闻着还能吃吗

这盒剩菜还能吃，我闻了一下，没有问题。

This box of leftovers is still fine to eat. I gave it a smell, no problem.

妈，你看，这个已经过了保质期三天了，你还要吃？

Mom, look, this is already three days past its shelf life. You're still going to eat it?

保质期只是一个大概的时间，不是说过期了就一定坏了。你闻闻，一点味道都没有，很正常。

The shelf-life date is just a rough estimate. It's not that food is definitely spoiled the moment it expires. Smell it yourself, there's no odor at all, it's completely normal.

我不敢闻，也不敢吃。保质期是告诉我们的安全时间，过期了就应该扔了，这样才安全。

I don't dare smell it, and I don't dare eat it. The shelf-life date tells us the safe amount of time. Once it's expired, it should be thrown out, that's the only way to be safe.

你从小就是这样，只相信盒子上写的时间，从来不相信自己的鼻子和眼睛。东西是不是坏了，闻一闻，看一看，比看盒子上的时间准。

You've always been like this, ever since you were little. You only trust the date written on the box, and never trust your own nose and eyes. Whether food has gone bad, smelling it and looking at it is more accurate than checking the date on the box.

可是你怎么知道，你闻不出来的坏，不是坏了？有的坏东西闻起来也没有问题，吃了以后才会知道。

But how do you know that food you can't smell as spoiled isn't actually spoiled? Some spoiled food doesn't smell like anything's wrong, you only find out after you've eaten it.

我吃了这么多年剩菜，也没有一次因为过了保质期就生病。你担心的事情，很少真的发生。

I've eaten leftovers for so many years, and not once have I gotten sick from eating something past its shelf life. The thing you're worried about rarely actually happens.

但是万一发生了呢？为了安全，过期的东西还是不要吃比较好，扔了也没有关系，比生病好。

But what if it did happen, just once? For the sake of safety, it's better not to eat expired food. Throwing it out is fine, it's better than getting sick.

你这样什么都扔，太浪费了。冰箱里一半的东西都是还能吃的，被你扔了。

Throwing everything out like this is such a waste. Half the things in the fridge that are still perfectly edible get thrown out by you.

我知道你觉得我浪费，但是我觉得你太相信自己的鼻子了。我们两个人，可能都对，也可能都不对。

I know you think I'm wasteful, but I think you trust your own nose too much. The two of us could both be right, or we could both be wrong.

也许吧。那今天这盒剩菜，你还是别吃了，我们一起去买新的，好不好？

Maybe so. Well, this box of leftovers today, you'd better not eat it. Let's go buy something fresh together, all right?

好，这次听你的。不过下次，我还是会先闻一闻，再决定扔不扔。

Okay, I'll listen to you this time. But next time, I'm still going to smell it first before deciding whether to throw it out.