Chapter 103 An Yi, am I that greedy?

Jin He's meals became much smoother after that, and An Yi was finally able to worry less. After all, he knew that Jin He had already done her best, and there was no point in forcing her.

But he still couldn't eat the meat. An Yi was so worried that he got several big blisters on his lips. It was as if Jin He had an animal protein detector installed in his mouth. Even if he mashed the meat into a paste and hid it in the soup, Jin He could still taste it.

That night, after An Yi finished showering and came out of the bathroom, he saw Jin He nestled in the quilt, half asleep. So he crawled into the quilt and hugged him, rubbing his stomach a few times: "You only ate one bite of spare ribs tonight, and left the rest for me."

Jin He didn't say anything, nestled in An Yi's arms and let him rub her stomach.

"You can't go on like this. The doctor said you need to recover quickly. You're not eating any meat at all, how can you recover?" An Yi said with a worried look. "Is it because you don't like soup? How about Aunt Shu makes you some braised meat tomorrow?"

Jin He shook his head: "Isn't there any other way?"

"Then let's eat nuts or whole grains and beans, but you don't like them anyway."

Jin He sighed and said, "Then I'll try harder tomorrow."

"Xiao Miao said, 'You used to eat meat when you were little, why don't you eat it anymore?'"

An Yi didn't expect Jin He to give him any answer, and just kept muttering to himself. Unexpectedly, Jin He was silent for a while after hearing this, and then replied, "Maybe it's because I ate too much meat when I was a child, and I got tired of it, so I don't want to eat it anymore."

"Huh? Why would eating meat make me sick?" An Yi found it a bit unbelievable, especially since Jin He's uncle and aunt treated him so badly that they would let him eat meat until he got sick?

"Hmm." Jin He rolled over and lay directly in An Yi's arms, saying, "It should be when he was thirteen or fourteen years old. At that time, boys grow taller and their appetites increase significantly every day. You should know that."

"Um."

“Every time I eat, my aunt only serves me one bowl of rice. After I finish eating, I can’t find the rice cooker when I want more. I can only eat one bowl, and it’s still not enough. So I can only eat a little more when my mom comes home. And then one time…”

Jin He swallowed hard at the thought, and An Yi quickly rubbed his chest, quietly waiting for Jin He to finish speaking.

“Once, when Mom came home, she and my aunt were cooking in the kitchen. When I came home from school, I heard them talking in the kitchen, but I didn’t pay any attention. I just sat on the stool in the yard doing my homework. Just before dinner was about to be served, Mom brought me a bowl of meat…” Jin He paused, trying to hold back her emotions, “It was a bowl of boiled fatty meat in plain water, and she… ugh…”

An Yi quickly helped Jin He up and patted him on the back: "Let's not talk about it anymore..."

Don't throw up the dinner you worked so hard to eat tonight, that would be a huge loss.

"I... I didn't want to eat it... but she said it was saved for me."

"Eat up, didn't you just complain about wanting to drink milk a couple of days ago? Hurry up and replenish your body properly." That's what Yang Xiaoli said at the time.

"Then I ate it... but the fatty meat without any seasoning was so greasy and smelly. After I finished it, I couldn't eat any more meat." Seeing An Yi's serious expression, Jin He tried to lighten the mood by saying a few words, "It's actually quite strange, isn't it, considering how much white meat was brought out all at once..."

Jin He stopped abruptly and suddenly patted An Yi's arm: "Trash can, I need to throw up."

An Yi quickly brought up the trash can that was under the bed. Jin He hugged it and vomited twice. Dinner was wasted again...

An Yi held Jin He, rubbing his stomach, his expression grave. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

“You didn’t ask me before.” Jin He rubbed her chest, her stomach acid burning and making her chest hurt. An Yi took out a bag of toasted bread slices from the drawer and gave them to Jin He to eat.

“I won’t tell you if I don’t ask. For so many years, everyone thought you were just a spoiled brat who was so picky about food. Who knew you were…” An Yi felt annoyed as he thought about it, “I didn’t even know.”

