Everything seems to be the same as before.
His breath, his smell, his body temperature.
They kissed without any passion in the fortress of their childhood full of memories.
When Jiang Qihuai straightened up, Tao Zhi's eyes had already drifted away, and she panted and sat on the desk next to her, leaning her back against the wall in front of the desk to relax for a while.
The bedroom was quiet, she licked her numb lips, turned her head to look at the photo on the wall, and asked curiously, "When did you take this photo?"
"I didn't take the picture." Jiang Qihuai said.
Tao Zhi: "Huh?"
Jiang Qihuai said concisely: "Li Shuangjiang."
Tao Zhi said "ah" again.
This picture was indeed taken from the front of her, Jiang Qihuai was sitting in the back, and if he wanted to take a photo, he could only take a picture of the back of her head.
"When did Li Shuangjiang take the photo?" Tao Zhi asked suspiciously, "Why did he take my photo when he had nothing to do?"
What happened to Jiang Hesheng just happened, and it left a little psychological shadow on her, she said, as if she suddenly thought of something, and said in horror: "He didn't have a crush on me before, did he?"
"..."
Jiang Qihuai's eyelids twitched, and his fingers were itchy, wanting to hit her on the head.
With that in mind, he did it.
Tao Zhi was knocked on the forehead by him, yelled, covered his head and raised his head, looking at him angrily: "Why are you knocking me again!"
"I'm playing gophers." Jiang Qihuai said expressionlessly.
Tao Zhi narrowed his eyes: "Student Jiang, you don't want a girlfriend anymore, do you?"
Jiang Qihuai was silent, and had to choose between admitting his little thoughts and letting Tao Zhi misunderstand that Li Shuangjiang had a crush on her, and found that the latter was more uncomfortable.
He paused, lowered his eyes, and said calmly, "I asked him to take the picture."
Tao Zhi blinked: "When is it?"
"During the training camp."
Tao Zhi recalled it, and remembered that he participated in the winter training winter camp for the mathematics olympiad in the second year of high school.
She smiled and dragged on: "Oh, that's when I confessed to you."
"So you liked me at that time?" Tao Zhi said happily, "Some people pretend to be ascetic on the surface, but actually let their classmates secretly take pictures of me. "
Jiang Qihuai looked at her triumphant look, but didn't make a sound.
"It seems that the photos of your girlfriend I sent you before are not enough." Tao Zhi sat on the table, raised his chin slightly, raised his hand to grab a handful of hair and styled it, "Come on."
Jiang Qihuai raised his eyebrows in doubt.
"Take out your mobile phone and turn on the camera," Tao Zhi said reservedly, "I will satisfy you today and let you take enough pictures."
"..."
Because it was still early, the two of them stayed in the old house for a while in no hurry to leave.
Like a kid who just got a new toy, Tao Zhi turned around excitedly. After looking around, he went to the bathroom and took a small water basin to wipe the table. water.
She turned left and right like a small spinning top, Jiang Qihuai didn't stop her, just leaned against the wall and looked at her.
Tao Zhi came back to water the flowers with water in a small cup, ran back and forth several times, and finally realized belatedly, she walked over with the cup in her hand, and said worriedly: "Jiang Qihuai, should I water the flowers?" Too much water? Will the roots of these flowers rot if they get too much water?"
"No," Jiang Qihuai said lazily, "They like water."
Tao Zhi still frowned, pointing to a cactus standing on the ground by the window and said: "I forgot about it when I watered it just now, I watered it all together, do I need to change the soil?"
"Water you," Jiang Qihuai happily watched her toss and said without blinking, "You just treat it as an aquatic cactus."
Tao Zhi gave him a blank look, then ran to the cactus by the window and squatted down to change the soil for it.
When she finally finished her busy work and replaced it with dry and fluffy new soil, it was almost ten o'clock.
Jiang Qihuai swept the changed moist soil into the bag beside him: "It's okay to pour a little more water now and then, just don't water it again after that."
Tao Zhi held his arms long, his hands were dirty with soil, and there was a small piece of black mud on the tip of his nose, looking embarrassed and cute.
"I want to make everything as good as possible," she said seriously, squatting on the ground and looking up at him, "here is also very important to me."
This place has witnessed my timidity and my solitude.
