The Game of Life

Chapter 80 - 79= The Key

The next morning, Jiang Feng and Jiang Weiming boarded the high-speed train to Zet City. Jiang Weisheng bid them a reluctant farewell at the station, repeatedly telling Jiang Weiming to let him know when he was coming back so he could pick him up and suggesting that Jiang Weiming stays a few more days in the provincial capital when he returned.

Jiang Weiming didn’t have much to carry, just a few changes of clothes which Zhang Li had packed into a small suitcase for him. All the way to the station, Jiang Feng had offered to carry the suitcase but Jiang Weiming had refused, not even cracking a smile during the whole journey.

Jiang Feng sent a message to his family’s WeChat group:

Jiang Shuozi: Mom and Dad, I can be home tonight!

Loving Mom: ?

Doting Dad: !

Jiang Shuozi: ?

Doting Dad: Son, I have your keys.

Jiang Shuozi: What’s wrong?

Loving Mom: Your father and I are at your grandfather’s house. Stay at a

budget hotel tonight and come over tomorrow.

Jiang Feng: ???

Jiang Feng put down his phone and, with an awkward smile, said to Jiang Weiming, “Er, Granduncle Weiming, my parents have gone to my grandfather’s house.”

“My dad took my keys earlier.”

“The train arrives at eight in the evening, but the last bus to the countryside

departs at six…”

Jiang Weiming:…

“It’s okay,” Jiang Weiming reassured Jiang Feng in turn, “It shouldn’t be too far;

we can walk there.”

Jiang Feng: ???

All of a sudden, Jiang Feng was reminded of something Wang Hao used to say incessantly a while back – “You really have a gift for logic, I must have picked up a ghost.”

After much effort, Jiang Feng had managed to bring 97-year-old Jiang Weiming on a long journey to Zet City, only to end up possibly lodging in a budget hotel because they couldn’t get into their home due to missing keys. The thought of this made Jiang Feng feel uneasy no matter how he looked at it.

As he was pondering whether to stay at a 7 Days Inn or a Hanting Hotel that night, Jiang Feng suddenly thought of someone.

Chen Xiuxiu!

She definitely had a key to their house! Right now, the key to Chen Xiuxiu’s house was still hanging on his own keychain!

When he was in high school, Jiang Feng always had to go home to take a nap at noon, but he kept forgetting his keys. So, Jiang Jiankang had an extra key made for Chen Xiuxiu, who was in her last year of junior high at the time, to let Jiang Feng in. But then when Chen Xiuxiu moved up to high school, she developed the same problem of forgetting her keys. Consequently, Chen Duxiu followed suit and gave Jiang Feng a spare key to their house.

Both of them would regularly forget their keys, each time hoping the other had already gotten back. Both their families lived on lower floors, so instead of ringing doorbells, they’d just shout, and since it felt awkward for them to call out for each other every day, their apartment building witnessed an odd scenario every noon for two years.

If Jiang Feng forgot his key, he’d yell from the ground floor, “Jiang Feng, Jiang Feng, go to my house and open the door for me!”

If Chen Xiuxiu forgot hers, she’d also scream from below, “Chen Xiuxiu, Chen

Xiuxiu, go to my house and open the door for me!”

At that time, Chen Xiuxiu was still the over 200-pound Chen Xiuxiu, whose powerful and penetrating voice could even reach the top floor, making clear what she was shouting.

All the neighbors had been living above and below each other for over a decade and had watched Chen Xiuxiu and Jiang Feng grow up. At the beginning, everyone was baffled. Although Chen Duxiu was often away on business, both Jiang Jiankang and his spouse were usually around, so the neighbors would advise Jiang Jiankang not to put too much academic pressure on the kids, pointing out the state they had driven them to.

Eventually, everyone got used to the idea that Jiang Feng and Chen Xiuxiu’s brains didn’t function normally.

After rummaging through his WeChat friends for a long time, Jiang Feng finally found Chen Xiuxiu. He hadn’t set any note for her, so he had to really scrutinize the profile picture – Chen Xiuxiu had lost half her body weight, which was one thing, but her WeChat profile picture was also taken with a beauty camera app. Jiang Feng was fortunate that he had an eye for detail, otherwise, he wouldn’t have recognized her at all.

