"Shop Manager, isn't Xiao Hei here today?"
Xu Ran shook his head at the little girl with ponytail across the bar, "It ran out to play."
The girl sighed, and said regretfully, "Then I want a cup of cocoa."
Xu Ran turned the wheelchair and took cocoa powder from the shelf behind him. The girl arranged the cup for him sensibly, tiptoed to look inside, and said, "I want double milk and cotton candy."
Xu Ran smiled and said yes.
This bookstore next to the high school is Xu Ran's shop. He sold his house three years ago, paid off all his medical bills, and opened the store with the rest of the money. He was alone in the store, along with a cat who liked to run around.
One hour after school is the busiest time in the store. The boys are laughing and laughing at the door, shoulder to shoulder, and the girls who are waiting for their parents to pick them up will order a drink and sit on the small desk to do their homework. Now this girl is a regular customer in the store, and every time she comes to the cat, Hei.
Xu Ran also wanted Xiao Hei to calm down. Originally an adopted stray cat, Xiao Hei couldn't get into the habit of just staying in the shop, and always ran out when he wasn't paying attention. Xu Ran had no choice but to wait for it to come back before giving it a bath.
He is still in a wheelchair. Three years have passed, and there is no sign of being able to stand up at all.
Xu Ran handed the milk cocoa covered with white marshmallows to the girl, watched her cautiously walk towards the desk, and smiled slightly.
Staying beside these children, he seemed to be back in high school, always forgetting that he was actually over thirty years old.
After seeing the impermanence of the world and the various states of the world, in the end it is not as reassuring as a cup of hot cocoa.
Go to the computer and send the drawn drawings to the company. This is the last set of pictures he drew. In the past three years, the company has grown a lot, and most of the new recruits have already graduated, and he no longer needs foreign aid to help him work overtime to produce pictures.
That's good, so he can settle down and take care of this little book. It doesn't make much money, but it's a job anyway.
It was getting late, and the children were walking home one after another. The little girl didn't wait for Xiao Hei, so she pouted and bought two comic books, and left with her mother who came to pick her up. By seven o'clock in the evening, Xu Ran was the only one left in the shop.
There is still a cram school next to it, and there will be students waiting for their parents here from 8:00 to 9:00. Xu Ran didn't care if he made money or not, he just wanted to give these tired children a place to rest. Anyway, his house is nearby, so it's very convenient to go back.
There were no customers, and the store was full of books and stationery. In order to take care of Xu Ran's situation, the decoration workers deliberately made the bookcase shorter, so that he could organize the publications while sitting. Children who often come to the store know that the store manager here is gentle and easy to talk to. Although he is sitting in a wheelchair, he is not scary at all. Instead, he has a kind of bookishness, and he can quickly get along with them.
Perhaps after years of precipitation, what remains are some good things. Xu Ran can feel that he has become more and more calm in the past few years. The state of worrying about gains and losses in the past has not appeared for a long time. He is guarding this now. A shop, take care of yourself, parents and a cat, life is plain and fulfilling.
Staying next to the high school, you can always see all kinds of people. Students change one by one, and the long report card bears the hope of the family. Xu Ran likes to sit at the door of the store and watch them come and go. At dusk or after night falls, the distant city is lit up with thousands of lights, and he stays in the empty small book bar, waiting for the cat who doesn't know when it will come home.
Xiao Hei jumped down from the roof along the pipe, leaned on the wheel of the wheelchair, meowed and rubbed Xu Ran's palm.
Xu Ran picked it up pretending to be disgusted, and checked it under the light, "Well, it's not too dirty today."
The little black cat whined to express its grievance.
After the cram school was over, Xu Ran waited for half an hour for the last student to buy the stationery he wanted, then let Xiao Hei go into the pet box, turn off the lights, lock the door and go home.
There was only about 300 meters away from the small bookstore to his home. The community security guard opened the door for him with a smile. Xu Ran thanked him, and Xiao Hei in his arms meowed through the small window of the cage to show his presence.
"Are you hungry?" He stretched out his fingers and touched the top of Xiao Hei's head, and said softly, "I'll be home soon, just be patient."
Normally, parents should be ready to go to bed at this time, but Xu Ran came home today and saw her mother sitting at the table and messing with something. She is not very good at using a computer, and she couldn't drag the file to the correct location after working for a long time.
Xu Ran put Xiao Hei down, "Mom, what are you doing, I'll help you."
"Come, come, help me make an album of these photos," Xu's mother said, "I'll send it to you, Aunt Lin."
Hearing her mentioning the Lin family, Xu Ran smiled faintly, "Auntie invited you to play again?"
Last year, Lin Shen officially immigrated to Lin's mother, and the mother and son settled abroad. Every once in a while, Aunt Lin would invite Mother Xu to visit them for a few days. Unfortunately, Mother Lin was busy with work and couldn't leave for a while.
Xu Ran hugged his mother's shoulders and said, "I'll take you to apply for a passport next week."
"There's no rush, let's talk when you're free." Xu Mu said.
"You don't have to think about me, I can take care of myself now." Xu Ran said with a smile, "It's fine if you go out with my dad for a few days."
Xiao Hei desperately scratched the door of the pet box to complain about his dissatisfaction with being ignored. Xu Ran and his mother looked at each other and smiled, and the latter went to open the box and carried Xiao Hei out, "Whose baby is this hungry?"
"Mom, it sneaked out again today, you wash it first before hugging it."
Xu's mother carried the struggling little black cat into the bathroom, Xu Ran helped her finish the photo album, and sent it to Aunt Lin in the chat box.
