Chapter One: The Fixed Diet

Gu Chenzhou stood two paces away. In person, he was paler than on television. He carried an employee meal: chicken, broccoli, oat porridge, matching his famous quantities to the gram. “Mr. Gu.” “Dietitian Shen.” He glanced at her badge. “Your résumé is impressive, particularly the paper on prolonged fasting and memory proteins.” “You read it?” “I read everything written by anyone who works here.” His chicken gave off no steam. The broccoli was unnaturally green. He placed a piece in his mouth and chewed twenty times, but his throat never moved. “Can a fixed diet really keep someone young?” she asked. The corner of his mouth shifted. “Fixed things comfort people. Youth is merely a side effect.” “Of what?” “Repetition.”