Two Bowls of Noodles

Chewing moodily, Qingqing wandered the streets aimlessly, somewhat consoled by the tart, sticky sweetness.

"I should have kicked over his steamers," she muttered to herself with a black face. "Though that would have been a waste of food. But the fool needed to be taught a lesson. Huh! Thought he could get out of it so easily? I, Qingqing, am not someone you can bully just like that. The impudence!"

She stopped suddenly and leaned foward, seeing a familiar face at the noodle shop in front of her. Qingqing's eyes brightened. Her cheeks were swollen with the candied haw in her mouth so her words came out considerably muffled.

"Dao Ge!"

A man seated at a table raised his head, and Qingqing waved eagerly at him.

"Ah, it's Young Master Qing! We meet again. Join me for some noodles?" He beckoned.

Qingqing vaulted over the side and plunked herself willingly down on the bench across from him. "Are the noodles here any good?" she demanded, swallowing the last candied haw.

"They're not bad," he said, waving at the waiter. "Here, boy. Another bowl of noodles for my friend. Add an egg into it too."

Qingqing leaned her cheek on her palm, throwing away the bare stick from the candied haws. "Some noodles would be just the thing. I had an unpleasant run-in with a cowardly bao seller and didn't even get to eat my fill."

"Young Master Qing seems to have a genius for getting into scuffles," chuckled Dao Ge, glancing keenly at the vivacious young face.

Qingqing sighed. "Only because the gods send all the most annoying people on earth my way. I don't go out of my way to make trouble. There's no shame in running from a fight when you're at a disadvantage. But these people only have half my intellect, and no morals to speak of. One doesn't have an excuse. It's practically your job to teach them a lesson. It gets tiring after a while, to be sure."

Dao Ge shook his head, amused. "You don't make many friends, I suppose."

She folded her arms. "That depends. I pick my friends carefully. People are crafty and one cannot trust too easily."

"Young Master Qing must have wandered the world alot despite your young age, to speak so pragmatically."

Restraining herself from snorting, "Young? I'm your senior by several hundred years!" Qingqing shrugged. "People are the same everywhere. It doesn't take a genius to find that out."

The waiter arrived with a large steaming bowl in either hand. "Careful, hot! Two sirs, enjoy your food."

Dao Ge handed Qingqing a pair of chopsticks. "Come, tuck in while it's hot. My treat."

Qingqing smiled, pleased. "You're a worthy man, Dao Ge. Next time I'll treat you to something good, you can count on me." She jingled her pouch happily. Along with this set of fine gentleman's clothes she had also pocketed the money pouch of the owner, and had been overjoyed to find it heavy with silver. As a result, she had been eating and drinking royally for the past few days.

She poked her chopsticks into the egg sitting on top of the mound of noodles in her bowl, and watched with a satisfied smile as the yolk burst and came running out in a golden trickle, winding through the strands of noodles and disappearing into the soup. It was only natural that she remembered another bowl of noodles, with an egg ontop, in another place, in a dim little kitchen…

Pushing the memory away stoically, Qingqing dug into the bowl and held up a swathe of noodles on her chopsticks, blowing impatiently to cool it down. Dao Ge watched as she bit into it and chewed, considering the texture and thickness of the noodles.

Putting down her chopsticks, she said decisively through a full mouth, "It's not bad. But it's slightly thinner than I like. I've had better noodles than this, but it's good enough."

"And just where did you have those wonderful noodles? I've got a mind to go and try those. I thought these noodles were pretty good." Dao Ge was wolfing his and breathing out steam.

Qingqing shook her head resolutely, and her voice sounded unexpectedly somber. "Don't bother. They were made by a woodcutter--a clumsy fellow! But he was good at making noodles!-- in a rural little village you won't know," she said dismissively, but she sighed.

She paused, and frowned. Under the taste of the broth and the egg wisps, and the shreds of vegetables, she tasted a very slight bitter aftertaste. At first she thought it was the vegetables, but they weren't wild vegetables, just ordinary leafy greens; and the taste lingered a moment longer than it should.

The ends of Qingqing's chopsticks came thudding down on the table and her fist thumped forcefully into Dao Ge's back as he hunched over his bowl. With an ungraceful choke, he coughed out the mouthful of noodles, spluttering, and raised his head, moustache dripping with egg and soup, to look at her with astonished eyes. Heads turned instantly to see the strange scene.

"There's something in the noodles," Qingqing said sharply. "Don't eat it!"

Using her chopsticks, she knocked the bowl of noodles off the table and it cracked on the ground, spilling hot soup and limp noodles everywhere.

Dao Ge wiped the food off his face, and stared suspiciously at the bowl in his hands. With a growl, he looked up. "Where's that waiter? How dare the boss allow the food he sells to be tampered with?" he roared. "Come out and explain yourself, or fight me head on like a man!"

Qingqing's fingers tightened around the chopsticks and she whirled around as she sensed someone running up to them. Somehow she was not surprised to see the Three Gambling Ghosts bearing down on them; Lao Lu was right upon her, a dagger in one hand, Wangfan was pushing past a frightened family seated behind them, and SuanRong vaulted over the side, landing heavily inside the shop with a new cudgel tipped with metal.

"You sneaky bastards," breathed Qingqing.