The Game of Life

On the second day bright and early, Jiang Feng had just gotten out of bed and begun brushing his teeth, when Ji Xia arrived, carrying soy milk, fried dough sticks, and stuffed buns she had just bought at the front gate of the neighborhood, and began pounding on Jiang Feng’s door.

It was a rare holiday, yet Jiang Feng, who had to get up as early as on workdays, even developed a rebellious notion upon hearing the knock: forget it, I don’t want this apprentice anymore, I’d rather go back to sleep and snug under the covers.

Of course, this rebellious heart was instantly crushed the moment he saw the soy milk, fried dough sticks, and buns in Ji Xia’s hands.

The soy milk was bought from a noodle shop located down the alley to the right after exiting the neighborhood and crossing the intersection. This shop’s cuttlefish noodles were particularly delicious, and the soy milk tasted very rich. If Jiang Feng got up early, he would join Wu Minqi at this shop, each ordering a bowl of cuttlefish noodles and pairing it with a hot cup of soy milk with half a spoonful of sugar, thus kicking off a delightful day.

However, as Jiang Feng rarely got up early, such delightful beginnings were few and far between.

Compared to the particularly elaborate soy milk, the fried dough sticks and buns were quite inferior, all bought from the only baozi shop still open at the neighborhood’s entrance. The flavor was average with nothing remarkable about it.

It was the first time ever Ji Xia had bought breakfast for Jiang Feng and Wu Minqi, and it wasn’t because Ji Xia got up late, but rather because she had no money. Usually, if Ji Xia wanted to eat something, she would ask Jiang Feng for money to buy it. Even the little private stash she occasionally saved, she was reluctant to spend, preferring to keep it for the right opportunity to sneak out and buy roasted sweet potatoes or fried chicken strips—the sort of food Jiang Feng wouldn’t let her eat.

Ji Xia had just received a red envelope with 666 yuan yesterday, and this morning she splurged (16 yuan and 6 cents) on breakfast for Jiang Feng and Wu Minqi, which touched Jiang Feng greatly.

“Master, hurry up and finish brushing your teeth and go change your clothes, Wu has already gotten ready, how are you still brushing your teeth?” Ji Xia said after placing breakfast on the dining table, urging Jiang Feng to hurry up.

Urged by Ji Xia, Jiang Feng sped up his pace and emerged from the bedroom five minutes later, radiant and glowing. He had changed into a turtleneck sweater that best accentuated his figure and handsomeness, and also carried a coat he had just bought last month, which offered little in terms of warmth, but was great for striking a pose.

The coat’s pocket contained the red envelope prepared for Ji Xia.

For the last shopping trip before the New Year with his apprentice, Jiang Feng naturally wanted to make a stylish entrance.

Jiang Feng felt that if it weren’t for Ji Xia’s rush, he could have gone to the bathroom to tidy up his hair in front of the mirror.

Ji Xia hadn’t noticed Jiang Feng’s different look, her mind was entirely focused on donkey burgers: “Master, last night Master Wang told me that there’s a shop that makes really delicious donkey burgers in the alley where I usually buy ‘donkey rolls’.”

“Master Wang said that today is the last day before New Year that shop is open; the owner is going back to his hometown tomorrow. There’s definitely going to be a big crowd. We should go early, or otherwise, there won’t be any left,” she added.

Jiang Feng looked at the breakfast on the table and silently questioned it in his mind.

“Come on, let’s go,” said Jiang Feng as he headed towards the door.

“Master, the breakfast is on the table; I just bought it at the gate, it’s still hot,” Ji Xia reminded him.

With donkey burgers as an option, how could Jiang Feng possibly stick with buns and fried dough sticks? He picked up the two cups of soy milk from the table and handed one to Wu Minqi: “Just drink the soy milk to warm up. Buns and fried sticks are too troublesome to eat on the go. Aren’t you in a hurry to buy donkey burgers, Xiaxia? Your master won’t hold you back. We can have the breakfast as a midnight snack; it’s all the same.”

Wu Minqi took the soy milk without exposing Jiang Feng’s little ploy, because she too preferred donkey burgers over buns and fried dough sticks.

“Fengfeng, aren’t you going to wear a down jacket? That coat probably isn’t very warm, and I checked the weather forecast yesterday; it’s quite cold today. It’s probably already below zero outside,” Wu Minqi reminded him.

Wu Minqi was afraid of the cold, and in the face of low temperatures, any attempt at posing was like a paper tiger to her. Even indoors, she was already fully armored with a hat, mask, scarf, military coat-styled down jacket, not one less than the necessary, wrapping herself up even more tightly than Ji Xia, who had just come in from outside.

“It’s just below zero, that’s not cold. In junior high, the boys in our class wore short sleeves even in winter,” Jiang Feng boasted nonchalantly and then coolly pushed open the door.

Howling northerly winds and bone-chilling gusts seized the opportunity to rush in the moment the door opened, making Jiang Feng shiver as soon as half his foot stepped outside the threshold.

“I’ll get a down jacket,” Jiang Feng said, making a hasty retreat.

A minute later, Jiang Feng appeared wearing a down jacket, same as Wu Minqi’s, and held the red envelope he had previously tucked into the coat pocket.

