Chapter 5: The Debt of the Empty Stomach

Siu-Bak woke with a stomach that felt like a fist, clenched around nothing. The clinic floor was hard, but the dawn light was kind, and Lui Mei-Ling had left a small pot of rice and a note that read, *Eat slowly. The stomach is a muscle. Train it like one.* He ate slowly, savoring each grain, and felt the warmth spread through him like a lie. The hunger was still there, lurking under the rice, but...