Chapter 139 Irreplaceable
Looking at the sign in front of him, Chen Mo didn't quite understand why Huang Yimei chose this place.

This is the famous bar street in Shichahai. There is nothing wrong with coming here to drink and sing, but if you bring your children here to eat, isn’t the environment a bit noisy?

But Chen Mo didn't think much about it. Since they invited him to dinner, he would naturally follow their arrangements. The child had his mother by his side, so he didn't need to worry about anything.

After confirming that the address was correct, Chen Mo went upstairs immediately.

The sign of this restaurant and bar is on the first floor, but the store is on the second floor.

After entering the store, Chen Mo looked around. The store was not big, with only seven or eight tables and a stage for resident singing.

It is called a restaurant and bar, but apart from the lack of a drink bar, the overall atmosphere is more like a lounge bar. The dim warm lighting and lively music make people relax naturally.

On the resident stage which was slightly brighter than the dining area, Chen Mo saw a familiar little figure, it was little Fang Taichu.

At this moment, she was playing the piano on the stage.

Although the piece I played was not very difficult, it was already remarkable that I could perform without stage fright in such an occasion.

Chen Mo took a closer look and found that Fang Taichu was not only not stage-frightened, but was actually very relaxed.

As her fingertips played lightly on the black and white keys, her body swayed gently, and she looked very comfortable.

Then, under the guidance of the waiter, Chen Mo also saw Huang Yimei waving at him.

Chen Mo thanked him and walked towards Huang Yimei's table.

"Sorry for the long wait." Chen Mo said as he sat down.

"It's okay. It's a good opportunity for Xiaochu to practice the piano." Huang Yimei handed over the menu with a smile, "Let's see what we want to eat?"

Chen Mo waved his hand and said, "Just be careful, I don't have any dietary restrictions."

"Okay, then try some of my signature dishes." Huang Yimei immediately called the waiter over and gave a few simple instructions.

"Is this your shop?" Chen Mo recognized the words.

Huang Yimei nodded and said, "Yes, I took over this store."

Chen Mo laughed and looked at Fang Taichu who was playing the piano on the stage, "No wonder they said your daughter was practicing the piano, it turns out this is your family's territory."

This explains why Fang Taichu is in such good condition on stage. It seems that he has gotten used to it by practicing here.

"But your side business is quite wide-ranging. Art galleries and restaurants are two completely unrelated industries."

Huang Yimei introduced: "This used to be a bar that mainly played rock music, but it has become less popular in recent years. In addition, there are many bars in this area and competition from peers is fierce, so the owner couldn't continue to run the business."

"Then I took over and changed the business model to the current one that is more like a bar."

Chen Mo was puzzled when he heard this: "You know that it's hard to run a bar around here, why don't you just run something else? Or open a shop somewhere else."

The bar street formed nearby has created the best cultural business card. Although the competition is fierce, the customer flow attracted is also a mutual benefit.

Now it has become a music bar with a food-oriented approach. Although it has differentiation, the sales of alcoholic beverages are a bit poor, and the bar's main profit lies in the sales of alcoholic beverages.

Chen Mo took a look at the prices of the dishes, observed the turnover rate of the store, and compared them with the rent of the land. He made an estimate in his mind and felt that the profit situation did not seem very optimistic.

Huang Yimei said directly and frankly: "To be honest, I don't make much money running this store. I even have to put some money into it from time to time."

This made Chen Mo a little confused. "Then why did you open this store? Feelings? Or just a hobby?"

Chen Mo thought that Huang Yime had some kind of obsession with bar culture.

Chen Mo understood this, as he had many second-generation friends like this. Sometimes, on a whim, they would want to open an artisanal coffee shop, a pub, or something like that, not for the money, but just for fun.

Even Chen Mo himself once thought about opening a music store if he had the chance, collecting various musical instruments, and then he could run the store and play music at the same time.

But then he thought, he could just buy any musical instrument he wanted, so why did he have to open a store and sit there? So he didn't waste his money.

Generally speaking, those who pay for a certain sentiment like this have a prerequisite: having money and free time.

Huang Yimei shook her head at Chen Mo's guess and gave an unexpected answer: "I just want to keep it as a thought."

"Thinking of? Of whom?" Chen Mo asked subconsciously.

"A friend who has passed away." Huang Yimei said softly, "The piano you played in the art gallery was his."

Chen Mo was a little surprised when he heard this, then he thought of something and asked tentatively: "Is the painting in your studio also related to him?"

Huang Yimei raised her eyebrows slightly, "You did go in and look at the painting."

Chen Mo explained: "I heard the sound of wind in the earphones placed on the side of the piano, and then tried the door next to it and found it was not locked. I thought it was a hidden Easter egg, so I went in to take a look."

