Cheng Jingbo declined the private dinner, and Mu Zibei expressed great regret for this. He had planned to take this opportunity to have sex with his elder brother Cheng, and they got close, but they didn't succeed.
On the way back, Mu Zibei lamented why Dr. Cheng's family is so good-looking, should it be attributed to the greatness of genes? But he also wondered why his brother was so stupid, it simply didn't make sense.
Bai Ziren remained focused and silent.
"What are you thinking?" Mu Zibei asked loudly, "You look like you've lost your soul, are you still angry with me?"
Bai Ziren looked down at him, still ignoring him.
"Well, I was wrong, but I have also learned a lesson. Don't tell my mother about this when I go back."
"What lesson did you learn?" Bai Ziren was puzzled.
Mu Zibei put on a straight face: "If you lose your impression points, Brother Cheng may go to Dr. Cheng and sue me."
Bai Ziren shook his head: "Why would he care about a child like you."
"Since he doesn't care about it anymore, you can't care about it with me." Mu Zibei stretched out his hand to pull her.
Bai Ziren had no choice but to shake off his hand, expressing that he and he were not from the same country.
Mu Zibei quickly entangled her, her mouth as if coated with honey: "Sister, you are the best, and I will buy you a bag when I earn money."
Bai Ziren sighed in his heart and silently compromised.
After returning home, Liu Xinyu took care of her two sons, and had no time to pay attention to her daughter. In the evening, Uncle Mu went home and had dinner with them. After the meal, he took the children out for a walk, and Liu Xinyu took a little time to chat with her daughter face to face. , but the topic was limited to her life as a graduate student.
"You have to make more friends, hang out with friends more, and don't close yourself too much."
"Ok."
"If you have any problems, just ask me and your Uncle Mu, don't bite the bullet and solve it yourself."
"it is good."
"It sounded like they were coming back. I'm going downstairs first. You can rest for a while." Liu Xinyu left her daughter's room and helped her close the door.
Bai Ziren sat by the bed alone, turned down the light of the bedside lamp to the minimum, crossed his legs in the dim light, and thought about it.
When she apologized to him, he smiled and said it was all right.
That's it, there is nothing else, not even a greeting of "It's such a coincidence, I met you here", could it be that I am really angry in my heart? That's right, she was teased by a brat for no reason, and she couldn't get away with it, and she couldn't help but blame herself for it, but besides that, she also had other emotions, such as luck.
I really didn't expect to meet him today.
She thinks she finally understands the meaning of the word "Xiao Que Xing", small and sure happiness, like spring rain and winter rainbow, the smell and taste are short-lived, fleeting, but can be remembered for a long time.
At this moment, through a door, the laughter of a family of four came from outside. She didn't feel that she was too lonely, probably because his smile had a healing effect.
This mood continued until the day she saw him again.
Cheng Jingbo always kept her promises, and arrived earlier than Bai Ziren. When she went up to the second floor, she saw him sitting there with a good temperament, but apart from him, there were guests in the two booths in the small corner on the second floor tonight. , one table is a pair of male and female students, and the other table is a middle-aged couple, in their own small space, or whispering or quietly reading.
After she sat down, the first thing she did was apologize.
"I'm really sorry that day, my brother threw a stone at you."
"It's okay, it's just a kid's prank." His tone sounded like he didn't mind at all.
She was quiet, and continued: "Also, he misunderstood your relationship with Dr. Cheng."
"This is not the first time. Dr. Cheng has always had some admirers. It is easy to confuse the relationship between me and her. In fact, you can see that she and I have similar appearances, and the way of speaking is also a family relationship. Between."
"Cheng Jingjie." Bai Ziren said the name, "Your names are very nice."
"It was all taken by my grandfather." At this point, he stopped continuing his family affairs and talked about the theme of this week, "Have you finished reading the book I borrowed?"
Bai Ziren took out the thin book from his schoolbag and put it on the table: "I've finished reading it, and I think it's very useful."
"Useful?" In fact, he flipped through it casually.
"It made me understand a lot of things I didn't know before. Generally speaking, when it comes to India, the Taj Mahal and musicals are probably the impression. Now I know that half of the people in Mumbai live in slums, and there is one of the world's largest open-air laundry factories. Electricity, every shop has an automatic generator, and the images of men and women outside the public restroom are designed as beautifully as movie posters, and, like us, education is the only way for most children to change their destiny, but we are nine Nine-nine multiplication tables, they are nineteen-nine-nine multiplication tables, which can calculate thirteen times fourteen in just ten seconds."
"It seems that you have read it carefully," he concluded. "This book briefly talks about what you have seen and heard in India, the normal life of the local people, and their culture is different, but as always, it is its own way."
"You read this book, is it related to philosophy?" She was curious about this.
"There is something to do with it. Indian culture is inseparable from philosophy. It is different from the few of us who study philosophy. On their side, philosophy is the worldview of most people. They pay attention to the spiritual world, being with God, and knowing that silence is golden. I like to meditate, so I have a lot of philosophical thoughts.”
