I Treat You as a Brother

He Chengyi seldom goes to those two branches.There is no other reason, far away from home.

Especially the one that Zou Shun transferred to, it took more than half an hour to drive there when the road conditions were good, and he only went there once or twice a month since it opened.

I promised Zou Shun that I would go to find him soon after the arrangement was made, but it was more than half a month later when I actually saw him again.

It's not that he broke his word on purpose.During this period, he was forced to return to his hometown again.

He Chengyi's hometown is very close to this city, and it takes about five hours to drive one way.The reason for going back is that his father claimed that he fell while doing farm work and sprained his leg, so he needed someone to take care of him.He didn't believe it very much in his heart, and he was afraid that it would be too shameless to say it, so he could only rush back honestly.

When I got home, I found out that it was a scam.He saw with his own eyes that the old man walked steadily, coming and going like the wind, and immediately limped when he noticed his appearance.On the second day, a guest suddenly came to the house during lunch time, a family of three.It is said that they are the daughter, son-in-law and their daughter of the head of the production team in the next village.

The girl is not very old, only 24, has not gone to college, but has been married once.

He Chengyi couldn't laugh or cry in his heart.

When he was studying, everyone in the village praised him for his promise, and envied his parents very much.However, Feng Shui took turns, and when he was over thirty, his peers got married and had children, and his parents gradually lost their heads in front of the villagers.

It is said that it is a new countryside, and the people are rich, but the concept is still the same old one.If you don't get married at an older age, you will be gossiped about it.

He Chengyi immediately saw the intentions of both parties, and did not express his opinion.After that, I managed to cope with it for a few days, had dinner with him, and took him to a nearby town alone, and watched a movie.

Then he excused that there was an emergency in the store, and drove back home non-stop overnight.

There is some romanticism in his bones, and he doesn't pay much attention to academic qualifications or emotional experience. If he is really moved, even if he comes with a child, he will have no grievances.But when chatting, the donkey's lips are wrong and the horse's mouth is completely unable to communicate, how to get along.

On the way back, he drove the car and couldn't help but think about why he was single at this age.

It has been many years since the last breakup. Although I recalled the other party with emotion, there was no ripple left.In recent years, there have also been women who have taken the initiative to show affection to him, but unfortunately most of them have no follow-up.Maybe if you have been single for a long time, you will really develop a habit and even enjoy it, and you will not want to get out of this state.

His parents are worried, but he doesn't care at all.

Some people around him joked with him, saying that a man has 41 flowers.With his capital, there is no need to panic if he can still find a female college student in a few years.

He didn't take it seriously.There is a generation gap between three years old, and the age gap is so big that we can't talk together at all.Looking back on my student days, I used to call my partner in his early thirties Uncle, and I felt that we were not the same people from the bottom of my heart.But now, he looks like a child in his twenties.

The only college student he has come into contact with recently is that cute work-student student in his store who always gets him into trouble.

After going home and resting for a few days, he specifically checked the store's schedule and went to find Zou Shun while he was at work.But I didn't expect to go to the store and saw no one.

The manager of that store said that Zou Shun had asked for leave for something.He also said that the kid seemed to have some troubles in his family recently and might resign, so he had better be prepared to recruit new people.

He Chengyi sighed in his heart.Children are so uncertain.However, work-study students are already highly mobile. Perhaps Zou Shun finally reconciled with his family smoothly, and he will no longer have to work hard to earn living expenses on his own.It's also good news.

So he reluctantly gave up accepting apprentices, and continued to be busy thinking about changing tables for the shop.The old ones have been used for several years, and there are many small damages, so it is better to take this opportunity to replace them together.He planned to find a designer to order a batch of them specially. He bought them off-the-shelf due to budgetary reasons, which was somewhat different from his ideal appearance.

After a busy week, I suddenly received a call from a stranger.

The radio-converted voice on the other end of the phone sounded both familiar and unfamiliar, but the tone was as obedient and honest as usual.

"Hi boss, I'm Zou Shun, do you remember me?"

He Chengyi went to the store the next day.

After more than half a month, Zou Shun looked the same as before, and when he saw him, he immediately greeted him with a smile.

"I was worried that you said you wanted to study in order to pass the interview," He Chengyi said to him with a smile while making preparations, "I didn't expect you to be so interested."

