The Game of Life

Chapter 88 - 87: Vegetable Market

Jiang Feng had just boarded the minibus back to Zet City and was jostling along the road, bantering with a few cousins in the WeChat group, when Jiang Jiankang called him.

“Hello, son, where did you go? All your stuff is gone, even the suitcase is missing. Did you have a falling-out with Grandpa? Dad knows you’ve been through a lot these past few days. If you can’t take it anymore, you can say so. If it really comes down to it, Dad can go talk to Grandpa for you. I’m not afraid of being scolded. Where are you now?” Jiang Jiankang yelled with his loud voice.

“Yeah, son, Mom has seen how hard you’ve been working recently. Don’t do anything drastic. If there’s any problem, just talk to us. Don’t be like those kids in TV dramas who run away from home. Tell Mom where you are, I’ll come pick you up!” Wang Xiulian also shouted beside him.

“Right, Feng, if there’s something bothering you, you can talk about it! Running away from home right before the New Year, aren’t you worrying your grandma?” Jiang Jiandang chimed in as well.

Jiang Feng:…

“Dad, Mom, Second Uncle, Grandpa gave me a break to go to the city for a couple of days, said I should come back on the twenty-fourth. Didn’t Grandpa tell you?”

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

“Cough cough, your Grandpa and Granduncle Weiming aren’t here, they didn’t take their phones with them, we thought…” Jiang Jiankang hemmed and hawed.

“Wait, son, Grandpa said you should come back?” Jiang Jiankang suddenly realized.

“Pretty much. By the twenty-fourth, my eldest uncle and the others can come down from the countryside for Little New Year, that’s just the day after tomorrow. I’ll come back with them,” Jiang Feng said.

“Second brother, we’re in trouble!” Jiang Jiankang looked as though the sky had collapsed, not even paying attention to his phone.

“What’s wrong? Dad will definitely let Big Brother and the others come back on the twenty-fourth, Feng isn’t wrong,” Jiang Jiandang wasn’t catching on.

“Once Feng leaves, there’s nobody to cook the pig feed. Dad will definitely have to do it. Four pigs, if Dad goes to cook pig feed, how will he have time to cook for us!” Jiang Jiankang lamented inwardly.

Jiang Jiandang and Wang Xiulian:! !!£(°JJ° /) /

“Son, why don’t you come back? It’s only a few days away, and your parents are still down in the countryside, it wouldn’t be fun for you to stay at home alone.” Wang Xiulian took the phone and tried to negotiate.

Jiang Feng:…

You might as well not have such parents.

After jolting on the minibus for two hours, Jiang Feng finally arrived in Zet City. He took the bus straight home, dropped off his suitcase, and then headed to the nearest movie theater.

He bought a ticket for a movie that was already starting and checking tickets, popcorn tub in his left hand and a double portion of iced cola in his right, and went in after getting his ticket checked.

A handful of caramel popcorn, a sip of cola, Jiang Feng held onto simple joys while also enjoying the pleasure of having the theater to himself.

The movie was lousy, claiming to be a horror film but not even as scary as Wang Hao talking in his sleep at night. The plot was a mess, the acting awkward, and it was less enjoyable than staying up at night listening to Wang Hao’s sleep-talk. The cola was just Pepsi with ice, and the caramel popcorn was too sweet; he got tired of it after a while, and it left crumbs while chewing.

Jiang Feng silently finished the cola in his cup, shaking it—the ice cubes clattered, guessing there was about half a cup left. He was here to relax, but it seemed that there was nothing in this cinema that could help him unwind. Feeling a small pang of regret for the money spent on the ticket and popcorn, Jiang Feng silently left the cinema, leaving the female protagonist on the screen to scream to an empty auditorium.

Wandering aimlessly around the mall, Jiang Feng suddenly realized that he seemed to have nothing to do.

Call a few buddies to eat, drink, and go to a KTV? Not one of the places in the Zet City area had a craft that could compare with Sir’s, and with Jiang Feng being tone-deaf and notorious for his off-key voice since middle school, KTV was something he steered clear of. Moreover, his only two childhood friends had both been sent back to the countryside by their parents for the New Year. Meet with a few cousins? Even less likely. Chatting in the WeChat group was already the limit. Jiang Zaidi was dealing with a troublesome client, his hairline visibly receding from the stress of working on the computer every day, cursing that client to lose hair and become bald as the Mediterranean in the group chat. Jiang Shoucheng, even when goofing off in the group, was clutching his thick “Surgery” 9th Edition, pulling his hair out with each grab. Jiang Ran was too busy cooing with his girlfriend every day to spare any time for his cousin. Study?

Jiang Feng was immediately terrified by this dreadful thought. Studying was impossible, he would never study in this lifetime, even if he were locked in the kitchen to practice cooking every day, he, Jiang Feng, would never choose studying.

