Atypical Cafe Love

Ning Siqin leaned her head back against the edge of the tub, and half closed her eyes.Chen Songmao squeezed the shampoo while pondering over his words: "When I was very young, my parents divorced—my dad got the house, and my mom got almost all the remaining property. After that, I lived with my grandparents for many years. I went to the nearby school for elementary school and piano learning. When I was in the fifth grade of elementary school, my mother met my current stepfather and got married soon. My stepfather—now I already call him Dad— —He is a very good person and treats me very well. He promised to treat me as his own son. I had a good impression of him at first, and I didn't object to anything.

"But when they got married, things were different. My mother moved to live in his house, and I still lived with my grandparents because it was convenient for me to go to school. Of course, it seems that the reason is obvious now, but Xiao The child was too sensitive at the time and thought too much. I felt as if I was abandoned by my mother as soon as they got married. But at that time, I was introverted and stubborn, and refused to admit it. It seemed that if I admitted it, I would bow to my stepfather So every time they ask me, I grit my teeth and say that my grandparents’ house is very nice, and I don’t want to live with them.”

"It's hard to imagine when you are introverted, shy, and stubborn." Ning Siqin said softly.

"Yeah, I changed a lot later." Chen Songmao rubbed the ends of his hair and said, "In short, I refused to show weakness even if I was beaten to death. I insisted that I like to live with my grandparents. Changes in the environment would arouse my resentment, and I did not support her new marriage, and I seldom took the initiative to persuade me to move in. This stalemate lasted for about half a year, and finally one day, the conflict broke out.

"I won't go into details about the specific process of the outbreak. It's a trivial matter. It's just a trigger/fire/lead. But at that time, my stepfather and I had a very fierce quarrel. My mother stood between the two of them in a hurry and didn't know what to do. Suddenly she didn't say a word. and passed out."

Ning Siqin took a light breath.Chen Songmao immediately continued: "She's fine, it's just hypoglycemia and sudden emotional agitation. We were all taken aback and stopped arguing. Then my stepfather found me and had a long talk. He has a very high IQ and EQ. He is very good at seeing people and talking very well. He tried every means to get me to express my true feelings. In the end, he sincerely apologized to me, saying that he had actually vaguely noticed some subtle signs, but he shouldn’t delay because of his embarrassing status. Talk to me about it.

"After finishing primary school, I moved in together. After that, my stepfather has always cared about me, and he always tried to persuade me to be honest. He is also a very open-minded person and never judges me casually. I don't have him. His emotional intelligence is so high, even if he tries to be careful, he can’t be as comfortable as he is in many times, so he taught me that it’s best to be sincere and frank, and try to find effective communication.” Chen Songmao said with a smile, “It’s very It worked, so I just stuck with it. But that’s it.”

"Sincerely confess." Ning Siqin said softly, "Did your stepfather know you were gay at that time?"

"He doesn't know." Chen Songmao admitted, "but I don't think it's a problem. Being honest doesn't mean that you have to disclose all your background details to others, and it's not a bad thing to selectively conceal some. Maybe it has its disadvantages, But I have persisted for so many years, and the benefits of this style far outweigh the disadvantages.”

Ning Siqin seemed to sigh, but Chen Songmao couldn't hear it clearly from the sound of water in the shower: "Your stepfather is so kind."

"I think so too." Chen Songmao smiled, "Later we were very close, and I even changed my surname with him. I think this is one of the luckiest things in my life. — Wake up, don't fall asleep here gone."

"No." Ning Siqin said, but her voice was indistinct, and she could hear that she was a little sleepy.In order to wake him up, Chen Songmao asked, "Tell me about your parents?"

"My father is the manager of a stationery company, and my mother is a music professor at a university." Ning Siqin said after a while, as if he was already half asleep, "There is nothing to talk about... My family life is quite stable, Nothing worth mentioning."

