Rainy Night Cafe

[1]

Speaking of which, this year is Miro's third year as a graduate student.

Miro, who is still pursuing a master's degree, is currently a researcher specializing in ecology.

Because of his impressive achievements in this area at a young age, he is now well-known in the biological world.At least from the perspective of academic qualifications, Miro can be regarded as an outstanding example of the younger generation.

However, recently, this young talent is at a turning point in his life: he is approaching graduation, but there are still many incomplete data in his thesis. When he returns to the laboratory all day long, he is faced with overwhelming pressure and unspeakable anxiety.

The freedom of his teenage years is no longer with him, and being busy until late at night is his normal life.

The senior brother of the same school saw it and told him not to work too hard. It is common for experiments to fail, and the loss outweighs the gain if the body is exhausted.However, for this, Milo just nodded symbolically in agreement, turned around and stayed up all night because of the subject.

Just at this time, the old professor gave him another project, asking Milo to go to Mount Levis to do a survey on the migration of butterflies.Not only that, but I also hope that he can bring some butterflies and plant specimens when he comes back, so as to facilitate subsequent in-depth research.

"Levis Hill?"

Hearing the unfamiliar name, Milo frowned slightly.

Right now, he is so busy working on his own project all day long, and even the time of eating has to be accurate to the minute every day, which is really exhausting.Besides, if it's just collecting animal specimens, why bother to invite him, a prospective doctoral student?

Feeling that the old professor's arrangement of tasks was too arbitrary, Miro decided to shirk it on the grounds of not having enough time.

I thought the old professor would stop here, but the next evening, the other party called him into the office, as if he was ready for a long talk.

"...Recently, I have focused my research on that area, and I want to focus on the classification of butterflies in the next few years. The research on this aspect is still in its infancy in China. If it can be done well, it is very likely to publish some interesting Influential article."

"But you should be very clear that I'm going to University A to study for a Ph. D. It's fine to leave this trivial matter to other juniors and juniors. I have more important papers to write. Why do you want me to take over this task?" After a pause, Milo continued: "Besides, I have never been to Mount Levi's before. Collecting specimens is a labor-intensive project that cannot be completed in a month. Professor, please think again. "

As if he had expected what he said, the old professor smiled and said, "I know that...but it's not on my whim to let you go to Mount Levis, it's your Ph.D. supervisor's idea."

Knowing the unexpected reason, Milo changed his expression just now, but was slightly surprised.

"So... the boss asked me to go?"

"Yes. When you go to his place later, there are still many tasks about Levis Mountain. This time, he wants you to familiarize yourself with the terrain features there in advance."

Hearing this, Milo nodded knowingly, and his attitude of refusing just now was obviously a little loose.

"I see."

"I know that you have been very busy with your thesis recently, but don't worry too much. It is common for the data to not be produced. Now that we have reached the bottleneck period, instead of continuing to gnaw hard bones, it is better to change the direction and maybe find a solution to the problem."

Milo stood silently in the office for a while, and finally agreed.

"Okay, then leave it to me."

[2]

Walking out of the high-speed rail station, the moment I opened the door, the cold wind mixed with rain came blowing in my face.

It is already the beginning of spring, but it is still so cold near Levis Mountain.Milo tightened the windbreaker on his body, and opened the umbrella he carried with him.

On the street at one o'clock in the morning, there are few pedestrians on the road, and occasionally a taxi passes by on the road, all of which have the smell of hurrying on the road.

This was Milo's first time setting foot in this strange city. He planned to collect specimens earlier, but unexpectedly, it rained heavily, and the drastic changes in the weather made him unable to do anything.

The research program had to be postponed.

Milo called the Levis Hill administrator, who agreed to the request to change the time and rescheduled to meet at the city hotel at 08:30 tomorrow morning.

The partner of this cooperation seems to know him quite well, knowing that although Milo is young, he is by no means a character who can be ignored casually, so he is very enthusiastic, and even helped him book a hotel room in advance.

After expressing his thanks to the other party, Milo hung up the phone and rushed over there.

Unfortunately, things backfired.After following the navigation for about 10 to [-] minutes, Milo still failed to reach the scheduled hotel.

It was close to two o'clock, the bus had already stopped running, and taxis couldn't get there.Holding the phone that was running out of battery, Milo stood in the middle of the road and was a little anxious for a moment.

