Tao Zhi stepped on the minute hand of nine o'clock and rushed into the house.
Tao Xiuping and Ji Fan held a teacup and a Coke can: "I'm back."
Ji Fan took a sip of Coke: "Are you back?"
Tao Zhi got out of the taxi and ran all the way back from the entrance of the community. She stood on her knees at the entrance, gasping for breath, and waved to them without saying a word.
Tao Xiuping glanced at his watch, put down his teacup calmly: "Nine o'clock, you're pretty punctual."
"Pretty punctual." Ji Fan just finished drinking the can of Coke in his hand, and made an exaggerated movement of throwing a basketball into the trash can less than an arm's length away from his feet.
Tao Zhi finally recovered her breath, she took off her shoes and walked to the sofa, and fell into the sofa, not wanting to talk.
When she got home and finally rested, she felt a little tired, obviously she hadn't done anything all night.
She sat hugging the sofa cushions for a while, and her stomach grumbled twice when it was time.
Tao Xiuping glanced at her: "Aren't you full?"
"Didn't eat." Tao Zhi said honestly, she got up and went to the kitchen, "Is there anything to eat at home?"
"The dishes at night are cold," Tao Xiuping put down the notebook in his hand, and walked over, "Dad, will you order some egg noodles?"
Tao Zhi responded.
She leaned against the island in the kitchen and watched Tao Xiuping take out eggs and tomatoes from the refrigerator: "You went to find your little boyfriend, why haven't you had dinner yet?"
Tao Zhi didn't speak.
Tao Xiuping noticed that she wasn't too emotional, and deliberately joked, "He won't give you food?"
The man's eyes were dark and black. Since he came back last time, he hasn't been on a business trip again, but he doesn't seem to be able to relax because of this. It seems that he has more things to do every day.
Tao Zhi didn't answer, and suddenly called him: "Father."
Tao Xiuping knocked the eggs into a bowl and broke them up: "Huh?"
"Are you about to go bankrupt?" Tao Zhi asked suddenly without a trace.
"..."
Tao Xiuping looked at her in surprise, and couldn't help laughing: "Everyone else's children want Dad to earn more money, why do you expect me to go bankrupt every day?"
Tao Zhi frowned: "It feels like you've been tired lately every day."
Tao Xiuping withdrew his smile, took a deep look at her, opened his mouth, then stopped.
After a while, he laughed again, put the beaten eggs on the countertop, and turned on the tap to wash the tomatoes: "Adults are always like this, even you have your own troubles now, why can't Dad have them?"
Tao Zhi nodded, and thoughtfully said: "So do you have a woman you like? Are you going to get married?"
Tao Xiuping choked up at her shocking words.
Tao Zhi said very considerately: "If you really have an aunt who you like so much that you want to marry back, it's not that I can't accept it."
She is very open about this aspect, she can do whatever Tao Xiuping wants to do, but when it comes to Tao Xiuping, if he really has someone he likes, Tao Zhi has no reason to stop him.
In that case, she would be too selfish.
She has people she likes, things she wants to do, and a life of her own, and Tao Xiuping should have one too.
Even though she may feel a little uncomfortable in her heart, she can work hard to accept and overcome it.
What a selfless and kind peach.
Tao Zhi was moved by his kindness.
Tao Xiuping watched his daughter's expression change from entangled to firm, and finally relieved, thinking it was a little funny.
Children are cute when they are young, and when they grow up, they have more weird ideas in adolescence, which is quite fun.
He raised his hand, and dusted the water stains on his hand at her: "What are you thinking about, except for Zhi Zhi and A Fan, Dad has no one he likes."
Tao Zhi waved his hand, with an expression of "just pretend": "I know, I know."
Tao Xiuping: "..."
Tao Xiuping’s cooking is delicious, although he rarely eats it. Peeled tomatoes are diced, and the sweet and sour taste is mixed into the thick noodle soup with broken eggs. The hand-rolled noodles are full of strength, even if there is no meat. Tao Zhi also ate the bowl of plain noodles with great relish.
Halfway through eating, Ji Fan also ran over joltingly, stretched his neck to look at the kitchen: "Old Tao, do you still have this side?"
The boy had a lot of food, and he was hungry a few hours after dinner. Tao Xiuping cooked a pot and filled a big bowl for him.
Ji Fan sat next to Tao Zhi and ate noodles.
Tao Xiuping sat opposite and watched them eat.
There is an indescribable, strange sense of satisfaction.
Although it is difficult to manage, sometimes I don’t know how to educate them, and I will repeatedly consider whether what I say will have counterproductive effects, and it is difficult to balance the balance between family and work.
But in this quiet moment, there will be an indescribable happiness.
Probably, Ji Jin is also like this.
As long as you watch them eat and sleep, and watch them learn and grow, you will feel very happy.
During those years when he devoted himself to work and making money, she was alone in this house, and all she had around her were these two children.
At a certain moment, Tao Zhi and Ji Fan suddenly raised their heads at the same time and looked at him.