Chen Songmao fished him out, brushed his hair and put on clothes, while Ning Siqin basically hung on him to finish.When Chen Songmao wiped his long hair with a towel, and took him to lie on the bed and dry it slowly with a hair dryer, Ning Siqin was almost asleep.Chen Songmao felt sorry for his lack of energy, and was worried that falling asleep with wet hair might be bad for his health, so he continued to ask: "Is there really no experience worth telling me about? Anything is fine, even small things."

Ning Siqin murmured a vague "Mmm -" and thought about it for a long time.Fearing that he would fall asleep again after thinking about it, Chen Songmao reminded him: "Why are you so skilled?"

Ning Siqin seemed to wake up for a short while, opened his eyes and glanced at him: "The family of the underworld. Don't you know? He started to chop people with a knife at the age of three, and he practiced it."

Chen Songmao was speechless for three full seconds: "...Really?"

"It's fake." Ning Siqin said, laughing.Chen Songmao became more and more speechless.Ning Siqin closed his eyes and said lazily, "I learned from my grandfather. He used to be a soldier."

"Have you learned from childhood?"

"When I was six or seven..."

"What are you learning? Are you walking like in the movie?"

"Zamabu is the basic skill... and push-ups..." Ning Siqin said slowly, "After that, I will teach Taijiquan..."

As he talked, his voice slowly dropped again. It seemed that the influence of the fever had not receded to some extent.Chen Songmao asked: "Is there anything else worth talking about?...Is it okay to quarrel with classmates?"

"Yes... I can't tell you..."

"Why not?" Chen Songmao asked casually.The monotonous humming sound of the hair dryer had a hypnotic effect, and Ning Siqin's drowsiness was very contagious, making him a little sleepy.

"I said...you won't like me anymore." Ning Siqin said.

These words made Chen Songmao wake up suddenly, and his drowsiness disappeared.But seeing Ning Siqin's half-asleep and half-awake state, he couldn't make up his mind whether he meant what he said: "Why don't I like you?"

"Yes." Ning Siqin said, the corners of his mouth slightly curled down, revealing a slightly sad expression.Chen Songmao held his half-dry hair in his hands, and didn't know where to ask: "I will definitely like you, as long as you don't say that you are my father-killing enemy."

Ning Siqin shook his head, but he didn't make another sound. When Chen Songmao completely dried his hair, he was already asleep.But because of these words, Chen Songmao couldn't close his eyes for a long time at night.

The next day, Ning Siqin was alive and kicking again. On the way to send him to the subway station, Chen Songmao couldn't help asking him: "You chatted with me when you were half asleep and half awake last night, do you remember?"

Ning Siqin tilted his head and thought for a while, then shook his head: "I only remember that you talked about your stepfather when you washed my hair, and it was like a dream afterward. It feels vaguely, but I can't remember it."

"I was afraid that you would fall asleep in the bathtub, so I asked you if there was anything worth telling me." Chen Songmao asked casually, "If you say something, I won't like you anymore gone?"

"Is there?" Ning Siqin frowned slightly, with doubts on his face. He seemed to be thinking hard for a long time: "I don't remember. At that time, I was almost dreaming, maybe it was something like 'pheasant chicken floss buns are super delicious' big secret."

If this is the precursor of a shadow in their relationship, Chen Songmao didn't realize it at this time.But Ning Siqin's secretive and unnatural attitudes are indeed always in his mind.The two got along day and night, and he gradually discovered that Ning Siqin never mentioned his alma mater, D City Conservatory of Music, and he never had alumni or teachers from the same school in his circle of friends. The only teacher he had during college was that Professor Xia—— It's not unusual to ditch your college connections altogether.Even later, he accidentally heard Zheng Jun say that Ning Siqin originally lived in City D, but now he is far away from his hometown and came to City A to develop——City A and City D are both first-tier cities. Looking for opportunities to fight hard is not the case.

