Desserts and hot drinks
Winter in the northern part of the city seems to be particularly patient, and it wasn't until the end of December that the calendar finally allowed the first snow of the winter to fall slowly.
The snow was light, fine and scattered, like grains of salt carelessly sprinkled by a celestial maiden. It landed on the dry asphalt road and bare branches, accumulating a thin layer and giving the gray city a touch of cool white.
Sister Jin had been making preparations early on, taking Qi Shuo and Qin Zhou to the mall to buy new clothes for the winter.
Unlike last year when Qi Shuo first came out and was dragged along by Sister Jin, feeling somewhat awkward and uneasy while shopping, this time, Qi Shuo took the initiative to bring the clothes he liked to the counter and calmly handed over his bank card when the cashier asked about the payment method.
"Swipe the card." His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a steady strength.
Jin Jie watched from the side, her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she just turned her face away and her eyes quietly reddened.
Qin Zhou patted Qi Shuo on the shoulder with a grin, exclaiming, "Brother Shuo is awesome!" Qi Shuo didn't say anything, only a slight upward curve to his lips. He looked at the numbers printed on the receipt, feeling quite calm.
This is what he earned with his own hands, day by day, month by month. It's not much, but it's enough to buy a few winter clothes, enough to supplement the family income, and enough to make him no longer just the one who "needs to be taken care of."
This feeling is reassuring, and even carries a belated sense of adult dignity.
He is content.
The weather has really turned cold. The biting wind feels like knives on your face. Jin Jie looked at Qi Shuo's "weathered" electric scooter and gave him a firm order: With the weather getting colder, riding an electric scooter is too much of a hassle. From now on, he should take her old scooter to and from work.
Qi Shuo didn't object; he knew it was Jin Jie's concern. The electric scooter that had been with him for several months was carefully wiped clean, pushed into the small parking shed downstairs, covered with a cover, and began its "hibernation."
That morning, snow was still falling lightly. Qi Shuo drove carefully across the slippery road and parked in the underground parking garage near the restaurant.
There was a short, open path leading from the garage to the restaurant entrance. He wrapped his newly bought black down jacket tighter around himself, opened the car door, and got out. Fine snowflakes, swirling in the wind, lashed against his face and neck, icy cold.
In just a few dozen meters, by the time he reached the restaurant entrance, his nose and chin were already red from the cold, and his fingers were stiff and numb.
Pushing open the restaurant's heavy glass door, a whiff of air mixed with the aroma of food and a faint warmth wafts out.
He subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief, rubbed his hands which were a little stiff from the cold, and then looked up at the store—it was still early, not yet the peak business hours, and there were only a few scattered tables of customers.
However, his gaze paused slightly as it swept over a spot near the window.
It's Tan Huaiyu.
He was wearing a white down jacket and a light gray scarf, sitting by the window. A book was open on the table in front of him, but he didn't seem to be reading it. He was just tilting his head and looking at the fine snow falling outside the window. The lines of his profile looked soft and quiet in the morning light.
Hearing the door open, he turned around, and his eyes briefly met Qi Shuo's.
Qi Shuo's face was expressionless; he merely nodded very slightly, almost imperceptibly, as a greeting, before turning his gaze away and heading straight to the staff break room to change into his uniform. There were no questions, no pleasantries, as if he were seeing an ordinary customer who wasn't particularly familiar but whom he didn't need to deliberately avoid.
Tan Huaiyu's fingers, which were under the table, curled slightly. His gaze followed Qi Shuo's back until he disappeared behind the door, before slowly shifting back to the snow falling outside the window. However, his eyes seemed more focused than before, and the corners of his mouth pursed almost imperceptibly.
When Qi Shuo came out in his neat uniform and began preparing for the meal, Tan Huaiyu had already turned away from looking out the window and lowered his head, seemingly engrossed in a book. But out of the corner of his eye, he kept an eye on the slightly busy figure behind the bar.
Qi Shuo was wiping the tableware. His fingers were still a little red from the cold outside, and his movements were slightly stiff.
He would occasionally stop, bring his hands to his mouth, breathe gently, and then rub them together quickly, trying to let that meager warmth seep into his icy fingertips.
This subtle movement is not noticeable in a heated room, but to someone who is observant, it appears magnified many times over.
Tan Huaiyu looked at it, his brows furrowing almost imperceptibly. He put down the book, took out his phone, and quickly tapped a few lines on the screen, sending a message. The recipient was Manager Chen from the restaurant.
