Mada Mountain

The mountain was cold and so was the moon.

A campfire had been set up by the woods at the edge of a cliff in a valley.

Gu Yu was turning five fat rainbow trouts over the fire, making sure they did not burn but were just crusty enough. Xiaozhai produced some red berries she found somewhere and squeezed them. The thick juice burst out, and she carefully smeared it all over the fish.

Long Qiu and Xiaojin leaned against one another with their heads touching and waited eagerly for the parents to finish cooking.

"Done!"

Gu Yu gave the fish another few turns, checked the color of the skin, and removed the wooden skew. He passed one to two girls each and took one himself. Xiaozhai was more of a vegetarian and stuck to the gourd of liquor.