After half an hour, Cheng Jingbo returned to the cafe.
"I read the book you recommended." When he sat down, Bai Ziren made an opening statement.
"how do you feel?"
"To tell the truth." Bai Ziren hesitated, but he didn't pretend, "It's not easy to read, and I can't understand some metaphors."
"It's normal. At the beginning, there will be more or less obstacles in reading a class of books that you have never been exposed to."
"What if you can't keep reading?"
"Then don't read it." He said, "You don't have to force yourself to read something you're really not interested in."
Bai Ziren hesitated for a moment, then asked directly, "Am I superficial?"
"No, what book a person reads can't represent his depth, it often depends on what he is willing to do."
"real?"
"Yes, I went to the mountains a few years ago. There was an old lady who had been farming in the fields for decades. She lived alone and had no family, but the local children loved to go to her house to play, because she would Paper-cutting, the cut-out tigers are lifelike, and she taught the children how to cut them by hand, and made them snacks, so that they had a very happy time at her house." Cheng Jingbo chatted with her slowly, her eyes followed Watching the changes in the light outside the window, it brightened for a while and dimmed slightly for a while, "I think she is an amazing person, although she is illiterate."
"Indeed, it's great to be able to make others happy." Thinking of herself, she couldn't help but laugh at herself, "I can't do that."
Cheng Jingbo picked up the coffee pot and refilled it for Bai Ziren.
She looked down his straight and clean sleeves, from his wrists, the back of his hands to the tips of his fingers. His hands were beautiful, and even the simple act of holding a coffee pot was reluctant to let people look away.
"Don't deny yourself easily." He pushed the cup closer to her while speaking.
She reached out to cover the warm cup wall, recalling what he said.
"If you really want to read books, you can choose some that you like. The ones recommended by others are not necessarily good." He put down the coffee pot and brought back the topic.
"But what you recommend must be good." She just wanted to read his favorite book.
"Because I'm a teacher?"
"You look just right for reading."
"Do I look like a nerd?"
"No." Bai Ziren found herself a bit difficult to describe. He felt so special to her that it didn't belong to her vocabulary, but she managed to squeeze out a few words, "You are very humble. Opinions, and know how to respect and understand others, which is different from most people.”
"Thank you for the compliment, but aren't there many people like this?"
"Maybe there are many, but I don't meet many, and there are even fewer who are really like you." She emphasized emphatically, "Probably only you, just you, completely different."
Cheng Jingbo tried to digest what she said: "It sounds like I'm a real weirdo."
"No..." Bai Ziren didn't expect him to have misunderstood, so he quickly clarified.
"Just kidding, don't be nervous." His tone was lighter than before, "Actually, I know what you mean."
Bai Ziren shut up and stopped talking.
"I always like to hear compliments from people." He said frankly, "I am not humble at all, especially the compliments I get from people who are both good in character and learning."
The words "both good in character and learning" were used by Mu Zibei to describe his sister to Cheng Jingbo during dinner yesterday, because he said it several times, which made him remember it fresh.
Bai Ziren was a little embarrassed, but he didn't deny himself anymore, thinking of Mu Zibei again, he said, "By the way, my brother had a low fever last night."
"Sick? How are you doing now?"
"The fever is gone, now rest in bed obediently."
"Mu Zibei, he is the most interesting kid I have ever seen."
"Ok?"
"Smart and precocious, a little naughty and harmless." He faced her face to face, and his eyes did not touch awkwardly. "At first glance, you don't look alike, but after a long time, you are different. The part from the eyes to the nose is very similar."
"He is my half-brother, and he is much different from me in age, so it's a pity that we couldn't spend our childhood together."
"So that's how it is."
"What about you? Besides Dr. Cheng, do you have any other siblings?"
Just talking about this, Xiao Ji came over with a freshly baked hot muffin, placed it in the center of the table, and said with a smile: "Try my handicraft while it's hot, I specially put in twice as much fresh milk to ensure the pure taste. "
"Thank you." Bai Ziren thanked.
"You are his VIP, of course you should be treated well." Xiao Ji Chaocheng said quietly, "He really rarely has time to sit here and chat with others, even if we asked him to tell a little philosophical story, he would not How do you like to say it?"
Xiao Ji used the word "accompany" to flatter Bai Ziren. In her impression, it was clearly because she took the initiative to chat with him time and time again, and he was out of politeness, or simply because she was a lover of reading. Be patient and talk to her.
Cheng Jingbo replied to Xiao Ji: "Because you are not really interested, I am afraid that the audience will fall asleep as soon as I start."
"It's just an excuse. It's true that you don't want to talk to us." Xiao Ji hugged the round plate, lowered his head and gave Bai Ziren a mischievous smile, then turned and went back, leaving the two of them alone.
"Aren't you going to eat it?" Bai Ziren took a bite of the muffin and found it delicious.
"I tasted hundreds of flavors in the first few days of opening, and I will give it to me for free in the future. I have to think about it."
Bai Ziren understood this feeling very well, so he stopped being polite, and slowly finished a slice by himself, and asked when he thought of something, "Would you like to tell me a little philosophical story?"
"What do you want to hear?" To her surprise, he agreed very directly.
"I remember a high school philosophy teacher told a love story about Descartes. Before he died, he left a certain formula. After unraveling, it was a heart-shaped thread, which was given to his princess lover. Is that the real history?"
