Xu Ran looked down at his trembling hands, shook his head for a while.
"You don't have to do this kind of thing," Xu Ran said, "Of course, if you really did it..."
"It's not me!" He Cheng's voice was a little hoarse, his brows were tightly frowned, "I won't hurt you again, I swear."
Xu Ran smiled lightly, "Okay, it's okay, there are too many people to open a shop here, and it will be a matter of time before they are discovered."
He looked around and sighed softly, "It's just that I offended the people in the school now, I don't know if I can continue to do it."
He Cheng stared at his profile, and said, "Then change to another place, business can be done anywhere."
Xu Ran shook his head.
He didn't want to go to great lengths to wipe out the past just because of a little thing. In the past, he left He Cheng to go to City C, and then returned home from City C. Every change seemed to be an escape. Maybe if we didn't choose to go to the south after we broke up, everything would have a different ending.
But it's useless to say these things now, and he doesn't want to give up now before the moment of last resort.
As if he could see what he was thinking, He Chengdao, "If we don't want to leave, we won't leave. We haven't done anything wrong, and if we want to leave, it's not their turn to catch up."
These words came out of He Cheng's mouth like a child's stubborn willfulness, Xu Ran was a little funny, always felt that this man had changed a lot in these years.
He Cheng lowered his head and kissed the back of Xu Ran's hand, "If you stay, my coffee shop may not be open, but I will still chase you to the ends of the earth."
Xu Ran was taken aback by the sudden love words and the soft touch on the back of his hand, his whole body froze stiffly, and wanted to withdraw his hand, but he didn't have the strength.
He Cheng's grip was not strong, but very gentle, but Xu Ran couldn't bear to take the warmth away from his hands.
"You...can no longer appear in the store."
The moment the words came out, He Cheng pursed his lips hard, as if he was trying to suppress the surging emotions.
Xu Ran felt a pain in his heart.
It's strange, I've said all the good and the bad before, but now I can't say any more heartless words to this man who just protected me.
He Cheng raised the corner of his mouth, showing a gentle smile, "It's okay, it's just right, so I won't annoy you."
"..."
Xu Ran took a deep breath and changed the subject, "What did you do... when you came out of the closet?"
He Cheng pulled a stool and sat down beside him, and said softly, "I didn't do anything."
Xu Ran looked at him in confusion, what does this mean
He Cheng smiled lightly, "It's just that I didn't do anything. It's time to play, go to school, fight. If someone asks, just admit it openly. If he dares to laugh at me, I'll beat him up."
"What about the elders?"
"Elder? Elders are more troublesome," He Chengdao, "but I'm like this, if they can, they'll rub me back into my mother's womb, but who can guarantee that I can really like women again? "
"Is that what you told them?"
"Yes, I told my dad once, and he didn't care about me anymore."
Xu Ran fell silent, He Cheng looked at him for a while, then gently put his hand on his shoulder.
Xu Ran was stunned for a moment, and turned his head to meet his deep gaze.
"If you don't want to give in, it's okay, I'll be with you."
After thinking about it, he smiled self-deprecatingly, "If you don't dislike it."
Xu Ran didn't know what to say.
He Cheng stood up, "Okay, if we stay any longer, something will happen again. I'll go first and call."
He made a phone call gesture and left the book bar with a smile.
Xu Ran watched him go to the door and say hello to the uncle of the noodle shop, then turned around and waved, before disappearing at the entrance of the street under the scorching sun.
Xu Ran sat in the shop feeling lost.
He touched his left chest, and an inexplicable emotion filled his atrium. He tried his best to distinguish which of these emotions were brought by the dean and his team, and which belonged to He Cheng, but after a long time, he couldn't come up with a single one. Correct answer.
The phone rang, Xu Ran clicked on it, and it was He Cheng who sent a smiling face.
The silly expression of Soybean, the corners of the mouth curved into a funny arc, and Doudou's eyes seem to be able to talk, Xu Ran can almost hear a man say in an awkward tone, "Don't be unhappy, just smile?"
He rolled his eyes. He Cheng had never said such a thing, but in his imagination, it would be very appropriate for that man who always wears a suit and leather shoes to say deceitful words.
He had never imagined it like this before, maybe the He Cheng in the past was too scary, he didn't even dare to use He Cheng's face on his imaginary lover. But now, he felt that everything was so natural.
Sure enough, if the status of two people is equal, many things will become much simpler.
Xu Ran moved his finger and clicked on the reply interface, but there was no next step.
After a while, he put away his phone and re-examined the bookstore.
He asked himself, what exactly do you want
That day, Xu Ran closed the store early, went to the market to buy good seafood and ribs, and cooked a big meal at home, saying that he would reward his parents after a hard day.
The Xu family's parents were pleasantly surprised and surprised, they looked at each other, not knowing what he was doing.
For two days on the weekend, Xu Ran did not return to the street. Early on Monday morning, he took the keys and rent procedures, and continued to open the shop as if nothing had happened.
He put the procedures in the drawer, arranged all the bookshelves neatly, smiled at every child who entered the store, and looked as usual.
It's almost a holiday, and the children don't go to school so early. Before eight o'clock, a few students came in to buy notebooks. Xu Ran paid attention to their expressions, they didn't seem to know anything, the situation seemed not as serious as imagined.
It may be that the school was afraid of students' curiosity, so it didn't make a big splash, which was a good thing for Xu Ran.