Because I feel that this task is simple and there will be no mistakes.As a result, he did not expect that the rain would become heavier and heavier, which not only completely disrupted his plan, but also made him completely lost his way in this rainy night.

At this moment, a passerby rarely passed by, and Milo hurried forward to say hello.

"Hello, I want to ask for directions. Do you know any city hotels near here?"

"Sorry, I don't know."

"...It's troublesome."

The passer-by didn't intend to show the way seriously, but waved his hand and left with some resistance. Milo couldn't force him to stay, so he could only watch his back disappear into the corner of the street.

Too.On such a late-night road under heavy rain, there is probably no one who is willing to help him.

At this moment, the phone suddenly vibrated, and with the familiar shutdown ringtone, the screen went black.

"Come on... are you kidding me?"

After confirming again and again that the phone was indeed out of battery, Milo suddenly had the urge to sleep on the street.

At present, it seems that the hotel cannot be found, but we must find a way to survive these six hours.

While making plans in his mind, Milo suddenly found a coffee shop with lights on on the corner of the street.

The name of the coffee shop is Memory, and the warm yellow light sign has a unique hazy beauty in the rain. Because there is a wide road across, Milo can't see whether there are people inside. He can only judge from the light that it is probably still open.

So I put away my phone and decided to try my luck there.

[3]

It wasn't until he reached the door that Milo noticed that there was a 12h opening sign in front of the coffee shop.

The words written in colored pencils had faded from the rain, but Milo still felt a burst of warmth from the bottom of his heart.

The so-called "sending charcoal in the rain" probably refers to this kind of thing.

Pushing the door and entering, a burst of aroma of coffee comes out, with a steaming feeling.

Milo walked into the store, looked around, and found that there were no customers at the moment. He was about to pick a seat to sit down, but a gentle and somewhat apologetic male voice came from not far away.

"Sorry sir... the shop is closed."

Milo followed the voice and looked behind him.

Behind the bar, there is a young man there, it seems that he is the owner of the shop.

After finally finding a place to rest, Milo really didn't want to give up just like that, so he went up to argue with him: "But I see that the sign at the door says open at 12h?"

"Yes, but it's already one o'clock in the morning..."

"But I'm a customer, too."

The young man looked at him with some embarrassment: "But..."

With the help of the light, Milo vaguely saw guilt on his face, which undoubtedly gave him the courage to persevere.

"It's pouring rain outside now, I just want to have a cup of coffee here and leave, it won't take you long."

Perhaps it was because Milo's attitude of arguing with reason seemed too serious, but in fact, the young man was really easy to talk to.

"That's right, it's raining so hard outside..." As he spoke, the young man glanced outside, with a hint of worry in his eyes.

"Right." Milo couldn't help but frowned.

The young man behind the bar had no choice but to smile helplessly, and took another wine glass from the organized cup holder.

"So, what would you like to drink?"

Seeing that he was finally persuaded by himself, Milo breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, a regular Americano will do."

"OK, just a second."

After ordering, the shopkeeper got busy at the bar.

Milo picked a seat by the window and sat down, put the briefcase on the table, and began to look at the layout of the cafe.

The floor and tables are made of wood, which looks natural and comfortable.

The background of the wall is brown paint, the hanging paintings on it are simple and old, and with the decoration inlaid with gold edges, there is nowhere that does not exude a strong sense of retro.

While lamenting that the taste of this store is too mature, on the other hand Milo secretly thinks that the business in the store may not be very good.

As far as the present is concerned, the style that young people like today is quite different from everything here. The moment Milo stepped into this place, Milo thought that he had traveled to the last century.

The sound of glasses clinking came from the bar, and the young man was grinding coffee beans behind the bar.

In order to save time, many coffee shops now use ground coffee powder directly.I am afraid that there are not many shops that still insist on fresh grinding, and this one is one of them.

The young man looked to be only about 20 years old, with golden brown short neck-length hair, and the appearance of concentrating on making coffee made him look very stable, but the emerald green eyes eased this feeling.

It should be about the same age as me, but unexpectedly mature.

As if sensing Milo's gaze, the young man behind the bar also looked towards him. The two gazes met in the air, Milo was stunned for a moment, and then smiled politely at him.

"Are you the boss here?"

The young man behind the bar frowned slightly, stretched out his slender hand, pointed to the sign on his chest, and answered Milo's question wordlessly.

——It turns out that his name is Aiolia, and he is the bartender here.

From the outside, he looks more like a student who has just entered university, not a store manager who is proficient in grinding coffee.

