The Game of Life TGOL

Chapter 551: Chapter 549: Picking Someone Up

Jiang Xiaoran arrived with only half a pack of stuff, but when he left, his bag was stuffed full. The beef meatballs made by Grandma Ji Xia fit perfectly into Jiang Xiaoran’s bag, not one more or one less, which showed that he and that bag of beef meatballs were really fated.

Jiang Feng went upstairs to call Ji Xia down, and while in the elevator, he introduced Ji Xia to Jiang Xiaoran. Hearing that Ji Xia was Jiang Feng’s apprentice, Jiang Xiaoran couldn’t help but take a few more glances at Ji Xia. As a programmer, the word ‘apprentice’ felt quite distant to him.

“Jiang Feng, my cousin, is training an apprentice chef like in the TV dramas? The kind that involves kneeling down, offering tea, and kowtowing as part of the apprenticeship ceremony?” Jiang Xiaoran asked curiously.

“Yes, of course,” Ji Xia said, preempting Jiang Feng’s reply. “Not only do you need to kowtow and serve tea when becoming an apprentice, but after being accepted, you also need to show filial piety to your master, help clean for your master, be a handy assistant, listen to your master, buy breakfast for your master, and when your master gets married and has kids, you may even need to help take care of the children.”

Jiang Xiaoran: ?

At that moment, Jiang Xiaoran’s gaze towards Jiang Feng changed, his face expressing disbelief at the kind of cousin he turned out to be.

Luring unsuspecting underage girls.

Scumbag!

Scumbag Jiang Feng: …

“Xiaxia, do you feel like eating Oden? I remember there’s a convenience store around the corner that should have Oden. How about we go buy some Oden for your stomach first?”

“Ah, what a coincidence, the sweet potato vendor is here today. Xiaxia, how about your master buys you a couple of roasted sweet potatoes?” Jiang Feng decided to use food to keep Ji Xia quiet.

In the end, Ji Xia got on the subway, holding a cup of cool Oden and two roasted sweet potatoes, emerging as the ultimate winner, while Jiang Xiaoran bought two tuna rice balls from the convenience store as a lunch to eat while walking.

The three of them arrived at the airport at precisely 11 AM. The airport wasn’t crowded, and Jiang Feng accompanied Jiang Xiaoran to the security checkpoint to see him through, waving goodbye just like anyone else seeing off someone.

Wu Minqi’s flight was still half an hour away, and Jiang Feng was at the airport not just to pick her up, but also three others he definitely had to meet.

Dong Shi, Dong Li, and Master Huang.

Master Huang’s arrival was actually an unexpected joy. Jiang Feng had not intended for Master Huang to come so soon; it was Master Huang who couldn’t wait.

During the New Year, Jiang Feng had subtly mentioned the matter of his Great-Uncle to Dong Shi, who then told everything Jiang Feng said to Master Huang when he went to pay New Year’s respects to him.

The arrival of Dong Shi and Dong Li at the Taifeng Building for a job interview was unexpected; Master Huang’s original recommendation had been the Yonghe House. Master Huang had been thinking of visiting Beiping early in the year to check on his two apprentices, intending to pay a visit to the Jiang Family at Taifeng Building. Now that an affinity had suddenly formed, Master Huang was even more impatient, braving the cold and traveling to Beiping with Dong Shi and Dong Li.

Of course, Jiang Feng told no one about all this.

That was his habit when doing things. It might not be a good habit, but he liked it that way. Until everything was absolutely certain, even with 99% probability, Jiang Feng wouldn’t make any announcements if there was still 1% uncertainty.

Just like when he went to Shu to find Jiang Weiming before.

The plane carrying Master Huang and his apprentices was scheduled to arrive ten minutes after Wu Minqi’s plane. Jiang Feng and Ji Xia found a place to sit and waited patiently.

Ji Xia had already finished the two roasted sweet potatoes on the subway and was now slowly eating her now-cold Oden.

Jiang Feng took a good look at Ji Xia and realized that Xiaxia seemed to have gained weight.

Not only had she gained weight, but it was also clearly noticeable, with her face having become rounder.

In the morning, Jiang Feng thought Ji Xia looked chubby because of the layers she wore, but now it seemed that clothes might not be the only reason.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

“Xiaxia, you must have had a lot of delicious food at home during the New Year, right?” Jiang Feng hinted.

