The Game of Life

Although Ji Xia lost a portion of fried chicken tenders and a small-sized baked sweet potato, she gained half a pot of pear soup that evening upon returning—Jiang Jianshe had specifically left it for her because he simply couldn’t drink any more, and he had even gone out of his way to serve it to her.

When Ji Xia finally went back, she was burping. Whether they were burps of happiness or resentful pear soup burps was something only Ji Xia knew.

Whether it was the effectiveness of the medicine, the benefits of the pork lung soup, or Jiang Jianshe’s attentive care, Jiang Weiming stopped coughing after the third, and his overall energy had greatly improved—his condition was much better. Initially, he wanted to return to work with Sir, who had been dragged by his sons to undergo a full-body health check-up, but everyone insisted he rest a few more days because they were worried about him.

As a result, Jiang Weiming didn’t just finish watching “Why Women Kill Season 1”, he also caught up on “White Collar Season 6” that he had missed.

Seven days later, on January 9th, Sir’s medical report was freshly issued.

All the Jiang Family members in Beiping carefully studied Sir’s report, not that they could understand it, but carefully studying was the right thing to do. Others who were not in Beiping, such as Jiang Ran, Aunt, and others, needed to examine it meticulously over WeChat and express their professional concern and care in family group messages through sentences of no less than twenty characters—this symbolized the reader’s concern for Sir.

Jiang Feng was fortunate as he had Jiang Jiandang to study Sir’s medical report with him. Jiang Jiandang, who hadn’t become a life-saving ‘Angel’ and had only opened a small pharmacy in Z city collecting a substantial compensation for demolition, was often overlooked by the Jiang Family members for the fact that he too had studied medicine for many years.

Ever since Jiang Shoucheng began studying medicine—whether he had a medical qualification certificate at the time or not—everyone would first consult him with any headaches or fevers before consulting Baidu, and as the last resort, they would go to a hospital to ask a doctor. No one ever thought of Jiang Jiandang first, even though he had a medical qualification certificate. As far as Jiang Feng knew, Jiang Shoucheng’s expression pack titled [Don’t Know Medical Students Asking Doctors].jbgd still existed on his phone, coming in handy every now and then.

Because he was studying the medical report with Jiang Jiandang, even though three out of the three and a half pages were unintelligible to him, he didn’t fall behind when praising Sir’s health with his uncles and aunts.

As an 84-year-old, Jiang Weiguo’s health was quite impressive. Basic screenings such as complete blood count and electrolyte panel were all normal; the slight elevation in cardiac enzyme spectra and reduced heart and lung function were normal occurrences due to his advanced age.

Taking advantage of the lull after the lunch rush, Jiang Feng, after praising Sir’s health, did not forget to check on Jiang Weiming’s health. “Granduncle Weiming, with the New Year approaching and your cough improved, should we schedule a time for you to get a full-body check-up at the health center?”

Jiang Weiguo did not comment on Jiang Feng’s suggestion, but looked towards Jiang Weiming. From his gaze, Jiang Feng could tell that Sir agreed with his idea.

Originally, everyone had wanted both Sirs to undergo a full-body check-up together, but it had been postponed due to Jiang Weiming feeling unwell and unable to go out. Now that Sir’s medical report had come out, Jiang Feng thought it was time to bring it up again.

Jiang Weiming did not immediately respond, taking a long while before he demurred, “I’m not feeling any discomfort, and your grandfather didn’t find any problems, so let’s not waste the money.”

Sir instantly objected, “Weiming, it’s a good thing that nothing was found. Anyway, Xiao De is free lately, so let him take you to the hospital for a check-up in a few days; he has the experience from when he accompanied me last time.”

Jiang Weiming was still somewhat reluctant, “Let’s forget it for now, since it is almost the New Year, and I have to go to Magic City. We can talk about it after the New Year.”

Since Jiang Weiming was reluctant, Jiang Feng did not press the issue. In fact, what Jiang Weiming said was not wrong; with the New Year fast approaching, they would have to wait for the medical reports when nobody would be in Beiping anyhow, so it made sense to wait until after the New Year for the check-up.

“Granduncle, have you booked your ticket yet? Do you need me to accompany you to Magic City? I also need to accompany Qiqi to Shu for her third cousin’s engagement party before the New Year. Since it’s running around, leaving a day early won’t make much difference,” Jiang Feng offered.

“Yong said he would handle the ticket; I’m not sure about the details. He will pick me up at the station, so Feng, you don’t need to go out of your way to accompany me,” Jiang Weiming said with a smile.

“Since Feng is free, and as we are all going out, let him accompany you. Weiming, don’t worry about this—Feng and the others will handle the bookings,” concluded Jiang Weiguo decisively.

