Chapter 81 Chapter 81 Chasing Again
Qiao Zhuo was not taking a restless shower, the blanket kept scratching the door, and only when he came out did he hear a knock on the door downstairs.
He walked down the stairs slowly and leisurely. Seeing Blanket's tail wagging, he knew who was outside.
Tsk, he didn't lock the door, why is he pretending?
He opened the door a crack and looked out coldly: "Is it not over yet?"
Tan Du opened his hand, and a key lay quietly on his palm.
Qiao Zhuo's heart tightened, his throat suddenly dry. "What do you mean?"
"I know it's too much to ask you to give me more time, and you won't take back what you said, so..." Tan Du paused, then smiled and said, "Let's just consider it as breaking up, and I'll pursue you again."
Qiao Zhuo narrowed his eyes and looked at him without moving.
"Is it okay?" Tan Du stared at him, afraid that he would run away if he wasn't careful.
Qiao Zhuo snorted, raised his chin slightly and spread out his hands.
Tan Du breathed a sigh of relief and handed the key over. His fingertips brushed the back of his hand inadvertently, earning him a glare.
He took his hand back and rubbed the tip of his nose: "No one is with Su Qi, I have to go back."
"Yeah." Qiao Zhuo responded, turned around, hooked his calf to close the door, and encountered resistance. He frowned, "Anything else?"
Tan Du blinked: "Can you release me from the blacklist?
“Please—”
The trees in the hospital are like sentinels of life; even when their leaves fall in winter, their branches remain upright.
Everyone firmly believes that new buds will sprout as soon as spring comes, bringing new hope.
A group of people walked under the tree. Qiao Zhuoyi was the last one, holding two insulated boxes in his hands. The little people printed on the insulated boxes were grinning, which was in stark contrast to the fierce appearance of Boss Qiao.
As soon as I arrived at the store today, Zhou Jue came up and said that he was going to the hospital to see Su Qi, and asked Guiyi and others if they wanted to go together.
Qiao Zhuo didn't even have time to say the word of refusal. The people who celebrated his birthday with him last time all stared at him, as if he would be breaking the law if he said no.
Of course, Boss Qiao didn't care about these things, but Su Qi hadn't settled the score for cheating him last time, so this time he just took advantage of the situation to kill him.
Before coming over, he asked Sima to pack two lunches.
That bastard Tan Du was pretending to be pitiful again, saying that his back and waist ached from sleeping on the accompanying bed and that he had no time to eat from taking care of the patient. He kept mumbling about wanting to eat this and that. I didn't know who was pursuing whom.
A group of people squeezed into the ward, were glared at by the nurses, and consciously started speaking in low voices.
When he learned the reason why Su Qi was hospitalized, he laughed at him rudely.
Su Qi's eyes kept moving back and forth between Tan Du and Qiao Zhuoyi.
At first, Qiao Zhuoyi just wanted to pinch the person's IV tube, but later he became so annoyed that he wanted to dig out the person's eyeballs.
He glared back warningly, and Su Qi immediately stood up straight, bowed, and said in a clear voice, "I'm sorry, Boss Qiao!"
"Damn!" Qiao Zhuo jumped back.
Several people looked at him at the same time. Qiao Zhuoyi squeezed out the word "lunatic" and hid away.
Xiao Luo's voice came from behind: "Boss Su, how did you let down our Brother Zhuo?"
Tsk, what a crappy employee, just quit him.
"Xiao Luo, drink some water." Zhou Jue said.
Well, other companies’ employees are more reliable.
"Xiao Luo, you are so tactless."
This was Si Mo's voice. Qiao Zhuo nodded deeply and decided to give her a raise.
Then came Tan Du's voice, but he didn't listen carefully.
His phone vibrated, and Xiang Yuan sent him a picture, asking him to give some suggestions if he had time.
Coincidentally, the thing we have the most right now is time.
Anything is better than going back to the ward.
He stood by the window, took a closer look, and then made a phone call to someone.
"I told you it would be useful!" Xiang Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. "Boss Qiao's taste is really good! Please seriously consider what I said last time."
"Let's talk about it later." Qiao Zhuoyi hung up the phone.
Xiang Yuan wanted to partner with Guiyi. He had some concerns, but did not refuse immediately.
Although the two stores have completely different styles, their business philosophies are similar. They don't spend too much energy on marketing, but focus entirely on how to create unique pictures.
The show has ended, but the popularity of both businesses has not decreased. Instead, more and more new customers have come to them. Guiyi really cannot handle such a large flow of customers, and he also wants to take in a few apprentices.
But in the tattoo industry, the effort and reward are not necessarily proportional. A lot of people can be exhausted in a year, and he doesn't have much patience. Maybe the apprentices he recruits will be scared away by him not long after they are recruited.
But Xiang Yuan is different, which can be seen from Si Mo.
Xiang Yuan is better at judging people and more patient than him.
If they were merged, he would have more time to create.
But Guiyi is a name he built up bit by bit, and it always feels out of place when put together with other brands.
