"Are you sure you want to buy it? I don't think this is right. Look at how much Nana hates it. I don't dare eat it."
Huang Jinghe had been tempted at first. But when he saw that Lan Jin had no intention of buying it, he immediately dropped the idea. Ever since they had teamed up, following Lan Jin had never led to trouble. If Lan Jin wasn't buying it, then he was better off not buying it either. Besides, his family still had plenty of supplies — enough to last two or three years. This flour smelled so foul that even if he brought it home, he doubted he could eat it.
"I wouldn't dare eat it either," Huang Jinghe said. "Smells this bad, you'll just end up with a stomachache. Sister Ling, you'd better not buy it."
Even though Lan Jin and Huang Jinghe had both decided against it, Ling Jiang still couldn't let go of the idea. After a moment of hesitation, she said, "Let me ask Lao Gao what he thinks."
Ling Jiang pulled out her walkie-talkie and briefly explained the situation at the market. Lao Gao replied, "If you really want to try it, bring a little back. But don't buy too much. It's not like we don't have food. If you skip it, you'll probably think about it for days. So buy a little, only a little, understand? Absolutely no more than that."
No one knew Ling Jiang better than Lao Gao. While she went to line up for the flour, Lao Gao quietly told the others, "With Sister Ling's personality, if she doesn't get something she's curious about, she'll brood over it for ages. Better to let her buy some. I've already told her not to get much. She should have the sense to listen. You two don't need to encourage her. If Nana can't stand the smell, who knows what this flour's made from. At least if she brings it back, I can study it."
"Alright," Lan Jin said. "You're right. Bringing a little back to check isn't a bad idea."
Lao Gao did know Ling Jiang — just not quite well enough. He had told her to get a little, but once she was there, a little was never enough. From the look of it, Lan Jin estimated she'd brought back at least five jin. Out of everyone, she had traded for the most.
Lan Jin set down the walkie-talkie and sighed. "Really now, that's way too much. What if there's something wrong with it and you can't eat it? That would be a waste. And it smells awful."
Nana couldn't stand the stink at all. She pulled on her leash, trying to drag Lan Jin away from Ling Jiang.
"Well, I've already traded for it," Ling Jiang said.
Wouldn't it be a shame to get too little?
On the way home, the flour's stench kept forcing Nana to pull farther and farther away, tugging Lan Jin's arm to keep distance from Ling Jiang. Unable to help herself, Lan Jin muttered to the dog, "Nana, is there really something wrong with that flour? Why are you avoiding it so much? We've eaten snail noodles before, and that smelled pretty strong too. You weren't like this then."
Nana shook her head, as if to say there was nothing wrong with the flour.
But right after, he nodded — as if to say there was something wrong, just not seriously wrong.
Lan Jin was baffled. "So eating it is… wait, you haven't even tasted it. How would you know just from the smell? Don't give me half-baked opinions. It's probably just too stinky for your nose, right?"
Nana didn't respond — no nodding, no shaking his head. He whimpered twice as if making a complaint, then flatly refused to go anywhere near Ling Jiang.
From the balcony, Lao Gao had been watching them return. The moment he spotted Ling Jiang, he hurried down to open the door. He hadn't expected their group to come back in two separate clusters, and the sight made him chuckle.
"What's this? You two have a falling out? Walking in two squads now?" he teased.
Ling Jiang gave a helpless shrug. "Nana can't stand the smell. He wouldn't go near the flour stall at the market, and now he won't let anyone close to me while I'm holding it. Anyone who didn't know better would think the flour was poisoned."
Even from a distance, Lao Gao caught a whiff of something unpleasant in the air. The closer he got, the stronger it became. When Ling Jiang opened the bag, the odor hit him full force. It was so pungent that even a human would flinch, let alone a dog.
"With a nose that sharp, it's no wonder he can't handle it. But this stuff is seriously stinky. Didn't I tell you to only trade for a little? Why did you get so much? You don't even know if it's real flour or edible. If it's not, that's a waste."
Ling Jiang didn't seem concerned. "The seller was making pancakes with it right there, and I saw them eating it themselves. Should be fine. No matter what, it won't kill you. I just figured if I didn't get it now, there might not be any next time, so I stocked up."
In the time it took to say that, Lan Jin and Nana had reached the 30th floor. But as soon as they got there, Nana refused to go any farther. Hearing the voices upstairs, Lan Jin called out, "You two go on ahead. Nana won't go up while he can smell it."
"You're such a troublesome dog," Ling Jiang muttered. She picked up the flour and started downstairs, but Nana was faster. The moment Lan Jin loosened the leash, Nana bolted, charging down several flights in one go, as if his life depended on getting far, far away from that flour.
Lao Gao had heard Ling Jiang describe Nana's big reaction before, but he hadn't expected it to be this intense. His tone turned serious. "You haven't eaten it, right? Don't. Let me test it first. That reaction is too unusual."
He snatched the flour from Ling Jiang and carried it straight to his own apartment. When Lan Jin finally brought Nana back, the dog sprinted to the balcony and stayed there until the smell had faded to the barest trace. Only then did he agree to come back inside.
"Was that really necessary?" Lan Jin asked. "We weren't going to feed it to you."
Nana let out a long, audible sigh. A sigh so full of resignation that no one could guess just how much meaning it held. It was his way of saying — thank goodness they weren't feeding it to him.
…
After some testing, Lao Gao had his verdict.
"This isn't flour at all."
They all stared at him in confusion.
"It's insect powder," he explained. "You roast the bugs until they're dried out, then grind them into powder. That's why it's yellow and stinks. The smell comes from the guts not being cleaned out first. The yellow color is from over-roasting. It's high in protein, not poisonous, and safe to eat."
Even so, the thought of eating bugs made everyone uneasy.
Ling Jiang was the first to grimace. "The seller said it was flour. I saw them make pancakes with it. You can really make pancakes from bug powder?"
"They must have mixed in other ingredients," Lao Gao said. "Otherwise, with the guts left in, it'd be bitter and inedible. But make no mistake — the main ingredient is still bugs."