Chapter 4 – I Don’t Want to Eat

Catching up with her cousin, Baohua pulled her into her car.

The car was a wedding gift from her second uncle. Although her marriage had initially faced opposition from her family, they eventually accepted Xiabang due to her determination, and naturally offered their blessings.

The Wen family children had always been very low-key, but the Wen family mansion they were heading to was anything but ordinary, as evidenced by the sentry post at the front of the yard.

The black iron gates slowly opened, and the car silently drove in.

The two sisters didn’t speak during the drive. This wasn’t the first time Wen Baohua had accompanied her cousin on a blind date, nor was it the first time they had been silent.

As they neared the house, Wen Baohua let out a soft sigh. Her aunt was waiting inside for the results of the blind date, and she could probably guess the outcome from the speed of their return.

Before getting out of the car, Wen Jialuo finally opened her slightly closed eyes and said softly, “Sis, this won’t be so troublesome in the future.”

Wen Baohua was still confused when Wen Jialuo opened the door and got out of the car.

The family mansion was lush with greenery because their grandfather loved plants, making it feel like walking into a park. A cobblestone path led directly to the main building. Wen Jialuo, in flat shoes that hurt her feet slightly, walked steadily, while Wen Baohua, in high heels, wobbled carefully behind her. Wen Yu loved watching the women of the family stumble in high heels here.

Wen Yu was her second uncle’s son and the only male in this generation of the Wen family.

The door to the main hall of the mansion was already open, and a servant greeted them with a smile.

“Miss, the slippers are here,” a maid said, placing a pair of slippers in front of Wen Baohua.

Wen Baohua thanked her, quickly relaxed her feet, and hurried after Jialuo to the second floor.

The second floor had a classical charm. It was undeniable that Wen Baohua’s home decor was influenced by the family mansion. Her grandparents’ union was legendary—a soldier hardened by war and a lady educated in proper etiquette. Their story was like a perfect movie, one that hadn’t ended yet. Wen Baohua’s marriage eventually gained approval from her grandmother, who believed that happiness wasn’t determined by status differences, recalling their own turbulent past.

All the furniture on the second floor was genuine antiques, collected over time by her grandmother’s sons to fulfill her nostalgic sentiments. However, her grandmother, under her husband’s direction, had turned it into a “Meeting Hall,” ready for a military meeting at any moment.

The third daughter-in-law of the Wen family, Luo Linyi, sat in a chair, waiting for news of her daughter’s blind date. Seeing her return so quickly, she was unsurprised but still sighed in resignation.

“Jialuo…”

“Mom,” Wen Jialuo greeted, then calmly said, “Don’t arrange any more blind dates for me.”

Luo Linyi seemed not to hear, frowning slightly, “Have you had lunch?”

“No,” Wen Baohua, catching up, replied, “Aunt, is there anything to eat at home?”

“I don’t want to eat,” Wen Jialuo stated.

“I don’t want to eat”—four simple words, but in the Wen family, they carried significant weight. Luo Linyi’s face darkened immediately, and she stood up anxiously, “If you don’t want to date, fine, but you must eat. Look at you, you’re…”

She choked on her words, seeing her once beautiful daughter now so thin and frail, it broke her heart.

“I have no appetite,” Wen Jialuo paused, “and if you keep arranging blind dates, I might never have an appetite again.”

Wen Baohua finally understood what her cousin had meant before getting out of the car. She saw her aunt’s face turn pale and felt a pang of sadness.

Wen Jialuo was her uncle’s daughter, the youngest in the Wen family, naturally cherished. Her name, Wen Jialuo, combined her parents’ surnames, reflecting their love.

The Wen family had only three children in this generation but didn’t live lavishly. They grew up like other children, studying and making friends smoothly.

But everything changed when Jialuo went to college.

She chose a university far from home, almost across the country. Her aunt had been reluctant, but her grandfather insisted she needed to spread her wings. Her father, Wen Yuan, never opposed her grandfather, no matter how much he disliked it. He personally escorted her to the university with a secretary from his office.

But by the second summer, the family noticed a change in her. The once cheerful girl became melancholic, seemingly lost in thought. Wen Yu joked that she must have fallen in love and was lovesick. It seemed plausible, but when they asked her, she evaded their questions. Her father eventually had a talk with her, and everyone was told not to tease her anymore.

Then, she returned to school, but things didn’t go as smoothly as her father had said.

After just two months, the family received a call from the university, gently suggesting she take a long break to recover. Only under questioning did they mention the term “anorexia.”

