Chapter 45 Chapter 45 Your Family's Boss
"Why are you here?" Qiao Zhuo asked.
"I picked you up for dinner. I figured you'd be awake around this time," Tan Du said with a look. "I sent you a message."
"I didn't have time." Qiao Zhuo said.
"Zhuo Yi." Liang Yizi walked up. "Who is this?"
"Tan Du." Qiao Zhuo directly announced the person's name.
Tan Du raised his eyebrows, extended his hand and said, "Hello."
Liang Yizi shook hands again, saying, "Hello, Liang Yizi, I'm the Qiao family's neighbor. Zhuoyi, since you have friends here, I'll leave first. I'll treat you to dinner next time."
Qiao Zhuo nodded, looking like he was eager for him to leave.
I thought "next time" was just a polite expression between adults, but I didn't expect to meet him again in the hotel half a month later.
"Manager Liang." A staff member passed by and called out.
Liang Yizi nodded and said to Qiao Zhuoyi, "I didn't have time to tell you last time. I work here."
He leaned in closer and whispered, "You don't seem very happy to see me?"
Qiao Zhuoyi said nothing. When he came out, Qiao Tingjin thought he was deliberately trying to piss him off and refused to believe it. Plus, Zhang Yuru was fanning the flames, so he simply said that he had fallen in love with Liang Yizi, who lived next door.
After all, Liang Yizi came out first, and everyone in the community knew about it.
Not long after he said this, the other party left the country.
The dual public opinions of "Qiao's son likes boys" and "Qiao's boy loves Liang's boy but cannot get him", made Qiao Tingjin, who has been pursuing "respectability" all his life, so angry that he no longer had the energy to arrange messy blind dates for Qiao Yuyi, and also allowed Qiao Zhuoyi to move out of Jinguiyuan smoothly.
"I didn't take it seriously at first. I knew you had no choice."
In the restaurant's private room, Liang Yizi poured him a glass of wine and said with a smile, "It's not because of you that I'm going abroad. It was decided a long time ago."
Qiao Zhuoyi breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the cup and said, "I thought I scared you away."
"How could that be! I wanted to say hello to you before I left, but you were always avoiding me!" Liang Yizi said.
Qiao Zhuo raised his glass: "Sorry."
"Hey," Liang Yizi clinked glasses with him, "Don't say that. By the way, why didn't your friend come today?"
"He's busy in the shop." Qiao Zhuo filled his glass.
"Hmm? What kind of shop does Mr. Tan run?"
"Coffee shop, downstairs from the tattoo shop." Qiao Zhuo replied.
Recently, TD opened an online store in response to customer requests.
Tan Du has strict control over quality, has many repeat customers, and has attracted frequent recommendations from bloggers, resulting in a continuous surge in orders during this period.
The TD guys were so busy that they had no time to rest, and even Xiao Luo had to go down to get Guiyi's afternoon tea.
Uncle Guan was still busy with Tan Du's preparations for his birthday, and Boss Tan was too busy to handle everything.
Qiao Zhuo couldn't stand it anymore and didn't let him come to his house to cook for a while.
By the time Tan Du had time to ask him about the recording time, he had already driven to the hotel by himself.
All in all, the two of them haven't had a serious conversation for almost half a month.
"By the way, I have a friend who wants to get a tattoo. If it's convenient, I'll come to your studio to check it out first," Liang Yizi joked.
Qiao Zhuo's phone lit up, and he glanced at it -
TZ: [I'm in the hotel parking lot.]
Qiao Zhuoyi quickly clinked glasses with Liang Yizi: "Brother Liang, I have something to do and I'll leave first. Welcome to come, I'll treat you well."
Liang Yizhi: "Okay."
A few days later, Boss Qiao came downstairs personally to pick someone up. After looking at Guiyi, the visitor asked for coffee.
Xiao Luo went downstairs to place an order and exclaimed, "That guy is so handsome!"
"Can you be as handsome as us?" Zhou Jue said disdainfully.
