together for a moment

Zhao Yimu and Xiao Pei are sitting in an old-fashioned steakhouse, the seats are separated by partitions, the tables and chairs are all mahogany color, soft and relaxing light music is played in the shop, accompanied by the jingling of knives and forks hitting the plate during the meal When, there is the sound of steak being served on the table, it is not noisy, it is very suitable for chatting, and it is a good place for a date.

Zhao Yimu sighed secretly.

"New Zealand foie gras steak, medium rare, and I want to use Thousand Island salad dressing." Sitting across from him, Xiao Pei ordered without even opening the menu.

"I have an American filet mignon, five cents for the same." Zhao Yimu returned the menu to the official, took a sip of water, and asked, "Do you often come to this restaurant?"

"I come here once or twice a month. I like it here." Xiao Pei lowered her head and spread the napkin on her lap.

This answer surprised Zhao Yimu, "Are you a regular customer here? Why didn't I know."

"As long as you are human, you will have some secrets of your own, right?" Xiao Pei rarely showed a playful smile, "You should have some secrets too, right?"

Zhao Yimu felt chills down his back, squeezed his thighs with the hands under the table, and said with a smile: "My secret, can it be a secret that I don't like your mother very much?"

Xiaopei laughed like he had heard a big invincible joke, and he leaned forward and back together very exaggeratedly. Zhao Yimu couldn't help wondering if Xiaopei had been raped by someone.

"No, it's not a secret. Anyone can detect it." Xiao Pei wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes with his fingertips. "But thank you, tell me your feelings honestly."

"Actually, I don't like her very much either." After Xiaopei laughed, her face was still slightly red, but her expression turned into helplessness and a little bit of sadness, "She is a very controlling person, and she values ​​face more than anything else. We I exist only to honor her, but unfortunately I am almost a family shame in this regard, with ordinary grades, ordinary looks, and ordinary work, she must help me check all the choices I make, so as not to embarrass her."

"Does she think your boyfriend is also very ordinary?" Zhao Yimu laughed at himself.

"No," Xiaopei wiped the corners of his eyes again, "Compared to my ex-boyfriend, you are very good, so she wants us to get married."

"..." Zhao Yimu heard Xiaopei mention his ex-boyfriend for the first time, and for a moment he didn't know how to answer the question. The waiter brought up the deliciously toasted garlic bread and said, "Eat the bread first, it's delicious."

Xiao Pei took a piece but didn't put it in his mouth, stared at the bread in a daze, and murmured, "This is where I met him, my ex-boyfriend."

"On my 24th birthday, I rejected a friend's dinner invitation and came here to eat steak by myself. Is it lonely? But I want to eat something I like alone rather than having fun with everyone. Before the meal is over, in the The second chef here, dressed in a neat chef uniform, brought out a small cake, orange and lemon flavored, with a small candle on it, and placed it in front of me, and the fire was shining in his eyes."

"Actually, I used to apply for a restaurant membership card, as long as the guests who come on their birthdays will probably have the same treatment, but at that time I really felt so romantic and happy." Xiao Pei lowered his eyes and smiled, "After that, I came here every week Meal, just to see him."

"Are you... chasing him?" Zhao Yimu asked in surprise, not because he was jealous, but because he never thought that Xiao Pei would be so proactive.

"Are you chasing after him? I was just a little curious at first." Xiao Pei's eyes were full of tenderness. "He always smiles in a serious and ruffian way, which is different from the white-collar elite my mother introduced."

"I always feel that he has a few tendons missing in his brain. He can only be reliable in the kitchen, and other times it is particularly bad to lose things. When he walked to the door of the supermarket, he found that he forgot to bring a shopping list, his clothes were often buttoned wrongly, and his mobile phone was put where he said. .”

"After being with him, I always have to help him pay attention to things and take care of some details of life," Xiaopei seemed to be complaining but his expression was so happy. He has ideas."

"It seems that you don't reject it." Zhao Yimu said.

"I think it's quite new. I can't even make decisions about my own affairs, but I can help others with ideas," Xiaopei said, "Are you saying it's funny?"

"It sounds like he is more suitable for you than me," Zhao Yimu chewed the bread, and listened to Xiaopei calmly, "Why did you separate in the end? Because... your mother?"

