Three people, four dishes, and a soup.
Lin Meng Qiu ate two bowls of rice, and Lin Ming ate three.
The meal Chen Shi'an cooked had filled both father and daughter up, leaving them absolutely stuffed...
Lin Ming had forgotten how long it had been since he last ate three bowls of rice. Thinking back to his younger days, when he went hungry, he could pile his rice as high as a little mountain in the school cafeteria. Back then, he had been as thin as a bamboo pole, yet no matter how much he ate, he never gained weight.
Later, his family circumstances improved and he finally made something of himself, but his appetite grew smaller and smaller. At most, a bowl and a half would fill him up at each meal, yet middle-aged weight gain still caught up with him, giving him a beer belly.
At the tea table, Chen Shi'an and Lin Ming drank tea and chatted.
"...That's normal, Uncle Lin. In biological terms, your bodily functions have declined and your metabolism has slowed. From a traditional Chinese medicine perspective, you have spleen deficiency and excessive dampness, with turbid phlegm accumulating inside and obstructed qi flow. I'll give you some acupuncture another day to help get your body back in balance."
"Shi'an, you know acupuncture too!"
"A little. It's all part of medicine."
"I heard from Meng Qiu that you made her some Stomach-Nourishing Tea last time. She said it worked really well."
Chen Shi'an smiled and looked toward Lin Meng Qiu, who was sitting on the sofa watching television.
Lin Meng Qiu pretended not to hear. Her eyes stayed on the television, and she held a cup of stomach-warming tea.
"She's had stomach problems since middle school. We've seen plenty of doctors, but none of it