But Ning Siqin was almost secretive about this matter. Chen Songmao tried it a few times and felt that he was still not ready, so he kept silent.What's more, he really has nothing to complain about: except for this little puzzle, Ning Siqin is perfect in his eyes.In the year since they formally established their relationship, they even quarreled only twice—each time during the Cold War period, which did not exceed twelve hours. Thanks to Chen Songmao for his extraordinary frankness.Moreover, after every quarrel, Ning Siqin was always... special indescribable in bed, so these two small unhappiness could not be regarded as unhappiness.

In the autumn of the second year of meeting Ning Siqin, Chen Songmao once again made an appointment with Zhao Su at Yayun Cafe.Now the two have only met each other's parents-this is simply because their parents are not in the city at present.Ning Siqin had introduced to him earlier, it turned out that the female shopkeeper of Yayun was his uncle's cousin.Since then, every time Chen Songmao made appointments alone, he often made appointments at Yayun, as if it was a kind of report to Ning Siqin.

He and Zhao Su had nothing else to do today, they just came out to chat for a while after seeing each other for a long time.While chatting, Chen Songmao said suddenly: "I remember you said last time that a friend is an interior designer? Can you introduce him to my house?"

"What do you want to see?" Zhao Su asked very interestedly, "Is it finally time to change your frigid painting style?"

Chen Songmao thought about the plush toys and small works of art piled up in his house, and couldn't help laughing: "No, my family is not frigid at all now. That's right, I just heard yesterday that the neighbor's family is in a hurry to spend money The house is sold. I want to find someone to see if the two adjacent walls are load-bearing walls and whether they can be opened."

"If you can get it through, you will buy it and get it through?" Zhao Su looked at him unexpectedly, "You still have five or six thousand monthly mortgages!"

"If we can get through, I plan to discuss it with Siqin. We should be able to make up one-third of the savings together, borrow another two-thirds from our parents, and then repay them the loan every month. "Chen Songmao said, "If Siqin agrees, his current house can be rented out or sold, and the money will be enough. Moreover, the neighbors are in urgent need of money now, and what they want is to pay the full amount in one lump sum. Those who meet this requirement It shouldn’t be too much, we still have enough time to raise money.”

"You are..." Zhao Su shook his head, "You are serious about cohabiting with him... No, the two of you are half cohabiting now. You are thinking about living with him for the rest of your life!"

"Are you so surprised?" This time it was Chen Songmao's turn to be a little surprised, "It's not like you don't know, I never treat feelings casually. No matter from what point of view, I have been seriously considering spending the rest of my life with him , I hoped to be able to do so from the beginning.”

"I know, but are you in a hurry?" Zhao Su asked with a frown, "You have only known him for two years, and the official relationship is only, how long, just over a year?"

"More than one year is not enough? To get to know someone, one month is enough." Chen Songmao said seriously, "You don't agree, Xiao Su? Why? I remember that you have a good impression of Siqin."

"I shouldn't say this... Well, I don't know how to tell you." Zhao Su said distressedly, "But knowing people, knowing faces, not knowing the heart... Forget it, the more you listen, the more it sounds like I'm trying to provoke you The relationship between the two. But Songmao, you should really think about it."

"If you have anything to say, you might as well just say it." Chen Songmao said, leaning forward with his elbows on the table, "You and I have been friends for more than ten years, how can I still misunderstand you? I know you are not just trying to provoke relationships People. If you have any misunderstandings about Siqin, tell me, and maybe I can help solve it."

"I hope it's a misunderstanding." Zhao Su smiled wryly, and let out a sigh of relief with his hands on his forehead, "Okay. You know our orchestra just went to City D last month, and you remember that last year was the year before last, didn't we hear 'Chu Meiren'——Is Chu Junya a teacher in D Yin? Since I went to D City, I contacted her, thinking of getting together with my old classmates."

Chu Junya and Zhao Su also learn piano, and they were classmates in the same class back then, and their relationship is not bad.Chen Songmao nodded, and Zhao Su continued: "I got together with her, and some of her colleagues in D Yin. She said something about Ning Siqin."