Skipping Dinner

The night before dinner service, the director’s team had been hunched over their screens all day and had finally just straightened up, ready to take a break, when another staff member came in with a report.

The crew responsible for tracking online trends in real time were constantly watching audience reactions, and they had noticed the viewers’ frantic @-mentions.

“Director, no one can find Yu Mao’s blog account. Everyone’s asking the production team to announce it as soon as possible so they can follow her.”

“Hm?” The director rubbed the back of his neck and turned in surprise. “Her account wasn’t announced?”

“No. She didn’t list it when she filled out the form.”

The assistant director standing nearby frowned and snapped, “She didn’t list it, so you couldn’t ask? What exactly are you people doing? You can’t handle something this small, and you’re still standing there? Go ask her right now!”

“Yes, yes…”

The staff member nodded deferentially, looking miserable, and hurried off.

The audience had watched the livestream all day, and their curiosity about Yu Mao had reached its peak. They’d searched for information about her all over the internet, only to discover that even her blog account was nowhere to be found. So now they were already making a scene with the production team.

In truth, this really was the production team’s mistake. Among sixty contestants, Yu Mao blended in almost invisibly. She had no fan base, no strong backing, and no likable personality.

The staff member checking the files had thought leaving out the blog account was no big deal. After all, it wasn’t even certain anyone would notice, so they had simply skipped over it.

Who could have guessed she’d become so inexplicably popular, even climbing to first place on the livestream heat rankings?

The scolded staffer burned with resentment and went off to chew out the person who had checked the materials, then sent them to ask Yu Mao for her account.

By then it was dinner time, and the contestants were practically all in the cafeteria. Yu Mao was no exception; she found a seat and sat down, holding a fruit plate and eating from it.

This time, unlike before when she knew no one and no one paid her any attention, she had people she knew in her group.

Yirui An came over with a tray loaded with two giant slabs of steak and a large bowl of salad, then sat across from her and stared at her plate in disbelief.

“You’re only eating this? Don’t tell me you’re dieting. You’re already so thin, there’s really no need, sis.”

Yu Mao frowned slightly at the blocked view of Nan Changgeng’s back and shook her head, shifting one seat over.

“I’m not dieting.”

“Then—?” Yirui An looked baffled. She instinctively wanted to glance back, but Yu Mao’s next words drew her attention.

“Everything else, I can’t eat.”

Yu Mao speared a piece of grapefruit bursting with juice and put it in her mouth, chewing slowly and mechanically, like an AI programmed to mimic human eating.

“…”

“Picky eater?” Yirui An looked so stunned she seemed like an old lady seeing a cat refuse meat and only nibble on cucumbers. Her face scrunched up as she hesitated for a long moment.

“You don’t even eat staple foods? That won’t do. Fruit alone can’t possibly provide all the nutrients a body needs. No wonder you’re this skinny; you’re malnourished!”

Yuan Li and Qi Qi, passing by with their meals, stopped to listen for a while; both of them frowned at the same time.

“Who doesn’t eat anything except fruit? Your body’s definitely going to have problems if you keep that up.” Yuan Li didn’t really want to believe it. “You do eat other things, right? The cafeteria just doesn’t happen to have them?”

Yu Mao gave a small nod, her gaze never moving. “I drink milk. A lot.”

Yuan Li clutched her chest and drew a breath, feeling like her heart couldn’t take it. “…Are you a baby? Just drinking milk can’t keep you alive!”

Now that she knew about Yu Mao’s pathological eating habits, looking at those thin arms and legs made it seem as if a gust of wind could blow the girl away at any moment.

And it wasn’t just them; the netizens found it unbelievable too.

[It’s true that every forest has its oddballs, but this level of picky eating is still a first for me]

[My goodness, eating like this—won’t her intestines fall apart? Can she really handle this long term?]

