Chapter 1 — Bakery After the Rain

It's still not enough to provide 10,000 a month? After breaking up and cutting off money, the master's boyfriend was in a panic. Even though he only gave 10,000 a month, it wasn't even worth it? After breaking up and cutting off money, my boyfriend with a master's degree panicked. I supported my boyfriend's master's degree for four years, with 10,000 living expenses per month, without interruption. Before graduation, he suddenly proposed to break up. The reason is that I am not worthy of his increasing circle of relationships and education. I didn't cry or make a scene. The first thing after returning home was to cancel the monthly money transfer. Three days later, he called so hard that my phone wanted to explode. "Why hasn't the money been in my account? What do you mean?" I lazily leaned on the sofa: "We broke up, why should I still support you? Go find your current girlfriend from a well-off family." The other end of the line was as silent as death, then a woman's shrill scream rang out...01When Giang Nghien pushed the untouched latte in front of me, the coffee had already cooled. Outside the window, a light rain fell, and the scent of the hazelnut rolls that had just been baked in the shop drifted from the back kitchen, mixed with the damp smell of rainwater, like a candy that had been soaked soft. I sat across from him, my apron had not yet been removed, my sleeve had a bit of cream on it. He looked at me several times, each time as if he had made up his mind, then was held back by some kind of dignity. Finally, he said: “Wen Tang, let's break up.” The small spoon in my hand gently touched the rim of the cup, making a very small sound. The girls at the next table were taking pictures of strawberry tarts, and the phone shutter rang several times in succession. I raised my eyes to look at him. "The reason?" Giang Nghien lowered his eyes, his fingertips lightly rubbing the rim of the cup. I'm very familiar with his hands. Four years ago, he held his admission notice and stood in front of my store, his eyes red, saying he didn't want to give up his graduate studies, but his family really couldn't get the money. At that moment, these hands grabbed the hem of my shirt, as if grabbing the last lifeline. I asked him how much he needed each month. He said: "You save a little, three thousand is enough." Then the rent increased, the topics became busy, the meetings with classmates increased, the cost of materials, travel costs, clothes to look good, each thing added up. Every month I transfer him ten thousand. Never interrupted. He once said that when he graduates, he will marry me. He once said, Wen Duong, you are the only person standing by my side during my most difficult times. Now he sat across from me, wearing the cashmere coat I bought him last year, his expression calm as if announcing something that had been decided a long time ago. "We are no longer compatible." He said very softly. I laughed. "Where's the problem?" He frowned, as if he didn't like me asking. "You're very good, but you're always in this small shop." "I'm about to graduate, and in the future I'll be exposed to a bigger platform and meet more elite people." "Our pace of life, our awareness, our circle of relationships will all become farther and farther apart." With each sentence he said, my heart felt like it was being tightened by a thin thread, not so painful that it was earth-shattering. but dense and dense. I looked at him, suddenly remembering the oven at four in the morning. Remembering the scene where I cut butter into small pieces, my fingers were so cold that they were numb, and I had to figure out whether I could buy him a new computer this month or not. Remembering the text message he sent, saying that his groupmates were all going to a very expensive lecture, and if he didn't go, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to keep up. That day I sold all the cream puffs and transferred to him the money I was originally planning to use to replace the display case. I said, you go. He replied with a hug emoji. Now that I think about it, emojis

Emotions are more loyal than people. I asked: "Giang Nghien, did you come today just to say these words?" He finally raised his head, with a bit of impatience in his eyes. "On Duong, don't speak so harshly." "We're both adults, let's melt together gently." "I don't want to wait until we're both completely consumed before making such a loud noise that it's unsightly." I nodded. "Okay." He didn't expect me to respond so quickly and was stunned for a moment. "You... don't have anything else to say?" I looked towards the cashier. The new girl was nervously looking this way, holding a delivery order in her hand, wanting to come forward but not daring to. I waved my hand at her, signaling her to go ahead and work first. Then I stood up, tied the apron string. "No." "Go leisurely." Giang Nghien sat still and did not move. His eyes looked at me a little more complicated, as if he felt that I should cry, should question, should lay out everything I had spent these past few years in front of him to calculate. But I don't. I just carried the cold latte to the sink and poured it away. The brown liquid rotated and disappeared into the manhole. He said behind me: “Wen Duong, I hope you can understand me.” I turned on the faucet and rinsed the cup. The sound of water covered my breathing. I said: "Understood." "I want to go up." "I won't stop you." When Giang Nghien left, the wind chimes at the door rang. I didn't turn back.02At ten o'clock at night, the bakery closed. Employee Tieu Vien put the last plate of blueberry mousse in the refrigerator and asked me in a low voice: "Miss Duong, is that person... okay today?" I wiped the sugar powder on the work table. "It's okay." She hesitated for a moment. "His face doesn't look very good." I smiled. "Maybe the coffee doesn't suit your taste." Tieu Vien didn't ask anymore, just tied the trash bag tightly, and before leaving, turned her head to look at me. "Miss Duong, if you want to cry, you can cry for a while, I won't laugh at you." My movements stopped for half a second. "Go home quickly, it's raining." loud." She let out a loud sound, opened her umbrella and ran into the rain. It was quiet in the shop. The buzzing sound of the refrigerator is very low, the residual warmth of the oven gives off a sweet smell. I locked the door and sat down next to the window. This position was Jiang Nghien's favorite in the past. The first year he was in graduate school, he often carried a backpack to the store to study for lessons. I was busy in the back kitchen, he was outside writing his thesis. If a customer complimented him on being handsome, he would shyly smile, wait for the customer to leave, then run in and hug me from behind. "Boss, from now on I will definitely let you live a happy life." At that time, I was holding a piping bag in my hand, smiling and saying: "First, feed yourself first." He bowed his head and kissed my ear. "You raised me a few years ago, from now on I'll raise you for the rest of my life." Those words were like fresh cream, they looked spongy and sweet, but after a long time I realized, underneath was hiding a sour cake. I opened my phone. The bank's automatic transfer page is very familiar. On the fifteenth day of every month, 10,000 people receive Jiang Nghien. Note the word "living expenses" at first, later turned into two simple words, A Nghien. I looked at those two words for a long time. Finger press cancel. The system displays a confirmation frame. I don't hesitate. Cancellation successful. Right after that, I opened my expense notebook. Four years. Forty-eight months. The fixed transfer amount is four hundred and eighty thousand. Non-fixed expenses such as computers, thesis publishing fees, training, rent deposits, clothing, travel, dental treatment, gifts for classmates. Combined, it exceeds seven hundred thousand. These numbers are not knives, but they are colder than knives. Each item, each item, clearly told me that I was not suddenly awake. I've just been patient for too long. The phone lights up one

