The plane flew for two hours and finally arrived at the Capital Airport.
Tao Mu and his companions came out of the airport and looked up - wow, it was a bright sunny day.
"There's no smog!" Big Hair and Little Fatty also started to fuss: "It seems that the weather in the capital is quite friendly to us returning travelers!"
Yun Yi, who was traveling with him, asked Tao Mu with a smile: "How are you guys going to leave? Why not -"
Before he finished speaking, there was a sudden and extremely excited and loud "Brother Mumumumu" from the front!!! Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw a skinny kid standing in front of a black Grand Cherokee, waving at Tao Mu excitedly. There were two adults following behind him - one had a handsome appearance and a gentle temperament, and the other was a sturdy man with thick eyebrows and tiger eyes, looking very fierce.
"Brother Mumumumu, you, you, you finally - are back. I missed you so much!" The skinny kid rushed to Tao Mu like a monkey, stretched out his hand to take Tao Mu's suitcase, and said eagerly: "When you left, you didn't take me with you. What's the point of taking these two pieces of trash with you? If I don't give them to you and make trouble, I'll just burn some incense and pray to Buddha."
"Hey, stuttering little Feng Yuan, how can you talk like that? So all those big elbows and fried chicken legs I fed you back then were in vain? How can you disparage your big hairy brother like that?"
"And your brother Xiaopang." Xiaopang agreed unwillingly.
Feng Yuan snorted, hugged their brother Tao Mu and rubbed him: "One, one, let's put it back to the original, no matter how much you feed me, you can't stop me from telling the truth in front of Brother Mumu!"
"You, you, Brother Mu, are you so good? You even don't care about the kindness we have shown you all over the years?" Xiaopang deliberately imitated Feng Yuan's way of speaking. The kid who was being squeezed blushed and stiffened his neck. He gave his fat brother a suggestion: "Don't talk like me!"
"Why, why, why? Ah?" Xiaopang continued to tease.
Feng Yuan was so anxious that he couldn't even speak: "The dean said, learn, learn that I can stutter easily, change, change, change--"
"You can't change it, right?" Xiao Pang took it and laughed at Feng Yuan: "Look how hard you are talking."
Feng Yuan rolled his eyes at Xiao Pang, then stood next to Tao Mu, pouting and saying nothing.
Tao Mu smiled and rubbed their Feng Yuan's prickly little head: "Your fat brother is teasing you. I bought a lot of gifts for you. Help me move the car up."
"Okay!" Feng Yuan agreed readily. Without saying a word, he immediately ran to the trunk with the box. Tao Mu walked up to Liu Yao and Meng Qi by himself, and called out shyly and embarrassedly: "Brother Yao, Brother Xiao Qi."
"I'm glad you're back." Meng Qi reached out and patted Tao Mu's shoulder: "Are you hungry? Uncle Song has a table full of food at home. We'll take you there."
Tao Mu was a little surprised. As for Liu Yao, Meng Qi and the old man, although they were all kind to him with all their heart, they actually disliked each other. The old man thought that Liu Yao and his gang were all hooligans, or "that kind of people". There were also a bunch of heavily made-up and timid second-hand men staying in the store, for fear that they would lead Tao Mu astray. Liu Yao looked down on the old man because of his lonely and old-fashioned character. When the two groups meet, they start quarreling within a few words.
What happened today?
Liu Yao folded his arms and snorted, looking up at the sky, and ignored Tao Mu.
Tao Mu came to his brother Yao, looked at Liu Yao eagerly, and spoke softly with a trailing tone: "Brother Yao..."
Liu Yao snorted again, and before he had finished showing off, Meng Qi pushed him back, "That's almost it! If you really make the child cry, I'll be mad at you."
Liu Yao then looked at Tao Mu straight in the eye and said in a calm voice, "Get in the car!"