She listened carefully.
"Are you interested?" he asked.
"Yes." Actually, before he spoke, he didn't have it, but now he wants to hear it.
"If you want to understand, you should start with the origin of their civilization. I can recommend you some related books. If you don't talk about it, you can't finish it tonight." He reminded him, "Of course, the premise is that you are really interested, because those The books are thick."
She touched her nose, with a look of embarrassment on her face.
He was not in a hurry to speak either.
"I... better wait."
He smiled silently, nodded, and took a sip from the glass next to him with his slender hands.
"I guess..." she asked him again, "Are you less willing to talk about this in private because you talk about it every day in class?"
It's like some chefs who cook delicious food for guests every day, and when they go home, they don't bother to cook because they are tired of food.
"No." He denied, "You can chat in private, but I don't like to instruct others."
Yes, answering the question "what is philosophy" over and over again is tiring enough, and what's more, it's a taboo to be a teacher. Looking at his appearance, you can tell that he is not the kind of person who likes to point out the world and correct others easily.
After a while, the waiter brought a cup of hot cocoa and a piece of snack, carefully placed it next to Bai Ziren, and then stepped back.
She took a sip of cocoa, looked at the handsome man's face in front of her, and said, "Actually, you are the owner of this cafe, right?"
"I'm not the boss, I'm just one of the investors. The real owner is my friend, but he opened this store for fun, and he left it after opening, regardless of the business."
"What if business has been bad?"
"To be precise, it will close down."
"That's a pity, the atmosphere here is very suitable for reading." She picked up a fork and poked a piece of bitter almond cake on the plate, "The dessert is also delicious."
"You like it very much?"
She was stunned for a moment, not knowing what exactly he meant by liking, did she like this cafe, the space suitable for reading, or the cake in front of her
In any case, she liked everything at this moment, so she nodded in admission.
"Thank you." He told the truth, "It's just that this reading exchange meeting will end this month."
"I understand." She had known this fact for a long time.
There are fewer and fewer people who read books now, not to mention the group who enthusiastically communicate about a book. If no one cares about the topic of reading on Friday night, there will be no conditions for its continued existence.
I understand it, I understand it, I feel very regretful, I thought I could sit down and communicate with him a few more times, but I didn't expect it to be so short.
Of course, the regret was only on her side, and his emotions didn't fluctuate much. In the next hour, at her request, he gave her a few different types of books, roughly talking about the subject matter and reading. In order to avoid her misremembering, I finally wrote a book list for her.
He put the list of books in the travel book, and handed it to her: "There is no need to return this book, I will give it to you as a gift."
Finally, together with the hot drink and dessert, he gave her a free bill and said goodbye to her politely.
Bai Ziren went downstairs alone, and noticed that the guests at the table in the corner hadn't left yet. The well-dressed middle-aged couple sat gracefully. With the temperature of the coffee cooling down, they were still admiring a picture book with great interest. Warm heart.
She stopped in her tracks, turned around, and looked at the silhouette of the man cast on the wall, silent as water, with a determination in her heart, she turned around again.
"Forgot something?" Seeing her back, he asked normally.
"I forgot this, as an apology." She dug out a bar of chocolate from her bag.
I remember that day, after being hit by Mu Zibei, he joked that he mistakenly thought it was a piece of chocolate that fell from the sky. She remembered it and guessed that he might like chocolate. Before coming here, he passed by a convenience store and bought one. Hazelnut's chocolate ball, I wanted to give it to him the moment I came in and sat down, but I didn't dare to take it out because I was afraid of being abrupt.
Time stood still for a few seconds, he took it after seeing it clearly, and commented in a low voice: "Well, it's a very good gift."
"Next Friday is the last week, will you come?"
"I'll be here if there's nothing urgent." His answer was the same as before.
Bai Ziren nodded to show that he understood.
Cheng Jingbo put the chocolate into the pocket of his jacket, looked at the night outside the window, it was already very thick, so he stood up: "I just want to go out for a while, let's go downstairs together."
They went downstairs one after the other, safe and sound, until they said goodbye at the door, and went in different directions.
After buying back two bottles of mineral water of a fixed brand, Cheng Jingbo returned to the cafe and took out the chocolate from the pocket of his coat.
The waiter Xiao Ji had sharp eyes and knew that he would never eat this kind of chocolate for children, so he asked softly, "Is it someone else's gift?"
He defaults.
"It's your student? Aren't you determined not to accept anything from students?"
"It wasn't given by the students, it was lucky enough to be dropped." He opened it and took only one, generously put the remaining two in the storage box on the bar to share with others, and then went upstairs.
Xiao Ji grabbed one, took it apart and ate it. The sweet taste reached the roots of her teeth, making it unbearable. She shook her head, and was going to use the remaining one as an ingredient for a chocolate caramel cake.