Seeing that Jiang Feng had nothing else to add, Sir dismissed him to tend to his own affairs and pulled Jiang Weiming to the teahouse to boast about his medical report with the regular tea drinking buddies.

The elderly do enjoy showing off, especially at their age. Mrs. Jiang could show off her grandchildren even just from getting an IV at the town hospital, so naturally, Sir wouldn’t miss an opportunity to proudly flaunt his impressive health report to his friends at the teahouse.

As soon as the two Sirs left Taifeng Building, Jiang Feng also headed out. He planned to sit and eat some Oden at the convenience store next door. Since New Year’s Day, he had been patronizing the next-door convenience store, insisting on doing a ten-dollar business with the owner every day.

On January 9th, at 3:19 pm, Jiang Feng entered the store later than usual.

Stepping inside, he immediately smelled the familiar scent of Oden cooked with a mix of seasonings, as the convenience store owner, as always, sat in his usual spot watching anime. The aroma of the store seemed richer than usual, emanating from more than one location.

Jiang Feng sniffed and realized the source of the other aroma was from the normally unoccupied booth seating area.

The three-seat booth was occupied by two people Jiang Feng recognized—Dong Shi and Ji Xia.

Dong Shi and Ji Xia were sitting on high stools facing the wall, both hunched over, eating their Oden in unison.

Since when had the two of them become so close that they could secretly come together to the convenience store for Oden behind his back?

Jiang Feng thought about it and realized that since the day he had taken Dong Shi and Dong Li to visit Jiang Weiming, the communication between Ji Xia and Dong Shi had increased significantly. It was just that Dong Shi was always talkative with everyone, so Jiang Feng had not found it unusual.

Dong Shi and Ji Xia, with their backs to Jiang Feng, had not noticed him; each holding a small paper cup filled with oden and eating with great pleasure. Jiang Feng quickly covered the distance behind Ji Xia in a few strides and silently patted her shoulder without making a sound.

Ji Xia turned around, with a piece of radish still in her mouth, frozen in her seat.

She looked exactly like a high school student caught by the homeroom teacher while sneaking into an internet cafe during summer vacation: her surprise mixed with delight, her delight mixed with guilt, her guilt revealing fear.

Unfortunately, Ji Xia the high schooler did not know that Jiang Feng the homeroom teacher was also there to use the internet.

Jiang Feng didn’t oppose Ji Xia eating oden; it was fine for the young girl to occasionally enjoy oden in winter. Although it was made from a flavoring packet, it wasn’t considered junk food, and the most important thing was that he ate it every day.

Ji Xia was free to do whatever she wanted during lunch break. Jiang Feng just felt a little disappointed that Xiaxia had started having her own little stash of money and would go out to buy snacks on her own instead of asking him for money.

“You two found a pretty good spot here, this place’s oden has a special taste,” Jiang Feng said with a smile, as he headed toward the oden booth, originally planning to eat a couple of his favorite radish pieces.

Ji Xia, seeing that Jiang Feng was not angry, immediately relaxed, “Exactly, Master. I didn’t even know about it but Dong Shi brought me here today, and this radish is especially tasty.”

Jiang Feng nodded with a smile and approached the oden stand.

The overcooked eggs, potatoes, kelp, konjac, fish balls, and bamboo wheel were all lying peacefully in their respective compartments; the only empty spot was where the radish should have been.

Jiang Feng: ???

Where’s my radish???

Jiang Feng, refusing to believe it, used his chopsticks to search, but not even a piece of radish was left.

The convenience store owner, who had been absorbed in watching anime, noticed Jiang Feng’s actions and lifted his head to glance at the iron box cooking the oden.

“Ah, the radishes are sold out, eh? No worries, Jiang Feng just wait a moment, I’ll add some now,” said the store owner as he went to fetch some sliced radish for Jiang Feng.

“Plop” “Plop”

The snow-white radish pieces were thrown roughly into their compartments by the store owner.

Jiang Feng: …

Oh well, I might as well go and have a heart-to-heart with the employees.

Jiang Feng walked over to the booth and took a close look at Ji Xia’s and Dong Shi’s paper cups. Sure enough, they were mostly filled with radish.

“Master, why didn’t you get any oden? This radish is really tasty!” Ji Xia recommended enthusiastically.

“Really?” Jiang Feng put on an Oscar-worthy performance, courtesy of the Jiang family.

“Really,” Ji Xia assured him seriously, skewering a piece with a bamboo stick, “You won’t believe it until you try it, Master.”

Jiang Feng couldn’t just ignore the heartfelt offering from his disciple; he had to accept it with open arms, showing a satisfied expression. After chewing and finishing, he said, “Indeed, it’s delicious.”

After successfully getting a piece of radish, Jiang Feng turned his attention to Dong Shi, wearing an expression of a good boss who cares about his employees.