"It's different!" Ronaldinho bit into the mint candy with a crunch.
"Why is it different?" Zhou Jue was quite interested.
Xiao Luo thought for a moment: "I can't explain it, but it's different anyway. It seems like he has a good relationship with Brother Zhuo..."
"Hiss—" Zhou Jue snapped his fingers, "I'll go take a look!"
"Boss Qiao, here's the coffee you ordered."
"Thank you," Qiao Zhuo asked, "How do you have time to come up? Where's Xiao Luo?"
"I'm helping Xiaolu try out some new stuff," Zhou Jue said with a smile, "I just happened to have some free time. Oh, Brother Tan is still at Grandpa Guan's place."
"...I didn't ask him." Qiao Zhuo replied.
"Please come in, sir." Zhou Jue handed the American coffee to the person on the sofa.
"How do you know this cup is mine?" Liang Yizi asked with a smile.
"Boss Qiao doesn't drink American coffee. Brother Tan told him so." Zhou Jue put away the tray. "Boss Qiao, I'll go down first. I'll collect the cups later."
"Yeah." Qiao Zhuo responded.
Liang Yizi raised his cup and gestured to Zhou Jue: "It's delicious, thank you."
"You're welcome."
Zhou Jue returned to TD, clutching his chest and muttering, "Damn, he's handsome, and he's also a flirt! He's not the same style as Brother Tan!"
"Who's handsome?" Tan Du pushed the door open and just heard this.
"Boss Qiao's guest..." Zhou Jue replied casually, but fell silent after realizing it was his boss.
"When did you become afraid of me?" Tan Du smiled. "Guiyi has guests?"
"He looks more like Boss Qiao's friend," Zhou Jue added quickly.
Friend? Tan Du raised his eyelids to take a look, and was about to go up to take a look when Uncle Qiang walked in excitedly, "Xiao Tan! I finally caught you, have some tea!"
Uncle Qiang chatted non-stop, so Tan Du found time to send a message: [I'm not busy today, what do you want for dinner?]
Qiao Zhuoyi: [Brother Liang is here, eating out with him.]
Liang Yizhi? Didn't you hide from me last time? Are you okay again?
Tan Du frowned, stared at the message for a while, and tapped his fingers on the dialog box.
"The other party is typing..."
Qiao Zhuo raised his eyebrows when he saw these words.
"What's wrong?" Liang Yizi asked.
"No," Qiao Zhuoyi put away his phone, "Go on, what kind do you want?"
While waiting for the first draft, Liang Yizi had already flipped through all the magazines in the store.
"That's it for today. I'll adjust as soon as the recording is over," Qiao Zhuoyi said. "Come on, I'll treat you to dinner."
"It's getting cold," Liang Yizi shrank his neck as he walked out the door. "How about mutton soup? Is the old place still there?"
"Here," Qiao Zhuo lowered his eyes and buttoned his clothes, "the usual place."
"Talk about the boss."
"Mr. Liang."
Hearing Liang Yizi calling for someone, Qiao Zhuoyi also looked over and saw Grandpa Guan standing next to him. He nodded and said, "Grandpa Guan."
"Hmm..." Uncle Guan raised his chin and responded.
Tan Du looked at Liang Yizi calmly, and the latter was also looking at him.
"Let's go." Qiao Zhuo walked towards the alley, and Liang Yizi followed him. He looked back at Tan Du and had a rough idea.
"A little talk? A little talk!" Uncle Guan pounded his crutch so hard that it made a loud noise.
"Grandpa," Tan Du took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, "I heard it. I had to keep it a secret from Grandma Xu, but you also remember giving her blood pressure medication that day."
"Humph, are you afraid she'll be too surprised?" The old man leaned in close and winked at him. "My wife is quite the smart one! I was so trendy back then that I went to the county town to get her a gold ring and proposed. I practiced so many times, but when I got in front of her, I got nervous and—"
He clapped his hands, "Both her knees hit the ground! Guess what happened to her?"
