华诤回到家时，家人都睡了。第二天起得晚，下楼吃早餐时，父母亲和姑姑都出去买东西了，只见表姐Cindy穿着牛仔裤和T-shirt,光着脚丫子，一只腿踩缩在椅子上，正对着餐桌坐着吃东西呢。

        “Hey,Matty,finallygetup，Ah?”

        比华诤大一岁的表姐Cindy岳思思是ABC，也就是传说中的“香蕉人”。她短发烫得卷卷地贴着头皮，瘦瘦的，皮肤故意晒得比较黑，眼睛很大。这种外貌在美国可是很吃得开的——美国人以为，东方女孩就应该长得又黑又立体才叫有神韵。

        她打的招呼让华诤不好意思地抓抓头发。宋云贞正从院里进来，关上门，回身对华诤道：

        “哟，大宝贝儿，起了？”

        站在华母旁的菲佣，用生硬的中文道：

        “少爷吃什么早餐？”

        “随便”

        华母道：

        “那和姐姐一样吃牛奶面包？”

        “好，谢谢奶奶”

        华母接过菲佣手里的餐盘，边把早餐放在餐桌上边道：

        “昨天怎么这么晚才回来？”

        “Granny,Hedefinitelyhadsomelastnight.”

        Cindy的脸对着外祖母解释，眼睛却是看着华诤挤眉弄眼。华诤有点怀疑自己的英文水平：

        “Ididn’thaveanythinglastnight.IcamebackandIwentstraighttosleep.”

        Cindy十指张开，双掌在耳朵两边朝外举：

        “Eww~Liar!Whateveryousay.Hey,Whateveryousay!”

        华诤觉得自己肯定跟表姐有什么误会，拉开椅子坐在她对面：

        “I’mnotlying.Idon’thaveto.OK?FYI,whatdoyoumeanwhenyousaidIhadsome?Hadsomewhat?”

        “SEX!Ofcourse!”

        华诤一口牛奶喷在餐桌上。

        Cindy笑着接道：

        “WhatdoyouthinkImean?”

        华母忙过来给他拍着背：

        “怎么了？宝贝，慢点喝！吃饭不要说话嘛。”

        华诤边抽张纸捂嘴咳嗽，边朝祖母摆摆手、示意她不用帮忙。华母便拿了抹布来擦桌子：

        “你们姐弟俩说什么呢？”

        华诤忙道：

        “没什么，没什么。”

        “It’sOKtohavesex,Matty,youdon’thavetolie.Igetit——Youareagrown-up,youareinarelationship,youhavesex.That’swhatpeopledo.Hey,Ibetyourgirlfriendmustbereallyawesometokeepyouthatlong.”

        华诤连连朝表姐摇手：

        “Wedidn’thavesex.We’veneverhadsex.”

        “Whaaaat?!”

        Cindy看华诤的眼神，让华诤觉得自己就像来自侏罗纪世界的恐龙。

        “Youserious?”

        “Yeah.WhywouldIliesomethingaboutthat?”

        华诤顿了顿，既然表姐这么光明磊落，他也不想做个萎缩怕事的人，便露出一个无奈的苦笑，坦白道：

        “AlthoughIreallywantto.Tobehonest,It’skillingme!Youknow,thewholeNOSEXthing.”

        “Soyouarehot?”

        “Whatdoyouexpect?I’veneverhadsexinmyentirelife.Lookatme,Sis.!I’malwayshot!OK?However,mygirlfriend,she’stooshy.Idon’twanttoscareheroff.”

        Cindy深感自己和这个表弟在文化上的差异鸿沟深深,两人根本鸡同鸭讲：

        “Hey,Matty,Sweety,look,yougottahavesexwithyourgirlfriend,yougottahaveWILDsexwithyourgirlfriend——that’swhatboyfriendsdo.That’swhatwouldkeepyourgirlfriendcloser.Icanensureyouthatyouarenottheonlyonewho’shot.Womenhaveneeds.”

        “Really?”

        Cindy翻了一个“那还用说”的白眼，把脚放下来，正襟危坐，好像要准备谈什么事关国计民生的国家大事：

        “I’magirl,right?I’vehadboyfriends.Igotasayinthisstaff.Yougottabelieveme,Matty,markmywords——Womenhaveneeds.Justgoandmeettheneeds.Makeyourwomanhappy.”

        华诤觉得表姐背后放着万道金光——简直就是上天派来拯救他的天使！

        “ButIdon’tknowhowtobringitup.Ilovemygirlfriendtoomuch.Idon’twant...”

        “WowWow”

        Cindy双掌向外，像在推着什么东西：

        “Waitaminute,Matty,Mathew,MattWa.Waitaminute!YousaidaaayouLOVEher?Areyousure?Loveisabigword.Wedon’tuseitunlesswereallyfeelit.”

        “Yeah.Ican’tbemoresure.Iloveher.EversincethefirsttimeIsawher,I’vebeenfallinglovewithher.Actually,asdaysgoby,Iloveherevenmore.Look,SheisthesweetestgirlI’veeverseen.Ifanything,I’mhopelesslyanddesperatelyinlovewithher.”

        Cindy脸绷紧了，眼珠子在瞪大的眼眶中转了转：

        “Wow,OK.Loudandclear.Great.Goodforyou,Matty!Goodforyou.Soyouareinlove.Doessheloveyouback?”

        提这一茬，华诤有点黯然神伤,耸耸肩：

        “Well,Iguessnot.Idon’tthinkso.”

        伸长手臂拍着表弟的肩膀，Cindy慢慢道：

        “Hey,haveyoueverheardthepoem?”

        “Whatpoem?”

        “’Tobewithawomanwhodoesn’tloveyouback,ismorelonelythantobealone’”

        为这句话，姐弟俩默哀了几秒钟。华诤想起什么,拍拍桌子道：

        “Focus!Sis.Focus!Anyway,Idon’twanttomakethingsweirdbetweenmeandmygirlfriend.Arethereanytips?Anythingwouldleadusto```youknow?”

        “OK”

        Cindy摊摊手，笑道：

        “Youarefamily.Technically,youaremylittlebrother.I’myourbigsister.AndIloveyou.Ido.Hence,Iwouldhelpyououtwheneveryouneedme.Firstofall”

        Cindy右手从左手心里扳出一个手指头：

        “Yougottagetaroomforyoutwo.Bealone,forGodsake!”

        不过，鉴于中美意识上的差异，Cindy还是不放心地补充问了一句：

        “IsyourgirlfriendOKwiththat?”

        华诤点点头：

        “Yeah.Icanmakethathappen.”

        “OK.Secondly,thereisastorywhichwouldmakeyourgirlfriendwanttohavesexwithyouvoluntarily.However,Yougottastateitright.”

        有这么神奇的事？

        “Whatstory?”

        华诤正以空前绝后高涨热忱的态度在学习，大人们就回来了。华珮进门时，远远听到他们两姐弟的话，便喝道：

        “思思，你忘记我们之间承诺了？在家不准说中文！”

        岑兰笑道：

        “是不许说英文吧？”

        华珮笑道：

        “唉，都被她气糊涂了。是，不准说英文！在家不准说英文！”

        岳思思站起来，华诤抓住她的短袖阻止她离开：

        “什么故事？”

        岳思思为难道：

        “对不起，你姑姑不准我说英文。我不知道用中文怎么说，我中文不好，我不会翻译。”