What should he do?

Jiang Feng sat in the resting area of the mall, dazed and a bit lost.

These past few days he had almost developed a phobia of cooking, but aside from that, he couldn’t think of anything else to do.

Maybe I should…

Go check out the vegetable market!

There’s a large one nearby that stays open until nine at night, Jiang Feng has been going there to buy groceries with Mrs. Wang Xiulian since he was a child, and he knows all the stalls inside out.

After leaving the mall and walking for about twenty minutes, Jiang Feng arrived at the main entrance of the vegetable market.

There are three braised food stalls by the entrance, and not one of them is any good— the meat doesn’t soak up flavors and the vegetables aren’t fresh. They’re designed to scam newcomers and have somehow stayed in business for many years, always finding someone reckless enough to give them a try.

This vegetable market is quite sizable, likely the largest and oldest in Zet City, with at least a hundred stalls selling all sorts of things: poultry, livestock, seafood, vegetables… If you’re lucky, you might even find wild game brought in from the neighboring counties and towns, like wild chickens, rabbits, and snakes. Even though the game tends to have a strong, gamey smell, it can be quite a treat if prepared correctly.

By now it’s mid-afternoon, and the freshest produce, quality meat, and exotic game have already been snatched up by those in the know. The meat vendors’ stalls are only left with unwanted scraps like odds and ends of pork ribs. There are still plenty of chickens and ducks at the live poultry stalls, but they’re all feed-raised, none standing out from the rest.

Jiang Feng aimlessly wanders around without buying anything. Most of the stall owners haven’t changed, and Jiang Feng knows them. Some even remember him and, unaware that Jiankang’s snackbar has closed, ask him why his parents or siblings haven’t been around to shop and if they’ve found a new supplier.

By the end of his loop around, Jiang Feng somehow ends up with a small bunch of greens, a little corn, a couple of cloves of garlic, and a few green onions in his hands—none particularly fresh, just handed to him by the stall owners while chatting.

Carrying the stall owners’ goodwill, Jiang Feng wonders if he should buy some vegetables and make himself dinner.

Today, Jiang Jianye, his uncle, is cooking, and he just posted in the group chat: beef stewed with potatoes.

Jiang Feng thinks it’s probably best not to join that dinner.

Continuing to roam the vegetable market, he looks for any vegetables still fresh enough to buy, and perhaps to purchase a fish—then his meals for the next couple of days would be sorted.

He finally finds a stall with decent-looking carrots and corn, and as Jiang Feng is squatting down selecting carrots, someone pats him on the back.

“Jiang Feng, it really is you! Xiuxiu told me you had gone down to the countryside and I thought I was mistaken,” the person exclaims.

Jiang Feng turns and recognizes her—it’s Pan Ling, Chen Xiuxiu’s “plastic” sister.

She and Chen Xiuxiu were desk mates throughout six years of middle and high school. They were as close as twins, and Jiang Feng got on well with her, all thanks to eating together.

Now, having not dined together for years, Jiang Feng didn’t recognize her at first glance.

“I just got back today, I’ll head back on the twenty-fourth,” Jiang Feng says, noticing the vegetables in Pan Ling’s hand and asking, “You come to buy vegetables at this hour, too?”

“Xiuxiu’s father is away on a business trip, and so are my parents. With no one at home, Xiuxiu suggested I stay at hers tonight. We’re planning to make hotpot together. Look, isn’t she over there buying meatballs?” Pan Ling explains.

Jiang Feng glances at the ingredients Pan Ling has picked, which are indeed all suitable for hotpot: lotus roots, white radishes, enoki mushrooms, baby cabbage, tofu skin, kelp strips, and some green vegetables. But Pan Ling clearly doesn’t know how to pick fresh produce—Jiang Feng can tell just by looking that the large white radish in her bag is past its prime.

Using it for hotpot would just result in a mouthful of fibrous bits.

“Why don’t you join us? I’ll go buy some potatoes,” Pan Ling offers.

“…let’s skip the potatoes. They’re not great for hotpot at this time of the year. You two should come to my place instead. Xiuxiu’s probably doesn’t even have all the spices,” Jiang Feng fabricates, “We can go buy a few more vegetables, and by the way, did you pick that radish yourself or did the vendor choose it for you?”

“Sure, you’re much better at cooking than we are. The vendor picked it out. He told me it’s a really good radish, juicy and delicious for hotpot,” Pan Ling replies excitedly.

Jiang Feng: “…”

“The vendor tricked you. That radish is old. You should go back and get a fresh one,” he advises.

*Let’s make a promise.

If I reach 5500 favorites today, I’ll update four times tomorrow _(•<■>•] z)_ Four updates!

PS: I got the group number wrong in the content introduction. It can only be changed after a week.

The correct group number is: 781556033