The Game of Life

It was a very dilapidated and small Mountain God Temple, which seemed to have been long forgotten, with no incense burnt for quite a while. Now, as nightfall approached, the rain hadn’t stopped, and there seemed to be a trend of it getting heavier.

Choosing the Mountain God Temple as a shelter at this time was undoubtedly a good decision, and Xia Mushi entered the temple.

“Who’s there?” There was someone inside the Mountain God Temple, a young woman’s voice, nervous and cautious.

“Just seeking shelter from the rain,” Xia Mushi said.

There was no sound from inside.

Half of the Mountain God Temple had collapsed, and where Xia Mushi stood, there was a slight leak, and the ground was wet. He noticed a pile of hay a bit further inside, so he walked over and sat down on it.

It seemed he was planning to spend the night there.

“Don’t come any closer!” The woman inside tensed up at the sound of movement outside, “My brother has gone into the city, he’ll be back soon, so, so don’t even think about doing anything else.”

“I’m just avoiding the rain; I will leave when it stops,” Xia Mushi said, laid down on the hay pile, and closed his eyes to sleep.

He was indeed tired, and fell asleep almost as soon as he closed his eyes. Soon, light snoring could be heard, and the woman inside let out a sigh of relief, staying quiet still.

Jiang Feng was curious and walked inside to have a look.

The Mountain God Temple wasn’t very large; Xia Mushi and the woman inside were less than two meters apart. If it hadn’t been dark inside and the lighting dim, Xia Mushi guessed he might have been able to see her when he entered.

Perhaps it was not right to call her a woman; she was just a young girl. The light was too dim for Jiang Feng to see her facial features clearly, but he guessed that she must be rather pretty from the feeling. She was lying in the hay pile, covered with a thin blanket, her face and hands very clean, but there was a bad smell coming from her. Next to her was a water jar with a ladle very close by, close enough to reach out and scoop water.

The young girl wasn’t asleep, staring blankly outside, although it was hard to tell what she could see in the dark. She just kept her eyes open, like a wooden figure, occasionally blinking until dawn.

Jiang Feng, equally bored, watched her space out until morning.

The rain continued intermittently throughout the night, and when morning came, it was still raining, leaving the sky just as dark.

Xia Mushi woke up.

Sensing the person outside was awake, the young girl immediately became alert.

“It’s daylight now; you should leave quickly!” The young girl began to urge him to leave, “My brother didn’t return last night because of the rain, but now that it’s daylight, he will be back soon.”

“The rain hasn’t stopped,” Xia Mushi said, feeling refreshed after a night’s sleep. He got up to stretch his limbs, and when he turned around, he saw the girl inside.

“I will leave when the rain stops,” Xia Mushi said and turned back around.

It seemed fate wanted to play a prank on the two of them, with the rain continuing to drizzle on and on, not stopping even by noon. Meanwhile, Xia Mushi stood up and sauntered around a few times, causing the girl inside to become extremely nervous each time, fearing he had ill intentions, as she clasped something tightly under the hay.

By noon, the girl inside was unbearably hungry. She stealthily took out a biscuit from under the hay, took a bite, put it back, and slowly chewed, then took another bite, putting it back to chew slowly, like a thief in the act.

And then she was spotted by Xia Mushi.

The girl inside became immediately nervous, now worried that Xia Mushi might not only have designs on her but also on the biscuit in her hand.

She quickly ate half the biscuit in two or three bites and mumbled unclearly, “This is the only one I have left. My brother will be back soon, don’t come over here!”

Xia Mushi chuckled; he had no interest in stealing from others and was just about to turn away when the girl inside relented.

“I’ll give you half if you stay away,” she said, throwing the biscuit towards him.

One should never refuse free food, and a biscuit already bitten by someone was no issue; Xia Mushi had previously even fought with dogs over food. He picked it up from the hay and finished it in two or three bites.

Throwing the biscuit was perhaps the most significant interaction between the two of them all morning. Jiang Feng had expected at least a brief exchange of words, but silence followed. Xia Mushi continued to wait for the rain to stop, and the young girl kept an anxious eye on him.

In the late afternoon, the rain finally stopped. Xia Mushi looked back at the young girl for a moment, then left; the girl breathed a long sigh of relief.

Jiang Feng followed Xia Mushi, tracing his steps back to the large tree where they had buried something before, watching as he dug up the hole, pulled out a bundle, and opened it.

Inside was all money and small goldfish-shaped coins; two bundles full of them was definitely a fortune. Coupling this with the blood on Xia Mushi’s body from before, Jiang Feng began to suspect he might have robbed some wealthy household.

Xia Mushi took out a few coins and put them into his inner garment then reburied the bundle, leaving no trace as before.

Xia Mushi entered the city.

Like a scene from a TV show, Jiang Feng followed Xia Mushi with the curiosity of a country boy who had never entered the city before; everything was novel to him.

Wooden houses, brick and tile houses, dirt roads, stone-paved streets, passersby who seemed to come from different eras, some wearing long robes, others in jackets or short shirts, western suits, dresses, cheongsams, perm hairstyles, hair buns—people of all kinds were there.

Before, Jiang Feng thought this was a remote countryside place, but upon entering the city, he discovered it was quite bustling, not like an ordinary county town.

Xia Mushi walked into an inn. Along the way Jiang Feng had seen many hotels and inns, but this one was the largest.

