Dragon-and-Phoenix Soup

After working at it for ages, Ye Yaodong finally plucked the chicken bare and washed it clean.

"All right, the chicken's ready. Who's cooking? Xiao Xiao? Fatty?"

Without even looking up, Xiao Xiao said, "Let Fatty do it. He's a better cook than me, and I'm on a winning streak right now. I'll clean up after we eat!"

"Fine! Dongzi, take my place!"

Ye Yaodong shook his head. "Don't feel like it. It's boring. I'd play cards, though!"

"How would we play with six people? How about crab fishing?" A-Guang suggested.

"That's boring too. It's all luck, no skill at all. You guys play. I'll just watch."

"Huh? Turned over a new leaf? No Pai Gow, no crab fishing either?"

"Someone has to do some work, or what are we going to eat later? Carry on. I'll go help Fatty."

"What's gotten into you today? Since when were you this hardworking?"

They all chimed in. Even being helpful earned him suspicion. Ye Yaodong said irritably, "I'm in a good mood today and found my conscience. Is that allowed?"

"Then get going! Call us when it's ready!"

Fatty was already inside, chopping the chicken with loud thwacks. When he saw Ye Yaodong come in, he said, "Good thing A-Zheng brought a chicken. That little snake, barely over a jin, wouldn't feed us. It wouldn't even fill the gaps between our teeth! I went home earlier and got two ribs to stew with the snake. We can throw them all in together."

"Let's cook the other stuff before we stew the Dragon-and-Phoenix Soup. Make plenty of broth, and ladle out an extra bowl of meat for A-Zheng to take home."

"No problem."

A big rooster weighing five or six jin, a snake weighing just over a jin, and two ribs made a great potful.

As soon as the aroma drifted out, the others couldn't sit still. They finished their round, tossed down their tiles, and all crowded around the stove.

"Is it ready?"

"That smells amazing!"

"It's been ages since I had snake. I've really missed it!"

"Can we eat yet? I'm starving. Three meals of rice porridge a day, and two trips to piss wash it all away."

Ye Yaodong brought over a soup bowl. "Hang on. Let's dish up a bowl for A-Zheng first, so he can take it home for his parents to eat while it's hot."

"Oh, right, right. Get A-Zheng a bowl to take home first."

A-Zheng looked a little embarrassed. "A small bowl's fine. There are so many of us!"

"We've got a whole pot. There's plenty, plus the other dishes. We made extra broth on purpose. That's where all the goodness is."

Only after filling A-Zheng's bowl did everyone dish up a bowl of their own and sit down at the table to eat.

They hadn't added any medicinal tonics to the Dragon-and-Phoenix Soup, just ginger and rice wine for a simple stew. After each having a bowl, they started on the seafood on the table.

A-Guang poked through the little clams on the plate and picked one up with his chopsticks. "Were these little clams and sand clams dug up today? Was Dongzi the only one who went digging? No wonder you weren't home when Xiao Xiao came looking this morning. They're tiny, but pretty plump."

"I spent all morning digging them. It was boiling hot. The tide will go out farther tomorrow. Want to come? Foraging on the shore once in a while is pretty fun."

A-Guang agreed right away. "Sure. I've got nothing else to do anyway."

"You've got too much energy. Going out to roast on the beach in this heat? I'm not going!" Fatty flatly refused. His family had no shortage of food or drink. He wasn't about to bake in the sun on the beach.

"I can't go. My wife wants me to visit her parents with her tomorrow. Her mother's not doing too well," said Rat, who had barely made his presence felt until then.

Chen Wei, on the other hand, sounded eager. "I'll go. Haven't been to the beach in a while. The tides are good these next couple of days. I'll bring a hook and see if there's anything to pick up."

"There definitely will be. I was knocking oysters off the rocks and picking up snails today, and got lucky enough to find two mud crabs weighing five or six liang each. The tide will go out farther tomorrow. Let's head over as soon as it starts going out."

"Nice, you even found mud crabs! That's worth a yuan or two-a worker's daily wage. Not bad luck."

A-Zheng and Xiao Xiao also agreed to go to the beach with them the next day.

The bunch of them spent more time with each other than with their wives, and often liked to get together for things.

"How much were these mantis shrimp per jin today? They're small but pretty plump. They've even got red roe!" Ye Yaodong asked A-Guang between bites.

"Thirty-five fen."

"Huh?!"

He thought back. That did seem to be the going price in this era!

Last September-no, September 2021-the buying price at their dock for little mantis shrimp like these, five to seven centimeters long, had only been three yuan, while the big ones fetched thirty. But those weren't the prices at the market. There was a big gap between the buying and selling prices.

Thinking about it that way, the price seemed reasonable enough.

"Thirty-five fen if you pick them out, thirty if you take them as they come. I picked out all the ones with red roe."

The others each grabbed one and broke off its head. Sure enough, every one had red roe!

"You've got a good eye!"

A-Guang shrugged it off. "That's nothing. I wanted to pick out more, but when A-Cai at the dock saw how accurate I was, he went back on his word. He wouldn't let me pick anymore. I had to take them as they came, or he wouldn't sell! Fine, then. I figured this was pretty much enough anyway."

"All perfect with a drink. Too bad there's no booze!" Fatty peeled off a shell regretfully.

"Didn't you drink enough yesterday? My wife gave me a right earful when I got home and pinched two bruises onto my arm. She nearly wouldn't let me into bed."

"If your wife won't let you into bed, get yourself a mistress and sleep at her place. Then let's see who she cries to!"

"Pfft, a mistress? I barely managed to get a wife. Hanging around you lot all day has ruined my reputation. Good thing I've already got a wife and kids."

A-Zheng deliberately pulled a mischievous face. "Fuck, no wonder A-Guang and I still can't find wives. It's all your fault! Damn it, hurry up and compensate us with a wife each!"

A-Guang played along. "Exactly. Through those long, lonely nights, you're all sleeping soundly with your wives in your arms, while poor A-Zheng and I lie awake alone."

"Then you two can make do and cuddle each other. Turn out the light, pull the quilt over your heads, and there won't be much difference in the dark..."

"Pah! There's a huge difference!"

Shamelessly sticking out his backside and patting it, A-Zheng said, "What's there to compare? I'm bigger front and back. No question!"

"Watch it. My sisters are still here!" Seeing his two younger sisters carry their bowls back to their room in embarrassment, A-Guang hurriedly cut them off before they got any cruder.

"Eat, eat, eat. Cut the dirty talk. Save it for your wives when you get home!"

"Dongzi, I heard your dad caught a whole netful of yellow croaker yesterday and sold them for over a thousand. You've struck it rich! Are you going to start going out to sea with him?" Chen Wei asked curiously.

"Do I look like someone who'd go out to sea?"

"Nope!"

"You look like a pretty boy with someone footing his bills!" Fatty roared with laughter.

"Mm... living off someone else does taste pretty good. Delicious, even!"