Ex-boyfriend
The three words that Na Chen said casually but with reasonable judgment made An He sink to the bottom of the river. >﹏雅文8w=ww=.·
The afternoon sunlight shining on my body suddenly turned into chaotic ripples, which made my emotions shake violently.
He had ex-girlfriends and ex-boyfriends.
But not this person whose name he didn't even want to mention.
"Let's go buy some groceries." An He turned around and prepared to cross the street.
Na Chen stopped him and said, "This way, across the street is the pet market."
"Oh." An He responded and followed Na Chen to the farmers' market.
Na Chen took out something that looked like a strawberry from his pocket and handed it to An He: "Here, you'll use it to store the vegetables later."
An He took it and looked at it, and found that it was an eco-friendly strawberry bag commonly used by old ladies in the community. He was surprised that Na Chen would bring such a thing when buying vegetables.
"It will be done soon. I've made a list." Na Chen took out another piece of paper and shook it at him. There was a long list of things to buy on it.
"It's just the two of us," An He looked at the words on the list, "Why are you making it look like the canteen owner is buying vegetables?"
"The main purpose today is not to eat." Na Chen was shaking the paper.
"What is that?" An He glanced at him. Na Chen was dressed casually today, looked relaxed, and seemed to be in a good mood.
"Show off your skills." Na Chen snapped his fingers.
In order to show off his skills, Na Chen walked around the farmer's market for about three rounds, bought all the vegetables and seasonings, and filled his pockets with strawberries.
An He was holding the bag of strawberries, his hands were so tight that they hurt and his fingertips were numb. "That's about it, chef. The worker can't hold on any longer."
"That's enough," Nachen looked down at the list and snapped his fingers upwards, "Let's go."
An He breathed a sigh of relief. This was the first time in his life that he had gone to a farmer's market to buy vegetables. All kinds of vegetables were piled up like small mountains. There were many people, and there were also trucks pulling vegetables. He felt dizzy from the hustle and bustle.
"I'll do it." Na Chen took the bag from his hand, threw it on his back and carried it, still looking around.
"What are you looking for?" An He pinched his fingers.
"Looking for..." Na Chen suddenly came up to him and pointed ahead, "That one."
In the farmers' market, there are many vegetables that are thrown away because their quality is not good, and they are piled on the roadside. An He has seen an old lady picking up vegetables from the pile before.
Now, on the roadside to the right in front of them, there was a small pile of eggplants that had been discarded because they were not beautiful enough.
"You..." Before An He finished speaking, Na Chen had already quickly ran over, bent down, grabbed two and stuffed them into the bag. He wanted to laugh a little, "What are you doing? How much are two eggplants?"
"What do you know?" Na Chen patted the bag contentedly. "It's fun."
When they returned to the parking lot to get their car, the car parked next to them had already left and was replaced by a minivan.
An He got in the car and sat in the driver's seat, but he couldn't cheer up at all. Those memories that had been suppressed for a long time kept surfacing in a particularly shameless way.
Na Chen did not get in the car. After putting the food in the trunk, he walked around to the driver's seat and knocked on the window: "Get down. >> Yawen Bar_ ﹍ w·w`w`.-yaw·e·n=8=.=c=o=m"
"Hmm?" An He lowered the window. "What?"
"I'll open it." Na Chen opened the car door.
An He hesitated: "You are driving without a license?"
"Who told you I don't have a license?" Na Chen grabbed his arm and pulled him down. "Not only do I have a license, I don't even need a parking card extender."
"Get lost," An He smiled, "Really? The inspections are strict these days."
Na Chen clicked his tongue, took out his driver's license from his trouser pocket and threw it into An He's hand: "Get in the car."
An He sat in the passenger seat and opened Na Chen's driver's license. When he saw the photo, he was stunned and couldn't help but whistled softly.
"Is it handsome?" Na Chen started the car.
"Yeah," An He nodded, "When was this photo taken? It looks quite small."
"18 years old," Na Chen smiled, but the smile soon disappeared from the corners of his mouth. "My dad took me to get the photo taken. He only took me out once. I think I took the wrong medicine."
An He was silent for a while, then changed the subject: "I've only seen two people who can take ID photos that handsome, including you."
"Who is the other one?" Na Chen turned his head.
An He pointed at himself: "Me."
Na Chen was amused, squinting his eyes and whistling: "Let me see."
"Feel free to look around." An He took out his wallet, took out his ID card and held it in front of Na Chen.
The traffic light at the intersection was red, so Na Chen stopped the car, took the ID card and stared at it for a while: "You have a very nice chin."
"Really?" An He took the ID card back from him and touched his chin. "I should have known I had two more."
"The mouth is beautiful too." said Na Chen.
"There's no place for your two mouths to grow."
"What about me?" Na Chen turned his head and looked at him seriously.
"Eyes, nose..." An He propped his fingers on his forehead and studied it for a while, "Actually, you look good everywhere. I was quite surprised when I first saw you."
Na Chen followed the car in front and slowly moved forward, with a hint of disdain in the smile on his face: "You wanted to have sex with me then."