“The probation period ends tomorrow, how do you feel?”

Master Wang’s probation period ended today, and since he was originally a Shandong chef, he had adapted well to everything at Taifeng Building, and the Taifeng staff had also adapted well to him. If nothing went wrong, his name would be on the menu tomorrow, and Mrs. Wang Xiulian had already set the prices.

The Dong brothers’ probation period was extended by a day because they took a day off to look at apartments. They had also settled on a rental in the neighborhood next to Jiang Feng’s, with a hefty rent.

Since the Dong brothers were Suzhou-style chefs, their adjustment period was much longer than Master Wang’s. Mrs. Wang Xiulian and the two elderly gentlemen had all spoken with the brothers, and after discussions, everyone unanimously felt that it would be better to wait until after the New Year’s holiday to put their dishes on the menu, bringing in a fresh atmosphere for the new year. So, for the time being, these two brothers with their fine culinary skills would have to put up with working under Zhou Shi and Zhang Guanghang—assisting, cooperating, and making progress together.

“That’s good,” Dong Shi put down the small paper cup in his hand and turned to look at Jiang Feng.

“You’ll have to bear with helping Zhou Shi out before the New Year, but after you come back, you should be able to work normally like the others. Have you booked your ticket home for the holiday? It’s best to book early since tickets during the Spring Festival travel rush are hard to snatch up,” Jiang Feng said with a smile.

“Boss, the specific holiday dates haven’t been announced yet,” Dong Shi said weakly.

Jiang Feng was startled, “Not announced yet? Didn’t I say it would be before the Little New Year?”

He had always assumed he had mentioned it much earlier, before New Year’s Day.

“Boss, could you give us a hint about the exact date for the holiday? Although you said it would be before the Little New Year, that’s only a week away now. Having a specific date would help us book tickets,” Dong Shi asked with a smile, full of anticipation.

It was the first time since finishing junior high that he was looking forward to a holiday so much.

“We’ll definitely have time off before the Little New Year. Because we haven’t set a date for the year-end party, the exact time is still uncertain. Just book your tickets around the Little New Year; we won’t delay your holiday,” Jiang Feng explained.

“Year-end party?” Dong Shi and Ji Xia exclaimed at the same time.

“It’s the year-end benefits. It probably won’t be as grand as other companies, with no performance programs. It’s just that on the last day, we won’t work, and everyone will gather to eat and draw lots, ensuring you all go home for the New Year happy.”

The idea of having a year-end party came from Fan Mei, as before this, the Jiang Family Members had no concept of a year-end party, nor had anyone attended one. With the number of employees at Taifeng Building, not having a party seemed unimpressive, but they also didn’t know how to organize one.

Fan Mei suggested that it wasn’t necessary to rent a special venue and have a grand year-end party like other companies. As a year-end benefit for the company, the purpose of the year-end party was to make employees happy at the end of the year, to enjoy the company’s benefits so they can serve the company better in the new year.

In some sense, Taifeng Building’s extra-long holiday was already the best benefit, so Fan Mei proposed that the Taifeng Building year-end party could be like Jiang Weiming’s last birthday feast, held within Taifeng Building itself, with food and drinks, mahjong, and then a lucky draw which would make everyone happy.

Mrs. Wang Xiulian is now pondering what prizes to set for the lucky draw during the party.

Huang Family Restaurant had never held a year-end party before; it was always a matter of either Master Huang or Mr. Huang giving out red envelopes with auspicious words before everyone went their separate ways to celebrate the New Year. Dong Shi, out of curiosity, asked Jiang Feng many questions about the year-end party. Jiang Feng had never attended or organized a year-end party and was clueless himself, so his answers to Dong Shi’s questions were all haphazard, while Ji Xia listened in, nibbling on a carrot, pretending to understand.

One daring to speak, two daring to believe.

After finishing the oden, Dong Shi couldn’t wait to say goodbye to Jiang Feng and went to brag to his elder brother about the misconceived knowledge of the year-end party he had just acquired, leaving only Ji Xia holding the soup-only small paper cup, sitting on the chair, pondering over what she had just heard.

“Master, is the Little New Year on the 17th?” Ji Xia suddenly asked.

“Right,” Jiang Feng nodded.

Ji Xia seemed to have an idea.

After Ji Xia drank the last bit of soup from the small paper cup, Jiang Feng took her to leave the convenience store.

Jiang Feng had just walked out of the store and had not yet reached the entrance of Taifeng Building when Ji Xia suddenly said, “Master, can I take a day off and not go to the year-end party?”

Jiang Feng thought he had heard wrong. How could Ji Xia miss out on the year-end party, a time with food, drinks, and a lucky draw: “Xiaxia, what did you just say?”

“Can I not go to the year-end party? I want to go shopping,” Ji Xia said.

