015 Exquisite Dishes Delight Even Without Wine
The more radiant the smile, the more it betrayed a guilty conscience. Carefully and cautiously concealed, it often felt more like a subtle confession.
Faced with my deliberately ingratiating tone, Yun Yushu showed no offense. He took my phone, entered his number, and dialed it immediately.
The phone vibrated. He pressed the end call button, shook the phone, and smiled at me. “I’ve saved it too.”
A few jokes flew around the table but soon fizzled out. Everyone started chattering again, urging Lianpian to finally accept Jiayi’s earnest pursuit, or lamenting the long, lonely stretches of time spent abroad… In the corner of the table, Yin Qianyan whispered intimately with senior Yan Hua. I always suspected something was amiss between them, but since both had partners back home and Yin Qianyan was particularly sensitive, it was naturally not something to speak of lightly.
Amid the gossip and sighs, I felt something was missing. After pondering, I realized what was absent: alcohol.
Back home, gatherings like this inevitably involved hearty meat and generous rounds of drinking, toasting and clinking glasses as a sign of camaraderie. But tonight, none of us showed any hint of intoxication, making our conversations feel somewhat thin.
“Why didn’t anyone buy alcohol? Their own country bans it—do foreigners have to follow the same rule?” I asked Yun Yushu beside me.
“In Dubai, you need a liquor license to buy alcohol. To get one, you need proof of income, which must clearly state the company you work for, your monthly salary, and bear an official stamp with a contact number. Even if we students put in all the effort to get a license, we’re not qualified to buy good alcohol. If you really want to drink, it’s better to go straight to a bar.”
Such a casual question drew from him a detailed, precise answer, logically clear and comprehensive, addressing all my past and potential queries without leaving a trace of doubt.
Feigning sudden understanding, I smiled gratefully and resumed eating, focusing on savoring the scarce taste of Chinese cuisine.
My nature wasn’t particularly lively, especially in a room almost entirely filled with men. Yin Qianyan was busy whispering with Yan Hua, Lianpian was being relentlessly pursued by Jiayi, and the others had formed their own circles, making it difficult for me to join in.
“You eat with such concentration,” Yun Yushu said, stepping away from the men’s cluster with a teasing smile.
“That’s because you made it so delicious,” I replied honestly.
“But few people eat with such devotion and happiness as you do.”
“Are you mocking my greed, or what?”
“No, I think you’re very cute.”
Only then did I realize he was not just meticulous but also bluntly sincere.
Jokingly, I rattled off a string of comparisons: “If a girl isn’t pretty, people say she has charisma; if she lacks charisma, they say she’s smart; if she’s not even smart, then the only thing left to say is that she’s cute.”
I thought this would at least stump him, but his logic remained unshaken: “I say you’re cute because it slipped out in an instant, without any preconditions.”
That left me speechless.
Sometimes I longed for perfect answers from others but feared their rigid precision. Life demands rigor, yes, but it needs moments of liberation nestled within that very discipline.
That night, back in my room, I received a message from an unknown number: a familiar and succinct “Good night” in Chinese.
It was from Yun Yushu. Only then did I realize I had asked for his number but forgotten to save it. He must have noticed too and subtly reminded me with the text.
I saved his number and replied with a simple “Good night,” ready to toss my phone aside. But before I could, the message alert rang again. Expecting another text from Yun Yushu, I unlocked casually—but when I saw the sender, my mind froze.
A gentle, brief English message from Musa:
“I heard from Ayub that you’ve been unhappy. I’ll try to come to class these days so you won’t have to bear the entire group project alone.”
!!