Just as he was guessing about his background, the other party had already come to him with coffee.

"I've been waiting for a long time, Americano, please take it easy."

[4]

The steaming coffee cup was placed in front of his desk, and Aiolia thoughtfully reminded him to be careful of scalding, adding two cubes of sugar if he felt it was bitter.

Milo thanked him and handed him the money. After Aiolia accepted it, he turned around and went to the bar to get some change.

Just as he turned to leave, the rain outside the window suddenly became heavier.

The crackling rain hit the glass window, causing Milo to cast his eyes out of the window. The hazy yellow street lamps were shrouded in the air by the rain, which made people feel cold for no reason.

Secretly glad that he found a place to stay, looking at the street scene outside the window, Milo picked up the coffee and put it to his lips.

"Oh! It's so hot...!"

In the end, he completely forgot that the coffee had just been served, and the tip of his tongue was instantly numb. Milo hurriedly put the cup back, but the coffee still spilled on his pants.

"What's the matter...?!" A concerned voice came from the bar, and Milo replied that it was all right, frowning to deal with the stains on his trousers.

A few tissues appeared in time, Milo looked up, and Aiolia was standing beside him thoughtfully.

"Give."

"Thank you."

"I said it's very hot, you are too anxious."

"I didn't know it would be so hot..."

I thanked him, took the tissue, and barely dried my pants.

When I looked again, there was very little coffee left in the cup.

Just as Milo was feeling sorry, Aiolia had withdrawn the half cup and put him back with a top-up coffee.

"Drink this, give me half the glass."

"How can this work? I'll pay for two drinks."

"No. Anyway, there are no other guests at the moment, so just treat it as my invitation."

Aiolia smiled without hesitation.

Seeing that the other party was about to leave with a cup in hand, Miro wanted to thank him, but suddenly changed his words.

"Let's sit down and have a drink."

Aiolia stopped and turned, looking at him almost in surprise.

"Sit down? Are you talking about me?"

"Well, there are no other guests now, don't you want to?"

"It's not... just..."

"If you don't want to be next to me, you can face me."

The unexpected enthusiasm made it impossible to refuse, Aiolia hesitated, and pointed to the opposite position.

"Then... am I sitting here?"

"Please sit down."

Unable to reject Milo's kindness, Aiolia sat down holding a coffee cup.

The two faced each other a bit cautiously, and Milo, who felt that the situation was a little awkward, spoke first, "My name is Milo, and I'm a researcher."

"My name is Aiolia, and I'm a bartender."

As a result, unexpectedly, both parties began to report their families to each other with one voice.

After the words fell, both of them laughed.

Milo looked at him helplessly and amusedly: "Hey... don't be so nervous, it's like a gang connection."

Aiolia nodded, but couldn't help laughing: "I know... I saw that you seemed nervous, so I couldn't help..."

Thanks to the laughter, the atmosphere in the coffee shop has eased a lot.

Milo: "I just wanted to take shelter from the rain, and I just found this place."

Aiolia glanced outside.

The rain was pouring outside and showed no signs of abating.

"I'm afraid this rain won't stop for a while, are you on your way?"

"I have a meeting tomorrow morning."

"That's okay, it should stop in the morning."

Milo: "All in all, thank you tonight."

Aiolia, who was suddenly thanked, was a little puzzled, and he looked over with a puzzled expression.

Miro coughed, and said, "Originally, this place was already closing, but now you're staying for me as a guest. I'm afraid this cup of coffee won't cover six hours' utility bills."

"so?"

"Because of me, I'm afraid you have lost a lot of money tonight, sorry."

Milo said half-jokingly and half-seriously, and Aiolia, who was sitting opposite, couldn't help laughing.

"No one has ever told me this..."

"Really? I'll tell you more of this if you'll let me sit here till morning."

"Don't be silly, I didn't intend to kick you out, so there's no need to worry about it."

[5]

After the two chatted for a while, Milo touched the coffee cup to make sure that the temperature had dropped. Then he held the handle of the porcelain cup and brought it to his mouth cautiously.

The person opposite looked at him with slightly expectant eyes.

The unique rich aroma of bitter coffee overflowed the mouth along the lips and teeth, and then flowed warmly into the stomach, dispelling the chill in the body immediately.

Milo put down the porcelain cup, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly involuntarily.

"tastes good."

Aiolia, who was sitting opposite, showed a relieved expression, and her brows and eyes also eased.

