I'm going to talk about a story that has just ended.

This is my story. Although it is over, the emotions in my heart are not completely dead, and if I am destined to die alone, what I write will be the only solace for the rest of my life.

There will be a male protagonist in every story, and the male protagonist in my story is a prominent character. If you're familiar with the Zhinian Foundation, you can probably guess who he is. Even if you're not familiar with it, I'm sure you've heard of it. This consortium, which is closely related to a certain aristocratic family with a long history in Kyoto, has a certain influence in various industries in the country.

And the person I'm talking about is the owner of this consortium.

Can you imagine what kind of person this is. Handsome, golden, modest and decent, with the elegance and regularity of the aristocratic court, especially the way he looks at you, always focused and gentle, in short, there are few girls who can refuse.

I was one of them.

I was adopted in an orphanage in Niel City, the best aristocratic school in the city, Niel College has a charitable project for orphanages in the city over the years, which is to sponsor qualified orphans to study in this school, and those who have excellent academic performance can be guaranteed to study at the Kyoto Friendship School Division. Niel College's sister school is Hokuen Gakuin, a well-known private institution of higher learning in Kyoto, and in order to enter this college, I studied hard with mediocre qualifications, and finally obtained the guarantee qualification with good grades.

I can still recall the first time I arrived in Kyoto two years ago, in the spring of April, when the grass grew and the warblers flew and the air was filled with the fragrance of cherry blossoms.

I chose the famous and especially money-burning profession here, fashion design. The generous school waived my tuition and fees and gave me a small subsidy for living expenses, but it was obviously not enough. However, I heard that the university has a policy of recommending part-time jobs for international students, so I received an application form at the Student Center after registering.

Unlike other universities here, North Park College offers a boarding department for students, and I was very happy to learn that I had been given a place because the cost of accommodation was included in my tuition and fees, and it was waived by the college.

The apartment is a two-person apartment, two bedrooms and one living room, the bathroom is independent, and there is also a balcony, and the basic facilities are all available. When I arrived, my roommate hadn't arrived yet, so I sorted my things and put them away, and I sat down on the tatami table in the living room and carefully filled out the application form, and my roommate Tomomi Nagasawa and I met at this time.

I knew her name from the door number of the apartment, and Xiao wondered if it was the eldest lady of the consortium, who was arrogant and had no one in her eyes, and a maid with her, who pointed all kinds of fingers at me. Please forgive me for my unscrupulousness, it's all played like this in TV dramas.

The reality is that Tomomi Nagasawa poked her head out of the door, alone, without a maid. She was a beautiful girl, not tall but with shoulder-length curls dyed light blonde, a palm-sized face, a babydoll shirt and a miniskirt, showing most of her legs. The girls here love miniskirts, and they wear them in winter.

She smiled at me and said politely, "Excuse me." "Sit down on your knees beside me and look over to see what I'm writing, I don't like strangers peeking into my privacy like this, holding a book and covering the form. She was a little sneering, but still kept smiling, "You are Su Su?" ”

Her pronunciation sounded like "uncle" and made me almost laugh out loud. I couldn't help but laugh and politely replied to her, "Yes." Hello, Nagasawa-san. ”

"Just call me Tomomi." She spoke with her chest slightly in her mouth, "You speak Japanese so well. ”

I modestly shook my head: "Only at the level of everyday conversation." ”

She changed her sitting position: "Susu, do you have an English name?" ”

I even used the name I use now when I was studying, and I never thought about what English name to choose, and it's just a symbol. However, I wrote it on a blank piece of paper to her.

Sui Sue。 This is how my name is written in English.

She looked at it, frowned, and persuaded me: "Don't you think your name is very difficult to pronounce?" Don't you want to choose a simple name for your country? ”

I finally heard a little bit of attention, and dared to love her to persuade me to change my name. How long have I known her? She's really a self-righteous lady. I took back the paper, and my tone was polite but stiff: "Thank you, but, no." ”

Tomomi Nagasawa wanted to say something, so I packed up my things, went back to my bedroom, and brought the door by the way. I pulled the curtains open, filled out the form in the daylight, and double-checked it again, neatly tucked into my book. Then I opened the door, and the door to the bedroom opposite was not closed, and I saw Tomomi Nagasawa busy little man, with a few large boxes in the doorway, and she had so many things.

