The Thunderer and The Cam

“Class, we got something new coming up, please listen.” Mrs. Thompson pulled up the power-point on the giant screen in front of her zombie-dead class; the kids were either looking at their phones or pretend listening to what's going on.

“Now that I have everyone's attention, a new assignment is coming up. Each of you will be making home videos.”

Now everyone was hooked on the phrase, 'home video'.

“The aim of the assignment is simple: record five minutes on any day about any specific aspect of your life. It could be anything such as a hobby, your favorite place, or something in your family. This will be your final project of the year, so take all the time you need. The minimum length of the video has to be 30 minutes. And don’t worry, we won’t be watching every single minute of everyone’s videos. The purpose of this project is that you have something close or personal to you recorded to fall back on.”

Ling Suyin was probably the only one who was beyond ecstatic. And she had the perfect subject to work on.

“Hey, Denise. What are you going to do?”

“No clue. I’m thinking about doing a stream or give a documentary on my doll collection…. Which I know most people might not want to see since… dolls have that reputation.”

“I'm thinking about filming cooking segments since we both know I want to be a world-class chef.”

“Oh, yeah! That'll be cool! I can't wait to see what you'll be doing.”

“Absolutely. I'm gonna show a lot of family recipes from Beijing.”

**

Once the bell rang, Suyin ran straight to her car for the drive home to tell her parents of the project over dinner.

“A video project, Suyin?” Mr. Ling asked.

“What are you going to do with it?” Mrs. Ling added.

Suyin answered, “I’m gonna need to borrow the kitchen for a while. Do you mind?”

“Of course not, Su. Just do it before one of us starts dinner.” Her father said.

“And make sure the dishes are clean.” Her mother added.

“Thanks, Mama.”

**

Day One

Suyin brought her camcorder to the kitchen and gathered the ingredients to make a common dish from China: vegetable stir fry. The girl put the camcorder in front of her and the cooking counter, as as the cooking stove.

“Hello, classmates! This is Suyin’s Home Kitchen for Mrs. Thompson’s video project and I’m happy to introduce traditional Chinese cooking. Day One is making vegetable stir fry which is a basic and easy meal to make.

“First, we need green peppers, red peppers, onions, broccoli, carrots, and soy sauce.”

Suyin chopped the vegetables while the wok was heating up; she then put the veggies into the latter and stirred the veggie mix thoroughly while adding soy sauce.

“Like I said. It's an easy meal to cook but keep in mind there are many ways to cook vegetable stir-fry. However, this is a family recipe and we cook it almost every night.”

Suyin paused while stirring the food into completion.

“And now… it's done!”

Suyin moved up close in the camera to show the viewer what she made.

“See? Delicious! That's all for now! Later!”

Suyin turned off the camcorder.

Okay. I have to go give some of this food as an offering. She grabbed a ceremonial bowl from the cupboard.

Suyin walked into a small room where few praying mats were facing a small stone statue of a figure. The said statue appeared to be a ‘man’ with a beak, claws, and the lower body of a dragon. Lei Gong, the Duke of Thunder, was one of the Ling family’s patron gods for traditional worship. The girl remembered reading the same stories about him in her childhood. Suyin placed the food near the small altar and lit two incense before muttering prayers before leaving.

***
Later that night for dinner, Suyin and her parents were gathered at the table.

“Suyin, did you go inside the room?”

“Yes, Mom.”

“How your first day of the video project?” Mr. Ling asked.

“It was okay. It felt like I was hosting a cooking show.”

Mrs. Ling drank her tea before adding, “So… how long are you going to be doing this project?”

“The teacher asked us to get it done in the next two months…”

“That's some time before school is out.”

“Yeah, this is our ‘final’ for film class. We don't have to film every day but the video has to be 30 minutes maximum.”

“I will go into the back room.” Mr. Ling said as he got up.

Soon afterwards Suyin was called in by her father from the room where she saw the empty food bowl. They were both stunned why the hell the stir fry was gone. Absolutely no one in the house ate it.

“Uh,... this is strange. Are you sure you didn’t eat the bowl after giving the prayer?”

“No, Dad! I set the food down, did my prayer and left, I swear. I don’t think Mom saw anything suspicious."

“Came in what? What’s going in the back room, Fu?”

“Nothing, Dao…. Can you come in here?….”

***

The missing food incident was very much strange to Suyin. She was trying very hard not think the Thunder Duke himself had something to do with it. No matter how much they wanted to be a ‘just a vision’... but the empty bowl didn't lie.

