Roast Chicken on the Roof

"This is for her nose. To leave a big dent in it!"

There was a cheer. The two pairs of legs on the tiled roof kicked happily. Silence, except for munching noises.

Yuanzheng frowned as he stood looking up at the feet sticking out from the rooftop. One was a pair of shapely feet in green shoes, the other had bare toes--dusty ones with overgrown toenails--sticking out from the worn straw soles bound onto them with rags. A familiar pair of feet.

Qingqing gnawed the last bit of cartilage from the end of a chicken bone and crunched it noisily. "Your turn!"

Xiaohu chewed the wingtip in his hand. "Wait. I want to suck the bone a bit more, there's still some flavour left in it. Wouldn't want to waste a good chicken bone on her, would we?"

They chuckled together. Lazily, Qingqing fiddled with the chicken bone in her hand. She closed one eye and aimed. "This one...let me see."

"Throw it onto her fancy clothes and leave a big grease spot there." suggested Xiaohu, voice slightly muffled by the chicken wing sticking out of his mouth.

"No, you need a juicier piece for that." Qingqing said knowingly. She thought for a while. "Ha. This one will drop down the front of her fancy gown and go places it shouldn't go!"

She hurled it decisively. They snorted with laughter. "She's going to be shrieking and scratching at it like a mad cat, and embarrassing herself!"

"Ahhhh! Juaner, take it out! How dare you! Peasants! Fools! I'll have you beheaded! Don't you know who I am?" Xiaohu made a bad imitation of Mao Xiang in a voice that cracked when he tried to make it high and shrill. They hooted noisily in amusement.

Qingqing stopped laughing long enough to flip onto her back, clawing at the front of her robe in the way Mao Xiang was supposed to. "Ah, it's fallen inside! It's leaving grease spots all over my clothes! Do you know how much the undergarments I'm wearing cost? A fortune! I bet you've never seen underwear this expensive in your life!" she whined. They lay on their backs in the sun, shrieking with laughter and clutching at their bellies with greasy hands.

Their laughter pealed out until a voice suddenly interrupted them. "What on earth are the two of you doing up here?"

They froze.

Yuanzheng stood behind them, looking down at them with a quizzical expression. He had fetched a ladder and climbed up unnoticed while they were laughing.

Xiaohu held out the half-eaten chicken wing. "Eating chicken. She bought it with her money, we didn't steal it. Don't scold us now." he said defiantly.

"What's with throwing the chicken bones into Mao Yuan's yard? Aren't you afraid someone might see you? You'd get caught and beaten within an inch of your lives." Yuanzheng gestured sternly at the fine yard in front of them. Across the neat paved path, in front of some rare shrubs and fine rock sculptures, a display of chicken skeleton parts could be seen.

"Oh, you're so annoying. How did you know we were here, anyway?" demanded Qingqing. "When I came looking for you, you were nowhere to be found." Her voice was petulant.

"My mother told me you had come by asking for me. So I went to the roast chicken stall. I guessed you would have found your way there somehow. The roast chicken seller told me which direction the two of you had gone. Little did I know the two of you would have gotten into some mischief already."

Qingqing made a face. "Don't be such a killjoy. That's precisely why we're up here on the roof. No one will notice us if you don't go making a fuss."

Xiaohu licked his fingers. "I agree with Sister Qing! We're not going to budge till we're done, so don't dream of dragging us away."

"Sister Qing indeed. When did you two become such good friends?" Yuanzheng muttered in disgust.

"Oh, stop being so grumpy, will you? Here, we saved a piece for you. I didn't forget."

Qingqing motioned at the dirty handkerchief lying on the roof tiles besides them. There were a few pieces of roast chicken left.

When Yuanzheng hesitated, she made an exasperated sound and grabbed his sleeve, yanking him down forcibly besides her. "Come on! Do you want your chicken or not?"

Startled, Yuanzheng lost his balance and fell partially on top of her. He managed to shoot his arm out just in time. Qingqing shoved him aside impatiently and rolled over to give him more room, undisturbed.

He awkwardly moved closer to Xiaohu, flushed. "You could have pushed me off the roof! Or made a hole in it. I hope the rafters of this roof are strong enough to take the weight of the three of us."

"Stop worrying so much, it's a rich person's roof isn't it? How can the great Mao Yuan's roof not be able to take the weight of three lowly peasants like us?" sniggered Xiaohu.

Qingqing slapped a piece of chicken into Yuanzheng's mouth as he opened it. "Oh, just be quiet and eat your chicken, blockhead." she snapped. "We were having fun. If you won't let me get revenge on Miss Mao then you'd better let me throw a few chicken bones to vent my frustration. You should throw one yourself. You've got good reason to bear her a grudge."

Xiaohu waved his chicken wing in the air. "I'm ready! Watch. This one is going to stick into her hair and replace those fancy hairpins she's so proud of."

He flung it as Qingqing cheered.

She reached for another piece of chicken. "Hurry up, blockhead. It's your turn after this."

"This is--good. I haven't had roast chicken for a long while. Thank you, Miss Qing." Yuanzheng admitted slowly.

Xiaohu slapped him on the back. "Isn't it! I could eat this all day. I haven't had so much meat in my life." Blissfully, he sank his teeth into another piece.

Pleased, Qingqing waved her hand graciously. "You may have another piece." she said grandly.

For a while there was only the sounds of chewing to be heard, until Qingqing flourished another chicken bone. "Here I go! This one now, will go...into Miss Mao's ear!"

Xiaohu howled with laughter as Qingqing pitched the bone into the yard. There was a sudden shout from below.

"Who's that! How dare you throw rubbish into Official Mao's courtyard!"

With a gasp of fright that nearly made him swallow his piece of chicken whole, Xiaohu scrambled up. "By the gods! Someone's seen us!" He snatched up the precious remains of the chicken, bundling them up into the handkerchief and stuffing it inside his brown cloth.

Shoving the rest of his chicken into his mouth, Yuanzheng grabbed Qingqing's arm and yanked her up as Xiaohu swarmed down the ladder. They scrambled down so hastily it was a wonder no one slipped and broke a leg. Yuanzheng spared a moment to snatch the ladder away and toss it back where he had found it, and the three of them took off at top speed down the street as the servant burst out from the side entrance brandishing a stick.

Gasping, Qingqing stopped for breath. "The chicken," she panted.

Xiaohu patted a bulge in his brown cloth, too breathless to speak.

She nodded in relief. "Supposed to save one piece for his mother." She pointed at Yuanzheng, then bent over in laughter when her eyes fell on him.

Yuanzheng removed the piece of chicken from his mouth swiftly as Xiaohu joined in. "Laugh away. I told you this was going to happen." he said with dignity.

"Well, I regret nothing. I just have to think of those chicken bones lying there and I feel so comfortable inside." she said breezily, putting her hands behind her as they strolled onto the street.

Yuanzheng hid a smile. "I should stop keeping the two of you company. I'll end up at the yamen one day."

Xiaohu snickered. "Don't worry. As the smarter ones, Sister Qing and I will take on the responsibility of protecting you."

Qingqing, however, was not listening. She stopped suddenly, staring intently across the street at the tavern opposite. Through the window of the second storey she saw a veiled figure in white seated at a low table. The stranger raised a cup of wine just as a small breeze blew by, and lifted the veil for a moment, revealing a brief glimpse of the face beneath.

"Sister Bai?" she breathed in amazement.

She patted Xiaohu absently on the back. "Hey, you. Don't eat all the chicken. Remember one piece is for the old lady. Blockhead--" she turned to Yuanzheng, "you two wait a while for me."

She darted into the crowd.