Fear of food

Chapter 7: Let's Eat!
Why not eat bread?
Don't you want to?

Chen Qi looked helpless. Putting aside whether he knew how to make bread, the key question was what to use to make it!
In his eyes, there wasn't a single normal ingredient.

Moreover, he did try cooking himself, but he only made the already disgusting ingredients even more disgusting.

However, he knew that this was probably the difference between him and Xu An'an.

The two are clearly in different situations.

They all noticed the abnormality in the food, and as a result, Chen Qi had to be hospitalized because he was starving to death.

Xu An'an, however, acted as if nothing had happened, her studies and life were unaffected, and she continued doing what she was supposed to do.

The difference between the two should lie in that dry bread.

Chen Qi: Where did you get that bread?

Xu An'an: You made it yourself? Can't you do that?

Chen Qi: Shocked Panda Head.jpg
Chen Qi: Should I be able to?

Xu An'an: It's very simple. Any food can be cooked and processed into bread.

Xu An'an: The food I'm referring to is what other people think of as food, that is, the disgusting things we see.
Chen Qi: You mean you can turn all that messy stuff into bread?

Chen Qi: Didn't you pick up those breads from outside?

Xu An'an: You can still find food outside?

Chen Qi: Can't you?
Xu An'an: Should I be able to?
Chen Qi: Can't you see wild food outside?

Xu An'an: Look at what you're saying! Wild food?
Inside the outpatient department, Xu An'an, holding her phone, looked like she'd been struck by lightning.

As Chen Qi recounted in detail his numerous attempts to find and eat food, her eyes widened and her mouth opened wider and wider.

WTF?

Wild chocolate?
Wild-cooked roasted chicken legs?
Do they also have wild-cooked braised duck necks?
"Is he really not kidding me?"

Xu An'an felt that the world was getting more and more chaotic.

She never dwells on whether she is sick or the world is in trouble; as long as she can get by, she will continue to live her life.

But at this moment, she really started to doubt herself.

"I think I really am sick."

"If I'm not sick, then Chen Qi isn't sick either, but it's unlikely that Chen Qi isn't sick."

After learning about Xu An'an's process of making dried bread, Chen Qi had similar thoughts.

"One more reason to suspect I'm sick!"

"The process of making this dried bread is too magical."

"Doesn't she think this is very strange?"

According to Xu An'an, she can get a plate of dried bread by simply putting any strange food into a pot and frying, steaming, or boiling it in water.

She would bake bread in her dorm every day, bring it to the hospital, and heat it up in the microwave for her lunch.

Chen Qi was 100% certain that he did not possess such an ability!

He couldn't help but feel envious; obtaining food was just too easy.

However, the difference between dried bread and wild food is also quite obvious.

Dried bread does not have the powerful restorative effects of wild foods; its nutritional value and absorption rate are similar to those of ordinary foods.

However, unlike wild food, it won't be marked as soon as it's eaten.

To others, dried bread looks like normal food and can be eaten in public.

"I'm so jealous that I don't have to carry anyone when I eat anymore!" Chen Qi said sourly.

In short, when the two compared accounts, they both felt that the other's method of obtaining food was somewhat absurd.

Chen Qi: Dr. Xu, could I have a piece of bread to try?
Xu An'an: Okay, I'll bring two loaves of bread tomorrow and give you one.

Actually, Xu An'an still had half a loaf of bread left over from lunch, but she didn't want to share it with strangers.

Chen Qi: Thank you. Um, there's one more thing I need to trouble you with...

Xu An'an: said

Chen Qi: Could you help me get something? It's in the flower bed behind the outpatient department.

Chen Qi sent over the photos he had taken of the jianbing guozi (Chinese crepe).

Xu An'an: A rotten pancake?

Chen Qi: This is wild food; in my eyes, it's fresh.
After a while, Xu An'an replied: I just went to the flower bed and saw it. It's a huge, rotten jianbing guozi, exactly the same as in the photo.

Before Chen Qi could explain further, Xu An'an added, "I believe it's special because it's just rotten; at least it hasn't turned into some weird and disgusting thing like other foods."

But Xu An'an's next words plunged Chen Qi's heart into despair.

Xu An'an: I can't help you with this. If the hospital finds out that I secretly brought rotten food to the patients, they will definitely report it to the school, and I can't bear the consequences.

Chen Qi quickly said: You don't need to hand it to me personally. Just sneak it in and dump it somewhere without surveillance cameras. I can retrieve it myself.

Xu An'an: No, what if something goes wrong later and you betray me? Then I'm finished. After all, we've only met once.

Chen Qi: Please help me, they're going to force me to have a feeding tube inserted tomorrow. This jianbing (Chinese crepe) is very important to me; it might be my only hope for survival...

No matter what Chen Qi said after that, Xu An'an did not respond.

