Love lies

It was at a party that he met her. She was young, beautiful, talented, famous at school, and had no shortage of suitors, but he was an ordinary man who had been admiring her for a long time, and she did not know it. At the end of the party, he invited her to have coffee. She was surprised, however, out of politeness, she said yes. Sitting in the cafe, the atmosphere between the two people is very awkward, there is nothing to talk about. Just as she was about to make an excuse to leave, when the young lady brought them their coffee, he suddenly said, "Would you please bring me some salt? I'm accustomed to putting salt in my coffee." She froze, the young lady froze, and all eyes were fixed on him, so that his face turned red.

The lady brought the salt, and he put it in and drank it slowly. Curious, she asked him, "Why do you put salt in your coffee?" He was silent for a moment, then said slowly, almost word by word: "When I was a child, my family lived near the sea, and I was always soaking in the sea. The waves came and the water came into my mouth, bitter and salty. Now, I haven't been home for a long time, add salt to my coffee, it is a kind of expression of homesickness, it can bring the distance with home closer."

She was suddenly moved, because this was the first time she had heard a man say homesick in front of her. She thought that a man who was homesick must be a family man, and a family man must be a family man. Looking at this man in front of her, she suddenly has a desire to talk, so they talked about their hometown, more and more excited, unconsciously a few hours have passed, they have never said so many words at a draught, there is a kind of carefree dripping dripping feeling, it seems that there is still some feeling. It was late and they had to go back, and she unexpectedly agreed to let him take her back. After that, the two of them dated frequently, and she found that he was actually a very good man, generous, careful, considerate, in line with all the characteristics she admired in a good man should have. She congratulated herself that, thanks to her good manners, she had not missed him or happiness. She took him to every cafe in the city, always saying, "Can I have some salt, please? My friend likes salt in his coffee." And then, as they say in fairy tales, "the prince and the princess married and lived happily ever after." They were very happy indeed, and for more than forty years, until his recent illness and death.

The story seemed to be ending, if not for the letter. It was the letter he had given her on his deathbed: "Forgive me for deceiving you all this time. Do you remember the first time you invited me to coffee when we met forty years ago? At that time, the atmosphere was very bad, I was very uncomfortable, also very nervous, I do not know how to think, actually said to the young lady to bring some salt, in fact, I do not add salt, since it was out, had to make a mistake. I never thought I'd end up drinking salty coffee for the rest of my life. Many times, I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid that you would be angry, and even more afraid that you would leave me. This life with you is my greatest happiness, if there is a next life, I hope to marry you. It's just, I don't want to drink any more salty coffee, coffee with salt, you don't know, the taste, how hard it is. Salt in my coffee, how did I think of that!" The contents of the letter surprised her and left her feeling cheated. However, he did not know how much she wanted to tell him how glad she was that someone could cheat for her life...