Fear of food

Chapter 11 Dr. Zhao's Abnormalities
Chen Qi broke out in a cold sweat instantly, his heart pounding wildly as if it were about to leap out of his chest.

"It's looking at me!"

Chen Qi was quite certain that the eyes on those two fleshy tendrils were scrutinizing him.

In his panic, a thought flashed through his mind. He quickly composed himself and pretended not to have seen anything.

He then lowered his head and slowly processed his emotions.

Has my condition worsened?

"This world is getting more and more chaotic!"

Chen Qi glanced at Nurse Xiaoru out of the corner of his eye and saw that she was engrossed in eating a "big steamed bun," biting open the bun's skin and sucking out the vomit inside.

She was facing Dr. Zhao, yet she seemed oblivious to the unusual changes in him.

"Just like with the abnormality in the food, am I the only one who can see it?"

"Xu An'an should be able to see it too, but is it real, or is it just my imagination?"

"If it's not a hallucination, and if what I'm seeing is real, then... the problem isn't just with the food, but also with the people."

"Or is it that the problem arose after people ate strange food?"

One reason why Chen Qi has always lacked confidence in what he sees is that everyone he sees eats strange food, yet everyone is perfectly fine.

But do the abnormalities that are now appearing in Dr. Zhao prove that this is not the case?
It's possible that everyone is experiencing something unusual, but they're just hiding it very well.

"Speaking of which, when I eat wild food, they all automatically come to stop me. Isn't that also a kind of abnormality?"

"However, this abnormality only occurred among medical staff and security guards. The patients around them also ate the strange food, but they did not exhibit this behavior."

"Therefore, the occurrence of these anomalies still cannot prove that they are related to eating strange foods."

"It could also be that hospitals are a special place in themselves..."

Whether they are medical staff or security guards, those currently exhibiting obvious abnormalities are all hospital employees.

Moreover, wild food is only found in hospitals.

This made it impossible for Chen Qi to determine whether the source of the anomaly was the strange food or the hospital itself.

Chen Qi kept thinking and trying to sort out the various clues, but he still couldn't come up with a convincing explanation.

But no matter what, in order to prevent these abnormalities from happening to him, he was determined, as always, to never touch those strange foods!

Seeing Chen Qi keep his head down and remain silent, Dr. Zhao chuckled and said, "Still can't make up your mind?"

"With so much food to choose from, you can be discharged after just one bite. Can't you even do that?"

"It seems you don't really want to be discharged from the hospital."

Chen Qi frowned slightly, sensing the unusual behavior of Dr. Zhao today.

"This is not something he would normally say."

"He seems to be trying to trick me into eating weird food. Am I overthinking it?"

"What's the point of making me eat anything else when I've already proven I can eat bread?"

"Even if I grit my teeth and swallow it, what will that prove?"

Combined with the unusual behavior he observed in Dr. Zhao, Chen Qi began to suspect Dr. Zhao's motives.

He shook his head and said, "I'm already full today. Maybe next time, definitely next time."

Dr. Zhao said calmly, "There won't be a next time. Once you have the feeding tube inserted, you'll be able to eat anything."

Chen Qi's eyelids twitched slightly; he sensed a threat in Dr. Zhao's words.

But when I looked up at Dr. Zhao, I saw that he still had a gentle smile on his face and still looked very refined.

The granulation tissue protruding from his temple had retracted, and as he stopped scratching, the bright red opening closed.

It was as if nothing had happened, and it was all just Chen Qi's imagination.

Chen Qi remained silent, but felt a heavy unease in his heart.

Judging from Dr. Zhao's words, they still need to force him to have a feeding tube inserted.

His only chance now is to wait until he gets the phone in the afternoon and then try to persuade his parents.

He sent messages to his parents yesterday but didn't get a reply. A whole day has passed, and they can't just pretend they didn't see them, can they?
"Speaking of which, my parents' behavior has also been quite unusual..."

Chen Qi was filled with doubts.

Seeing that Chen Qi made no response, Dr. Zhao seemed to have finally given up and said to Xiao Ru:

"We can't possibly eat all this. You can keep some of your favorites and share the rest with your colleagues."

Nurse Xiaoru responded, tidied up, and then went out with Chen Qi.

Chen Qi returned to the ward with a heavy heart, his mind preoccupied with something.

Around 1 p.m., Nurse Xiaoru brought the nutrient solution into the ward.

Seeing Chen Qi leaning against the headboard looking sullen, Nurse Xiaoru asked gently, "Are you unhappy?"

"How can I be happy?" Chen Qi sighed.

Nurse Xiaoru was also a little puzzled: "I didn't expect Dr. Zhao to be so strict."

