The World's Most Competitive Bake Sale

Tabitha's chess club and Yuki's robotics team had both scheduled their fundraising bake sales for the same Friday, at opposite ends of the same hallway. Neither club was willing to reschedule.

塔比莎的国际象棋社和由纪的机器人队，把各自的筹款义卖烘焙安排在了同一个星期五，就在同一条走廊的两头。两个社团谁也不肯改期。

"We were here first," Tabitha insisted, though nobody could actually confirm which sign-up sheet had been submitted earlier.

“我们先来的，”塔比莎坚持说，不过谁也没法确认究竟是哪张报名表先交上去的。

"By four minutes, maybe," Yuki said. "That's not exactly a strong claim to the entire hallway."

“顶多早四分钟吧，”由纪说，“这可算不上整条走廊都归你们的有力理由。”

What began as a scheduling disagreement escalated, over the course of one lunch period, into something neither club had planned for. Tabitha's table offered cookies. Yuki's table, in response, offered cookies that were, according to a hastily written sign, "twice the size, for the same price."

起初只是一场排期上的分歧，在一个午休时间里，升级成了两个社团谁都没料到的局面。塔比莎的桌子卖曲奇。由纪的桌子作为回应，卖的曲奇据一块匆匆写成的牌子说是“个头大一倍，价钱一样”。

Tabitha's team retaliated by lowering prices. Yuki's team added free samples. By the time the sale started after school, both tables had assembled elaborate displays, with handwritten signs comparing calories, prices, and moral character.

塔比莎的队伍以降价还击。由纪的队伍又加了免费试吃。到放学后义卖开始的时候，两张桌子都摆出了精心布置的展示，手写的牌子上比着热量、价格和道德品质。

"Robotics Club members," read one sign, "have never once dropped a project deadline." A cookie was taped beneath it, as if offering supporting evidence.

“机器人社的成员，”一块牌子上写道，“从来没有错过一次项目截止日期。”牌子下面还贴着一块曲奇，仿佛是在提供佐证。

Tabitha responded with a poster reading, "Chess Club has produced three regional champions and zero lawsuits." It was a claim Yuki privately admitted was both true and completely irrelevant.

塔比莎用一张海报回应，上面写着：“国际象棋社出过三位地区冠军，零起诉讼。”由纪私下里承认，这话既是真的，又完全不相干。

Students, sensing free entertainment, gathered between the two tables rather than actually buying anything from either one. That meant that by four o'clock, both clubs had sold almost nothing and made almost no money at all.

学生们嗅到了免费的热闹，纷纷聚到两张桌子中间，却没有真正从任何一边买东西。这意味着到四点钟的时候，两个社团几乎什么都没卖出去，也几乎没赚到一分钱。

Their advisor arrived to check on the sale. She found two increasingly elaborate displays, a crowd filming the whole thing on their phones, and not a single dollar in either donation jar.

指导老师来看义卖的情况。她看到的是两个越摆越精巧的展示，一群举着手机拍下整个场面的人，而两个捐款罐里连一块钱都没有。

"This was supposed to raise money," she said, "not start a cold war."

“这是要筹钱的，”她说，“不是要打冷战的。”

Tabitha and Yuki looked at each other, both a little embarrassed, and both, privately, slightly impressed by how far the rivalry had escalated.

塔比莎和由纪对视了一眼，两人都有点不好意思，也都在心里对这场较量竟然升级到这个地步略感佩服。

"Truce?" Yuki offered. "Combined table. We split everything fifty-fifty."

“休战？”由纪提议，“合成一张桌子。所有收入对半分。”

"Only if the sign says both clubs," Tabitha said. "Equal font size. I've seen how you do things."

“除非牌子上写两个社团，”塔比莎说，“字号一样大。我见识过你们是怎么办事的。”

By the end of the hour, the merged table had outsold both original setups combined. The audience they had already gathered finally had something to actually purchase.

一个小时结束的时候，合并后的桌子卖出去的东西比原来两张桌子加起来还多。他们早先聚集起来的观众，终于有了真正可以买的东西。