"I was wondering why there were crocodiles here again."
"Again?"
"Thousands of years ago, when it was warmer here, crocodiles did appear around these parts. There just aren't any now."
"I've never heard of that. It wasn't recorded in the county annals either."
"That was thousands of years ago. There weren't even any people here then—just wilderness as far as the eye could see." Song Zhou smiled. "Later, some people saw crocodiles here and even suspected that crocodiles were dragons."
Lu Ao looked at the crocodile meat in the bag and imagined someone mistaking a crocodile for a dragon. It felt rather unbelievable. "Crocodiles and dragons are so different. How could anyone mistake one for the other?"
"What's so strange about that?" Song Zhou said. "Didn't you used to think you were a lizard?"
Hearing his own embarrassing past brought up, Lu Ao's ears reddened. He gave a light cough and changed the subject. "That was ages ago. Come help me out and get ready to stir-fry the crocodile."
Song Zhou did not expose him. "Sure. Make it a quick stir-fry?"
"Mm. Da Wu said to cook it like any other meat."
It was Lu Ao's first time eating crocodile meat, and he was unfamiliar with it. He could not shake the feeling that he might mess it up.
To his surprise, once the meat hit the wok, the aroma that rose up was unexpectedly good.
Meat like this cooked quickly. It only needed to be stir-fried until it changed color; cooking it too long would make it tough.
A little over ten minutes later, Lu Ao carried a large plate of freshly stir-fried crocodile meat outside.
Meanwhile, Song Zhou laid out the food Lu Ao had brought back one dish at a time.
They now liked eating in the