A few minutes later, the faint warmth in the restaurant seemed to become more noticeable.
While inspecting the equipment, Manager Chen even went to the area near the window and adjusted the direction of the air conditioning vents.
After a while, Tan Huaiyu raised his head, his gaze calmly sweeping across the restaurant. Then, he raised his hand and made a small gesture to a waiter who was tidying up a table not far away.
The waiter was Qi Shuo. He put down what he was holding, walked to Tan Huaiyu's table, gave a slight bow, and said in a standard professional tone, "Hello, how can I help you?"
Tan Huaiyu raised his head, his gaze quickly sweeping over Qi Shuo's still slightly red fingertips, then picked up the menu on the table and tapped it lightly several times with his fingertips: "One tiramisu, one caramel pudding, one hot Americano, one hot latte, one hot cocoa, one..." He rattled off a string of hot drinks, quite a few in number.
Qi Shuo held the ordering device, taking notes and listening at the same time. When he heard Tan Huaiyu announce that the number of hot drinks was close to double digits and that there were many different kinds, his fingers, which were tapping on the screen, paused. He looked up at Tan Huaiyu, a slight surprise flashing in his eyes.
Ordering so many hot drinks by one person?
Tan Huaiyu seemed to understand the question in his eyes, but she didn't explain. Instead, she gave him a very faint but clean smile and said softly, "That's all, thank you."
"...Okay, please wait a moment." Qi Shuo suppressed his doubts, confirmed the order, and turned to walk towards the kitchen.
Dessert and the first hot drink were served quickly.
Tan Huaiyu ate her tiramisu quietly and in small bites, her posture elegant and her expression focused, as if she were truly just enjoying a leisurely breakfast.
He didn't look at Qi Shuo again, nor did he show any unusual behavior. After finishing his dessert and his hot Americano, he picked up the scarf draped over the back of his chair, carefully wrapped it around his neck, then got up, went to the counter to pay, nodded politely to the cashier, pushed open the glass door, and walked straight into the cold wind where fine snow was still falling outside. His figure quickly disappeared around the corner of the street.
Qi Shuo was helping prepare other orders in the kitchen and didn't pay special attention to Tan Huaiyu's departure.
It wasn't until more than ten minutes later, when all the hot drinks were prepared and neatly arranged on trays, that the colleague responsible for delivering the food muttered in surprise, "Huh? Where's that customer by the window? He hasn't brought out all those drinks he ordered yet."
Upon hearing this, Qi Shuo looked up at the window seat—and sure enough, it was empty.
He walked over, and all that remained on the table were the used dessert plate and coffee cup, which had already been cleaned up.
Just then, Manager Chen walked over with a smile, clapped his hands, and attracted everyone's attention: "Come on, everyone, stop for a moment! A customer just ordered a whole bunch of hot drinks, saying it was for all of our staff! It's cold, everyone should warm up! Come and get some, everyone gets some!"
A small commotion and a few excited gasps rippled through his colleagues as they gathered around. Qi Shuo stood at the edge of the crowd, watching Manager Chen distribute steaming hot drinks to everyone, and finally, one was handed to him—a cup of rich, hot chocolate, carefully sprinkled with a pinch of cinnamon powder.
"Xiao Qi, here you go." Manager Chen said with a smile, "Tan... well, he's quite thoughtful. He specifically told us not to set the air conditioning too low, in case our hands get cold while we're working. This hot drink is also to warm everyone up."
Qi Shuo took the heavy, hot cup of hot chocolate, his fingertips instantly enveloped in a comforting warmth.
He lowered his eyes, staring blankly at the dark brown liquid swirling slowly in his glass. Images flashed through his mind: Tan Huaiyu's calm face as he ordered, his retreating figure without looking back, and Manager Chen's words from earlier… So that's how it is.
To avoid seeming abrupt, and to prevent his concern from becoming a burden or awkward, he ordered so much and shared it with everyone. To keep his fingers from getting cold, he even "meddled" by reminding the manager to turn up the air conditioning.
A complex mix of feelings welled up inside me. It was a little absurd, a little helpless, a little... a subtle, indescribable stirring.
Why go to such lengths for such a small matter?
Kid, you're quite generous, spending twenty or thirty yuan on a hot drink.
He shook his head slightly in his mind.
