Memory

After Professor Li was revealed to be his relative, did Jiang Feng's life change?

Yes, Jiang Feng got more opportunities to be called on by Professor Li during class.

The opportunities were so frequent that some people in the class suspected Jiang Feng had offended Professor Li and was being deliberately targeted. After all, Jiang Feng's image as a poor student was deeply ingrained, making it hard for anyone to associate him with a teacher eager to nurture talent.

It had been over half a month since the semester started, and Jiang Feng was already skillfully balancing cultivating his culinary skills, helping out at the shop, and faking his way through his studies. Ji Yue had successfully secured the club's funding for the year from the student council, the Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant had started gaining a stable base of regular customers, and the completion progress of the main quest was slowly increasing day by day.

However, Jiang Feng felt that his life, filled with chopping in the kitchen, occasional cooking, and idling around at the club on weekends, was a bit too dull.

"Xiao Feng, the porridge seems ready. Go deliver it to your uncle-in-law," Jiang Jiankang called from the back kitchen.

Jiang Feng walked into the back kitchen, lifted the lid off the small pot on the gas stove, and stirred it with a spoon. It was almost done. He ladled the porridge into a lunchbox and, carrying the lunchbox, headed to Professor Li's house.

Professor Li's house was less than a ten-minute walk from Food Street. It was a faculty apartment allocated by the school twenty years ago. The housing complex was old, and the cement walls were pockmarked with holes.

Jiang Feng had been delivering porridge for the past few days. Once, when Jiang Feng arrived, Li Mingyi was disoriented and grabbed Jiang Feng's hand, calling out, "Chengde, why are you only arriving now? Huiqin and I have been looking for you for over a decade..." Despite being a frail, emaciated old man, his grip was surprisingly strong. Jiang Feng didn't dare to struggle for fear of hurting him, so he could only listen to him ramble incoherently about past events.

However, it didn't last long. Li Mingyi soon forgot who he was again and let go of his hand, searching everywhere for Huiqin.

Professor Li hadn't returned yet. It was his wife, Chen Suhua, who opened the door for Jiang Feng.

"Auntie, is Uncle-in-law doing alright?" Jiang Feng asked.

"He's doing quite well. He's lucid right now. Go inside and keep your uncle-in-law company for a while," Chen Suhua said as she took the lunchbox and walked towards the kitchen. "He hasn't been confused these past couple of days. I saw some really good dates when I was grocery shopping this morning. Let me wash some for you. Sit down for a bit."

Chen Suhua was the daughter of the village branch secretary, whom Professor Li married when he went to the countryside as a sent-down youth. She wasn't highly educated, having not even finished primary school. In her fifties or sixties, she was energetic in her speech and actions, a restless spirit.

Li Mingyi was sitting by the bed, wearing his reading glasses and looking at a photo album. Seeing Jiang Feng enter, he smiled and beckoned him over.

"Xiao Feng, you're here to deliver porridge," Li Mingyi greeted, gesturing for Jiang Feng to sit beside him. He pointed to a black-and-white photograph in the album. "This is my wedding photo with your great-aunt. It's a shame we didn't have color photos back then; the colors couldn't come through. Your great-aunt's wedding dress was beautiful. I wanted to only take Western-style wedding photos, but she refused, insisting she wouldn't wear a wedding dress. In the end, I wore a suit and she wore her traditional wedding attire for our wedding photo..."

"Dad, it's time to eat," Chen Suhua said, holding a bowl of porridge in her left hand and a plate of dates in her right. She placed the dates on the bedside table. "The porridge is still a bit hot. Let me stir it for you. Oh, right, Xiao Feng, have some dates; they're very sweet."

"No need, I can do it myself," Li Mingyi said slowly, putting down the album. He took the bowl and walked to the desk to sit down, stirring the porridge in the bowl with a spoon.

