After helping her grandmother finish a bowl of porridge, Zoe lay down beside her.

A bitter-sweet taste lingered in her throat; she felt like vomiting but suppressed the urge, her chest aching intensely. Lying down seemed to offer some relief.

The grandmother, lying beside her, murmured: "Blakey, my dear, you look so thin. That's not pretty at all. Have you been trying to lose weight like those young girls?"

As she spoke, she grasped Zoe's arm, feeling its thinness, her brow furrowing more deeply: "You've gotten far too thin."

The old lady's body temperature was on the lower side, and her hands weren't very warm, but for Zoe, being held...