“What is anorexia?”

The Wen family didn’t know until her aunt went to fetch her and was shocked to see her daughter, once so vibrant, reduced to skin and bones in just two months. She nearly fainted in the principal’s office and furiously demanded the school find out why her daughter had wasted away.

Just as Her Aunt Was Furiously Declaring She Wouldn’t Let It Go

Just as her aunt was furiously declaring she wouldn’t let it go, Jialuo, who had been silently sulking, finally spoke up. She said, “Mom, I’m hungry.”

These words brought joy to everyone present. By this time, they had learned a bit about what “anorexia” was, and Jialuo continued, “I want to eat Auntie’s cooking.”

Auntie was the cook at the old mansion. When the three Wen brothers were busy, the younger generation usually stayed with their grandparents at the old mansion, growing up on Auntie’s cooking.

Hearing this, her aunt let the principal go, agreeing immediately to go home and promptly calling the mansion to have Auntie prepare a lavish meal.

However, when they finally returned to the mansion and the hot meal was ready, Jialuo didn’t even pick up her chopsticks. She quietly said, “I don’t want to eat.”

Since then, the Wen family’s focus was entirely on this cousin. The grandfather’s doctor visited frequently, and they tried numerous Western and Chinese treatments, but nothing alleviated Jialuo’s symptoms. In simple terms, she would vomit as soon as she ate.

Not eating made it impossible to stay healthy, so she was given nutritional injections.

Since anorexia could also be a psychological issue, the Wen family hired the best psychologist. Yet, the psychologist said he had never met anyone as mentally resilient as Jialuo. Hypnosis was then attempted to uncover what had happened to her. Ultimately, they only got one sentence from her tightly sealed lips:

“I had a breakup.”

Four simple words seemed to explain everything that had happened to Jialuo.

Heartbreak affecting one’s health is not uncommon. After a collective sigh of relief, they found out nothing more. Oddly enough, when her uncle secretly investigated at the university, they found no evidence of her having a relationship. Her classmates only noticed her inexplicable weight loss.

Later, when Jialuo found out she had said those words, she calmly remarked, “Unrequited love is also a form of heartbreak, isn’t it?”

It was indeed baffling. Could unrequited love cause such severe distress? Was the boy she silently admired really that exceptional?

The investigation couldn’t proceed any further. Unrequited love is a personal matter, not publicly known, and there’s no one at fault.

When her grandfather found out that a man might have caused his granddaughter such pain, he angrily declared, “I’ll shoot him!” But there was no guilty party to punish, so the Wen family’s anger had no outlet, and they could only watch helplessly as Jialuo continued to waste away.

Moreover, Jialuo said the senior she liked had just graduated, and their paths would never cross again.

Everyone advised her that there were plenty of fish in the sea, but she replied, “I spent all my energy loving this one person; I can’t change that.”

This was stubbornness to the extreme.

Wen Baohua felt both pain and frustration hearing this. At the time, she was dating Xiabang, hoping to nurture their relationship into something lasting. But twenty-year-old Jialuo solemnly announced to the family that she would hold onto the flower in her heart for life, a flower that had never even bloomed.

Facing such a fragile Jialuo, no one dared to speak harshly. Her uncle finally finished his cigarette and calmly responded, “Dad will take care of you for life.”

Wen Baohua still remembered her aunt crying desperately that day. Life went on, and with her uncle’s promise, Jialuo’s health slowly improved, though she remained thin, as if her core strength had been drained.

Her aunt never gave up trying to change Jialuo’s mind about staying single. But despite entering the workforce and expanding her social circle, Jialuo remained unmoved, making her aunt increasingly anxious. Today’s blind date was the fifth one recently, as her aunt realized Jialuo wouldn’t find a boyfriend on her own.

However, today Jialuo finally snapped.

Only a daughter can strike a mother’s Achilles’ heel. Jialuo’s “I don’t want to eat” effectively silenced her aunt.

Seeing her light threat hit the mark, Jialuo softened her tone, “I want a bowl of porridge.”

Luo Linyi’s eyes lit up, “Porridge? Sure, sure, Mom will make it for you.”

Watching her aunt roll up her sleeves to cook, Wen Baohua sighed deeply. She glanced at Jialuo, noticing a faint sadness at the corners of her mouth. Her heart sank. She and Wen Yu had privately discussed Jialuo’s drastic change, convinced there was something they had missed. The idea of a lifelong heartbreak from an unrequited love seemed plausible in their grandparents’ time but felt unreal now.