In the golden cage

Ji Shaoting once wondered why Li Chen was still single when he was in his late thirties and had neither financial strength nor social status.

If this question was left to a male student to answer, they would probably say that it was because Li Chen didn't like anyone.

Li Chen himself might give the same answer, but it's not accurate at all.Only Ji Shaoting knows the exact answer and the truth: it's not because he doesn't like it, but because he doesn't want to be liked.

It is precisely because Li Chen's rigid conditions are too greedy that he doesn't want to be looked at by others, and he doesn't want to be loved as a symbol.

But the people around him come and go just for his addition, love his appearance, love his gesture of grace, love the upper class symbol behind him - love everything about him, except him myself.

The bus stopped, and an old man came up, Ji Shaoting bounced up from the seat reflexively, gave up his seat, and retreated to the stand next to the car glass.

After doing all this, he wondered, where did his character come from?

If I have to go back, it is probably because I suffered too much when I was a child, and I knew it was uncomfortable, so I didn't want others to suffer too.

But this statement is not accurate. There is a little distance between he knows that it is uncomfortable, and he does not want others to be uncomfortable.Who doesn't suffer, but it doesn't necessarily mean that everyone will not hurt others because of this.

If you feel bad for yourself, you want others to feel bad too. There are many such people.

In the end, Ji Shaoting could only use his nature to explain all his actions, he thought, in fact, he didn't even understand himself.

Not to mention knowing Li Chen.

He and Li Chen once played a game of choosing between two, but that only gave Ji Shaoting a superficial understanding.He doesn't know about Li Chen's social life, what kind of shadows he experienced in his childhood, and how he managed to build up his career today.

She doesn't know everything, even Li Chen's condition.

If one party does not speak, the other party will not know.

Ji Shaoting was picking fresh fruits and vegetables, thinking that it was also his fault that he never asked.If he didn't ask, Li Chen wouldn't take the initiative to give the answer.

In fact, he was the same as Li Chen, he didn't know how to communicate with others, he kept everything in his heart, and finally fermented into a catastrophe for thousands of years.

It was still early when Ji Shaoting came home, not the time to make dinner.Today was a rare day for him to be free after returning to China. After choosing the dishes, he suddenly became interested in doing housework. Facing the empty house, he might as well start with tidying up the clothes.

When he left, he didn't take a single piece of clothes with him, and all the clothes Li Chen bought for him during the past year were left intact in the cloakroom.Summer is here, and he has to change clothes every day. He wants to sort out some old clothes.

Then he flinched at the thought again.

Clothes have a unique meaning for the two of them, Ji Shaoting knows better than anyone else, so he didn't take any of them with him when he left.

And now that he can naturally come up with the idea of ​​tidying up his clothes, it only shows one thing: he really forgave Li Chen.

His forgiveness came so easily.This is his nature, no matter what he can't see people suffer, especially because of Ji Shaoting.

Li Chen's words "No one is willing to love me" echoed in his ears all the time.

So he really gave Li Chen a second chance out of sympathy, right?It is because of the nature of this devotee that he will give to anyone who asks for mercy.

Ji Shaoting suddenly felt sad: he had no way to think about himself.

What to do, this is a fatal flaw in his character, which will continue to endanger the tone of this second love: he, Ji Shaoting, is still sacrificing himself, and he returned to Li Chen's side out of pity.

In the days to come, will it return to its previous hideous appearance?

When Ji Shaoting walked into the cloakroom, he was in a gloomy mood, turned on the light, and the room was bright, but his mood still did not improve.

He can't fight to maintain himself at all, he will only become more and more timid for Li Chen.

He thought about it until he opened the closet door.

Ji Shaoting said that he would be cooking tonight, and Li Chen asked himself to leave work early.It has been a long time since he saw Ji Shaoting wearing an apron at home, busy inside and out.

On the way home, he made a detour to the largest bookstore in Nanyun, and found the section on psychology with ease. To be precise, it was the section for books on love, marriage, and family.

Ji Shaoting is still too busy, unlike before, he would go into Li Chen's study to look for books.

If he had time to go there, he would find that there was an extra row of psychology books in Li Chen's bookcase. The titles of each book were longer than the last one: "One Hundred Ways to Love", "How to Keep Fresh", "Love for a Lifetime" : Record of Interviews with Twenty Old Couples"...

Today there will be another one: "Marriage is not the grave of love: the secret of happiness!" ".

Even when he was a student, Li Chen never absorbed so many books in a short period of time.

Will do so, or because of Dr. Li.

He didn't cut off contact with Dr. Li. After returning from England, they continued to talk every weekend, but the place was changed to Li Chen's office, and Ji Shaoting didn't know anything about it.

He still doesn't want to be treated as a patient by Ji Shaoting.

Dr. Li suggested that he read some books on love, especially interviews. The joys and sorrows of the successful couples are very inspiring.Li Chen tried one and found that the effect was good, at least he learned how to ask "Is it possible" and "Do you like it?".

In fact, these social terms are nothing more than basic, and most people acquired them subtly as early as childhood, but Li Chen really wanted to learn them.

For example, when you get home, say: "I'm back."

But no reply.

The sense of fear that once haunted him like a nightmare invaded whenever it found a crack.Li Chen tried his best to ignore it, staring at the clock, reassuring himself: he came back too early today, Tingting might still be processing official documents at school, or at the vegetable market, and he said he wanted him to look forward to dinner, then he might be planning to do it. After a good meal, it will inevitably take time to choose carefully...

While comforting himself, Li Chen flicked his fingers across the screen and dialed Ji Shaoting's number.

But when he heard his mobile phone ringing on the coffee table in the living room, Li Chen's heart tightened, and he immediately raised his voice and shouted again: "Tingting! I'm back!"

Fortunately, this time Ji Shaoting's answer came: "You are back."

Li Chen breathed a sigh of relief, followed the sound through the living room, and asked where Ji Shaoting was.

There was a period of silence in the air before Ji Shaoting's reply came, in the cloakroom.

Until the moment before entering the door, Li Chen had no premonition of what was going to happen. Even after entering the door, he saw Ji Shaoting sitting in the middle of a pile of clothes. Li Chen didn't know the cause and effect, but asked, "Why are you sitting on the ground?"

While asking, he half-knelt down, saying that the floor was cold, and he wanted to pull Ji Shaoting up, but he froze in the middle of the movement.

Because he saw these clothes, each piece was torn, cut and stitched by himself.

"Achen," Ji Shaoting said with tears all over his face, "what's the matter with these clothes?"