An He smiled and said nothing.
The same is true now.
"There are a lot of people who want to sleep with me." Na Chen suddenly said, staring at the road ahead, his voice very cold.
An He turned his head and looked out the window. He didn't know how to respond.
After the car turned out of the intersection, An He realized that this was not the way to the parking lot.
"Not going to your secret base?" he asked.
"Let's go to my house," Na Chen said, "The secret base doesn't have anything complete, everything is at home, including the oven and so on."
"What needs an oven?" An He took out the list from Na Chen's pocket and read it line by line.
"Grilled barbecued pork!" Na Chen snapped his fingers, "It's absolutely delicious! I marinated the meat yesterday."
"Make it at home? In the oven?" An He loves to eat meat, but he has no idea how to make barbecued pork at home.
"Well, I'll give you three minutes to worship me." Na Chen curled his lips.
"Oh, you are so awesome." An He responded cooperatively.
The smile on Nachen's mouth deepened, spreading across his face little by little: "I am quite good. Yawen, right? w`ww=.-y·"
An He was stunned for a moment before he reacted. Without saying a word, he opened the skylight, took out a cigarette and lit it.
When Na Chen got home, he changed into sportswear, threw two dollars into the piggy bank on the coffee table, got some cookies and tea that he had baked for An He, and then went into the kitchen to start working.
The open kitchen connected to the restaurant is very large, and when Na Chen stood inside, the chef's aura was quite majestic.
An He took a bite of the cookies that were shaped like pigs. They tasted delicious, much better than the box of cookies in his room.
Today's tea is not pineapple passion fruit. An He tasted it and didn't know what was added.
"What kind of tea is this?" He walked to the dining room with the cup.
"Honey ginger tea, with brown sugar," Na Chen lowered his head to process the chicken wings, "It warms the stomach, I don't know if it works, I learned it from my grandma when I was a child, is it delicious?"
"It's delicious," An He nodded. Na Chen's skills in cooking always surprised him. "Is there anything I can help with?"
"No, just appreciate it," Na Chen wrapped the chicken wings and placed them on the plate, "We have barbecued pork, how about deep-fried chicken wings?"
"Um."
An He watched for a while and realized that he really couldn't help much. He didn't even know how much rice and water to put in when cooking. So he took the cup and went back to the living room.
I didn’t look carefully when I came back last time. There are many paintings hanging in the living room. They are very abstract. For An He, these paintings composed of blocks of color and lines are completely unappreciative. If you look at it from a psychological perspective…
"Who painted this?" An He didn't see the signature on the painting, so he turned around and asked Na Chen.
Na Chen looked up and quickly lowered his head: "My mother drew these. Some of them were drawn before she went to the Fifth Hospital, and some were drawn in the hospital. Later, she was not allowed to draw because she was afraid that she would commit suicide."
"Oh." An He was a little emotional. He turned around and saw the piano next to him. The lid was open. He tapped lightly on the keys and walked towards the kitchen. He felt that it would be more comfortable to stay where someone was cooking.
Na Chen heard the sound of piano keys being struck and looked at him: "Can you play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?"
"I can also play Happy New Year." An He smiled, took a cookie, soaked it in tea and put it in his mouth. It tasted good.
"Play some music for me," Na Chen was mixing some sauce, so he dipped some with his chopsticks and held it to his mouth, "Taste it and see if it's salty enough."
An He licked the chopsticks, it tasted sweet and sour, and he nodded: "It's suitable."
"Does it bounce?" Na Chen put the chopsticks in his mouth and licked them.
"Cooking requires accompaniment. When it's ready, don't you have to change into formal clothes to eat?" An He smiled and stood by the dining table without moving. The piano should belong to Na Chen's mother. What Na Chen said that night made him a little reluctant to touch the piano.
He was also a little surprised that Na Chen wanted to listen to him play the piano. He thought Na Chen might have some trauma from the piano.
"Don't play?" Na Chen opened the refrigerator door, took out a small lunch box, opened it, and handed it to An He, "Look, it's beautiful, isn't it?"
"Ingredients for barbecued pork?" An He took a look and found that the meat was indeed marinated beautifully, making people want to eat it raw.
"Well," Na Chen closed the lunch box and tapped the lid with chopsticks, "Is this an accompaniment to the roast pork?"
An He was not in a good mood. The chance encounter in the parking lot made him feel depressed for a while, but he still noticed Na Chen's efforts to cheer him up.
He sighed in his heart, turned and walked towards the piano: "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?"
"Is there anything more advanced than Twinkle Twinkle Little Star New Year?" Na Chen asked.
"have."
An He sat down in front of the piano and gently touched the keys with his fingers. The last time he played the piano was in the music classroom at school, and it has been several months now. This time, when he was suddenly asked to play a song, he really couldn't think of any other song except Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
"If you can't play it, admit it now and I won't laugh at you." Na Chen leaned on the dining table and looked at him, with an obvious smile on his lips.
"Can you play it?" An He took a breath and thought of the song. He probably would play it a little stutteringly.
"No." Na Chen said.
