The lights in the community are dim, and the floor lamps winding along the path in the small garden not far in front are like a string of candles in series, and the autumn leaves are gathered under the street lamps and cut into fragments.
Jiang Qihuai stood against the light, and when Tao Zhi raised his head to see her expression clearly, he paused obviously.
The little girl squatted at the door with her arms folded, her dark eyes were wet and moist under the light, her eyelids were a little red, but her eyes were looking at him clearly.
The young man was a little surprised. Tao Zhi looked at him, obviously not reacting too much: "Why are you here?"
Her voice is hoarse.
Jiang Qihuai raised his chin in the direction of the row of single houses inside: "My tutor is here."
Tao Zhi responded with a slow "Oh".
The last time I saw him at the convenience store outside, he seemed to have said that he would be a tutor here, but he didn't expect it to be a community.
She raised her hand and glanced at her watch: "It's almost ten o'clock, why are you finishing get out of class so late?"
"During the holiday, the parents added an additional class hour." Jiang Qihuai said.
Tao Zhi nodded again, his reaction was a little dull.
Jiang Qihuai didn't make another sound, nor did he leave.
One of the two didn't speak, and the other didn't ask. They just squatted at the gate of the courtyard to blow the air, and no one spoke for a while.
Tao Zhi suddenly felt that there was actually some tacit understanding between her and Jiang Qihuai.
For example, he also has many things that Tao Zhi bumps into, she won't ask.
Neither will he.
To Jiang Qihuai, these things may not be a big deal, but in Tao Zhi's view, this is probably a moment of embarrassment for each other.
It's a completely different side from being in school.
And these moments, only each other knows.
This recognition made Tao Zhi feel a little bit better from the moment he entered the house.
The mood just now calmed down little by little, and Tao Zhi felt a little cold belatedly, she sniffed: "Then have you eaten yet?"
"Not yet," Jiang Qihuai looked at her, "Can't find a home?"
Tao Zhi raised his hand and pointed behind him.
Jiang Qihuai glanced back, half-truthfully said: "I thought you went out for a night run and got lost at the door of the house." He looked at her, paused, "You're not wearing a coat yet, and you're in pretty good shape."
Tao Zhi curled his lips: "Your Highness, don't be so poisonous, I was just planning to invite you in for dinner."
Jiang Qihuai nodded: "Now."
"Now," Tao Zhi took a deep breath, stood up, her legs were numb from squatting for too long, she leaned against the iron gate and rubbed her numb calf with one hand on her knee, "Do you want to come?"
Jiang Qihuai took out his phone and glanced at the time.
It was almost ten o'clock.
"No," he stood up, lowering his eyes, "you can eat whatever you want later."
Tao Zhi pondered for a while that he would eat something casually, probably just like last time, he went to the convenience store to buy a box of rice balls or something to eat.
"Okay," she jumped on the spot twice, "wait for me."
She turned around and opened the courtyard door and ran in, quickly ran into the house, pulled a coat from the entrance, put it on, and ran out again.
Jiang Qihuai didn't leave, but stood at the door with his hands down, his eyebrows lowered, waiting for her, looking inexplicably obedient.
She walked over and he looked up.
Tao Zhi raised his hand and pointed forward, striding ahead: "Let's go, young master is in a bad mood today, please have dinner."
Speaking of dinner, most restaurants have stopped accepting customers at this point.
But Tao Zhi is a night owl, he often goes out to eat and drink with Song Jiang and the others in the middle of the night, and knows the closing time of which delicious restaurants.
After leaving the gate of the community and walking along the street for about ten minutes, I turned into a small alley and passed through the alley to an old-fashioned residential building.
Jiang Qihuai followed her around like this, the old residential area was very dark, the street lamps sizzled from time to time, the vermilion walls were peeling off and mottled, and there were piles of scrapped bicycles beside the walls.
The cat was lying in the old cardboard box. Hearing the sound, he raised his head lazily and squinted his eyes.
Tao Zhi walked beside Jiang Qihuai, pointed to the innermost old house next to him and said, "My family used to live in this house, but then I sold it and moved to the place where I live now. When I was young, Ji Fan and I lived in the same building. Playing hide-and-seek in the bike shed, fighting with the neighbor's kids, no one can beat us."
"The group of kids would just go home and cry when they lost the fight, and then the neighbor aunts would come to our house to find my mother," Tao Zhi continued, "My mother never scolded me, and neither would the neighbor aunts. Complain about these things with girls, anyway, no matter what troubles you get into, it's Ji Fan's fault."