The noodle shop uncle passed by the book bar and looked inside in surprise, Xu Ran smiled at him, signaling that he was fine.
Nothing happened on Monday, and on Tuesday, the dean reappeared in the store without any accident.
Xu Ran locked the drawer containing the rental contract, and asked kindly, "Is there anything else you can do?"
"I think you should know what I want to say."
Xu Ran nodded, closed the shop, and signaled him to sit down.
He pushed the tea to the director, and said lightly, "You can say that my business is not doing well, but if it is because of my sexuality that prevents me from working, I'm sorry."
The dean's expression changed, "Didn't that person say that you are not?"
"If you really believe that I'm not, you won't come to me again." Xu Ran stared at his face, "You and I both know this very well."
The director is silent.
Xu Ran smiled lightly, "There is a sentence that may not please you, but I still want to say it. If you think that He Cheng and I will affect the children by opening a store here, then the store managers of other stores like the opposite sex, why don't they Will it affect the children, or is the problem of puppy love in schools also to be blamed on all grown-ups with families?"
"You're making unreasonable words." The director frowned, "Special groups tend to arouse students' curiosity, which is not good for their growth."
"If our existence can be called a disadvantage, what about the petty theft? What about the people who really do bad things? You can guarantee that the children will be locked in the school and will not be exposed to anything 'abnormal' for three years ?"
Xu Ran took a sip of tea and said slowly, "Who can guarantee that every family is happy and the children's growth must be satisfactory? The detours that should be taken will eventually have to be taken. I am here, it is impossible to let Boys who originally liked girls fell in love with the same sex, and a heterosexual store owner would not make boys who like same-sex like girls. I understand your concerns, but this is not a reason to drive me out openly."
He sighed, "If it really doesn't work, I can leave, but that's because I don't want to embarrass you, and I definitely don't give in to what you call 'normal'. I like men, and I've only liked that one man in my life."
He closed his eyes, and erased the man's back that suddenly appeared in his mind.
Until the end, the dean didn't say anything, and left after drinking tea.
The next day's lease renewal went smoothly, and no one came to bother.
Before the students were on vacation, the director came again, but only said, "The school will continue to observe your evaluation."
Anyway, I survived this summer.
The business in the holiday store was not good, so Xu Ran simply focused on selling cold drinks and snacks. The coffee shop did not move away, just like what He Cheng said, he insisted on not leaving, what a school can do to him.
On the contrary, it was Tong Fangfang who complained in private, saying that the boss's sexuality was known by the college students, and the business in the store was better than usual.
The turnover of the summer cafe is booming, Xu Ran's life is also very peaceful, the only change is that, as he said, He Chengzhen never appeared on this street again.
But he still keeps in touch with Xu Ran. Every night at 11 o'clock, he sends soybean emoticons, which seem to be in the order of the list, changing one every day, without any other words, just a lonely emoji, abrupt and funny.
Xu Ran didn't call him back. It's just that sometimes I wash up early, and I always get used to waiting until I receive today's expression before falling asleep.
He had a dream.
In the dream, the 18-year-old He Cheng had another boy in his arms, not Qiao An, and was walking affectionately in the school corridor. Several people around made a fuss, and Bai Jinming took the lead, shouting loudly, "Kiss one! Kiss one!"
The boy blushed, but moved his body closer, He Cheng smiled and lowered his head, almost kissing those moist and soft lips.
Suddenly, He Cheng raised his eyes and glanced at the next class diagonally ahead.
Xu Ran woke up suddenly. After wiping his face, sweat and tears merged at some point, wet his forehead and pillow cover.
Reaching out to take the mobile phone on the bedside table, and clicking on it, the interface still stays on the emoji sent by He Cheng today.
Today it was the turn of the shy expression, a little pig's head blushed, his eyes turned into two peach hearts, and kept zooming in and out.
Fool.
Xu Ran said silently in his heart, and somehow his fingers typed these two words on the reply box.
After hesitating for a moment, he still clicked send.
At two o'clock in the morning, He Cheng should have gone to bed long ago.
Who knows that just a few seconds after sending it, there was an immediate response: Why are you still awake
Xu Ran rubbed the corners of his eyes hard, the tears and the light from the phone made his eyes itchy. Before he could reply, He Cheng asked again: Can't sleep
Xu Ran still didn't return.
After a while, He Cheng sent a long list: If you can't sleep, just count the sheep. One sheep, two sheep, three sheep, four sheep...
From one to ninety-nine, one dialog box couldn't fit, so he divided it into several paragraphs and sent them bit by bit.
Xu Ran just looked at the news and a message popped up, the screen was full of sheep jumping, dazzled his eyes in the middle of the night.
After sending everything, He Cheng took a rest and said: Go to sleep, good night.
Xu Ran turned over and put the phone on the pillow.
He swipe the interface aimlessly, counting all the sheep. After counting, drowsiness returned to my heart.
He clicked on the dialog box, typed "good night", put his finger on the send button, closed his eyes, and fell asleep without knowing it.
On the other side of the city, the man sitting on the balcony looked at the word "good night" that just popped out, and a soft smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
The author has something to say: Thanks to the little angel who irrigates the nutrient solution: Only the granary~ 23 bottles of Muyouliang, 10 bottles of Manxinhuan, and 1 bottle of Doudou