Chapter 22 Chapter 22 It seems that he has become himself...
"Please don't get so close to me." Tao Siyun put down his phone and pushed away Tao Qi's head, dyed with hazy blue hair, for the nth time. He looked up and said despairingly, "I must get a new anti-peeping film next time."
"Am I peeping? It's obviously your WeChat that keeps ringing that's piqued my curiosity." Tao Qi curled his lips. "You're so distracted while eating. Hey, are you in love?"
"No, no, could you please stop being so nosy?"
Tao Qi crossed his legs and asked her, "Do you know what turning 29 means?"
"It means my brother will be thirty next year."
Tao Qi shook his head and said with a strange train of thought, "Twenty-nine-eight means that my brother just came of age today. Calculate how old you are this year."
"?"
Tao Siyun glanced at him indifferently with an extremely complicated look, and suddenly didn't want to talk anymore.
After being in the fashion circle for so long, you must have become crazy, right?
Tao Qi narrowed his eyes slightly and gritted his teeth, completely unaware of how childish he was. He put his arm around her shoulders and said seriously, "I'm officially informing you, Tao Siyun. If you dare to have a boyfriend before any of the brothers are no longer single, then, hmph, that would be considered premature love in our family, understand?"
Tao Siyun was almost annoyed to death by this cousin who had a bit of a middle school syndrome from time to time. She stretched her neck and cried out for help.
"Aunt, look at him."
"Hey, what's going on?"
All the elders at the table turned around and stared at Tao Qi.
"It's okay, it's okay," Tao Qi said, smoothing her hair with a smile, "We were just joking."
“…”
Tao Siyun struggled to avoid his clutches, "Who is playing with you? Why are you so childish?"
Tao Qi is two years older than her. He has been particularly protective of his children since childhood. He is also under pressure from his older brother and Tao Qian, so as the third child, he always has an inexplicable "protective desire" for Tao Siyun, who is younger than him.
What impressed me most was that when Tao Siyun just entered junior high school, several cases of school bullying occurred in her junior high school.
When Tao Qian found out, he asked Tao Qi to keep an eye on her more at school.
At that time, Tao Qi was already a well-known big brother figure in the junior high school. After being entrusted with an important task by Tao Qian, he did not dare to slack off at all.
So on a sunny morning, after the physical education class, he was sweating all over and led his group of younger brothers to block the door of Class 7 of the first grade with high morale and swagger.
Tao Qi put his hands on his waist, brushed his sweaty hair, and stood on the podium, looking around with a contemptuous gaze. He successfully acted cool in front of a group of freshly graduated elementary school students.
"Listen up, Tao Siyun, she's my sister, I'm protecting her. If anyone bullies her, come find me on the third grade. There's a reward for anyone who reports her."
The classroom was completely silent, and all the students stared at the leader on the podium in amazement: "..."
The goal was achieved, this was the effect he wanted.
Tao Qi felt that he was particularly proud in front of a group of children, and wanted to leave his signature on the blackboard to show off. But after thinking about it, he felt that his handwriting was too ugly and he was not presentable, so he gave up.
He brushed off the chalk dust on his hands, walked quickly to Tao Siyun's seat, took out two lollipops he had just bought from the canteen, and placed them on her table. He said timidly, "Take good care of yourself. Brother is leaving~"
“…”
This flurry of activity left Bian Chengzi completely stunned. She couldn't help but complain to her bestie, "Why is he acting like he's having a seizure? Does he think we're first graders?"
It's so embarrassing...
It was not until Tao Qi graduated from junior high school that Tao Siyun finally escaped from his rule.
Bian Chengzi couldn't help but sigh, "That living dad is finally gone. Luckily you're going to high school in Huxi next year, otherwise I guarantee he would be the end of your romantic life."
As someone who once had countless achievements and was worshipped by countless younger brothers in school, the only person Tao Qi couldn't stand over the years was...
"No one else, I was really chatting with Bian Chengzi just now."
Tao Qi said with a sour face: "What bad things did you two say about me again?"
Tao Siyun: "...We didn't talk about you, why are you so sensitive?"
"It would be better if your best friend and I don't get along well."
"Why should my best friend be compatible with you?" Tao Siyun thought his words were a bit nonsensical. "It's enough for her to be compatible with me."
"That's true." If it weren't for Tao Siyun, the two of them would never have had any intersection at all. They were not in the same circle anyway, so Tao Qi was too lazy to ask Bian Chengzi why she had disliked him since childhood.
***
On the way back, Tao Qian drove again. He didn't drink alcohol that night and only served tea to the elders when they toasted.
Tao Siyun sat in the back seat with his parents.
The traffic light ahead turned red. Tao Qian stopped and glanced in the rearview mirror at the "family of three" happily playing a jigsaw puzzle. His voice was as lonely as a wandering ghost: "I was picked up by you, wasn't it?"