During the weekend, Suyin had more time to spend in the kitchen.

“Hello, everyone. Welcome to Day Two! Today, I will make wontons! Again, another family recipe and one of my favorites. If it was possible, I could eat these things all days and not get tired of them.

“The first step is to get wonton dough wrappers and cut into squares before adding the filling.”

Suyin scooped the prepared filling meat it into the wrapping dough and made the appropriate shapes before putting them into a traditional steamer.

“The wontons take under ten minutes to cook.... Okay, they’re done!”

Suyin ran up to the cam for the viewer to see the results.

“There will be a new change of plans. I’ll bring the food to our sacred room with the camera.”

Suyin entered the back room. The statue and the prayer pillows were untouched from last night. She put the camcorder in position and walked towards the altar again, setting the food into the bowl and did a small prayer.

Okay, everything seems clear. Suyin turned to the camcorder. “This is my family’s religious room where we pray to our patron god from China. Just to let you know we follow a traditional worship. Before or after dinner, we come in here to give food offerings."

She then turned off the camcorder before she heard something. Heavy chewing. She turned white, her breathing quicken while slowly turning around to face the unexpected visitor. Gasping ran amok as the Thunder Duke himself was standing right behind her eating the wontons she just set out. And what made it worst he had a beer belly so large it almost made her and the room feel small.

***

Suyin was still jumpy Lei Gong manifested into her house. But that wasn't the only thing she was flustered about. One critical observation she noticed his current appearance wasn't… completely correct. He still had his green skin, his… creepy beak face with beady eyes and his lower-dragon body covered in scales. What was incorrect was that he didn't have his wings and was almost morbidly obese. That was not his typical physical attribute. The thought of him eating so much thanks to so a good deal of food offering could be the culprit but that's only a fraction of so many unsaid factors….

Suyin had no idea what to do after he left. He only ate the rest of the wontons before leaving. Before disappearing, he said these words., “I expect more from you soon.”

And it didn't take a mind reader to figure out he said. Please have more food for me when I return.

Suyin had a huge metaphorical eyebrow raised on her eye. This was something she needed to consult her parents about.

Mr. And Mrs. Ling were hanging out in the living room that Saturday evening after coming home from a day of outing. Suyin wanted to tell them everything about what happened.

“Mom, Baba. Can I ask a hypothetical question?”

“What is it, Suyin?”

“Well, what if our beloved patron god of thunder appeared out of nowhere and wanted something from you?”

Mr. And Mrs. Ling stopped dead in whatever they were doing and looked at Suyin.

Mrs. Ling said firmly while straight into her daughter's eyes, “Do whatever you can to appease him.”

“That's it?”

“Exactly.”

“Okay, the reason I asked because I've been putting food offerings in the room after running the camera because of the incident the other night.”

“Make more food if you can. If you receive some kind of vision or witness something supernatural in the room. I suggest you get on it. And you bringing the camcorder helps.” Mr. Ling suggested.

“Okay. Thanks, Mom, Baba.”

What on earth was Suyin even thinking? Making more food for their family’s patron god for her video project? How the hell her other classmates would react to this? Suyin's heart started beating in panic, but she had to stay calm.

There was a lot of deep thinking while in bed that night.


***
Suyin planned a day to spend at the local market to get more food ingredients for the upcoming weeks. Before doing that, she called Denise if she wanted to ride along. The girls drove rather quietly to the market because Suyin didn’t bother to hold any conversation while being a little tensed.

“Okay, Suyin? Mind telling me why we’re heading to the city market?”

“Denise, I'm sorry for the weird behavior… but something happened at home yesterday.”

That stirred the girl’s interest, “Go on.”

“I'm trying very hard not to sound crazy. But since you know my family’s religious… well, uh… I saw a vision from our patron god and… he wants more food offerings.”

“Whoa… Su… it sounds like you're not telling me the full truth…”

“Okay! I can't tell you if the vision was real or just a dream… but.. agh. I don't know what to tell you. It's all strange.”

“Take it easy. You're not the only person in the world who thinks they got some godly vision. The world works in weird ways.”

Suyin said nothing for while organizing her thoughts…

“Well, I feel a little relieved now you said it. Let's get going, then. Since I’m doing a lot of cooking, I’m responsible for picking up the ingredients for the time being.”

Suyin and Denise stepped out of the car.

The girls spent time at the market for 2 hours. Suyin and her family get their food from a local Chinese store where their products were imported fresh from the mainland. Denise was thrilled with the prospect of trying real, authentic Chinese cuisine. They bought pork buns and shrimp egg rolls

“Something was telling me I was eating Chinese food the wrong way! These egg rolls are out of this world.”

