The Game of Life

Chapter 504: Chapter 502: Do You Raise Pigs at Home?

The 10-hour high-speed train ride was long, yet also fleeting.

In the hours following the end of their phone conversation, Jiang Feng thought of many solutions, but he rejected each one in turn.

Having run a small restaurant in City Z for many years, Jiang Jiankang had accumulated a vast network of connections. It could be said that there wasn’t a significant vegetable or meat supplier in the area around City Z that Jiang Jiankang didn’t know. And the slaughterhouse was even more needless to say; Mrs. Wang Xiulian had once boasted of her glorious achievement of rushing to the slaughterhouse in the next city in the early hours to vie for pork, a story she would occasionally bring up to this day.

Now even Mr. Jiang Jiankang and Mrs. Wang Xiulian couldn’t find the pork Sir wanted, Jiang Feng realized that this problem likely wouldn’t be solved with conventional thinking and normal ideas. In times like these, one should take an unexpected approach, which could lead to different results.

Jiang Feng even considered whether they, his cousins, should form a team to steal a pig. With De’s strength, Cheng’s cunning, Ran’s strategic planning, and the unpredictable tactics of his sisters Junlian and Junqing, plus his own ability to fish in troubled waters, their pig-stealing crew could surely grow continuously. Not to mention one pig, even tens or hundreds wouldn’t be impossible. Given enough time, they could definitely secure a spot in the police records, and appearing on the social news wouldn’t be a mere dream anymore.

Forget it, life is precious, and one should not ruin all the future New Year’s Eves for just one dinner.

In the end, Jiang Feng got the idea to target Da Hua, thinking he might as well just bring Da Hua over from Beiping and butcher it. Good steel should be used on the blade’s edge, and good pork should be used for the New Year’s Eve dinner.

For the Jiang family’s pig to meet its end on the New Year’s Eve dinner table would be an affirmation and respect for its life.

But this idea was quickly dismissed by Jiang Feng himself, not because he was afraid that butchering Da Hua would make it impossible to complete the hidden task [Da Hua’s Wish], nor because he would lose a machine for grinding experience.

The primary reason was that the documents needed to transport a live pig couldn’t be obtained in a snap, and even if he managed to transport Da Hua from Beiping to City Z, it wouldn’t arrive before New Year’s Eve.

In the Jiang family, there was nothing more important than the New Year, even game tasks had to step aside.

Jiang Feng, who hadn’t come up with an answer on the high-speed train, still hadn’t figured it out after getting home.

This was his first time home since last New Year’s. Although his time spent at home had decreased a lot since starting university, it felt like checking into a hotel this time, as if it were his first visit to a house he had lived in for 20 years, he couldn’t even find the electric kettle.

Jiang Feng had never experienced this situation before.

Mr. Jiang Jiankang and Mrs. Wang Xiulian had already cleaned the house from top to bottom two days before they arrived home. They might not be living there, but they couldn’t let the house be dirty during the big holiday, so when Jiang Feng arrived, the house was quiet but at least clean.

It’s just that it was a bit dirty inside the cabinets. Just now, when Jiang Feng was looking for the electric kettle, he got his hand dusty, which must mean Mr. Jiang Jiankang had cut corners while cleaning.

So now the question arises, where did the electric kettle go?

Where could their old kettle, which they’ve used for years and whose buttons are always malfunctioning, requiring someone to keep watch over it to boil water, have been taken?

Jiang Feng, staring at the living room, kitchen, and dining room that he had turned upside down, fell into contemplation.

It’s almost 11 PM now, and the supermarket and the small shops downstairs must have already closed. Jiang Feng’s neighborhood is rather old, and there are no 24-hour convenience stores nearby. If he wants to buy water, he either has to walk a few kilometers to look for a shop that’s still open or wait until the next morning when the supermarket opens.

Jiang Feng didn’t want to choose either of these options.

Thirst is a curious sensation; you can go a whole day without water and not feel it’s a problem. But once you become aware of it, even if you’ve just chugged a bottle of water five minutes ago, the discomfort becomes unbearable. Whether you’re busy or idle, the feeling of thirst lingers on your mind and tongue and burns like a bone-corroding poison.

With thirst preoccupying his mind, Jiang Feng momentarily set aside the issue of the pig and began to search the entire house for a kettle. This time, his search was meticulous, not only covering the living room, dining room, kitchen, and bedroom, where there was a high probability of finding the electric kettle, but also the bathroom and balcony where the kettle might appear, as well as the wardrobe, bookshelf, TV stand, and bedside table where it was very unlikely to be.

