Chicken Feather

Ah Q has been feeling rather troubled lately. This trouble isn't because of anything else, but because of his stomach.

He has always loved Huang焖Chicken (Huang焖Ji, Braised Chicken). That rich, dark sauce, coating the tender chicken pieces, paired with a bowl of steaming white rice, is simply the ultimate delicacy. But recently, he hasn't dared to order it.

It's not because of the price. These days, everything is going up, and Huang焖Chicken has followed suit, but Ah Q, if he has nothing else, has the word "hungry" at the forefront, and for the sake of his appetite, he's still willing to spend.

The problem lies with the delivery drivers.

The first driver delivered his meal on a gloomy, rainy afternoon. The driver's face was overcast, he hesitated to speak, and finally, under Ah Q's puzzled gaze, he muttered softly: "Bro, lately... eat less Huang焖Chicken."

Ah Q was stunned. He thought he had misheard, and asked again, but the driver just shook his head, got on his electric scooter, and disappeared into the rain and fog.

Ah Q felt uneasy. He thought, maybe this driver was just exhausted from delivering meals and was a little out of it. He shook his head, put the matter behind him, and continued to enjoy his meal.

But in the following days, strange things continued to happen.

The second driver, a young man, was in a hurry when delivering the meal, as if he had a fire burning behind him. Ah Q took the meal, and was about to thank him, but the young man spoke first, lowering his voice: "Bro, take my advice, this Huang焖Chicken... you know."

Ah Q was completely baffled. What did he "know"? He didn't know anything! All he knew was that his favorite Huang焖Chicken seemed to have some kind of problem.

The third driver was a middle-aged man, with dark skin, clearly weathered by life. He didn't say anything when delivering the meal, but when Ah Q took the meal, he sighed deeply, a sigh full of unclear and unspoken meaning.

Ah Q finally couldn't take it anymore. He opened his phone, typed "Huang焖Chicken" into the search box, and what popped up was a bunch of shocking terms:

"Zombie meat", "lymphatic meat", "expired meat"...

He felt a churning in his stomach, as if he wanted to vomit up all the Huang焖Chicken he had eaten in the past few days.

He remembered the expressions of those delivery drivers, their hesitant looks, their meaningful sighs. He suddenly understood, they weren't out of it, nor were they trying to be mysterious, they were using their own way to remind the world that some things were quietly deteriorating.

Ah Q silently closed his phone. He walked to the window and looked at the gray sky outside. He felt a blockage in his heart. He thought, this world is becoming increasingly incomprehensible.

He remembered when he was a child, every household raised chickens, and during festivals, killing chickens and ducks was such a joyous occasion. Nowadays, chicken is cheap, but behind this cheapness, how many unknown secrets are hidden?

He remembered the Huang焖Chicken he had eaten before, the rich aroma, the tender texture, but now he only felt disgust.

He sighed, and threw the untouched Huang焖Chicken into the trash can.

"This world," he muttered to himself, "even eating chicken is unsettling."

He suddenly felt like a chicken feather, light and floating, blown aimlessly by the winds of this era.