River Dam, Agritainment.
It was already early winter. In the large open space east of the bungalows, a bonfire burned, its flames dancing in the darkness.
A circle of chairs surrounded the bonfire, where five or six young men and women sat. The firelight cast their faces in shifting light and shadow. Not far away, a grill had been set up, and the grill master busily turned the skewers with both hands.
Xue Yuantong and Chuchu stayed by the doorway. Scattered laughter occasionally drifted over from afar. Tongtong held a clamshell New 3DS Game Console, playing Fire Emblem: Awakening.
It was a turn-based strategy game and quite fun to play, but boring to watch. Besides, the 3DS's lousy screen was hardly suitable for viewing.
Xue Chuchu sat beside her, holding Jiang Ning's iPad. She had found a documentary and was quietly watching it.
"Chuchu, can you smell that?" Xue Yuantong suddenly asked. The aroma from the Agritainment next door had drifted over to them.
"Didn't you already eat your fill?" Xue Chuchu asked back.
"I was just asking," Xue Yuantong said sheepishly.
After a while, she sniffed and judged by the scent. "Do you know what they're grilling today? It doesn't seem to be lamb skewers."
Xue Chuchu thought back. "I think Uncle Yang mentioned at noon that they were grilling Bamboo Rat?"
Xue Yuantong frowned. "Huh? You can eat Bamboo Rat?"
They were giant rats. How scary!
Having grown up in the countryside, Xue Yuantong knew very well what rats looked like. Wild rats were especially ugly and covered in bacteria. If one bit you, you'd have to get rabies shots for a whole week.
"You can," Xue Chuchu said. "Bamboo Rats are different from rats. Li Shizhen recorded in the Compendium of Materia Medica that Bamboo Rat meat