It is also the place where I accidentally discovered the small crack on your mask when I was racking my brains to enter your world, and then let the light come in.
It was almost eleven o'clock when Jiang Qihuai sent Tao Zhi home, she had been busy all day, after the previous excitement passed, she was so tired that she could hardly keep her eyes open.
After taking a quick battle shower, he fell asleep almost in a few seconds while lying on the bed, and didn't even have time to read the news that Jiang Qihuai had arrived home.
The next week, she sent the filmed back cover to "SINGO", and received a series of rainbow farts from his young master and the editorial department, and Tao Zhitong accepted it frankly.
The deputy editor-in-chief sent a WeChat message while crying and complaining to her, crying sincerely that she saved the life of a dog in the editorial department, saying that this is the latest March issue since she joined the job.
As the New Year approached, almost all the people in the studio slacked off. Xu Suinian was not a local. He was planning to return to his hometown early this year. Before leaving, he explained to Tao Zhi about the partner and the photo exhibition at the beginning of the year, and wentssip about her and Jiang. Qi Huai's emotional progress.
At the end of his question, Tao Zhi couldn't bear it any longer. He dragged his suitcase with one hand and pushed him out with the other: "Don't ask me here like a gay honey, okay? After that I will Do I have to tell you about his family situation for three generations? Let's go quickly, aren't you afraid that you won't be able to catch the plane?"
Her words reminded Xu Suinian, he turned his head while being pushed out by him and asked: "What you said makes sense, then what does his grandfather do?"
Tao Zhi smiled and pushed him out of the studio door, and waved to him through the glass: "See you next year!"
The New Year passed a little late this year, until the middle and late February, and New Year's Eve was approaching.
Jiang Qihuai didn't take a day off the day before, and didn't have a holiday until New Year's Eve. On the afternoon of New Year's Eve, he picked her up at the door of Tao Zhi's house, and the two went back to Tao's old house together.
Tao Xiuping gave his aunt a holiday and went home early for the New Year, so the New Year's Eve dinner and dumplings had to be settled by himself. When Tao Zhi and Jiang Qihuai came, Tao Xiuping dragged Ji Fanjin who had been sleeping until noon and had just woken up in a daze In the kitchen, prepare the New Year's Eve dinner.
He bought a bunch of ingredients early in the morning and came back. He was in charge of hard dishes, and Ji Fan was in charge of fresh food. As soon as the two entered the door, they saw Ji Fan wearing an apron and gloves, chasing crabs that were crawling all over the floor. Grasp.
Six or seven crabs walked briskly across the door of the kitchen, crossed the dining room and climbed to the entrance of the entrance, their sharp claws jabbed the New Year's goods and supplements that Jiang Qihuai had brought and climbed up.
Jiang Qihuai put the thing on the ground, grabbed the crab's buttocks, picked it up, went to the kitchen and threw it into the bucket: "I'll do it."
Tao Zhi watched in shock as Ji Fan chased a few crabs all over the room like a drama: "What are you doing, make them all run away?"
"I forgot to cover the steamer when I put it down," Ji Fan said, "Who the hell knew that such a tall steamer could be turned over?"
While talking, he threw the last crab into the bucket, Jiang Qihuai took the bucket to the kitchen to wash it, and put it back into the pot.
"I suddenly discovered that Jiangqihuai is still useful." Ji Fan said while typing on the phone without looking up.
Tao Zhi sneered: "Anyway, it's much more useful than you." She turned her head and glanced at his mobile phone screen, "Who are you chatting with so much?"
As soon as her gaze swept over, Ji Fan locked the screen with a "click", turned his head and said dissatisfiedly, "Can I still have some private space?"
He moved quickly, but Tao Zhi still saw the cat-head emoji flashing across the screen of his phone.
"Ask a question." She raised her hand high with a serious face.
Ji Fan looked down at his phone again: "Say."
Tao Zhi: "When are you going to chase after our lovely Lingling?"
"I'm chasing..." Ji Fan's expression was dull for two seconds, then turned from dull to shocked, and finally became irritable for no reason.
He suddenly took half a step back, blushing and said, "When did I say I was going to chase her?!"
"Then what are you doing here endlessly?" Tao Zhi lifted his chin towards his phone, "Are you just chatting? Don't you intend to take responsibility?"