"One day he sent me home and met my mother. She didn't hide the contempt and disgust in her eyes. She told him that it was okay to chase me, at least study for a master's degree and then bring a car and a house. My mother said she would have a daughter. It’s for the cook, let him take care of himself.” Xiao Pei wiped the corners of his eyes again, this time it was definitely not tears of laughter, “He kept apologizing that he didn’t have any wrong thoughts, and kept saying that he knew he wasn’t good enough for me, almost They fled the scene by running."

"We broke up later?" Zhao Yimu asked.

"He resigned the next day, quickly changed his cell phone number and moved out of the residence," Xiao Pei said softly, stirring the corn soup back and forth with a spoon, "He doesn't want me anymore."

"Xiao Pei..." Zhao Yimu didn't know what to say, he was powerless and even wanted to abandon her, and pursue the life he wanted selfishly.

The waiter brought up the steak. The sizzling oil and the tangy aroma couldn't warm up the atmosphere. Zhao Yimu also wanted to be a good person and rescue the princess from the cage like a prince in a fairy tale. He would do this in the past , marrying Xiaopei to fulfill everyone's expectations, because other people's expectations are his expectations.

But now it can't work anymore, what he likes is not the princess, and the person who the princess's heart belongs to is not him.

"Xiao Pei, I..." Zhao Yimu spoke with difficulty.

"Let's break up." Xiaopei smiled brightly, as if saying that we should go out and play tomorrow, with a lively tone, "Yimu, we tried very hard, I always hypnotize myself that I will be happy when I marry you, and actively plan the wedding Watching the house, building a good relationship with your mother, doing all the things a girlfriend should do, but it really doesn’t work.”

"So that's it."

Zhao Yimu didn't know whether he felt more relieved when he heard this sentence, or more shocked. After careful evaluation, he still won the shock. Tonight's Xiao Pei was not the Xiao Pei he knew at all. She mentioned it for the first time. The old love shared secrets for the first time, and even understood the bottleneck of this relationship, and then chose to let go rationally and gracefully.

"I can say this with a smile... It seems that I can't keep you." Zhao Yimu said with a light smile.

"It seems that you intend to keep it." Xiaopei smiled, picked up a knife and fork and cut the steak into a size suitable for the mouth and put it in his mouth.

She actually knows everything, Zhao Yimu thought.

Knowing that he doesn't plan to get married, knowing that he wants to break up tonight, and maybe knowing that he has let others go in his heart, that's why he mentioned his old love.

Zhao Yimu looked at the girl in front of him that he had known for ten years, and realized that he might never really know her.

"You know it all, right?" Zhao Yimu couldn't laugh anymore, "You broke up with me after telling me so much tonight, so that I don't feel ashamed, and sit back and enjoy being a dumped victim, not to be blamed by others. comment or blame."

Finally, at the end, he realized her tenderness.

"Hey, you made me so great." Xiaopei ate the steak one bite at a time, "I just don't want to be my mother's good daughter anymore. You have played the role of the prospective son-in-law with me for so long, it doesn't make sense to let me You carry the blame."

"Anyway, thank you." Zhao Yimu said shamefully.

"Eat it quickly, it is respect for the chef to taste the food when it is the most delicious." Xiaopei smiled, "He taught me this."

"You didn't connect with him after that?" Zhao Yimu took a bite of the filet, which was fresh and tender.

"No, but it's actually not difficult. Many employees here know his whereabouts." Xiaopei said, "The important thing is whether I'm ready to look for him again."

"I feel like I never knew you." Zhao Yimu sighed.

"Haha, it's too late to realize my love now," Xiao Pei laughed, "Don't forget that I just dumped you."

They ate and chatted like friends for many years, and talked about many things that they would not open up before. For example, Zhao Yimu said that he discovered the joy of traveling and wanted to catch the tail of his youth before the age of 30 and give himself a long vacation. .For example, Xiaopei said that she doesn't really like cooking, and that she prefers to eat food and drink red wine everywhere instead of making herself a mess.

"Xiao Pei, thank you for sharing such a good restaurant and stories. Also, thank you for being with me for so long." After paying the bill, Zhao Yimu stood at the door of the restaurant with Xiao Pei and waited for the waiter to drive the car. The temperature was getting lower and lower every day. Zhao Yimu Take out the scarf and tie it up, for fear of blowing your nose and rebelling.

"You always thank me all the time, no wonder we can't be a husband and wife." Xiaopei sighed, pretending to complain: "It would be great if you could rely on me."

