The Game Of Life

The result was that Professor Li asked Jiang Feng questions a lot during cla.s.ses.

It happened so much to the point that some of the students thought that Jiang Feng had somehow offended Professor Li. It was hard to think that Professor Li was actually caring for Jiang Feng since Jiang Feng wasn"t a model student from the beginning.

Half a month has pa.s.sed since the semester started. Jiang Feng got used to his busy schedule of studying, helping out at the restaurant, and practicing his cooking skills. Ji Yue managed to get the fund for the Chinese chess club from the President of the Student Union. The Healthy Restaurant had gained several frequent customers. The Main Quest was progressing smoothly.

The only problem was that Jiang Feng was a little bored by the dull schedule.

"Jiang Feng!" Jiang Jiankang shouted. "The congee is done. Take it to your great-uncle!"

Jiang Feng went into the kitchen and opened the lid. He stirred the congee in the pot for a while before putting a serving into the container and went to Professor Li"s home.

Li Mingjun"s place was only a 10 minutes walk away from the restaurant. It was a teachers apartment that was established 20 years ago. The building was ancient, and small holes could be seen on the wall.

Jiang Feng has been sending the congee to Li Mingjun"s place for the past few days. The old man Li Mingyi would be normal for most of the time, but there were days where he couldn"t tell reality apart from his hallucinations.

Whenever Li Mingyi wasn"t his usual self, he would grab Jiang Feng"s hand and babble. "Chengde, you"re late. Huiqin and I have been looking for you for ages…"

Even though Li Mingyi looked like a brittle old man, his grip was surprisingly strong. Plus, Jiang Feng was worried that he might hurt the old man, so he never pulled his hand back and listened to Li Mingyi"s story.

But Li Mingyi would usually let go of Jiang Feng after a few minutes and went looking for Huiqin.

Since Li Mingjun wasn"t home yet, it was his wife, Chen Suhua, who opened the door for Jiang Feng.

"Evening. How"s your great-uncle?" Jiang Feng greeted and asked.

"He"s awake. Why don"t you go and talk to him?" Chen Suhua smiled and took the congee from Jiang Feng. "He"s been normal for the past two days. Oh, right! I found some really good dates this morning at the market. I"ll get some for you."

Li Mingyijun met with Chen Suhua when he volunteered to teach at a village. Chen Suhua was the daughter of the village secretary. She did not go to high school and could not sit still. Thus she was moving around all the time.

Li Mingyi was sitting on his bed, looking at an old photo book through his reading gla.s.ses. When he saw Jiang Feng coming in, he smiled at Jiang Feng.

"Oh, Xiao Feng, you"re here," Li Mingyi greeted and pointed at a black and white photo. "Look, this is the picture of your great-aunt and me on our wedding day. Too bad there were no colored photo"s back then. Her dress was so pretty. Did you know that I actually wanted her to wear those western dresses? She was so against it. In the end, she wore her Chinese dress, and I wore a suit!"

As Li Mingyi was talking about his past stories, Chen Suhua came in with a bowl of dates and congee. "Dad, it"s lunchtime. Here, I"ll cool the congee down a little for you. Xiao Feng, try these dates. They"re really sweet."

"It"s fine. I can take it from here," Li Mingyi smiled and put the photobook down. He took the bowl of congee and sat down by the study table. He picked up the spoon and started to stir the congee gently.

Jiang Feng noticed the photobook was still open on the bed. There was an old photo with a young man and a girl on it. They looked like they were around their teens. The man wore a suit with an emotionless expression, while the woman wore a Chinese wedding dress with a phoenix coronet and a scarf covering half of her face. The two of them did not have any form of contact with each other in the photo. If Li Mingyi did not mention that it was his wedding photo, Jiang Feng would never have guessed it.

Li Mingyi spooned up a spoonful of congee and blew on it.

Jiang Feng noticed a strand of white hair was stuck on the photo.

Li Mingyi opened his mouth.

Jiang Feng reached out.

Li Mingyi ate the congee.

Jiang Feng touched the hair.

"Ding! Side Quest: [The Last Consolation] completed. Quest reward: [A Fragment of Li Mingyi"s Memory]."

"Ding! Item gained. [A Fragment of Jiang Huiqin"s Memory]."

Huh? Two rewards? How generous…

Jiang Feng picked the hair up and threw it into the bin next to him.

Li Minghi had a great appet.i.te that day, probably because he managed to tell Jiang Feng some of his old stories. He ate half a bowl of congee before he started to tell Jiang Feng stories about him and his wife.

From the dumplings at the eastern side of the city to dumplings made by Jiang Huiqing, and even a story about a one-piece dress with a hole, Li Mingyi told Jiang Feng every story he could think of. Jiang Feng did not leave until the old man was tired. Chen Suhua gave Jiang Feng a bag of dates before he left.

One hour had pa.s.sed since Jiang Feng left the Healthy Restaurant. When he got back, Liu Zixuan had already gone to the library. Only Ji Yue was left in the restaurant. She sat on the table as she drew on her tablet.

"The shop is closed. Your parents went to the market to get some ingredients," Ji Yue said. "Why don"t you go back to your dorm and get some rest?"

Jiang Feng was indeed a little tired. But there was no need for him to go back to the dorm. He could just rest up on the second floor.

He closed the door and opened the system interface.

Two new items appeared in his item tab.

[A Fragment of Li Mingyi"s Memory]: A fragment of memory. Can be used multiple times.

[A Fragment of Jiang Huiqin"s Memory]: A fragment of memory. Can only be used once.

I can only view it once?

Out of curiosity, Jiang Feng touched on the fragment of Jiang Huiqin"s memory. The system prompted a warning, and Jiang Feng touched the "Yes" b.u.t.ton.

Jiang Feng then realized he was standing in a lady"s room.

A woman in her Republic of China school uniform was seated on a chair. She had a jacket in her hand as she was adding embroidery onto the sleeves. Just from a glance Jiang Feng could tell that it was Jiang Huiqin from Li Mingyi"s photo.

It was as if Jiang Feng wasn"t there, as Jiang Huiqin did not notice him. Jiang Feng tried to grab a cup from the table, but his hand pa.s.sed through it like he was a ghost. He tried to go through the wall, but an invisible wall blocked his path.

It was a small room, and only a few simple furniture pieces could be found in it. There was a bed, a wardrobe, a small table, and a chair.

The bed was made from a piece of wood, and a sheet was on top of it. The wardrobe was as tall as a person. It looked like it was newly made as the paint was fresh, and it even had carvings on it. It looked expensive.

The room was clean. A Chinese textbook was left on top of the table. Two metal cans were placed by the window with onions planted in them.

"Huiqin! Huiqin!"

Someone was shouting outside.

"Brother? Wait! Don"t come in!" Jiang Huiqin shouted as she put the jacket down. She then opened the door and went out as Jiang Feng followed closely behind her.