Ultimately, Jiang Feng did not find the kettle, but he did come across some cash that Mr. Jiang Jiankang had hidden in the TV stand and most likely forgotten about.

Not to criticize his own father, but for so many years, Mr. Jiang Jiankang’s hiding places for his private stash had never changed: the drawer’s hidden compartment, the inner layer of the wardrobe, the belly of a vase, underneath the TV stand—just these few spots back and forth. No wonder Mrs. Wang Xiulian always hit the mark whenever she was short on cash.

Although he didn’t get what he wanted, finding 1000 RMB was, on the whole, quite a steal.

Jiang Feng, with a disheartened expression, slumped onto the sofa after pocketing the 1000 yuan. His spirit and wallet were greatly satisfied, but his body and taste buds told him that what he truly desired wasn’t this windfall.

As he looked around the living room, which appeared as if it had been burgled, Jiang Feng hesitated between enduring thirst or drinking tap water with a hint of bleach flavor. In the end, he chose to go next door to borrow water.

Earlier, when he returned, the lights at Chen Xiuxiu’s place seemed to be on, so Chen Xiuxiu probably hadn’t gone back to her hometown yet.

It was a little past 11 a.m., and any normal 20-year-old Cultivation youth on vacation would be wide awake during this prime time.

Jiang Feng, holding his phone and wearing slippers, pushed open his room door and stepped into the corridor, knocking on Chen Xiuxiu’s door.

As he knocked, Jiang Feng opened the Taobao app, ready to order an electric kettle online.

A country cannot go a day without its ruler, just as a home cannot go a day without an electric kettle.

“Who is it?” Chen Xiuxiu’s voice came from inside the door.

“It’s me, Jiang Feng. I can’t find our kettle—can I borrow some water?” Jiang Feng shouted at the door, worried Chen Xiuxiu wouldn’t hear him clearly.

“Hold on, I’m washing my hair!” Chen Xiuxiu shouted back from inside.

While waiting for Chen Xiuxiu to open the door, Jiang Feng successfully placed an order for an electric kettle. And just as he was about to open his browser and scroll through the news to kill time waiting for her to open the door, a brilliant idea popped into his head.

Jiang Feng opened his browser and started searching for where he could buy a whole live pig.

The first result was for wholesale pig heads, the second was about how much profit could be made from selling a pig at the market, the third was more pig head wholesalers, the fourth result showed where to find live pig transport trucks, the fifth was still about wholesale pig heads, the sixth was where to buy live pig heads, the seventh on how to process pig heads, and the eighth on how to breed pig heads.

Jiang Feng: …

“Damn, this *****”

“*****”

Jiang Feng couldn’t help but let out some words that would definitely be censored if spoken while playing King of Glory.

The door opened.

Chen Xiuxiu: ???

“Did I offend you?” Chen Xiuxiu, with a towel wrapped around her hair and dressed in a landlord-style winter pajama set, looked at Jiang Feng disapprovingly.

“No, no, not at all,” Jiang Feng hurriedly denied.

“Come in. Didn’t Mrs. Wang tell you? Your family’s kettle is at our place,” Chen Xiuxiu said, stepping aside to let Jiang Feng in. “A couple of days ago, our kettle broke, and I met Mrs. Wang when I was going downstairs to buy a new one. She said since you don’t stay home much anyway, she gave the kettle to me.”

Chen Xiuxiu pointed to the kitchen: “It’s in there. You can go get it yourself. I’ll buy a new one tomorrow.”

Jiang Feng went to the kitchen to get the electric kettle: “Mr. Chen hasn’t come back yet? When are you planning to go back to the countryside?”

“My dad’s back. He drank some alcohol and is sleeping in the room. As for when we’ll go back to the countryside, I’m not sure; probably pretty late this year. My dad seems to have some unfinished work; since he came back from the business trip, he’s been working overtime at the company. At the latest, I think we’ll go back before New Year’s Eve.” Chen Xiuxiu explained, “Why haven’t you gone back yet? I remember your family is always the most eager to head back for the New Year.”

Jiang Feng sighed: “Don’t mention it. This year, without finding a pig, none of us can go back.”

Chen Xiuxiu: ???

“Pig?”

“Xiuxiu, does your family raise pigs?” Jiang Feng was desperately clutching at straws.

“Huh?” Chen Xiuxiu was baffled, “Raise… raise, yes.”

“Ah, I knew your family wouldn’t have one either…”

“What, your family raises pigs?!”