Chapter 50: Ah-xiang Wants to Come Too: "I'll Cook the Mahjong Meal for You"

Underworld Card Games: From Fight the Landlord to Six-Chong
Volume 3, Chapter 50: Ah Xiang Wants to Come Too: "I'll Cook the Match Meals for You"

The Judge was still wrestling with little Zhang over the ledger filled with rules. Little Zhang clutched it tightly to his chest, shouting, "You'll get it back after the Six-Chong match!" The Judge stomped his feet in exasperation, his three pairs of reading glasses sliding all the way down to his chin. Just then, a heavy "thump-thump" echoed from outside the City God Temple. Ah Xiang came barrelling in, carrying a round, bulging bamboo basket. Half a head of mud-stained Underworld cabbage was hanging over the rim of the basket, and the stove ash stuck to the bottom left a black trail all the way across the floor like a drawn line.

"Master Ma! Master Ma!" Ah Xiang’s single shout made the entire City God Temple fall silent. She dumped the bamboo basket onto the stone table with a resounding crash, revealing roasted melon seeds, raw cabbage, and a chipped iron pot. "I heard you're putting together a team for Six-Chong, and I've come!"

Wang Erma blinked in confusion. "Ah Xiang? Weren't you on the Four-Chong team? What are you doing meddling in Six-Chong? With your 'stir-fried consecutive hands' skills, the Six-Chong match has no room for a 'Culinary Goddess' like you!" He still remembered how, after losing the last Four-Chong match, Ah Xiang had nearly pelted the card table with cabbages.

Ah Xiang gave her thigh a resounding smack that made the iron pot in the basket bounce. "I'm not playing cards! I'm here to cook the 'Match Meals' for you!" She reached into the basket, grabbed a handful of golden-roasted melon seeds, and scattered them across the table. "Look, these are my 'Card-Memorizing Melon Seeds,' they smell much better than Meng Po's ordinary ones! And this cabbage—stir-fry it into 'Stir-Fried Greens' and eating it helps you remember consecutive hands; stew it into 'Stewed Cabbage' and drinking it steadies your hand!"

Little Li hurried over, pinched a melon seed, and popped it into his mouth. His eyes lit up instantly as he began to recite a poem: "Ah Xiang brings her basket to report, stir-fried seeds and stewed cabbage waft a fragrant sort. Good luck is hidden in the match meal deep, Master Ma's team will surely the Six-Chong sweep!" After reciting, he grabbed another handful of melon seeds and stuffed them into his pocket. "These smell much better than the ones Meng Po gave me last time. Sister Ah Xiang, your skills are way better than brewing soup!"

Meng Po happened to be passing by carrying a bowl of sweet soup, and she laughed upon hearing this. "You girl, are you trying to steal my business?" She leaned in to sniff the melon seeds. "They really do smell good. Fried with elm tree leaves, right? I love putting those in my soup too!"

Ah Xiang nodded eagerly. "Sister Meng Po is right! I also added a bit of dew from the Naihe Bridge, so the roasted melon seeds have a hint of sweetness and won't strain your throat—if Little Zhang gets tired of calling out scores, he just needs to eat a couple to perk right up!"

Little Zhang pushed his small glasses up his nose, picked up a melon seed to taste, and murmured, "They really are sweet, tastier than the Judge's rulebook..."

The Judge, busy trying to snatch back his ledger, grew even more flustered upon hearing this. "What's tastier? Can my manual be eaten as a meal? Ah Xiang, don't come here and cause trouble! The Six-Chong match has plenty of rules; don't go stir-frying your cabbage into the card pile!"

"I'm not causing trouble!" Ah Xiang said as she pulled a small wooden sign from her basket. On it, "Ah Xiang Logistics Team" was scrawled crookedly in stove ash. "I'm just in charge of cooking, passing water, and guarding the card table—if anyone loses and throws a tantrum, I'll whack them with a cabbage leaf; if anyone wins, I'll stir-fry an extra handful of melon seeds as a reward! Last time in Four-Chong, Old Zhao wanted to flip the table when he lost, and a single head of cabbage brought him right back to his senses!"

Old Zhao was squatting nearby, staring fixedly at the roasted melon seeds on the table while loudly swallowing his saliva. He felt around in his blue cloth pouch and muttered under his breath, "Another one... My melon seeds were barely enough to go around as it is, and now I have to share with you..."

Hearing this, Ah Xiang grabbed a handful of melon seeds and shoved them straight into Old Zhao's pouch. "Don't be so stingy, Old Zhao! My melon seeds are in endless supply! If you help me pick up dropped cabbage leaves, I'll even stir-fry some 'Bomb Melon Seeds' for you—eating those gives you the courage to throw bombs!"

