漫咖啡

Keywords: Man Coffee

Last weekend, I went to “Jiangfu Park” and saw a closed “Man Coffee” there. The notice displayed that it had been closed for a year. With its red brick exterior walls, eye-catching brand logo, and faded “MAAN COFFEE” sign, the place where outdoor tables and chairs used to be was now empty. The gray vintage lampshades on the fence looked like tree bark, emitting a sense of loneliness.

When I was in graduate school, I used to enjoy going to the “Man Coffee” near the north gate of the university. I would order a snack or occasionally buy a cup of coffee but not drink it. I would spend the whole day there, enjoying the atmosphere and background conversations of the customers. It was where I embarked on my coding journey, marking the beginning of my career as a programmer.

Occasionally, I would be accompanied by Rongyan and Yanzi. Rongyan went from being my senior to my roommate to my junior, which was quite an accomplishment. I cherish the friendship with Rongyan, but due to my introverted nature, we haven’t contacted each other for a long time since he graduated.

I am a very independent person, not only in terms of enjoying doing things that can be done alone, but also in terms of maintaining connections with others. On March 11th (I checked my message records), I had to work overtime that day and coincidentally arranged to have dinner with my junior high school desk mate (we also have a connection through our fathers who are colleagues). During the meal, we talked about our junior high school classmates. He was surprised to find that I didn’t have any contact information for any of them… I just laughed it off, but I clearly knew that it was due to my personal nature.

Yanzi is the girlfriend of my college classmate. We became quite familiar with each other because we often studied together at Teaching Building 206 (a place I adore). I also witnessed their on-and-off relationship. After graduating from undergraduate school, since Yanzi was one year below us, she became a classmate of Rongyan. Yanzi has a strong and assertive personality, but she is also very easy-going, so she often hangs out with Rongyan and me.

One important reason why I liked spending time at this Man Coffee was that the laboratory was too oppressive. This is why I later became extremely averse to this kind of authoritarian environment.

Later on, after they both graduated, I still frequently visited this coffee shop and went to the nearby movie theater to watch movies for 15 yuan per ticket. But then, there was nothing more…

There are often moments when I can’t help but feel grateful for being alive, because of the scent of fresh grass in the wind, the mature aroma of the autumn sun mixed with the autumn breeze, and the refreshing feeling of the cold winter snow on my nose. I know these are just superficial feelings, but I still enjoy the shallow happiness they bring me! This is a moment from Erhua.