Nora hated hearing Matt’s friends refer to that girl as a “snack”, as if a woman was a tasty meal to be consumed.
诺拉讨厌听到马特的朋友把那个女孩称为“零食”，好像女人是一顿美味的饭菜。
But if the girl she watched him take to the hotel was a snack, then she herself was “fangbianmian” (方便面) convenient noodles. Instant wife, just add hot water and mix, always there when needed, tasty enough for a lazy day.
但如果她看着他带去酒店的女孩是个小吃，那么她自己就是“方便面”方便面。 即时妻子，只需加入热水并混合，在需要时总是在那里，足够美味，适合慵懒的一天。
She didn’t really blame Matt for their lukewarm marriage. She was a 28-year old graduate student, with even her friends already referring to her as shengnu, (剩女), forgotten woman, when she met him.
她并没有真正把他们不温不火的婚姻归咎于Matt。 她是一名28岁的研究生，当她见到他时，连她的朋友都已经称她为shengnu（剩女），被遗忘的女人。
He had joined the post-doc program a year behind her, after completing his studies back in the USA. He wasn’t the most handsome or witty, but he was safe, nice, and predictable, and he expressed an interest in her. As the only other American at the university, even then she had been the convenient girlfriend. In those early, ambitious days, they spent all their time on research, eating, drinking and sleeping together. There were no sparks, no butterflies in her stomach, but it staved off the loneliness. It was no surprise when two weeks before graduation he proposed in the least romantic way possible.
在美国完成学业后，他比她晚一年加入了博士后项目。 他不是最英俊或最机智的，但他安全、善良、可预测，他对她表示了兴趣。 作为大学里唯一的其他美国人，即使那时她也是方便的女朋友。 在那些早期雄心勃勃的日子里，他们把所有的时间都花在研究、吃饭、喝酒和一起睡觉上。 她的胃里没有火花，也没有蝴蝶，但它避免了孤独。 毫不奇怪，在毕业前两周，他以最不浪漫的方式求婚。
Their little group of five researchers were celebrating the publication of their work in a journal, drinking champagne when Ling Yi asked everyone their plans after graduation.
他们由五名研究人员组成的小团体正在庆祝他们的工作在期刊上发表，喝着香槟，Ling Yi问大家毕业后的计划。
Matt said, “Well, Nora and I will need to get our paperwork in order for a marriage license and take care of everything before we decide where we will go next.”
Matt说：“好吧，Nora和我需要拿到结婚证的文书工作，并处理好一切，然后再决定下一步去哪里。”
Nora opened her mouth to tell him that maybe this was a personal matter to discuss, but then she realised he was right. two Americans determined to be academics in a foreign country, and it made sense to stay together. Besides, what other chances would a woman her age in China get at marriage? So, she bit her tongue, smiled, and went along with it. Even the marriage was low key and convenient. Only his sister made it out to China, both sets of parents sending wire transfers as a gift with their heartfelt congratulations.
诺拉开口告诉他，也许这是一个要讨论的个人问题，但后来她意识到他是对的。两个美国人决心在国外成为学者，在一起是有意义的。 此外，在中国，一个同龄的女人在结婚时还有什么机会？ 所以，她咬着舌头，微笑着，跟着它走。 即使是婚姻也是低调而方便的。 只有他的妹妹去了中国，两对父母都送了电汇作为礼物，并表示衷心的祝贺。
As the years went by, they did everything that was expected of them. They found great positions at a prominent university in Jiangsu, Nora taking a less ambitious position after her first pregnancy to make time to take care of the family.
随着岁月的過去，他们做了所有期望的事情。 他们在江苏一所著名大学找到了很好的职位，诺拉在第一次怀孕后，为了腾出时间照顾家庭，担任了一个不那么雄心勃勃的职位。
Without Matt’s mother in China to take care of the babies, it all rested on her, and she strove to gain the approval of everyone around her while Matt made sure to do what was expected of him, rising in the ranks of university prominence, providing for the family, developing guanxi with the higher ups in the system. Despite the monotony of their life at times, it was a good life. It was obvious they both loved the children and she never regretted any of it.
没有马特在中国的母亲来照顾孩子，一切都取决于她，她努力获得周围所有人的认可，而马特确保做对他的期望，在大学中崛起，养家糊口，与系统中的高层一起发展关西。 尽管他们的生活有时很单调，但这是美好的生活。 很明显，他们都爱这些孩子，她从未后悔过。
She realised now how much she had grown to love Matt, he was truly her best friend and her partner. However, she never forgot that it all rested on her acceptance of being convenient noodles. If she couldn’t be the lobster tail and beef wellington of her husband’s eyes, for once, she wouldn’t mind at least being the snack.
她现在意识到她有多爱Matt，他真的是她最好的朋友和她的伴侣。 然而，她从未忘记，这一切都在于她接受方便面条。 如果她不能成為她丈夫眼中的龍蝦尾巴和牛肉惠靈頓，這一次，她至少不介意做零食。
Matt pondered his marriage as he dropped off his colleague’s more-than-tipsy wife, Li Jun, at the hotel. “Thank God Nora would never go out and get black out drunk, loudly deriding me in front of my colleagues, attempting to seduce other men!”, he thought. He knew Nora never really loved him, but they respected each other and that was enough for him. They accepted each other’s ways and appreciated them. They made life easier for each other, and they had built a life together.