Zou Shun stood beside him with his hands behind his back, pursing his lips and nodding vigorously.

"Actually, you should be clear about the general process after looking at it these days, right?" He Chengyi said again.

"I know a little bit, I don't know much," Zou Shun said with a good student face, "I still need the teacher to explain it carefully."

He Chengyi nodded, and just about to speak again, Zou Shun said again: "Boss, you are so handsome."

When he said this, he turned his head, his eyes fell on the jar of coffee beans stored beside him, and he wasn't looking at He Chengyi at all.

"...Thank you." He Chengyi said.

He wanted to add something, don't worry, now that you are doing very well, I can't fire you, there is no need.But I was afraid that the children would be embarrassed, so I held back and didn't say anything.

Zou Shun also imitated him and unbuttoned the wrist button of his uniform shirt, and neatly pulled it up to the elbow, exposing his complete forearm.

"Teacher, why do you roll up your sleeves like this when roasting coffee beans?" He asked seriously.

He Chengyi was quite embarrassed: "...Because the cuffs of the shirt I'm wearing today are a bit prickly and uncomfortable."

Zou Shun blinked his eyes twice, and changed the subject very deliberately: "Teacher, why don't you ask me where I got your mobile phone number from?"

"Isn't it the address book posted on the wall of the lounge?" He Chengyi asked.

In order to facilitate contact and deal with emergencies, each store has an address book, which contains the contact information of all employees, including He Chengyi's.

Zou Shun opened his eyes wide: "No wonder the store manager told me as soon as I asked!"

"By the way," He Chengyi remembered what the store manager said to him a while ago, "Are you considering resigning?"

Zou Shun immediately shook his head: "Nothing!"

"You have to be sure," He Chengyi urged, "If you don't want to do it, you must tell us in advance so that we can recruit people again. Otherwise, we will be in a hurry."

"I'm not leaving. The environment here is good, the colleagues are easy to get along with, and the salary is not low," Zou Shun looked at him, "The boss is so kind and kind to me. I won't leave if I'm chased away."

He Chengyi smiled, but didn't speak.

The two stood in front of the oven for a while, and Zou Shun sniffled, "It smells so good."

"That's right." He Chengyi nodded, "When I wanted to open a coffee shop, I liked the taste."

After he finished speaking, he turned his head away, and just about to introduce a few more words, he saw Zou Shun staring at him blankly.The eyes of the two met, Zou Shun suddenly felt guilty for some reason, and lowered his head in a panic.

He Chengyi didn't know why, but he didn't ask.

The atmosphere got weird.

He Chengyi couldn't guess what the kid was thinking, so he could only take the initiative to find something to break the silence.

"By the way," he said to Zou Shun, "the last time that person came to you again later, your old store manager told him that you resigned and he didn't believe him, so he squatted for several days in a row."

Zou Shun frowned: "...you must be sick."

"It's really paranoid," He Chengyi said, "but it seems that I finally believed it recently, and I haven't been here again. You have to be careful yourself. It's best not to confront a person with such an extreme personality."

"Yeah." Zou Shun nodded.

He Chengyi hesitated for a moment, but curiosity prevailed: "Why is he so obsessed with you?"

"I don't know," Zou Shun said with a bitter face, "If I had known earlier, I shouldn't have talked to him."

"Does he think you are...in a relationship?" He Chengyi guessed.

"He mentioned it, but I refused on the spot," Zou Shun rolled his eyes as he said, raised his hand and gave a little thumb up, "Can you believe it, he is tall and big, but there is only a little bit of it underneath. It looks like it has three eggs when it's sitting there."

This topic change made He Chengyi unexpected.He hesitated for a moment and didn't respond.

But Zou Shun couldn't stop his desire to complain: "It's just a little bit, but I still can't get in, it hurts me to death, if it wasn't for him to suddenly end up before I got in, I would fight him on the spot .”

"..."

He Chengyi was in a daze, feeling that the generation gap between himself and the young people today was indeed not so big.

"I wanted to delete his contact information on the spot, but he still insisted on me being his boyfriend," Zou Shun said angrily, "Are you saying that you didn't force the number?"

In order to ease the embarrassment, He Chengyi said casually: "He should like you very much."

"It's so annoying, and I don't want to be liked by him." Zou Shun muttered.

