As soon as Song Xuanhe finished speaking, the little girl knocked on the door and came in, handed them the menu, and pouted and said to Song Xuanhe: "I heard you say me!"
"Yeah." Song Xuanhe smiled faintly: "I didn't say anything bad about you."
"You said I was young because you didn't believe what I said." The little girl snorted, passed Song Xuanhe and handed the menu to Xiao Yuanmu, saying, "Big brother, do you think what I said is right? Do you believe it?"
Xiao Yuanmu took the menu, glanced at Song Xuanhe, and then spoke, his voice clear but not cold: "Believe it."
Hearing this, the little girl looked at Song Xuanhe proudly, and raised her chin as if to show off. Seeing that Song Xuanhe just raised his eyebrows and snorted, she turned to Xiao Yuanmu again and said, "My father said that what I said is the most effective. The brothers and sisters I blessed when I was ten got married when I was twelve, and they even asked me to be their flower girl! My father also said that the look in the eyes of someone who really likes someone is different. Brother, look at the look in the brother opposite you, the look in his eyes is just like the way my father looks at me! I will never be wrong!"
Xiao Yuanmu stared: "Eyes?"
"Yes!" The little girl nodded seriously: "That's the look you would have if you liked someone!"
Song Xuanhe paused with the cup at his lips, and subconsciously raised his eyes to look at Xiao Yuanmu, but Xiao Yuanmu did not look at him, but just said to the little girl: "If what you said is really true, we will ask you to be the flower girl when we get married."
"I don't want to!" The little girl refused categorically. Seeing Song Xuanhe's surprised expression, she explained, "I'm already sixteen years old. I can't be a flower girl, I can only be a bridesmaid. But I can't be a bridesmaid for you. I have two good friends and I must be a bridesmaid for their weddings. Dad said that three times is the limit. I also heard that being a bridesmaid too many times will make you unmarried. So I can't be a bridesmaid for you, brothers."
Seeing the serious expression on the little girl's face, Song Xuanhe couldn't help but laugh: "You are so young, but you think far ahead."
"I'm not a kid anymore!" The little girl pouted and said, "In two years I can get married!" Her eyes lit up and she looked at Song Xuanhe: "Brother, are you ready to get married?"
Song Xuanhe was stunned. Only then did he remember that the legal age for marriage at this time was different from that in his original world. Here, men and women could get married as long as they were eighteen years old. However, perhaps due to different education and open-mindedness, few young people would get married prematurely. Most people got married after the age of twenty-eight. Therefore, he had always ignored this common sense in the original owner's memory.
Moreover, he and Xiao Yuanmu both knew very well that they were not a true couple who were together because of love, so they naturally would not bring up such things.
Not getting an answer, the little girl analyzed herself: "You don't have a ring on your hand, so you are definitely not engaged. If you are not engaged, you are still a long way from getting married. When will you get married, brothers?"
Xiao Yuanmu: "Does not having a ring mean you are far from getting married?"
The little girl nodded: "Yes, and my father said that without a ring it means that the lovers are not sure about each other, but my father also said that we can't judge whether someone is in love by whether they are wearing a ring. Love can only be seen from actions and eyes, so even if you don't have a ring, you will definitely be very happy."
"By the way, big brother, what do you want to eat? The Sea Emperor Congee in our store is really good." She jumped from one topic to another very quickly, and soon she started to sell it in a very serious manner: "All the ingredients are freshly shipped back from various production areas, and there are no overnight ingredients. The remaining ingredients today can only make one serving of Sea Emperor Congee. If you want to order it, I will go to the kitchen and tell Dad right away!"
Xiao Yuanmu glanced at Song Xuanhe, who was thinking about something, and after a pause, he returned the menu to the girl and said, "Two servings of seafood porridge."
The little girl blinked and said, "Don't you want anything else? We have a lot of delicious food in our store."
Xiao Yuanmu said calmly: "No need."
"Do you want two pots of porridge or two normal-sized bowls of porridge?"
"In a bowl."
The little girl shrank her nose in confusion, turned to Song Xuanhe, and advised: "Little brother, do you really only want two servings of seafood porridge? You can order whatever you want today. As long as it is on the menu and the kitchen has the ingredients, you can order it. If you don't order it this time, you will suffer a loss!"
It was the first time that Song Xuanhe had seen someone working so hard to give something to someone for free, but he was more concerned about another question: "Why is he the older brother and I am the younger brother? I look younger than him?"
"No." The little girl glanced at Xiao Yuanmu and said shyly, "Because that brother is a handsome guy that only appears once in a thousand years. Although you are also handsome, compared with the big brother, you can only be said to be a rare guy that only appears once in a hundred years. So you are the little handsome guy. The big handsome guy is the big brother, and the little handsome guy is the little brother."
Song Xuanhe smiled and handed the teapot, which was still eight-tenths full, to the little girl, saying, "You can go out and get more tea."
The little girl glanced at him and took the teapot: "Stingy."
The chattering girl left and the door was closed again, blocking out the noise outside and the atmosphere instantly became quiet.
