木蘭在東市買駿馬，西市買鞍韉，南市買轡頭，北市買長鞭。─南北朝 木蘭詩
清月在東市買拖鞋，西市買紅茶，南市買沙茶羊肉飯，北市買烏龍茶
Too Hard
Babe, don't push yourself too hard.Me? I bought slippers in the East Market, black tea in the West, lamb fried rice with satay sauce in the South, and oolong tea in the North.
Hmph.
I've started humming again. That's right—I got scolded by my babe… again.
I'm sure you've had this kind of experience too, right?
Being nagged by someone close to you—whether it's your partner, your mom, dad, grandma, sister, or brother.
You know they only do it because they care,
But still—ugh, it's annoying.
Sometimes, you just look at them and think,
You're perfect, except… why do you have a mouth?!”
It might take me until I'm sixty to stop being annoyed
by my partner's constant nagging.
I guess that's what they mean by 'At sixty, the ear is obedient,' right?
If you've been following my posts, you probably already know—
I'm that kind of person.
The type who never admits I'm wrong (even if I know I messed up).
I'll just do it again next time to prove a point. Why?
Because—yup—I'm prideful like that.
I'm the type who reacts well to gentleness, not pressure. Don't talk to me in a tough or commanding tone.
If you try to boss me around, I shut down. Talk to me nicely, or don't talk to me at all.
Actually, this time, I wouldn't even call it a mistake.
It's more like… I messed things up.
And got an earful from my partner for it.
Which annoyed the heck out of me.
Here's what happened:
The other night after work, I called 163.
“Babe, have you had dinner yet?” I asked sweetly.
“Not yet.”
!!!
!!!!!
!!!!!!!!
It was already past 10 PM—my sweetheart still hadn't eaten?!
My heart broke a little.
Before work, I had specifically reminded 163 to eat on time.
Regular meals are the key to staying healthy!
Alone
I mean, I'm scared of being alone, okay?
My babe has to live to at least 85 with me.
If 163 doesn't eat well and stay healthy, what then?
Can we grow old side by side?
Or will 163 leave me behind someday?
If my babe dies first... will I be left to face the world alone?"
Who am I going to cuddle with then?!
I don't do well with strangers—I keep up a cold, distant act by default.
“Satay lamb fried noodles,” 163 finally said.
“Got it. Want a drink?”
“Hot black tea, little sugar.”
“Anything we need at home?”
“My slippers are broken. We're almost out of oolong tea and Yakult.”
So off I went.
Got the slippers from a local shop. Picked up black tea from a drink store. Bought two bottles of oolong from 7-Eleven. Stocked up on Yakult, snacks, and six bottles of water from Carrefour. Then grabbed satay lamb fried rice from a late-night place—because the noodle had sold out.
When I finally got home… disaster.
I'd bought too much stuff. The tea got crushed. The cup basically exploded—tea leaked everywhere and soaked through the rest of the bags.
I was so annoyed.
As I stood there debating whether to secretly toss the mangled tea away and destroy the evidence…
I guess my babe heard me come in.
!!!
The door opened. Ahhh— AHHHH— I hadn't even thrown the tea away yet!
Now I was definitely getting caught. Ugh.
My sweetheart must've been really worried about me, because…
163 scolded me for like 30 minutes straight.
You should've seen my dead-inside face.
Here's a highlight reel:
“You know better than to ride your scooter too far when it's low on gas—
so why are you hauling all this stuff home when you're the one
running on empty?”
“Don't take on things outside your limits. You need to save at least 20% of your energy for emergencies.
You can't just go all in. What if something unexpected happens?”
“When I tell you we're out of something, it doesn't mean you need to buy it all right away.
Just pick things up as you go—when it's convenient. Some of this stuff could've waited till tomorrow or the day after.”
“But I was in a hurry!” I protested.
“And what has ever gotten better just because you rushed it?” my babe replied.
“Why'd you buy so much at once?” 163 asked.
“I just wanted to get it all done in one go… then I wouldn't need to go to Carrefour tomorrow.” (Yes, my poor little face looked round with frustration.)
“Don't try to solve everything in one go. That usually doesn't end well.”
“I thought I could carry it all. I didn't think the tea would get crushed.”
“I thought I could—”
“Don't push yourself, babe. Don't wear yourself out. You're doing too much.”
“We need to learn not to be greedy. Just do a little at a time.
