Chapter 76: Chapter 74: Crossing the Bridge Rice Noodles
"The moon is a little off tonight."
"Even if it’s a little off, it’s still nice."
Intermittent conversation drifted from the Bamboo Courtyard.
Since it was just the two of them, Hong Ran had casually moved their meal to the stone table in the courtyard. There weren’t many dishes; strictly speaking, the only one that could truly be called a dish was the steamed hilsa herring Zhou Li had specifically requested. The rest were snacks like mooncakes, yam with fruit jam, pumpkin cakes, and brown sugar glutinous rice cakes.
There was also a pot of what was supposedly an alcoholic beverage.
It tasted sweet and sour with no hint of alcohol. Zhou Li, who didn’t normally drink, found it quite delightful. He felt its alcohol content was even lower than that of fermented glutinous rice ball soup.
After a few more cups, he only felt a pleasant warmth.
Hong Ran sat primly opposite him. Something seemed to be moving under her wide dress, catching Zhou Li’s attention. "Have you ever met your uncle?"
"Maybe I have," Zhou Li couldn’t quite remember. "When I was very, very small. Perhaps he was there when I was born."
"So tomorrow will be your first formal visit, then? According to human customs, you should bring a gift, right?"
"I haven’t prepared anything." Zhou Li felt a headache coming on.
"How about I prepare something for you? I have lots of things here, everything imaginable. Much of it is completely useless, and there are even some things I don’t recognize myself." Hong Ran propped up her chin, and the fabric of her dress stirred again. "I’ve been meaning to clear things out for ages, but I keep putting it off. I’m busy, and I’m a procrastinator... What do you want to give?"
"I don’t know."
"What does your uncle like?" Hong Ran began to ponder. "Humans seem to like giving gifts like paintings or calligraphy, don’t they? I have plenty of those too, all made by people from ancient times. I don’t even recognize many of the artists."
"I don’t know," Zhou Li hesitated, then added, "but nothing too expensive. I’m just a student."
"That could be a bit tricky," Hong Ran mused, finding it a challenge. "Humans tend to regard things that weren’t valuable in the past as treasures now."
"What’s that moving behind you?"
"My tail," Hong Ran replied, still seated. After a thought, she added, "It’s rather mischievous, and since no one else is around, you understand, right?"
"Oh." Zhou Li thought for a moment. Indeed, Hong Ran has always worn dresses whenever I’ve seen her, ever since I was young.
"Is it white?" he asked.
"How did you know?"
"White looks good."
"You’re such a sweet-talker!" Hong Ran couldn’t help but laugh. "Come here and let me pinch your cheek!"
"Mmph..."
"And what about your mother? Do you see her often?"
"Not often," Zhou Li rubbed his face. "She’s always abroad and rarely comes back. She visits me whenever she does return, but it hasn’t been many times."
"So, are you two close?"
"Not really," Zhou Li said honestly. I don’t need to hide anything from Hong Ran.
"Why did they get divorced?"
"Relationship issues, I guess."
Zhou Li looked at Hong Ran, and she looked back at him.
No one had ever asked him this before. He had never told anyone, nor had he ever asked anyone about it himself—not once, his entire life.
He hesitated for a moment, then said, "When my dad was young, he was a very unreliable person. Sort of like what they say online, you know, the ’good-looking but otherwise useless’ type..."
His mom was purely smitten by Old Zhou’s good looks.
But love is like candy; you can’t live on it.
When Zhou Li was still in Ji Qingqiu’s womb, they had already decided to divorce. However, due to Ji Qingqiu’s health condition, the planned medical procedure at the hospital couldn’t be performed. After some consideration, they decided to have Zhou Li.
That’s the origin of Zhou Li’s name.
Ji Qingqiu had insisted on choosing it.
During the first two years of his life, which Zhou Li doesn’t remember, he lived with his mother. Later, because Ji Qingqiu herself was struggling, Old Zhou took him back. I don’t know the specifics of how that happened, but I imagine it must have been very complicated.
Old Zhou probably believed that Zhou Li’s severe emotional troubles in childhood, which didn’t improve as he grew up, were largely due to his parents’ divorce from a young age. Feeling deeply indebted to him, Old Zhou solemnly took him to the rooftop of their apartment building on his eighteenth birthday. Amidst small spring onions and garlic seedlings planted in foam boxes, he said to him—
"Let’s have a talk, the two of us."