"The fact is not so romantic. He didn't have a love affair with the so-called princess, and he didn't leave a legendary function before his death. The fact is that Descartes, as the teacher of the Queen of Sweden at the time, was required to teach at five o'clock in the morning every day. , It was winter, the temperature was very low, he was always weak and could not adapt to the severe cold in northern Europe, and his philosophical thoughts were not valued by the queen, so he was inevitably depressed and eventually died of illness."
"So, the legend of the heart-shaped line is false?"
"There is no rigorous evidence that the cardioid was a Cartesian invention."
Bai Ziren nodded: "Actually, I already suspected that this story was false."
"why?"
"I think the functional formula he left behind is very difficult, and it is impossible to solve it at the level of a princess. Besides, people are going to die, and the last words will not be made so complicated rationally. It is very likely that it is just a legend that the world likes. "
After hearing what she said, Cheng Jingbo smiled, thought for a while and said, "Your suspicion is correct."
"But I really like that heart-shaped line." Bai Ziren picked up the small notebook and pen beside him, "I remember that."
She neatly drew a coordinate, and tried to connect the points on the trajectory to form two semi-arcs, which meet at one point and become a heart.
Cheng Jingbo lowered his eyes to watch her write, and his long eyelashes covered up the bright light floating in his eyes.
When she finished drawing, he took it and looked at it: "Very few girls can draw this."
"I just thought it was beautiful, so I remembered it."
"If you want to see a beautiful one, there is also a function graph that is a butterfly curve." He borrowed her pen, drew a coordinate, and connected them symmetrically.
A few minutes later, he showed it to her, and there was a butterfly with spread wings parked on the coordinates, rational and graceful.
She stared at it for a long time, then closed it as a gift from him, and then raised her head to meet his eyes, feeling more and more that the pair of black pupils, which were calm, focused and full of wisdom, were really beautiful, and she felt a little private hide.
When the pot of hot coffee bottomed out, it was time for Bai Ziren to leave. Cheng Jingbo asked her how to get back, and she said to take the bus.
"I'll go to the station with you." He stood up, his eyes resting on the Bodhi pendant on the corner of the table, "Don't forget it again."
The temperature in early winter was already very low, and people on the street were all dressed thickly. When they walked side by side, there was a slight friction sound between coats and coats.
Bai Ziren put his hands in his coat pockets, lowered his head slightly when walking, and occasionally glanced at him. He didn't speak again after he went out. She tacitly agreed that he needed to be quiet, or was thinking about something, so naturally he wouldn't make any noise.
In fact, this kind of feeling is very subtle. People who once believed that they just met by chance and would soon forget each other are now beside their left shoulders, just an eye distance away.
Taking this opportunity, her eyes moved up from his straight legs, drooping arms, and slightly curved clean fingers, to his broad shoulders, and when she was about to go up...he had already lowered his head to catch her swimming around. , asked: "What are you looking at?"
Bai Ziren denied, "Nothing."
He looked away, a little puzzled, but he didn't pursue what she was interested in just now.
They walked to the station, and the wind blew up along the way, and it was easy to feel the cold when it brushed against her face. The strange thing was that she didn't feel cold, but her hands in her pockets were a little hot, and she didn't know where the warmth came from. .
He bought an evening newspaper at the newsstand by the station and waited with her for the bus while reading it silently.
For a few minutes, his silence made her feel uncomfortable, but she didn't know how to break the silence. Stirring up the atmosphere was never something she was good at, and all she could do was wait for his next sentence.
When the bus came, she still didn't wait for him to speak until the car stopped in front of her and she was about to say goodbye.
The moment she stepped into the car, a small accident happened. The long scarf tied around her neck was blown off her shoulders by a strong wind. When she turned her head, she saw him walking up.
He bent down to pick up the scarf, and when the driver was urging, he stretched out his hand and hung it around her neck, wrapped it around neatly, and even tied a knot.
Then, as if she had a hallucination, she saw a little indulgent smile flashing in his pupils like treating a child.
"In this way, the knot won't fall off again." This time, he even lowered his voice a little.
Suddenly, she thought of his unique tone when answering Mu Zibei's weird questions.
For example, Mu Zibei will get to the bottom of it: "Brother Cheng, what should I eat to look similar to you?"
"Vegetables and radishes, if you insist on eating them for a period of time, there will be obvious effects."
"What effect?"
"Facial features will become more three-dimensional, especially the line of the chin will gradually become clearer."
"Ah? Brother Cheng, are you turning a corner and saying that I have a round face?"
"Huh? I clearly said it very directly." His voice was stained with a smile, and so were his eyes.
And just now that kind of shallow and inclusive smile appeared in his eyes again, although it was only for a moment, but the object was her.
His good-bye brought her back to her thoughts, and she quickly came to her senses and nodded to him.
Bai Ziren got into the car, and there were no seats left. She stood in the middle of the car, holding on to her bracelet, and looked out the window at the figure of him walking back.
In the crowded carriage, she heard whispers of complaints. It was obviously very noisy, but she felt like she was staying in a small corner far away from everything, enjoying a kind of happiness that belonged to her alone. On the right hand in the pocket, the palm was attached to the bodhi seed he had brought back for her, as if holding a little sun.