The outdoor temperature was much lower than indoors, and as the wind blew, not only did it sweep away the aroma of the oden from around Jiang Feng, but it also sobered him up.

First, Jiang Feng quickly walked into Taifeng Building with Ji Xia, before saying, “Xiaxia, if you want to go shopping for something, your master can take you tomorrow at noon.”

Ji Xia shook her head, refusing, “It won’t work.”

“I won’t have any money tomorrow.”

Actually, Ji Xia did have money. The money she had earned during the few months she ran away from home was always hidden in her luggage. But, she had another use for that money, so she couldn’t spend it rashly.

Although Ji Xia didn’t have a salary, she received a commission for the zhajiang noodles she sold alongside Jiang Feng’s crab-stuffed oranges every day. It wasn’t much, but saved over a few months, it amounted to nearly a thousand yuan.

Since Ji Xia was underage and didn’t have a bank card, it was inconvenient to pay her salary, so Jiang Feng had told her long ago that her salary would be given to her at the end of the year along with a red envelope.

Jiang Feng had already decided on the amount, 8,888 yuan, extra from his own private savings.

“What does Xiaxia want to buy?” Jiang Feng asked with a smile.

“Roast duck, fruit preserves, fuling cakes, donkey-hide gelatin rolls, autumn pear cream, crispy sugar, donkey-hide gelatin rolls, chewy sugar treats, kidney bean rolls, pea cakes, chocolate pies, sesame seed flatbreads, mooncakes, flour figurines, cloth shoes, hairpins…” Ji Xia began counting on her fingers, at first it was all about food, but as she went on, the list included playthings and other items as well.

Jiang Feng: ???

Was Xiaxia going to buy New Year goods?

“Xiaxia, you can’t finish all these things on the train,” Jiang Feng laughed, thinking Ji Xia wanted to take her favorite foods to eat on the train.

Ji Xia shook her head: “I want to take them back for my grandmother.”

“I told my grandmother over the phone before, when I return, I will bring her my favorite foods.”

“I also told my grandmother that once I’ve earned a lot of money, I’ll buy a house with heating in Beiping and move grandmother over, then I can buy her a new washing machine. Grandmother’s washing machine has been broken for a long time, always spinning then stopping. If grandmother had a new washing machine, she wouldn’t have to wash everything by hand after the machine wash,” said the Ji Xia, unaware of the real estate prices in Beiping.

Jiang Feng thought that Ji Xia’s determination to buy a house in Beiping just for a washing machine was commendable, and he nodded in praise: “Xiaxia’s grandmother would be very happy to know this.”

“However, Xiaxia, you don’t need to take time off, the year-end celebration should be half a day. Your sister Wu and I can accompany you in the morning to buy the things you want to, and attend the celebration in the evening,” Jiang Feng said with a smile.

“Thank you, Master!” Ji Xia now said these four words with practiced ease, not only fluently but also filled with genuine emotion and affection.

“Go have fun,” he said.

Ji Xia left happily.

Jiang Feng had planned to go upstairs and find a private room to play with his phone, when just then Wu Minqi came down and saw Ji Xia’s happy figure bouncing along, she couldn’t help but chuckle.

“What’s got Xiaxia so happy? Did you just take her out for fried chicken?” Wu Minqi asked.

“No, she has gained ten pounds this winter and she definitely needs to eat less fried stuff,” Jiang Feng immediately denied. “She wants to buy some things for her grandmother on the day of the year-end celebration. I just promised her that we will accompany her in the morning to shop, and then go to the celebration in the evening.”

“Has the date for the year-end celebration been set?” Wu Minqi hadn’t been paying attention to these details recently as she had been discussing with her mother about bringing Jiang Feng back for her third cousin’s engagement banquet.

If all goes well, the next time Jiang Feng meets with the Wu Family will be at their engagement banquet.

“Not yet, it should be either on the 15th or 16th. Isn’t your third cousin’s engagement banquet set for the 19th? I plan to send Granduncle Weiming to Magic City first and then head to Shu. You can go ahead, and I’ll arrive at most a day later than you,” said Jiang Feng.

“Okay, I’ll talk to my mother about it tonight,” Wu Minqi smiled and nodded, deciding to finalize the new plan with her mother that evening.

Being one day late would require quite a few changes.

Jiang Feng turned his head, looking for where Ji Xia might have run off to. Many of the items she had mentioned wouldn’t keep well, and it would probably be difficult to successfully bring them back to Guangdong Province. He needed to remind Ji Xia to revise her list.

Then he found Ji Xia by the freezer.

In her hand, Ji Xia held a bottle of cola, tiptoeing as she prepared to close the freezer door stealthily.

“Xiaxia, put the cola back, please!”

“How many times have I told you, you can’t drink cola!”

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