Chen Qi looked up at her and thought to himself that Xiao Ru was at least much more normal than Dr. Zhao.

His gaze fell on the IV fluid in Xiaoru's hand, and he said, "I don't need an IV today, right? I've almost recovered, and I ate bread today too."

“This…” Xiaoru hesitated for a moment, “Then I’ll go and talk to Dr. Zhao.”

"Okay, thank you for your help."

Chen Qi plans to stop receiving intravenous fluids starting today. Firstly, it's unnecessary; as long as he can eat two wild foods a day, his health will steadily improve.

Secondly, it's just in case. If Dr. Zhao adds some medicine to this nutrient solution, he might wake up to find a feeding tube already inserted.

Who knows what Dr. Zhao, who is behaving so strangely today, might do?

Chen Qi was determined not to cooperate with the insertion of the gastric tube, so he could not give Dr. Zhao any opportunity to take advantage of him.

"I brought your phone." Nurse Xiaoru left Chen Qi's phone and then left the ward.

Chen Qi eagerly opened his phone, and several unread messages popped up in succession.

He first opened the chat with "Dad".

Dad: Your mom and I have talked about this many times. She hopes you'll be fully recovered before being discharged. Your priority right now is to get better and cure your illness. Don't rush to leave the hospital.

Dad: When I get back from my business trip, even if your mom doesn't agree, I'll still come pick you up.

Mr. Chen was a technician who was more practical than talkative, and he didn't talk much in his daily life.

Chen Qi sighed. His father was out of town and he really couldn't rely on him.

He replied: Lao Chen, when are you coming back? Why are you away on this business trip for so long?
Unexpectedly, Mr. Chen replied to the message very quickly.

Dad: It should be done soon, but there was a slight accident that delayed it for a few days.

Chen Qi chatted with his father for a couple more minutes, then opened the unread message from his "mother".

Yesterday he exposed his mother's previous lie, and he was very curious about how she would explain it.

Mom: Hug emoji

Mom: I'm sorry, my dear son, I did go to the hospital that day.
Mom: But Dr. Zhao said that our frequent visits as parents might make you dependent, which would be detrimental to overcoming your psychological barriers.
Mom: Reducing visits and maintaining appropriate distance might make you want to go home more, more eager to recover, and more proactive in your treatment.

"Just as I suspected." "It's Dr. Zhao again!"

"He's preventing family visits and trying to trick me into eating weird food. What exactly does he want?"

"What good does it do him to use every means to prevent me from being discharged from the hospital?"

Dr. Zhao's actions have clearly exceeded the scope of normal treatment.

Regardless of Dr. Zhao's motives, once Chen Qi is successfully discharged from the hospital, he will have no further contact with Dr. Zhao.

Chen Qi shared the good news of his recovery and being able to eat bread with his mother.

Before he could even ask to be discharged again, his mother replied.

Mom: I already know. Dr. Zhao told me at noon. You have no idea how happy I was to hear that!
Mom: It seems that Dr. Zhao's treatment plan was really effective. It was a wise choice to transfer to another hospital back then.

Chen Qi was stunned on the spot.

Chen Qi: Dr. Zhao told you that he cured me?
Mom: What else could it be? You could have cured yourself?
Chen Qi's typing hand hovered in mid-air, and he suddenly didn't know what to say.

What could he say?
He claims he's gotten better by eating wild foods?

As for being discharged from the hospital, that's not even worth mentioning.

At this point, anything Dr. Zhao said would probably be taken as gospel by Mom.

Dr. Zhao disagreed, and his mother would never help him get discharged.

"So all my hard work in finding food, racking my brains to plan the elevator meal, and finally getting my health back to improve, is all thanks to Dr. Zhao?"

"I recovered so I could be discharged from the hospital, but instead, I ended up being trapped in the hospital even longer."

Chen Qi felt a sense of helplessness, like receiving counterfeit money after standing on the street.

He was somewhat disinterested and lost interest in continuing the conversation.

His physical recovery, coupled with the availability of barely edible dry bread, led him to believe that he could convince his doctors and family to allow him to be discharged from the hospital.

As a result, neither path was viable.

"You can't rely on anyone else; you have to rely on yourself."

"Let's continue eating tonight and get my body back to its peak first."

"Once I've fully recovered, what reason will he use to continue preventing me from being discharged from the hospital?"

Speaking of food, Chen Qi secretly touched the jianbing guozi hidden in his pillowcase, feeling a surge of anticipation.

I wonder if eating this jianbing guozi that he's been craving will help him get back to his peak physical condition?
Chen Qi was thinking about something, but his hand instinctively opened the "Passerby" app.