Liu Yao's voice is extremely deep, with a hint of hoarseness, and is a subwoofer that is highly praised by later generations. When he is unhappy, a muffled resonant sound will come out of his chest when he speaks, which makes people feel frightened and start to feel cowardly. Everyone in the night was frightened when they saw Liu Yao speaking in a stern voice with a frown on his face.
But Tao Mu was not afraid. Because when he was desperate and was blackened by the entire Internet in his previous life, Liu Yao used this kind of voice to help him vent his anger. Later, he was implicated by Tao Mu and was forced to stay in Yanjing by Shen Yu's admirers. He used this voice to comfort him before leaving.
So when Tao Mu heard this voice, he felt safe, at ease and comfortable. It's like a little kid who is protected by his parents. No matter how much trouble he gets into or how much injustice he suffers outside, even if he is severely beaten when he returns home, he still has the confidence.
"Brother Yao, please don't be angry with me." Tao Mu hugged their big and strong brother Yao and begged for mercy softly: "I know I was wrong."
"Get lost! Who taught you to be so sticky? You want to drip a few drops of cat urine?" Liu Yao rolled his eyes impatiently, but did not break free. He rubbed Tao Mu's head hard with his big hand: "Hurry up and get in the car. You are waiting for dinner at home!"
This sentence inexplicably hit Tao Mu. The kid felt his eyes warm up and immediately let go of his brother Yao's arm: "Wait for me for a while. I came back with someone and I have to say goodbye."
After Tao Mu finished speaking, he strode up to the Yun family, his eyes revealing a sense of comfort and joy that he had never seen in H Town: "I won't go with you. My family will come to pick me up."
The Yun family members took a look at Liu Yao, who looked like someone who was not easy to mess with, and Meng Qi, who started to attract the frequent turns of the tourists as soon as he walked to that station, and they suddenly realized something. Yun Yi smiled and said, "Be careful on the road. Keep in touch."
Yun Duo hugged her mother's arm and said reluctantly, "Brother Xiao Mu, please don't forget me. Remember to call me."
As soon as I said this, I felt that this was unlikely, so I changed the subject and said, "When I call you, you have to answer the phone. You are not allowed to say that your phone is running out of battery as soon as you answer the phone!"
I don't know what Tao Mu's habit is. Every time he answers her call, the first thing he says is "If you have something to say, please tell me quickly. My phone is running out of battery." If you don't want to pay attention to her, just say so. It's too perfunctory to use this excuse every time.
Tao Mu looked at his nose and nodded at Yun Xingjian and his wife: "Goodbye, uncle and aunt."
He glanced at his half-finished golden thigh again: "Goodbye, Brother Yun."
Everyone in the Yun family watched Tao Mu jump into the Grand Cherokee with joy, and suddenly felt that the child looked a lot younger - he finally looked like an eighteen-year-old boy.
On the other side, Liu Yao looked at Tao Mu's back as he walked towards the Yun family, his face darkening. Asked Da Mao Xiao Pang: "Did Xiao Mu get bullied in H Town?"
Big Hair and Little Fatty have always been afraid of Liu Yao. Hearing this, almost as a conditioned reflex, Tao Mu's harsh admonition to them immediately flashed through his mind. The two looked at each other, and said honestly, "How could our brother Mu be bullied? Those grandsons are really snobbish. They looked down on brother Mu at first. But later they were conquered by brother Mu's little tricks--"
"That's enough!" Liu Yao waved his hand, interrupting Da Mao Xiao Pang's serious lies: "Don't talk about it for now. We can talk later."
Liu Yao looked at Tao Mu who was running back in two steps and motioned for everyone to get in the car.
The Grand Cherokee drove all the way back from the airport, got off the highway and entered the East Third Ring Road, and as expected, encountered a traffic jam. The entire East Third Ring Road has been turned into a parking lot. Liu Yao said without even turning his head: "There are snacks in the car."
Meng Qi, who was sitting in the co-pilot seat, smiled and turned his head to say, "Before your brother Yao came to the airport, he specially took a lot of dried fruit snacks from the bar. They are all your favorites, Xiao Mu. But don't eat too much. If you eat too much, you won't be able to eat when you get home. Uncle Song will nag you again."