Jin He held a slice of toasted bread but didn't put it in her mouth. She just mumbled, "It's alright. If someone asks me, I'll tell them. People always think I'm so delicate. I don't want to be called delicate, but no one asks me. If I tell them myself, they'll think I'm deliberately trying to play the victim."

"Eat quickly, or your stomach acid will cause a burning pain again," An Yi said.

"oh."

"Then why did Yang Xiaoli insist that you eat that kind of thing?" An Yi asked. "What benefit does she get from doing that?"

Jin He shook his head: "I don't know, maybe it's just to vent my anger."

"And what about your mother-in-law?"

Jin He fell into an eerie silence.

“That day… I didn’t sit at the dinner table because my mother said I was already full. I used a plate to set out some rice for Xiaomiao to eat in the room.”

"Maybe it's because my mom thinks I haven't eaten enough. She scolded me for being a reincarnation of a starving ghost, but I don't care. I have to make sure Xiao Miao is full. She's still so small."

"My aunt said, 'Oh dear, you know how it is, a half-grown boy can eat his father out of house and home. Xiao He is such a glutton; he's always the biggest eater.'"

"My mother said, 'Yes, even after saying all that, you still have the nerve to say that? You don't even earn enough to feed you.'"

Jin He's imitation was spot-on, even capturing the harsh tone. Hearing this, An Yi felt a pang of heartache. Teenagers are at a time when their self-esteem is strong; no one would feel good being spoken to like that by their own family. "Then why didn't you let Xiao Miao eat by herself?"

“Because if they did that, they would say the same thing about Xiaomiao.” Jin He took a bite of the dry toasted bread in her hand and said, “I don’t care what they say. I’m a boy, I’m thick-skinned, so I can say whatever I want. But it’s different for Xiaomiao. Xiaomiao is a girl, and she can’t be bullied like that.”

Although she said she didn't care, she actually remembered the expressions, tone of voice, and content of those people's words very clearly. Jin He, that little liar.

"Then what?"

“Then my aunt said, ‘You don’t know how expensive it is to raise a boy, especially Jinhe. He eats like a pig, he’s so greedy. Even our Xiaohui can’t compete with him for food.’” Jinhe exaggeratedly drew out the words. “She lied. How could I possibly steal Yang Jiahui’s food? I usually eat the leftovers when I get home. They finish their food before it’s my turn. Maybe it’s because I was eating so much that I finished the food meant for the dog.”

"You usually... eat leftovers?"

“Yes.” Jin He recalled, “I got out of school late, and my aunt and uncle would take out the food meant for Yang Jiahui in advance and keep it warm in the pot. When Xiao Miao and I got back, we would eat the leftovers. We would only have a bowl of rice each time, no more. But I was so hungry at that time, I don’t know why I was so hungry, and I ate all the vegetables without realizing it. Of course they didn’t like it, so they scolded me for being greedy.”

An Yi rubbed Jin He's thin belly and sighed, "Weren't you growing taller back then?"

"Yes, you're right. So when Xiaomiao was growing taller, I saved up some money and bought her some cookies and milk and put them in her dorm room. Don't you see how tall Xiaomiao is now? She's considered tall for a girl, right?"

"Um."

Jin He still had half a slice of toast left, which she couldn't finish, so she naturally stuffed it into An Yi's mouth. "An Yi, am I really that greedy?"

"Didn't you say you didn't care what they said?"

“We still have to consider what other people think,” Jin He said. “After all, nobody likes being talked about like that.”

An Yi kept his hand on Jin He's stomach, afraid that Jin He might suddenly have a stomach spasm or feel uncomfortable. It was easy to feel Jin He's ribs from that spot; he could really feel them right away, they were very obvious.

He sighed and said, "Sometimes I'd rather you were a little craving something."

"ah?"

“You probably can’t even eat a bowl of rice a day now. Who’s a normal person like you?” An Yi said. “Then tell me what you want to eat tomorrow. Don’t cook for you and then not eat it.”

"Then I'd like to... have hot pot."

"no!"