I walked over with a book in my arms and knocked on the door: "Well, do you need help?" ”

She looked back, a little flattered: "Is that okay?" ”

"Of course." I tried to make my voice sound as kind as possible, "But I'll have to wait until I hand in a form first." ”

"What form?"

"About the application for part-time introduction."

She nodded, "Then please come back sooner." ”

I said goodbye to her and went to the Student Center to hand over the application form to the person in charge. Here, I was received by a young Miss Kawashima, who carefully checked my application form and asked, "Susu-san, you wrote that you had a part-time experience as a café waiter in Niel City, right?" ”

"Yes." I nodded, in fact, I was a little weak-hearted, in order to maintain a record of full excellence, I even wanted to use my sleep time to study, and I didn't have time to do part-time work at all, but part-time experience on the application form was required.

She continued: "Is it convenient to reveal which café it is?" ”

This doesn't bother me, and I've already thought of a countermeasure: "Lavender Story." I've been working part-time at this café since my freshman year of high school. ”

"That's great." She smiled and looked me in the eye, "As far as I know, Lavender Story's chain store in Kyoto is in need of a waiter. Given your experience in this area, you'll be able to do the job. She quickly typed the letter of recommendation on the computer, printed it out and signed it, and handed it to me with the business card, "I will take the exam next weekend according to the address on the business card, and the probation period is a weekend." Work hard! ”

I took it, said a kind word full of honorifics, said goodbye to Miss Kawashima, and quickly returned to the apartment. On this day, I did my duty as a friendly roommate and helped Tomomi Nagasawa a lot, for which she offered me Italian chocolates to treat me, but I politely declined.

"Sorry, I don't like chocolate." When I say this, I am telling the truth.

Disappointed, she put the chocolate in the fridge.

Before the official class, it was the freshman welcome week, and Tomomi Nagasawa enjoyed it from party to party, and at first she invited me a few times, but she gave up after seeing my perfunctory attitude. I hate this kind of occasion, just to make a clean picture, spend all day in the apartment reading books or sketching, and eat a rice ball when hungry to satisfy my hunger.

On Saturday, I woke up early in the morning and cleaned up. Judging by all indications, my roommate Tomomi Nagasawa did not return for the night, but I have no right to ask. I took out the rice balls from the fridge and warmed them up and ate them for breakfast. Then take the train to Shijo Kawaramachi.

I found this café according to the address on the business card, the sign is very simple, black on white, and there is a logo with the word "An" in the lower left corner. Push the door and enter, and the café is filled with the scent of lavender.

Handing in a letter of recommendation from the college, no interview required, I became an intern at this café. It's easy to work and easy to do. The uniform was a white shirt and black suit pants, and with a purple bow tie, it was immediately much more vivid.

The café has professional baristas, and there are not many waiters, and there are only three of them during the day. I'm the only waitress here, and my two male colleagues, the tall maître d'art named Qin Chuan, are from China like me, and the thinner Takumi Yagyu is a local who is a year or two older than me, and they have been working here for more than a year, and the two engineering students have the same purpose of working part-time – to learn the language well.

Qin Chuan is a bad heart, and his Japanese pronunciation is not authentic, but Liu Sheng pronounced my name as "uncle", but he laughed at him for a long time. The customer composition of this chain café is complex, but fortunately, two people speak English smoothly, and when they can't grasp their own Chinese, international language can always come in handy, largely avoiding communication barriers.

I scooped a spoonful of curry and ate it: "How can you two be so unreliable here until now?" ”

Qin Chuan smiled a little weirdly: "That's because the boss is willing to stay." I bit the spoon in confusion, and he continued, "Didn't you notice that this place only accepts male waiters?" ”

"Isn't there still me?"

"That's different." Qin Chuan took a sip of Coke, "Let me tell you honestly, our boss has a hobby, he loves men." ”

Yanagi took over: "However, in order to take care of the guests, we can only hire a waitress." ”

"Haha, that's it."

I blinked, "Really?" ”

"What do you say?"