"But..." He Chengyi said, "At least you must have had a good impression of him at first, that's why..."

"At that time, I thought his appearance was quite pleasing to the eye." Zou Shun said.

He Chengyi felt that he shouldn't be preaching, but couldn't help it: "Do you regret it?"

Zou Shun nodded honestly: "Regret, regret to death."

He looks so good now that people can't bring into the story he just told at all.

He Chengyi thought that Zou Shun might be more like a child than his peers.That's why he can do things so directly and frankly, without hiding his emotional preferences.He said it openly, because he didn't think there was anything wrong with it at all.

The oven in front of him made a crisp sound of "ding".He Chengyi took up his gloves and took out the freshly roasted coffee beans inside.

"Wow," Zou Shun said excitedly, "It smells really good! Can I grind it now?"

"You haven't really watched how they do these days, have you?" He Chengyi teased him with a smile, "Or you are often late, so you missed it?"

"No," Zou Shun hurriedly shook his head with a serious expression, "I wanted to learn from you, so I didn't look at it on purpose."

He Chengyi slightly raised his eyebrows.

"That... I think, it's just... the system can be remembered better after a complete understanding..." Zou Shun explained in a panic, "We have agreed, I..."

He Chengyi smiled.This kid is too serious.

"Put this one away first," He Chengyi said, and put the plate on the cooking table aside, "Put it away when it's cold, and grind it when needed."

Zou Shun nodded: "Then it will take a long time? Then teacher..."

He Chengyi suppressed a smile, walked to the side cabinet, opened the door and took out a jar from inside: "Here are ready-made jars that have been baked and cooled."

Zou Shun realized his stupidity and blushed.

"Come here," He Chengyi waved at him, "Look closer, I'll show you a demonstration."

Zou Shun moved over immediately, but still kept a slight distance from him, and there was no physical contact between the two of them.

The coffee grounds in their shop are all hand-ground.In terms of taste, it is not necessarily better than machine grinding.At first, He Chengyi himself liked this hands-on process, and later it became one of the selling points of their store, so he kept it.

"Why do you keep looking at my face, and I didn't write on my face how to grind the coffee beans." He Chengyi said.

When he said that, he was trying to tease Zou Shun.In the process of loading the coffee beans into the grinder, Zou Shun only raised his head twice in the corner of his vision.

"I..." Zou Shun took a small step back, then raised his hand suddenly, "Teacher, you have something stuck to your ear."

After he finished speaking, he quickly touched He Chengyi's ear.

"what?"

"The thread," Zou Shun swung his hand back, "I lost it."

He Chengyi did not suspect him: "Thank you."

Zou Shun lowered his head and pursed his lips, then his eyes were glued to the grinder.

"I have a question," he said.

"Ok?"

"That keychain," Zou Shun pointed at the base of the grinder, "I think they all have it."

On the base of the grinder is a small keychain in the shape of a coffee bean, which was a small gift when they ordered coffee beans.There used to be quite a few in the store, but the merchant stopped delivering them later, and now there is no more stock.This is welded on the grinder and cannot be removed.

"You want it too?" He Chengyi understood his hint.

Zou Shun didn't make a sound.

"Wait a minute." He Chengyi said.

He ground the coffee beans and demonstrated the brewing process for Zou Shun again.

"The beans won't smell good after being ground for more than 3 minutes, so the action must be fast." After everything was done, He Chengyi summarized the main points for him.

Zou Shun held the coffee cup, took a sip, and exhaled: "Remember!"

He Chengyi smiled, took out his key chain from his pocket, and removed the key chain on it: "Here you are."

Zou Shun was taken aback.

"You don't want to," He Chengyi asked, "You don't like the old one?"

"No! I don't like it!" Zou Shun said, reaching out to take the keychain, but he didn't look at it at all, just squeezed it in his palm, "...Thank you, thank you."

His expression and tone at the moment is like a primary school student who has just been rewarded by a teacher.His face was red, and he looked like he wanted to laugh but forced himself to hold back.

That keychain had been hanging on He Chengyi's key chain for nearly a year, and the satisfaction he gained was far less than this moment.

Such a small gift made this little friend so happy.

He Chengyi suddenly wanted to know what else Zou Shun liked.He wanted to buy them all and give them to him, so that he could watch him smile.