“Are you back home yet?” Jiang Feng sent a message to her.

in less than two minutes, Chen Xiuxiu replied, “I’ve been back a while, haven’t you started your holiday yet?”

“I arrived today. My dad took my keys to the countryside. Do you still have a spare key to our house?”

“Yes, message me when you get back.”

It’s settled!

Jiang Feng announced the good news to Jiang Weiming on the spot.

Then he found that Jiang Weiming was looking at the two jars of pickles he had brought over yesterday.

Jiang Feng had been curious about these two jars of pickles for a while. At first, he thought they were for him from Jiang Weiming, but then Jiang Weiming put the jars back into the cloth bag when they left the store yesterday. Later, he thought Jiang Weiming brought them for his own consumption, but then he didn’t see him take them out to eat at dinnertime yesterday.

Could it be, they were for Sir.

Jiang Feng felt that was the only possibility.

“Granduncle Weiming, are these two jars of pickles meant for Grandpa?” Jiang Feng asked.

Jiang Weiming felt a bit embarrassed, his gaze evasive, “They’re for you.

Jiang Feng: ???

“Yesterday I noticed you don’t eat spicy food. These pickles are a bit spicy, and I was afraid you wouldn’t like them,” Jiang Weiming said softly.

The old man’s thoughts are sometimes sensitive and delicate.

Jiang Feng couldn’t help but smile. Shu pickles are famous after all, and how could he dislike a gift from an elder?

To prove he really liked Jiang Weiming’s pickles, Jiang Feng opened a jar right there and, without looking, grabbed a piece and put it in his mouth.

It was crunchy and well-seasoned upon biting.

“Delicious!” Jiang Feng said with tears in his eyes, “It’s so good it could make you cry.”

In a jar full of cucumbers, carrots, Chinese cabbage, and garlic, how unlucky he was to have picked up a red chili pepper.

Jiang Feng could only swallow his tears inwardly.

The train station was a bit far from the Jiang Family’s home, and by the time they arrived, it was already after nine. The long eight-hour high-speed train journey had left both of them somewhat exhausted. While Jiang Feng, being younger, was still okay, Jiang Weiming was already unable to stop yawning.

The entrance door of the building had been broken since the summer vacation and still hadn’t been fixed; Jiang Feng thought their property management might have run off following the example of Mr. Huang from Wenzhou. When they reached the entrance, Jiang Feng asked Jiang Weiming to wait a moment while he went to get the keys from Chen Xiuxiu.

Chen Xiuxiu had lost weight again.

She was slightly overweight at 120 pounds during the summer holiday, but now she was a standard-weight skinny person at under 100 pounds.

Chen Xiuxiu was wearing a tracksuit, still sweaty and panting, apparently, she had been running.

“Here’s your key,” Chen Xiuxiu handed the key to Jiang Feng and, upon seeing Jiang Weiming, inquired, “Who is this grandpa?”

“This is my Granduncle Weiming, my grandpa’s third brother,” Jiang Feng introduced. “Granduncle Weiming, this is my neighbor, Chen Xiuxiu.”

“Hello, Granduncle Weiming,” Chen Xiuxiu greeted kindly, and upon receiving a friendly smile from Jiang Weiming, she rolled up her sleeves and returned to her run.

Jiang Feng:…

He had just vaguely noticed the outline of muscles on Chen Xiuxiu’s arms…

Maybe when he’s back from the countryside, he should find a time to arm-wrestle with Chen Xiuxiu to see whose strength is greater. Jiang Feng thought he must be able to defeat at least one of them, whether it’s the 200-plus-pounds Chen Xiuxiu or the under-ioo-pounds Chen Xiuxiu.

Discarding the random thoughts in his mind, Jiang Feng went to tidy up the room for Jiang Weiming.

The house hadn’t been lived in for a while and had gathered quite a bit of dust, but since they were only staying one night, there was no need to clean too thoroughly. Jiang Feng changed the linens and duvet cover in the guest room and quickly mopped the floor, and it was ready for Jiang Weiming to stay.

A night of sweet dreams..