Ji Yanzhi froze. "I..."
Ji Ting said calmly, "No need to be shy. Sitting together is actually nice. We don't have to talk across half the table anymore. The food's getting cold. Let's eat."
"I'm not shy," Ji Yanzhi denied irritably, but obediently picked up his chopsticks.
The squirrel-shaped fish was no longer as crisp as when it had first come out of the kitchen, but the sauce was good enough to make up for it. It still tasted quite nice.
Watching Ji Ting put a bite of "fish" into his mouth, Ji Yanzhi asked, "Now that you know some of these dishes are made from vegetables, can you still eat them?"
Ji Ting considered it, then nodded slightly. "I did notice something before, but I thought it was some new variety of meat, so I didn't think much of it. Maybe I've gradually gotten used to the taste after eating so much of it."
"Then can you eat vegetables as they are now?"
Ji Ting's grip on his chopsticks abruptly tightened, but he acted as though nothing had happened. "No. I don't want to."
Ji Yanzhi's lips parted, but in the end, all he said was, "Then don't. I'll have the kitchen keep preparing them this way."
"Okay."
After they finished eating, Ji Yanzhi said he still had some work to deal with. Ji Ting happened to be heading back to his room, so they returned to the Main Building together.
They had just reached the Front Hall when they unexpectedly ran straight into Ling Xi, who was coming back from outside.
Ling Xi paused, then immediately turned his face away.
Although he moved quickly, both Ji Yanzhi and Ji Ting saw his red, swollen eyes and the tear tracks streaking his face. It seemed he had gone through