28: Chapter 28 Wang Lei's Braised Food Stall Calls

The sycamore leaves in the Old neighborhood were curled up by the sun, and the sound of cicadas rolled through the alley entrance, wrapped in heatwaves.

Chen Jie squatted on the threshold of Grandma Zhang's house, his screwdriver struggling with an old-fashioned radio. The "click" of the gears meshing mixed with the hawking from afar, like an out-of-tune song.

"Jie-zi! Help!"

The sudden explosive voice at the alley entrance startled Chen Jie, making the part in his hand drop to the ground.

When he looked up, he saw Wang Lei running over, carrying a rusty bucket of braising liquid. The grease stains on his blue cloth apron were darkened by sweat, and the braising liquid sloshing from the rim dragged a brown trail across the cement floor, like a wriggling little snake.

"What's up? Is that broken freezer of yours on strike again?"

Chen Jie bent down to pick up the part, the thin calluses on his fingertips brushing against the dust-covered circuit board.

His backpack leaned against the doorpost, a piece of suede peeking out from the zipper seam. Sunlight shone on it, casting a dark green shadow—it was that jade stone. Ever since returning to the Old neighborhood, it had been like a rusted screw, never shining again.

"Worse than a strike!"

Wang Lei slammed the bucket of braising liquid onto the ground, the iron bottom making a dull thud. "The pig knuckles I just braised turned white after being in the freezer for less than two hours! They were fine yesterday, but today they're like they've been hexed. Smell this..."

He lifted the lid, and a wave of sour, meaty smell surged out, mixing with the coal smoke from the alley, making Chen Jie frown.

Zhao Kai poked his head out from behind the wall, clutching half a piece of uneaten mung bean cake: "I told you that freezer needs replacing. Last time Jie-zi helped you fix the condenser, he said the copper pipes were almost rotted through—"

"Easy for you to say!"

Wang Lei glared at him, then turned to Chen Jie, the flesh on his face bunching into pleading wrinkles. "Jie-zi, that precious jade stone of yours... can you lend it to me? Old Zhou said the white stone can perform Water purification, maybe this green one of yours can keep things fresh?"

Chen Jie's fingers paused on the radio knob.

These words reminded him of the earthen jar at Old Zhou's place—when the two stones recognized each other, the white one glowed with golden light, and the green one flowed with blue light, stirring the murky water until it was clear.

But since returning to the city, this jade stone had become a dead lump. Yesterday, while helping Brother Li fix his bicycle, it almost rolled out of the bag and dented the tire.

"I'll try, but don't get your hopes up."

He grabbed his backpack and walked toward the braised food stall, the canvas strap leaving a red mark on his shoulder.

Zhao Kai huffed and puffed behind him, muttering about how "feudal superstition is no good," but his eyes were fixed intently on the bulging outline on the side of the backpack.

The freezer behind the braised food stall was humming, like an old ox struggling to catch its breath.

When Chen Jie pulled open the freezer door, a gust of sour-smelling cold air rushed out. A thin layer of frost had condensed on the cabinet walls. The freshly braised pig knuckles lay in a white porcelain plate, their sauce-colored skin darkened, looking unappetizing.

"Look, look!"

Wang Lei was so anxious he kept slapping his thigh. "It was shiny and bright when I first braised it this morning, but now it looks like a piece of rotten wood!"

Chen Jie didn't speak, pulling the jade stone out of his backpack.

The dark green stone surface was covered in a few canvas threads, and the horizontal and vertical patterns were obscured by dust, making even the outline of the wrench that had shown its power under the waterfall unclear.

He placed the jade stone on the freezer shelf. The moment his fingertips left it, he suddenly felt the stone surface turn slightly warm, like holding a pebble that had been baked by the sun.

"Is that it?"

Zhao Kai scoffed and reached out to grab the jade stone, but Chen Jie pressed his hand down.

"Wait."

Chen Jie's voice was very low.

He stared at the pig knuckles in the freezer, suddenly recalling that on the train, this stone could filter out the smoky smell from the braised food, leaving only the meaty aroma. Now... could it do something too?

Three minutes later, Wang Lei suddenly let out an "Eh."

The pig knuckles on the plate had somehow regained their sheen, the sauce color turning bright and translucent again. Even the sour smell in the air had faded, leaving only the rich, meaty aroma, as if they had just been fished out of the braising pot.

"It's alive! It's alive!"

Wang Lei's voice was as loud as a loudspeaker. "Jie-zi, this stone of yours is truly a treasure!"

Zhao Kai's eyes went wide. He leaned in close to the freezer to peer at it for a long time, then suddenly reached out to touch the jade stone.

The moment his fingertips touched the stone surface, that faint warmth vanished instantly. The stone turned as cold as ice, and the sheen on the pig knuckles dimmed along with it.

"That's weird..."

He jerked his hand back. "Does it actually recognize people?"

Chen Jie stuffed the jade stone back into his backpack and zipped it up quickly.

Just a moment ago, he had clearly seen a faint green light flash within the stone's patterns. It was as fast as an illusion, yet it reminded him of the way the blue light flowed along the patterns in the stream at Suiyu Slope.

"Coincidence. The freezer must have suddenly started cooling."

Zhao Kai argued with his neck stiff, but as he turned, he intentionally bumped into Chen Jie's backpack. "But... next time Wang Lei braises pig knuckles, you have to bring the stone."

Wang Lei had already happily carried the pig knuckles into the back room, humming an off-key tune.

Chen Jie watched his back and touched the jade stone inside the backpack.

It had returned to its cold state, like an ordinary rock, but the warmth from just a moment ago, along with the sheen that had reappeared on the pig knuckles, was definitely not an illusion.

A calico cat from the alley entrance had rubbed against his feet at some point, its tail wrapped around Chen Jie's pant leg, emitting a "purr" from its throat.

When Chen Jie looked down, he saw some dark green powder on the cat's paw—it was the jade stone powder that had leaked from the backpack, given by the woman in the floral dress last time.

"Let's go, time to fix the radio."

He pulled Zhao Kai up, the backpack strap casting a faint green shadow in the sunlight.

The wind of the Old neighborhood swept past, carrying the scent of braised food, wrapping the secret of the jade stone into the smoke and fire of the marketplace, like a freshly boiled braised egg, quietly brewing the next boil in the soup of time.