After drinking about three cups of coffee, the sky outside gradually brightened, and the morning sun came in through the glass window.

Aiolia had already returned to the back of the bar to settle the accounts. Milo looked at the time and decided to leave when he felt that it was almost time.

"Are you going?"

Aiolia looked up at him.

"Yes, thank you tonight."

"Where is it... Oh right."

As if suddenly remembering something, Aiolia squatted down, rummaged through the counter for a while, and took out a half-new map for him.

"The sky is clear, but it's too far away from the city center, and it's hard to find the way. Keep this map. There are bus and subway lines on it. It should be helpful."

Milo took a look at it. The map wasn't too big but it was exquisite. The routes on it were complete, and there were a lot of Aiolian annotations attached, which were indeed very practical.

"Thank you, the service is really thoughtful."

Seeing the smile on Milo's face, Aiolia couldn't help laughing too.

"You're welcome, go slowly."

"Well, let me borrow this first." He shook the map in his hand: "I'll return it to you when I come next week."

"It's okay to give it to you."

"No, I can see that it took a lot of effort to mark it, so at least give me another reason to patronize your coffee shop. That's it, let's go, bye."

"Goodbye."

After saying hello, Milo opened the door and left. He found the subway station smoothly by looking at the map, and took a bus to the city hotel.

The meeting went smoothly as he expected. After negotiating the price, it was past noon, and the other party invited him to stay for lunch.

Lunch was held at a high-end restaurant next to the hotel. Halfway through the meal, the person in charge asked him tactfully, what time would be a good time to come to Levis Hill to collect samples every week in the future?

Before coming here, Milo had already thought that if he followed a normal person's schedule and came here by car in the morning, he would not be able to conduct a field trip until the afternoon at the earliest. If he moved fast enough, he could take the return vehicle back that night, and it would only take one day to go back and forth. , which greatly saves manpower and material resources, is the best choice.

But this time must be very tight, and he can't go to the coffee shop anymore.

After thinking about it, Milo answered.

"Just set it on Monday morning. I will find a hotel to stay in in advance the day before."

"Ok."

[6]

First weekend after going to Levis Hills.

As usual, Milo booked the high-speed train for the night before, and planned to return the map this time.As a result, I accidentally booked a ticket for the afternoon because I misread the time.

This directly caused him to arrive at the destination at least five hours earlier. At seven o'clock in the evening, Memory was at its peak business hours.

"Welcome light... it's you."

Seeing the face of the visitor, Aiolia's face softened.

This change made Milo feel inexplicably happy.

"it's me."

This time, he came here just to return a map, but after seeing the busy people at the bar, Milo unexpectedly couldn't move.

It might not be a bad idea to stop here for a coffee before catching the last bus to the hotel.

"What do you want today?"

"Just like last time."

"Okay, find a place to sit down first, and I'll cook for you right away."

"Ah."

Because there are so many customers in the store today, Aiolia can't talk to him, and just making coffee is already too much for him.

Apart from him, the shop only employed one clerk, and two people had to deal with about twenty customers, which was a bit difficult.

Milo thoughtfully did not step forward to disturb him, picked a booth in the corner, turned on the computer, and began to sort out the reports and documents needed for the meeting tomorrow morning.

After about two hours, I finally finished processing all the data and turned off the computer after confirming that my report was perfect.

It was already eleven o'clock in the morning, and the customers left one after another, and the clerk who had been busy all the time finally finished his work, tidied up and went home.

Aiolia was standing behind the bar reading a book when Milo walked over and put the empty coffee cup in front of him.

"Oh... are you leaving already?"

After bewilderingly realizing that Milo was in front of her, Aiolia raised her head from the ledger, with a pair of black-rimmed glasses on her nose, she looked more like a student.

"I'm the high-speed train tomorrow morning, I can stay with you for a while."

"Sorry...I'm really too busy today, and I don't have time to entertain you properly."

"Where, I'm not a special customer."

Milo looked at Aiolia's glasses curiously: "Why are you wearing these? Are you nearsighted?"

"That's it."

As she said that, Aiolia took off her glasses from the bridge of her nose, looking a little tired: "Every time I close the store and go back, I often read books very late. Over time, it has become like this."

"Pay attention to your body."

"I will, just—"

At this moment, a sweet female voice suddenly came from the side.

"Sorry to bother you. Excuse me...can I ask this gentleman to make the cocktail I ordered for me?"