I was in a terrible mood. I wanted to eat something to feel better, but I wouldn't admit it. We had just finished dinner. Going for another meal so soon felt wrong. Even though I was only eighty percent full, it was way too early for a midnight snack.
"Can we go out?" I asked, following Alexander toward the garage. "Yes," he said. I climbed into the passenger seat of his white car. "Where are we going to eat?" I asked, buckling my seatbelt. "Any suggestions?" he asked. "I only go to a few places. Nothing special." "When you're upset, where do you usually go?" "Student Street," I blurted out, then quickly added, "But you won't like it." "Then Student Street it is." "Huh?" I stared at him in shock. I really wanted to say, please don't go to Student Street. What if I ran into someone I knew?
"What's good there?" Alexander asked, pulling out of the garage without noticing my stunned expression. "Nothing," I said. "Really? Then what do you usually eat?" "We don't usually eat on Student Street. We eat in the school cafeteria," I said, then realized my mistake. "The food there is even worse." "You don't want me to go to Student Street or your cafeteria?" he asked with a smirk. "No, it's just..." I couldn't admit it, even though it was true. "Just what?" he teased, raising an eyebrow. "If we run into a classmate, I won't know how to introduce you," I confessed. "Say I'm your uncle." "What?" "You're always saying I'm old. Uncle fits, doesn't it?" I was speechless. I had no intention of committing incest, and Alexander wasn't old enough to be my uncle. "Does an uncle take his niece out shopping?" "Fine, I'll say you're my brother. A brother and sister going out to eat is normal. Saying you're my boyfriend would be weird. Your school doesn't ban dating, does it?" "No, but everyone knows I don't have a boyfriend." "Then say we just got married over winter break." "..."
In the end, Alexander took me to Student Street. After parking, we strolled down the street. Since it was winter break and the Spring Festival was coming, some shops had already closed for the holiday. The street wasn't as crowded as usual. But fewer people meant a lower chance of me running into someone I knew. And Alexander liked quiet places, so it worked out.
I led him to a small restaurant that served sliced meat soup. I ordered two bowls. One with pickled peppers, one without. Alexander's taste changed often. Sometimes he liked spicy and sour food, other times he preferred something light. I ordered the one without pickled peppers for him. If he thought it was too bland, he could add some himself. I paid for it.
"When we have late-night snacks, we usually order from here. A bowl costs five bucks and fills you up," I said. Alexander nodded, but his eyes were fixed on the wall, his brow slightly furrowed. The two bowls of soup arrived quickly. I picked up a spoon and handed one to him. "Try it. It's good." He hummed in response and stirred the soup. I started eating immediately. I hadn't had this soup since finals, and I really missed it. After two bites, I noticed he hadn't touched his spoon.
"Don't you like it?" "It's fine. I'm just waiting for it to cool down. Where's the meat?" he asked, still stirring. "Eat it while it's hot," I said with a smile. "It's sliced meat. The meat is minced and mixed with flour." He glanced at me but said nothing, then took a bite. After two more bites, he stopped. I had eaten half of mine. Seeing him stop, I asked, "Not to your taste?" "It's okay. I just wanted to try it. I'm saving room for something else. What else is good here?" he asked, changing the subject smoothly. "A lot, but I don't know if you'll like it." "Let's go try some," he said, taking the spoon from my hand and pulling me up. I looked at the two bowls of soup and felt guilty about wasting food. When I was a kid, my parents taught me and my sister that you could waste anything except time and food. Otherwise, you'd get struck by lightning. I had eaten half my bowl, and Alexander's looked untouched.
"It's not good to waste food. If you don't mind, we can order one bowl next time. You finish this one first," I said, pulling my hand back. "Okay," he said. I was speechless again. I had said it sincerely, but he agreed without any hesitation. I was so done.
We left the restaurant and walked further down the street. "That bowl of meat soup wasn't fresh," Alexander said slowly. "Huh? I didn't taste anything wrong," I said, confused. "You added pickled peppers. The strong flavor masked the original taste. What could you possibly taste?" he said, glancing at me. "Oh," I nodded. Then I looked up. "Wait, if it wasn't fresh, why didn't you say something earlier? I ate half a bowl!" "You've eaten it a lot before. You're immune. It doesn't matter." I cursed him 360 degrees in my head. Was he even human?
"What else is good?" "By your standards, probably nothing on this whole street. It's either gutter oil or expired food," I said sarcastically. "It doesn't matter. If you can eat it, I can eat it," he said, patting my head with a smile. I was speechless again. Was he treating me like a dog?
We went into a barbecue shop. The meat was roasted fresh. You could either take it to go or grill it yourself. Alexander was lazy, so he chose to take it to go. That way, we could eat and keep walking. We bought half a pound of roasted rabbit meat. We didn't eat much, just a few pieces. But it was enough to satisfy our taste.
"The meat is quite fresh," Alexander said after wiping his hands with a tissue. "Of course it's fresh when it's roasted like this," I said, admiringly. I really wanted to know if he was a wolf. He looked at me, but I was already too stunned to respond. His gaze was full of disdain. Like I was hopeless.
"Actually, what we ate might be rat meat. Slaughtered rat meat is also very fresh," I said boldly after taking a deep breath. Alexander froze for a moment. Then he put his hand on my neck and rubbed it gently. "What kind of meat did we just eat?" he asked calmly. What kind of meat did we eat?