Chapter 37: Chapter 37
Xiaojing Bay.
Shen family yard.
Shen Momo was chasing and romping with a handful of neighborhood children from the bay.
A pack of half-grown kids had gathered together and somehow gotten into a contest of one-upmanship.
The little girl stood with her thin arms planted on her hips.
She was locked in a red-faced argument with a stout little boy built like a tiger cub.
“My big brother is super amazing! He can go in the water and catch fish. Yesterday he netted a fathead carp this big from Yunshui Lake!”
The little boy spread his arms as wide as they’d go, face beaming with pride.
“My Gege can catch fishy-wishies too! Even bigger than your big brother’s!”
Shen Momo wouldn’t be outdone.
“My big brother is strong! He can row a big boat! He even promised that when spring comes, he’ll take me to the inner city to ride a painted pleasure boat!”
“My… my Gege can row boats too!”
“Hmph! My big brother even knows martial arts! When he goes to sell fish in the city, he learned a fist style from a master at the inner city’s Tiger-Taming Boxing Hall — a style that can punch a tiger dead! He’s so fierce!”
“My Gege doesn’t just do fist stuff, he beats up bad guys too!”
Seeing this stubborn little girl try to top him on every single point, the little boy got desperate. His round face turned beet red:
“Stop copying everything I say!”
“My big brother… my big brother dares to eat poop!”
“One time he got lost in the Dali Mountains, and he was so hungry he survived by eating wild ox dung — does YOUR brother dare?!”
“My Gege also da—”
“Ahem!”
Shen Xiuhan, fish basket on his back, pushed open the yard gate with a black look on his face.
“Gege!”
The little girl’s eyes lit up.
Without a second thought she ditched the little boy, legs pumping furiously as she launched herself at Shen Xiuhan.
Shen Xiuhan sighed helplessly and scooped the little bundle into his arms.
Shen Momo’s little nose twitched, and her eyes drifted involuntarily toward the fish basket.
A faint whiff of meat was leaking from it, and her big round eyes spun with calculation.
She froze for a beat.
Then, without a word, Shen Momo turned her head, put on a stern little face, and announced in a clear, crisp voice:
“You should all go now. My Gege won’t let me play with you!”
The children exchanged bewildered looks.
Then they caught sight of Shen Xiuhan’s “angry face,” and scattered like startled birds, scrambling out of the yard in a flash.
The gate closed. The little girl who’d been putting on airs a moment ago transformed in an instant.
Two lotus-root arms wrapped around Shen Xiuhan’s neck, face tilted up, voice going butter-soft and syrupy:
“Gege… what’s in your basket-basket? It smells so yummy-yummy… did you bring meaty-meat for Momo?”
Looking at the little girl’s face, how could Shen Xiuhan possibly stay angry?
He burst out laughing, carried her on one arm into the kitchen.
At the stove, Madam Zheng was preparing the morning meal.
Three bowls of porridge were already set out.
Two were thinner.
The third was not only thicker with millet but flanked by two piping-hot meat flatcakes.
“Dalang, perfect timing.”
Madam Zheng looked up with a smile. “Breakfast just came off the fire. Eat while it’s hot.”
“Ma, I already ate outside.”
Shen Xiuhan set the fish basket down in the corner and said:
“The hall provides my midday meal now. From here on, I only need to bring one flatcake. Here — these are for you two.”
With that, he pulled from the fish basket two drumsticks threaded on wooden skewers.
A rich, savory aroma instantly filled the little kitchen.
The drumsticks — roasted golden and crispy, still sizzling with juice — made Shen Momo’s big eyes go perfectly round. She bounced straight up:
“Wow! Such big chicken-leggies!”
“Go ahead, eat.”
Shen Xiuhan tore one off and pressed it into the little girl’s hands, then held the other out to Madam Zheng, whose face was frozen in disbelief:
“Ma, no luck with fish this morning, but I caught two fat wild chickens.”
“This… Dalang, you train so hard, you should eat it yourse—”
“Don’t worry, I really did eat already.”
Shen Xiuhan waved a hand and pointed at the sky: “It’s getting late, Ma. I need to get to the hall. There’s another one in this basket — I need to bring it to Master for a look.”
“Oh, and these three eggs here — stick them under the old hen and see if she can hatch some chicks.”
Not long after Shen Xiuhan left.
