Chapter 64 I’m sorry, I…
In previous years, everyone followed the old custom to have New Year’s Eve dinner at Tao Daiming’s house. The next day, on the first day of the new year, they would go to their uncle’s house, and then to their aunt’s house on the second day. The three families would take turns entertaining each other.
This year, because Tao Qi was injured and had difficulty moving, the three siblings discussed and decided to spend the year at their uncle's house.
After finishing the New Year's Eve dinner and returning home, the family sat in the living room watching TV to stay up all night. Tao Siyun leaned on Qin Shu's shoulder and happily opened the red envelopes he received tonight. Just after counting a stack of new banknotes with consecutive numbers, three thick red envelopes were suddenly stuffed into his sweater pocket.
Tao Qian sat down and said, "I'll give you some of mine too. Take your time to count them."
There is no age limit for giving out red envelopes in their family. As long as you are unmarried, the elders in the family will still give you New Year's money during the Spring Festival.
Tao Siyun was stunned for a moment, exchanged glances with his parents, and then immediately hugged Qin Shu's arm like a koala, shaking his head vigorously: "Bribing me is useless. Why should I go on your blind date..."
"Go and mess with me."
“…”
"Why are you like this? Not only do you not want to go on a blind date, but you're actually ruining my image in front of others." Tao Siyun hid in Qin Shu's arms and acted coquettishly: "Mom, I don't want to go."
Qin Shu and Tao Daiming exchanged a glance, and as if they had discussed it beforehand, the couple worked together to persuade their daughter.
"An An, your brother is shy, go with him."
Tao Qian, who was called "shy" by his father for the first time in his 29 years of life, was as unsociable as usual. He sat alone on the single sofa next to him, looking as if he was not the one who was about to go on a blind date.
Qin Shu leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Go help Mom pick out the right person and meet the person who might become your future sister-in-law, okay?"
Tao Qian didn't look like he was in the mood for a serious blind date. Even before they met, he had already planned how to ruin the blind date that his elders had carefully arranged for him.
In front of his parents, Tao Qian made no secret of his attitude and even told them his plan openly. Clearly, this wasn't preparation for trouble...
Tao Siyun was unwilling to do so. She didn't want to get involved in such an offensive matter...
"Are you and Dad going too?"
"Why would you bring your parents to a blind date? It's not like both sets of parents are meeting to discuss marriage." The couple smiled at each other, not knowing if they were saying this intentionally for their son to hear. "We have to wait until your brother officially notifies us that we can meet our in-laws."
Tao Qian: "..."
"But the girls all brought their friends. It would be inappropriate for me to go. I might as well let my brother's best friend accompany him." Tao Siyun found another excuse to refuse.
Unexpectedly, when Tao Qian heard this, he raised his head, glanced at her, and said lightly: "My best friend is busy."
"Then I'm not free either."
Tao Qian lowered his legs, which had been crossed for a long time, and said impatiently, "What are you doing at home during the holidays? Doing your winter vacation homework?"
"Well, I'd rather do my winter vacation homework..."
It's already uncomfortable for two strangers to sit together and have an awkward conversation under the premise of a "blind date." If she went again, she didn't know if the four of them would die of embarrassment...
Just as she was thinking about it and feeling extremely conflicted, she suddenly remembered the person she had met twice before, who was most likely Tao Qian's ex-girlfriend.
Tao Siyun immediately came over and squeezed on the single sofa with Tao Qian, whispering tentatively: "Brother, do you think there is any chance between you and your blind date?"
"No, it's just a formality. I just want to get this matter over with and give my aunt an explanation so that they don't have to worry about it anymore."
"Oh, that's good." Tao Siyun finally felt relieved, so he began to fight for his right to speak: "Then when I go there, can I say bad things about you in front of your blind date?"
Tao Qian tutted, feeling the need to make this clear upfront. He hugged Tao Siyun and lowered his voice, "Your mission is to make the other person feel unworthy of me and give up." Tao Qian pinched her face, narrowed his eyes, and said proudly, "Not that he looks down on me, understand?"
Tao Siyun finally saw through his brother's true face and nodded, half understanding. "So in the eyes of the girl and her friends, 'the sarcastic, unreasonable, and obviously difficult sister of the blind date' is the persona you created for me in order to achieve your goals without sacrificing yourself, right?"
