Pineapples on Sale

By Ping Ping

Pineapples on Sale

By Ping Ping

O ne day,my husband and I took a walk after supper. Passing by a supermarket in the neighborhood,a big sign at the door seized our attention.It read“Pineapples on Sale! Almost Free!”

“I’m in the mood for some pineapples,”I said,“let’s have a look.”

Inside,pineapples were put in two piles.The tag read:“4.4 yuan per kilo.”“A good bargain indeed. It’s at least 5.2 yuan for each kilo elsewhere,”I told my husband. Thus,he volunteered to queue up for pineapples while I just wandered around for a bit.About 20 minutes later,we met each other at the deli section.

I was surprised to notice that the pineapples my husband had bought were left unpeeled,so I asked him:“Why didn’t they slice the skin off? How are we supposed to eat them?”

He explained,“The sellers said that there were too many customers, and they weren’t able to peel and cut pineapples for everyone.They were quite considerate though.They recommended me an 18-yuan knife, specially designed for pineapples, so I bought one.”

“But it’s a waste to buy a knife. You know,pineapples are always sold with the skin off.”

“Come on,they are just too busy. Don’t make a fuss.Everyone buying pineapples today is buying the knife.Maybe the pineapples will always be on sale.In that case,the money we save from the pineapples would soon cover the cost of a knife.No need to be miserable.”

Well,I thought,he does have a point.

After we got home,my husband went into the kitchen to prepare the pineapple.Standing beside him,I found that peeling and cutting pineapples for him was a piece of cake.Perhaps this was because he had seen the fruit vendors doing it many times.

“I wasn’t expecting you to be a pineapple-peeling-pro.”

“Well,sharp tools make a master craftsman.With this knife,everyone can do it.Just buy cheap pineapples with the skin on,and I can peel them all.”

After a few days,we ate up the pineapples.I asked my husband to go buy more.After a bit,he came back with a pineapple—without skin.He explained:“Pineapples are no longer on sale,and I don’t think they will be on sale again in the near future.”

“Then what about our pineapple knife?”

Fiddling with the knife,he replied,“You know,not until today did I realize that there is no such thing as‘pineapples on sale.’It has always been‘knives for sale.’”

(FromLadies,November 2015. Translation:Li Xiang.)