Chen Qi sighed. He completely understood Xu An'an's choice, but he couldn't help feeling disappointed.

He then sent messages to both his parents.

Chen's father is currently away on a business trip. Chen Qi only expressed that he really wants to go home and asks his father to have a good talk with his mother.

This time, Chen Qi chose to confront his mother directly, exposing her lies.

Chen Qi: Ms. Zhang, why didn't you discuss it with me before agreeing to let the hospital insert a feeding tube for me?
Chen Qi: And yesterday, you clearly came to the hospital, why did you lie to me?
Chen Qi: Do you have any illegitimate children outside of your marriage?
Chen Qi felt somewhat resentful about his mother's actions these past two days, which is why he couldn't help but question her.

He exposed his mother's lie in a half-joking, half-serious tone, not wanting to embarrass her too much.

At the same time, he also wanted to try to awaken his maternal love, in case Ms. Zhang Qin suddenly realized her mistake and corrected it tomorrow, and came to pick him up from the hospital in time, then he wouldn't have to worry about having a feeding tube inserted.

After sending the message, while waiting for a reply, he opened the "Passerby" app.

I have a little bit of anticipation in my heart. In his post yesterday, he mentioned wanting to give up treatment. I wonder how Momo will comment.

"I can't just leave a 'keep it up' comment today, that would be too perfunctory."

Chen Qi opened the unread comments and saw that Momo's comment was: Why?
Why give up treatment?
Chen Qi typed a reply: I don't think I'm sick.

Normally, Momo would leave comments for him at night, and he wouldn't see Momo's comments from the previous day until the afternoon of the following day.

But today, Momo, contrary to his usual behavior, quickly replied to his comment.

momo: Then trust your instincts and do what you want to do.
Chen Qi frowned slightly; Momo's response didn't seem like the reaction a normal person should have.

"He seemed to accept my idea instantly and even gave me affirmation and encouragement."

This reminds me of the other person's signature, "The Solitary Gourmet".

Chen Qi guessed that Momo was very likely like Xu An'an, one of his kind!
However, the "Passerby" app does not have a private chat function, so Chen Qi did not directly inquire about the other party's situation in the public comments. He simply expressed his hope to add each other on WeChat to communicate privately.

Momo did not reply, seemingly not wanting to have too much involvement with Chen Qi, or perhaps unwilling to reveal more of her information.

Chen Qi did not receive a single reply until the nurse took his phone away.

Xu An'an didn't reply to him again, nor did her parents, and neither did Momo.

"We still have to rely on ourselves!"

Chen Qi went straight to sleep to conserve his energy.

Prepare for tonight's operation.
-
At one o'clock in the morning, Chen Qi woke up from his sleep.

Sufficient sleep made him feel great, but the hunger in his stomach made him feel weak.

I didn't eat any wild food all day yesterday, just to avoid any unnecessary trouble.

"Just bear with it a little longer, and we'll be able to have a big meal soon!" Chen Qi sat up, turned his head, and met Sun Xuechao's wide-eyed stare.

"Does this guy never sleep at night?"

The thought that for the past week, every night after he fell asleep, there might have been a pair of eyes watching him sent chills down Chen Qi's spine.

However, nothing could stop Chen Qi's determination to fill his stomach, so he got up and started packing his things.

Holding the tote bag he had prepared beforehand, Chen Qi put the three kinds of wild food hidden in the pillow into it, and also took a bottle of water.

Fortunately, water still appeared normal to Chen Qi, except for drinks and soup.

Because of this, Chen Qi successfully gave up sugary drinks.

Carrying a tote bag, Chen Qi tiptoed out of the ward, walked smoothly through the corridor, and entered the elevator lobby.

The hospital building was deathly silent at one o'clock in the morning, and the warm-toned lights only made people feel colder.

The elevator lobby is connected to the stairwell, and in the past, Chen Qi would turn directly into the stairwell at this time.

But today, he pressed the elevator button.

Because he hadn't eaten any wild food, his body was weaker than yesterday, so he had to choose a more energy-efficient foraging strategy.

He took the elevator to the 15th floor, and then he would start searching from the 15th floor downwards, since going down the stairs is much less strenuous than going up the stairs.

Standing in the elevator lobby on the 15th floor, the first thing Chen Qi saw was the entrance to the ward area, which was blocked by a heavy electronic iron door.

Floors 13 through 15 are like this; the top three floors are the closed wards for psychiatric patients.

Those imprisoned there are all mentally ill patients who pose a danger.

Chen Qi went straight into the corridor and scanned his surroundings.

Today, in addition to looking for food, he also needs to look for suitable places to eat.

"The rooftop is on the fifteenth floor and above, but the door to the rooftop is sealed off."

"Otherwise, the rooftop would be a good place to eat."

