CHAPTER 80

2025-08-27

Eating is a blessing, and desire for good food is a sign of continued vitality.

Generally, hospital patients eat five meals a day: breakfast at 7:00 a.m., lunch at 12:00 p.m., dinner at 5:00 p.m., and snacks at 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. The flavors are roughly the same across hospitals, bland. My motto has always been to eat as much as I can, to eat all. I eat with expectations, without being demanding, and never wasting.

After my liver transplant, my appetite has improved tremendously, and I've embraced everything. My nutritionist was so pleased that she doubled my daily egg tart snack to two. And the day after my brain trauma bloodletting surgery, the intern dietitian couldn't help but laugh when she saw me ordering everything while we were making my menu.

Patients typically eat in their wards, but during the stay in the psychiatric hospital, we eat in the cafeteria. I believe this is for easier centralized management. Disturbing residents are accompanied by staff and eat at the peripheral spot inside the cafeteria.

The cafeteria is on the same floor. When the meal trays are delivered, staff will remind patients that it's time to eat. Those waiting for food have already left their rooms, and the rest can come to the cafeteria to eat within half an hour, depending on their preferences. Residents who know the rules will automatically distribute the trays marked with patient’s name to each table for easy identification. I usually eat on time.

Soon after I was admitted, I started to feel hungry. However, since I could only eat the diabetic diet, I had to seek help from others to fill my stomach. I told my wife, who was with me every day, that she and our buddies always provided snacks.

About a week after I was admitted, I finally had a hearty breakfast. The variety and quantity of food increased. I wondered why the "extra food" were added today. I ate nearly half with gusto, then glanced at the note pressed against the edge of the plate. Although there was no foreign name, it wasn't my name either. My appetite had overwhelmed me, and I had lost myself in eating the breakfast of a lady from the same neighborhood. After checking other tables for confirmation, I finally found my own, rather bland breakfast.

Although the woman was kind and we often greeted each other, how could I explain the fact that I had eaten her rich breakfast? I approached the staff for help, explaining the situation. She listened and told me to keep quiet and continue eating the rest of my breakfast. She took the woman's menu, made a new one, and put it away. Not long after, the lady came to eat. After a while, I felt bad about it and turned myself in. She was a little surprised, but didn't respond. We continued to greet each other afterwards. After being discharged from the hospital, we ran into each other twice at the restaurant and even recognized each other. That meal was a steal.