SFTD -Chapter 36 Savory Tofu Pudding VS Sweet Tofu Pudding

August 7th, 2014 — Beginning of Autumn

Who said it gets cooler once autumn begins?

Total nonsense!

Zhou Hai wiped his still-damp hair and turned on the hotel television. The news was broadcasting today’s temperatures. The entire map of China, from the “chicken head” to the “chicken claws,” was covered in blazing shades of orange and red. There was no escaping the heat.

They were in Duping, a county-level city under Dongnan City’s administration. Since it was farther inland, temperatures here were three or four degrees higher than in Dongnan itself. The damp southern wind clung to the skin in an unbearable way.

They had been here for three days handling a petition-related case, and planned to return to Dongnan this morning.

The hotel room door swung open and Xu Biao rushed in, drenched in sweat. Seeing that Zhou Hai had already washed up and left the door open, he immediately planted himself under the air conditioner and blasted himself with cold air.

“This damn weather! It’s already this hot first thing in the morning!”

Xiao Liang and Fengzi, who were staying across the hall, came over after hearing Xu Biao shouting.

“Brother Hai, what time are we leaving?”

Last night they had received a call from Huang Zhongsheng. Captain Huang had officially been promoted—he was now truly Captain Huang. The guys had seized the opportunity to extort a celebratory dinner from him tonight.

Captain Huang also wanted Zhou Hai’s second team to join, and Zhou Hai had unusually agreed.

Zhou Hai glanced at the time on his phone.

“We’ll eat breakfast first, then head back to Dongnan. Fengzi, fill up the car.”

Luo Yunfeng patted the backpack slung over his shoulder.

“Already prepared.”

Xu Biao grinned mischievously and bumped Luo Yunfeng with his shoulder.

“Hey, Fengzi, who was that mysterious woman who called you last night? Didn’t she say you shouldn’t leave today because she wanted to meet and talk? You’d better bribe me properly, or I’ll tell your wife.”

Fengzi raised the bag in his hand threateningly, and Xu Biao immediately dodged away.

“Hah! Go ahead and tell her. I’m not scared.”

Xu Biao hadn’t expected him to sound so confident. Naturally, that only fueled his curiosity.

“Oh ho, now you really have to explain. Who is she?”

Fengzi frowned.

“My high school classmate… and also my sister-in-law.”

“Sister-in-law?”

“She wants to borrow money. But where would I get any?

“I only just managed to transfer my wife back to Dongnan. She won’t officially start teaching at Zhenhua Elementary until September, so right now we’re living off my salary alone. Besides, the cost of living in Dongnan is so high that our savings are basically gone. And on top of that, she still hasn’t paid back the fifty thousand I lent her before. Borrow more? This time I seriously don’t have any.”

Zhou Hai stopped walking.

“You can’t just refuse?”

Xu Biao narrowed his eyes.

“Damn. What kind of leverage does she have on you? Why do you have to give her money whenever she asks?”

The question instantly drained Fengzi’s confidence. He blinked several times, pressed his lips together, and after a long pause let out a deep sigh.

“Well… back in high school, I… I chased after her once. It was just teenage hormones. I’d long forgotten about it. But when my wife and I were preparing to get married and our families met, I discovered they were actually biological sisters. There was no way I could confess that myself, right? After that, she kept finding excuses to borrow money from me.”

Xu Biao’s eyes widened.

“Holy crap! That’s some soap-opera-level drama. Your ex and current wife are sisters?! But yeah, you definitely can’t confess that. Once it’s out, that becomes permanent black history.”

Xiao Liang looked worried.

“My god… what if Sister-in-law finds out?”

Fengzi exhaled deeply.

“If she finds out now, I’ll just tell her the truth. Back then, I only hid it because I was afraid my wife would feel uncomfortable about it. Three days before our wedding, she borrowed fifty thousand from me. What choice did I have? Everything for the wedding was already prepared. I couldn’t exactly let the wife I’d finally gotten run away, could I? But this Zhu Tong—even after moving to Duping with her husband—still hasn’t toned it down. Every month or two she calls me. One problem after another. The harassment never stops. I’m sick of it too.”