Chinese cuisine here has to be changed to suit American taste.”

“I figured as much. I'd never thought I'd be eating the real thing.”

“Yes. My parents rarely go out the nearby Chinese restaurants because of it. Besides, we strive to have a healthy diet.”

“Understandable. Nothing wrong with that. You won't believe how much my parents go through to make sure my little sisters and I eat right every week on a tight budget.”

“Yeah, I know it’s not easy to eat right today, but our health can be so easily overlooked these days.”

“True. Are you going to cook once you get home?”

“If I want to be on his good side, yes. I might still use the camcorder. But first, I'm gonna prep before cooking because I'm planning to do something different…. Do you mind helping me out?”

"I don't see why not. I got nothing going on at my house."

Suyin decided to make shrimp stir-fry and wonton soup that afternoon. Fortunately for her, a pot of post-cooked rice was kept in the refrigerator made from the night before. She assembled the necessary veggies for the stir-fry which was peas, onions, and diced carrots. And the uncooked wontons ready.

“Hello again. Today on Suyin's Kitchen, we will be making two things today: shrimp stir-fry and wonton soup. First, I'll make the fried rice by dumping day-old white rice. Then add the vegetables and stir.”

Suyin stirred the food for before adding soy sauce and other sauces to add it flavor.

“Now we add the main part! The shrimp!”

Suyin dumped the shrimp into the wok before resuming stirring. While it cooked, she quickly made the wonton soup broth. She added the shredded pork, three cans of chicken broth, and shredded cabbage into a saucepan. Before adding the wontons, she returned to the fried rice and turned it off.

“Yay, the shrimp is boiled to perfection.”

The wontons were dumped into the saucepan and its contents had to be cooked for a while. Suyin asked Denise to switch off her camera as no one would never have to watch several minutes of nothing but steam rising.

“Okay, wonton soup is done! Along with the fried rice! Now I got food for lunch.”

Suyin put a small amount of the food for her in the fridge before bring more or less the rest in the room.

“Denise, can you bring in the camcorder into the back room?”

“On it.”

The girls went into the statue room and the cam was switched on again.

Denise looked around and said, “Wow, you never showed me this part of your house before.”

“I rather keep it private, but since I’m showcasing my food for the project, I might as well let the other kids know about our religious affiliation since well, our patron god likes my cooking it seems.”

“Haha.”

Suyin did the same routine near the statue before something strange happened again. This time, the food bowl levitated into the air.

Oh, great. He’s here.

“Denise, can you leave the room?”

“I would say no, but hell, why should I argue!”

Denise walked out as the otherworldly activity was happening in front Suyin. She stepped back from the statue. The food bowl was now empty, followed by this disembodied voice.

Such a good girl for making me such a delicious offer!

Suyin answered, “You’re very welcome! May I ask a favor?”

“And what is it?”

“Can you appear?”

“I’m right behind you.”

Suyin was shocked at the voice that answered directly behind her ear; she moved away to turn around to see the obese, half-human thunder man ‘happy’ to see her.

“What is it you so desire?"

“Let me explain.”

It took little to convince Lei Gong to ‘help’ Suyin on her video project since he was apparently attracted to her culinary skill. Besides, it would such a shame to have such good food ‘untouched and unloved’ as it was a weird reason to put it, but Suyin accepted it.

The film was set up outside in the backyard. The camera rolled.

“Hey, everyone. A new change of events has occurred in the video project. In short, this is my family’s patron god and he likes my food, so he may show up from now on.”

The cam was focused the two while Lei Gong was eating the soup and rice.

“At least I’m happy to have someone besides my parents who likes my cooking. And to be honest, I'm so surprised he's bigger than usual…. He usually isn’t this… fluffy, so to speak. he’s supposed to be intimidating.”

Suyin placed her hand on his arm. Wow, he really let himself go… Maybe I shouldn’t go into the room for a while.

The girl continued moving her hands over his blubbery mass, almost amazed how he accumulated such girth. She then motioned Denise to cut the camera off.

“Okay, we’re done for today.”

“Before you leave… you called me ‘fluffy’? Are you suggesting that you like this?”

Suyin felt her cheeks turn red at the accusation. She chose her words very carefully. “To be honest… I only pointed out it because you're not supposed to look not like this.”

“I can appear whatever I want. But thanks to you, I might stay like this now.”

