The Game of Life

Chapter 487: Chapter 485: Hangover Soup

Jiang Feng’s memory of the annual meeting froze at the moment when Jiang Jianguo and Jiang Jiankang brought the roasted pig out from the kitchen.

All he could remember was that the roasted pig that day was bigger than usual, more fragrant too. Things seemed blurry, as if there were double images, with one roasted pig having three heads. When Granduncle Weiming took the knife, both the knife and his hand were shaking.

Granduncle Weiming was shaking, too.

He vaguely remembered someone asking him if he wanted something to eat, but at that time his tongue felt tied and he was speaking unclearly, not remembering what he actually wanted to say.

What had happened after the roasted pig? What the roasted pig tasted like, Jiang Feng had completely no idea. By the time he gained memory again, it was already 8 o’clock in the morning of the next day, and when he opened his eyes, what he saw was the snowy white ceiling of the room.

After the hangover came a headache. Since he hadn’t drunk that much, Jiang Feng only felt a bit dizzy and had a slight headache, which improved after sitting quietly on the bed for half a minute when he first got up.

Rubbing his eyes, Jiang Feng got up from the bed to stretch his body a bit and felt somewhat better before he went out of the bedroom to wash up.

After washing up, clad in his thick winter pajamas, Jiang Feng prepared to go to the living room to pour himself a glass of water, as since he got up, he had been feeling terribly thirsty.

Wu Minqi was sitting in the living room, playing with her phone while wearing a turtleneck sweater. Next to her was a medium-sized suitcase, and on the couch, there were neatly folded down jacket, scarf, face mask, ear muffs, and gloves, thoroughly prepared.

“Fengfeng, you’re up. Feeling dizzy? There is hangover soup in the kitchen, I can go get you a bowl if you still feel unwell,” Wu Minqi offered. “Lucky you woke up early. Mrs. Wang told me last night you’re on today’s noon high-speed train, just now I was thinking if you hadn’t woken up I’d have to wake you soon.”

“No worries, I’m fine now, no need for hangover soup. I didn’t drink too much last night, they stopped when they saw I was drunk,” Jiang Feng yawned. Although he only had a slight headache and wasn’t troubled by it, he genuinely felt tired.

Jiang Feng slumped onto the couch and, seeing Wu Minqi’s suitcase already in the living room, he asked, “Qiqi, when is your flight?”

“It’s an afternoon flight, leaving after lunch should be plenty of time,” Wu Minqi answered. Seeing Jiang Feng looking weary, she suggested, “You should really have some hangover soup. You look so out of it, and later you still have to travel with Granduncle Weiming on the high-speed train to Magic City. You’ll feel worse after getting off the train. I’ll get you a small bowl. After drinking it, you’ll feel more spirited. Every New Year’s, I make my dad hangover soup, it’s really effective.”

Jiang Feng’s mind was still a bit hazy, reacting slower than usual. Only when Wu Minqi had gone to the kitchen did he finally ask, “Your dad needs hangover soup during New Year’s?”

Your Wu family’s New Year sounds pretty hardcore.

“My granduncle loves to drink, and so do several of my uncles on the paternal side. During New Year’s, one has to visit relatives and offer New Year’s greetings. If one were to get drunk, it would only be for those couple of days. My dad is like you, doesn’t usually drink much, so he feels particularly terrible if he suddenly drinks a lot during New Year’s,” Wu Minqi explained as she brought out the hangover soup.

Wu Minqi’s hangover soup was mainly made with bean sprouts, and in addition to the pale yellow liquor of the soup, it also had finely chopped bean sprouts. It was warm and didn’t smell bad, with a faint scent of Chinese herbs.

Jiang Feng drank the hangover soup in big gulps. He hadn’t tried any other hangover soup to compare with, but he felt it tasted just like an ordinary bean sprout soup, a bit plain and seemingly with some Chinese medicinal ingredients, making the taste a bit odd.

Whether it was because of the effect of the hangover soup or a placebo effect, after drinking the soup, Jiang Feng drank two more cups of warm water and felt much more awake.

Once lucid, Jiang Feng still wanted to try recalling what he had done after getting drunk last night, but he couldn’t remember, so he asked Wu Minqi, “Qiqi, what happened after they got me drunk last night? I just remember Granduncle Weiming serving the roasted pig. It looked like Granduncle Weiming was cutting the roasted pig; I don’t remember what happened after that.”

Wu Minqi poured herself a glass of water and took slow sips, saying, “Of course you don’t remember, then you just laid your head down on the table and went to sleep, and no amount of shaking could wake you up. Sang Ming and the others were there saying you’re the best drinker they’ve ever seen, you just sleep without uttering a word once you’re drunk. In the end, it was De who carried you back.”

“I knew it, Sang Ming and those guys had no good intentions, they definitely just wanted to get me drunk to see what I’m like when I’m drunk,” Jiang Feng silently added this grudge to his mental notepad.