Tan Du laughed: "What's the matter?"
"Hmph!" said Lao Guan, "I've been practicing for nothing for so many days. I couldn't even kneel as well as I did yesterday!"
"She discovered you were practicing a long time ago?"
"Yeah!" Old Man Guan whispered, "Don't worry about you laughing at me. I can hide anything I do from her! She's been waiting for this surprise!"
"I see," Tan Du glanced at his phone. "Xiao Zhu has confirmed it, so we can go there in advance to set up the stage. But have you found a troupe?"
"My granddaughter found it for me. The old people there aren't very good at handling things anymore, so it's time to let the young people take the stage. They're all people with one foot in the grave, so it's not easy for them to get together. I've already said that if you don't come, I'll push their wheelchairs myself!"
"Of course you have to come." Tan Du replied nonchalantly.
Old Man Guan sighed: "Only the Zhang family is left..."
Tan Du had heard Grandma Xu mention this "Old Zhang", who was the ringleader of the opera troupe. He was a righteous man who was always at the forefront of everything.
But later something happened in his family and his daughter died young. Not long after, he also passed away.
"I remember Grandma Xu said Grandpa Zhang still had a grandson and a granddaughter," Tan Du put his glasses back on and asked, "Can't get in touch with him?"
"Their family..." Old Man Guan opened his mouth, but in the end it turned into a sigh, "Forget it, I won't say anymore."
Qiao Zhuoyi and Liang Yizi had a long meal. Liang Yizi hinted at Tan Du and could not avoid him in three sentences. He surrendered and revealed his true intentions.
They walked back only after all the customers had left the store.
When climbing the stairs, Qiao Zhuo almost missed a step. Liang Yizi just raised his hand when the glass door behind him was pushed open. Tan Du grabbed Qiao Zhuo's arm to steady him: "Have you been drinking?"
"Yes," Liang Yizi spoke first, "We need some rice wine to go with mutton."
Tan Du didn't look at him, but stared at Qiao Zhuo and asked, "More?"
Qiao Zhuo shook his head slowly, turned half a circle and then stopped, feeling dizzy.
"I'll take you back." Tan Du seemed to have just discovered another person, "Mr. Liang..."
Liang Yizhi tactfully said, "I'll go by myself."
Tan Du nodded and helped Qiao Zhuoyi walk towards the car.
After entering the villa, Qiao Zhuo relaxed a lot: "I'm sleepy, I'll take a shower and go to bed."
Tan Du looked at him: "Can you do it alone?"
"I'm not drunk," Qiao Zhuo emphasized as he stepped onto the stairs, "Brother Liang is watching."
Without waiting for anyone to reply, he hurried upstairs and heard the sound of the door being closed. He drew aside the curtains and watched the off-road vehicle drive out of the gate. He smiled lightly and picked up his phone.
Liang Yizhi: [Tomorrow at six o'clock.]
Qiao Zhuoyi: [OK]
The next day, the alarm clock rang again and again, and it was the blanket banging against the door that finally woke him up.
He quickly washed up and got into the car carrying his suitcase.
"You're such a vicious dog," Liang Yizi said. "It only stopped barking after I backed off a hundred meters."
"Come upstairs and call me." Qiao Zhuo couldn't even open his eyes.
"Eh?" Liang Yizi asked, "Is that your boss Tan's car?"
Qiao Zhuoyi immediately stood up and took a look: "Yes."
He paused and then said, "It's not mine."
"Soon." Liang Yizi smiled meaningfully.
I probably thought he was still sleeping, and it wasn't until the car got on the highway that Tan Du called me.
"I took Brother Liang's car." Qiao Zhuo said.
There was silence for a long time on the other end before someone responded softly, and then hung up the phone first.
"What's wrong?" Seeing Qiao Zhuo put down his phone and remained silent, Liang Yizi asked, "Are you sleepy again?"
Qiao Zhuo tapped his fingers on his leg intermittently, and suddenly smiled: "It seems to be almost there."
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