The Last Wish of a One-Star Cracker

The stranger was Su Jianwei, a flavor scientist. Her professional method for stopping Chen Nuo from chasing a roast-chicken van was to open a fire hydrant and hose him for thirty seconds. General Crunch was afraid of water. So was Chen Nuo, especially when Tang Xiaoman presented the next morning's bill: 29.9 yuan for slippers, 120 for cardboard boxes, a pending hydrant fine, and eighty-eight for emotional damages suffered by her drumstick. “How does a drumstick suffer emotionally?” “It never fulfilled its purpose of being eaten by me.” They sat inside Xiaoman's struggling snack shop. Five of its six tables were empty; the last was buried in invoices. Wearing gloves, Su Jianwei scraped seasoning from the Cluck-Cluck Crunch packet.