Wu Minqi smiled, “They only have this one chance a year, let them have their fun once in a while.”

Jiang Feng couldn’t help but yawn again, “How about the drawing? Who won the grand prize?”

“The grand prize is the one where the year-end bonus is tripled for three months, right?” Wu Minqi was somewhat uncertain what the grand prize referred to, but continued after Jiang Feng’s confirming nod, “That prize was won by a server from a VIP private room. Yueyue knows her, I don’t.”

As Wu Minqi suddenly laughed, she said, “Fengfeng, you should remember there was a prize for paid leave of 15 days, right? Guess who drew it?”

“Zhou Shi?” Jiang Feng guessed.

“Right, it was him. Mrs. Wang was a bit at a loss whether to laugh or cry when she was presenting the award.”

Jiang Feng silently gave a thumbs-up in his heart to the unsung hero who set up that prize.

Wu Minqi then went on to tell Jiang Feng about some things that happened after he fell asleep, like Ji Xia sneaking a few sips of beer when no one was watching and then being cornered and lectured for over half an hour. Because Jiang Feng was fast asleep and drunk, he didn’t answer Wang Hao’s call. By the time Wang Hao arrived, the annual party was basically over. He’d missed the lottery but had just caught the cleaning session.

Wang Hao had taken the subway for over half an hour from the company to help clean up the Taifeng Building thoroughly. After hearing this, Jiang Feng was so moved he wanted to make a special “Outstanding Employee” certificate for Wang Hao.

By the time Wu Minqi had finished telling Jiang Feng about last night’s events, it was almost time to go. Jiang Feng had already packed his luggage. After receiving a call from his Uncle Five, notifying him to come downstairs, he hugged Wu Minqi and then dragged his suitcase out the door.

“See you tomorrow, Fengfeng. I’ll be waiting for you at the airport tomorrow afternoon,” Wu Minqi waved at Jiang Feng from the doorway.

“See you tomorrow,” Jiang Feng said as he entered the elevator.

Jiang Jianshe was waiting downstairs in Jiang Zaidi’s car for Jiang Feng, and Jiang Weiming was in the car fully equipped, not a single part of his body except his face was exposed to the air.

When Jiang Feng opened the trunk, he found two suitcases in there. After getting in the car, he noticed a large bag on the back seat as well.

“Uncle Five, why does Granduncle Weiming bring so many suitcases? He’s not moving to Magic City, just spending the New Year there,” Jiang Feng closed the car door, feeling the car’s ample heating.

It seemed that Jiang Jianshe had learned his lesson well from the time Jiang Weiming caught a cold because of a chill.

Jiang Weiming turned and smiled helplessly at Jiang Feng, “That’s exactly what I told your Uncle Five, to no avail. We don’t change winter clothes often, one or two sets would have been enough, but your uncle insisted on packing two huge suitcases full of clothes.”

Even as he said this, his expression showed that he was quite pleased.

While reversing the car, Jiang Jianshe said, “Third Uncle, it’s always good to bring more when going out. Although you’re visiting your cousin’s home this time, you haven’t been there before and you don’t have any extra clothes. If it’s cold in Magic City and you’ve brought too few clothes, it’ll be troublesome. Better to bring more now. Since Feng is seeing you off, taking more doesn’t matter. When you come back, we’ll decide if Feng should fetch you, or have De come get you.”

“Uncle Five, Magic City definitely isn’t as cold as Beiping,” Jiang Feng complained.

“Beiping has central heating. And remember, Granduncle Weiming still caught a chill at night, despite the heating, not long ago. You can never tell with these things; the damp cold in the South and the dry cold in the North are different. The damp cold is worse for the elderly, it chills you to the bone, so it’s never wrong to take more.”

“Feng, you’re also staying overnight in Magic City tonight, right? After you get there, check again to see if Granduncle Weiming has forgotten anything. If he has, you can buy it for him. Considering you’re going to be there for quite some time over the New Year, it would be inconvenient if anything’s missing.”

“And, remember to remind your second cousin to take Granduncle Weiming for a full health checkup. That’s not something that can be delayed. Last time I asked Granduncle Weiming, I was shocked to find out he hasn’t had a checkup in twenty or thirty years. That’s unacceptable; a health checkup is of utmost importance and must be done. Third Uncle, I’ll call you about this; my dad has reminded me several times as well. You better not skip it just because you don’t like going to the hospital. If you don’t get checked in Magic City, I still have to take you when you’re back in Beiping.”

Jiang Weiming could only nod in perfunctory agreement.

Because Jiang Weiming had been staying with Jiang Jianshe recently, Jiang Jianshe knew all his well-hidden little ailments that others were not aware of, clear as day.

Correspondingly, Jiang Weiming had also developed a good resistance to Jiang Jianshe’s chattiness.

Surrounded by Jiang Jianshe’s constant chatter, the three of them arrived at the train station.