In the side room, the old hen, nestled in her straw bed, lowered her head and stared at the three blue-green eggs that had appeared under her backside, deep in thought…
…
Mei Martial Hall.
The morning sun had just risen. Out on the spacious outer-court training grounds, dozens of disciples were tempering their qi-blood, the sound of shouts and exertion rising in waves.
Shen Xiuhan walked through the red-lacquered threshold with his fish basket on his back, and happened to be spotted by Xu Chuan, who was making his rounds correcting form.
“Junior Brother Shen, why so late today?” His eyes fell on the basket behind Shen Xiuhan, and he grinned: “Been out fishing?”
Shen Xiuhan didn’t take the bait. He just gave Xu Chuan a discreet beckoning gesture and kept walking, straight through into the inner court.
Xu Chuan’s brows rose. Curiosity piqued, he turned and bellowed at the outer court:
“All of you — hold your stances steady! No slacking, no dropping your weight!”
Then he followed with long strides.
Stepping into the inner court, Xu Chuan saw Shen Xiuhan standing against the wall of the quarters, lifting the bamboo lid and pulling a plump fowl from the basket.
The creature was covered head to tail in azure plumage, its beak sharp as a spike. Even lifeless, it exuded an air of savagery.
“Hm?”
Xu Chuan’s expression shifted. He stepped closer and examined it carefully, his voice surprised:
“Junior Brother, where did you get this? This is an Azure Spike Fowl — the same breed the Ji clan in the inner city raises!”
“What?”
Shen Xiuhan’s hand paused. His expression was even more surprised than Xu Chuan’s:
“The Ji clan?”
“You didn’t know?”
Xu Chuan crouched down and explained patiently:
“Years ago, the Ji clan purchased a batch of Azure Spike Fowl eggs in Cangzhou. It took enormous effort to hatch and raise them. They’ve been breeding ever since — I’ve heard they have thirty or forty treasure fowl in their beast pens by now…”
“The other great families in the inner city are the same. They all keep treasure beasts and treasure fish that can be penned and bred. With an endless supply of treasure pills and medicinal meals for their scions, it’s no wonder they produce generation after generation of top-tier fighters.”
Xu Chuan ran his fingers through the azure plumage, curious:
“From the looks of this one, Junior Brother… it must be a wild catch from outside?”
“Senior Brother’s eye is sharp.”
Shen Xiuhan had his story ready:
“I went down to the lakeshore this morning to fish, and happened to see the thing flying all wobbly and crooked before crashing into the Dali range. So I worked up my nerve, crept over, and finished it off…”
“That’s what I figured.”
Xu Chuan nodded as if it were obvious, smacking his lips:
“The great inner-city clans keep a tight grip on their treasure beasts and treasure fish. At most, they sell some refined pills through their family apothecaries each month. They’d never sell a whole beast.”
“This one of yours was probably driven out from deep in the Dali Mountains.”
He lifted the Azure Spike Fowl’s wing and inspected the torn, gaping wound beneath:
“The wound has the flesh peeled back — looks like something bit it. But the meat’s mostly intact, and the qi-blood hasn’t dissipated. No real harm done.”
Xu Chuan raised his head and looked at Shen Xiuhan:
“You brought this treasure back to the hall because you want Master to refine it into a qi-blood pill?”
Shen Xiuhan’s expression turned earnest:
“Nothing gets past you, Senior Brother. That’s exactly what I had in mind.”
“Easy enough.”
Xu Chuan dusted off his hands and grinned:
“Master doesn’t fire up the furnace for outsiders lightly, but she’s always been generous with us inner-court disciples.”
“After deducting the cost of the supplementary herbs and treasure grasses needed to balance the qi-blood, she usually only takes ten or twenty percent as her fee for the effort and the furnace.”
“The exact cut depends on how many pills come out. If the yield is high, she takes twenty percent; if it’s low, she’ll just take ten — a token amount.”
He looked at Shen Xiuhan:
“There’s no strict rule about it. If that sounds fair to you, I’ll take you to the rear hall to notify her.”
“I’d appreciate it, Senior Brother.”
Shen Xiuhan agreed without a moment’s hesitation.
He had no doubt that if he took this Azure Spike Fowl to an alchemist at one of the inner-city apothecaries, he’d be lucky if they only pocketed half.
And Mei Shuangfeng was only taking ten to twenty percent…
In Shen Xiuhan’s view, that was practically saintly.
Surely, she simply didn’t deign to squeeze petty profits from her own disciples.