The tea waiter at the door saw Xia Mushi and said with disdain, “This is an inn, go beg elsewhere. Don’t dirty the entrance, or I’ll not be polite to you!” Speaking in the Hunan dialect indicated that Xia Mushi was now in Hunan Province.

Xia Mushi in his current state indeed didn’t look much different from a beggar. “I want to stay,” Xia Mushi didn’t get angry and walked into the inn. “First-class rooms are three silver dollars, second-class rooms are one silver dollar. The third and fourth-class rooms are full. We don’t accept banknotes or paper money, only silver dollars. If you don’t have money, better leave early!” The tea waiter was in a bad mood, refraining from driving Xia Mushi away by hand only because he was worried Xia Mushi indeed had money.

The tea waiter felt that their boss was simply muddleheaded. In other inns of the same scale as theirs, they all followed that Portuguese merchant in doing the very lucrative business – the first floor was an inn, the second floor catered to prostitutes, the third floor was for opium. Even the tea waiters in those inns were making a fortune, unlike their own business which was still the same as before, only dealing with laundry, barbering, chair carrying, carriage renting, ticket purchasing for vehicles and boats, running Jingguang Grocery, and serving as an exchange. These businesses didn’t bring in much profit.

He used to introduce the girls under Mrs. Chen to the gentlemen needing first- class rooms to earn some extra money. Now, other inns were doing this business openly, and even this last source of extra income was gone.

“Second-class room for two days.” Xia Mushi took out three silver dollars from inside his clothes and put them on the table, “Go buy me two new sets of clothes and ask around if there are any tickets to Beiping.”

“Right away, Mr. Rest assured, there’s nothing here in Xingcheng that I, Wen Er, can’t do. I’ll take you to your room to rest first, and your clothes will be brought to you immediately!” Wen Er’s face lit up with joy. The deal he had made today earned him much more than setting up deals for those government officials in the past. Indeed, one should never judge by appearances.

“Do you have hot water?” Xia Mushi asked.

“Yes, the second-class room has hot water provided for you all day. Just let me know if you need anything, I will go fetch the hot water for you right away. Also, you need to register. If it’s inconvenient, you don’t have to,” Wen Er said enthusiastically, “May I know your honored surname?”

“Xia, just jot down whatever,” Xia Mushi said.

“Alright, if there’s anything you need, just call. If you don’t want to go out and want to eat something, just tell me, and I’ll go buy it for you. I’ll ensure it’s still hot when it arrives, so you won’t need to run the errand yourself,” Wen Er courteously took Xia Mushi to his room and quickly brought him several buckets of hot water, including cold water as well.

Jiang Feng took a look at the second-class room. He didn’t know how much a silver dollar was worth at that time, but it must have been quite valuable. This second-class room could even pass as a luxury suite in a star-rated hotel during the Republic of China era.

It wasn’t small, with bed canopies, bedding, and all other facilities complete and nicely decorated. The bed was very clean and tidy, and the walls and other areas were also clean. Tea and snacks were even placed on the table.

Once Wen Er brought the hot water, Xia Mushi prepared to take a bath. Jiang Feng went to peek in the next room through the wall, only to be stunned by what he saw there.

He had never imagined that an inn from the time of the Republic of China could be decorated so lavishly.

The suite that Mr. Huang stayed in on the ship before was no different, and the decor here was even more luxurious. Porcelain vases, wind chimes, screens, canopies – each item was exquisitely beautiful, and the room was much larger than Xia Mushi’s second-class one.

No wonder the first-class room was three silver dollars a night; neither a presidential suite in a star-rated hotel nor this room could compare.

Jiang Feng, like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden, looked through all the facilities in the first-class room, sighing in admiration at each one.

So rich!

Really, truly so very rich!

When Jiang Feng returned to Xia Mushi’s room after looking at everything new, Wen Er had already delivered the clothes, and Xia Mushi had changed into them.

It could be said that Wen Er had some real skills to be the tea waiter in such a big inn; the clothes he bought fitted Xia Mushi very well. They were clean and new and while the cotton was comfortable, it didn’t look ostentatious.

Xia Mushi still had four silver dollars and some copper coins on him. He didn’t feel secure leaving them in the inn and kept them close to his body instead. After freshening up, he drank a couple of sips of tea, ate two snacks, and was ready to go out.

Wen Er was still at the inn entrance; seeing Xia Mushi come out, he immediately greeted with a smile, “Mr. Xia, is there something you need?” “I’m going out for a stroll. When can you find out about the tickets?” Xia Mushi inquired.

“Rest assured, I will definitely find out about the tickets for you by tonight!” Wen Er said, “Xingcheng is a thousand-year-old ancient city. Do you need me to find a guide to accompany you on your outing?”

“No need,” Xia Mushi left after speaking.

Xia Mushi said he was going out for a stroll, and he did just that, strolling around the city after buying a few buns along the way.

He didn’t return to the inn until the evening.

“Mr. Xia, I’ve found everything out for you!” Wen Er approached Xia Mushi as soon as he saw him, “About the tickets to Beiping, there are none left. Beiping has fallen, so naturally, you can’t buy tickets anymore. If you really want to go to Beiping, you can only buy one to the next provincial city. From there, you’ll have to hire a car or take the water route.”

“I don’t mean to be nosy, but everywhere up north is in such a state with everyone running to the south, I advise you not to go that way,” Wen Er said. Xia Mushi took out another two silver dollars and said, “Try your best to get them. Whatever destination you can buy, buy that one.”

“Sure thing,” Wen Er quickly pocketed the silver dollars.