The Game Of Life

In the steam basket next to them were four slightly yellowed buns. It seemed like the people that were working for Manager w.a.n.g had arrived earlier and taken the buns that seemed fresher with them. When Auntie Li saw Jiang Weiguo arriving, she quickly gave him a stool and a bowl.

"Xiao Jiang, come."

Auntie Li"s daughter was staring at the buns while munching on the cornbread in her hands.

Before Jiang Weiguo escaped to the south, he had a good life. But when war broke out, he had been living without a home for half a year. After he boarded the ship 15 days ago, he hadn"t had a filling meal since. Now that he saw the food that was in front of him, his belly was grumbling so hard that it started to heat up. But even so, he still took one of the buns and gave it to Auntie Li"s daughter.

"Here, this is for you," Jiang Weiguo smiled.

Auntie Li"s daughter took the bun happily and jumped with joy.

"Look at you!" Auntie Li scolded as she slightly slapped her daughter"s hand. "Hurry up, and thank Xiao Jiang."

"Thank you, Brother Xiao Jiang," Auntie Li"s daughter thanked him with a small voice.

"Thank you so much," Auntie Li thanked him too. "My daughter has never had one of the steamed buns before. Here, take these cornbreads. I"ll go fill a bowl of thick congee for you."

Jiang Weiguo took a bun from the steam basket and ripped half off with his teeth. In just a short moment, Jiang Weiguo finished the three remaining buns that weren"t large from the beginning.

"Hey, don"t choke yourself," Auntie Li said when she saw Jiang Weiguo eating that fast. "I"ll go get a bowl of rice paste for you."

The rice paste that Auntie Li got for Jiang Weiguo was thicker than what he would usually get in the cabin below. After having three buns, a bowl of thick congee, and a bowl of rice paste, Jiang Weiguo finally felt full after starving for a few days. It was a warm and safe feeling that Jiang Weiguo hadn"t felt for quite a long time.

Auntie Li"s daughter tore the bun into two and gave the bigger one to Auntie Li. Auntie Li took a small bite and gave it back to her daughter.

Jiang Weiguo started to munch on the cornbread that Auntie Li gave him.

Looking at how Jiang Weiguo ate, Auntie Li asked carefully. "Xiao Jiang, you"ve been staying in the cabin below, right?"

Jiang Weiguo nodded.

"Where are you from? You must be from the north, right? I"ve heard that the north is not habitable, and everyone is running to the south. The chef before you was from the north too, but they found out he had an incurable disease and threw him into the ocean."

Like many other women of her age, Auntie Li was a talkative person.

"I"m from Beiping," Jiang Weiguo said.

"Beiping! What a great place!" Auntie Li exclaimed. "I"ve never been there, but I"ve heard a lot about it. I"ve been working on this ship for many years, and I can only leave once or twice a year. Were you a chef before this?"

Jiang Weiguo did not ask about Auntie Li"s husband. Everyone knew that there were just too many ways for a person to die during these times. Seeing Auntie Li and her daughter working on the ship, Jiang Weiguo could guess that her husband died quite some time ago.

"My dad was a chef," Jiang Weiguo replied and got himself another bowl of thick congee.

"Are you going to Modu(1)?" Auntie Li then asked, since most of the people on board were going there.

Jiang Weiguo nodded.

"It"d be better if you didn"t go there. Why don"t you stay here?" Auntie Li suggested. "If Manager w.a.n.g gave you another bun, it meant that he likes you. If you ask him nicely, he will probably let you stay."

Jiang Weiguo looked at Auntie Li, not understanding why she was trying to persuade him to not go to Modu.

"You need money to survive there," Auntie Li explained. "I"ve heard that even the rent of a small room would cost you one silver coin per month! What"s more, it"s hard to find a job there. Then there are the taxes too. No one would hire you there. Staying on the ship would be a better choice, no? You get food, a place to sleep, and 60 cents per month. Manager w.a.n.g might give you steamed buns every day too."

It was clear that the buns were something luxurious to Auntie Li.

Jiang Weiguo shook his head. "I can"t. Before my dad saw me off, he told me to succeed in Modu so that I can return to Beiping and take back what"s ours."

From the conversation, Auntie Li could tell that Jiang Weiguo originally came from a well off family. She could only look at him with pity in her eyes.

After Beiping had fallen, most of the lands were overrun by the j.a.panese. There was nothing left for Jiang Weiguo to take back.

