Chapter 9 A Shared Meal
In the end, under the strict watch of this door god, I clumsily lit the fire.
I still did not understand why they used an earthen stove in this era. I washed the rice, dumped it into the pot with water, then awkwardly cracked two eggs and mixed them with the dying vegetables. The result was a yellow-green disaster.
He stood at the doorway the whole time. Several times he looked like he wanted to speak but held back. The vein on his forehead jumped.
When the half-cooked rice and unrecognizable egg dish came out, his face had turned as black as the pot bottom.
We sat at the stone table facing the disastrous meal.
I poked at the undercooked grains with my chopsticks. I had zero appetite.
He picked up his bowl with a straight face, took a bite of the strange eggs, paused mid-chew, then swallowed without expression.
"How is it?" I asked, unable to resist.
He lifted his eyes. "Passable."
"Liar!" I took one bite myself and spat it out. "It's unbearably salty!"
Yet he continued eating the second bite with perfect calm. "As long as it can be eaten."
I watched him take bite after bite of the food even dogs would reject. His throat moved as he swallowed. That strange sour feeling rose in my chest again.
He finished his portion quickly and set the bowl down. His gaze moved to my nearly untouched food.
"Eat it all." The command was absolute.
"I won't!" I pushed the bowl away. "Trying to poison a snake?"
He pressed his lips together, then reached over. He scooped half my rice into his own bowl and moved most of the salty eggs to his side as well.
Then he pushed the much smaller, now edible portion back in front of me.
"Eat." His tone allowed no argument. "This is not much."
I looked at the reasonable amount in my bowl, then at the mountain piled before him, and froze.
He no longer looked at me. He lowered his head and continued eating.
His movements were fast yet neat. Silent and focused, he finished every bit of the terrible food.
I held my chopsticks. Something hit my heart, leaving it sour and tingling.
In the end I lowered my head and slowly ate the portion he had given me.
The taste was still bad.
But somehow it was no longer so hard to swallow.