Yesterday marked the first time he hadn't updated his status, as he didn't post any new updates.

He also doesn't plan to update his status today; his current situation leaves him unsure of what to post.

He opened the Passerby app, just to see if there were any messages from Momo.

Yesterday he asked to add Momo on WeChat, but he didn't receive a reply from her.

But today, as his phone vibrated slightly, the red dot on the software interface representing unread comments gave Chen Qi a slight jolt.

He quickly clicked on the comments.

momo: Where are you?

Chen Qi hesitated for a moment before replying: "Psychiatric ward, Affiliated Hospital of Jinghai Medical College."

Less than two minutes later, my phone vibrated again.

Momo: Remember, no matter what, never eat things that look inedible.

Chen Qi's gaze sharpened, finally confirming that Momo was also one of his kind.

Moreover, Momo should know something, at least more than he does.

Chen Qi: What exactly happened?

momo: I don't know. Anyway, don't think too much about it. Just focus on protecting yourself first.

momo: I'm also trying to find a way out. If you can get out of the hospital, you can contact me.

Chen Qi: How about we add each other on WeChat?
momo: Just leave me a message here, I'll see it.

Chen Qi put down his phone, thinking to himself: Momo must know some secrets, but since he's already said so much, there's nothing I can do if he doesn't want to tell me.

We can only keep in touch, and if I am discharged from the hospital in the future, I can talk to him in person.

After experiencing these past few days, Chen Qi realized that even his closest relatives, such as his parents, could not help him.

The only ones who can truly help him are his own kind.

Only his own kind would believe him and understand his situation.

For example, she delivered jianbing guozi (a type of Chinese crepe) to Xu An'an, whom she had only known for a day.

Momo, whom he had never met, had been cheering him on online for the past two weeks and was now offering him advice.

They are just a minority, and they have to face pressure from the majority. That's why they instinctively stick together for warmth.

Just then, the sound of rollers rolling came from the door of the ward, and the cleaning lady pushed the cleaning cart in.

Are you here to clean the ward?

Chen Qi subtly shifted his position, completely covering the pillow with his body, and continued playing on his phone as if nothing had happened.

In fact, besides chatting with his parents for a bit and interacting with Momo, he doesn't have much else to do with his phone each day.

I glanced at the games installed on my phone, but now I have absolutely no desire to play them.

At that moment, a friend on WeChat with the nickname "filial son" suddenly sent me a message.

Filial son: How about two rounds? Dad will take you flying.

Chen Qi couldn't help but smile. This was Yang Keji, his college roommate who was "as close as father and son," nicknamed "Corgi."

Chen Qi: Why did you suddenly decide to fulfill your filial duty today? Don't you work on Saturdays too?
Yang Keji found a job in his hometown right after graduation. After learning that Chen Qi was sick and hospitalized, he would slack off every afternoon to play games with Chen Qi.

The "parent-child duo" only came to an end when Corgi was caught red-handed by his boss one day.

Although he didn't say it, Chen Qi understood his roommate's filial piety.

Corgi was worried that he would be bored in the hospital, so he risked being caught by his boss during his probation period to play games with him.

Filial Son: Heh heh, buddy, I got promoted! I'm about to be sent abroad as CEO, marry a Japanese girl, and reach the pinnacle of life!
Chen Qi: You're going to the land of cherry blossoms?
Filial son: Yes, this is an opportunity only outstanding employees get. The leader has a keen eye for talent and can see my great potential at a glance.

Chen Qi: Are you sure you're going to be the CEO, and not playing the male lead? I hope I don't see you in the Japan/Korea section someday.

Chen Qi knew this was definitely not a good job, otherwise it wouldn't have been given to Yang Keji, who had just been promoted.

Corgi's family isn't well-off, so it's very likely he accepted the overseas assignment to earn more money.

Filial son: Stop talking nonsense, are you going to open it or not? Once Dad goes abroad, he won't have time to play with you anymore.

Chen Qi hesitated for a moment and asked: "Corgi, has anything unusual happened where you are lately?"
Filial son: What do you mean?
Chen Qi: For example, anorexia is prevalent, or there is someone around me who, like me, suddenly can't eat.

Filial son: I've never heard of it.

Chen Qi sighed inwardly, understanding that even if there were any abnormalities, the Corgi might not be able to detect them.

Corgi's family lives in a neighboring province, and Chen Qi doesn't know the extent of the food anomalies he's witnessed—whether it's limited to Jinghai City, or... the whole world?

He didn't ask any more questions and was about to go to his room when the cleaning lady had already mopped all the way to his bedside.

Suddenly, without warning, the cleaning lady grabbed at Chen Qi's pillow!
(End of this chapter)