Tao Mu was startled when he heard this, and was stunned when he saw Meng Qi taking out bags of pistachios, figs, broad beans, braised peanuts, and Tao Mu's favorite osmanthus cakes and kidney bean cakes from the small refrigerator in the car.
He took the things from Brother Xiao Qi and thanked him with a grin.
Liu Yao was annoyed by the traffic jam, so he lowered the window, lit a cigarette, and observed the expression of his kid through the rearview mirror. Tao Mu was seen sitting in the back seat, tearing up the snack bags, and then distributing the snacks one by one to Da Mao, Xiao Pang and Feng Yuan.
His expression and behavior are no different from before.
Meng Qi smiled and asked Tao Mu: "How was your life in H Town? How many big stars have you met?"
Da Mao and Xiao Pang subconsciously wanted to interrupt, but they were afraid that they would not be able to keep their mouths shut and accidentally say something wrong, which would make Tao Mu really angry with them. I could only shut my mouth and eat.
Tao Mu smiled and told the two parents about his little experiences in H Town. During the conversation, he focused on describing how much money he had made from stock trading: "Brother Xiao Qi, I'm really amazing. Would you like to consider giving me your private money to help you manage it? I promise that I can make at least ten times the money within a year, and I won't charge you any handling fees!"
While Tao Mu was talking, he didn't forget to peek at their brother Yao with his little eyes. Now he's like a scumbag who has been fooling around outside and has wronged his original wife, and he only wants to make it up to her. I don’t know where to start, so I can only make up for it materially.
Meng Qi chuckled. She didn't take Tao Mu's words seriously, and coaxed him like a child: "Hey, our Mu Mu is so awesome?"
"Then take a look~" Tao Mu leaned on the backrest of the passenger seat, with his slender index finger slightly bent, tapping the back of their brother Xiao Qi's carefully shaped head: "I'm really good. I'm definitely much better than the financial advisor you're using now, brother Xiao Qi. By the way, I didn't ask you to lose money, did I?"
"No." Meng Qi smiled and said, "In the middle of the year, your brother Yao felt that the situation was not good, so I withdrew the money from the stock market."
Tao Mu immediately gave their brother Yao a thumbs up, his expression as fawning as a traitor in an anti-Japanese drama: "Brother Yao is wise and brave."
"Get lost." Seeing Tao Mu coming over, Liu Yao cut off the remaining half of his cigarette - he didn't know that the kid he watched grow up had already learned to smoke.
The Grand Cherokee drove along the East Third Ring Road, which looked like a parking lot, all the way to Houhai. By the time we arrived at the orphanage, it was already past two in the afternoon.
Dean Tao and the other children in the orphanage were waiting at Old Man Song’s restaurant. There was a huge crowd of people, all starving, but no one asked for food. Hearing the sound of the car, they immediately rushed out of the small restaurant: "Brother Mu, Brother Mu is back~"
"Let's eat~ Let's eat~"
Tao Mu pushed the door and got out of the car, looking at Old Man Song standing behind the threshold with his hands behind his back. The golden afternoon sun poured down, creating a hazy and dazzling golden halo. Tao Mu blinked in a trance, walked forward and called out, "Old man, I'm back."
Song Daozhen snorted coldly, with his hands behind his back and droopy eyebrows: "Why are you back so late? Everyone is waiting for you, come in and have dinner quickly." He said this as if he didn't care about Liu Yaomengqi who followed behind him.
Liu Yao snorted and felt his wrist being pulled. Looking back, he saw Meng Qi smiling at him with gentle eyes and a look of comfort.
Liu Yao snorted again. Forget it. He is a grown man and he doesn’t want to bother with an old man who has one foot in the coffin.
Dean Tao came out of the house, wearing an apron around her waist, smiling kindly: "Xiao Mu is back? Are you hungry? Come in and eat!"
