Chapter 19 They are good
An unknown amount of time passed before Ling Shen finally finished tidying up the bar and cleaning the coffee machine. The last soft click of the steam valve closing dissipated into the air. When he removed his rubber gloves, the warmth of the coffee machine's metal casing still lingered on his knuckles.
When I turned to look, Su Nian was already fast asleep, leaning against the recliner. A corner of the off-white blanket had fallen to the ground, revealing the hem of his jeans, slightly frayed at the knees from his curled-up position. Despite being so tall, he looked as delicate as a figurine, curled up in the recliner. His eyelashes cast a butterfly-like shadow under his eyes, fluttering gently with his breathing.
Ling Shen looked at Su Nian, whose brows were slightly wrinkled even when she was sleeping, holding the blanket in both hands. Before he knew it, Ling Shen was stunned.
He never knew that he would treat someone like this, so cautiously, leaving the huge company behind and instead staying in this small bookstore, willingly doing trivial things.
"Handsome guy, handsome guy?" A female voice pierced the stagnant air, and Ling Shen suddenly came back to his senses. The metal bar made a harsh scraping sound under his hands.
Li Li, who was sitting at the bar, took a step back in fright, patting her chest with her red nails and sighing continuously, her curly hair dyed gray-purple trembling with her movements.
Ling Shen cursed himself for being distracted even when watching someone sleep. His Adam's apple rolled as he adjusted his breathing. He turned around and whispered to the girl in front of him, "What's wrong?"
His deliberately lowered voice carried the coldness of years of giving orders, which startled the girl so much that the coffee cup in her hand shook slightly.
Li Li looked at the sleeping Su Nian and then at the clearly imposing Ling Shen in front of her. Her black Martin boots rubbed the ground nervously. After hesitating for a moment, she spoke.
"The bookshelf over there is a bit shaky, I'm afraid the books will fall down, can you... can you..." Before he finished speaking, Ling Shen had already bent down, picked up the toolbox and walked towards the direction Li Li pointed.
Li Li was somewhat surprised by Ling Shen's quickness of movement and glanced at the sleeping Su Nian again. She had unconsciously shrunk back into the blanket, revealing a white wrist, like an elf who had strayed into the mortal world.
While following Ling Shen to the bookshelf, she sighed silently in her heart: It turns out that handsome guys deserve handsome guys, ┭┮﹏┭┮, when will I have a friend like this?
Ling Shen approached the bookshelf Li Li had mentioned and gave it a gentle push. Sure enough, the supposedly sturdy shelf creaked. A half-dried ginkgo leaf was stuck in the cracks in the wood grain, rustling as it moved.
"Yes, that's it." Li Li squatted aside, the metal pendant on the canvas bag jingling. "It was a little unstable yesterday, and it's even louder today."
She explained in a low voice, but her eyes could not help but linger on Ling Shen's focused profile - the hands that always held the pen were now nimbly turning the screwdriver, and the cuffs slipped down to reveal the faint blue veins on his forearms.
Ling Shen stuck his head out to look at Su Nian, and saw that he was still asleep, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
But soon he became hesitant. The hammer in the toolbox was glowing coldly. If he were to repair the bookshelf, there would inevitably be a lot of noise, which would definitely wake up Su Nian.
But if it wasn't repaired, the bookshelf wouldn't be able to hold up for long under the weight of so many books. By then, not only would Su Nian be woken up, but looking at the mess would definitely make her even more upset.
Ling Shen stared at the toolbox on the ground in a daze. Finally, he decided that a short pain was better than a long one. He raised his head and pointed to the bookshelf behind him where there was some space. "Take these books to the bookshelf in the back."
His tone was unquestionable, but he deliberately slowed down the ending of his voice, as if he was afraid of waking the sleeping person from a sweet dream.
Li Li nodded blankly, and for some reason her hands began to move naturally. Her wrists were sore from the weight of the heavy hardcover book, but when she turned around, she saw Ling Shen using his palm to support the hammer, trying not to make too much noise.
It was not until all the books were moved that Li Li stared at Ling Shen, who was already picking up nails, in a daze. In her heart, she was lamenting her own ox-horse physique: ┭┮﹏┭┮, as expected, oxen and horses are still oxen and horses wherever they go, why can't she change this habit?