Huang Yimei smiled and indicated that it was okay. "That was indeed a little puzzle I set. The sound of the wind in the headphones was the last melody he left behind, the wind on the top of the mountain."

After hearing Huang Yimei's narration and thinking about the content of her painting, which depicted the last brilliant afterglow of the sunset on the top of the mountain, Chen Mo vaguely understood something. No wonder the painting looked inexplicably sad.

"You bought this shop because he performed here?"

"Well, that's where we got to know each other."

Huang Yimei's eyes were filled with reminiscence. That was the first time they met and they had a "Viagra" mistake. It was also then that she knew that Viagra was also a medicine for treating heart disease.

Looking back, the endings of some stories seemed to have been hinted at the very beginning, but we just didn't notice it.

Huang Yimei collected her thoughts and looked at her daughter on the stage. "Xiaochu also learned piano from him. When Xiaochu was only five years old, he took Xiaochu to perform on stage."

"Five years old? Didn't that mean it's been a long time?" Chen Mo was surprised. He thought it was just in the past two years.

"Yes, Xiaochu was still in kindergarten at that time, and now Xiaochu is in junior high school." Huang Yimei felt a little melancholy. A long time had passed without her noticing, and her memory seemed a little fuzzy.

Chen Mo didn't know how to persuade them. They had stayed in this place for so many years, wasn't it just to preserve the memories of the past?

Advise others to look forward? If you don't know the weight of other people's emotions, what effect will it have if you say some light words?

Huang Yimei quickly adjusted her mood without any words of comfort, "By the way, I haven't asked you yet, what song did you play this afternoon? I don't think I've heard it before?"

"Oh, that's the inspiration your painting gave me." Chen Mo introduced himself, "I'm a musician, so sometimes I create when I feel inspired."

After hearing Chen Mo's words, Huang Yimei was a little dazed for a moment, feeling that the person in front of her was somewhat similar to a figure in her memory.

I entered the studio because I figured out the puzzle she left behind, and I created the melody because I understood her paintings. Everything that happened seemed familiar.

While the two were chatting, Fang Taichu had finished playing the piano and came down. She first greeted Chen Mo politely, then sat next to Huang Yime, but found that her mother seemed a little distracted.

"Mom, what are you thinking about?"

Hearing Fang Taichu's voice, Huang Yimei came back to her senses and touched her daughter's head, "Have you finished playing the song?"

"I finished playing, and my brother praised me for playing very well." Fang Taichu said happily.

"You should call him uncle." Huang Yimei corrected.

In the afternoon, the two did not know each other, so it didn't matter how the child was addressed, as long as he was polite; now that the two are familiar with each other, they will have to interact with each other in the future, so naturally he has to pay attention to how he addresses the child, as there is a difference in generation.

Otherwise, if you call me mom and him brother, how can we talk?
Chen Mo smiled and said, "It's okay, call me whatever you like, it's our own business, after all, I'm still very young."

"Yeah." Fang Taichu nodded with a smile.

Huang Yimei was helpless and pretended to be sad, "So I'm the only one who's getting old?" Chen Mo and Fang Taichu looked at each other and smiled silently.

"You heartless little thing. I praised you for not playing the wrong tune once, and yet you turned your elbow outward." Huang Yimei tapped her daughter's forehead unhappily.

Fang Taichu wrinkled his nose and emphasized: "I didn't play the wrong tune before. I have said it several times. That is the transposed version. It is a transposed tune, not a wrong tune."

"Okay, okay, change the key." Huang Yimei said with a smile, "But you should first become proficient in playing the original song, and then play your change of key."

"Oh, music should be performed as one likes. What's the point of just following the script?" Fang Taichu said in a childish voice. "Maybe one day in the future, everyone will have to learn to change the tune like me."

Hearing these "big words", Huang Yimei shook her head in amusement. She did not directly deny anything, nor did she undermine the child's confidence. She also gave some advice such as keeping one's feet on the ground.

Although the family knows their own business, given her daughter's artistic talent, she can't expect to make a living from music in the future, but it would be nice to let her play the piano happily as a hobby.

"Did you wash your hands after playing the piano?" Huang Yimei asked.

Fang Taichu stuck out his tongue and said, "Forget it, I'll go now."

"You two get along really well together." Chen Mo couldn't help but sigh.

It can be seen that the child’s cheerful and sunny personality is absolutely inseparable from the harmonious family communication.

Huang Yimei smiled and said: "Mutual respect is the prerequisite for friendly coexistence, and the same applies to parents and children."

"In fact, when we parents teach our children, we often unconsciously speak with the tone of 'I am doing this for your own good, you have to listen to me', and often we don't say it explicitly, but this meaning is already implied in our words."

