Vegetable dishes—still green vegetables.
Chen Ting pressed his lips together almost imperceptibly. Shen Wangshu, who was eating with her head lowered, did not notice, but Nanny Zhang spoke up from the side: “The General has disliked vegetarian food since childhood. He has always preferred meat, and cannot tolerate even a bit of green vegetables on the table.”
She was just about to bend down to pick the vegetables out of his bowl for him when she saw him, expressionless, eat the vegetables along with the rice.
He said nothing, but anyone with eyes could tell he was not eating happily.
Shen Wangshu pulled the only plate of small green vegetables closer to herself and poked at the food in her bowl. “I understand. Next time I won’t take it upon myself to serve food to Husband.”
Chen Ting gave a faint “Mm” and finished his meal on his own. Then he noticed that the bowl in front of her had hardly been touched. When he sat down, it had been half a bowl of rice; now it was still half a bowl. Instead, she had eaten quite a bit of the bland vegetable leaves.
Why wasn’t she eating properly?
Chen Ting stared at her seriously. “Does the food not suit your taste?”
Shen Wangshu shook her head. “I’m full.”
Although she did not want to waste food, the original owner’s appetite really was small. Not only was she often lacking appetite, she would feel full after eating very little—no wonder she was so thin.
As a medical student, Shen Wangshu naturally knew this was unhealthy. Since arriving here, she had been trying to adjust herself, and most aspects had improved. Only when it came to eating—if she couldn’t eat, she truly couldn’t, and there was no solution.
Just now, the smell of blood had made it worse. Now she had no appetite at all; not only did she not want to eat, she even felt a little nauseous.
But could she say that directly? Of course not. Shen Wangshu had to swallow her grievances back down.
Chen Ting stared at the rice in her bowl for a moment, then took it and poured it into his own bowl. With a few casual bites of vegetables, he finished it all, then set the bowl down and said, “Next time, if there’s something you want to eat, have the kitchen make it. You’re too thin.”
Shen Wangshu grumbled inwardly. Meals should be eaten one bite at a time. I’m not going to the battlefield—do I really need to be that strong?
Seeing her remain silent, Chen Ting thought his act of eating her food might have been inappropriate. He stiffened his face and defended himself: “When you’re at war, supplies are scarce. When you’re starving, you eat grass roots and tree bark; you eat leaves and insects too. I can’t stand waste.”
So he was lecturing her. Shen Wangshu quickly switched to a docile demeanor. “I understand, Husband. I won’t waste food next time.”
Chen Ting gave another “Mm.” After lunch, the two of them sat facing each other for a moment, somewhat at a loss for words, then he stood up and left.
The maids methodically cleared the table. After rinsing their mouths, there was nothing much to do. Shen Wangshu said, “Let’s go to the courtyard to walk and aid digestion.”
Wutong suggested, “The afternoon sun is strong. Madam might as well go to Green Shade Garden. There are many trees there, so it’s cool, and the paths wind quietly inward. There are also many rare flowers and plants.”
Rare flowers and plants?
Shen Wangshu became interested. “Alright.”
Green Shade Garden was within the Xuanji Courtyard. In the early summer afternoon, the sunlight was not yet too harsh. Wutong held an umbrella to shade her as they walked, softly introducing the surroundings as they went.
Before long, sweat beaded at the tip of Shen Wangshu’s nose, and her complexion grew rosy. Her chest rose and fell slightly. From close by, Wutong could even catch a faint medicinal fragrance from her body.
“Madam, are you tired?” There was still quite some distance to the destination. Seeing her already somewhat short of breath along this stretch, Wutong said, “Why not go back for now? We can come again another time.”
Meixue also said, “Madam is so frail. It would be better to nourish your body first before thinking of anything else.”
On the way just now, Shen Wangshu had seen the study. Beyond it was a bamboo grove. She did not know whether that was the Green Shade Garden Wutong mentioned, but she still remembered what Nanny Zhang had said about the forbidden area—passing through that bamboo grove should lead there.
Given what had just happened, Shen Wangshu had no desire to test how much trust Chen Ting had in her. She said, “Then let’s go back.”