Tao Xiuping came back to his senses: "What's wrong?"
"You just sighed." Ji Fan slurred his speech with noodles in his mouth.
Tao Zhi nodded and said, "Sure enough, he's about to go bankrupt."
"..."
Tao Xiuping squinted his eyes: "Where is the kid with so many messy thoughts, no! I'm not bankrupt!"
Watching the excitement, Ji Fan didn't think it was a big deal: "Maybe it's just because your boyfriend doesn't give you food."
Tao Zhi: "..."
"By the way, that little...boy is called Jiang Qihuai, right?" Tao Xiuping asked.
Tao Zhi ate his noodles, pretending to be deaf and dumb.
Tao Xiuping: "Why is such a good school attached to the middle school transferred to the experiment? I heard that he lived with his grandfather since he was a child?"
Tao Zhi paused with her fingers holding the chopsticks, and she raised her head.
Tao Xiuping asked casually, "What do his parents do?"
"How do you know he grew up with his grandfather?" Tao Zhi said.
Tao Xiuping let out an "ah" and looked at Ji Fan, but didn't speak yet.
"Don't say I heard from Ji Fan," Tao Zhi interrupted him, "I never told Ji Fan about his family's situation, did I?"
She changed her face in an instant, and even Ji Fan didn't realize it.
Tao Xiuping took a deep breath: "Zhizhi..."
"Have you gone to investigate?" Tao Zhi rushed up involuntarily, "Because your daughter fell in love with him, you even turned his family upside down, right, Mr. Tao ?”
Tao Xiuping also raised his voice: "It's because my daughter wants to fall in love with him, so I have to know what kind of person he is!"
The restaurant suddenly fell silent, Ji Fan glanced at Tao Zhi, then at Tao Xiuping, and silently moved the noodle bowl back.
Tao Xiuping sighed: "I asked you today, just to know if you don't understand these things, do you know what's going on in his family?"
"I don't care what's going on in his family," Tao Zhi said forcefully, "I like him, it doesn't matter to me whether he has money or not."
"Do you think Dad would care about his family's conditions and whether he has money?" Tao Xiuping took a deep breath and stood up, "It's not such a simple matter."
Tao Zhi looked at him without saying a word.
She thought of the man tonight, and Jiang Qihuai's reaction at that time, and suddenly couldn't say anything to refute.
Tao Xiuping pulled out the chair and went upstairs, into the study.
After a while, he came down with a portfolio and put it in front of Tao Zhi: "Let's have a look."
Tao Zhi hesitated for a moment, put down his chopsticks, pinched the rope on the file bag, and unwrapped it round by round.
She held the thin sheets of paper and read them line by line. Every time she read a word, the hand holding her heart slowly retracted a little.
"I was in an orphanage before I was four years old, but was found and taken back by his grandfather. I don't know who his mother is. His father is a gangster and has no job. He was imprisoned for burglary and wounding. Fortunately, the victim survived and was sentenced to more than ten years. And because of his good performance in the prison, his sentence was commuted for a few years and he was released recently." Tao Xiuping squeezed the corners of his eyes and said slowly, "Has he told you about this? No."
The last bit of blood on Tao Zhi's face completely faded away.
No wonder.
Tao Xiuping, who had never cared too much about what time she would go home at night, suddenly set up an early access control for her.
No wonder she knew she had a puppy love and never said anything.
Tao Zhi's fingers pinching the edge of the paper tightened little by little, she lowered her head, her eyes turned red little by little.
She quickly withdrew her hand, the sharp edge of the paper instantly cut through the fragile skin, and blood oozes out from her fingers bit by bit.
She pinched her bleeding fingertips and said, "What do you mean by showing me this?"
"I want to know how much you understand," Tao Xiuping didn't hide anymore, "and you tend to do things on impulse, Dad hopes you can look at things rationally, you have to understand, your temper is too simple, and some People are not for you."
Tao Zhi was silent for a while, then nodded slowly: "You are indeed very sensible all the time."
Tao Xiuping frowned: "Zhizhi..."
"I got into fights, and I was approached by my teacher to my parents. What you care about most is never my feelings, but telling me how to solve the problem better. I'm used to it, and you've always been like this."
She whispered, "But shouldn't he be the hardest one?"
Tao Xiu looked at her calmly.
Tao Zhi's voice was a little choked up: "I thought I could finally have a family, but in the end I had to face such a father. He was obviously the happiest when he was a child, and he was the most unscrupulous when he was a child. Growing up so hard?"
Tao Zhi couldn't help but wonder what she was doing when she was five or six years old.
Placing mommy to listen to bedtime stories, asking daddy for lots of new plush dolls, and mischievous Ji Fan causing troubles and fights everywhere.
If something goes wrong, she just curls up in her mother's arms and doesn't have to worry about anything. Anyway, no matter what happens, there will always be father and mother to help her deal with it.
There will always be an invincible sky above her head.
But Jiang Qihuai never owned the sky from the very beginning.