Later, when Tao Xiuping and Ji Jin were about to separate, Tao Zhi went to bed early that night and woke up in the middle of the night. She felt hungry and wanted to go downstairs to see if there was anything to eat.
She walked out of the room lightly, and when she passed the master bedroom, she heard Tao Xiuping and Ji Jin talking.
"Zhizhi has always been sensible, and she doesn't have to worry about her grades. I'm relieved that you will take care of her." Ji Jin said gently.
Tao Xiuping was silent for a long while before he said in a hoarse voice: "Zhizhi is a girl, she will be taken care of more carefully with her mother, I don't know how to take care of others, and compared to my father who rarely sees a few times a year, she I like you more. She's grown up now, I think we should ask her, and Xiao Fan, and respect their opinions."
Ji Jin sighed: "But Xiaofan is different from Zhizhi. He has been a worry since he was a child. I don't feel at ease unless I look at him personally. I must take him with me."
Tao Zhi stood at the door for a long time that night.
Later, she couldn't hear or remember what Ji Jin and Tao Xiuping said. She stood there, listening to the sound of their communication slowly stop, and the whole house fell into silence again.
She went back to the room, closed the door, and lay on the bed staring at the ceiling in a daze, without crying.
Ji Jin worked very hard to keep the bowl of water flat. She has two children. She has divided her love between them equally for ten years, and never made any of the children feel unloved.
Tao Zhi didn't know if it was because mischievous children were more likely to be favored, but until then, she realized that in fact, even if you want to do many things very much, you always have a steelyard in your heart. It is very clear and cruel, marking everyone's status and weight in your heart.
And this kind of weight, you can't lie to yourself only when you are facing parting.
Tao Zhi told Jiang Qihuai many things about her childhood, she seemed to have memories in every corner she passed by, Jiang Qihuai didn't talk much, she said he just listened quietly and occasionally responded.
They walked through the neighborhood and walked to the street. The road in front of them was lit up, and there were row upon row of small shops on both sides, each of which was lit up. Most of them were for food. The snack trucks along both sides of the street were crowded one after another, almost uncrowded. where you can pass.
The night was dark, but the whole street was as bright as day.
Jiang Qihuai followed Tao Zhi through the crowd and came to a barbecue restaurant at the end.
The shop is small, and the business is very good, only the innermost small table is empty, the owner walks among the diners, joking with them from time to time, and seems to have a close relationship.
As soon as Tao Zhi entered, the boss saw her and waved to her: "Xiao Tao Zhi is here, I haven't seen you for a long time." He glanced at Jiang Qihuai who came in behind Tao Zhi, "Bring friends Where's Xiao Song? Why didn't you come today?"
"Didn't call him, bring my friend over for something to eat." Tao Zhi walked in with a smile, and sat down at the innermost table, with Jiang Qihuai sitting opposite her.
Tao Zhi took the menu from the boss and handed it to Jiang Qihuai. He didn't read his own, so he ordered a bunch with his fingers.
After ordering, she turned her head: "Do you want a staple food? Their fried beef river is very delicious."
Jiang Qihuai nodded and looked at the shop owner: "I want some fried rice."
Tao Zhi: "..."
Tao Zhi rolled his eyes towards the ceiling.
The shop owner laughed loudly: "This young man is quite interesting, don't worry, my fried rice is also delicious, just sit down and wait for a while."
Tao Zhi turned around, took out two bottles of beer from the beer box behind him, and handed over one: "Barbecue should be served with beer."
Jiang Qihuai took it, put it on the table and pushed it forward: "I have a tutor tomorrow."
Tao Zhi opened his own bottle: "There will be tomorrow too? Then, isn't this class only in the evening?"
"There is English in the morning."
"It's really nine homework teaching at the same time." Tao Zhi took out an empty glass and poured out a glass of beer, "How many tutors do you want to teach?"
"Only these two," Jiang Qihuai said, "There will be extra class fees for classes during holidays."
Tao Zhi took a sip of beer, raised his head, and looked at him: "Your Highness, why are you so short of money?"
"Don't ask why you don't eat minced meat." Jiang Qihuai also looked at her, "Why don't you wear a coat at night and come out to run at night?"
A city like Jiangqihuai can rank first or second, and schools are definitely rushing to get them. It is estimated that there is no need to apply for bursaries, and the tuition fees will be waived. In addition, the experiment can be regarded as rich and powerful, and the amount of the top scholarship is not low. It is probably enough for him to study supplementary materials and even basic living expenses.
Even if the family conditions were not particularly good, he would not have to fight so hard.
Unless there is another reason.