“Xiaxia, take this,” Jiang Feng said as he handed the red envelope to Ji Xia, “This is your New Year’s red envelope from your master. Since we won’t see each other during the New Year, I’m giving it to you now. Part of it is your regular salary, and the rest is your New Year’s money from your master.”

Ji Xia happily accepted the red envelope, pondering for a moment before stuffing it in her pocket, suddenly she knelt down towards Jiang Feng as if she was about to kowtow to him.

Jiang Feng, who had never kowtowed to anyone nor had been kowtowed to, was startled and knelt down opposite Ji Xia, then he pulled her up from the ground.

Ji Xia was slightly upset at being pulled up: “Master, my grandma said that when a master gives a red envelope to an apprentice during the New Year, the apprentice should kowtow.”

Although Jiang Feng had always longed to become a capitalist who deprives the working people, it did not mean he wanted the working people to kowtow to him. He quickly educated Ji Xia that times had changed, “The customs your mother-in-law knows are decades old, long out of date. Nowadays, you just need to make a New Year’s greeting call.”

Ji Xia, having gained this new knowledge, nodded thoughtfully.

After a bit of commotion, the three of them finally went downstairs and headed towards the donkey meat sandwich shop that Ji Xia knew.

Once out of the residential compound’s main gate, the trio walked toward the subway station. It suddenly occurred to Jiang Feng that the day he was going to Wu Minqi’s house for her third cousin’s engagement banquet was after the Minor New Year, which, in a way, could also be considered part of the New Year period.

“Qiqi, are there any particular customs at your place during the New Year, like, the younger generation having to kowtow when they receive their New Year’s money?” Jiang Feng asked.

“Particular customs?” Wu Minqi thought for a moment and pulled down her scarf to expose her mouth, “Does a cooking competition among the younger family members count?”

Jiang Feng was shocked. The Wu Family turned a festive and joyous occasion like the New Year into something akin to an end-of-year assessment meeting.

“Is it us, the younger generation, who are competing?” Jiang Feng asked.

Wu Minqi shook her head, “All the younger ones, including my dad and the uncles, are judged by my grandfather. The winner gets to eat the boiled cabbage and shredded radish cakes made by grandfather.”

“Shredded radish cakes?” Jiang Feng was taken aback. Although the name of the dish sounded very ordinary, as radishes and cabbage belong to the same family, there was quite a gap between boiled cabbage and shredded radish cakes. Describing one as in the sky and the other on the ground would not be an overstatement.

The former was a state banquet delicacy, and the latter, street food. While it’s true that delicacies are not distinguished by status but by culinary skills, putting these two dishes together always seemed to imply that boiled cabbage was much nobler than shredded radish cakes.

At least boiled cabbage wasn’t just cabbage and water, whereas shredded radish cakes were really just radish and cakes.

“My grandfather makes particularly delicious shredded radish cakes. The regulars at Wu Family Restaurant all know that; it’s one of the best white-flour snacks he makes,” Wu Minqi explained, “Back when his strength was still good, he cultivated an acre of land in our yard specifically for growing radishes, always complaining that the ones bought from outside were not as juicy and could not compare to those he planted himself.”

Jiang Feng: …

He hadn’t realized Old Sir Wu had such a hobby behind the scenes.

Jiang Feng and Wu Minqi chatted as they walked, reaching the subway station before they knew it.

Ji Xia gave Jiang Feng the address of the shop, and he opened the navigation app on his phone, which he had uninstalled several times but always redownloaded because he could find no other that was more user-friendly, and started looking up directions.

“Wow, this shop is great. No need to switch lines; Line 4 goes straight there.” Jiang Feng always highly praised any route that didn’t require changing lines.

“Master, what time is it now?” Ji Xia asked.

“8:03.”

“Then we need to hurry. The shop opens at 8:30, and if we’re late, we’ll definitely have to wait in a long line,” Ji Xia said, pulling Jiang Feng and Wu Minqi towards Line 4.

It wasn’t until he was squeezed onto the subway that Jiang Feng belatedly realized something was off. The plot from the very start was all wrong.

The original storyline was supposed to be about Xiaxia finally saving up a bit of money after much hard study and work, deciding to show gratitude to her mother-in-law before the New Year by buying something she thought her mother-in-law would like so she could take it back when she returned home.

It was a heartwarming and educational grand play on showing family appreciation and returning to one’s roots.

At the very least, it should have been about the rebellious Ji Xia who ran away from home, eventually finding her way back after working hard and saving some money. Taking advantage of the New Year return, she would come home with big and small packages, showing everyone that she was no longer the ignorant girl who was overlooked by her parents, unlearned, unaccomplished, with a bleak future; it was going to be an inspirational drama full of dramatic turns and a showy face-slapping moment.

But now, the original plot had become unrecognizable, turning into a story about three people heading to an old donkey meat sandwich shop, which might not even be open tomorrow, in search of delicious food.

“Xiaxia, weren’t we supposed to go shopping with you today to buy the gift for your mother-in-law that you’re bringing back tomorrow?” Jiang Feng demanded.

“Yes, Master. Haven’t you and Sis eaten breakfast yet? I haven’t had breakfast either. Let’s have donkey meat sandwiches at that shop first, and then go buy the rolling donkey snack for Grandma,” Ji Xia reasoned convincingly.

Jiang Feng was immediately persuaded.

“Right, breakfast is important. Let’s eat breakfast first.”

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