As he said this, he reached out and touched the sweaty heads of Da Mao, Xiao Pang, and Xiao Feng Yuan: "Look at how hot it is, your heads are full of sweat, go wash your faces quickly."
In late August in the city of Yanjing, the autumn heat was raging. By noon it was about 37 or 38 degrees. Because Meng Qi is in poor health, he can't use the air conditioner. The journey back here was really frustrating for everyone.
Da Mao and Xiao Pang let out an "Ah" and ran towards the bathroom. Feng Yuan followed closely behind, running faster than the other two. Upon seeing this, all the children in the orphanage swarmed over, laughing and making so much noise that the whole room was filled with screams.
Dean Tao looked at the children lovingly, and then spoke to Liu Yaomengqi: "Is there a traffic jam outside again? If you ask me, this Yanjing City is good everywhere. It's just this one road. It's jammed like a parking lot every day, which delays a lot of work."
Meng Qi smiled and said, "I'm used to it. But Xiao Mu, I haven't eaten since morning, I'm starving."
"Dinner will be served soon." Dean Tao said, and couldn't help but touch Tao Mu who had been looking at her without saying a word: "What's the matter?"
"Dean Tao." Tao Mu looked at the old lady with a kind smile with some sighs. Including his previous life, he hasn't seen Dean Tao for four or five years. The only impression in my mind is the eternal smile in the black and white portrait.
Tao Mu didn't know much about Dean Tao's private affairs. As far as he could remember, Director Tao had been the director of the orphanage. She had no family, no husband, and no children in her life. Her entire body and heart were dedicated to this small orphanage and the children in it for most of her life. She treats all the children in the orphanage as her own. She had been in the orphanage for so many years and had never even received a salary. All the retirement salary was used for the daily expenses of the orphanage. I haven't bought myself a new piece of clothing in years.
However, those black-hearted real estate developers hired internet trolls to slander Dean Tao for embezzling the orphanage's funds just because Dean Tao disagreed to sell the orphanage's land to developers for building real estate. He also found someone to work together to "report" President Tao.
Dean Tao probably never thought that human hearts could be so sinister. Faced with accusations and doubts from the news media and netizens who did not know the truth, an old lady in her sixties who could not even use the Internet had no way to defend herself. In the end, she suffered a heart attack due to the unscrupulous frame-ups of those marketing accounts and died tragically in the ambulance.
In this life, Tao Mu must never let that happen again!
"Xiaogure? Xiaogure?"
Tao Mu came back to his senses and saw Dean Tao looking at him with a smile: "What are you thinking about? You are so absent-minded. Hurry up and wash your hands and eat."
"Oh." Tao Mu responded and went to wash his hands obediently.
Dean Tao, Song Daozhen, and two waiters in the restaurant began to serve the dishes. Meng Qi also went into the kitchen to help.
Liu Yao sat at the table with a dignified manner, watching Old Man Song personally bring out a large plate of pink birthday peaches. He couldn't help but be a little stunned: "Is anyone having a birthday today?"
Old Man Song glanced at Liu Yao, snorted, and said nothing.
Liu Yao suddenly realized: Oh, this is to celebrate Tao Mu's birthday!
The two of them just exchanged glances and snorted without saying a single word, but their communication was quite clear.
Tao Mu was also stunned when he came out of the bathroom. Not to mention that the table was filled with his favorite dishes, there was also a plate of longevity peaches placed neatly in the middle of the table - it must have been what Dean Tao heard his hysterical words on the phone that day and relayed to the old man.
Then the old man took it seriously. I waited until the day he came back and steamed a large plate of it.
This is to make up for his birthday!
Was it that in their previous life, the stubborn and obstinate old man also carefully prepared such a table full of dishes, but unfortunately he never came back from H Town?
For the rest of my life, I never waited for it again!
Tao Mu's eyes turned red: Tao Mu, you are such a bastard! You are a complete bastard! The number one idiot!
