Chapter 20: Dragon and Phoenix Soup

After a long struggle, Yao-Dong finally plucked all the feathers from the chicken and cleaned it up.

“Alright, I’ve handled the chicken. Who’s cooking? Xiao-Xiao? Fatty?”

Without looking up, Xiao-Xiao replied, “Let Fatty do it. He’s better at cooking than I am, and my luck is good right now. I’ll clean up after we eat!”

“Fine! Yao-Dong, you can step in!”

Yao-Dong shook his head. “I don’t want to play; it’s not interesting. I’m fine with just cards!”

“How can we play with six people? Should we go crab fishing?” A-Guang suggested.

“That’s boring. It’s all just luck, no skill involved. You guys can play; I’ll just watch.”

“Huh? You’re changing? Not playing Pai Gow, and now not going crab fishing?”

“Someone has to do the work, or what are we going to eat later? You all have fun; I’m going to help Fatty.”

“Did you take some weird medicine today? You’re actually being helpful?”

Everyone was teasing him, and Yao-Dong replied irritably, “I’m in a good mood today! Is that allowed?”

“Then get to it! Let us know when it’s ready!”

Fatty was already in the kitchen chopping the chicken, making loud cracking noises. When he saw Yao-Dong enter, he said, “Thank goodness A-Zheng brought a chicken; otherwise, that little snake wouldn’t be enough to fill us! I also grabbed a couple of ribs on my way back, thinking we could stew them with the snake. It’ll make for a nice mix.”

“Let’s cook the other ingredients first, then we can stew the Dragon and Phoenix Soup. Make sure there’s plenty of soup to give A-Zheng a bowl to take home for his parents,” Yao-Dong suggested.

“Sure thing.”

With a five or six-pound rooster, over a pound of snake, and a couple of ribs, they ended up with a full pot of stew.

As the delicious aroma wafted through the air, the others could hardly stay seated. They quickly discarded their cards and gathered around the stove.

“Is it ready yet?”

“It smells amazing!”

“I haven’t had snake in so long; I really miss it!”

“Can we eat yet? I’m starving! It’s been nothing but thin porridge all day, and I’ve already had to pee twice.”

Yao-Dong grabbed a soup bowl. “Hold on; let’s scoop out a bowl for A-Zheng first. He should take it home while it’s hot for his parents.”

“Oh right, right, let’s give A-Zheng a bowl to take back first.”

A-Zheng felt a bit shy. “Just a small bowl is fine; there are so many of us!”

“There’s plenty in the pot, and we have other dishes. I made extra soup on purpose—the essence is all in the broth.”

After serving A-Zheng, they each filled their bowls and sat down to eat.

In the Dragon and Phoenix Soup, they didn’t add any medicinal herbs—just ginger and rice wine for a light simmer. Once everyone had a bowl, they started digging into the seafood on the table.

A-Guang was fiddling with the clams on his plate and said, “Did you dig these clams and sand clams today? No wonder Xiao-Xiao came looking for you this morning; you weren’t home. These little ones are quite plump!”

“I spent all morning digging them up. It was scorching! Tomorrow the tide will go out even further. Do you guys want to join? It can be fun to go hunting for seafood now and then.”

A-Guang readily replied, “Sure, it’s not like we have anything else to do.”

Fatty quickly interjected, “No way! I’m not going to the beach in this heat after eating so much. My family doesn’t lack for food, so I’m not going to bake in the sun!”

“I can’t go. My wife wants me to go back to her family’s house tomorrow because her mom isn’t feeling well,” the usually quiet Rat said.

Chen Wei, on the other hand, was quite enthusiastic. “I’ll go! I haven’t been to the beach in a while, and the tide is just right these days. I’ll take a hook and see if I can find anything.”

“Of course there will be! I was digging for oysters and collecting clams by the rocks today, and I got lucky—found two crabs weighing about five or six taels! Tomorrow, when the tide goes out even further, we can go take a look.”

“Nice! Those blue crabs are worth a couple of bucks, like a day’s pay for a worker. Lucky us!”

A-Zheng and Xiao-Xiao also agreed to join the beach trip tomorrow.

This group spent more time together than they did with their own wives at home, often enjoying activities together.

“Hey, how much are these mantis shrimps per pound? Xiao-Xiao’s are quite plump, and they even have red roe!” Yao-Dong asked A-Guang while biting into one.

“35 cents,” A-Guang replied.

“Really?!”

Yao-Dong recalled that in this day and age, that was about the price. Back in September 2021, these small mantis shrimps measuring 5-7 centimeters were only 3 yuan at the dock, with larger ones going for 30, but the market price was quite different, with significant gaps between the purchase and selling prices.

“Seems like a reasonable price,” he thought.

“The picked ones go for 35 cents, but if you just toss them in, it’s only 30 cents. I’ve only picked the ones with red roe,” A-Guang added.

The others also casually grabbed one and snapped off the neck of their mantis shrimp, and sure enough, each of them had red roe!

“You’ve got a good eye!”

A-Guang shrugged. “It’s nothing special. I wanted to pick more, but Ah-Cai at the dock saw how good I was at picking and refused to let me. He only allowed me to toss them in, or he wouldn’t sell them! If he won’t sell, he won’t sell; I think these are enough.”

“Just snacks for drinking. Too bad we don’t have any alcohol!” Fatty lamented as he shelled the shrimp.

“I didn’t drink enough yesterday. When I got home, my wife scolded me, and she pinched my arm until it turned blue—almost didn’t let me sleep in bed!”

“If your wife won’t let you sleep in bed, you could find a mistress and sleep there! See how she reacts!”

“Please! A mistress? I almost didn’t get to marry my wife! If I’m always hanging out with you guys, I’d ruin my reputation. Good thing I already have a wife and kids.”

A-Zheng mockingly said, “Damn, no wonder both I and A-Guang are still single! It’s all your fault! Hurry up and get us two wives!”

A-Guang chimed in, “Yeah, while you two are sleeping soundly with your wives, poor A-Zheng and I are left sleepless!”

“Well, you two could cuddle up together! After all, once the lights are out, you just throw the blanket over your heads—what’s the difference in the dark?”

“Ugh, there’s a big difference!”

A-Zheng shamelessly replied, “What’s there to compare? I’m bigger in the front and the back—there’s no doubt about that!”

“Watch it! My sister is still here!” A-Guang quickly interrupted as he noticed his two sisters carrying their bowls, feeling embarrassed, trying to retreat to their room.

“Eat, eat! Less talk of indecency; save it for when you get home to your wives!”

“Yao-Dong, I heard your dad caught a net full of cucumber fish yesterday and made over a thousand. Are you going out to sea with him next?” Chen Wei asked curiously.

“Do I look like the type who would go out to sea?”

“Not at all!”

“You look like a kept boy!” Fatty laughed heartily.

“Well… soft food is pretty good; it’s quite tasty!”