Soon there came back: Thank you, Auntie.
Xu Ran was taken aback, and quickly typed:
—Lin Shen
— Is it me, Xu Ran
Xu Ran leaned on the back of the chair and smiled lightly. Through the screen, he could imagine Lin Shen's surprise on the opposite side.
After they parted that year, they never met again, and they only contacted each other occasionally on the Internet. They are still friends, and no one mentions the turmoil and dismal ending of that New Year's Eve.
Some people are used to remember, Xu Ran will always remember the embrace of Lin Shen that year, even if there will never be a second time in this life, but he can cherish this memory.
Lin Shen said: Tomorrow is your birthday, right? Happy birthday, little birthday boy.
Xu Ran smiled and said: "You're still young, thirty-one years old."
Thirty-one years old, an age that was thought to be reached in a long time, unexpectedly entered middle age without knowing it.
-how have you been
—The same as before, but Xiao Hei gained a lot of weight.
He took a photo of the gloomy Xiao Hei out of the bath and sent it to Lin Shen.
—It's fine, it's cute. How are you
— Very good, didn’t you ask this question just now
yes. Lin Shen in front of the computer on the other side of the ocean smiled and typed: I forgot, sorry.
Xu Ran sent him a grimacing emoji and closed the computer.
In fact, he knew what Lin Shen wanted to ask.
Three years have passed since he said his final farewell, and he has never heard anything about He Cheng again.
Sometimes Xu Ran felt that the past days were just a dream, a dream that made him sleep for half his life. He was immersed in the joys and sorrows of the dream, but once he woke up, the dream was always a dream, but the reality was a reality with infinite possibilities.
There are plenty of things he can look for to fill his life without having to worry about another man's feelings. As time passed year by year, he seldom even remembered the scene of loving He Chengshi before.
How could he be so stupid at that time? He thought it was funny. It was just his first love when he was young, so there was no need to lose so much good time.
The next day was his birthday, and the gifts he bought for his parents had already been delivered to the store, and he also bought a white collar for Xiao Hei.
It's a pity that the weather is not beautiful, and it has been raining outside since noon.
Xu Ran sat in the store helpless, and said to Xiao Hei in his arms, "You can't go out and run around today, you will catch a cold. You stay in the store obediently, and go back to eat delicious food at night."
Xiao Hei dozed off soundly, was quarreled by him, responded with a meow, and fell asleep again in a blink of an eye.
There were no customers in the store that day, but the little girl came to play in the rain for a while after school, telling Xu Ran the latest school gossip.
"There is a new coffee shop in the west gate of the university next door. It opened in the morning, and it seems to be very lively." The little girl teased Xiao Hei, and said, "The classmate who took the physical education class next door said that the owner of the shop is very handsome. , in a suit and leather shoes, like a TV star."
Xu Ran couldn't imagine what it was like, so he smiled and shook his head.
The little girl drank all the cocoa in the cup, wiped her mouth, and said very loyally, "But it's okay, I won't go there just because their boss is handsome, I will always be your loyal customer."
Xu Ran teased her, "What if Xiao Hei went to that store?"
The little girl blushed immediately, and didn't speak for a long time.
Xu Ran laughed out loud, gave her two lollipops, and said he was joking.
It is common to open a restaurant at the gate of the university. It is only one street away from the west gate of the university. If the store is well advertised, these high school students are likely to go there to play.
But it doesn't matter, Xu Ran doesn't care about these. Whether it is a coffee shop or a book bar, just like people, they come and leave. Maybe the address of the coffee shop will be changed next week, and maybe he will pack up and leave next month. This is all uncertain, Xu Ran has no sense of crisis of being robbed of business.
No matter what, he's always here and won't go far.
On a rainy day, the students rushed home, and Xu Ran's shop was empty early. He wiped off the footprints on the ground, sat at the door and waited for the rain to stop.
Gradually, the heavy rain turned into a drizzle, but it showed no sign of stopping. Xu Ran sighed, picked up the pet box containing Xiao Hei, and said, "We have to go home."
He held up the umbrella to block Xiao Hei and most of his body, and walked on the way home.
There is a small square in front of the house. On sunny days, the nearby kindergarten will hold parent-child activities, and occasionally people in doll costumes will come to distribute toys. Today, the square is deserted and deserted, but there is still a man in a bear doll costume standing in the drizzle, holding a handful of balloons in his hand.
Xu Ran looked at him for a while, then stepped forward in the wheelchair.
"Hello." Xu Ran raised her head with a smile and said to him, "Long time no see."
Xu Ran can't say that he knew this person, but only met once in a while. The most coincidental thing is that every time it is Xu Ran's birthday, he would give out balloons here, and he would definitely give one to Xu Ran.
This year it's a heart balloon. He took out the only red one and handed it to Xu Ran.
"Thank you." Xu Ran said to him, "It will be cold standing in the rain, go hide under the eaves."
Little Bear nodded, but didn't move.
Xu Ran knew that it was not easy for them to earn money, probably because the rainfall was not enough to allow them to work, so the boss asked them to stand here all the time. Xu Ran respected his wishes, thanked him again, and then turned and entered the community.
Behind him, as in the past three years, came a deep man's voice from the heavy doll costume, which was covered by the sound of traffic not far away in the blink of an eye.
"happy Birthday."
The author has something to say: Thank you Qinghe Lin Zikui. mines
Recently, I have to move house and office. I am quite busy. There will only be one update tonight, and no update at nine o’clock.
Catching bugs: The middle-aged man was purely a mistake, I was wrong (cover face)