Sizzle!
Li Jie flicked his wrist. The golden egg mixture rapidly puffed up and set against the bottom of the wok, only to be deftly broken into uneven chunks by his ladle. The moment it cooked through, while it was still tender and silky, he slid it onto a plate.
The other wok had heated up as well. He poured in another generous helping of oil, then added diced ham to the shimmering oil and quickly stir-fried it. The heat instantly released the rich aromas of meat and seafood, filling the cafeteria kitchen at the East End Police Department.
"Hey! Sheriff! What are you making?"
Li Jie turned to glance at Harleen, then stepped back twice, moving his head out of range of the noisy extractor fan. "What did you say?" he asked loudly.
"I said, what are you making?" Harleen repeated.
"Oh, fried rice."
He returned to the stove, tipped the rice into the wok, and used the back of his ladle to press apart the clumps and stir-fry them. Every grain glistened with an even coating of oil, crackling in the heat.
Clang, clang, clang. Clang, clang, clang...
Li Jie turned to look. Raven and Harleen were sitting at the dining table, each holding a knife and fork and banging the handles against their plates.
He sighed, stepped back twice again, and shouted, "What is it now?"
"Kung Pao Chicken! We want Kung Pao Chicken!"
The two shouted in unison. Ever since Li Jie had failed to catch Raven while chasing her with a belt as she fled through portals around the police station, the girl seemed to have grown much friendlier toward him... but much more unruly, too!
"Which one of you learned this from the other?" Li Jie felt a headache coming on. "There's no time