"Good girl." Seeing that she had thoroughly understood what he meant, Tao Qian felt extremely relieved. He raised his hand to smooth her fur and promised generously, "You can choose from Chanel or Prada."
Tao Siyun was not moved by this little favor at all. He touched Tao Qian's forehead with an expression of "Are you okay?" and said, "Brother, are you crazy?"
Tao Qian: "???"
Although he was reluctant to admit it, Tao Siyun seemed to really see the shadow of the kind of "Pusin man" that Bian Chengzi loved to complain about in Tao Qian.
So, in order to make him face reality, Tao Siyun very objectively compared every known condition between him and his blind date in detail.
"Look, first, not only did she go to the same university as you, but she also has a higher degree than you. Second, you were born in 1992 and she was born in 1993, so she's younger than you. Third, she's an only child, her family is in business, and she's probably richer than ours. Fourth, she currently has all the external qualities that completely surpass yours, and you have no advantages at all. It's fine if you don't feel inferior, but where do you get the confidence to think she's not good enough for you?"
After listening to his sister's analysis point by point, Tao Qian raised his eyebrows and said one word confidently - face.
"My face is completely natural, it's been shaped since I was born. Hers was artificially created by flying to Korea eight times a year and Japan five times a year."
Tao Siyun looked at the face in front of him that was somewhat similar to his own. He was silent for a few seconds and thought to himself, this can barely be considered an advantage.
Quite narcissistic though.
"Please stop spreading rumors about her. You haven't even met her. How can you tell she's had plastic surgery just by looking at her photos?"
"Tan Yang's mom..." Tao Qian paused mid-sentence, feeling like he was cursing. Then, remembering what Tao Siyun had just said, he followed her lead and added the word "best friend" before her name, feeling rather smug as if he had gotten the news through a special channel. "My best friend Tan Yang's mom is the chief physician in the plastic surgery department of our city hospital. She just had a nose job done on her last month. Your brother Tan Yang knows her. They went to the same undergraduate school. I saw it on WeChat Moments."
Tao Siyun's focus was successfully diverted: "But didn't Tao Qi say that she was in the same class as you? I thought she also studied undergraduate at Peking University."
Tao Qian snorted, his tone somewhat cocky: "Do you think anyone can get into Peking University as an undergraduate? When I took the college entrance examination, your brother entered the examination room with a high fever. If I hadn't failed to finish the last big question, I would have only ranked third in the city."
“…”
Xu Ji transferred 520 to her in the morning. Tao Siyun clicked to receive it, added one more dollar, and transferred 521 to him, telling him that he didn't have to pay back the extra dollar.
After a while, Xu Ji replied to her in the tone of a professional accountant: [It's not worth it, but it's just right. It was successfully recorded.]
…
During the New Year holidays, Tao Siyun has postponed several dates with Bian Chengzi and temporarily put all his energy into accompanying Tao Qian on a blind date. He even searched the Internet for a lot of experience posts about accompanying people on blind dates.
"What? A blind date? Your brother? It's really not Tao Qi?" Bian Chengzi said she couldn't understand: "No, does your brother still need a blind date?! Your parents are too anxious!"
Tao Siyun said calmly: "Yes, you heard it right. It's my brother Tao Qian, not my cousin. Tao Qi is recuperating at home. It will take three to five months to recover."
“…”
In the new year, the first thing that overturned Bian Chengzi's cognition was that someone like Tao Qian had actually fallen to the point where he had to rely on blind dates to solve his personal problems.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, your brother must be very popular in the dating market? How many dates does he go on in a day?"
"How could there be several? There's only one, and he's been very reluctant." Tao Siyun sighed, picking and choosing in the cloakroom, preparing clothes to wear tomorrow, and casually placed his phone on the dressing table: "He works at my aunt's workplace. I heard he's a nice guy with good conditions, so I introduced him to my brother. My parents made an appointment before the New Year, and it would be rude not to go. My brother is going to complete the task."
Bian Chengzi sighed, "The chances of young people hitting it off on blind dates these days are less than 5%. Believe it or not, that's a conservative estimate. They usually just be strangers online for a few days, then go out for dinner together, and then delete each other when they get home. It's completely meaningless."