I didn't make a sound, they made fun of me, how could I not notice, I scooped a mouthful of food, and before I could put it in my mouth, the customer came. I was an intern and I had to behave well, so I put down my spoon and wiped my mouth quickly to catch up.

This is the scene where I met him for the first time. I liked him almost the first time I saw him.

Because I was impressed, even after a long time, I still remember very clearly, this Saturday afternoon, my first job in a foreign country was on probation, serving dishes for half a day, and I thought I was at ease before I had even done a reception, I was a proud intern.

Dressed in a sophisticated black handmade suit and carrying a black cane on his left hand, he walks gracefully like a medieval English nobleman, and when you look closely, he is a man with a difficult left leg, probably because he is young but carries a cane. He sat down in a secluded corner, leaned his cane lightly to the side, and picked up the menu.

He looked up as I walked up to him, and it was a face that was so beautiful that it was impeccably perfect, like an ancient deity, not to be blasphemed.*

I couldn't help but hold my breath, forgot to say for a while, and even held out a sentence in Chinese for a long time: "Hello, can you help you?" ”

He smiled and said in Japanese, "Intern? ”

I think he was probably dissatisfied with my service and wanted to complain about me, but that didn't work. I smiled at the standard service and said in Japanese, "Sir, I'm sorry that there are no interns at the store, but I've been working here for half a year, so I will be able to provide you with satisfactory service." ”

He looked at me with a gentle smile on his perfect face: "But you don't have a badge." ”

It seems that he also knows that none of the interns here have badges. But what does it have to do with him coming for coffee? But the beautiful man's smile is comfortable to look at, and people don't even have a reason to be unhappy.

I patiently explained to him: "Because ......" has not yet started to break blindly, Yanagi came over and motioned me to go away with his eyes, I was waiting for someone to come to the rescue, and quickly avoided it, and vaguely heard Yanagi say to him: "Mr. Fujisawa, is it still the same as usual?" ”

As soon as I walked to the bar, I was pulled aside by Qin Chuan, good guy, with a gloating face: "I just said that I can't invite a waitress, I can't talk smoothly when I see a beautiful man." ”

I retorted, "If you see a beautiful woman, you don't know what virtue it is." After speaking, he looked at the window.

"You don't have a crush on someone, do you? This Mr. Fujisawa looks good, but it's a pity that his legs are not good. What do you think? Qin Chuan turned my face over, and sighed at the age of twenty and eighty: "Poor Su Su, come and talk to my brother well." ”

My face was a little hot, and I forced myself to calm down and rolled my eyelids: "What nonsense. ”

"Come on, your expression says it all. No, I have to take a photograph, and maybe I can give evidence in court in the future. As I spoke, I went to take out my mobile phone, and I slapped him on the arm and changed the subject: "Brother, don't make trouble, people look at his clothes, you can show me which store it is?" ”

Qin Chuan didn't even look at it, and directly said a French word: "Givenchy." ”

"Brother, please speak Chinese."

He said with contempt: "You are still repairing clothing design in a private school, Givenchy has not heard of it?" Did you know Audrey Hepburn? Many of her movie costumes are from the old man's handiwork. ”

It's just a lie, how could I not know about it after so many years of mixing in private colleges?

I once secretly searched for this famous luxury jewelry brand in the computer room of the library and got three keywords: Genteel, Grace, Gaiety.

Classical. Elegance. Pleasure.

It reminds me of this man.

The afternoon we first met, he ordered Blue Mountain coffee, and I heard Liu Sheng say that he only drank this kind of coffee, with a sugar cube, and it always was. The way he served coffee reminded me of the aristocratic gentlemen in those oil paintings, noble and leisurely. He quietly looked out the window at the street scene while I peeked at him in the corner.

So far, he and I have not passed by name, and we have only spoken two words to passers-by. But I gave him a nickname in my heart, Mr. Givenchy. Mr. Givenchy.

In the second week, I received a notice from Qin Chuan that I had successfully passed the probationary period and became a full-time employee, with my name printed on the badge pinned to the fabric of my right breast, and on it was the English of my name: SUI SUI.