Next time, only buy what you can handle—so you don't end up exhausted and ruining stuff.”
163 went on and on. I was getting irritated.
So I reached out for a hug.
I kissed 163.
“No more scolding! I get it!” I hugged my partner tight.
“I've told you this so many times, and yet you keep doing it.”
“I won't anymore! Next time, I'll just come home if I'm tired.
I know it hurts your heart to see me like this.”
But then—plot twist.
The tables turned the very next day.
I caught my babe overdoing it and threw those words right back:
“Baaabe~ Didn't you just tell me last night:
‘You know not to ride your scooter too far on low gas— so why are you doing the same to yourself?’”
“Babe, don't push yourself too hard,” I said.
哼哼
無奈地旋律悄然響起
在這方不大的空間裡低吟，
像是情緒輕輕碰撞牆角後的回聲
也像是一隻被打擾了午睡的小獸
不悅地 哼──哼──哼
沒錯，因為我又被我家寶貝唸了
所以又再哼哼哼叫
相信你也有這種經驗吧！
被家人唸，不管是愛人、爸爸、媽媽、阿嬤、姊姊、哥哥唸
你知道他們是因為關心你，才唸你，但是
──就是很煩
我的情緒在這片關懷的洪流中悄悄翻湧
有時候就是覺得，你什麼都好
怎麼就長了一張嘴呢！
我可能要到60歲對這些關心地碎念，才會耳順，畢竟有一句不是叫做─六十而耳順
看我文章的朋友大概都知道
我是那種死不認錯 (就算知道自己錯了還是不願認錯)
下次繼續錯給你看
反正就是愛面子
的個性
簡而言之，我是─吃軟不吃硬
其實我這次也不算錯啦
應該就是把事情搞砸了
被我的另一伴唸了
很不爽
正文
事情就在前幾天晚上
我拖著疲憊的身軀，剛結束一整天的工作，
撥通了那熟悉的號碼——163的
「寶貝，吃晚餐沒？」話裡藏著溫柔與思念
「還沒。」
!!!
!!!!!
!!!!!!!!
──什麼？
──怎麼可能？
──都晚上十點多了，你居然還沒吃飯
我真是心疼壞了
明明我上班前，還特定叮囑163要按時吃飯
「要按時吃飯喔，三餐規律，身體才會健健康康。」
這是我對未來歲月的期盼，我想要和我的「牽手」，牽一輩子的手
(「牽手」請用台語唸，牽手指愛人)
我很害怕
怕有一天他走在我前面，留下我獨自面對沒有他的日子
我想要和你一起活到八十五歲以上，
如今你卻連好好吃飯都做不到，叫我怎能不焦急？
若你不健康，若你走得太早……
我怎麼辦？
我這張總在人前逞強、帶著高冷假面的人， 要對誰撒嬌？
又要向誰軟弱？
請一定要照顧好自己。
這不是命令，是懇求。
為了我，也為了我們未來的歲月。
電話的另一頭
電話的另一端，他的聲音像音符一樣在空氣中躍動，好好聽，
我好喜歡Σ>―(〃°ω°〃)♡→
「沙茶羊肉炒麵好了。」我家親愛的說道
「好的。你有要喝什麼嗎？」
「熱紅茶，微糖。」他簡單地說，語氣如同往常那般輕鬆
「家裡有沒有缺什麼？」我問道
「拖鞋壞了、烏龍茶和養樂多快沒了。」他回答道
我點了點頭，心中已經計劃好了。
於是，我跑了小北百貨買了拖鞋；去清新買了紅茶；去7-11買了兩罐烏龍茶；去家樂福買了養樂多、零食和6瓶礦泉水；還去那種深夜還有開的店買了沙茶羊肉炒飯(因為炒麵店員說賣光了)
我到家的時候，才發現
啊！完蛋！東西太多
紅茶的紙杯竟被擠壓得變形，溢出來，濺滿了袋子，甚至還灑得四處都是。
好討厭 (눈‸눈)
我正在想說要不要偷偷把紅茶丟掉，毀屍滅跡，掩蓋這一場小小的災難。
可能我家寶貝聽到我的腳步聲
!!!
!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!