"That's good," Anhe whispered, his fingers falling on the keys, "Let's do something lively and cheerful."
This piece of music is one of the few that An He can still play smoothly. He usually uses this piece to fool around, but the piece of music is really cheerful. He feels particularly lively when he plays it in the music classroom.
Na Chen took out the corn he bought today, held a small basket and sat on the sofa in the living room, slowly peeling the corn kernels.
An He was obviously a little unfamiliar with the instrument and played the beginning twice before continuing.
To an outsider, An He should be considered as someone who plays very well, but Na Chen could hear every incoherent note and every slight pause of hesitation.
But it doesn't matter. Na Chen looked at his hands. An He's fingers were long and slender, and their movements were beautiful when they swept across the keys. He didn't need to listen, just watch.
He was surprised by the way An He played the piano and played racing games. His concentration when playing the piano was completely different from his concentration in the video game arcade. His fingers jumping on the keys firmly attracted Na Chen's attention.
Since my mother was sent to the hospital, no one has touched the piano and no sound of the piano has been heard in the house again.
The kind of piano sound that made Na Chen infatuated but also made his heart palpitate, the longing, resistance, obsession, and dodging, all mixed together and wrapped around him.
An He's focused profile made this familiar yet strange feeling spread in the room little by little. He wanted to get rid of it but couldn't help but gradually fall into it.
When the jumping notes stopped, Nachen put down the corn in his hand and clapped his hands at An He: "I always thought you only knew how to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."
An He smiled and said, "Have you heard of this?"
Stepping on the cat, Nachen nodded: "Yeah, I stepped on you."
"Fuck," An He was happy, running his fingers across the keys, "Are you still listening?"
"listen."
"There's only one song left. I haven't practiced the others for a long time." An He rubbed his hands.
"Okay." Na Chen smiled.
Minuet in D major.
Anhe felt that this song was quite lively and more suitable for the current atmosphere.
He calmed himself, his fingers fell on the keys, and the notes slipped out from his fingertips.
Na Chen's hand holding the corn shook slightly, and a kernel of corn was flattened by him and fell into the small basket.
He sat motionless on the sofa, and the sound of the piano gradually filled his surroundings.
Then, as Anhe's fingertips danced between black and white, they seeped into his body and heart little by little.
In memories.
Listen to me.
Chenchen, be good and listen carefully.
Listen to my mother playing the piano.
Did you hear what mom said
Tell mom what you heard
Na Chen's breathing began to become disordered, following his mother's rhythm, a suffocating rhythm.
He wanted to block out the sounds that frightened him, but he couldn't.
An He's fingertips fell on the piano keys and played an accented note, as if the iron chain wrapped around his body suddenly tightened.
He felt his body become a little stiff and his struggle became powerless.
When the next accent jumped out again, Na Chen suddenly jumped up from the sofa.
The small basket of corn kernels fell to the ground, and the tender yellow corn kernels scattered out, jumping on the dark floor like notes.
Na Chen rushed to the piano and pushed the piano lid down hard.
After a few broken notes, the sound of the piano disappeared.
An He's hand was still on the piano keys. The huge dull pain when the piano cover hit his hand made him take a long time to slowly pull his hand out.
In such a short period of time, the place on the back of the hand that was hit had turned red.
He held his hands, gritted his teeth and raised his head.
Na Chen's hand was still on the piano cover, his face was pale, and his breathing was rapid, as if he had run a long distance.
An He didn't say anything. Na Chen looked at him silently. After a long time, he loosened his hands that had been pressing down on the piano cover, and slowly slid down to the ground, leaning against the piano.
He lowered his head and said nothing.
An He's hands were numb from the pain. He hadn't felt this kind of physical pain for a long time since he stopped fighting. He had just gritted his teeth to avoid crying out.
Nachen sat motionless, leaning against the piano legs, among the corn kernels scattered all over the floor.
The room was very quiet, and the only sound was the tiny ticking of the large clock on the side as the seconds ticked by.
When An He's hands began to become red and swollen, Na Chen moved, slowly changing from sitting to squatting.
He reached out and picked up the small basket that had fallen beside him, and began to pick up the corn kernels on the ground one by one into the small basket.
An He didn't move. He sat on the piano stool and looked at his back as he squatted on the ground.
Although he was startled, it was only for a moment and this situation did not surprise him too much.
So now he hoped that Na Chen would speak, no matter what.
Sorry, explanation, or anything else is fine.
It’s okay to just ask if it hurts.
As long as Na Chen could speak at this time, it would be a step forward in a sense.
But Na Chen did not say anything. He responded to the current situation with the silence he had always been accustomed to.
The corn kernels on the ground were picked up and put back into the basket. Na Chen slowly stood up, walked into the kitchen, and placed the small basket on the dining table.
After standing there for a few seconds, he walked towards the stairs to the living room, stopped after stepping on the stairs, and held the railing tightly with his hands.
"My mother always plays this song when she is in a good mood." His voice was low and a little hoarse.
The author has something to say: Continue on Tuesday~ hm… hm… da… yo…