The previous day, a light drizzle had fallen in the mountains. After killing the chicken, Heroine Wu took a walk into the bamboo grove, and when she came back, she had picked a few termite mushrooms. In Yizhou they were usually called mountain mushrooms. She used the old hen from the bamboo grove to stew a pot of chicken and mushroom soup. A layer of golden chicken fat floated on the surface, the rich fragrance of termite mushroom filling the air.0

While the soup simmered, she took down some cured meat hanging from the beam, scrubbed it clean, and stir-fried it with garlic sprouts. With the two mushrooms left over, she simply stir-fried them as well. Everything was served in big, rough clay bowls.0

The old wooden table and the unpretentious but abundant dishes formed a scene full of homely warmth.0

The old friends sat facing each other, eating meat in big mouthfuls and talking as they ate.0

Because she needed to look after little Jiang Han, Lady Calico didn’t revert to her true form but kept her human guise. Sitting on a bench beside the child, she fed her while listening to the two converse, and making sure the unsteady Jiang Han didn’t...0