Qin Shu: "Well, after all these years you finally know that your father and I picked you up from the trash can and brought you home."
Tao Qian: "...???"
Without even looking up, Tao Daiming whispered, "Has your brother become in trouble from all the idleness since he resigned?"
Tao Siyun stared at the iPad screen and said in the same low voice, "I don't know."
"Am I your driver?"
Tao Siyun: "Brother, if you want someone to sit in the passenger seat with you, just say so."
Tao Qian snorted, "I am destined to be a driver."
Qin Shu said earnestly, "Isn't the passenger seat now reserved for girlfriends? Son, you need to have some talent too."
"that is."
Qin Shu completely ignored Tao Qian's secret "competing for favor" and brought the topic back to the topic after going around in circles.
Now Tao Qian finally shut up obediently.
Tao Siyun spent a short but happy weekend at home. After celebrating Tao Qian's birthday, he returned to Shanghai West the next afternoon.
Tao Qian habitually transferred 6,000 yuan in pocket money to her via WeChat, but Tao Siyun behaved very sensibly this time. She did not accept the money as she had done in the past, but kept saying no.
"Why, you think it's not enough? I'll transfer another 2,000 to you. That should be fine, right?"
"It's not that it's too little, I really don't need it."
"What do you mean, girl? Just say what you want to say."
Tao Siyun thought for a long time, weighing his words for a long time. After making sure that this would not hurt Tao Qian's self-esteem, he stammered, "Brother, you don't have a job now, and it's hard to support yourself. You should keep this money for yourself."
Tao Qian put away his phone expressionlessly, looked at her eyes full of pity, and sneered: "Do I, your brother, look that poor?"
"Anyway...at least he's richer than me."
***
Originally, Bian Chengzi had agreed to pick her up at the airport, but something else happened suddenly, so Tao Siyun had to take a taxi home by herself.
The driver smiled and asked while driving: "Little girl, are you a student at the music school?"
Tao Siyun lowered his eyes, his face showing an embarrassment that he couldn't hide after being misunderstood: "Not really, I just learned a little bit before."
"Hahaha, even though I'm an outsider and don't understand music, I've driven many young people like you. Your piano doesn't look cheap at all. You must have studied seriously, right?"
Tao Siyun said "hmm" but did not deny it.
She started to learn cello under the guidance of Qin Ru when she was five or six years old, and has been studying seriously for more than ten years.
In the evening, the afterglow of the setting sun mixed with a touch of warm color in the sky slanted into the car window and fell gently on her. Tao Siyun touched the violin case with mixed feelings.
She persisted from elementary school to high school, spending more time and energy on practicing the piano than on studying. In the end, she got the certificates from the two best music colleges in the country as she wished.
At that time, she had already stepped into the door of the music college, but in the end she chose to give up.
After arriving home, she reported her safety to her parents and Tao Qian, then packed her luggage and went to the bathroom to take a bath.
The phone was charging on the bedside table, and it kept beeping every once in a while, which lasted for nearly an hour.
When Tao Siyun finished blow-drying her hair, the entire screen was filled with new WeChat message notifications.
More than forty minutes ago, when she was still taking a shower, Tao Qian started a group chat. When Tao Siyun clicked on it, she was stunned.
Landlord Tao Qian: [I'm now living in Beijing. From now on, just transfer the rent to my sister. She lives across the street. @Tao Siyun]
Xu Ji: [Okay.]
Landlord Tao Qian: [You've moved in already, right? The appliances and furniture in the house are all brand new, never used. Take a look around. If you need anything, let me know. Small items are fine.]
Xu Ji: [OK]
Landlord Tao Qian: [We are schoolmates, so there is no need to pay the deposit. I will refund it to you.]
Xu Ji: [Thank you, senior]
Landlord Tao Qian: [You’re welcome, come to me if you need anything]
…
After reading the chat records, Tao Siyun's brain exploded!
She never expected that the agent Tao Qian found would just happen to rent the house to Xu Ji?!
What kind of "my brother's junior tenant is ostensibly his schoolmate but is actually my high school scandal" storyline has come true...
No wonder, Li Huan said that Xu Ji seemed very busy yesterday. He kept saying he was busy when he called and did not join them in the evening.
It turned out that he was busy moving and became his neighbor.
Tao Siyun simply didn't know what to say.
After a while, she slowly got up from the bed and sent a WeChat message to Tao Qian: [Brother, how long did you sign the contract for?]
Tao Qian: [I signed a one-year contract first, what’s wrong?]
That means she and Xu Ji will be neighbors for a year.
Tao Siyun: [Oh, nothing, just asking]
Tao Qian: [Okay, add him on WeChat first, and from now on, all the rent collected every month will be yours. Just think of it as pocket money from my brother.]
Tao Qian proved with his own actions that even though he was unemployed now, his situation was not as miserable as Tao Siyun had imagined.
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