Old Zhao’s eyes lit up. He hurriedly opened his pouch wide. "Really? I'll help you pick them! I'll even wash your cabbage for you! The cabbage I wash is cleaner than the cards the Judge counts!" With that, he squatted down to pick up the cabbage leaves that had fallen out of the bamboo basket, tucking two extra leaves into his pouch as he went. "These leaves are tender, they can double as chips to stack on!"

Xiaohei and Xiaobai had already crowded around. Xiaohei reached out, grabbed a handful of melon seeds, and stuffed them into his mouth, mumbling indistinctly, "Sister Ah Xiang, I'll help you tend the fire! The fire I make can turn the iron pot glowing red, and these melon seeds will turn out super fragrant!"

Xiaobai hurriedly chimed in, "I'll help you pluck the cabbage! The cabbage I pluck has all its leaves intact and no wormholes—cleaner than the cards Xiaohei hides!"

Ah Xiang’s eyes crinkled into crescents as she smiled. "Alright! You can all help! When the match starts, I'll make a 'Six-Chong Grand Platter' for you—red cards paired with stir-fried red peppers, black cards stewed with black pepper, consecutive hands stir-fried like candied hawthorns, and bombs stewed into a New Year's feast. I guarantee eating them will help you win cards!"

Wang Erma looked at the lively scene before him: Ah Xiang bossing Xiaohei and Xiaobai around as they plucked cabbage, Old Zhao squatting on the ground stuffing stray leaves into his pouch, Little Li composing "match meal poems" on the side, Meng Po helping to shell melon seeds, and even the Judge forgetting about his ledger as he stared intently at Ah Xiang's iron pot. Unable to help himself, Wang Erma struck the table and made his decision. "Fine! Ah Xiang, you can stay! You'll be the logistics cook for our Master Ma team! If we win Six-Chong, I'll grant you extra 'soup bucket funds' so you can replace your old soup bucket for brewing greens!"

"Really?" Ah Xiang's eyes lit up. She snatched up a head of cabbage and slammed it onto the table. "I'll make you your first match meal right now! I'll stir-fry a dish of 'Cabbage and Melon Seeds,' and stew a pot of 'Sweet Soup Cabbage'—I guarantee it'll help you memorize cards faster and play them smoother!" With that, she set the iron pot atop the stone stove nearby. Xiaohei immediately squatted down to blow on the fire, sending flames shooting up so high they singed the tips of the Judge's mustache.

The Judge leaped into the air, patting his mustache as he yelled, "Careful! Don't burn my rulebook!" He quickly shoved the ledger back into his bosom and crowded closer to watch Ah Xiang cook. "Let me tell you, don't put too much salt in the food. Last time I drank Meng Po's salty soup, I was so parched I couldn't remember my cards..."

Without looking back, Ah Xiang retorted, "I know, I know! The salt I use is more precise than the words in your rulebook!" With that, she sprinkled a handful of salt into the pot, tossed in half a head of cabbage, and with a loud "whoosh," the rich aroma instantly wafted through the air. Even the little ghosts hiding in the rafters poked their heads out, chirping, "I want to eat some too! I want to eat some too!"

Wang Erma stood with his hands on his hips, laughing. "Well, this is wonderful. We've got Little Zhang for memorizing cards, Little Li for writing poems, Old Zhao for guarding the cards, and Ah Xiang for cooking. Our Master Ma team is finally complete!" He picked up one of Ah Xiang's roasted melon seeds, chewed it, and nodded in satisfaction. "Tastier than the roasted seeds outside my residential compound! Ah Xiang, from now on, the match meals are all up to you!"

Ah Xiang nodded vigorously, the spatula in her hand making a brisk clattering sound against the iron. "Don't you worry, Master Ma! My match meals are more effective than Meng Po's sweet soup! If you lose, eating them will help you win; if you win, eating them will help you win even more—more reliable than Little Zhang keeping score!"

Little Zhang pushed his small glasses up, flipped his ledger to a fresh page, and earnestly wrote: "Ah Xiang: Logistics Cook, in charge of match meals, melon seeds supplied in endless amounts." He even drew a tiny cabbage in the margin, looking more serious than when he recorded card combinations.

Sunlight filtered through the lattice windows of the City God Temple, casting a golden glow into the iron pot. The rich scent of cabbage and melon seeds filled the great hall. Xiaohei's fire burned bright and steady, Xiaobai's plucked cabbage leaves were neatly sorted, Old Zhao's cloth pouch was stuffed to the brim with leaves and seeds, and Little Li's poetry draft gained a few new lines: "Cabbage fragrant, melon seeds sweet, laughter echoes in Master Ma's team." The logistics of the Master Ma team were finally settled, and even the breeze carried the mouth-watering scent of home-cooked food, as if warming up the venue in advance for the upcoming Six-Chong battle.