Zhou Li didn’t feel there was anyone to blame. Life and the world are inherently complex, and I’m actually doing quite well.
Hong Ran listened intently, and her tail also settled down. After a moment’s thought, she asked, "So, do you feel awkward every time you see your mother?"
"I suppose so."
"Humans are so troublesome."
"What about demons? Do they have parents too?"
"Some do, while others are nurtured into existence by the world itself," Hong Ran said, carefully picking up a piece of yam with her fingers, dipping it generously in strawberry jam, and putting it into her mouth. "But we are different from you humans. We revere nature. We believe it’s only natural for parents to meticulously raise their children, just like all other living beings. And what children must do is, just as their parents cared for them, to then take good care of the next generation, without seeking any reward. There’s no concept of ’debt of gratitude’ for upbringing... is ’debt of gratitude’ the right term?"
"The debt of gratitude for one’s upbringing."
"Yes, that’s it. We don’t have that concept."
"I see."
Zhou Li was lost in thought. These are truly two different cultures.
He and Hong Ran had a truly heart-to-heart conversation.
Hong Ran had him stay over again that night. Zhou Li woke up early, but Hong Ran had already gone out on her errands. Zhou Li waited for a while until the cook prepared and packed another serving of steamed hilsa herring, then he flew back to Tianruikang Garden.
As soon as he entered, Tuanzi was waiting for him at the door, sitting perfectly upright, its tail curled around its little paws.
"You didn’t come back last night."
"Didn’t I tell you I was going to Hong Ran’s?" Zhou Li gestured with the take-out box. "The hilsa herring you wanted. Wild-caught, fresh from the pot just a few minutes ago."
"But you didn’t say you wouldn’t be *coming back*!" Tuanzi sounded a little sulky. "Do you like Hong Ran more than me?"
"Wasn’t it to get you this hilsa herring?"
"Did you absolutely have to get it from Hong Ran?"
"She’s rich."
"Darn it! All that money should belong to Lord Dumpling!" Tuanzi’s sulkiness turned into open indignation. But then, the thought of Zhou Li humbling himself before that annoying woman for her sake made her anger dissipate.
So, she got up, walked over to Zhou Li, pressed her paws onto his shoes, and looked up at him as if to offer comfort.
"What’s wrong?" Zhou Li was baffled.
"You’ve suffered an injustice for Lord Dumpling’s sake," Tuanzi said earnestly. "Lord Dumpling will remember your sacrifice."
"Oh, okay. Where’s Huai Xu?"
"He hasn’t come back either."
"Oh."
Zhou Li placed the fish on the table, opened the container, and patted the tabletop. "Jump up."
Tuanzi obediently hopped onto the table.
A smile touched Zhou Li’s lips.
Watching Tuanzi eat with focused concentration, he asked, "Is it good?"
"Delicious!"
"Better than the farmed kind, right?"
"MROW!"
"Is that so..."
Zhou Li suspected this cat couldn’t tell the difference between farmed and wild-caught at all. She’s quite simple-minded; she just wants to eat expensive things.
Perhaps she feels only expensive food is worthy of her status?
While eating, Tuanzi suddenly remembered something. She looked up at Zhou Li, extended her little pink tongue, and licked around her mouth. "Zhou Li, have you had breakfast yet?"
"Not yet."
"Come and eat with me! Don’t be polite! Lord Dumpling grants you special permission to dine with Lord Dumpling!"
"..." Zhou Li glanced at the fish, which she had gnawed into a complete mess. "No, thank you. By the way, I bought you a toothbrush, but you can’t use it unless you transform into your Little Cat Girl form."
"What’s a Little Cat Girl?"
"It’s the form you took on the high-speed train."
"What’s a high-speed train?"
"The train we took to get to Chunming."
"Oh. Okay."
Tuanzi lowered her head and continued, MUNCH MUNCH.
Soon after, Brother Nan and Baozi arrived. Zhou Li went downstairs to meet them, and they all headed towards the "crossing-the-bridge" rice noodle shop.
It was an old shop, evident from its well-worn tables and stools, which gave Brother Nan a familiar, comforting feeling. In the morning, the shop was packed with customers, mostly people in their forties and older. The owners had even set up additional tables and chairs out on the street.
Brother Nan perked up, her signature cowlick fluttering in the breeze, seemingly pointing towards the noodle shop.
