Volume 5, Chapter 16: The Spoiled Xianbing (1/2)

Maomao was taken to the residential district in the centre of the capital. Public order improves as you go north, so the rows of houses around here were middle-class.

There was an old house there. It was decently large, but the roof tiles were chipped and its bamboo frames were showing through the cracks in the mud walls.

Standing at the entranceway was a man she has seen many times before. It was Chouus observer, so she pretended as if she had never seen him before.

Maomao entered the rundown house.

(Oooh!?)

Despite the rundown exterior of the house, its interior was cleaner than expected. That wasnt what surprised her, however.

The walls were painted white. There was a painting drawn over the plaster.

One side of the walls had the scene of a peach garden. Beautiful maidens, not three warriors, were biting into those peaches. With their faces that were round like peaches, black hair like pitch, and cherry-like lips with white teeth peeking out, they looked very vibrant. It was a painting of the fairies of the Peach Blossom Spring(, tougenkyou or tao yuan xiang. A utopia referenced in a Chinese fable, a village hidden within a forest of peach trees).

She heard the artist was talented in drawing beauties, but she never had thought that he would be this good.

Maomao studied the wall. There was a peculiar sheen on the surface of the painted wall. This type of painting was somewhat unlike what she was familiar with.

When she tried to study it, there was the sound of footsteps.

Oi, Freckles! What are you doing! Come look, hurry!

Chouu had rushed over with a pale face.

(Not good, not good.)

It was Maomaos bad habit to get distracted by things that catch her attention. Chouu pulled her deeper into the house. What appears to be the living room had a colourful assortment of pigment-like powders, eggshells for some reason, white powder that seemed to be plaster, and a mixture of those scattered all over the floor.

There was a couch in the middle of the room. A man was lying down on it. There was another man beside him, watching in concern. The prone man was unshaven, face so pale it looked white. His fingertips were stained with colours or something. The man beside him had a tidy appearance, but his hands were similarly stained.

Give Teacher() a check-up, Chouu said.

Hes young to be called Teacher, but he must be the aforementioned up-and-coming artist. There was a pail beside the couch. There was vomit in it.

Maomao looked at the man. His limbs were trembling. She opened his eyes, looked at his pupils, then took his pulse.

As far as she could see, it looked to be some kind of food poisoning?

Symptoms? she asked.

Hes been vomiting and getting diarrhoea nonstop, Chouu said.

Hes been suffering ever since. He looked cold so we laid him down, though, the man who was standing added.

This man is? Maomao asked.

Hes Teachers workmate! Forget that, hurry, hurry!

Even if he told her to hurry up, the things Maomao could do were limited. If she didnt know what the poison was, she didnt know how she could treat him. However, if the mans continuously getting diarrhoea and vomiting, there is something he certainly wont have enough of.

Chouu, get me water, salt and sugar. If theres none in this house, get it from elsewhere. Maomao threw the money bag from her bosom to Chouu. The boy ran out of the house with a Gotcha.

Ill borrow the kitchen. Maomao went inside. She peered into the kettle and checked if the water had gone bad. In truth, she wanted to boil it, but there probably wasnt time for that. Is this unboiled water?

It was bought from the drinking water vendor yesterday, so it should still be good.

Bought water should be fine. She considered the chance of having loose bowels from drinking unboiled water was slim. Of course, its the case with properly checked water, but as far as Maomao tasted with the water she ladled out, there was no strange flavour.

The house looked rundown on the outside, but it seemed affluent enough based on the water they bought.

Maomao looked at the man who was in the same profession. How this happened, can you explain to me?

Yeah. The man, while flustered, carried a chair over to Maomao. Then he started to speak with frequent pauses. Its that guys bad habit, to have no qualms about eating spoiled food. I think, thats probably the cause.

Seems it really was the food poisoning she imagined.

There was xianbing(, ), he ate that. It looked like it was spoiled, so we didnt eat it, but this guy said that its edible if you grill it, and then ended up eating it.

(T/N: Oyaki in Japanese, Xianbing in Chinese: A flattened round wheat flour pastry/pie stuffed with sweet or savoury filling like meat, vegetables, red bean, thats been grilled, baked or panfried. Kinda like a meat pie. This chapter gives the Chinese term and labels it with the Japanese equivalent. Again, seeing how this is in a Chinese setting (like how I chose mahua over karintou back in volume 3), Ill stick with the Chinese term. Unless you guys would prefer that I just call it meat pie instead?)

