those gifted people who can be more successful than you without any effort.

Even if one is a fool and makes no effort at all, it is possible to succeed for various reasons, such as family background, flattery, or faction connections... There are even some people who have nothing to do with anything but are very lucky.

If you want to succeed, hard work is only one aspect, opportunity is only one aspect, and more importantly, it depends on whether you can face this fucked up world and wait until the day you succeed.

As a foreigner, Mr. Liu has certainly suffered a lot while working hard in Japan. Japan is a country that values ​​factions very much, and this factional relationship is reflected in various fields. For example, Oyamada Shoichi is the leader of the "academic faction".

What is a school clique? It is a faction formed by graduates from the same school. Even though we are all doctors, if you and Dr. Oyamada did not graduate from the same school, then no matter how outstanding you are, you cannot get into this school clique. Similarly, if this hospital is led by a member of a certain school clique, then this hospital is likely to have only graduates from a certain medical school, at least they will account for the absolute majority.

Similar factions include those formed because of the same hometown, those derived from supporting a certain brand, and so on.

As a national large enterprise, Junice is of course full of various factions and forces. Manager Liu has been able to work hard on his own to get to his current position. Jiang Tianwei can understand how much hardship he has gone through to achieve his current position.

"So, you want to say that no matter what, you don't want to lose your current position?"

The food was served, and Jiang Tianwei tried to summarize his request while stuffing the golden slices of beef into his mouth.

"No, if that's all, I don't mind."

Manager Liu gave an unexpected answer. He pushed his glasses and said, "If it's just a career, it doesn't matter if I'm not at Junice. In fact, several companies are already trying to recruit me. If Junice fires me, I can go to Okumura Foods to be the section chief tomorrow."

His words made Jiang Tianwei stunned for a moment. On the one hand, he was surprised: As expected, if a person is outstanding, he can get along well in any place. On the other hand, he was surprised that his speculation was wrong? !

He originally thought that Manager Liu was trying so hard to persuade his father in order to protect his own position and get ahead, but he didn't expect that he had another purpose?

"You know my father loves Chinese food, right?"

Manager Liu's words made Jiang Tianwei nod his head. Anyone who was not blind could see at a glance how proud this old chef was of his own country's cuisine.

"So, I was thinking about helping my father to promote Chinese food. I wouldn't say to the whole world, but at least to let the Japanese know the real Chinese taste. For this, my father's help is necessary."

"How should I put it? At this point, I am actually confused. Why do you have such a huge ideal?"

Jiang Tianwei asked back in confusion.

From what Manager Liu said, he respected his father very much and wanted to do something for his father. So why was the relationship between father and son so strained? And why did he have such a grand wish? In this case, shouldn't he think about how to be filial to his father?

Manager Liu was silent for a while, as if he was hesitating whether to speak out about this matter, but after thinking it over carefully, he made up his mind and spoke: "That's because... my father is already old..."

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 417 Lifespan Theory

Lifespan is a limitation that no living being can escape.

Someone joked: "Everyone should feel at ease having such a god of death who holds the power of life and death but never accepts bribes and enforces the law impartially."

Whether we are willing to admit it or not, people will reach the end of their lives one day. This is the law of nature. How many generations of kings have spent so much effort to find the way to immortality, but in the end they all returned empty-handed.

Manager Liu suddenly brought up the concept of lifespan, leaving Jiang Tianwei unable to understand what he was going to say next.

"My father is an ordinary man with nothing special to offer except his cooking skills. My mother was in poor health and died when I was in junior high school. You can probably guess how difficult it is for a bachelor to raise a child and send him abroad to study. After I settled down in Japan and established a family and career, I have been thinking about how to repay my father for his kindness in raising me."

His words really made Jiang Tianwei nod his head repeatedly. He had already deeply felt when he was a migrant worker before that money was not easy to make. Especially when you don't have a rich father. Moreover, the cost of studying abroad is not something that ordinary rural people can afford.

"But, my father's life is actually very monotonous, I'm sure you've noticed that. So I really don't know how to repay him... So, I finally came up with this idea."

Jiang Tianwei agreed with this statement: Master Liu's daily life was to fan himself with a palm-leaf fan and listen to the out-of-tune tape, or to stay on the balcony and watch the sky. He never watched TV, listened to other tapes, or chatted with his neighbors - mainly because they couldn't communicate clearly.

Before Jiang Tianwei moved in, it was hard to imagine how much time this old man had spent in loneliness.

"We are both Chinese, and we have been educated in Confucianism and filial piety since childhood. I settled in Japan, and I felt guilty about bringing him here. If I can't make him happy, I will feel guilty. So, I thought of promoting Chinese cuisine. At least he will have something to do, and he will be happier. He loves Chinese cuisine so much, if we can promote it to the whole world, won't he also have a sense of satisfaction that he has achieved what he wanted?"

In Manager Liu's vision, if he proposed an opportunity to promote Chinese cuisine to his father, he would happily devote all his energy to developing Chinese cuisine that suits Japanese tastes, and then live a fulfilling life every day.

