Once all the food was on the table, Bingxin suddenly asked me, “By the way, Song Yang-gege, do you have a girlfriend?”

“No,” I replied. “What about you?”

“Of course not,” she sighed. “I’m the same nerdy girl who’s got her nose buried in books all the time.”

“I’m sure you’ve got hordes of admirers!”

“No, I don’t!” she denied, shyly looking down at her own plate.

“I’m single too, you know!” Dali interjected.

Bingxin responded to him politely and said nothing else, which prompted Dali to bury his head down and focus on the food. Although both of us were really hungry, we ate very little because we didn’t want to appear greedy in front of Bingxin. She kept persuading us to eat more and to try this dish and that dish. At one point, she picked up a big slice of braised pork with her chopsticks and offered it to me. I was about to tell her I was full when I noticed that something was wrong.

“What is that?” I asked, pointing at the...