woman wearing irish linen shirt

"Why do I hate talking to you?" Miss Pande evaded the important point, as if she wanted to play down the slip of the tongue as soon as possible, "When did you eat pickled cucumbers? I have always wanted to try it, but I just couldn't muster up the courage .”

I knew it in my heart, and I couldn't find anything when I asked. I just said: "I come from a liberal arts college. You know, people in the same dormitory usually have a closer relationship."

"Kuai" is a Guozhen brand in the United States, so Kuaiai pickled cucumbers, as the name suggests, are to put pickled cucumbers into Guozhen for a second pickling, and the traditional method requires extra sugar... The first time I saw it was in a large At the party, there are red, diced, strange-looking and refreshing things at the buffet.Because it really doesn't look like food, I didn't commit suicide.

Don't get me wrong, not all Americans eat such bold foods.

"I think I can guess a little bit." She smiled knowingly.

"Yeah..." I was a little dumbfounded, "Our class had few international students, and I was the only one in the same dormitory who was in the first year. They said it was a Smithian tradition, and I really believed it. "

"Are you from Smith College?" Seeing me nodding, she said again, "Your tradition doesn't seem to be like this."

I took a breath, didn't answer, just smiled.

My undergraduate school is well known stateside, but not because of famous alumni or anything - of course we have famous alumni!I still have a lot of affection for my alma mater—mainly, uh, just like the classic North American girl jokes like "U-Haul" and "Subaru," the reason why the school is often brought up in small talk has to do with the sex of the students Orientation related.

The slang term LUG (LesbianUntilGraduation) even has a version of "SLUG (SmithLesbianUntilGraduation)" in Massachusetts. About half of the students have had girlfriends.We are girls' school.

"But the experience of a single-sex school must be very special." Miss Pender said, "I have always been in a mixed school. I originally wanted to go to an all-girls school in high school. After my dad found out, he called me and lectured me for a long time."

I laugh with her.Single-sex schools at the secondary level generally have a church background.

"It depends on how you look at it." I said, "As I mentioned before, our school is far away from Boston, in a small town with a strong academic atmosphere. Compared with the exchange experience in Hamburg later, the girls' school It is true that speaking in class is not particularly active. Everyone tends to talk in a posture that weakens the conflict, which is generally the case. LUG does exist, but this phenomenon is still rare among international students, especially Asian students. Maybe Because everyone is more or less influenced by the cultural hegemony of a certain duality, or the contextual influence of logocentrism.”

"Wow." She raised her eyebrows. "You must have read a lot of Judith Butler."

I smiled: "This is also an aspect that you must face when you study in a girls' school in the United States. Everyone is very enthusiastic about the topic of rights and interests."

"Sounds great," she mused. "But minorities should find it challenging in this environment, right? They are the mainstream in society, but they are the minority in school."

"Some people transfer schools every semester. Some people have to stay on because of scholarships. I think that should be quite uncomfortable." I shrugged. meet new friends."

"Do you often go to other schools?"

"It's an hour's drive." I shook my head. "It's too cold in winter. I haven't tried it."

"Sounds a little lonely."

"You've got tons of parties to go to." I blinked. "It doesn't matter which college you're at."

She looked at me with a smile, as if she meant something: "Then you must be the kind of college student who plays hard and studies hard?"

I didn't want to show my timidity, and I didn't answer directly, but just smiled.

In no time we were sharing a whole box of treats.Making sandwiches doesn't show any culinary skills for Asians who are used to refined food. I can only say that Miss Pande's food taste in this aspect is very close to mine.

Maybe we have more in common than I first thought.

After taking a shower, we went to change our clothes.She was wrapped in a white towel with a Ralph Lauren bear on it, which was cute, but I didn't look at it much.Mine are quick drying bath towels.

I quickly put on my trousers and underwear, then put on my shirt and began to put on my socks slowly.Then I heard footsteps.

I instinctively raised my head. Miss Pender, wearing only trousers and sports underwear, half leaning against the locker, appeared at the end and asked, "Why don't you use the locker next to me?"

Distraught, I forced myself to look her in the eye and say, "Uh, uh, I just opened this closet by the way and didn't think much of it at the time."

She swept me around with great interest, as if she had already seen through my lies: "I can see that you pay attention to your diet."

I quickly buttoned my button, lowered my head, as if I was looking at the buttonhole: "Thank you. I haven't slept much recently. I'm wondering if I can find a coach to help me reduce my body fat percentage."

"It's perfect now." She stood there, waiting until I buttoned them all up. "It's better to keep one. It goes with your Blaze."

I unbuttoned the top button again, stuffed the sportswear and bath towels into the bag when they came in randomly, still only looked at my cabinet, and said: "Thank you. Go and put it on, and be careful not to catch a cold."

