Who Stole the Kitchen God‘s Candy

On the altar table where Old Wang's family enshrined the Kitchen God image, the dish of maltose candy, carefully made, was gone.

It was the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, the day to welcome the Kitchen God, and this candy was the key to persuading him to "speak good words in Heaven and bring back blessings." Old Wang was in a panic, pacing back and forth in the room like an ant on a hot pan.

"Where's the candy? Where's my candy?" he asked his wife.

His wife rolled her eyes, "I didn't touch it. Who would bother to steal that sweet, sticky thing?"

Old Wang didn't believe her and asked his son and daughter-in-law. His son was swiping on his phone, saying, "Dad, I don't eat your candy. Who wants that stuff?" His daughter-in-law was busy feeding the baby, not even raising her head, "Dad, don't ask me, I'm busy."

If his family hadn't stolen it, Old Wang was even more puzzled. Could it be the cat? His old cat, Blacky, was usually quite greedy, but it couldn't jump up to the altar table.

He began to investigate one by one. The windows were tightly closed, and the doors were locked, with no sign of outsiders entering. Could it be a ghost? Old Wang shivered and quickly spat out a few "呸" sounds.

He stared at the empty dish, feeling uneasy. This candy was made by him personally, after two hours of boiling, using the secret recipe passed down by his ancestors. This candy was not just candy; it was a tribute to the Kitchen God, an anticipation for a smooth year ahead.

Without the candy, how would the Kitchen God go to heaven? Without the candy, how would good fortune come next year? The more Old Wang thought about it, the more anxious he became, the wrinkles on his forehead deepening by three inches.

He started asking around. He asked the neighbors, who all said they hadn't seen it. He asked the elders in the village, who all said, in this day and age, someone stealing Kitchen God's candy was probably the first.

He went to the village committee, hoping for some help. The village chief was busy collecting the "Spring Festival Garbage Sorting Summary Forms" submitted by the villagers, not even looking up, he said, "Old Wang, this matter, I'm afraid it's a family affair, we can't interfere. Besides, how much is your candy worth?"

Old Wang went back home with his tail between his legs.

The family started dinner, the food on the table was plentiful but tasteless. Without the Kitchen God's candy, the Spring Festival seemed to have lost its soul. The son started scrolling on his phone again, and the daughter-in-law continued to breastfeed the baby.

Looking at them, Old Wang suddenly remembered something. He rushed to the altar table and began to observe carefully.

Underneath the altar table, there was a small patch of sugary residue, almost blended into the wood grain. Old Wang crouched down and gently rubbed it with his finger; it was indeed sugary residue, sticky.

He looked up again and saw a gap under the table, with a trace of sugary residue on the edge of the gap as well, as if something had brushed against it.

Old Wang slowly reached his hand in, fumbling for a while, and pulled out something from the gap: a small box made of white cardboard, with crooked cartoon figures drawn on it, it was his grandson's toy box.

He opened the box, and inside, lay a sticky blob of maltose candy, precisely the candy he had made. The candy in the box had been licked a little over half way, displaying an irregular, uneven shape.

Turns out, it was the grandson who stole the candy and hid the box in the gap under the table. The little guy, just three years old, teeth not even fully grown, had already learned to steal and hide "loot".

Old Wang looked at the candy covered with saliva, his heart filled with mixed feelings. The candy had ultimately ended up in his own family's stomach, just not in the Kitchen God's stomach.

He smiled helplessly. In this day and age, even the Kitchen God's candy couldn't be kept safe, what was the point of talking about speaking good words in Heaven and bringing back blessings?

That night, Old Wang had insomnia. He tossed and turned, the image of the village chief busily collecting garbage sorting forms appearing in his mind. He felt that this was even more absurd than the candy being stolen.

The next day, the sun rose as usual. The first thing Old Wang did after getting up was put the remaining half of the candy back on the altar table. He looked at the Kitchen God's image, silently murmuring: Kitchen God, you probably won't be full this year, but next year, next year, I'll make you more.

Then, he silently took away his grandson's toy box and hid it under his bed. The box was newly bought and very pretty.