"Although we all know the truth, it is not easy to be patient and listen to the immature ideas of children."

Chen Mo nodded. "It seems that I will have to learn from you about educating children in the future."

Huang Yimei heard this and jokingly asked, "By the way, how did you report to your girlfriend about your meal?"

Huang Yimei found it funny when she thought back to when she asked him to treat her to a meal.

When Huang Yimei invited Chen Mo to dinner this afternoon, he actually replied that he had to inform his girlfriend first.

This made Huang Yimei stunned and she didn't know what to say for a moment.

It’s not that there’s a problem with telling your girlfriend, but most men will maintain their face when they are out, especially in front of beautiful women of the opposite sex, and they won’t say they will go home and ask their wives if they agree or not.

This made Huang Yimei wonder, was it because she was too "threatening" and was anxious to distance herself from him, or was it because she was too unattractive and didn't care about her opinion?

"Isn't it that the fact that I'm sitting here explains the situation? Otherwise, I wouldn't have come." Chen Mo still didn't care about the "face" issue at all.

Huang Yimei couldn't help but ask, "I'm curious, do you have to report before you eat with other people?"

Chen Mo shook his head, "That's not necessary, you are special."

Huang Yimei was relieved when she heard that and nodded with satisfaction, "That's good, it seems I am still very beautiful."

Chen Mo did not deny it, "Obviously, it is true."

Huang Yimei joked, "Oh, you're praising me like this, aren't you afraid that your girlfriend will get angry if she finds out?"

Chen Mo couldn't help but wonder, "In terms of appearance, isn't praising you the same as praising her?"

"That's right." Huang Yimei did not refute and readily accepted this statement.

Fang Taichu came back after washing his hands, and the dishes were served one after another.

After the meal, both sides said goodbye at the door.

"Do I need to send you off?"

“I drove here myself.”

"Okay, let's go."

"Ah."

Neither of them pretended to be polite. Chen Mo waved his hand casually and turned to leave.

Watching Chen Mo's back as he left, Fang Taichu tugged at Huang Yimei's sleeve, "Mom, why do you two suddenly feel a little different? Is that right?"

Huang Yimei raised her hand and knocked on the chestnut, "What on earth are you thinking about all day long?"

"Oh, I'm just worried about your happiness." Fang Taichu covered his head.

Huang Yimei glanced at him and said, "Don't guess blindly. It's not what you think."

Fang Taichu blinked, "Isn't it? But why do I feel like you two suddenly seem very familiar after having a meal together?"

Huang Yimei patiently explained to her daughter: "We just saw the shadow of someone in each other."

Huang Yimei chose not to hide her divorce from her three-year-old daughter, and later Fu Jiaming would always explain the reasons to his daughter.

Although the young Fang Taichu might not have understood it at the time, Huang Yime never deceived her child about it.

Thanks to this, Fang Taichu had no resistance to his parents' new relationships, and could even be said to fully respect and support them.

So Chen Mo said that he would learn from Huang Yimei when educating his children in the future, and Chen Mo meant it seriously.

If a child from a divorced family can be brought up to be so optimistic and cheerful, it means that there must be something worth learning from the parents in the way they communicate with their children.

Hearing what his mother said, Fang Taichu immediately guessed: "Does he look like Uncle Fu Jiaming? That's pretty good."

Huang Yimei shook her head and said seriously: "It is precisely because she is the person we cherish in our hearts that we both know that she is irreplaceable."

"If a relationship can be replaced by someone else at will, it means that the relationship is cheap."

Fang Taichu seemed to understand, "Isn't this what my uncle said? The timing of the show is very important. If you are too early or too late, you will miss it."

"Just like my aunt's dumbbell, it hit my uncle's foot just right."

"Maybe." Huang Yimei smiled and rubbed her daughter's head.

"Would things have been different if you had met earlier?" Fang Taichu asked.

Huang Yimei thought for a moment and said, "Xiaochu, from other people's perspective, we can make assumptions and perhaps there will be different results, but we can't think that way ourselves."

Fang Taichu didn't understand, "Why? Can't I even think about it?"

Huang Yimei shook her head slightly, "Because once you think about some thoughts, the feelings will change."

Fang Taichu frowned and said, "I don't quite understand."

Huang Yimei smiled and said, "You will understand when you grow up."

"Oh." Fang Taichu nodded, and then asked curiously, "Then why are you and Uncle Chen Mo so compatible after only knowing each other for one day? I clearly didn't even hear you two talking about this topic."

Although Fang Taichu just said that they should talk about their own affairs and continue to call him brother, she had actually heard Huang Yimei's words and subconsciously changed her way of addressing him.

Huang Yimei thought for a moment and said:

"Maybe. This is what it means to be close friends at first sight."

(End of this chapter)