She laughed for no reason, whispered "Thank you for your concern", and finally went back.

I breathed a sigh of relief, put on my coat, and carefully closed the locker, for fear of making a little noise to attract her again.

To be honest, I just want to go home quickly at the moment.She definitely meant to tease me, but I have no intention of coming out professionally, and while I wouldn't lie about it, I also don't intend to share facts about my personal life.

Singapore is not a paradise for minorities.Although there are activities like "Pink Point" in May every year, "Article 377" still exists legally, and men may be whipped for this.Even pessimistically, when necessary, the tragedies that were staged in Chechnya may also be repeated in those sexual minority bars in Clarke Quay.

Back in the car, Miss Pan De didn't start the engine immediately, but just asked, "Why did you ask me out today?"

Her hair has returned to its usual position, and the perfume passes through the wet ends, vaguely expanding the space it dominates.

"Don't laugh, I feel silly thinking about it—" I glanced down at my coat, "This Blazer is new this year, and I wore it to the company once before—no one ask me!"

She empathized with me very quickly, raised her eyebrows and said, "This shouldn't be."

"I mean, people compliment me and stuff, but you know..." I shrugged. "You can guess three times, and I'll treat you to dinner."

"You still owe me dinner."

"Caesar's to Caesar." I crossed my arms and looked at her with my head tilted.

"Okay..." She carefully observed my coat, "Actually, from the first time I saw it, I thought this Blazer was very special. At first, I thought it was some kind of denim with linen blend, Plus you used silver buckles, I thought you wanted to pursue the rebellious feeling of denim suits."

In the early 50s, the smash hit Bing Crosby was once refused entry by a luxury hotel for wearing jeans.Levi's later made a denim dress for him - very few people know about this anecdote, and it can only be said that Miss Pender is indeed an expert.

"Thank you!" I am really happy that someone understands the language I want to express through clothing, but it is too difficult in our company and even in Singapore as a whole. This is a fashion desert, and it is hard to find a good friend.

With the back of her hand resting on her chin, she meditated: "But this fabric seems to be very shiny. Can I touch it?"

"Please."

She put her hands together and touched it for a moment, and in a moment Miss Pande showed surprise, and raised her head to ask me, "Wool?"

"It's close." I looked at her expectantly.

"Is the Italian stuff right? Which one?"

"Piacenza, it's Alxa cashmere." I looked at her like a god, "Have you checked their fabric brochure?"

She shook her head: "I rarely touch cashmere suit fabrics."

"You are really good." I praised without any effort, "I never thought you could guess right."

Miss Pan De smiled, lowered her head, and turned to say: "I can understand the feeling of wanting to share with someone for clothes made of such rare textiles."

"Don't mention it, it's really stupid to think about it now." I turned out of the window with some embarrassment, and clapped my hands together as if I just remembered, "That's right! Your gift!"

I took out the pen: "Uh, the bag is a bit casual... Please don't look forward to the packaging inside. I don't have a suitable box at hand, so I just put it in the original shape."

Miss Pande took it over, took out my "old" masterpiece from it, thought for a second or two, and asked, "Is it a pen? Can I take it apart now?"

"of course."

I took a well-placed breath the moment the package was fully unwrapped.I said with a sigh: "It's still very beautiful now."

Of course it's beautiful. Who would buy a five thousand new pen if it's not beautiful?

"It looks very expensive." Miss Pan De said while spinning the pen, she looked around carefully, but did not immediately reject it.Finally, her eyes fell on the place where the artist signed the signature, and she asked, "Is this a Chinese character, Yao?"

"It's Chinese characters, you know, there are quite a few Chinese characters in Japanese, but sometimes the meanings expressed are not exactly the same as Chinese. This is like the relationship between English, French and German." I leaned over and looked, "This should be 'Guoguang'—I don't know how to pronounce it in Japanese—was next to the artist's signature, so scribbled that I couldn't recognize it."

"Is this a pair with yours?"

I shook my head: "That's why I said that day that my pen has other meanings. The pen I bought first was the money I saved from working - and then my mother gave me a similar one. Hers is much more expensive and has commemorative significance, so I have been using it all the time. This one has not waited for its owner, I hope you like it."

She was silent for two or three seconds, then smiled and said, "It seems that it is difficult to refuse your kindness."

"Then don't refuse." I looked at her, "It's just a commodity."

Miss Pender folded the wrapping paper.I'm pretty sure she noticed the age of the paper and my homework on the front - the paper was packed into a brown paper bag along with the pens and put in her bag.She put the bag back in the back seat, looked at me sincerely and said, "Thank you. I will use it well."

"Me and the pen will be very happy." I was relieved.