When Uncle Zhou brought the Salted Duck to the table, Fang Ming was serving Xu He rice.
"Give me a little less." Xu He held his bowl. "I can always have more."
"You said that on the day of your awakening, too, and then you couldn't even finish half a bowl of porridge."
"Today's different."
Fang Ming wasn't annoyed by his retort. He pressed the rice down a little before handing it over. Only after Xu He took the bowl did he see Uncle Zhou lift the cloth covering the platter. The duck had been chopped into evenly sized pieces, its clean white skin clinging to the meat. There was only a little clear juice at the bottom of the platter, with no heavy oil or rich red sauce. The people nearest this end of the table first steadied their bowls, afraid of knocking into them when they reached out with their chopsticks.
"So this is the dish you've been hiding for three days?" Rongrong looked at Chen An.
"Hiding?" Uncle Zhou spoke up on his behalf. "Yesterday it was the saltiness, today it was the brine. How many times has he turned those ducks over to check them? How could he hide them?"
"I came to the kitchen twice, and he wouldn't let me touch them either time."
"You wanted to touch the ducks while they were hanging." Chen An pulled out a stool. "How was I supposed to serve them to you after that?"
Rongrong didn't argue. She first looked for the piece with the most skin. Gu Rong was looking, too. Their gazes met on the same spot, and both reached for their chopsticks. Sitting on the other side, Ning Fengzhi saw the way they were behaving and simply invited the families of the children who had