Chapter 27 Review
Lan Bookstore is located at the foot of a small hill with an altitude of 100 meters in the city. The overall decoration of the store is a retro style with walnut wood as the main color. It is called a bookstore, but in fact it is a reading space. It not only sells books, but also has reading and learning spaces such as study rooms.
There are already many such bookstores in first-tier cities, such as Xixifu Bookstore, Fu Bookstore, and Fangsuo. The "Bookstore Plus" concept has given brick-and-mortar bookstores new life amid the impact of the internet, and its business model has been further validated in recent years. But remarkably, the owner of Lan Bookstore had this foresight over a decade ago, closing his traditional bookstore, less than ten square meters in the main urban area, and opening Nanshi's first bookstore offering book purchases, tea and dining options.
Xu Mo likes this place very much. Ever since she discovered this treasure bookstore during the summer vacation after the college entrance examination, she has come here every winter and summer vacation. The owner is a middle-aged woman in her fifties, elegant and intellectual, wearing a pair of light pink thin-framed glasses.
When the bookstore owner saw Xu Mo walking in from the rain with a tall, noble stranger, he pushed his glasses, and his quiet eyes behind the lenses were slightly disturbed.
Xu Mo nodded in greeting. The bookstore owner smiled and then lowered his head to sort the newly arrived books.
The two ordered two cups of coffee at the bar.
Xu Mo pointed to the north side of the bookstore and said to Lin Jingchuan, "That side is for business data, the right side is for literature, and around the corner are comics and the like."
Lin Jingchuan took the coffee handed to him by the waiter and said, "You go and choose first. I'll find a seat and wait for you."
"good."
Xu Mo seemed to know what book he wanted to read and soon came back with one. Lin Jingchuan took a look at the cover and saw that it was a novel by Jun'ichi Watanabe.
Lin Jingchuan also went to get a book, and when he came back, Xu Mo was already engrossed in reading.
Beneath her smooth, fair forehead were drooping eyes and thick, feathery eyelashes, and her nose was slightly upturned and rounded, small in shape. Her skin was flawless, without a single blemish.
The rain outside the window drew streaks of water on the glass. She lowered her head and leaned it against the glass window because she was tired. The light grey cardigan and white inner wear made her look very thin. The water streaks seemed to flow into her body, making her feel damp.
Lin Jingchuan took a sip of Australian white wine and lowered his head to flip through the pages of the book.
There were not many people in the bookstore on weekday mornings. The faint sound of piano flowed in the quiet space, and he seemed to be able to hear her every breath.
After reading the ending, Xu Mo closed the book and looked out the window. Her gaze was frozen in the pouring rain, as if she was worried about something.
Lin Jingchuan's voice came: "Is it a tragedy?"
Xu Mo nodded: "It's a bit depressing." Japanese novels all have this effect on her.
Lin Jingchuan asked: "Why do you still want to watch it when you know it?"
"I don't know either. Maybe it's the intense love and hate that makes me feel they are real."
Lin Jingchuan chewed on these words with strong feelings of love and hate.
He thought lightly, is it possible that she and Zhao Tingyu have a strong love-hate relationship?
Xu Mo asked, "What are you looking at?"
Lin Jingchuan closed the book and was reading Siddhartha.
Xu Mo smiled and said, "Does it look good?"
“That makes some sense.”
Xu Mo leaned her head against the glass window, with a faint smile on the corners of her dry lips as she drooped her eyes.
She said for no reason: "It's so nice to be with you."
It was clearly positive feedback, but Lin Jingchuan didn't think it was a good sign.
"Why?" he asked.
Xu Mo raised her eyes to look at him. Under the light of the rainy day outside the window, the whites of her eyes were tinged with a faint blue. “We can have a calm conversation like this.”
"Is it bad to be with him?" Lin Jingchuan asked.
Xu Mo shook her head: "I forgot."
Lin Jingchuan was silent. He looked out the window, wrinkles appearing between his brows.
"Do you mind him a lot?" Xu Mo asked, "But you've known about the relationship between him and me for a long time. Or maybe you really hate him."
Lightning flashed across the sky, streaking white light, and rain fell down in a loud noise.