However, what Tao Mu didn't know was that what Old Man Song had carefully prepared was much more than he had imagined.
After dinner, before Liu Yao and Meng Qi could speak, Old Man Song took out a set of keys from the house and handed them to Tao Mu: "House prices have plummeted recently, and the money I saved in the bank is useless. I thought about buying a house so that I can collect rent in the future. I just bought this house, which happens to be in Dongcheng District, opposite Beijing Film Academy. Aren't you going to study at Beijing Film Academy? It just so happens that this house will be given to you to live in for the four years you go to school."
Tao Mu looked at the key handed to him, a look of bewilderment flashed across his face.
Liu Yao was stunned, turned his head to look at Old Man Song, and sneered: "Hey, old man, you went to so much trouble to buy a house, how big is it?"
"38 square meters." Old Man Song glanced at Liu Yao and emphasized, "It's the kind of apartment that is very popular nowadays."
"Wow, this is not small!" Liu Yao snorted and turned to whisper in the ear of their Meng Qi. But the voice was so loud that everyone at the table could hear it: "I don't know if it can fit the little brat's clothes!"
Tao Mu spends money lavishly, and learns from the young masters and princesses in Yese that he loves collecting famous brands. The clothes, shoes and hats I have bought over the years could fill at least three rooms. Thirty-eight square meters, the staff dormitory he had given the kid had never been so cramped—
That's right, Boss Liu is generous and well-known for his generosity in the underworld. The dormitories he provides for his employees are all duplex apartments and luxury villas - basically, these are properties that Boss Liu bought himself, but he is too lazy to rent them out, so he just treats them as employee benefits.
"I think we should let the youngest son live with his brother Xiao Qi——"
Before he could finish his words, Meng Qi grabbed his arm and interrupted him.
"Actually, the child can live anywhere. Uncle Song's house is close to the school. If he wants to live with me, he may have to take a bus two stops away." Meng Qi only looked at Tao Mu's little appearance and knew that Tao Mu was very moved. Staring at Uncle Song eagerly. He didn't want to disappoint his brother Yao. It's really heartbreaking to see the little one in such a dilemma.
Liu Yao looked at their Meng Qi unwillingly!
I spent the whole night cleaning up this house! I even renovated it! I also bought new household appliances! Damn it, all our efforts of nearly a week have been wasted just because of your one sentence!
Meng Qi hooked his little finger around Liu Yao's palm and soothed him, "Let the child live in Uncle Song's house on weekdays. If he wants to have a party with his classmates on the weekend, he can have it at our place. It's the best of both worlds. The best of both worlds."
Liu Yao remained silent this time.
Old Man Song has been staring at Tao Mu's face since Liu Yao said the first sentence. Later, seeing Meng Qi come out to smooth things over, Tao Mu never objected, and he was relieved -
To be honest, he was a little worried that Tao Mu would look down on his little house. But with his ability and the savings he had accumulated for most of his life, he could only afford a small house of less than 40 square meters.
Fortunately, the brat didn’t dislike him this time!
Old Man Song thought so and struck while the iron was hot: "Xiao Qi, you happen to have a car, why don't you drive us there and let Xiao Mu get familiar with the place. He is tired after a day of hard work, so it's a good opportunity for him to take a nap there. Don't we have to report to school tomorrow morning?"
Dean Tao also spoke up for Old Man Song: "That's the truth. Xiao Qi, thank you for your help."
"No trouble." Meng Qi looked at Tao Mu with a smile, and rubbed the kid's head with his hand: "Let's go!"
How does Tao Mu feel now? He felt like there was a pepper stuck in his throat. It was choking and sticky, as if the person would be choked and snot and tears would flow out together if he made a sound. Tao Mu didn't want to cry in front of so many people, and he didn't dare to speak. He could only lower his head and nodded fiercely.
So many people at the table noticed that Tao Mu was different. But no one pointed it out.
