Chapter 77: Rabies Incident

Chapter 77: Chapter 77: Rabies Incident

Today’s lunch at Chen Jingle’s home consisted of water-steamed chicken and stir-fried water spinach. Since he was happy about making some money, he naturally had to whip up something delicious to reward himself. Water-steamed chicken was a classic of Cantonese Cuisine. He had added some fresh, free five-finger fig roots he had picked by the roadside, along with three to five pitted red dates. Once steamed, the dish was incredibly fragrant.

He had bought today’s chicken from a stall at the outdoor market, one of the few stalls Chen Jingle was actually willing to buy from. Their chickens were free-range. For the same price, the meat’s texture and taste were far superior to the other two stalls and the supermarkets. If you went too late, you might not even be able to get one.

People in the Lingnan Region had always held high standards for ingredient quality. If it was a premium free-range chicken, there would be about 0.5 millimeters of subcutaneous fat left after cooking. Chicken in this state had a fantastic texture. To use a vivid metaphor, a free-range chicken was a student athlete with an eight-pack, while a factory-farmed chicken was a flabby, out-of-shape couch potato.

Regardless of the type of meat, Chen Jingle didn’t like eating the fatty parts. He found it too greasy; the most he could tolerate was something like braised pork belly. Even then, if twice-cooked pork wasn’t made well, he wouldn’t eat it either.

As for the stir-fried water spinach, the key to the dish lay in ensuring it wouldn’t turn yellow or black, no matter how long it sat after being cooked. A more classic preparation method was stir-frying it with shredded chili and fermented tofu paste. However, Chen Jingle didn’t like the smell of fermented tofu.

Instead, he simply blasted it with high-temperature lard and boiling salted water. The resulting oil-water mixture and "wok hei" would instantly cook the surface of the water spinach, preserving the chlorophyll in the leaves. With a bit of minced garlic added in, the flavor of the dish was on par with anything a five-star hotel chef could make. One only had to look at how fast Chen Qiyun was picking up the vegetables to know this—it was even more popular than the chicken.

"You have no idea. When I got to school today, every single one of them asked me if that bread-wrapped chicken was delicious and where they could buy it..."

While eating, Chen Qiyun chattered non-stop. Chen Jingle felt helpless, not understanding where Little Douding found so much to talk about. However, he didn’t interrupt her.

He had promised himself that he would learn to be a gentle person. When a child was willing to share all the interesting things she encountered in her studies and life, it was a profound form of trust. At times like this, it was crucial to be a good listener. Chen Jingle had no desire to inherit a toxic, authoritarian parenting style. If it were Second Aunt, she would probably be getting angry right about now, yelling, "Chen Qiyun, why do you have so much to say? Blah, blah, blah." Just thinking about it made his scalp tingle.

"With everyone envying you so much, are you happy?" he asked unhurriedly only after Chen Qiyun had finished speaking.

"It’s just okay, I guess." Chen Qiyun was a little shy, squirming bashfully.

Yeesh! The corners of her mouth were practically soaring to the heavens, yet she was still acting all coy and aloof. The tsundere trope was totally out of style now!

Chen Jingle rubbed her little head. "Next time, I’ll make something easy to carry so you can bring it to school and share it with your classmates."

"They’ll be hitting the jackpot!" Chen Qiyun muttered softly.

Chen Jingle chuckled. "You have to learn to share happiness. That’s how you make lots of friends."

In truth, his biggest worry had never been Chen Qiyun’s academic performance, but rather whether she would be bullied. After all, she was so small; if she got picked on, she wouldn’t even be able to fight back. He had been bullied for being short when he was a kid, so he understood that feeling of isolated helplessness better than anyone.

"I don’t need any friends!" Chen Qiyun scoffed coldly. What she truly needed were loyal underlings!

"Yikes, what a textbook sore-loser tsundere remark." Chen Jingle shot her a look of faux disgust but couldn’t help laughing.

