Battle of the Rhine

Spring is here, and the first thing you smell is the fragrance of moist soil.Slender ferns zigzag along both sides of the path, with green heads protruding from the grass blades.Mr. Muller began to spend all his spare time in the garden again. Michael pushed open the window, and the other party raised his head and stared at him through the fence.

"don't want--"

"Don't laugh like me."

"How?"

Xia Li looked at Michael curiously, and Michael pressed the corner of his mouth and hummed, "Karl taught me that the standard Germans don't show their teeth when they smile."

"There is no such rule, of course you can laugh." Xia Li said briskly.

"I should grow something in the garden," Michael slumped on the sofa, "like flowers...but I can only grow crops, I have never grown flowers."

"Can you grow wheat?"

"Yes, my lady, I can also herd cows, raise chickens, and train puppies."

"Puppy!" Charlie turned her head excitedly, "Carl, did you hear that? Mike will train puppies!"

"Quiet, don't—"

"—shout out—"

Quincy seems to be trying to "transform" Michael into a German.Michael has been having this delusion a lot lately.Quincy not only seriously corrected his German, but also the posture and strength of the handshake, the position of the knife and fork when eating, and the style of dressing—he took Michael to buy several new coats, all of which were Dark colors in the same style.Quinnessy also told Michael that if a client came to the office, the best lunch was buns and sparkling water, with some jam, nothing more German and refined than that.

"By the way," Michael lowered his voice, "that guy Oliver didn't harass you, did he?"

"Oliver?" Charlie's blue eyes twinkled. "No."

"Who is Oliver?" Franz leaned over and held Charlie's hand. "Is he the teacher at the school?"

"My .

"Nonsense is not a good quality," Franz said. "People should be careful about what they say and do."

"That's right." Michael nodded, "I've warned him more than 100 times."

Oliver was the first to notice that Michael was "becoming more and more German". "I fucking write to 'Big Girl' - you know what, old Mike is crazy, wears a suit and coat and a sleazy hat every day. As long as he doesn't open his mouth, you can't tell he's an American. Mike, do you bastard eat too much sauerkraut, or is it because of your nice landlady that you're infected just by kissing and making love?"

He insists that Michael is hooked up with the beautiful landlady. "There are 900 million more widows in Germany," Oliver said bitterly, "900 million! Think about it, what a huge number! And I, poor Oliver Bowman, can't even get the patronage of half a woman. You Did you ask her? Was her husband also shot by the Soviets? Did he dig coal in Siberia and die in a mine?"

"Bullshit," Michael yelled, "shut your mouth!"

"Looking at how angry you are," Oliver sneered, "is she pregnant? Are you ready to be a father, old Mike?"

Make love, make love, love.It was an elegant way of saying it, but Michael would never use it.He thought that if Quincy had been a girl, there would have been a lot less worry and trouble.He would be attracted to Quincy, but he would never be crazy enough to rape a noble lady.He would presumably watch her in silent agony, give her chocolates and bread, and leave Europe regretfully but innocently, never, never letting her know his heart.He can maintain the morality of a Christian, worthy of conscience and God in life and death.

"Are you coming to join the choir?" Charlie asked briskly. "Come on! We're short."

"I can't sing." Michael scooped up a spoonful of soup, carefully put the spoon into his mouth, and swallowed slowly, trying not to make a sound.Quinnessy said that Germans hate making noises when eating, which is very unsightly.He broke off a small piece of bread and dipped it in the broth, "I sing very badly—"

"He can sing," Quincy interrupted suddenly, "and he can sing very well."

"Don't slander, I never sing!"

"'Long way to go—'"

"You said that one," Michael peeked at Charlie, "well, everyone can sing, right? Then it doesn't matter if it's good or bad. It's the same if it's good, it's the same if it's bad..."

"Come on!" Xia Li obviously didn't understand the meaning of "long road", and warmly invited, "You can choose a voice! Foley chose the low voice..."

With spring, something is starting to move.Michael felt a mess in his heart, alternately happy, depressed, and miserable.Maybe he is allergic to pollen in Europe, where there are too many flowers in spring.In his hometown, at most a few malnourished white and yellow flowers can be seen scattered on the dry and desolate grassy beach.

One warm spring afternoon, Michael sent clients off after treating them to a lunch of bread and sparkling water.He is not very used to drinking sparkling water, sour, he prefers Coke, and there are several bottles hidden in the office cabinet.On the way back, passing the small workshop, he accidentally found a few young workers gathered in the narrow aisle behind the workshop, forming a small circle furtively.

"What are you doing?" Michael walked over, "Little Hans, what are you doing?"

Little Hans's face flushed red, his freckles were bright red, "I didn't do anything—"

"This is a book?" Michael pulled out a magazine from his hand, and the hot and revealing cover said everything. "You are not allowed to read it during working hours." He tapped the magazine on Little Hans's yellow-haired head, "Go to work!"

"It's break time..."

"It's not allowed to watch during the break!"

Michael flipped through the magazine with a Coke.It's not that he hasn't seen it before, there are only half-naked photos and obscene descriptions in it.It's pretty popular in the military, because you can't always find an opportunity to "free your belt."

That night, the feeling was even stronger.Instead of listening to Quincy and earnestly finishing his report, Michael dragged him to bed impatiently. "I haven't showered yet." Quincy dissatisfied, frowned, "Don't do this—"

"Let me see." Michael pushed his shirt up, exposing his chest, "Let me see."

"What's there to see here?"

"Let me see--"

Men's breasts and women's breasts are not the same at all, of course, how can they be the same.Women have breasts, men don't. "You said, why do men have nipples?" Michael asked, "It doesn't seem to be useful?"

"Yeah, it's useless." Quincy pulled off his shirt and tucked it into his pants. "Have you lost your mind?"

"I want to kiss you."

"No, I haven't showered yet."

Michael doesn't care about this.He tugged at Quincy, bit his mouth and tongue hard; pulled out his shirt and reached in to caress the "useless" nipples. "It's useless, I like it too." Michael said seriously, "I thought about it all afternoon, I really like your chest, waist, and legs."

"Then it's an honor for me." Quincy pushed him away. "Stay away, don't delay my shower."