"You didn't say it earlier, and I made me pretend to be responsible all day long." Zhao Yimu pretended to be wronged, but both of them couldn't help laughing after they finished speaking.

"It's outrageous to have such a happy breakup." Zhao Yimu laughed at himself.

"The only thing left to be happy now is that you will feel better after the family members know about it." Xiaopei reminded him mercilessly.

"Yeah, my mother is going to be disappointed again." Zhao Yimu looked up at the night sky and sighed.

The waiter drove the car in front of them and handed over the car keys to Zhao Yimu.

"Shall I take you home?" Zhao Yimu said.

Xiaopei shook her head, "I'll go shopping by myself before I go back, and I'll think of a better way to explain it to my family."

"I hope you meet the right one, and I will definitely give you a five-figure red envelope." Zhao Yimu gently hugged Xiao Pei and patted her on the back, "Goodbye."

"Thank you." Xiao Pei finally choked up, and she left Zhao Yimu's arms, with tears in her eyes but still smiling, she said, "Goodbye."

That's it.

Zhao Yimu went around the car and sat in the driver's seat to start the engine. Xiao Pei, who was still standing there, suddenly bent down and knocked on the window. He lowered the window and asked, "What's wrong? Shall I take you home?"

"I don't want to take a car, I just want to ask you," Xiao Pei pointed to his scarf and said, "Did you buy this scarf in India?"

"I bought it in India. What's the matter?" Zhao Yimu nodded, he vaguely predicted that Xiao Pei was going to give him another bombshell, the Nth one tonight.

"It's nothing, I think orange may be more suitable for you." Xiaopei was still so gentle, "Also, I forgot to bless you just now, I hope you can also meet true love."

"Prince or princess is fine." Night Breeze blew these words into the car, and rushed into Zhao Yimu's ears. The place he passed shook his internal organs. When he regained his composure, Xiao Pei had already left on foot in the opposite direction.

On the way home, the aftermath of what happened tonight was still in his mind, and he was still surrounded by familiar street scenes and shops, but he knew that from the moment he decided not to marry Xiaopei, he was already on the right track of life. Forked and walked on an unknown road.

I was very excited, like the kind of reckless excitement that I didn't go to tutoring after school but ran to play ball.

Tonight is just the first step, the process and the result are smooth, but just like what Xiaopei said, this is the beginning, and he still has to explain to his mother why the daughter-in-law he got is gone. There are even greater difficulties.

Zhao Yimu drove the car slowly on the road. He lowered the car window a little, and the cold wind whistled on his forehead. This temperature can calm down his excited emotions.

After a gust of wind, he dialed Nick on speakerphone.

"Hello." Nick yelled after answering the phone, full of energy.

"You're still in good spirits so late?" Zhao Yimu laughed in a low voice, "Is it convenient for you to talk?"

"Of course, I'm customer first," Nick heard his voice, his tone immediately became lazy, and revealed tiredness, "I'll accompany you if you want to talk about the house or complain, but not if you want to see the night view , I will be on duty at the radio station later.”

"Can we meet tomorrow?" Zhao Yimu tapped the steering wheel with his fingers, trying to keep his tone calm, "I have something to tell you."

"What do you have to talk about in person?" Nick paused, then asked uncertainly, "What's wrong with you?"

"Are you free tomorrow?" Zhao Yimu asked again.

"Tomorrow...go to the company in the morning to get some paperwork, and make three appointments in the afternoon to look at the house. After the end, there will be tutoring from [-]:[-] to [-]:[-] in the evening, and then I will go to the hospital...Well, I can meet after the tutoring." Nick said .

"Okay, you can pass on the location of tutoring to me later, and I will pick you up tomorrow." Zhao Yimu made a decision.

"Okay, see you tomorrow." Nick readily agreed, and asked again before cutting off the call: "Did something happen?"

"It's nothing, I'm driving alone." Zhao Yimu replied with a smile.

"In such a good mood?" Nick said casually, "I thought you were studying international M&A cases when you were free, and made a few work schedules by the way."

"No, I can't wind up the clockwork at any time like before." The corners of Zhao Yimu's mouth raised upwards uncontrollably,

"I'm free."

The author has something to say:

Today, I am coding chapter 53. This story exceeds 20 words. Although it is nothing compared to others, I never thought that I would write such a long article!