Tao Zhi didn't ask any more questions, the subtle wall of tacit understanding between the two of them was pushed and swayed twice, and then continued to stand steadily.
The food came out quickly, Tao Zhi ate skewers, Jiang Qihuai ate fried rice, he didn't seem to have much interest in meat, and preferred roasted vegetables.
The two bottles of beer Tao Zhi took all went into her stomach. She drank much faster than usual today, and by the time she realized it, she had already started to drink.
She held her chin and looked at the person opposite, and began to talk to him: "Jiang Qihuai, do you regret switching to the experiment?"
Jiang Qihuai held the spoon: "Why."
Tao Zhi tilted his head, thought for a while and said, "For example, compared with the attached middle school, the teaching quality of the experiment is indeed a little bit worse."
"It doesn't matter, the test is the same everywhere." Jiang Qihuai said flatly.
Tao Zhixuan wrote and translated his words.
—It doesn't matter, the test is the same wherever the first place is.
Tao Zhi raised his hand and pointed to himself: "That's like meeting a very troublesome person."
Jiang Qihuai glanced at her, then at the two empty bottles of beer in front of her.
The little girl looked at the same place as usual, her black eyes were slightly raised, the corners of her lips were slightly raised and pursed, and she tapped her cheeks with her fingertips.
It's just red eyelids.
It was the first time Jiang Qihuai saw someone with red eyelids after drinking.
When Li Shuangjiang heard her rhetoric on her birthday before, she thought she could hold a lot of alcohol, but in the end there were only two bottles.
His eyes fell on her fingertips, and he said something, a few people came in noisily from the door of the shop, the voices were so loud that they drowned his words, Tao Zhi couldn't hear clearly.
She leaned over curiously, the tip of her tongue was already numb under the influence of alcohol, and she asked vaguely, "What did you say?"
The boys at the door of the shop came in, and one of them recognized her and called her, "Tao Zhi?"
Tao Zhi turned his head away.
The boy looks a bit tough and handsome, wearing silver earrings and a black jacket. The clothes on his body are covered with famous brand logos from head to toe, like a walking RMB.
Yuan Yuan walked to their table and confirmed at a close distance that it was indeed her.
"Why didn't you answer my phone?" Yuan Yuan said expressionlessly.
Tao Zhi looked bewildered: "What phone call?"
"What call?" Yuan Yuan looked at her in disbelief, "I've called you more than fifty times, more than fifty!"
Tao Zhi thought for a while, and said seriously: "That may be because I blocked you."
"You fucking—" Yuan Yuan was so angry that she was about to choke on her face, and she looked innocent at the girl, and was unable to speak for a while.
The porcelain white spoon on the opposite side collided with the plate, making a weak but crisp sound, Yuan Yuan turned his head and saw Jiang Qihuai on the opposite side.
He directly laughed angrily, pointed at Jiang Qihuai and asked, "You just wanted to break up with me and want to dump me easily, but you got a new one within two months?"
His words were full of information, Jiang Qihuai raised his head: "Ex-boyfriend?"
One sentence was asked without incident, but Tao Zhi was inexplicably guilty, she whispered: "The one who broke up, broke up."
"More than fifty phone calls," Jiang Qihuai accused her, "I have no conscience."
"Where did I lose my conscience?" Tao Zhi muttered dissatisfiedly, "Didn't they all break up..."
The two were there talking to each other as if there was no one else there, RMB was completely ignored, he was so angry that he wanted to laugh, and raised his hand to talk to others: "You unilaterally said that you want to break up and I agree? Tao Zhi, come out and let's have a good chat." chat."
The sleeves of Tao Zhi's clothes were pulled by someone, and she blinked her eyes in a slow reaction. Yuan Yuan was not strong enough, and her arms were lifted up limply, and she stood up.
Jiang Qihuai looked at her pulled sleeves, and asked calmly, "Are you going?"
Tao Zhi finally came to his senses belatedly, and pulled his hand back, still looking dazed: "No, there's nothing to talk about."
Jiang Qihuai's chair slid back, stood up, and stood between the two of them calmly.
Tao Zhi took advantage of the situation and stepped back a little, hiding his whole body behind the young man, grabbing the fabric on his back with his fingers, and poking his head out.
Yuan Yuan looked at him and said patiently, "Brother, I'm her ex-boyfriend. I don't plan to do anything, I just want to chat with her."
He didn't look like a bad guy, and he spoke politely, with a tone of discussion.
Jiang Qihuai nodded, and also looked at him: "The person came out with me, I have to watch the original and send it back, even if you are still your boyfriend now, you have to wait for her to sober up before asking for someone from me. "