Ji Fan blushed and stared at her silently for a long time, his shoulders slumped, and he suddenly said discouragedly: "If chasing can be useful, what can I say, she doesn't like me."
"She said before that she likes gentleness." He scratched his hair irritably, pointed to himself and asked, "Look at me, does it have anything to do with the word gentleness?"
Tao Zhi looked him up and down seriously, nodded, and said in agreement: "You can't tell if you're gentle or soft, but it's quite oily."
"Fuck me?" Ji Fan scratched his hair again, "I just washed my hair this morning."
"It's not that your hair is oily," Tao Zhi said sincerely, "As long as you change out those tattered clothes on your body and make them less colorful, you won't be able to graduate from college. Even people can't see you."
"You don't know fashion." Ji Fan refused to accept it.
Tao Zhi: "You know what a woman."
Ji Fan felt that his aesthetics had been insulted, and he didn't want to talk to Tao Zhi anymore, preferring to stay in the same kitchen with the annoying Jiang Qihuai to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner.
Tao Zhi sat on the sofa alone, played with his mobile phone and ate fruits, and felt bored, so he went to the kitchen to watch some men busy.
It was the first time Tao Xiuping saw Jiang Qihuai in the kitchen, he was a little surprised that he could cook, and after the accident, he let him take charge of the cooking with peace of mind.
Tao Zhi ran to him with a grape in his mouth, watched him methodically put all kinds of washed and cut food into the pot, and said vaguely: "Why do I feel that I cheated a free cook by bringing you back for the New Year?"
"It's not free," Jiang Qihuai said calmly, "Remember to pay."
Tao Zhi threw away the grape skin: "Why are you so serious about money now?"
"After all, I'm short of money," Jiang Qihuai said while lifting the lid of the casserole and poking the beef inside with chopsticks, "I still owe my girlfriend a palace."
Tao Zhi glanced sideways, and on the other side of the kitchen, Tao Xiuping was leaning against the island and directing Ji Fan to wash the vegetables, not paying attention to the movement here.
"Didn't the girlfriend say that it's fine if you don't want the palace." Tao Zhi whispered.
Jiang Qihuai turned his head and glanced at her.
"How can I propose to the princess without a palace?" He said unhurriedly.
Tao Zhi almost choked on the grapes he just swallowed.
She stared at him blankly, and then her ears slowly turned red.
Tao Zhi raised his hands and pinched his hot ears, lowered his head, and muttered softly: "I'm going to watch TV."
Then Xiaobu walked out of the kitchen.
Jiang Qihuai looked back at her hurried back.
Fleeing.
He lowered his head and smiled.
This New Year's Eve dinner was well-prepared, Jiang Qihuai was in charge, Ji Fan was in charge, Tao Xiuping was happy to have a leisurely time, and stood beside him as his commander-in-chief.
After dinner, a few people sat on the sofa to watch the Spring Festival Gala. Most of the time, Jiang Qihuai and Tao Xiuping listened to Tao Zhi and Ji Fan bickering loudly beside them.
Tao Xiuping turned his head and looked at Jiang Qihuai: "Are these two arguing?"
Jiang Qihuai: "No."
"These two ancestors have always been like this. Although sometimes it's a bit annoying, it's still lively." Tao Xiuping said flatly, "Just get used to it."
Jiang Qihuai smiled and said in a low voice, "This is pretty good."
This was probably the New Year's Eve that he lived the most like New Year's Eve.
In the warm and bright living room, two people quarreled like children, and during the lively New Year's Eve dinner, Tao Zhi clumsily learned how to make dumplings with his hands full of flour, but all the dumplings leaked when cooking, and it became a pot of broth. Dough.
He looked at the little girl who sneered back at Ji Fan mercilessly with puffy mouth and unhappy face, his cold eyes subconsciously slowed down.
This was probably the best situation he had been looking forward to all along.
It doesn't get much better than this.
After the New Year, Jiang Qihuai has a week off.
Tao Zhi was free throughout February, and it was rare for Jiang Qihuai to spend a few days with her at home. Most of the time, they were relatively quiet. The two of them huddled on the sofa and did their own things until the eighth day when they officially went to work.
After the year was not so busy, Tao Zhi took him to clean up the old house in the small alley every now and then. She replaced some old appliances that were too old to be used with new ones, and squatted in front of the small potted plant with green radishes Watch them and water them.