Suddenly, the village loudspeakers crackled to life, broadcasting a song. Chen Jingle and Chen Qiyun stopped their chopsticks in unison and looked at each other.

"Are they making another announcement?"

"We’ll find out once we listen."

Before long, the music stopped.

"Hello, hello, hello—" The village chief’s voice echoed from the loudspeakers.

Holding their bowls, the two of them WHOOSHED out into the front yard.

"Listen up, everyone! Because there has been a fatal case of rabies in the neighboring town, the higher-ups have ordered every village to start culling stray dogs. Those who own dogs must keep them tied up during this period. Do not let them run loose! If they bite someone, you will have to pay compensation! Anyone who gets bitten must go get vaccinated immediately. Don’t take any chances! The same goes for cat bites...

"Listen up, everyone! Because there has been..."

The broadcast repeated the message twice before shutting off.

Oh, so that was what it was about.

Chen Jingle realized the situation. The stray dog problem was indeed troublesome. Whenever he went out on his electric scooter, he would occasionally see stray dogs loitering by the roadside at the village entrance, and he would instinctively steer clear of them. Never mind the natural fighting capability of an upright ape; without a weapon in hand, staying away from danger was the right choice. A wise person avoided unnecessary danger. Adult men might be fine, but women and children wouldn’t necessarily be able to fend off a rabid dog.

Several families nearby had also come out of their houses. After hearing the broadcast clearly, everyone immediately started discussing it.

"Someone actually died of rabies? That’s a bit scary."

"As long as you go get the vaccine right after getting bitten, you’ll be fine."

"The rabies vaccine isn’t cheap, you know."

"Sigh, no matter how expensive it is, can it be worth more than a life? If you’re still trying to save a thousand or two at a time like this, you’ll die from pure stupidity."

"I don’t know whose dog it is, but there’s one that’s always running around the village. It’s quite frightening."

"Now that you mention it, it makes me angry. I’ve never seen Mr. Yi’s dog tied up. I’m always on edge whenever I walk past his place. It’s gotten to the point where I don’t even walk past his front door anymore."

"Ms. Yan, even though yours is a small dog, it’s best you tie it up properly too."

"It’s not just dogs. There are more and more stray cats in the village now, too."

"..."

Chen Jingle and Chen Qiyun stood holding their bowls, listening to the neighbors’ loud discussions.

Suddenly, an old lady in the crowd shouted at Chen Jingle, "Hey, Zhenwei’s boy! Your cat keeps running into my kitchen all day to steal food. Aren’t you going to do something about it?"

The previously loud crowd INSTANTLY fell silent as everyone turned their eyes toward Chen Jingle. He froze for a moment. Seeing everyone looking his way, he immediately stopped shoveling rice into his mouth and swallowed his food.

The old lady who had yelled out was known as Aunt Mei. Despite her old age, she was actually from the same generation as Chen Jingle’s parents. She had a mean, harsh look about her and frequently did all sorts of spiteful, immoral things that harmed others without benefiting herself. For example, she would pour the bloody water from cleaning fish onto other people’s walls, throw garbage bags full of baby diapers into their woodsheds, or shove broken glass under their car tires.

In private, the villagers heavily cursed her behind her back. However, relying on her utter shamelessness, she continued to do as she pleased. After all, she was over seventy years old; she couldn’t be sent to prison, and no one dared to hit her. If they did and she got hurt, they would end up losing a fortune in medical bills. All they could do was hope she would kick the bucket sooner rather than later.

Chen Jingle raised his voice and asked, "May I ask what color the cat stealing food in your kitchen was?"

"Yellow," the old lady replied, her face stern with the absolute certainty of someone demanding justice.

Chen Jingle chuckled. "Oh, then it’s not mine. My family only has one cat, and it’s grayish-brown. It’s right here. Besides, I feed it meat-based food for all three meals a day. It’s fed completely full. I don’t think it would have nothing better to do than waltz into your kitchen to steal pickled vegetables."