Chapter 640
Chapter 640
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 640
>Chapter Title: Wonton Stall
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Soon, two bowls of red oil wontons were placed in front of them. Yang Kid picked up a white wonton shaped like a little boat from the glossy red broth with his chopsticks.
He popped the scallion-topped wonton into his mouth and chewed. Yang Kid couldn't help nodding in approval. Though coated in red oil, it wasn't greasy at all—instead, it burst with a mild spicy, rich flavor. Delicious.
Even from the perspective of a fellow cook, these wontons were exceptionally well-made.
On such a cold day, polishing off a steaming bowl was pure bliss. Wonton after wonton disappeared into their mouths as the couple ate with great relish.
"Husband, can you make these?"
"I can, but not as good as this place. They must have some secret recipe."
Yang Kid sneaked a glance at the stove in the distance and noticed what looked like a few sticks floating in the pot of boiling wontons. His interest piqued as he wondered what they were.
While Yang Kid was eating and secretly learning the ropes, a shaky old woman with white hair, leaning on a cane, approached the stall.
"Want some red oil wontons, ma'am?" the wonton scooper asked.
The old woman licked her cracked lips and eyed the rolling wontons in the pot. "Um, I have food. Shopkeep, could I get a bowl of hot water? To go with it. How much?"
Yang Kid, mid-lesson-peek, glanced at her. She was dressed in tatters, with patches everywhere, looking like a withered locust tree on the verge of crumbling.
"What're you saying? Hot water's free! Sit down—I'll pour you some right away!"
After thanking the shopkeep profusely, the old woman looked around and sat at the table next to Yang Kid's.
When the bowl of hot water arrived, she opened her cloth bundle and pulled out a small black ceramic jar.
She sipped along the edge of the bowl first, then took out chopsticks from a bamboo tube and gingerly clamped a dripping black pebble from the jar.
"Hey, husband, look—that lady's eating rocks!"
When Yang Kid looked over, he saw the old woman sucking on the pebble with evident relish.
Once she'd sucked all the black off it, she spat the stone back into the ceramic jar and slurped another edge-sip of hot water.
As she popped another pebble into her mouth, Zhao Xiumei turned to Yang Kid with a touch of pity. "Let's get her a bowl of wontons. Rocks won't fill her up."
"Mm." Yang Kid nodded lightly. He couldn't stand seeing people go hungry—he knew that gnawing ache all too well from his beggar days.
Of course, Yang Kid wouldn't give too much—just one bowl of food. He knew better than to flash wealth.
When the eight-tael bowl of freshly boiled wontons arrived, he carried it over to the old woman. "Here, granny—eat this. It'll keep hunger away better than those rocks."
The old woman paused, then flashed him a wide red grin with not a single tooth left. "Thanks, kiddo. I don't need it—I've got plenty. See? This one's red-braised pork rib flavor. This is eight-treasure duck. And this—this is braised pork knuckle."
She brandished various-shaped pebbles from the jar with her chopsticks for a bit, then carried her bowl over to the monkey performer nearby and set the wontons right in front of the three monkeys.
The three monkeys were clearly starving. They pounced, devouring from both sides. In no time, they'd licked the bowl's red oil spotless.
Yang Kid returned to his seat with a complicated expression, glancing back three steps at a time at the old woman resuming her stone-sucking.
After a moment's thought, he said to Zhao Xiumei with real regret, "Think this granny's got something wrong with her head, like Brother Li?"
"If she's sick, why let her wander? Her family's no good," Zhao Xiumei said indignantly.
"What if she has no family, like me?"
"..."
The two fell silent.
Still, whatever their feelings, as strangers, they'd done what they could. They couldn't drag a deranged old lady along on their family visit.
The couple had kind hearts, but not that kind.
They dug back in, but somehow, the wontons didn't taste as good as before.
One, two, three—as the bowls emptied, the satisfied pair stood to leave.
But just then, an old Taoist on a black donkey arrived with two disciples. His long beard flowed, giving him an air of profound immortality.
"Master, let's eat here today."
"Mm~~ Alright. Last time we had wontons, I did some good—called down lightning from the Thunder God to smite two yakshas terrorizing folks."
At those words, everyone at the stall turned to stare at the Taoist with reverent eyes.
"That's right—my master's no ordinary man. He's a high immortal on the verge of ascension, hates evil with a passion his whole life," the two young Taoists flattered nonstop.
One of the three monkeys glanced at its owner, scarfing his second bowl. Gritting its teeth, it yanked its neck chain and screeched loudly.
It even knelt, kowtowing frantically to the old Taoist while sputtering human words. "Save... save me!! Help!!"
"Hm?" The old Taoist slapped the table with one hand, frowning. His face turned stern and imposing.
Seeing his cover blown, the monkey man flipped the table and whipped out a short dagger from his robes, ready to fight. "Fuck! What're you up to, you old goat!"
But seeing the red-eyed fury on both sides, the old Taoist shuddered violently, eyes drifting away. He stayed glued to his stool.
The scene caught everyone off guard—including the desperate monkey man. "Hahaha! What a fraud!"
He grabbed the kowtowing monkey and kicked it to the ground, spitting blood.
"Snitching, huh? I'll teach you!" Slaps rained down, flaying the monkey's face.
As Yang Kid hesitated, a pebble zipped over, shattering the monkey man's arm in two.
As he clutched it screaming, the old woman spat forcefully. The pebble from her mouth flew straight into his gaping maw, smashing bone and churning brains to mush.
Under everyone's gaze, the old woman shuffled hunched to the bloodied monkey child, ripped off the monkey skin with both hands—revealing a mangled child's head underneath.
The "monkeys" were real people, skinned in monkey hides.
"Poor thing, so pitiful."
She pulled out a white cloth and wrapped the monkey child's head tenderly. "Here—world's full of suffering. Believe in Grandpa Stone Faith, and you'll be reborn well."
(End of chapter)