Jiang Feng looked at the opened photo album on the bed, an old, somewhat yellowed black-and-white photograph. The photo showed a young man and woman, both appearing to be in their early or mid-teens. The man was formally dressed in a suit, with a blank expression. The woman wore a phoenix coronet and had a square veil half-covering her face. A mirror hung on her chest, and she was in a traditional wedding dress. The two had no physical contact. If Li Mingyi hadn't said it was his wedding photo, Jiang Feng wouldn't have been able to tell.

Li Mingyi scooped a spoonful of porridge and blew on it gently before his lips.

Jiang Feng noticed a short, gray-white hair stuck to the photo.

Li Mingyi opened his mouth.

Jiang Feng reached out his hand.

The porridge entered his mouth.

His hand brushed away the hair.

"Ding, side quest [The Last Medicine] completed. Reward item obtained: [A Memory of Li Mingyi]."

"Ding, item obtained: [A Memory of Jiang Huiqin]."

Huh?

The stingy game gave two items at once?

This generous!

Jiang Feng picked up the hair that had been brushed away and threw it into the trash can.

Perhaps it was because he had seen the photo or found a younger relative to share stories of his youth with, but Li Mingyi was in a particularly good mood today and had a good appetite. After drinking a bowl and a half of porridge, he rambled on with Jiang Feng about his wife when they were young.

The wontons from the stall in the east of the city, Jiang Huiqin's wontons, the dress with a hole in it – he spoke about whatever came to mind. Eventually, due to his old age and lack of energy, he started to get sleepy as he spoke. Jiang Feng then left, carrying a bag of dates that Chen Suhua had stuffed into his hands.

He had spent over an hour delivering porridge. When Jiang Feng returned, Liu Zixuan had already gone to the library. Only Ji Yue was in the shop, sitting at a table drawing with her graphics tablet.

"The shop is closed. I'm watching it. Uncle and Auntie went to buy groceries, saying some good stuff had arrived, and they left in a hurry," Ji Yue said. "You should go back and get some sleep. I'll manage here."

With Ji Yue saying that, Jiang Feng really felt a bit sleepy and needed a nap. But he didn't need to go back to the dorm; he could just go upstairs to catch up on sleep.

Closing the door, he opened his status panel. Two wisps of mist had appeared in his item inventory.

[A Memory of Li Mingyi]: A memory that can be entered repeatedly.

[A Memory of Jiang Huiqin]: A memory that can only be entered once.

One-time use?

Out of curiosity, Jiang Feng clicked on Jiang Huiqin's memory and selected "Yes" to the prompt asking if he wanted to enter the memory.

The next second, Jiang Feng found himself in a young woman's boudoir.

A girl dressed in a Republican-era school uniform was holding a bright red jacket, carefully embroidering the patterns on the cuffs. Looking at her features, she was unmistakably Jiang Huiqin from the photograph Li Mingyi had shown him earlier.

However, Jiang Huiqin didn't seem to notice Jiang Feng, her entire focus on the jacket in her arms. Jiang Feng tried to pick up a teacup on a small table nearby, but his hand passed through it like a ghost. He then tried to walk through the wall to get out, but he was blocked by an invisible barrier. Realizing he could only stay by Jiang Huiqin's side, Jiang Feng began to observe the room.

It was a very small room with simple furniture: a bed, a wooden cabinet, a small table, and a chair. It was small, but it had everything one needed.

The bed was a simple wooden plank bed, covered with dusty bedding. The wooden cabinet was as tall as a person and looked newly made. The brass fittings were brand new, and the lacquer was applied evenly. There were carvings on it, suggesting it was quite expensive.

The room was very clean. On the table was a book titled "National Language," and on the windowsill was a tin can filled with soil, in which two green onions were planted.

"Little sister, little sister!"

Someone was calling from outside the door.

"Hey, brother, wait a moment. Don't come in; I'm coming out!" Jiang Huiqin put down the jacket and opened the door to go out. Jiang Feng quickly followed.