On the day of the Lantern Festival, Tao Zhi and Jiang Qihuai woke up early and drove to the cemetery in the suburbs.
In the early morning of midwinter, Tao Zhi followed Jiang Qihuai on the blue-gray stone steps, until he reached Jiang Qinghe's tomb.
It snowed last night, and a thin layer of snow fell in front of the old man's tombstone. Jiang Qihuai raised his hand and gently brushed the snow away. Wipe that off-white photo.
Tao Zhi squatted down: "Grandpa Jiang, Ah Huai and I came to see you."
"I didn't know that you lived here. I have had so many meals before, but I haven't visited you for so many years," she said softly, "Ah Huai is doing very well now. You put him You have grown into a particularly outstanding person, and you can already rest well. If you have nothing to do, drop by and chat with my mother, she knows everything, and she can play chess with you."
After many years, Grandpa Jiang looked at her kindly again.
He seemed to be smiling and telling her something.
Tao Zhi smiled, his eyes slightly curved: "You have worked so hard for so many years, and it is my turn to take over from now on. Don't worry, I will take good care of him and stay with him forever."
The cemetery was solemn and quiet. After Tao Zhi finished speaking, he waited for a while, then turned his head.
Jiang Qihuai stood behind her without saying a word, Tao Zhi raised his face, blinked and said, "Grandpa Jiang said he will leave you to me, if you bully me, let me beat you."
Jiang Qihuai gave a low laugh, and reached out to her: "Yes."
Tao Zhi took his hand and stood up.
The two put down the bouquet, stayed with the old man for a while, and continued on their way.
Ji Jin's tomb is not far ahead.
Every time Tao Zhi came with Ji Fan, the two would be so silent that they didn't want to show their pretentious emotions to each other, but as long as they came alone, Ji Fan would cry, and Tao Zhi would talk a lot to Ji Jin.
I would tell her what happened in school, what new friends I made, the delicious hot pot restaurant I ate, and the recent works that I submitted abroad won a small award.
He would say that Lao Tao had been very silent before, but recently he slowly began to change back to that lively old man, and he also liked watching love variety shows. He said that Ji Fan had a crush on a girl for many years, but he never dared to chase after her.
I will also tell her that I don't blame you for what happened when I was a child. Although as the one who was not favored, your choice still made me a little sad, but I don't blame you.
I will be sad, but I don't blame you.
Tao Zhi was indeed closer to her mother when she was young, but Tao Xiuping's love and care for her had a more profound impact on her. The existence of such emotions as regret or resentment towards Ji Jin seems to be obliterating and denying the love her father gave her for so many years.
Sometimes, she would even be very grateful for Ji Jin's choice.
Let Tao Xiuping watch her grow up while she grows old with him.
Tao Zhi stood in front of Ji Jin's tombstone for a long time, until he finished speaking the last thing he wanted to say, then he turned his head and gently pulled Jiang Qihuai's finger: "Let's go, it's so cold."
Jiang Qihuai glanced at her red eye circles, held her hand behind his back, and stuffed it into his coat pocket.
Tao Zhi's cold fingers retracted into his palm, warmed up little by little, his mood became clearer, and he suddenly remembered that he hadn't told Ji Jin about Jiang Qihuai yet.
She turned her head sideways and said in a low voice, "I forgot to mention you to my mother just now."
Jiang Qihuai looked calm and didn't care too much: "It's okay, I just told auntie."
Tao Zhi tilted his head and said with a smile, "Have you chatted with her?"
"Um."
"Then what did you talk to her about?" She asked curiously.
Jiang Qihuai didn't speak.
He took her hand and walked forward on the stone road covered with thin snow, until he walked down the last step, Tao Zhi heard him say slowly: "I said, I have a girl who I want to marry."
Tao Zhi was stunned and looked at him.
Jiang Qihuai squeezed her fingers, lowered his eyes: "I don't know if she can recognize me as her son-in-law."
His expression was very calm, his eyebrows and eyes were as cold as ice carvings, but his eyes softened at this moment: "I am also very grateful to her for bringing my branch into this world."
And being so lucky to have met him.
From then on, he will always guard her.
Smile with her when she is happy and cry with her when she is sad.
Spend every day in the future with her, cross the mountains and ravines, walk hand in hand with each other, and illuminate the future.