He has nothing.
So everything he got, every love, maybe even every candy, seemed to him a generous charity, a blessing of fate, something he stole, and it was a luxury for him Lucky.
Tao Zhi's eyes were red, and tears fell uncontrollably: "He is really good, he can do everything well, he is the most powerful person I have ever seen, he has worked so hard to Make yourself better, he desperately wants to escape from that swamp... "
"But do you want to drag him back so simply? You want to tell him in this way that he doesn't need to work hard at all, because no matter how much he struggles and no matter how well he does, he will never get rid of it in his life." Won't you drop it?"
Tao Xiuping stared at her blankly, unable to say a word.
Tao Zhi's vision was blurred, she raised her hand, wiped her eyes vigorously, then stood up, sobbing and said: "Father, you are so unfair, you are too cruel to him."
She didn't look at Tao Xiuping's expression, pushed away the chair, turned and rushed out of the house.
The street lights were dim at night, Tao Zhi got out of the taxi, crossed the road, and ran towards the alley of Jiang Qihuai's house with all his strength amidst the shrill car whistle.
At the bus station not far ahead, she saw his shadow in the distance.
Jiang Qihuai got off the bus, and there were many figures under the street lights. His facial features were hidden in the night and he couldn't see his expression clearly. The only thing he could feel was his unchanging upright and proud.
He stood a little in front of the bus stop, suddenly raised his head, looked at her from a distance, and then stopped.
Tao Zhi ran towards him with all his might.
The cold wind seemed to be mixed with ice, mixed with tears and scratched his face, but Tao Zhi didn't seem to feel anything.
She threw herself straight into the boy's arms.
The powerful impact brought Jiang Qihuai back and retreated. With a look of astonishment on his face, he subconsciously opened his arms to catch her, and was knocked back half a step before he managed to stabilize himself: "What's wrong?"
Tao Zhi hugged his waist tightly, buried his head deeply in his arms, almost greedily absorbing his warmth and smell.
She shook her head and rubbed against him with the tip of her nose, her voice was still hoarse from crying: "It's cold."
Jiang Qihuai frowned: "Why did you come out without a coat?"
"I'm too late," she rubbed her head again, "I'm anxious to see you."
"Let go." Jiang Qihuai said.
Tao Zhi shook his head, tightly hugging him and not letting go.
Jiang Qihuai sighed: "You let go first, I won't run away again."
Tao Zhi slowly and reluctantly let go of his hand.
"Don't move." Jiang Qihuai pulled down the zipper of the coat, took it off, and wrapped her whole body up.
The warmth cut off the coldness in an instant.
His coat was too long for her, hanging down to her calf, Tao Zhi stood obediently and motionless, letting him lean over to put her in, raised his collar, and zipped it up.
After wrapping the person up, Jiang Qihuai straightened up and looked at her.
The corners of the girl's eyes were red with wet tears.
Jiang Qihuai raised his hand, gently scratched her red eyelids with his cool fingertips, and said in a low voice, "Smuggled out?"
Tao Zhi thought about it, and felt that it was more like a crash.
She nodded: "Yes."
"You got scolded?" Jiang Qihuai asked again
She shook her head again: "No."
"Why are you so anxious to see me all of a sudden?" he finally asked.
Tao Zhi remained silent again, she looked at him eagerly for a few seconds, then leaned forward again and hugged his waist tightly, sticking to him and refusing to let go.
Jiang Qihuai smiled, and he let her hug him, seemingly helpless: "What are you doing?"
"I want to become a piece of rice cake." Tao Zhi whispered.
Jiang Qihuai lowered his eyes, stroked her hair, and asked obediently, "Huh? Why do you want to become rice cakes?"
"In this way, I can stick to you all the time, so that you can't tear it off." Tao Zhi said sullenly.
"Why should I tear you down?"
"How do I know, then you have always disliked me, and I was the one who pestered you." Tao Zhi complained dissatisfiedly, "You won't tell me anything."
Jiang Qihuai paused his fingers and fell silent.
Tao Zhi didn't notice his reaction.
She is very simple, her mind is single-minded, she can't be as rational as Tao Xiuping, and she doesn't want to think so much.
Tao Zhi only wants to do things with his own thoughts and impulses.
Because I like it, I get closer, because I like it, I work hard, because I like it, I don't want him to be alone.
She gave him what he didn't have, and made up for what he lost.
If he had to bear everything alone, then she would become his sky.
She let go of her hands a little, looked up at him, and said seriously: "Your Highness, if someone you hate comes to pick on you again, you have to tell me, and I will protect you."
Jiang Qihuai's eyelashes trembled, and then lowered: "Huh? How are you going to protect me?"
Tao Zhi didn't hide her plan from him, there were still tears in the corners of her eyes, but she spoke harshly: "I asked Ji Fan to beat that person until he couldn't get up and was hospitalized for half a year. He's so old, he's the best at doing things like this, making sure people don't even notice who did it."
Jiang Qihuai: "..."