Chapter 9

  The fire danced in the glow of the evening light within their hearths. The pots, now covered with lids, emitted a savory steam.

  Kang Ya tried to lift the lid many times, but Hao Shouyi slapped it down with the back of his knife every time. The old man had no authority, but he was sincere, so everyone continued to wait with their bowls and chopsticks made from tree branches.

  Kang Ya and others could only grit their teeth, "Is there any way out? I'm so annoyed!"

  I, Ma and Bu La, the three of us stood outside an invisible warning circle in a standoff with Li Wu La. The warning circle was circular in shape, following the pot. The timid Li Paichang was indeed not a likable person for both officials and soldiers. As a military officer, he had fallen to the point where he was waiting without dignity, holding a broken bowl for food from the pot.

  I was so annoyed by Kang Ya, "Get my name right! I'm fed up - I'm troubled! Not annoyed!"

  Kang Ya, a master of talking but not acting, shouted loudly yet didn't even move his butt, "Don't change the subject! Is there anyone's? Hit him if he's annoying!"

  The guy had an axe in his hand, but I didn't like this kind of direct violence. I just used it to point at Li Wula's nose and said, "Let's go."

  Li Wula, that's how he was, not making a sound, staring at you with a flicker in his eyes, and one of his arms was already prepared to ward off a beating. I don't know what made an officer wear such a rodent-like terror on his face, nor do I care.

  I shouted again: "Let's go!"

  Li Wula was still poking around, that's all. I was at a stalemate with him. Li Wula had lost his soul and spirit, didn't know why he was born, could live on instinct alone for braised pork belly noodles, but also didn't have the courage to die. It's best if I don't think I'm better than him in any way - I won't think about it.

  The angry voice of the hemp rope was much more furious than mine, "Hurry up!"

  He waved his hand from inside outwards, "Oooh! Oooh!" - that was the posture of a Hunanese herding cattle.

  Li Wula's reaction was to hold out the bowl in his hand. If I still cared about the officer's dignity, or even his authority, but Li Wula had been thoroughly provoked. The short man sprang up and started fighting, using himself as a battering ram, his two knees colliding with Li Wula's chest and abdomen without wasting any effort. Li Wula and his bowl flew one meter away from us, the bowl shattered into four pieces, and Li Wula fell to the ground, adopting a stance of a master of the household, "You're just a hammer! You think you're an official!"

  He made a mistake, it's best not to rush people and then make threats. Li Wula was rushed, got up and pounced over, he didn't pounce on the hemp, but on that pot, a willow-leaf-shaped hemp pot was knocked over by the big Li Wula, Li Wula pounced on our pot, and it looks like he must knock over that pot.

  A stray bullet hit him and he fell to the ground. Several soldiers dragged this dazed Northeasterner away from our cooking pot.

  Ayi held a piece of firewood, standing there, and we stared at him in silence. It was hard to believe he had done it, even he himself didn't believe it. After being hit on the back of his head with a wooden board by Nuerla and Doujiao, Li Wula was dragged away, I looked at Ayi, this world where people bit each other made me want to be sarcastic and bitter.

  I applauded wildly, "Ah-yi! Well done!" I clapped loudly and was responded with equal enthusiasm. Ah-yi squeezed out a tearful smile of surprise and delight, and attempted to retreat back into his usual shadowy self. But the action was cut short by another round of applause that interrupted me, the guy from nowhere clapping so hard it almost shook the air.

  Mei Long, with an unpredictable expression, stopped as he stepped over Li Wula who was paralyzed on the ground. He took a closer look at that guy who often got beaten up by him and said: "You're too arrogant. The face of the three eastern provinces is still being lost to Yunnan because of you."

  Li Wura didn't respond, as if he had even lost the function of crying. The mysterious dragon that had crossed over him also ignored him and directly invaded our small circle, walking towards the pot. We subconsciously took a step back, then started to regret taking that step, but we didn't dare take another step forward. The mysterious dragon seemed to be strolling leisurely, playing with the watch on his hand that wasn't yet accustomed to wearing - it was Ah Yi's watch. Mysterious Dragon, the undefeated master of the collection station. He beat up Li Wura, but we don't know how he views us beating up Li Wura, just like wanting to beat a bean pancake, but not liking others to beat the bean pancake either.

  The dragon stretched its head over the pot, immersing its entire head in the steam rising from it. It reached out to Kang Ya, who was stunned, and snatched away the branch that served as chopsticks from his hand. Under the dragon's fierce gaze, everyone sat still, then it opened the lid of the pot, which no one had ever opened before.

  Our hearts were in our throats - the raccoon was trying to snatch the firewood from my hands, attempting once again to guard our food. The big snake's butt almost covered its eyes.

  But the expression of that dead Northeasterner softened in the suddenly rising steam, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and I suddenly felt that the face wet with steam belonged to a homesick child. He opened his eyes, looked at the pot, and stirred the pot with a branch, becoming furious again, as if about to beat someone - then he recited a long poem:

  "Is this mom's braised pork with noodles? Braised pork with noodles isn't made like this! A whole pot was ruined by you dead Northeasterners! Why didn't you add soy sauce? Did the soy sauce offend you? Do you have a grudge against Chinese cabbage? You put in such a large amount of Chinese cabbage! Noodles, my god! If there were no potato starch noodles, it would be fine, but you had to put in a whole bunch of dead potato starch noodles! Are you an idiot with a potato brain? Where's the pork? Was the pork and soy sauce stolen by the Japanese? Get them back! Good heavens, Northeastern braised pork with noodles isn't made like this! This pot is just noodle and Chinese cabbage soup!"

  We stared at him, shocked and wisely chose to remain silent. Hunger expressed withering, indicating that no one among us had ever been so long-winded, and such trivial nonsense came from the Dragon. We wanted to tell the Dragon that a turtle should make Northeastern braised pork noodles, but his endless chatter scared us off, usually he could knock someone out with less than seven words. Now he looked like he wanted to overturn our pot, if he did, we'd have no choice but to practice picking up noodles from the ground.

  The dragon was still there, fiercely and resentfully sighing, "Unpaid! I would have seen it a long time ago! We are all unpaid!"

  He intended to treat us - pulled out two military cans from his pocket, which were also extremely scarce on the black market, and poured them into the pot in a destructive posture. We thought there must be something else inside, but before he opened it, the can was sealed, and what came out of it was really meat. One thing that was immediately apparent was that this guy couldn't cook at all, whether it was Northeastern or Southwestern braised pork with vermicelli, he couldn't do it, he could only pour ingredients into the pot, even putting the can opener in the pot, and started shouting:

  "Mutton eggs! Get some more of that canned meat! Soy sauce! And lard! And a knife!"

  Yang Danzi didn't want to take it but didn't dare to take less, the bottle and can were hugged together, with a knife in his mouth, the dragon began to pour into the pot in batches. The knife, apart from being convenient for opening cans and smashing bottles, could also be used for stirring. He stirred while pouring whole bottles of soy sauce into the pot, accompanied by a loud declaration: "Let you know what's called authentic Northeastern braised pork with noodles!"

  The snake's butt has really covered its eyes now, it's looking through the gaps between its fingers. It is said that he is one of us who still retains a sense of taste - at least he thinks so.

  Yang Danzi suddenly reminded Mi Long, "The canned goods are beef." Mi Long quickly stabbed him with a knife, and Yang Danzi afterwards sat silently on the side, covering his waist and eyes.

  We stared blankly. We were all so hungry that when the dragon single-mindedly cooked his hometown's braised pork noodles, no one thought he had ruined this hard-won dinner, we just thought: damn it, so much meat.