"They're not even online friends, they haven't even added each other on WeChat yet."
"...Okay, so what role do you play in this?"
It doesn't seem to be of any use.
Tao Siyun thought of the task Tao Qian had assigned him and muttered to himself, "Maybe it's just to get a free meal. After all, the woman brought someone with her. My brother might think it's easier to calculate the bill if we split the bill."
***
According to the time and address given by Chen Qin, at noon the next day, Tao Qian and Tao Siyun arrived at the top-floor restaurant of Henghui Plaza to complete the task.
Tao Siyun sat down in the seat where she and Xu Ji had sat last time with mixed feelings after the restaurant manager winked at her, "Don't worry, I will never tell your brother that you and your boyfriend had a date and dinner here some time ago."
The scene was similar to what I had imagined. After meeting, the four strangers were obviously a little uncomfortable.
The woman followed her usual blind date tactics and began to ask Tao Qian some symbolic questions:
"I heard from Director Shen that you are working in Huxi now? So will you consider returning to Beijing for development in the future?"
"It's hard to say right now. My sister hasn't graduated yet. I'll go wherever she goes in the future. I went to Huxi mainly because she was studying there alone. I was worried, so I wanted to be closer to her so I could take care of her all the time." Tao Qian carefully cut the steak on the plate, his eyes full of apology: "I'm sorry, I'm a sister complex. Everything in my life revolves around my sister."
Tao Siyun: "..."
Girl’s friend: “…”
The girl glanced at Tao Siyun with an unclear gaze and said with envy, "You two siblings must have a very good relationship, right? When I was little, I really wanted to have a brother, but my mother only gave birth to me."
Tao Qian tilted his head and looked at Tao Siyun with a doting look on his face: "Yes, hey, every time I think about my only precious sister having a boyfriend and getting married in the future, I, as a brother, feel very sad. I can't wait to break that man's legs."
Tao Siyun: “…………”
The steak was cut, and Tao Qian brought the plate to Tao Siyun. He used a silver fork to pick up a piece of beef that had been cut into small pieces and fed it to her mouth: "Here, have this. This one is hard to cut for you, give it to your brother."
Tao Siyun had never heard Tao Qian speak in such a gentle voice in the past 24 years. She was so disgusted that she got goosebumps all over her body...
She no longer had the courage to look up at the two people across from her. She ate the steak, which tasted like cat food, with a bland taste. While listening to their conversation, she quietly sent a WeChat message to Bian Chengzi complaining: [My brother seems to have gone crazy...]
Bian Chengzi: [???]
"Right, as a brother, you'd be hard-pressed to see your beloved sister, whom you've loved so much since she was a child, being abducted by another man."
The girl's voice was filled with empathy and love. Tao Siyun tried to understand, but after thinking for a long time, he still couldn't figure out how she could empathize with someone like Tao Qian...
Before the dessert was served, Tao Qian found an excuse to go to the bathroom.
As soon as he left, there were only three girls left at the dinner table.
The woman immediately turned the topic to Tao Siyun: "I heard your sister studied in France before?"
"Uh... well, in Paris."
As soon as they sat down, Tao Qian's blind date kept glancing at Tao Siyun. She felt quite uncomfortable at first, and became even more uncomfortable after her brother's shocking "sister-con remarks".
I feel like the way the other person looks at me has become indescribable.
Tao Qian went to the bathroom, which was also a secret signal agreed upon by the brother and sister in the car in advance. Tao Qian meant that during these few minutes, no matter what, no matter how, they had to help him ruin it.
Tao Siyun had already made a draft in his mind, how to subtly convey to them the meaning of "Don't be fooled by my brother's handsome appearance, actually, he just has an okay face. In high school, he changed girlfriends like changing clothes, spent money like crazy, fell in love with every girl he met, and was a complete jerk. He made a lot of promises, but I've never seen him take responsibility for anyone, and he's also a male chauvinist."
But the premise is that this is only feasible when the "sister-con remarks" do not exist. If she says this now, it is hard to guarantee that others will not doubt whether there is a blood relationship between her and Tao Qian.
Maybe the next question from her blind date will be whether she was adopted from an orphanage as a child, or maybe he won't even ask and will just start to invent some freak German orthopedic drama...
Tao Siyun had never been so speechless in his life.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
