We walked through a district completely illuminated by lights and came upon a quiet little path. The chill of autumn was especially noticeable on this rainy night. Mi Cai was only wearing a thin business suit, so I took off my jacket and draped it over her shoulders. Then I put my arm around her, letting her snuggle close to me. Being this close, our body heat wouldn’t easily dissipate into the cold wind.
Under a streetlight, a food cart was steaming from its pot. In fact, we hadn’t eaten anything all evening except for some coffee, and the familiar aroma was making me hungry. I said to Mi Cai beside me, “The stall ahead sells oden. Do you want some?”
“What is oden?”
“Uh…I don’t actually know the history behind this snack.”
“Is it good?”
“Of course it’s delicious! When I was in college, I often had it with alcohol. It’s very savory, has many ingredients, and is quite enjoyable to eat. It’s even better if you can pair it with some pancakes, because it fills you up. Haha…”
Mi Cai looked at me somewhat puzzled, because there was no joke in what I had just said, yet I burst out laughing. Actually, I was just reminded of my absurd yet free life back in college.
I led Mi Cai to the stall and ordered two servings of oden, then two pancakes. After removing the bamboo sticks from the skewered ingredients, I rolled them all into a pancake and handed it to her, saying, “This is my DIY oden pancake. Try it.”
Mi Cai took it from me, took a bite, and then closed her eyes, as if savoring the taste.
With an expectant expression, I asked, “How is it? Still okay?”
“Little pancake, great taste!”
I laughed again, “Haha…Of course it is! Back in college, we all loved it, especially loved it!”
“We?…Who else besides you?”
Suddenly, I thought of Jian Wei, because oden had a special meaning for us years ago. At that time, I had no restraint in spending money—playing music, drinking, going to bars, smoking—all were expensive habits. Every time I ran out of money, I would go to borrow from Jian Wei…I remember one particular month in the first semester of junior year when my expenses were especially high. I borrowed so much from Jian Wei that she ended up broke too. So the two of us had to budget carefully, and in our hardship, we unexpectedly discovered a snack called oden outside the school gate. It was economical and practical. For about half a month, we consistently ate it rolled in pancakes and thought it was delicious. Even after Jian Wei financially recovered later on, we often ate this together. So, oden was actually a piece of my old story with Jian Wei. But this old story was indeed too ancient, only something like this chance encounter with oden could remind me of it.
After a moment of silence, I smiled at Mi Cai and said, “Roommates from the dormitory—total losers. Every month when the end of the month came, we survived on this stuff, waiting for the first of the next month to be reborn!”
“Oh, I thought it was with Jian Wei?”
I replied somewhat hesitantly, “Even if it was with Jian Wei, it was several years ago, like old vinegar. Can you still taste it?”
Mi Cai didn’t respond. She held the pancake in her hand, eating as she walked. I caught up with her and asked, “Tell me about your college life back in China. I bet you were the campus beauty, right? There must have been a whole crowd of people chasing after you!”
“No.”
“Impossible! Unless everyone at your school wasn’t from this planet!”
“Fine, don’t believe me…”
Seeing her say it so convincingly, I couldn’t help but doubt my own sense of aesthetics. I stopped her and looked her up and down, finding her even more beautiful the more I looked. Obviously, she was lying. I pressed further, “Didn’t you have a boyfriend in college?…It’s fine if you did. I won’t mind at all. It’s only natural, after all!”
“I don’t want to talk about it with you!”
I kept going, “So you definitely did! You’re so stunningly beautiful. If I had been at your university and just happened to see you, I would definitely chase after you, chase you so passionately that it would be unforgettable…”
“What exactly are you trying to hide with this topic?…I’m your girlfriend now. Do you think talking about this is meaningful?”
I was momentarily at a loss for words. My little tricks didn’t really work on her. Sometimes, if a woman is too smart, it can be a pressure for a man…After a while, I smiled and said, “Isn’t it said that a woman in love has zero IQ? How come you’re still so sharp?”
“This is jealousy, completely unrelated to IQ. You misunderstood!”
“So that means your IQ is still zero?”
Mi Cai ignored my nonsense and continued walking ahead. I still followed behind, looking for an opportunity to bring up some topics that would make us both feel relaxed, or perhaps snatch the pancake she hadn’t finished yet. I had been too preoccupied with walking beside her and hadn’t had time to buy one for myself. In fact, I was really hungry.
I quickly caught up to her side and, with a speed faster than ringing a bell to steal a bell, snatched the unfinished pancake from her hand. Then, with a smug expression, I teased her, “Come chase me! If you catch me, I’ll give it back. If not, I’ll eat it all! You’ll have to go hungry tonight!!…” I took a serious bite from the pancake right where Mi Cai had bitten before, then ran off, feeling an indescribable sense of ease and joy. I knew whenever I turned my nonsense into fun, Mi Cai wouldn’t really get angry with me.
Sure enough, she chased after me, shouting, “Zhaoyang, how could you be so mean?…You’re not allowed to eat all the pancake!”
“Haha…” I ran a few steps and took another big bite, then turned to look at her. I loved seeing her angry expression and even more loved watching her chase me. But when I turned my head, I suddenly realized I had veered off course. Right ahead was a streetlight pole!
Mi Cai cried out, “Zhaoyang, watch out in front of you…”
I quickly turned sideways, but it was too late. My shoulder still slammed heavily into the pole. Because of the momentum, the pancake in my hand flew out as well. Not only that, I staggered for several steps and finally fell to the ground. The ground was too slippery from the rain, and I was wearing leather shoes. Thus, this tragic turn of events happened to me in an undignified manner. Despite my thick skin, I felt somewhat embarrassed.
Luckily, at that moment, my phone rang from my pocket. I hurriedly took it out, pretending to cough twice to cover up my awkwardness.
It was a message, from Jian Wei. She informed me that we would be going to a nearby county the day after tomorrow to inspect the scenic project. By then, Mi Cai had already come to my side, looking at me helplessly with a hint of concern, asking, “Did you hurt yourself when you fell?”
“It would be better if I had fallen and become stupid. It’s so much easier being a fool!”
“I don’t understand, and I don’t need to understand. It’s fine just like this…”
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s from a song: ‘It’s so much easier being a fool. I don’t understand, and I don’t need to understand. It’s fine just like this…'”
I made a shivering expression and said, “That’s really corny…”
“I’m just giving you an easy way out, okay?…Come on, get up quickly.” Mi Cai said as she stretched out her hand. After wiping the mud from my hands on my clothes, I took her hand. Feeling her softness, I finally relaxed completely at that moment. The brief playfulness of this evening was so precious in our love story. Therefore, I hoped this was just the beginning, and in the future, we could continue like this, growing old together before we even realized it.
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