Chapter 78: Chapter 78 Siblings Sharing Grieving Faces
But when she arrived at the dining area and saw the fragrant vegetarian dishes and the dried tofu she couldn’t stop thinking about, she surprisingly felt so full that she couldn’t eat anything at all.
It felt as though the contents of her stomach had risen up to her throat, leaving no room for any more food.
But apart from the Evil Spirit Chocolate, she hadn’t eaten anything else!
This was vastly different from her usual appetite—all it took was just about thirty pieces of chocolate, and she didn’t need to eat anything for the whole day?
Tao Ti couldn’t figure it out and sat in a chair, staring blankly at her bowl.
The monk beside her leaned over, puzzled, and asked, “Aren’t you eating? Don’t you love dried tofu? Why aren’t you having a piece?”
“I can’t eat any,” Tao Ti said, drooping her head in a display of poor appetite.
The old monk immediately became anxious. A sudden lack of appetite in kids—could it be that she was sick?
Before he became a monk, the old monk had been a sent-down youth and picked up some rudimentary medical skills in the countryside, “Come here, let me take your pulse!”
Obediently, Tao Ti extended her wrist.
Her pale wrist was chubby, and the old monk had to search for a while before finding her pulse. He glanced at Tao Ti and said, “You seem to be too fat.”
Tao Ti’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Her large, watery eyes looked at him with such innocence and sorrow that it seemed she had suffered a grave injustice.
Tao Ti had never been associated with the word ‘fat’. In her mind, ‘fat’ was how her twin siblings looked—round as balls, barely able to walk, taking a few steps with several pants, looking sickly and useless!
She couldn’t imagine herself becoming a fat ball, gasping after walking just a couple of steps.
She stealthily touched her stomach and was horrified to discover that her belly was indeed round and bulging, like a ball!
“No, I don’t want to be a fat ball!”
The old monk hadn’t expected such a strong reaction from her and felt somewhat remorseful for his thoughtless comment. Why couldn’t he keep his mouth shut!
After all, children are supposed to be plump and soft, milky and chubby!
The monk coughed dryly, attempting to console her, “You’re not fat, just a bit fleshier. Actually, you have a small frame.”
Tao Ti didn’t reply; she just pouted and stared at him.
Unable to continue, the monk coughed again, “If you eat a lot, naturally, you’ll gain weight, right? Think about how much you eat; it’s more than several monks combined…”
“I don’t want to eat anymore.”
Tao Ti jumped off her chair and ran off, leaving the old monk with a lonely and sorrowful silhouette.
Sitting at the same table, the other monks who had been silently eating and listening to the conversation struggled to hold back their laughter and to maintain the rule of eating without speaking. It wasn’t until they had finished their meal and stepped outside with their bowls that they finally burst into laughter.
Couldn’t they have walked a bit further away to laugh? I’m old, but my ears aren’t deaf!
Tao Ti ran back to where she was staying and found that Tao Bin had stayed sitting on the tree trunk, lost in thought. At that moment, Tao Ti also felt like climbing the tree to sit beside him and space out together.
She looked down at her little belly and then at her short legs, sighing heavily like a Little Old Lady laden with troubles.
This scene was fully witnessed by Tao Shen, who came laden with big and small bags to visit his brother and sister. At that moment, his foolish brother sat on the tree, his foolish sister stood below it, both with matching expressions—seeing them from a distance, they looked as if they had been carved from the same mold.
“What’s happened to you both?” Tao Shen quickened his pace until he was practically jogging down to Tao Ti’s side, asking with concern.