Matt在酒店送他同事喝醉的妻子李俊时，思考着他的婚姻。 “感谢上帝，诺拉永远不会出去喝醉，在同事面前大声嘲笑我，试图勾引其他男人！”他想。 他知道诺拉从未真正爱过他，但他们互相尊重，这对他来说已经足够了。 他们接受对方的方式，并欣赏他们。 他们让彼此的生活更轻松，他们一起建立了生活。
He remembered how back in their post-doc days, he counted himself lucky that the beautiful American student preferred his company, even if he knew it was only out of convenience. He knew he was geeky, obsessed with work, and unable to express himself well, no prize. However, as their hours of research together were coming to a close, it seemed that they naturally just stayed together. Everything was just so easy with Nora. When he began contemplating marriage, he thought there was a good chance she would agree, since her family had been pressuring her, implying that she would never marry and have kids, yet he knew she would never really love him the way he loved her. He was merely the most convenient option.
他记得，在他们的博士后时代，他很幸运，这位美丽的美国学生喜欢他的陪伴，即使他知道这只是为了方便。 他知道自己很怪胎，痴迷于工作，无法很好地表达自己，没有奖品。 然而，随着他们一起研究的时间即将结束，他们似乎自然而然地呆在一起。 和诺拉在一起，一切都很轻松。 当他开始考虑结婚时，他认为她很有可能同意，因为她的家人一直在向她施压，暗示她永远不会结婚生孩子，但他知道她永远不会像他爱她那样真正爱他。 他只是最方便的选择。
That night he had inadvertently proposed to Nora, he thought that she would set him straight and waited for the shoe to drop, but it never did.
那天晚上，他无意中向诺拉求婚，他以为她会让他直截了当，等待鞋子掉下来，但从未如此。
He thought many times over the months leading to the wedding about giving her an out, telling her that she was a beautiful, intelligent woman and could easily find a man equal to her someday, no need to rush into a marriage with him.
在婚礼前的几个月里，他多次考虑让她出去，告诉她，她是一个美丽、聪明的女人，有一天很容易找到一个与她平等的男人，没有必要急于与他结婚。
He knew it was selfish of him to deprive her of the possibility of finding her true love, but he couldn’t imagine a life without her. He had tried through the years to be the perfect husband and good provider for the family, spending long days with the department heads and board members to move up the ladder so that they could have a good life. He helped at home and with the children when he could so that Nora would never feel that he was taking advantage of her and so that she never became overworked.
他知道剝奪她找到真爱的可能性是自私的，但他无法想象没有她的生活。 多年来，他一直努力成为完美的丈夫和家庭的好供养者，与部门负责人和董事会成员一起度过漫长的时光，以便他们能够过上美好的生活。 他一可以就在家里和孩子们帮忙，这样诺拉就不会觉得他在利用她，这样她就不会过度劳累。
Sometimes he wished she looked at him like his colleague’s wife was when he drove her back to the hotel that night…
有时，他希望她像那天晚上开车送她回酒店时他同事的妻子那样看着他……
He would never in a million years have considered sleeping with that woman, of course, but at the same time, it was a nice feeling to be wanted. He viewed the fiery relationship between the two and found that while it was obviously toxic, the fire seemed like something to be envious of.
当然，他一百万年都不会考虑和那个女人上床，但与此同时，被需要是一种很好的感觉。 他观察了两人之间火热的关系，发现虽然这显然是有毒的，但火似乎令人羡慕。
Li Jun sat staring out the hotel window, eating her cup of fangbianmian, and contemplated her marriage. Every time she went out drinking with her husband and their colleagues, she started getting so angry. He was always so dismissive of her ideas and suggestions, and the only thing that seemed to get him to notice her was when she flirted with his colleagues.
李俊坐在酒店窗外，吃着她的一杯方扁米，思考着她的婚姻。 每次她和丈夫以及他们的同事出去喝酒时，她都会非常生气。 他总是对她的想法和建议如此不屑一顾，唯一让他注意到她的事情是当她和他的同事调情时。
As if only her body was important to him, and she wasn’t important.
好像只有她的身体对他很重要，而她并不重要。
She sighed, remembering Matt driving her back last night. “I wish I had a marriage like those two”, she thought.
她叹了口气，想起昨晚Matt开车送她回去。 “我希望我有像那两个人一样的婚姻，”她想。
Remembering how Matt helped her into the room, as she, sloppy drunk and feeling sorry for herself, clung to him just to stay on her feet. He was so kind and gentle about it, “Get some sleep, you will feel better in the morning. I need to get home to Nora to help get the kid’s lunches ready for school tomorrow.”
想起Matt是如何帮她进入房间的，当她喝得酩遢，自怨自艾时，紧紧抓住他，只是为了站着身子。 他对此非常善良和温柔，“睡一觉，早上你会感觉好些的。 我需要回家找诺拉，帮孩子准备明天上学的午餐。”
Her marriage to Colin had been a whirlwind romance, they couldn’t get enough of each other at the start. She never wanted the feeling to end.
她和科林的婚姻是一场旋风般的浪漫，他们一开始就爱不释手。 她从来不希望这种感觉结束。
However she could see now that life shouldn’t be just a series of explosions; bitter fights and makeup sex, igniting each other’s jealously to bring back the spark.
然而，她现在可以看到，生活不应该只是一连串的爆炸；激烈的争吵和化妆性爱，点燃彼此的嫉妒，以带回火花。
What she really wanted was something like the convenient noodles in her hand: something comforting, always there when she needed sustenance and warmth. “It is funny how priorities change in life”, she thought. “Life should not always be a constant battle, sometimes all we need is something constant and warm to come home to, something convenient and filling”.
她真正想要的是像她手中的方便面条一样的东西：一些令人欣慰的东西，当她需要食物和温暖时，总是在那里。 她想：“生活中的优先事项是如何改变的，这很有趣。” “生活不应该总是一场持续不断的战斗，有时我们所需要的只是一些持续和温暖的东西回家，一些方便和充实的东西”。
