Chapter 6: Glutinous Rice
Late at night, with the help of some light escaping from the opposite side of the high wall and a small kerosene lamp, a small stall was set up like this.
Uncle Ming was still wearing his old nightgown, biting a burned cigarette with only the butt left in his mouth, grabbing the spatula with one hand and the pot handle with the other.
Raging flames jumped out from the stove, chasing the iron pot that was flipping up and down. The flames jumped into the pot from time to time, passing over the distinct grains of rice, leaving a faint burnt aroma.
Yin Xiu sat at the corner corner of the five tables in this stall, quietly watching Uncle Ming frying glutinous rice without saying a word.
It is said that when the English people first saw the fierce flames spurting out from the stove, they thought that the people working in the kitchen were fire magicians, and couldn't help but sigh at the abundance of Pan-Asian spiritual energy.
After learning the truth, the Anglians despised the fire stove as a barbaric cooking method and considered it a waste of resources.
When Yin Xiu was thinking a lot, Uncle Ming had already placed a plate of glutinous rice in front of him.
After signaling Yin Xiu to start, he pulled up a chair and sat down, refilling his cigarette.
"Our Taoist priests' main job is to catch zombies, so we always carry a handful of glutinous rice with us, just like a maintenance technician would carry a handful of coal with him."
Uncle Ming said, and sure enough he took out a handful of coal ash from Yin Xiu's pocket and sprinkled it on the table.
"Glutinous rice can expel corpse poison, find zombies, and can also be used to cushion your stomach occasionally when you are extremely hungry."
He took out a grain of raw glutinous rice from his pocket, put it in his mouth and chewed it carefully, as if he was tasting something delicious.
"So every Taoist priest will have a rice shop that he is familiar with, just so that he can buy glutinous rice at any time, and the rice shop will not increase the Taoist price casually even when the food is most scarce. This relationship can often be maintained. Several generations.
When my uncle came to Hong Kong Island, this was still the territory of our Tang people. "
Uncle Ming knocked on the table. The table made of hollow plywood was unstressed and swayed.
"There were no Taoist priests as powerful as my uncle in Hong Kong at that time, so his business was very good."
"Here!" He pointed to a five-story old building in the distance, "He earned that building and spent most of his life's savings."
Uncle Ming took another puff of cigarette, and the mist spurted out from his nostrils, like a steam engine roaring.
“In my generation, after all the zombies have been caught, there is nothing left to catch, so I can only go and show people Feng Shui.
leave!Wherever there is feng shui in Hong Kong Island, it has been ruined by foreigners. I don’t want to lie to others, so I just fry glutinous rice here. "
Uncle Ming seemed to have changed his usual taciturn nature and talked a lot, while Yin Xiu just listened and wolfed down the plate of glutinous rice.
Wiping her mouth, Yin Xiu said seriously: "It's delicious."
"You still want to say this?" Uncle Ming glanced at him sideways, "Which of the neighbors here doesn't know that my fried glutinous rice is delicious?"
He suddenly reached out and tapped Yin Xiu's left hand.
Yin Xiu hadn't wrapped the metal prosthetic body with artificial skin at this time, so when he tapped it with his fingers, it made a metallic buzzing sound, which was particularly crisp at midnight.
Uncle Ming adjusted his glasses, which he almost never took off, and asked, "Do you also like to imitate foreigners and make modifications on yourself?"
"How can I have such leisure?"
Yin Xiu touched the arm, a bitter smile appeared on his face.
"When I was working in the factory, I accidentally got caught in the machine. The boss was kind and didn't ask me for the cost of repairing the machine. Later, I saw that the damage to the arm was not that serious, so I took it to Temple Street. I replaced it with a metal prosthesis."
He has practiced this set of words many times. To outsiders, in addition to bitterness, this smile also contains some joking and joyful emotions.
It's not that Yin Xiu wants to deceive people, but he can't tell others that he brought it here when he time traveled, and it's already connected to his arm as soon as he opens his eyes, right?
Even Yin Xiu himself didn't understand this secret, and telling him would only bring him Ming didn't go into details. He couldn't say he disliked these machines imported from the West, but he definitely didn't like them either.
He pulled Yin Xiu's sleeves to cover the mechanical prosthetic body.
"This thing is too eye-catching on the street. You'd better put it away and don't let others know about it."
Yin Xiu nodded, he knew Uncle Ming's good intentions.
There have been several cases in Guangming. A drunken swordsman was pulled into an alley, and the next day various prosthetics on his body appeared on the black market.
Metal prostheses are valuable, especially those that are clearly made by large companies. They are even rarer. Once exposed, they will inevitably attract the attention of others.
Yin Xiu knew this, so he used artificial skin to wrap the prosthetic body tightly every time.
Uncle Ming took out another cigarette and connected it for himself.
"Anyway, you did me a favor today. If you hadn't reminded me early in the morning, I probably wouldn't have been able to find the fox demon even if I hid for a few more days. Although I still let the evil beast run away, I owe you Just a favor from you.”
"No, no, no." Yin Xiu waved her hands repeatedly, "If you hadn't arrived in time, Uncle Ming, I would have been sucked dry by the fox demon, and I would have gone downstairs with the previous brothers to sell salted duck eggs."
Yin Xiu's expression became serious, "We don't owe anyone anything."
"You said it, we have no more delays!"
Uncle Ming suddenly changed his previous gentleness and became cold again, turned around and left.
"I bought you this plate of fried rice. If you have nothing else to do, go back to bed. For your own good, don't tell others what happened today."
"..."
Although she had long known that Uncle Ming had an eccentric personality, Yin Xiu was still stunned by his sudden change. After sitting there for a while, she remembered the purpose of coming tonight and quickly stood up to stop him.
"Uncle Ming!"
Uncle Ming turned his head and looked at him suspiciously behind the round lenses, "Why, is there anything else?"
"Uncle Ming, I want to become your teacher."
Upon hearing this, Uncle Ming was stunned for a moment, and then he laughed again, with anger in his voice.
"Bujie, Han family property, I'm holding your ****! All I said just now is in vain. What's not good in Hong Kong Island, why do you want to become a Taoist priest?"
He waved his hand as if he saw something unclean, "Go away! Go away! If you don't leave, I'll ask someone from Qingshan Hospital to arrest you and take you away."
When he shouted like this, Yin Xiu's face remained as usual, and she just repeated: "I want to worship you as my teacher."
Uncle Ming scratched his head in distress, looking very irritated, "You guys, don't you want to listen? Do you really want to practice Taoism? Have you read too many novels?"
Seeing that Yin Xiu didn't answer, his volume increased a little.
"Come, you speak, give me a reason why I should accept you? Come? Speak!"
Yin Xiu's eyes were firm, "The time is coming. If I still can't get a legal identity, I will be deported."
Uncle Ming paused, looked him up and down, and chuckled again.
"Fuck you, you are better than those people outside. At least you are honest."
(End of this chapter)