Ji Xia nodded: “Yes, Grandma cooked so many delicious dishes for me this New Year. From the day I got home until yesterday when I left, she slaughtered a total of 11 chickens for me.”

Jiang Feng: ?

Jiang Feng glanced at Xiaxia’s round face and thought that those 11 chickens did not die in vain.

“By the way, Xiaxia, do you want your sister to take you to open a bank account? Now that you have a phone, if you get a bank card and link it to WeChat, you can use your phone to make payments,” suggested Jiang Feng.

“No need,” Ji Xia shook her head, “I gave all the money I earned from working part-time and the money from the red envelope you gave me, Grandpa, to grandma for safekeeping during the Chinese New Year. She also takes care of my phone bills.”

Now, Ji Xia was broke.

“Also, Grandpa, during this year’s Chinese New Year, sister and grandma made salted duck eggs, and then…” Ji Xia, like opening a floodgate of words, recounted everything she felt was worth sharing with Jiang Feng from the New Year festivities.

Ji Xue, grandma, cousin, uncle, aunt, and even her rarely mentioned biological father made appearances in her stories. Ji Xia talked about everything from making the salted duck eggs to wrapping glutinous rice balls, even the minor incident of being pecked by a chicken in the courtyard.

The only person she didn’t mention was her mother.

Jiang Feng didn’t ask about her, and when the time came, he politely interrupted Ji Xia’s storytelling to go pick up Wu Minqi.

Wu Minqi was wearing a thick black down coat and, dragging two oversized suitcases, stood out in the crowd. Jiang Feng hurriedly took one of the suitcases from her, while Ji Xia’s attempt to take the other was gently refused by Wu Minqi with a smile.

“When did you get back, Xiaxia?” Wu Minqi asked with a smile.

“Arrived this morning,” Ji Xia replied.

“Qiqi, why did you bring two suitcases back?” Jiang Feng inquired.

Wu Minqi had clearly left with only one suitcase, and since their home was fully equipped, there seemed to be no reason to bring back enough items to fill two large suitcases.

“The suitcase in your hand is filled with pickles,” Wu Minqi said, “Half of it is pickled by my father, and the other half by my grandpa.”

Jiang Feng was taken aback; the suitcase he was dragging was no lightweight. If it was entirely filled with pickles, it must weigh at least 20 kilograms.

“Actually, I didn’t plan to use such a big suitcase at first. I had a smaller one that perfectly fit the pickles my father made. But yesterday, grandpa called me over to pick up more pickles, saying it was a local specialty to bring back to Grandpa Jiang and others, so I switched to this largest suitcase,” Wu Minqi explained.

Wu Minqi, pulling the suitcase, headed towards the exit but noticed that Jiang Feng and Ji Xia weren’t following, so she asked, “Fengfeng, aren’t we going?”

“We’re waiting for someone else, just a moment.”

“Who else?”

“Dong Shi, Dong Li, and Master Huang. They’re arriving today too, just about 10 minutes after you, so they should be out soon,” Jiang Feng said. “If there’s no surprise, Master Huang should be my second grand uncle’s apprentice.”

Wu Minqi nodded, seemingly unfazed by this bombshell.

She was fully aware of the entire process of Jiang Feng going to his ancestral land to find Jiang Weiming and knew that Jiang Weiguo had six older brothers.

Even if Jiang Feng introduced a few more new grandfathers this year, Wu Minqi wouldn’t find it odd.

“So, is your second grand uncle still alive?” Wu Minqi asked.

“If Master Huang truly is his apprentice, then my second grand uncle would have passed away already. That’s why we need to confirm, because if he is, we ought to pay our respects at my second grand uncle’s grave,” Jiang Feng explained.

“I see,” Wu Minqi nodded, standing still and waiting with Jiang Feng.

Ji Xia: ?

Master Huang? Second grand uncle?

Wasn’t grandpa supposed to take me out for a meal?

“Grandpa, are we still going to eat after this?” Ji Xia asked. Although she was quite full with the two baked sweet potatoes and a cup of Kanto-style stew, if there was a chance for more delicious food later, she wouldn’t mind having a few more bites.

After all, stomach capacity is like water in a sponge; there’s always room if you squeeze.

“Yes, we’ll eat. After this, your grandpa and Wu sister will take you out for some good food,” he assured her.