"Looks like business is booming!"
Inside the shop entrance was a narrow passage. To the left were tables and stools; to the right, a long counter. This counter was divided into many small compartments, displaying a dazzling, uncountable array of meats, eggs, mushrooms, and vegetables, all pre-sliced and ready.
The owner, standing skillfully behind the counter, grabbed a large bowl, added some pea shoots, lean pork, and a few other ingredients, then silently stared at them.
They stared at each other blankly.
After a moment, the owner explained, "The base price is seven yuan. You add whatever else you want. These are one yuan per portion, these few are two yuan. Rice noodles are all-you-can-eat."
The three of them finally understood.
Brother Nan took the lead, scanning the offerings in the counter. She added raw quail eggs, boiled quail eggs, a fried egg, bamboo pith mushrooms, shredded chicken, shredded pork, and about ten other items. To Zhou Li, it looked like she was just pointing randomly. With each item Brother Nan indicated, the owner would grab a bit from its compartment, add it to the bowl, and casually call out the running total.
"Twenty yuan!" the owner announced.
"He’s paying!" Brother Nan declared, naturally pointing at Zhou Li.
"Alrighty then!"
The owner handed the large bowl to an assistant, who ladled in a generous amount of boiling hot broth, "infusing it with soul," as they say. The assistant then handed the bowl to Brother Nan, pointed towards an area, and said, "Rice noodles are self-serve over there. Just blanch them for about seven or eight seconds."
Brother Nan headed off.
Zhou Li, following her example, also started pointing somewhat randomly—
"This one!"
"Eight yuan!"
"This one!"
"Nine yuan!"
"This one!"
"Eleven yuan!"
Zhou Li felt the owner was biased, as Brother Nan’s portion of ingredients was clearly larger than his. He silently endured it.
The rice noodles were pre-portioned into large and small serving bowls, so you could choose according to your appetite. Besides, no one was watching. Brother Nan, for instance, helped herself to three large bowls.
Zhou Li took only one serving. He poured the noodles into a bamboo strainer, dipped it into the boiling pot to blanch for a few seconds, then tipped them into his soup bowl.
Then he went to the side to add condiments.
There were pickled vegetables, cilantro, chopped scallions, and even mint and crispy chili flakes—things one couldn’t find in Yi Province.
Zhou Li added a little of each.
His bowl had seemed quite large to begin with, but somehow, after he’d added everything, it looked like it was about to overflow.
And yet, the taste was surprisingly amazing.
The three of them finally managed to finish their meals, even drinking all the soup as a sign of respect. They were all stuffed to the point of discomfort.
Especially Brother Nan.
Li Nan involuntarily leaned her body back, trying to give her stomach as much room as possible. Her mouth was slightly agape, and she stared blankly ahead, seemingly having entered some kind of transcendent state of unity with the universe.
"Are you alright?" Zhou Li couldn’t help but ask, concerned.
"F...iiine..."
Zhou Li’s heart sank. She’s even showing these symptoms!
Thankfully, Brother Nan’s eyes quickly regained focus. She looked at him and asked, "Where are you staying?"
"Just across the street."
"Right across the street?"
"Mhm."
"Can I go over to your place and sit for a bit? It’s still pretty early. I need some time to recover."
"Sure."
"I can’t stand up right now," Brother Nan said in a daze, her words slower than ever. "That was way too much food. How much did mine cost in total, again?"
"Twenty yuan. Mine was fifteen," Zhou Li said.
"Mine was thirteen," Baozi added. "It’s a real bargain. I’ve eaten at Qiaoxiang Garden and Jianxin Garden. The same things there would cost several times more, and they’re not necessarily as tasty as this place."
"Qiaoxiang Garden and Jianxin Garden—are those restaurant names?"
"Yeah, they’re very famous!" Brother Nan quietly rubbed her stomach. "I was even planning to go eat at one of them."
"Don’t bother going," Baozi said.
"Not tasty?"
"The food is actually quite good, but it’s too expensive," Baozi said earnestly, carefully choosing her words. "Especially their flagship store. And unlike here, you don’t get to choose your own side dishes; they offer set meals, and there’s a high brand premium."
"I want to pinch your cheeks," Brother Nan said, still in a daze.
"..."
Baozi puffed out her cheeks.
Of course, it wasn’t noticeable on her.