But the warmth from his fingertips was real, gradually dispelling the lingering chill through the paper cup. He remained silent for a moment, ultimately saying nothing, but simply lowered his head and took a small sip from the rim of the cup.
Sweet but not cloying, warm and smooth, it soothes you all the way to your stomach.
Next weekend, at the city library.
As usual, Qi Shuo carried a simple canvas bag, found the book he wanted to read in the social sciences section, and as he walked towards the reading area, his gaze habitually swept over that familiar corner first.
Tan Huaiyu was already there. He was wearing a beige sweater today, which looked soft and warm. He was looking down, intently at a comic book open in front of him. Sunlight streamed through the tall glass window, falling on his light golden hair and long eyelashes, casting a soft halo around him, making him look quiet and... harmless.
Qi Shuo walked straight over without pausing. As he passed Tan Huaiyu's table, he took out an exquisite paper bag with the restaurant's logo from his canvas bag with his free hand and gently and steadily placed it on the corner of the table in front of Tan Huaiyu.
The paper bag wasn't sealed, and you could see that inside was a transparent dessert box, which vaguely resembled a combination of tiramisu and crème brûlée—the same two that Tan Huaiyu had ordered at the restaurant last week.
He didn't speak, nor did he even look at Tan Huaiyu's face, which suddenly lifted up, filled with astonishment and disbelief, or at those pale blue eyes that suddenly lit up as if the stars had fallen into them.
After putting down the paper bag, he turned around calmly as if he had done something perfectly ordinary, and walked to the bookshelf not far away to find an empty space.
Tan Huaiyu was completely stunned.
He stared blankly at the paper bag that had suddenly appeared on his desk, then looked up sharply at Qi Shuo's tall and silent back as he walked toward the bookshelf. His heart pounded wildly in his chest, almost shattering his ribs.
He opened his mouth, but no sound came out; only his fingertips trembled slightly. A huge, unreal surprise swept over him like a tsunami, making him almost wonder if he was hallucinating.
It wasn't until Qi Shuo found an empty seat behind several rows of bookshelves, sat down, opened his book, and began reading as if nothing had happened that Tan Huaiyu suddenly came to her senses.
He grabbed the paper bag and hugged it tightly to his chest, as if it were a priceless treasure that had been lost and found again. Then, he looked up, his gaze piercing through the gaps between the bookshelves, and precisely locked onto the figure who was engrossed in reading.
He couldn't see Qi Shuo's expression, only a quiet profile. But that was enough.
Tan Huaiyu's lips curled up uncontrollably, until they finally blossomed into an incredibly bright, even slightly silly, smile.
The smile was so pure and unblemished that it illuminated his entire pale face. He quickly lowered his head, burying his burning cheeks in the soft collar of his sweater, revealing only his crescent-shaped eyes, brimming with dazzling laughter.
After a long while, he dared to raise his head again, suppressing the surging joy in his chest with all his might, and said softly and solemnly in Qi Shuo's direction, in a whisper that only he could hear:
"Thank you... Brother Qi Shuo."
The voice was very soft, so soft that it dissipated into the quiet air of the library as soon as it was uttered. But he knew he had spoken. He also knew that the person might not have heard him at all, or even if they had, they wouldn't have cared.
But that's not important.
The important thing is that he received a "return gift." It wasn't charity, pity, or even friendship. It was simply a...calm, equal exchange. It was like telling him, "I received what you gave. I owe you nothing."
But for Tan Huaiyu, that was enough. Enough for him to carefully treasure this tiny, sweet warmth in the softest corner of his heart, enough for him to savor and absorb that pitiful, yet real, warmth for a very, very long time to come.
He opened the paper bag, took out the dessert box inside, and couldn't help but secretly smile as he looked at the exquisite and cute pastries.
Then, like a small animal receiving an unexpected surprise, he began to savor this unexpected "gift" with small, precious bites. With each bite, the smile in his eyes deepened.
Meanwhile, several rows of bookshelves away, Qi Shuo seemed completely unaware of the commotion. He kept his head down, his gaze fixed on the pages of the book, his expression focused.
However, if you look closely, you will notice that when his fingertips touched the delicate rosewood bookmark, there was an extremely brief, almost imperceptible pause.
The snow outside the window had stopped sometime ago, and a sliver of sunlight struggled to penetrate the clouds, landing on the clean floor of the library and casting a small, hazy patch of light.
The reading room remained quiet, save for the rustling of pages turning and the faint, distinct beating of two hearts in the silence.
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