But even so, Auntie Li still thought that Jiang Weiguo could not survive Modu without his family or money.

Jiang Weiguo drank a few more bowls of thick congee as Auntie Li gave him another cornbread.

After lunch, Jiang Weiguo stayed in the kitchen with Auntie Li and her daughter. Since the cabin where he stayed was too dirty, he didn"t want to return because it would mean he had to shower again before making dinner.

Since Auntie Li"s daughter had no name, Jiang Weiguo called her Xiao Hua. After getting the bun from Jiang Weiguo, Xiao Hua took a liking to him and started to ask him about Beiping.

Life in the kitchen was simple. They didn"t need to prepare the grains or vegetables. But to be fair, there weren"t any vegetables in the kitchen from the beginning. They didn"t need to wash the grains either because that would mean a reduction in the overall weight. Of course, that was only the grains for the lowest cabin. The grains for the second-cla.s.s cabin still needed to be washed. But since there weren"t a lot of people in the second-cla.s.s, the job was relatively simple.

Jiang Weiguo cooked dinner after that. After having his own dinner, he went back to his cabin.

Time flew, and five days had pa.s.sed since then. The ship finally arrived at Modu.

Jiang Feng was bored after spending five days with Jiang Weiguo and the people staying in the lowest cabin.

Jiang Feng originally thought that the recipe he would learn from the memory would be one of the dishes that Jiang Weiguo had made. But in the end, not even the plain congee, thick congee, steamed bun, or the cornbread was the recipe he would get.

Since Jiang Feng didn"t have to sleep for the five days, he almost remembered all the faces of the people staying in the cabin. From the conversation the people had, he could vaguely guess their backgrounds.

One of the pa.s.sengers was with his wife and son. The couple had to sell all five of their daughters to secure three tickets for the ride. They always hugged their belongings tightly as if they were afraid someone would steal them. There was also a man that sent out a lonely vibe, a widow, and people like Jiang Weiguo, whom their family spent everything just to get them on the ship so that they could live. Everyone in the cabin came from places that were affected by either the war or the plague. People would rob and kill others just to survive from where they came from.

The short five days made Jiang Feng learn about the horrible time that people had to suffer through.

When Jiang Weiguo left the ship, Auntie Li gave him a few Cornmeal Dumplings with Stuffed Vegetables. Manager w.a.n.g also gave him twenty bronze coins and a set of old clothes.

The dumplings were made by Auntie Li the night before in secret. Manager w.a.n.g knew about it but decided to overlook it. Inside the dumplings were preserved vegetables. There were a total of six dumplings, and each of them was the size of a fist.

Jiang Weiguo was able to fill himself for every meal during the last six days. Even though the meals he had didn"t have any fat in them, they were fulfilling nonetheless. If Jiang Weiguo couldn"t get a job after arriving at Modu right away, the dumplings and twenty bronze coins he got would allow him to get by for two weeks.

Manager w.a.n.g even told Jiang Weiguo that the ship would leave in four days. If Jiang Weiguo wished for it, he could return to the ship four days later and work as a chef there again.

Jiang Weiguo was touched as he bowed to Manager w.a.n.g to express his grat.i.tude. But Jiang Feng could tell from Jiang Weiguo"s expression that he wasn"t planning to return.

The pier was crowded with all sorts of people. People who were carrying stuff, people who kissed their loved ones goodbye, people who were selling things, and even the police.

Jiang Feng could walk through the crowd easily, but it was another story for Jiang Weiguo. He has to push himself through the crowd while guarding his things so that no one would pick his pockets.

After Jiang Weiguo managed to get past the crowd, he stood on the sidewalk at a loss, not knowing where to go in the place where he knew no one.

After a while, Jiang Weiguo took a dumpling out and munched on it carefully.

The view slowly darkened out.

Jiang Feng opened his eyes, and he was back in his dorm.

That"s it?

When Jiang Feng saw the modern design of the room and the metal bar that supported his bed, they all felt somewhat unfamiliar.

After spending six days on the boat, Jiang Feng was starting to miss the rocking of the ship.

After trying to recall what he saw in the memory, Jiang Feng opened the system UI.

(1) Modu (魔都) was the nickname for Shanghai during the 1920s and is still widely used in the ACG subculture nowadays. Literally, it means the Enchanted City.