Pandora’s Box

“Ah,” I had an idea, “This bitter coffee makes me hungry. Do you have time to eat hamburgers together? It shouldn’t take much of your time to eat burgers.”

He nodded, “Okay.”

“But if you need to leave in the middle of eating, you don’t need to be polite about it.”

He shook his head, “I won’t.”

I called for a car to drive us directly to the restaurant.

As he sat down in the restaurant, he commented, “I thought you would take me to McDonald’s or Burger King.”

I expressed my distaste, “What’s so special there for me to take you?”

I didn’t mean any disrespect to McDonald’s or Burger King.

When we were handed a menu, he glanced through it with surprise, “Isn’t the price considered a bit expensive for a hamburger?”

181 signature burgers were not just a bit expensive, but very expensive!

“But it’s very delicious,” I boasted proudly, “It’s okay, it’s my treat.”

In all honesty, I knew he had more money than me. Yet, without knowing why, I still wanted to spend money on him.

He titled his head and asked, “Why do you always invite me out?”

I thumped my chest, “You are younger than me so it’s only right for me to cover you.”

He smiled again. I was distracted by white and neat teeth.

I ordered the most expensive beef steak burger for him and the 69 yuan foie burger for myself. I was served the foie gras beef burger first. The hamburger buns were crispy and underneath the browned foie gras was a thick Angus grain-fed beef patty, two large slices of bacon that was paired with a rich secret sauce, pickles, and onions.

He was pleasantly surprised, “It looks better than I expected.”

“Do you want to try it? I’ll cut half of it for you.”

Cutting through the burger exposed the delicious cross-section of the hamburger. The surface of the patty was nicely fried and crispy, but the center had a slight, beautiful pink to it.

He took a bite and raised his eyebrows, praising sincerely, “It’s delicious!”

“Right?” I laughed, “Trust me, yours will taste even better!”

His beef short rib hamburger was placed on the table with its appearance imposing. In addition to the thickness of the beef patty, the burger also included a layer of beef chops, bacon, scrambled eggs, pickles, mustard, and chili sauce. The juice of the beauty was overflowing.

He said, “I’ll give you half too.”

When cutting in half, the combination of the crispy yet juice burger was enough to stir hearts in anticipation.

And I also noticed how gracefully he was even when cutting a hamburger.

I squeezed the hamburger to take a huge bite out of it, and the taste was immaculate. The aroma and juice of the beef bursted in my mouth, he velvety egg and savory bacon overwhelming my tastebuds. Along with it being utterly delicious, the pickles and mustard combination neutralized the greasy meat extremely well.

The flavors were so rich, it made one want to close their eyes to experience all of it.

Of course, however, I did not close my eyes, as I was always staring at his expressions. He chewed twice with an innocent delight displayed on his face, making him look almost childish.

With his eyebrows raised high, he exclaimed, “This is delicious!”

“That’s right!” I was very excited. “There are many high-end hamburger restaurants that are more expensive than this one, but not all of them are worthy of my recommendation.”

He nodded, “You are very good at choosing.”

I was elated. I felt joy from his validation as if I cooked up the burger myself.

He quickly ate both of his halved burgers. This time surprising me, “Have you already finished eating?”

Although the restaurant was pricey, the portions were huge. It wasn’t unusual for two adults to be full by ordering a single burger and drink. He didn’t have to flatter me to this extent.

He said genuinely, “Because it’s delicious.”

“But it seems like you’ve already had opportunities to eat in similar establishments, right?”

He thought for a while, “Yes, but when I need to socialize, I don’t particularly pay attention to taste.”

“Then, isn’t food at home good?”

“I eat alone most of the time. There’s someone there to help cook, but I am content with 3 meals without much requirements for taste.”

That’s true, not everyone cares about food. After a moment, he continued, “My dad is actually good at cooking, but growing up, I didn’t have many opportunities to experience it.”

“Why?”

“My parents are divorced,” he explained, “My mother had custody over me.”

I hurriedly apologized, “I’m sorry!”

He shook his head, “It doesn’t matter.”

After an awkward moment of silence, I tried to lighten the mood, “Then does your mother cook delicious food?”

He was quiet for a moment before replying, “My mother passed away.”

“I’m sorry!!”

The silence continued until we walked out of the mall gate, and it was already dark outside. At some point, a curtain of rain was pouring.

He looked up at the sky and whispered, “It’s raining.”

“Wait a minute.”

I recalled that the service desk inside the mall loaned out umbrellas for free. I quickly ran over and scanned a code to borrow one. As I returned, I saw that he was maintaining the same posture, standing straight and staring at the night sky. I could not figure out what he was thinking about in silence.

His quietness made him appear solemn.

I said, “Hey, watch me perform a magic trick for you.”

He turned towards me, “Huh?”

I closed my left hand and yelled out, “The art of rain!” Immediately, my right hand opened up the umbrella.

“…..”

I pointed under the umbrella, “Look, there is no rain here. This is magic.”

He laughed after a beat. His laughter was akin to a summer breeze and lit up the darkness of this rainy night like the evening moon.

I was stunned into silence.

He came to stand under my umbrella and said, “Thank you for your magic.”

I suddenly felt embarrassed and awkwardly said, “What, it was such a simple trick!”

I merely read other people’s jokes on the Internet and performed it at random. Fortunately, it didn’t look like he surfed the Internet very often.

Seeing that he still had a smile on his face, I tentatively suggested, “If it’s good with you, add my WeChat.”

This was the first time I had taken initiative in asking someone for their WeChat.

He froze for a moment and whispered, “Okay.”

“Then, should I scan you?”

He agreed with an “Um.” He lowered his head to take out his mobile phone, and held it out in front of me.

It was probably because the weather was so cold, his hands trembled slightly. Once a beep sounded, I said, “The invite has been sent so please accept it~”

He agreed again with an “Um.”

I noticed the new friend notification. His user ID was a simple, “Zhuo.” His default profile image looked like it was the cover of something I couldn’t recognize. I didn’t know what it was.

We parted at the intersection after I insisted on calling him a taxi first. I was then able to search online to find pictures that I could compare to with his profile picture. I discovered that was the cover of an old CD album called “Not Found,” and the band name was Mr. Children.

I searched for this band online.

Oh my, what the, none of them were good-looking. They also seemed to be over 200 years old.

(I did not mean that Mr. Children was bad).

Well, if he grew to like this, it must mean that he had perseverance. I trust my Big Brother’s taste!

I found a song on NetEase Cloud and shoved my earphones into my ears. Clicking play, I then walked briskly to the subway station.

I didn’t have money to take a taxi~