I was a little disappointed to learn that Mr. Givenchy hadn't been here for a week. In the early afternoon, a little later than the last time, I came out of the room to find him sitting by the window. I was pleasantly surprised, and quickly straightened my uniform against the reflective glass and went up to it.

This week, the temperature has climbed, and he wears a blue shirt over a gray vest and black casual pants, which is not Givenchy, like the handiwork of a personal designer, which suits him very well.

Hiding my excitement, I said in fluent Japanese, "Welcome." ”

He looked up, still with a gentle smile on his face, and said, "A glass of Blue Mountain, thank you." Then he pulled out a lightweight laptop from his handbag and got to work.

He seems to have forgotten about me. My mood plummeted, and I returned to the bar listlessly. Liu Sheng went to the back kitchen with the order, Qin Chuan came over and teased me: "Yo, Sister Susu, what's wrong with you?" ”

I didn't bother to pay attention to him, I was stunned, how can I get his attention, I can't spill coffee on his keyboard, but that doesn't seem bad?

There was a tap on the shoulder, and when he turned around and saw Yanagi holding a cup of coffee, he asked, "Do you go by yourself or will I do it for you?" ”

I took it: "This little thing won't bother Yanagi-kun." ”

I walked up to Mr. Givenchy with a tray and was using his notebook to browse through some drawings of finished women's summer dresses. At the top of the interface are displayed several Chinese characters: Zhinian Shuxi.

When I decided to become a fashion designer in high school, I fell in love with this local brand that originated in Kyoto.

Zhinian Shuxi, a teenager from an ancient aristocratic family, became famous at Milan Fashion Week with a set of modified kimonos, plain colors, without any unnecessary decorations and designs, which was incompatible with the extravagant style of the entire venue, but made the eyes of the attendees who were already aesthetically fatigued shine. Minimalist, unobtrusive, comfortable and natural, just like the spirit of the brand that he has implemented ever since.

When Zhinian Shuxi had her own brand, she was sixteen years old. Like most well-known founders, the brand is named after his own surname. His brand became famous rapidly, more and more people liked this low-key brand, all the gorgeous clothes in front of it seemed too noisy, it was gentle, demure, indifferent, pampered. This is the real aristocratic life gesture.

It's a pity that three years ago, at the most glorious moment of her career, Zhinian Shuxi set fire to her family's old house one night in midsummer due to mental depression, and died young, which is a big regret in the fashion industry.

I had been trying to attract Mr. Givenchy with a coffee spill on the keyboard, but now I think it's a blasphemy against my profession.

I was standing behind him, and from what I had observed last time, he was used to holding a cup in his left hand, but his notebook was placed a little off, and there was no coffee cup on the left side at all, only the right side was free. I saw that he looked attentive, and stood lightly around the chair opposite him, with a tray in his right hand and a coffee cup in his left.

God testifies that I wholeheartedly want to keep the coffee cup in his hand without disturbing him. But I didn't expect that the cane, which had been standing at the table, would become unsteady and fall into his thigh, while he was focusing on the monitor and not noticing. I didn't have time to think about which leg he had a leg problem, and when it was too late, my right hand slipped the tray under my armpit, and crossed most of the dining table, and I quickly grabbed the messy cane, and at the same time, the coffee cup in my left hand leaned forward, and the coffee drenched his notebook. The display flashed and went black.

I think I'm probably done.

This time alarmed Qin Chuan and Liu Sheng, and while apologizing to Mr. Givenchy, Liu Sheng handed him a silk handkerchief and asked him to sit at the adjacent table for a while. I noticed that his black slacks were stained with large coffee stains, and my face turned white, but I still remembered that his legs were inconvenient, so I hurriedly handed over my cane.

Qin Chuan, who usually likes to joke the most in private, reprimanded in a low voice with a straight face: "The first day of work is careless, what is it like?" Seeing that I didn't squeak, he said, "Why don't you apologize to Mr. Fujisawa quickly, and then take the tools and clean up this place!" ”

I bent down in the direction of Mr. Givenchy and saluted: "I'm very sorry. I'll clean it up right away. Regardless of his response, he dodged to the back kitchen to get cleaning tools.