Xu Biao looked at him sympathetically.

“Fengzi, being handsome really isn’t always a good thing. Looking at your life, I suddenly feel much happier. Being single might get lonely sometimes, but at least there are no restrictions. Free and easy. Right, Hai?”

Xiao Liang nudged Xu Biao in the shoulder.

“Brother Xu, don’t say that. Brother Feng’s already miserable enough.”

Fengzi slung his backpack back on and smiled at the people genuinely worried about him.

“Sometimes I think not getting married might actually be pretty good too. One person fed, the whole family fed.”

Looking at Fengzi’s helpless expression, Zhou Hai suddenly saw flashes of his own parents in front of him.

Ever since he could remember, they had argued endlessly every single day.

His mother was dissatisfied with everything about his father—his work, his habits, the way he handled life… everything.

Back in elementary school, Zhou Hai had once asked his father why their family fought all the time.

He was tired of it.

His father rubbed his head and told him that when his mother was about to give birth to him, his father had been out on assignment. He hadn’t returned home for two whole months.

Even when he called, he couldn’t say what he was doing. He could only claim he was away on business and couldn’t come back.

With the due date approaching, his mother had no choice but to walk alone to the hospital where she worked for a prenatal checkup.

Just before reaching the hospital, a thief snatched her wallet and shoved her to the ground.

She immediately began suffering severe abdominal pain, but because it was early morning there were barely any people on the road.

At that moment, a car stopped across the street.

His father and a female police officer got out in plain clothes. When they saw his mother, they only glanced at her briefly before walking away as though they hadn’t seen her at all.

At the time, his father was pursuing a major drug trafficker. The deal was about to happen, and absolutely nothing could interfere with the mission.

Later, passersby discovered his mother and rushed her to the hospital. But because of massive hemorrhaging and the severity of the situation, the doctors had no choice but to remove her uterus.

After that incident, his mother never trusted his father again.

Even though she knew he had been carrying out a mission.

Even though she knew he was a hero.

But as a woman, she felt only sorrow.

Zhou Hai shook his head.

“Luo Yunfeng, a lot of things can’t be undone. Don’t keep wearing away the trust between two people. The feelings between husband and wife are actually very fragile. Enough about that. Let’s go eat.”

The group quickly headed to the hotel restaurant. Since it was still early, there weren’t many people eating the breakfast buffet yet.

Xu Biao alone carried four entire plates.

The first plate: four fried eggs, two marinated eggs, two sandwiches, and four grilled chicken wings.

The second plate: two crab roe buns, two char siu buns, two soup dumplings, two shaomai, and two shrimp dumplings.

The third plate: stewed tomatoes with soybeans, cold bitter chrysanthemum salad, char siu pork, salted eggs, and pickled long beans.

And one huge plate piled with assorted fruit.

Oh.

And a bowl of tofu pudding without any sauce added yet.

Zhou Hai glanced at the table overflowing with food.

Then silently walked over to another table beside Xu Biao’s and sat down.

Xu Biao was stuffing food into his mouth. Seeing Zhou Hai sit somewhere else, he looked utterly confused.

After forcefully swallowing a soup dumpling full of scalding broth, he asked indistinctly:

“Hai, why aren’t you sitting over here?”

Xiao Liang and Fengzi walked over carrying their own trays. Seeing the mountain of food covering Xu Biao’s table, they silently chose seats beside Zhou Hai instead.

Xu Biao wasn’t stupid.

Their expressions already explained everything.

He snorted and lowered his head, launching another attack on the four plates.

Ten minutes later, he had swept through everything like a tornado.

Even the cartilage in the chicken wings had been gnawed completely clean.

But suddenly, Xu Biao stared at the lone remaining bowl of tofu pudding and began scratching his head anxiously.

Seeing his conflicted expression, Zhou Hai couldn’t help asking curiously:

“What’s wrong?

“You can’t eat anymore?”

Xu Biao shot Zhou Hai a resentful glare.

“No. I’m just thinking…Should I add savory gravy to the tofu pudding? Or red sugar and red bean syrup? Actually, mango sago would work too. Or maybe make it spicy?”

“……”