The Game of Life

All eyes converged on Jiang Feng, each gaze asking the same question.

Why can’t it be killed?

Da Hua is so delicious, why can’t it be killed?

“How can it possibly not be killed?” Mrs. Jiang asked.

“Just, just, just because I developed feelings for Da Hua by feeding it every day

during New Year’s.”

“You child, what nonsense are you spouting about feelings? You think this is like keeping a cat or a dog. Stop making a fuss. Da Hua has lost weight recently; it’s better to kill it sooner. In a few days when the meat arrives, let your grandpa cook the pork dish for you. By the way, do you still have pickled vegetables? Do you want me to send some over?” Mrs. Jiang didn’t take Jiang Feng’s words to heart.

“Really, Grandma, it mustn’t be killed, it absolutely mustn’t! I truly developed feelings for Da Hua, just like how people bond with cats and dogs. Look, how adorable Da Hua is, isn’t it much cuter than the other cats and dogs?” Jiang Feng spoke with sincerity and fervent emotion, and under the influence of his advanced lies, Mrs. Jiang hesitated.

“Feng, you, you can’t keep a pig as a pet.”

“Did Little Brother hit his head and turn silly after that fall?” Jiang Junlian

whispered to Jiang Junqing.

■■Might be, we didn’t see the angle he fell from since the camera didn’t catch him. But how is a pig adorable? It’s just tasty, and the sadder they squeal, the tastier they are,” Jiang Junqing said.

Jiang Junlian didn’t understand, “Who told you that?”

■’Dad did. Sanhua squealed pathetically, and the pork from the thirtieth of the year was especially delicious.” Jiang Junqing spoke convincingly.

On the other side, eyes brimming with tears, Jiang Feng recounted to Mrs. Jiang how he grew a deep bond with Da Hua while feeding it during the winter break. Da Hua had become an inseparable part of his life; he would go back every holiday to cook pig food for Da Hua himself.

So, Da Hua couldn’t be killed!

Mrs. Jiang was dumbfounded.

Under the influence of his advanced lies, she felt Jiang Feng’s words made sense on one hand, while on the other, she thought her grandson might be ruined.

A twenty-year-old lad, gone crazy out of the blue.

“Wife, just listen to Feng. If he likes it, let him keep it,” Sir spoke up.

-But Da Hua loses weight when we keep it!” Mrs. Jiang, aspiring to become a

master pig-raiser, was reluctant.

“Grandma!” Jiang Feng cried out so emotionally.

“Alright, alright, I’m going now. If you want to keep it, then keep it! You child, of all the things to keep, why insist on keeping a pig? Others sleep hugging a dog and you want to sleep hugging a pig? Coming up with a different idea every day, not afraid that Da Hua might roll over and squash you to death. Give the phone to your dad, I want to talk to him,” Mrs. Jiang said.

Jiang Feng handed the phone back to Jiang Jiankang, who anxiously took it:

“Mom, what’s up?”

“Take Feng to the hospital to get checked when you have the time, see if he got hurt from the fall tonight, you as a father should be more concerned.”

Jiang Feng:…

I can hear you over the speakerphone, thank you.

Sitting back down, Jiang Feng picked up his chopsticks and managed to eat a couple of bites but couldn’t eat any more and began to space out, pondering a serious question.

Who is Zhang Zhiyuan?

Why are there memories of him in the props section?

After much thought, Jiang Feng barely dug up this person’s memory from the depths of his mind.

The brother who had eaten 4 big plates of stir-fried beef ho fun in one go, crying while eating the last plate, seemed to bear this name.

But where did this memory come from?

Jiang Feng continued to try to recall and finally remembered that when he was cleaning the table, the crappy game seemed to have made a dripping sound.

A random memory drop?

How exciting!

“Young man, do you need to go to the bathroom?” Jiang Junlian asked.

Jiang Feng: “…shut up.”

“Oh.” Jiang Junlian made a funny face at him, and mouthed to Jiang Junqing –

Little brother might have really knocked himself silly!

Jiang Feng:…

I’ll just stand between you two so I can see, thank you.