Ling Shen hammered the nails into the wooden board as quickly as possible, but the sound of metal clashing still inevitably echoed in the quiet bookstore. Ling Shen leaned over to look and saw that Su Nian's brows were indeed furrowed even more.
Li Li followed Ling Shen's gaze, then looked down at the toolbox and carefully poked Ling Shen's arm, "You can use screws." Li Li said it almost in a whisper, but found that Ling Shen nodded at her with an approving look.
Ling Shen tightened the screws one by one, and the "click" sound of metal biting against metal was particularly clear in the quiet bookstore.
When the last screw was tightened, the originally shaky bookshelf finally stopped shaking and was firmly rooted in the original wood floor, as if silently telling the joy of rebirth.
Li Li stood on tiptoe, putting the scattered books back in their proper places. Her fingertips brushed over the gilded titles, carefully smoothing each crooked spine, as if she were sorting out a group of lost children.
When One Hundred Years of Solitude returned to the third shelf in the literature section, and when The Little Prince reunited with the fairy tales, the entire bookshelf seemed to come alive again, the scent of ink and the grain of wood interweaving into a warm web. Li Li leaned against the bookshelf and breathed a long sigh of relief, the dust on her eyelashes trembling slightly with her breath.
Ling Shen returned to the bar with his toolbox. The clanging of metal startled the dormant coffee machine. He turned on the faucet, and the water, carrying sawdust and rust, gurgled down, stirring tiny ripples in the porcelain-white sink.
He repeatedly scrubbed the dust from between his fingers until his skin turned slightly red, and water droplets slid down his knuckles, forming crystal streams on the black marble countertop.
After making sure his hands were spotless, he tiptoed towards the recliner in the corner. Su Nian curled up into a small ball, breathing long and evenly, her eyelashes casting tiny shadows under her eyes.
The blanket that had slipped off was tucked in again. When the wool fibers brushed against Su Nian's wrist, he unconsciously rubbed it against the warmth, a reassured smile spreading across the corners of his mouth.
Su Nian slept particularly comfortably. There were no nagging nightmares. Only the faint scent of ink mixed with the steam from the coffee machine, weaving into a gentle cradle.
"jingle--"
The copper bell swung happily in the cold wind, startling a few sparrows outside the window. Su Nian rubbed his eyes and sat up. Looking at the somewhat embarrassed Li Li, he smiled and raised his hand, "Bye, see you after the New Year."
Li Li stuck out her tongue, raised her hand and waved at Su Nian, "Goodbye, boss, and Happy New Year." When she turned around, the setting sun behind her was casting its afterglow all over the street, and the tassels on her scarf swayed gently with her steps, like dancing flames.
Su Nian didn't lean back into the recliner until Li Li's figure disappeared around the corner. Dusk flowed over the bookshelves and onto his sharply defined profile.
"Do you like her very much?" Ling Shen's voice suddenly sounded, with an imperceptible bitterness.
Su Nian looked at her reflection in the glass, her fingers unconsciously stroking the edge of the blanket. Outside the window, the last rays of sunset dyed the clouds into honey-colored, and returning birds flew over the bookstore sign.
He chuckled softly, his chest shaking and stirring the dust between the pages. "Don't you think each of them is adorable?" His eyes swept across the wooden shelves filled with postcards, where countless stories of strangers were hidden. "They embraced every day with their enthusiasm. Even if life brought bitterness, they could still make it sweet through books."
Ling Shen looked at the two figures overlapping in the glass and suddenly felt that his jealousy was a ridiculous farce. The stars dancing in Su Nian's eyes were hotter than any warm winter sun.
He coughed lightly, his Adam's apple rolling as he swallowed down his complex emotions. "Are you feeling better?"
Su Nian turned his head. The setting sun cast a soft glow on his pale cheeks, and Ling Shen's appearance was reflected in his eyes. "Much better," Su Nian raised the corners of his lips, causing Ling Shen to slowly relax his brows. "Thank you for today."
On the glass, the two people's shadows gradually overlapped, like two trees growing close together in the cold wind.
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