The silence continued to spread. Xiao Yuanmu sat quietly, seemingly not wanting to speak. For some reason, Song Xuanhe blurted out before he could react: "Actually, I kind of want to eat the food you cook."
Seeing Song Xuanhe pursed her lips slightly after she finished speaking, as if she was a little annoyed, Xiao Yuanmu's dark eyes gradually cleared up, and he said, "I'll make you a midnight snack later."
"Today?" Song Xuanhe subconsciously glanced at the time on his phone. It was almost ten o'clock. He shook his head and said, "Forget about it today. After drinking the porridge, I probably won't be able to eat anything when I go back."
"Tomato and egg noodles." Seeing Song Xuanhe looking over, Xiao Yuanmu said calmly, "You've never eaten anyone else's cooking except mine."
Song Xuanhe's expression paused slightly. He didn't expect that Xiao Yuanmu would know this. After tasting the most delicious dish, the ones he thought were good before were no longer palatable. So since he met Xiao Yuanmu, he really hasn't eaten tomato and egg noodles from anywhere else.
Moreover, if he guessed correctly, Xiao Yuanmu would be leaving soon, so today would probably be the last time he would eat the tomato and egg noodles prepared by Xiao Yuanmu.
Song Xuanhe nodded with his eyes bent: "Then I will drink less porridge later."
Jinji's porridge has always been famous for its deliciousness and delicacy. Delicacy often means a small portion. For a young man who is strong and easily hungry, a bowl of porridge of normal size can be drunk even if he is full. What's more, Song Xuanhe, who had nothing to eat for dinner, felt that he was 70% full after drinking the porridge.
Naturally, after finishing their porridge, the two drove straight back to their apartment.
Song Xuanhe hadn't been to Xiao Yuanmu's apartment for a long time. In fact, since Xiao Yuanmu moved here, Song Xuanhe had only been here twice in total. One was on the second day after Xiao Yuanmu moved here, when he came to have dinner. Another time was when he met Xiao Yuanmu jogging in the morning. After talking for a few words, he went upstairs with him to eat a bowl of noodles that Xiao Yuanmu had cooked.
Since then, he would subconsciously avoid Xiao Yuanmu's morning jogging time. Even when Xiao Yuanmu occasionally sent him messages asking if they wanted to have dinner together in the evening, he would use other reasons or excuses to avoid them. Tonight was the third time.
But this time, Song Xuanhe vaguely felt that Xiao Yuanmu's apartment seemed a little different from the two previous times he had seen it. However, after scanning the living room and dining room furnishings that were familiar but with cold colors and decoration, he didn't find anything. He had a vague feeling in his heart, but it was as if he was covered by a layer of something and couldn't grasp the real answer, which made him a little irritated.
Half an hour had passed since Jinji drove back. It was already eleven o'clock. Xiao Yuanmu took off his coat and rolled up his sleeves, saying, "Wait for me a moment."
Song Xuanhe was still observing what was different about Xiao Yuanmu's apartment, but when he heard his words, he couldn't help but retract his gaze, and paused on Xiao Yuanmu's broad shoulders and narrow waist. Before he opened the refrigerator door, he called him, "I just finished drinking porridge, take a rest before I do it again."
Xiao Yuanmu paused, his jaw slightly tensed when he saw the time displayed on his watch. His eyes flickered slightly, but he still turned and walked towards the living room.
The two sat opposite each other, and neither of them spoke first.
However, Song Xuanhe and Xiao Yuanmu both realized that the other party was a little different today than usual.
Messages came one after another on the phone. Song Xuanhe lowered her eyes to avoid Xiao Yuanmu's sight. Her eyes only fell on the words on the phone screen, but she didn't read a single word.
Time passed minute by minute, and Song Xuan's fingers unconsciously slid through various applications, from chat software to search engines, opening and closing them one by one, swiping around in boredom until he opened the last browser and saw the search history from a long time ago - what should men do with each other?
From the time they first met, many memories that he had ignored instantly came back to his mind, like a passing tour. He saw every time he spent with Xiao Yuanmu, saw Xiao Yuanmu change little by little, saw him become cold and gloomy again, and also saw him break down his defenses little by little again, allowing him to enter his world.
But he shouldn't have gone to Xiao Yuanmu's world, because that was not his world, and he was destined to return to his own world.
Song Xuanhe raised his head first, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised, as if he suddenly remembered something, and asked: "What was the thing you said you wanted to tell me?"
"I'm going to the United States for a while." Xiao Yuanmu's eyes were dark, staring at Song Xuanhe without blinking: "At least half a year."
Song Xuanhe lowered his eyes, and under the sigh of "as expected", he suppressed the complicated emotions that arose for some reason, and began to think about what kind of expression a couple should have when they heard that their partner was suddenly going abroad. However, he had no knowledge in this area, so he could only blink and ask, "So you are planning to break up with me?"
Without waiting for Xiao Yuanmu to answer, Song Xuanhe said, "Okay, I agree."
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