Lin Jingchuan's gaze shifted to the woman leaning against the window opposite.
He squinted his eyes and recalled the summer when he first met her, his expression indifferent.
"If a husband doesn't get jealous, he's not a good husband."
"If you mind me and Zhao Tingyu."
The woman's voice was gentle. She stood up and gently stroked the warm coffee cup. "I can clearly assure you that I have no feelings for him anymore. You can rest assured."
She clearly said that she didn't care, but why did she bring him out to the bookstore and why did she say those words to him?
His Adam's apple rolled, and Lin Jingchuan's eyes fell on her moving pale pink lips.
"If you really let it go, why didn't you tell your parents about our marriage earlier, instead of choosing to wait until the last minute?"
The expression on the man's face was very indifferent, which was different from his usual gentle appearance, just like the sky that suddenly darkened outside the window.
Ripples suddenly appeared in Xu Mo's eyes.
"Because of the marriage." Xu Mo looked out the window, "We were both a little impulsive at the time."
Even until now, she was not sure how long they could stay together.
The two fell into an even colder silence.
Xu Mo raised her eyes to look at him and asked, "Brother Lin, I also want to ask, how come such a good thing as marrying a young and promising person like you has fallen on me?"
Xu Mo and Lin Jingchuan came back in the evening. They arrived home just when Xu's father was preparing dinner.
Zhao Tingyu had been in a bad mood the entire day, but when he noticed the slight sense of estrangement between Xu Mo and Lin Jingchuan, he suddenly felt that today was not as bad as he had thought.
Zhao Tingyu guessed that they seemed to have had an unpleasant conversation outside.
While eating, Zhao Tingyu picked up some food for Xu Mo: "Your favorite is dried tofu."
Father Xu glanced at Zhao Tingyu and said, "Tingyu knows that you only like to eat soft and tender dried tofu, so I walked fifteen minutes to the market to buy it for you."
Xu Mo took a bite and said with a smile, "Dad's cooking skills are still so good."
Although Xu's mother didn't say much, she also noticed the slightly alienated atmosphere between Xu Mo and Lin Jingchuan. Although Lin Jingchuan concealed it well, his tight lip lines revealed a flaw.
Xu's mother said to Lin Jingchuan, "Xiao Lin, try some crucian carp. It was caught from the river by a relative of ours who sells seafood. It's very fresh and sweet."
She used the serving chopsticks to pick up a piece of belly meat for Lin Jingchuan, and Lin Jingchuan said, "Thank you."
"Xiao Lin, we didn't know you were coming, so we didn't prepare some things in advance, such as towels, toothpaste, toothbrushes, etc. Tell me what you need, and I will place an order online later." said Xu's mother.
Lin Jingchuan looked at Xu Mo and said, "Auntie, don't bother me. Momo and I will stay out tonight."
"Why are you living out here?" Father Xu asked. "We have room at home. We don't need to spend money on a hotel."
There was a moment of awkwardness, and Xu's mother said, "Momo's room at home is a bit small. Xiaolin said he wanted to live out and he wanted the two of them to live comfortably."
Father Xu frowned: "My daughter finally came home, why is she running away again?"
Xu's mother didn't respond, and Xu's father looked at Xu Mo again: "Momo, tell me, do you want to live at home or move out?"
Xu Mo put down the white porcelain bowl of fish soup in her hand and turned to look at Lin Jingchuan. The two of them spent the whole day in the bookstore but hardly said anything. Now that she had come to her hometown, seen her family, and Zhao Tingyu, Xu Mo didn't know whether he would re-examine her as his wife and this marriage.
Maybe they should think about it on their own.
Xu Mo said, "I'll live at home."
Lin Jingchuan looked at her, his finger bones bulging badly from holding the chopsticks.
"Xiao Lin, we have a custom here that a married daughter cannot live with her husband when she returns to her parents' home," said Father Xu. "I almost forgot about it."
The meaning of these words was obviously to drive Lin Jingchuan away. Zhao Tingyu frowned slightly. Although Xu's father had always loved him, he was surprised that he would target Xu Mo's husband so obviously without giving him any face.
Lin Jingchuan was silent for a while, then said calmly, "Okay, I'll stay out tonight."
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