Chen Qi shook his head and began to explore downwards.

He had already searched the hallway area yesterday; he was just searching it again today since he was passing by.

Today's search focus remains on the ward areas on the 11th and 12th floors.

More than an hour later...

Chen Qi finished his general search of the two-story ward.

Because there weren't many empty wards on these two floors, the harvest was only so-so; in the end, they found two wild food items.

"Adding the three items from yesterday, that makes a total of five wild foods, which is quite a lot."

No matter how much wild food there is, it's all for naught if there's no safe place to eat it.

Chen Qi then went down the stairs to the first floor, but found neither wild food nor a suitable place to eat.

Remembering that he had once found wild food in an elevator, Chen Qi went to the elevator lobby on the first floor and pressed all the elevator buttons.

There are a total of six elevators installed on both sides of the elevator hall, three on each side.

However, four of the elevators stop on different floors. Two elevators on the left stop only on odd-numbered floors, while two elevators on the right stop only on even-numbered floors and the first floor.

The remaining two elevators stop at all floors.

Therefore, only the first floor can inspect all six elevators.

As the elevator doors opened one by one, Chen Qi checked them one by one and unexpectedly found another wild food.

We have six pieces of wild food on hand!
"It would take quite a while to eat all six wild foods in one go. Where should we choose to eat them?"

Chen Qi frowned in thought. If he couldn't find a suitable place, he would have to consider eating in batches, saving some wild food for later.

As for whether he can eat it?

Chen Qi wasn't too worried about this issue.

He felt so hungry he could eat a whole cow.

Most importantly, wild food seems to be absorbed as soon as it enters his stomach and does not accumulate there.

Chen Qi secretly peeked out to observe the exit on the first floor and found that the main door was closed, leaving only a small door open.

The security guard on night shift moved a chair and blocked the small door completely. He then leaned back in the chair and fell fast asleep.

It's impossible to slip out without alerting the security guards.

However, there were really no safe places to eat inside the hospital building.

Chen Qi looked around, and when his gaze swept over the six elevators stopped on the first floor, a thought suddenly struck him.

elevator?

Yes! The elevator!
When the elevator is in operation, it is a private, enclosed space, and no one can come in to stop him from eating!

So why not eat in the elevator?

Chen Qi considered the feasibility of the plan in his mind, his expression sometimes tense and sometimes relaxed.

As he pondered, he walked into the stairwell, sat on the steps, opened his handbag, and took out the food items one by one.

A steamed bun, a head of lettuce, a braised duck neck, a lion's head meatball, a piece of instant noodles, and... a hot sticky rice cake!
The last sticky rice cake was the one he found in the elevator.

Chen Qi was wondering whether he should throw it back into the elevator, because this thing was too difficult to eat, especially since it was a size larger than a normal sticky rice cake.

But in the end, he stayed, making the sticky rice cake his final challenge. If he had time after eating the other food, he would consider taking on the sticky rice cake challenge then.

After all, it was quite a find, so it would be a shame to throw it away.

The intense hunger made Chen Qi somewhat panicked, and the aroma of food constantly surrounded him, testing his willpower.

But he still proceeded with the food preparation at a leisurely pace.

There are six food items. If we eat them one by one, we definitely won't have enough time. We can combine them in advance.

As long as you don't start eating, you can handle the food however you like without attracting medical staff.

For example, you can remove the meat from the duck's neck, saving time from gnawing on the bones.

There isn't much meat on a duck neck; you can easily swallow it in one bite.

Chen Qi tore the steamed bun open, put lettuce inside, thought for a moment, then flattened the lion's head meatball and stuffed it in, and finally simply wrapped the duck neck meat in as well.

Steamed buns can be filled with anything!
Homemade hamburger complete.

This burger combines four wild foods.

In the end, only instant noodles and sticky rice cakes were left.

A brilliant idea struck him: he crushed the instant noodles into small pieces and then put the sticky rice cake inside.

After kneading it through the packaging bag, a sticky rice cake, completely bonded to the crispy noodles inside and out, was born.

The reason it's called sticky bean bun is because it's so sticky; eating this stuff is a huge test for your upper palate.

Chen Qi's mealtimes were extremely precious; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he was racing against time.

That's why he considered whether or not to give up sticky rice cakes.

However, once the crumbs of the crispy noodles are fully integrated with the sticky rice cake, the stickiness of the rice cake is greatly reduced, making it easier to eat.

In this way, six food items were condensed into two.

Having prepared the ingredients, Chen Qi returned to the elevator lobby full of fighting spirit.

He took a deep breath and felt his heartbeat become stronger.

He went over the next eating plan in his mind again and again, admitting that the plan was risky.

But nothing is ever foolproof.

It's worth a try for freedom!
"Began to eat!"

(End of this chapter)