A plate of plum-blossom crispy pork, half a serving of matsutake fried chicken, translucent pastries resembling rice cakes, a glass of red plum juice, and a bowl of colorful mixed vegetable soup made up the sumptuous lunch Zeng Mu had found for himself.
He was thoroughly pleased with it. Perhaps his exhausted body urgently needed replenishment, for the dishes not only suited his tastes but also filled him with delight and satisfaction as he ate.
Perhaps only when people were truly hungry and thirsty did they discover that any food could meet their needs, that all food was essentially the same. Eating under ordinary circumstances was merely a way to find a different sort of mental satisfaction, rather than satisfy the body's energy requirements.
Even if Zeng Mu had been eating nothing but white rice and pickled vegetable soup, he would have felt deeply satisfied. All the more so with this lunch, which would have been delicious even if he had only been a little hungry.
"Whew..."
After eating and drinking his fill and paying twenty Livre-only enough to buy a single glass of Black Iron liquor-Zeng Mu made his way to a bench beneath a tree along the street and lay down contentedly.
The weather was clear, and the sky was a transparent blue that reminded him of the blue glass at the Element Academy. The wispy clouds drifting across it looked like white morning frost.
He breathed easily, his half-closed eyes showing languor and relief.
"How I wish I could lie on the garden balcony at home, or on the sun terrace atop that blue building at the Element Academy." Once again, he slipped into memories at odds with the reality around him. These daydreams were far removed from the world he now inhabited. That was where he