Ester has discovered that a cup of tea with three sugars can pass for dinner, at least until about nine o'clock. It is only the fifth week of her first semester, and her grocery money ran out before the middle of the month.
埃丝特发现，一杯放了三勺糖的茶可以充当晚饭，至少能撑到九点左右。这才是她大学第一学期的第五周，而她的买菜钱在月中之前就花光了。
She has told nobody. Her scholarship covers tuition and a room, but food depends on a part-time job that was cut to six hours a week. Asking her parents is out of the question, because they would send money they do not have.
她没告诉任何人。她的奖学金包了学费和一间宿舍，但伙食要靠一份兼职，而那份兼职被砍到了每周六个小时。向父母开口是绝对不行的，因为他们会寄来他们根本拿不出的钱。
Her roommate, Laila, notices anyway. The cupboard shelf on Ester's side holds only a tea box and half a bag of rice. Ester always has an excuse for skipping the dining hall: a deadline, a headache, a late lecture. Laila says nothing about it.
她的室友莱拉还是注意到了。埃丝特那边的橱柜架子上只有一盒茶叶和半袋米。埃丝特总有借口不去食堂：要交的作业，头疼，很晚的课。莱拉对这些一个字也没提。
On Tuesday, she drops her backpack on the bed and sighs. "I need a favor," she says. "The campus pantry is short of volunteers tonight, and the delivery is huge. Could you give me an hour?"
周二，她把背包往床上一扔，叹了口气。“我想请你帮个忙，”她说，“校园食物站今晚人手不够，送来的货又特别多。你能给我一个小时吗？”
Ester freezes at the word "pantry." She has been walking past its blue basement door for weeks, always staring at her phone. It is as if the door were a stranger she did not want to greet.
一听到“食物站”这个词，埃丝特僵住了。她已经好几个星期从那扇蓝色的地下室门前走过，每次都盯着手机。那扇门就像一个她不想打招呼的陌生人。
"I'm not sure I'm the right person," she says.
“我不确定我是不是合适的人选，”她说。
"You have two hands," Laila replies. "That's the whole job description."
“你有两只手，”莱拉回答，“这就是全部的岗位要求。”
Downstairs, the room smells of cardboard and oranges. Shelves are labeled in thick marker: "No kitchen needed," "Breakfast," "Fresh." A coordinator in a knitted hat hands Ester a box cutter and explains that anything dated within the week must be stacked at the front.
楼下的房间里弥漫着纸板和橙子的气味。架子上贴着粗马克笔写的标签：“不需要厨房”“早餐”“新鲜”。一位戴针织帽的协调员递给埃丝特一把美工刀，告诉她，一周内到期的东西必须摆在最前面。
For an hour she lines up tins and boxes of pasta. Students come in quietly, hoods up or headphones in, and each one takes a bag without explaining anything. Nobody is asked for a card or a story. A boy in a lab coat leaves with a bag of lentils and thanks the room in general. Ester thinks that if she were standing on the other side of the table, she would want it to be exactly this ordinary.
她用一个小时把罐头和一盒盒意大利面排整齐。学生们悄悄地进来，有的戴着兜帽，有的戴着耳机，每个人拿一袋就走，什么也不用解释。没有人被要求出示证件，也没有人被追问缘由。一个穿实验服的男孩拿着一袋小扁豆离开，对整个房间说了声谢谢。埃丝特想，要是换成她站在桌子的另一边，她也希望一切就这样平平常常。
At closing time, the coordinator counts the crates. "These soups expire on Friday," he says. "They will be thrown away unless somebody takes them. Volunteers get first pick. House rule."
打烊的时候，协调员清点箱子。“这些汤周五到期，”他说，“没人拿的话就会被扔掉。志愿者可以先挑。这是这里的规矩。”
Ester looks at Laila. Laila is studying a carton of oat milk with great interest.
埃丝特看向莱拉。莱拉正饶有兴致地研究一盒燕麦奶。
It dawns on Ester that her roommate must have planned the whole evening. She ought to be annoyed. Although her face feels hot, she finds that she is not.
埃丝特恍然大悟，她的室友一定是把整个晚上都计划好了。她本该生气的。尽管脸上发烫，她却发现自己并没有。
"You invented the shortage," she says quietly.
“人手不够是你编的，”她轻声说。
"The delivery really was huge," Laila answers. "The rest is a coincidence." Her mouth twitches. "Volunteer rules. I don't make them."
“货真的很多，”莱拉回答，“其余的纯属巧合。”她的嘴角微微抽动。“志愿者规矩。又不是我定的。”
Ester picks up a tin of tomato soup, then a second one, and a bag of apples from the bottom shelf. Laila holds the door open with her foot.
埃丝特拿起一罐番茄汤，又拿了第二罐，还从最下面一层拿了一袋苹果。莱拉用脚顶着门，替她把门撑开。
"Same time next Tuesday?" Laila asks.
“下周二同一时间？”莱拉问。
"Bring a bigger bag," Ester says.
“带个更大的袋子，”埃丝特说。
