吃软不吃硬

chī ruǎn bù chī yìng

lit. eats soft food, but refuses hard food (idiom)

amenable to coaxing but not coercion

chī

variant of 吃[chi1]

ruǎn

variant of 軟|软[ruan3]

no; not so

chī

variant of 吃[chi1]

yìng

hard; stiff; solid