[There’s something wrong with her mentally; she might have anorexic tendencies]

[Fruit has a lot of sugar, and she doesn’t care about that, so it definitely isn’t because she’s dieting. Maybe something bad happened to her before]

[Hell if I know, but I feel sorry for her. I wonder if that damn father of hers is even alive; I really want to hit something…]

The two of them set down their trays and sat down at this table too. Yuan Li felt blocked up inside and was temporarily at a loss for words.

Yirui An put down the steak she’d only taken two bites from, her face falling as she lost her appetite.

What the netizens could guess, they naturally understood even more clearly after hearing it with their own ears.

Only Qi Qi wasn’t on their team; no one had told her about any of this yet, so she didn’t know the full story. She was chewing with great effort and obvious enjoyment on her big chicken leg, looking as if she were eating something delicious, and tried to persuade Yu Mao to have some too.

But Yu Mao clearly hadn’t heard a word of it. Not even her eyes wavered.

Qi Qi’s whole performance was like acting for the blind.

At last, the three of them noticed something and followed her gaze toward the back, where they saw Nan Changgeng two tables away.

The woman was surrounded by people; they were all her teammates, chatting and laughing together in a very harmonious atmosphere.

Yirui An pressed her lips together and frowned almost imperceptibly.

Qi Qi thoughtfully stopped chewing, swallowed the food in her mouth, and exchanged a look with Yuan Li.

Then she stood up and walked over to Nan Changgeng.

If they couldn’t persuade her, maybe someone else could, right?

Yu Mao swallowed a chunk of banana and saw Qi Qi appear beside the woman. She leaned close and said something, then turned and pointed at Yu Mao.

Nan Changgeng followed the gesture and turned back to look. Yu Mao lowered her eyes in that instant, and their gazes brushed past each other.

“She’s your fan; if you tell her, she’ll definitely listen.”

Qi Qi didn’t lower her voice for that line.

Yu Mao heard it clearly. She looked up in confusion and saw the faint furrow between Nan Changgeng’s brows, a trace of hesitation in her eyes.

All the knots in her slowly turning thoughts were suddenly untied, and when she connected the others’ actions and words from just now, she immediately guessed Qi Qi’s purpose.

Her hands clenched hard. She shot Qi Qi a look, and the empty darkness in her eyes was lit with anger, brightening a little, yet still cold as a blade.

Hate it. She hated it.

Why go disturb her?

Nan Changgeng, however, didn’t know what she was thinking. She struggled through those few seconds of hesitation, briefly avoiding the issue.

What Qi Qi had just said to her was: “Yu Mao only eats fruit and won’t eat her meal. We can’t persuade her; why don’t you try?”

She knew herself best. In any case, whether she was willing or not, once someone asked her for help out of a sense of responsibility, she would end up doing it.

As for why she felt troubled…

It wasn’t that she disliked Yu Mao; she simply didn’t really want to interact with her. There was a faint, unspoken… fear in it.

If Yu Mao weren’t such an adoring fan, she might not have bothered with this kind of thing at all. But if someone asked her clearly for help, she would definitely act more naturally than she did now.

Noticing Yu Mao’s gaze, she understood that the other girl probably knew what they were talking about.

With a soft sigh in her heart, she was just about to stand up when the girl stared at her for a second, then set down her fork and sprang to her feet, bolting.

So fast it looked as if something were chasing her.

In the blink of an eye, she disappeared into the cafeteria.

“…?”

Nan Changgeng fell into confusion.

This was completely different from what she’d imagined.

Was she really her idol? If a normal fan ran into something like this, shouldn’t she be overjoyed, eagerly waiting for her idol to come over and coax her into eating?

She had even wondered whether the girl was using this chance to get closer to her on purpose.

In the end, she’d simply been overthinking it; not only had the girl not been surprised, she’d been scared off.

So… was she already so picky that even an idol telling her to eat was useless, to the point that she had to run away in advance?

Her thoughts quickly spiraled out of control; by the end, they had completely crashed. Nan Changgeng kept her body turned back toward Yu Mao, her expression nearly blank, giving off a somewhat cool air.

