The Odd One Out

Chapter 2

By the time Summer had washed up and returned to the living room, her father was also up. Outside the window there was light, and the rain was still falling. The house is an old one from her father's flat, not very well insulated, and the sound of people going up and down the stairs outside can be heard through the front door.

There was a strong smell of chicken soup in the air, and the morning news was playing on the TV in the living room. Her father was sitting on the sofa, as usual, watching the news intently.

"Summer, are you feeling better today? Does your head still hurt?"

"Yes, it's much better today, it doesn't hurt much." Not wanting to worry her father, Summer lied a little.

Her mother came out with two bowls of noodles to greet the two of them, her face mask having been washed off at some point: "Come and have breakfast."

Perhaps because Summer was still ill, her bowl of noodles was very light, with a clear base of chicken soup, a few vegetables and a fried egg on top, but nothing more. The chicken noodle soup smelled good, Summer tried to reach for the spice on the table, but when her mother swiped a chopstick at her, she had to retract her hand.

The noodles were soulless without the spices, and Summer looked wan as she picked at them with her chopsticks. It smelt and tasted completely different, an indescribable sour taste spread in her mouth, like the horrible taste of a month-old rotten egg and rotten meat heated up, making her gag.

No, in fact, she had already vomited.

The disgusting taste made her stomach lurch and the acid rushed up to her throat, Summer dropped her chopsticks and gagged a few times, but nothing came out, the taste lingered in her mouth. Despite her parents' astonishing looks, she quickly ran into the kitchen to get a glass of water and rinse her mouth several times before the taste faded away. It didn't disappear completely, but at least it wasn't as unbearable as it had been earlier.

Her mother, with a worried look on her face, came over to pat her back: "Summer, does your head hurts?"

Summer waved her hand, her features knotted together, "What day is this chicken soup from? Why does it smell......" She tried to think of an apt description but couldn't come up with one, so she had to say in general terms, "......rancid?"

"It shouldn't." her mother frowned, "The chicken soup was cooked yesterday, how could it go rancid that fast?" She picked up the remaining chicken soup in the kitchen and tasted it, "Isn't it fine?"

Thinking that it might not be the chicken soup, Summer dared to take another taste, and this time she almost spat out her bile. Her parents all tasted fine, but she was the only one with a strange taste. Even if she had lost her memory, did she now have a problem with her sense of taste?

In the end, her mother made a new bowl of noodles, using the same noodle soup she had used to cook them, with vegetables and a fried egg. Although it became more and more bland and tasteless, the good thing was that there was no more strange taste this time. It was the strange taste that lingered in her mouth and the dry heaving that seriously affected her appetite, so for the sake of her health Fan Xia had to finish the noodles slowly.

After eating her breakfast, her parents told her to put her medicine on the counter and to remember to take it before rushing off to work. She didn't want to go out early because it was too cold outside, so she could dawdle at home for a while. After cleaning the three dirty dishes and putting them away. Summer walked slowly to her room, holding her stomach in her hands, and on her way to her room, her attention was drawn to the city news on the TV in the living room, which was left on.