第六章 快递和外卖

After Mia arrived in China, she bought something online for the first time.

She bought an aromatherapy candle—because her room needed a 'French touch'.

When placing the order, she selected the address, paid, and then received a message: 'Your package has arrived. Pickup code: 3207.'

'Pickup code?' Mia looked at her phone. 'Where is the package?'

She asked Zhou Zhou. Zhou Zhou looked up from a pile of takeout boxes—beside her desk there was already a 'takeout mountain.'

'Package?' said Zhou Zhou. 'It's in the package locker.'

'Where is the package locker?'

'Downstairs.'

'How do I get it?'

'Enter the pickup code, and the locker door opens.'

Mia nodded, took out her little notebook, and wrote: 'Pickup code: 3207. Steps: enter it, open the door.'

'Oh, right.' Mia looked at the takeout mountain beside Zhou Zhou's desk. 'Zhou Zhou, what are all these...?'

'Takeout,' said Zhou Zhou. 'My stockpile.'

'Stockpile?' asked Mia. 'Why do you stock up so much?'

'So I can eat whenever I'm hungry,' said Zhou Zhou. 'When I'm writing my thesis, I can't go out.'

'And your thesis...?'

'When the takeout arrives, the thesis will be almost done,' said Zhou Zhou.

Mia looked at the takeout mountain, then at Zhou Zhou's phone. On the screen was a food delivery app, and there was a folder called 'My Favorites.'

'What is this?' asked Mia.

'My favorites,' said Zhou Zhou. 'I've saved over two hundred restaurants.'

'Over two hundred?'

'That's right,' said Zhou Zhou proudly. 'I'm a postdoc in the takeout world.'

'Postdoc...'

The two went downstairs to pick up the package.

Mia stood in front of the package locker, entered the pickup code, and the locker door opened with a 'click.'

'Look!' Mia said happily. 'I did it!'

'Awesome,' said Zhou Zhou. 'You learn really fast.'

She took the package and was about to leave when Zhou Zhou's phone rang.

'My milk tea has arrived,' said Zhou Zhou.

A delivery guy came over on an electric scooter, handed the milk tea to Zhou Zhou: 'Your milk tea.'

'Thanks,' said Zhou Zhou.

'You're welcome. Enjoy your meal,' said the delivery guy.

In the evening, Mia wanted to order takeout.

'Zhou Zhou, recommend one for me,' said Mia. 'Nothing too spicy.'

'How about this one?' said Zhou Zhou. 'Mildly spicy, mala xiangguo.'

'Mildly spicy...?' Mia asked. 'Is it spicy?'

'Mildly spicy means just a little spicy,' said Zhou Zhou. 'Don't worry.'

Half an hour later, Mia sat at the dining table and opened that box of 'mildly spicy mala xiangguo.'

She picked up a piece of potato and put it in her mouth.

Three seconds later, she stood up, rushed to the fridge, grabbed a bottle of water, and chugged it down glug-glug.

'Water! Water!' Mia's face was red as a lobster. 'Zhou Zhou! This is mildly spicy?!'

'Yeah,' Zhou Zhou looked at her. 'Mildly spicy.'

'Your Chinese 'a little bit'...' Mia's voice was trembling. 'It's completely different from the French 'a little bit'!'

Zhou Zhou thought for a moment and said, 'Maybe. But you'll get used to it tomorrow.'

'I can't get used to it!' said Mia. 'I need water!'

She gulped down half a bottle of water before she recovered.

'Zhou Zhou,' she said seriously, 'I'm going to write the words "mildly spicy" into my notebook, in red pen.'

'Go ahead and write it,' said Zhou Zhou. 'When you're done, I'll recommend you a non-spicy place.'

Zhou Zhou really did recommend a non-spicy place, and she also sent a folder over.

'This is my favorites folder,' said Zhou Zhou. 'I sorted it out and made a folder called "Eat these first when you first come to China."'

Mia opened it and looked—there were over twenty restaurants, each with notes written under it:

'The dumplings here are good; don't order the spicy one.'

'The porridge here is good; you can order it when you're sick.'

'The milk tea here has less sugar, certified by Zhou Zhou.'

Mia kept looking and went quiet.

'Zhou Zhou,' she said, 'didn't you say you've been writing your thesis all along?'

'Yeah,' said Zhou Zhou. 'Writing a thesis is tiring; organizing takeout is relaxing.'

'Then how did you find time to organize this?'

'After you went to sleep last night,' said Zhou Zhou. 'I spent two hours on it.'

Mia was silent for a moment, then said, 'Zhou Zhou, thank you.'

'You're welcome,' said Zhou Zhou.

In the evening, Mia wrote in her little notebook:

'China's "mildly spicy" is France's "explosively spicy." Write this sentence in red pen.'

She closed her notebook, picked up her phone, and sent Zhou Zhou a message:

'Zhou Zhou, tomorrow noon, I'm treating you to a meal. French food.'

Zhou Zhou replied instantly: 'OK! Where?'

'I'll make French toast.'

Zhou Zhou was silent for a minute, then replied:

'...Then I'll order two more takeout orders, just in case.'

Mia looked at her phone and seriously wrote in her notebook:

'Zhou Zhou says French food should be paired with two takeout orders. I still need to research this point.'