I guess everyone has similar experiences, right? Even if it’s a holiday, if you are asked to do nothing but sit there, without music, a cell phone, a TV, or a computer, it can be very hard to endure.

But on the other hand, once you are given entertainment products such as mobile phones, televisions, and computers, you will feel that time passes quickly and it is very enjoyable.

That's it, once people are immersed in their hobbies, they tend to ignore other negative feelings.

It’s just like people who love painting can paint all day long, people who love games can play all day long, and people who love work can work all day long.

"There are many Chinese restaurants in Japan. With Master Liu's cooking skills, you can go to any Chinese restaurant and...ah, forget what I said."

Jiang Tianwei was halfway through his words when he suddenly began to deny himself.

Didn't he start out working in a Chinese restaurant? Thinking back to the situation at the restaurant he worked in, if someone with Liu's personality were to work in such a smoky and filthy place, being discriminated against while making fake dishes that weren't even Chinese food, he would probably be pissed off to death.

"Yes. So when Junice asked us to come up with a plan, I immediately thought that this was the best opportunity. It would give him a place to use his remaining energy and continue to be a famous chef without irritating his temper."

"It sounds interesting, so why was Master Liu so resistant before?"

"Isn't it because of his stubbornness? You know, if you want to run a restaurant business, the most important thing is cost. If you want to make a profit, you have to save costs. If you want to convince the top management, you have to get the highest profit at the lowest cost. In addition, there are standardized production processes and adaptation to foreign tastes. But my father thinks these are all cutting corners and being cunning and sly."

He let out a long sigh. Judging from his distressed look, he must have negotiated with Master Liu many times with similar reasons. As for the results, if he had succeeded, he would not be sighing here.

"Well, it's not that I can't understand..."

Jiang Tianwei knows this feeling too well.

Although he is not a chef, he is a 2D netizen!

Haven't you seen this before? Die-hard fans of a certain animation, game, novel, character, etc., often have a passion that is almost fanatical about the things they love. Once you say something wrong or make a mistake, they will criticize you or give you a long lecture on popular science...

It is not terrible to be entangled in settings. What is terrible is that these people often think that everyone must be as proficient in these settings as they are.

Presumably, for Master Liu, the industrialized processes his son talked about were a kind of blasphemy in themselves, right?

Manager Liu saw that he was somewhat on his father's side, and became a little anxious, so he quickly said, "Listen carefully, what I'm proposing are all necessary processes for modern mass production!"

What Manager Liu said next were all some commercial operation models in modern society, such as reducing the types of side dishes as much as possible, for example, for the sake of convenience, the taste can be abandoned when necessary. For example, similar seasonings should be replaced with fixed products as much as possible, for example, in order to cater to the Japanese market, some Japanese regional characteristics should be added...

The more Manager Liu spoke, the brighter his eyes became. It was obvious that he sincerely believed that what he proposed was a good idea. Moreover, referring to today's society, whether it is a chain store or a fast food product, aren't they all doing the same thing?

Even global companies like KFC do the same thing? I think those who have eaten fried chicken since childhood should feel it the most, right? The taste of these two fried chickens is far worse than it was back then. What does this mean? This is the general trend of history, and people should not go against the trend of history!

Manager Liu looked at Jiang Tianwei with hope, expecting his answer. It must be said that his focus was very good. He immediately grasped the old man's lonely mentality in Japan and immediately recognized that Jiang Tianwei was the "favor card" that could win the game.

But now this favor card is scratching its head vigorously, squeezing out a sentence: "Well, I'm going to the bathroom first."

To be honest, Jiang Tianwei didn't want to go to the bathroom or find an excuse to escape, but in this complicated situation, he needed to discuss it with someone, especially someone who was flexible in thinking and very trustworthy.

For example, Fang Zexia.

This little girl has been listening attentively from the beginning, and seems to be very interested in other people's gossip. It is said that a bystander sees more clearly. As an insider, I really don't know whether I should help Manager Liu persuade the old man.

It is certainly commendable that the old man sticks to his pride as a chef.

On the other hand, the plan proposed by Manager Liu cannot be said to be completely wrong.

This is very difficult to do.

"What's there to worry about? If you don't know what to do in reality, why don't you just go to the cognitive space? Shadows won't lie anyway."

What does it mean to awaken a person from a dream with a single word? As soon as she said this, Jiang Tianwei felt as if everything had suddenly become clear!

Yes, that's right! I have been commissioned by the Phantom Thief Channel more than once to go to the cognitive space of Shibuya Station to change the hearts of those who are not yet qualified to be born into a palace. Shadows are different from people. People will lie for various reasons, but shadows in the cognitive space will not.

At that time, we can hear what the old man and this elite think deep down in their hearts...

"When the time comes, we can find a reason and a way to bring these two people together. Then we can go to the cognitive space and let their shadows talk to each other directly. Maybe there will be a turning point."

The more Fang Zexia's proposal was, the more Jiang Tianwei felt it was feasible. He almost stood up and applauded her! This little girl was really quick-witted and intelligent! They always say that a good wife is a good wife, but how can this not be called a good wife?

However, another problem immediately appeared before Jiang Tianwei...

That is, what reason can bring two people together without causing a rift?