Liu Yao picked up the car keys and walked out, while Old Man Song and Meng Qi dragged Tao Mu behind him. Tao Mu held the luggage in one hand and supported the old man with the other. Dean Tao stayed in the store to clean up the leftovers, and little Feng Yuan and other children from the orphanage also came over to help. Da Mao and Xiao Pang, who had eaten for free, looked at Tao Mu eagerly. Although they wanted to join in the fun, there was no room in the car. Besides, it was getting late and it was time for them to go home - in order to get a free meal, neither of them told their families that they were coming back today.
That’s all I can achieve!
Da Mao and Xiao Pang sighed and called their family to ask them to pick them up. Without a doubt, he was scolded by his own adults.
After hanging up the phone, Damao told Tao Mu: "If you have time in the next two days, come to our house. My dad has something to tell you." Boss Wang couldn't bear it anymore when he saw his son's pocket money tumbling in the stock market. This time, Tao Mu was invited to come over, probably to discuss this matter.
Tao Mu nodded. I helped the old man sit tremblingly into the Grand Cherokee with a slightly higher chassis.
Liu Yao drove in silence all the way to the gate of the community where Song Daozhen bought a house. The gate of Beijing Film Academy is just across the street, it is indeed very close.
It seems that this old man is still scheming and I don’t know how long he has been aiming at it.
Careless! I was really careless!
Liu Yao snorted in his heart. If I had known this earlier, I should have bought a house here. Choose the one with the largest area, the best layout and the best lighting. Nor would it allow the 38-square-meter area to intercept us halfway.
Liu Yao felt unhappy and followed Old Man Song all the way.
Old Man Song has limited funds, but he wants to choose a good location. Other conditions will naturally have to be compromised. The house he chose is basically the smallest in the entire community. Still on the top floor. Old man Song was afraid of sunlight, so when renovating the house, he asked the workers to add a layer of sunscreen on top of waterproofing. The air conditioner is also the one with the largest power.
The small house is fully equipped with a kitchen, dining room, bedroom, study and toilet. Old Man Song asked the decorator to break through all the partition walls except the load-bearing walls, hoping to make the room bigger and have better lighting.
Walking in from the door, on the left is a shoe cabinet and a photo wall, with various photos of Tao Mu hanging on it. On the right is the bathroom. The mirror sliding door fully takes into account the little kid's habit of dressing up to show off. Inside is the most popular toilet with a shower next to it, separated by a frosted bath screen glass.
Further inside is the living room. White walls, warm yellow furniture, and a light green fabric sofa opposite the LCD TV hanging on the wall. Behind the fabric sofa, two large sliding-door cabinets were dug out from the wall, and they were already filled with Tao Mu's favorite brand-name clothes and hats. Old Man Song and Dean Tao moved it here specially from the orphanage.
Further in is the dining room, with a small table and two exquisitely designed small dining lamps hanging above the table.
Further inside the restaurant is the bedroom and kitchen, separated by two partitions, one horizontal and one vertical. There was only a bed in the bedroom, and next to the bed was a desk and a bookshelf. On the desk was a Fruit brand desktop computer - Old Man Song asked the boy in his store to accompany him to the computer city to choose it himself. It is said to be the best brand.
As for the kitchen, it’s even easier. With Old Man Song's expertise, he can definitely arrange all the utensils in the kitchen clearly.
There is a small balcony further inside. Sealed with glass on all four sides. There are several pots of green plants inside. There was also a pot of peppers, a pot of small tomatoes, and a pot of kumquats that Old Man Song brought over from the restaurant. It is golden autumn, the harvest season. The small balcony is colorful and full of autumn atmosphere, which looks quite wild.
But more of it is the lively atmosphere of home life.
The house is not big and its decoration is not luxurious. It can be said that this is the most embarrassing house Tao Mu has ever lived in in his two lives. However, Tao Mu could see the taste of home in every furnishing in this house.
That was the "new home" that Song Daozhen had bought bit by bit over countless days and nights, thinking of Tao Mu in his heart.
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