Of course, it was spoiled. Its not like old food can get back to normal after you grill it. The poison stays in the spoiled food.

Geez, what going to happen now. We wont make it in time to finish the product.

The man touched the large board that was leaning against the wall. The board was painted white. There was a woman drawn lightly on it. It would be then coloured over with layers of paint. As the colours become more vivid, the painting of the woman would no doubt look like she was alive.

Even though they told us to finish this up within ten days.

Within ten days? she asked.

It even had a deadline?

Im back!

Chouu returned. Maomao took the salt and sugar he brought over.

She dissolved the salt and sugar in the water she prepared. She then took out a cloth from her belongings and soaked it in the mixture. She had the man drink by wetting his lips. She had him drink to hydrate him.

She agonised over whether it be better to warm up his body or to have the fever run its course. For the time being, his sweat wont absorb completely with his dirty clothes. She prepared clothes that could absorb sweat and changed him into them.

It was also terrible to have him sleep on the couch, so she prepared him a proper bed and medicine for abdominal pain.

During the course of that, he vomited twice. Nothing really came out; the stink of bile filled the entire room.

Probably thanks to the repeated hydration as she wiped his sweat, when night came around, he stabilised and the tremors also lessened.

By that time, Maomao, Chouu and the man from the same profession were completely exhausted. This house had nothing else aside from art materials, just thinking that a single bed was enough, so they had to borrow from the neighbours.

Drained, Maomao and Chouu leaned against a chair that had been carried over from another room. The couch the owner of this house had been sleeping on was empty, but honestly, until its cleaned properly, it wasnt in the state to be used.

Frecklesis he saved? Chouu asked.

Probably. She couldnt state it with utmost certainty. Its likely that he will recover his consciousness soon. However, he shouldnt be allowed to move for a while and will have to eat something thats easy to digest. Even if she were to make thin rice gruel, he didnt have rice at all, so they needed to get supplies. There wasnt a proper pot either.

The rice and clay pot, Ill bring it from my house. The man who read the atmosphere left the house. Its rough even though hes tired. Is he that close to the owner of this house?

What does the house owner normally eat?

Maomao spoke to herself, and Chouu answered.

It looks like Teacher always buys from food carts, or he gets something from the neighbourhood. It was xianbing today.

Hmmm, then was that what he ate this time? Maomao asked.

Chouus face contorted magnificently.

Whats wrong?

No, I just remembered what we ate today. We all ate the xianbing together, that uncle, Teacher and I. It was bad so I spat it out immediately though. But, I thought it was strange from the start.

Speaking of whats strange, it seems this Teacher guy said, Did I have something like this at home? when he looked at the xianbing that was laid out on the table. You would certainly get uneasy from that first point, but she was told that he recommended it to Chouu and that man who had come to his house.

Anyways, I would be happy if I get treated to anything if he has something, but he has a lot of questionable things that makes you wonder if its edible. Chouu was also shocked. It seems its true that a lot of those so-called artists are wierdos.

Maomao rested her elbow on the armrest and braced her chin. You often, you know, ate things like that.

I mean, he said that Uncle also ate it, and it looked delicious.

Chouu is a glutton, so if theres anything edible, he would put it in his mouth.

But, the xianbing seemed like it had gone off, so it was super bitter.

bitter?

Yeah, it was so bad I spat it out. Uncle also spat it out.

(Bitter, but it looked delicious?)

Maomao crossed her arms and tilted her head. Hey, it was bitter? Not sour?

It was bitter. You wouldnt think its sour.

Then, did the filling have a strange smell?

If there was, he probably wouldnt eat it. Chouu took off his shoes and swung his legs. The room was ventilated with the window open, but it was somehow humid. It also got dark outside, so she lit a lamp that had toppled over in that area. Not just paints, does this Teacher guy like imported things?  It was an unusual lighting equipment in this region, but it used fish oil so she was used to the stench. Its troubling since maomao had been licking oil recently.

The filling inside, was it stringy? Sticky? she asked.

Sticky? Now that you mention it

Seems he had hit upon of something.

It may have been a little slimy. Im not too sure since I spat it out immediately, with it being bitter. Uncle said that it was rotten, and said to spit it out quickly. Soon after that, I rinsed my mouth and drank it all down.