female. Giang Nghien sent a text message. "I spoke a bit suddenly today, don't be too sad." I looked at the screen and didn't reply. Another news. “We can still be friends.” I put the phone face down on the table. Friend. How good it sounds. Using my money to support myself through the most difficult four years, then using the two words "friends" to lightly cover up the past. I got up and went to the kitchen later. Tomorrow there will be an eight-inch order of black forest cake, which must be filled with cherry wine first. I wash my hands, weigh the sugar, whip the cream. When the camera turned on, the noise in my heart finally subsided a little. At one o'clock in the morning, I finished making the last cake. Outside the door the rain has stopped. I stood in front of the glass door, looking at the wet road surface under the streetlights, suddenly feeling that this street was not that long. In the past, I always felt that when Jiang Nghien graduated, I could stop and rest for a while. We will expand this shop to two floors, will have a small roof, and will make up for the trips we owe ourselves little by little. Now those plans are all in ruins. But it's good to be broken. Broken sugar pieces can be used as decoration. Once the dream is broken, you can still wake up.03On the morning of the third day, as soon as I put the first batch of croissants in the oven, my phone started to vibrate. The caller was Giang Nghien. I clicked off. Ten seconds later, it rang again. Click off again. On the fifth call, Tieu Vien poked her head in. "Miss Duong, is it urgent?" I watched the dough in the oven slowly bulge. "No." The phone vibrated so much that the entire work table rang. I picked it up, answered the phone, turned it on speaker and put it aside. Giang Nghien's voice immediately rushed out. "On Duong, what do you mean?" I picked up the spray bottle and sprayed some water on the surface of the European-style bread. "What do you mean?" "Where's the money?" His voice was urgent to the point of inflection. "Today is the sixteenth, why hasn't yesterday's money been in the account?" The clip in Tieu Vien's hand fell to the ground. She looked at me with wide eyes. I signaled her to continue working. "I canceled." The other end of the line was silent for a moment. Jiang Nghien suppressed his anger. "Before canceling, why didn't you tell me?" I found it funny. "We've already broken up." "What does breaking up have to do with this?" He blurted out, then as if realizing something was wrong, softened his voice. "Wen Duong, right now I'm at the most important time before defending my thesis, rent, food, document fees all need money." "You suddenly cut it, what should I do?" I pushed the baking tray into the first floor. two. "You can think of a way." Giang Nghien's breathing became heavier. "I know you clearly don't have time to work part-time now." "The past was the past, now is now." I closed the oven door. "When you proposed to break up, didn't you say you were about to have a bigger foundation, a better circle of relationships?" "Why can't even a month's living expenses solve the problem?" He was silent for a few seconds. "Do you have to be so harsh?" I wiped my hands, leaning on the operating table. "Giang Nghien, I'm just bringing the relationship back to a normal state." "When we were still lovers, I was willing to help you." "After breaking up, I have no obligation to continue supporting you." A woman's voice suddenly rang out on the other end of the line. Very bright, very urgent. "Giang Nghien, what does she mean? Have you been taking money from her all these years?" The atmosphere in the back kitchen seemed to freeze. Tieu Vien's mouth opened in a circle. There was a rustling sound from Giang Nghien's side, as if someone had snatched the phone and then snatched it back. His voice was clearly panicked. "Don't talk nonsense! On Duong, you transfer the money first, we'll talk later." I laughed. Turns out there wasn't just one person listening.