The Game of Life

Chapter 611: Chapter 609 First Meeting (Part 1)

Jiang Feng stayed in the kitchen of Jubao Building until dinner time.

All afternoon, he taught Sun Jikai how to thicken the sauce for the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon just as he had taught Ji Xia to make stuffed orange with crab. He had no special teaching methods; all he could do was demonstrate over and over again, explain as best he could, and then let Sun Jikai try his hand at it.

Whether Sun Jikai had any epiphanies, Jiang Feng had no idea, but he certainly felt the urge to hammer Sun Jikai’s skull.

Through this teaching exercise, he found the same feeling as when he used to help the sisters Jiang Junlian and Jiang Junqing with their homework.

It was definitely Sun Jikai’s lack of understanding, not any problem with his teaching ability.

Dinner was Sun Jikai’s treat; Wu Minqi, having nothing to do that afternoon and not wanting to play with her phone at the hotel, went shopping at the mall. When the three met outside the restaurant where they would dine, Wu Minqi was holding two shopping bags, apparently coming directly from the mall without having time to drop them at the hotel first.

The restaurant Sun Jikai had chosen for this treat was not a simple food stall; it was very upscale, with correspondingly upscale prices.

According to Sun Jikai, in the days Jubao Building had declined, it was this restaurant that stepped into the gap left by Jubao Building’s former prominence.

After a lavish meal, it was only natural they would part ways; Wu Minqi still had a pair of shoes to buy and hurried back to the mall to purchase the shoes she had her eyes on. Jiang Feng didn’t need to bother with such expenses, especially since he was broke now, so he took Wu Minqi’s earlier purchases and headed back to the hotel.

Taking advantage of Wu Minqi’s absence, Jiang Feng quickly opened the attribute panel and flipped to the item section to check the two new memory fragments he had acquired.

Besides the two new memory fragments, there was one he had not yet watched: a reward from an earlier side quest, the memory of Tian Mei. He had no immediate interest in his maternal aunt’s memory; he was more curious about Sun Maochai’s memory.

Between “A Segment of Sun Maochai’s Memory” and “A Memory Fragment of Sun Maochai”, Jiang Feng hesitated for a moment but ultimately chose the familiar segment of memory.

Memory fragments were new to him, and he decided whether to watch them after he had seen Sun Maochai’s memory.

After clicking yes, Jiang Feng became enveloped in a mist.

The fog lifted slowly, and Jiang Feng could only sense that he was in a noisy place with a heavy flow of people. The sounds of footsteps were chaotic, with occasional strange clanking noises, and the voices of many—coarse, soft, loud, quiet, old, young, male, female—blended into a constant hum.

Suddenly, Jiang Feng heard a somewhat familiar male voice: “I’ve arrived, see you in a bit.”

The fog dissipated.

This was a train station.

Unlike the 1984 train station he had seen in Han Guishan’s memory, this one had a distinctly more modern feel to it. Jiang Feng even felt a sense of nostalgia, as if it were the slightly old but fully equipped train station from his childhood.

Fully equipped meant the stalls at the entrance of the station: drumsticks, boxed meals, sweet potatoes, tea eggs, sunflower seeds, peanuts, corn, snacks, newspapers, and magazines were all available.

Jiang Feng looked at the corn sold by the vendors, individually wrapped in plastic bags, and even felt a bit hungry.

He faintly remembered riding the shuttle bus with Mrs. Wang Xiulian to his grandmother’s house as a child. Before boarding each time, Mrs. Wang Xiulian would buy a cob of corn to keep his mouth busy during the ride.

Sun Maochai was right beside him, seemingly drawn to the newspapers at the newsstand and digging in his pocket to buy one.

Jiang Feng glanced at the newspaper that had caught Sun Maochai’s attention—not the serious and traditional XX Daily, but a name he’d never heard of, likely an obscure small newspaper.

What attracted Sun Maochai was a big headline on the page, short in length but large in size.@@novelbin@@

The Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon from the Jubao Building is a dish hard to come by!

Sun Maochai took out money to buy that newspaper and started to read it meticulously.

While he was reading the newspaper, Jiang Feng was observing him.

This was a younger version of Sun Maochai.

Because Sun Maochai had taken good care of himself and looked young, Jiang Feng couldn’t venture a guess as to his actual age. Anyway, he appeared quite young, and in his suit, he looked handsome and dapper.

After finishing with the newspaper, Sun Maochai folded it and put it back on the newsstand. The newsstand owner gave him a strange look and swiftly took the newspaper back, rearranging it to its original place.

Sun Maochai walked outside, not hailing a taxi but strolling on his own, looking around as if he were a leisurely traveler.

It was then that Jiang Feng noticed he had no luggage, not even a bag.

This puzzled Jiang Feng slightly. Was he at the train station to see someone off, or had he just alighted from the train? Why would someone travel without any luggage?

Soon Jiang Feng’s question was answered. After about twenty minutes of strolling and looking around, Sun Maochai flagged down a passing taxi and, upon entering, told the driver to head to Jubao Building, then fell silent.

Luckily Sun Maochai opened the car door leisurely, giving Jiang Feng just enough time to scramble inside; otherwise, he might have had to experience what it’s like to be hit by a wall moving at over 60 kilometers per hour and dragged along.

Sun Maochai didn’t speak, but the driver was the chatty type. After driving for a while, he couldn’t help but ask, “Boss, are you from out of town?”

Sun Maochai was startled momentarily before realizing that the driver probably referred to him as “boss” based on his suit.

“From out of town?”

“It’s just that your accent doesn’t quite sound local, sounds more like from Hong Kong City. Boss, did you come from Hong Kong City?” the taxi driver asked.

This time, Sun Maochai was truly stunned. It took him a while to find his words: “I didn’t expect you to figure that out.”

“Driving a taxi, you see all sorts of customers. As soon as I hear you speak, I can tell if you’re local or not,” the taxi driver said cheerfully. “I’ve also driven a few bosses from Hong Kong City before. Your Mandarin is particularly good.”

“Yeah,” Sun Maochai replied with a bitter smile.

“Boss, are you here for business? The Jubao Building is the most famous restaurant around here. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it in Hong Kong City. Their Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon has become quite renowned. I’ve heard you have to make a reservation one or two months in advance. Just the other day, I drove a customer who came all the way from out of town just to try the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon,” the driver began to boast.

“I’ve heard of it but don’t know if I’ll be lucky enough to try it,” murmured Sun Maochai, then fell silent again.

Jiang Feng watched his expression and felt that the phrase ‘distracted and downcast’ could not more aptly describe his current state.

It wasn’t until they alighted from the car that Jiang Feng realized he was actually capable of passing through the car door. As for why he could pass through the door but not the roof or the bottom of the car, that wasn’t something he could understand.

In memory, anything could happen.

The taxi stopped in front of Jubao Building, and Sun Maochai didn’t step out immediately. Instead, he first looked up at the sign of the Jubao Building.

Sun Maochai showed a smile and then stepped inside.

The place was buzzing with noise.