[Everyone, don’t misunderstand; my sister isn’t angry, her CPU just fried]

[A bit funny, actually. Nan Changgeng doesn’t know Yu Mao’s situation, right? It must be really hard to understand why Yu Mao hates eating so much]

[I’ve heard of people fleeing the scene; this is my first time hearing of fleeing food]

“Damn, why did she run off!”

Qi Qi stood beside the woman, panicking and stamping her feet.

It wasn’t just that she was worried Yu Mao might get into trouble from eating too little; she also wanted a little moment in front of the camera and to play along with the joke. But things turning out like this was absolutely not what she wanted.

“Crap, this backfired. Why would she rather run than eat? Even her idol telling her to eat doesn’t work? She didn’t even finish that little bit of fruit!”

No one had expected Yu Mao’s reaction. It was too direct, too decisive, leaving no room at all. Qi Qi’s words voiced everyone else’s feelings.

Even the contestants who hadn’t been paying attention turned to look when they heard the commotion.

Yuan Li went over and pulled Qi Qi back, telling her not to panic.

“You’re not on our team, so you don’t know. Yu Mao’s situation is a little special. Her pickiness probably comes from some experience in the past, so it’s not easy to change.”

Yu Mao could speak about these things so openly in front of the camera, so naturally she wouldn’t mind others bringing them up again. Yuan Li simply gave Qi Qi a brief explanation, so she wouldn’t stay in the dark and do something else that might upset Yu Mao.

After hearing this, the disbelief on Qi Qi’s face faded. Her mouth slowly dropped open, and she looked dazed.

Yirui An gloomily glanced at the fruit Yu Mao had left on the table and, with a bit of petty revenge in mind, angrily reached out and closed Qi Qi’s jaw.

Qi Qi nearly bit her tongue.

She shot the other girl a glare, then also put on a miserable face. “For real? You’re sure you’re not messing with me?”

“Why would we mess with you? It’s all right there in plain sight.”

Yuan Li sighed and looked toward Nan Changgeng, who had already turned back around.

Yu Mao running off so decisively had let Nan Changgeng breathe a sigh of relief.

She wasn’t the kind of stubbornly warmhearted person who would clearly not go after Yu Mao and still keep persuading her to eat.

If even the “idol” couldn’t do it, what could the rest of them possibly help with?

Once they finished recording this program, they’d go their separate ways as strangers; it was better not to meddle and end up annoying people.

But…

She looked again at the fruit left on the table. It was only a small plate, and half of it was still untouched.

As far as she knew, Yu Mao didn’t seem to have come to the cafeteria at noon either. If she had, Nan Changgeng would definitely have remembered.

So this was all she’d eaten today.

Too little. How could that possibly cover what a living person needed in a day?

Yuan Li unconsciously furrowed her brows, feeling a little anxious. For some reason, she suddenly understood how Grandma used to feel when she herself wouldn’t eat and Grandma would chase after her to feed her.

“Then… what do we do now?”

Qi Qi stared at the half-plate of fruit, at a loss.

“Eat first. I’ll bring the rest back to the dorm for her in a bit.”

Yuan Li patted the dazed, distracted Yirui An. “Don’t think about it too much; she should have a sense of proportion.”

Should… she?

She hesitated inwardly for a moment, then became certain again.

After all, Yu Mao had lived to this age without starving herself to death.

Yirui An came back to her senses and suddenly jabbed her steak with her fork, shoving it into her mouth in big mouthfuls. She finished her meal in less than a minute, choking until her eyes rolled white, then picked up the half-plate of fruit and, with food still in her mouth, said, “I’ll go, I’ll go deliver it!”

She trotted off carrying the tray.

Only Yuan Li and Qi Qi were left, chopsticks in hand, staring blankly at each other.

TL Note:

CPU just fried (CPU干烧) = internet slang for being mentally overloaded or completely flustered.