Oh dear… Suyin wasn't sure that was a good thing or a bad thing, but it was not her position to argue. The idea of a once scary and strong thunder god transitioning into a soft, half-anthropomorphic teddy bear was... just... nonsensical.

Lei Gong approached the girl to give her a light-hearted hug. Suyin could feel the strength and the pudginess of his girth squeezing on her. Fluffy, right. More like suffocating.

***

Suyin was now trapped in a crazy loop of giving the patron god free food as worship that was deemed weird. She didn’t bother telling her parents because they would say the same thing like they did before. Maybe on the flip side, this would be a great opportunity to improve her cooking, anyway.

During the next week of school, she, along with the rest of the class, was informed of a recent change. Even though no one in the class would want to watch hours of every 22 students’ videos, Mrs. Thompson suggested that they leave in favorite or the most cherished segments of the video while still keeping the 30-minute time limit. This new change of plan made Suyin reconsider only doing her video on Fridays and weekends if possible. This helped untangle an issue because she was getting concerned with how it going to work out. She figured if the Thunder Duke would come back every time she cooked food for an offering that would be a favorite moment or two. Or maybe three. Then again, not all of those special moments needed to be on film either.

Suyin only recorded three eating segments with Lei, but the cam was dropped afterward, in favor of off-screen sessions. Meaning that Su and Lei would hang out in the backyard to have lunches with the thunder god eating it all himself. But Suyin was fine with it since she made it for only him anyway. Nonetheless, the girl has amused that the Thunder Duke had such a… excessive appetite. This kind of eating behavior was more or less common in her culture anyway.

During a quiet evening, Suyin was in her room going over the film. She particularly wanted to examine the segments with Lei. And for once she was pretty stunned for her time looking at them. She wasn't moved by the improved filming skills, she was proud of how she captured the magnitude of Lei Gong’s obese figure. Aside from how he ate the food, his love-handles, and general puffiness somehow suited his… nonhuman appearance very well. Just by looking at his belly, Suyin could feel the soft squishiness in her hands; her hands would fondle with all the cascading folds. And those dragon legs of his, they contained a lot of fat on every square-inch of the latter, but still retained a defined shape .

****

The due date was approaching and the project had 28 minutes of her video. If the video wouldn't be completed within two weeks as Mrs. Thompson instructed this time for editing and getting in those final minutes. The entire video comprised of segments on cooking and segments of the half-dragon thunderer sitting in front of the camera while Suyin was near him off screen.

On a warm Friday night, Suyin prepared for the final segment of the video before it goes through the painful process of editing and making cuts. This last recording would be dedicated to Lei Gong gorging on the food as a conclusion to the project.

The cam was on. The feast consisted of many wontons, rice, peppered beef, and some desserts were all ready to go.

“Hello, everyone. This is my last segment of Suyin's Kitchen! I just wanna say this was very fun to show off my cooking skills and I'm pleased to see improvement over these last two months!

“Furthermore, my family’s patron god has been an unexpected yet major supporter of my food and it's so wonderful he likes to show off his gut in front of the camera. And for the best part, he gained a few extra pounds along the way when he joined me.”

Suyin gave some of the food and he gorged on the wontons into his uniquely shaped mouth. He continued eating the remaining wontons with the beef fried rice and crab rangoons. Lei chewed and chewed, savoring the flavor ravenously before gulping it down. The mooncakes were gone in no less a minute.

“Okay. Lei Gong completed the final meal, and boy, was it fun! Just look at how stuffed he is!” Suyin said as she slid her hand on his belly, feeling the tautness. “Just to let you all know Lei Gong ate a dinner that could fill a family of five. It was totally worth it. And that concludes the end of Suyin’s Kitchen. Bye!”

***

“Su… are you absolutely sure your video's appropriate for the class?”

Denise was frantic over the outcome of Suyin’s video after she watched and helped edit the thing. What she saw was... nothing short of awkward and flat-out unusual; her reactions were among the lines of a mild ‘WTF’ to ‘is this all that’s happening?’.

Suyin patted Denise on the shoulder and said with great confidence, “You shouldn’t worry, Denise. Mrs. Thompson said we could do anything with our videos on whatever hobbies we choose.”

“True, but! The weird segments..?”

“No worries. I’ll explain to them afterward.”

The girls walked towards film class while one minute remained in the passing period.

Denise grimaced. “This is going to be so embarrassing.”

“Nonsense. Now, come on!” Suyin said as she happily carried her videotape and entered the classroom with a big smile on her face.