Dinner lasted until past eleven o’clock, and by the time Jiang Feng arrived at the dormitory building it was already twenty past midnight, the dorm supervisor had already locked the doors.

After confirming that the students from the acquainted dorm on the first floor were still awake, Jiang Feng successfully climbed in through the balcony with his adept wall-climbing skills and returned to his own dorm.

Wang Hao was already asleep, and by this time the hot water had been turned off. Jiang Feng gingerly washed up, climbed into bed, and turned on the game panel.

Before the last update, he had wanted to finish watching both of Li Mingyi’s memories, but the damn game suddenly updated, disrupting Jiang Feng’s plans. There was no better time than the present; today was just right.

He opened the inventory, found Li Mingyi’s memory, clicked confirm, and Jiang Feng was instantly engulfed in a thick fog.

“Okay, the two of you please stand a bit closer, good, now a bit of a smile, smile again, alright.”

The first voice Jiang Feng heard was unexpectedly English.

When the mist finally dissipated, Jiang Feng could see clearly the surroundings and found himself standing on an unmaintained, overgrown lawn, with Jiang Huiqin and Li Mingyi taking pictures in front of him.

Right behind them was the house that Jiang Feng had seen earlier in the photograph.

Today was a day of moving to a new home, yet Li Mingyi and his wife had only wry smiles on their faces.

“Mother still doesn’t want to come over?” Li Mingyi asked.

Jiang Huiqin shook her head with a bitter smile, “Mother has been holding onto my older sister’s urn and staring into space the whole morning. It’s my fault, I didn’t look after elder sister properly, and let her see those kidnapped children when she got off the ship. If it weren’t for that, elder sister wouldn’t have…

sigh.”

“Those secret brothels are all in Chinatown, it’s impossible to hide them.” Li Mingyi sighed, “When father comes back from California, I’ll ask him to persuade mother. Mother always listens to father.”

The husband and wife exchanged a silent look, glanced at their new home but didn’t enter, and walked side by side slowly, in utter silence.

Jiang Feng followed behind them.

He could distinctly feel that Jiang Huiqin had changed.

Gone was the innocence of a young girl, a trace of sorrow now lined her brows. Looking at them, it hadn’t been many years since the New Year’s Eve that Jiang Feng had previously witnessed, yet Jiang Huiqin and Li Mingyi had already transformed from carefree youths into “adults” laden with responsibilities.

Without a word, the two slowly made their way back to the apartment they had been living in.

Liu Xiuzhen held an urn in her hands, standing by the bed and staring out the window in a daze.

Her hair was almost completely white, her eyes hollow and lifeless, her whole being seemed to have been drained of vitality, standing there woodenly, like a mannequin.

“Ma, it’s noon, let’s go eat,” Li Mingyi said.

It tookhalf a minute for Liu Xiuzhen to respond, she said softly, “You go, I have no appetite.”

“Mother, you haven’t eaten this morning, you must eat something at noon. Come and have lunch with us,” Jiang Huiqin also urged.

“I won’t go,” Liu Xiuzhen shook her head, “I have no appetite, and can’t eat. Where are Mingzhe and Mingqing? Where did they go again?”

“Mingzhe and Mingqing went to school today, it’s inconvenient as they have to take the tram so they won’t be back until tonight,” Jiang Huiqin explained.

Liu Xiuzhen numbly nodded, “You two go have a good meal, today is a big day, even if your father isn’t here, you should celebrate.”

■’Ma, don’t stand anymore, your legs are not good, sit down. This house is too damp, how about we move to the other one in the afternoon?” Li Mingyi brought a chair over to Liu Xiuzhen.

Liu Xiuzhen slowly sat down, staring vacantly, without speaking.

“Ma.”

■You move. I won’t,” Liu Xiuzhen said stubbornly, “That’s not my home, my home isn’t here.”

-Your elder sister died in this house; it is too far from home, separated by the sea. She can’t find her way back, she will eventually return, and I need to be here to guard her spirit, to stop her from getting lost when she comes back looking for her mother.”

A tear fell, hitting the ground..