門打開了
「啊！」
「啊啊！」
「啊啊啊啊！」
我還沒偷偷把紅茶丟掉的說
門就開了，要被發現了，真糟糕
他大概是心疼壞了，我被寶貝唸了大概三十分鐘
看看我生無可戀的臉 (´･ω･`)
以下是片段：
「機車快沒油你都知道不要騎太遠；人快沒油了，怎麼還提那麼多東西回來？不是說上班很累？」
「不要做你掌控之外的事情。你至少要留兩成的力去處理變故，你不要用全力去做，這樣你遇到突發狀況怎麼辦？」
「我跟你說家裡缺什麼，不是要你這次就買回來。而是你順路地、方便地買一買。有些東西明後天再買也可以。」
「可是我真的是急著想處理好。」我有些委屈地解釋。
「不要急，你看有什麼事情是你急一急，就解決掉的？」163繼續嚴肅地說話
「你為什麼要買那麼多東西？」163問道
「我想要一次解決。這樣明天就不用去家樂福買了。」我委屈的臉都圓了
「不要想要一次解決，想要一次解決通常都不會有什麼好結果。」
「我覺得我可以提的回來。我沒想到會把紅茶壓壞」
「我覺得我可以」
「不要逞強，寶貝。不要累到自己，你這樣太貪心了。」163對我說道
「我們要戒貪，一次做一點就好了。下次一次買一點就好了，才不會人累壞了，東西也壓壞了。」
一聲接一聲的叮囑如洪水般湧來
他唸的我好煩躁
我的心情像是被那些語句重重地壓住，越來越不耐煩。
我開始討要擁抱
我靠過去，將自己投向他
「我要抱抱」我嘟著嘴巴向他說道
接著
我輕輕地吻了吻他，他的嘴唇好軟，似乎將我所有的煩躁都帶走了。
「不要再唸了！我知道了。」我又抱了他一下
他輕輕嘆了一口氣，語氣依舊是那麼的關切而堅定，「已經跟你說過多少次了，你怎麼又這樣做。」
「不會啦，下次不會了。我累了就回家了，不買那麼多了。知道你會心疼」
風水輪流轉
命運總是如此神奇，
我也沒想到
隔天，我竟成了那個把原話奉還的人
「親愛的，你昨天才在跟我說：『機車快沒油你都知道不要騎太遠；人快沒油了，你怎麼還不睡覺』」我對163說道。
「寶貝！不要逞強。」
第二天一早，當我睜開眼，發現他依然還醒著
就問他
「你有睡覺嗎？」
「沒有。」他低聲回答
!!!
!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!
平日裡，我對他是否吃得好、睡得好總是格外在意。每當他忽略自己的休息，未曾好好照顧自己時，我就忍不住心生怒火，甚至會無法抑制地責備他。
「怎麼沒睡？」我忍不住有些生氣地問道。
他沉默了一會兒，才低聲回應：「我沒過關。」
「什麼沒過關？」我有點火氣繼續問道
「就我在玩的那個線上遊戲，裡面有個塔防遊戲。我想說過關了就來睡覺」他的語氣中帶著一絲沮喪。
「我想說我一定一下子就把關卡過了，那Boss看起來那麼菜」
「打了幾次都沒過關，就很生氣。火都上來了，越玩越憤怒，越玩越沒有睡意。」
他還挺生氣的，說話間，頭髮不自覺地翹了起來，他的呆毛顯得格外可愛。
這樣的他，似乎有些孩子氣，卻也帶著幾分倔強
「結果就......」
「結果天都亮了還沒過關，我接過他的話」我有點無奈地說
我本來很火大他沒有好好睡覺。但是聽著聽著，心裡的怒火消散，反而湧上一股心疼。
看著他疲憊不堪、卻又頑強不肯認輸的模樣，我忽然間對他的叮囑有了些許理解。
「對啊！一定是因為鍵盤的按鍵太多了，我才沒過關。」他委屈巴巴地說道
「一定是因為滑鼠太滑了，我才打不過王。」他開始嘟嘴巴撒嬌
「啊！一定是因為我沒有在打關卡前親你，我才打不過。」他的理由越來越扯，我聽他在瞎掰
算了，看著他那副無辜的模樣，我也氣不起來了。
就給他──萌混過關 好了 (講真，真的挺萌)
看到他被王虐了大半夜，好可憐
我搖了搖頭，輕輕地笑了出來。眼前這個因為遊戲而熬夜的他，看起來充滿著無辜的憨態。我的心，瞬間被融化。
「寶貝！不要逞強。」我輕聲說道
「時間到了，就該好好睡覺。」