The sound of footsteps interrupted his thoughts. Qiao Zhuo raised his eyes and saw the man's stern expression. He walked over quickly to stop him.
"We meet again." Bai Yue was also a little surprised to see him. He immediately guessed that Tan Du was there and said, "Su Qi is also my brother. I am looking at my own brother. Are you going to stop him?"
"This is a hospital." Qiao Zhuoyi didn't know what kind of "solution" Tan Du meant, but he felt that the two of them were not in a relationship where they could have a peaceful chat.
"Don't worry, I won't fight him in the hospital." Bai Yue said.
Qiao Zhuoyi didn't move. Bai Yue looked at him with a frown: "You want to fight me?"
"I don't know what he owes you," Qiao Zhuo said, staring at him, "but whatever it is, I'll pay it back."
Bai Yue looked at him for a while, then curled his lips and said, "He owes me two lives. Will you pay him back?"
Qiao Zhuoyi's body trembled, his fingertips pinched into his palm, and he met his gaze: "Return. Two lives, mine and his combined is just enough. No matter how he returns, I will accompany him."
Bai Yue slowly raised his eyelids, stared behind him and said, "Do you agree too?"
I don't know when Tan Du came out. He stood not far away, like the dead tree outside the window, with its trunk standing straight but its leaves withered and lonely.
Qiao Zhuo endured it and didn't move.
Silence stretched down the corridor.
Bai Yue didn't plan to receive a reply and just walked forward. When he passed someone, he heard the other person say "I agree".
A gust of wind blew by.
It was like spring had arrived early, with new buds sprouting from the dead trees.
Tan Du smiled calmly, looked back at the people, and said again: "I agree."
Bai Yue looked back at Qiao Zhuoyi again, snorted heavily, and walked towards the ward.
Tan Du calmed his shaky mind and walked towards Qiao Zhuoyi. Before he could say anything, Xiao Luo rushed out: "It's over, it's over, Brother Zhuo, I forgot Sister Zhao changed the time. She's coming this afternoon!"
You came just in time!
Qiao Zhuo seemed quite confident when he said that, but after that he didn't know how to face Tan Du. He grabbed this life-saving straw, left a sentence "I'll go back now" and ran away.
"Brother Zhuo, I'll go with you--" Xiao Luo wanted to follow, but was stopped by someone.
Boss Tan was very smart. He immediately handed the task of accompanying the girl overnight to Xiao Luo, asked him to make amends, and then he drove the car to chase after her.
Faced with such a heavy burden of "two lives", Qiao Zhuoyi was able to firmly say "return".
What on earth has he got to restrain himself for so long? What else can't he say?
But the timing was not right. When he walked into Guiyi, the guests had already arrived.
Boss Qiao switched to work mode, suppressing the shock in his heart. He glanced at him, and the meaning was very clear - get out.
Tan Du's hands were still shaking. He returned to TD and took a break before making two drinks and sending them over.
He didn't disturb the two of them. He put it on the coffee table and sat down on the sofa.
Qiao Zhuoyi ignored him and concentrated on tattooing.
Sister Zhao was introduced by Sister Song. She has a scar on her calf. When I saw the beautiful tattoo on Sister Song's collarbone, I was moved for a long time.
However, she cares about other people's eyes and always feels that people with tattoos are not serious people.
Sister Song scoffed at her: "Are you saying I'm not serious?"
"Of course not! Don't get me wrong."
Sister Song naturally wouldn't argue with her: "Just do it if you like it. It's other people's business if they like to talk about it. Why do you care so much? I don't know how many people are cursing us behind our backs, calling us divorced widows. Do you still want to remarry that bastard?"
"Only a ghost would remarry him!"
They felt sorry for each other and went through a lot of trouble to separate from their former bastard husbands.
Having said that, Sister Zhao still had something to puzzle her about, so she immediately followed Sister Song to make an appointment for a drawing.
It was because her request was simple that Qiao Zhuoyi was able to squeeze out time for her.
"Xiao Qiao, thank you," Sister Zhao said, her temples covered in sweat despite the pain, but she still had a smile on her face.
Qiao Zhuo remained silent. Sister Zhao said "thank you" countless times, but he really couldn't handle it.
"Don't thank me," Tan Du took over. "Boss Qiao is making money from you."
Qiao Zhuo snorted softly, and Sister Zhao replied, "You have to thank me for that. Old Song told me that it's very difficult to get an appointment with Boss Qiao!"
Tan Du squatted down and placed the drink with the straw next to her. He turned his back and whispered, "Boss Qiao is shy. His ears are red. If you say thank you again, he'll have to find a hole to crawl into."
"Oh!" Sister Zhao looked over and realized that it was really not a joke. She said hurriedly, "No more, no more."
But she stopped talking, her attention occupied by the pain again, which was too unbearable. Her eyes fell on Tan Du's face again: "Young man, are you from this store? I didn't see you before?"
"I'm Boss Qiao's man." Tan Du smiled.
"Hahaha," Sister Zhao laughed, "This young man really knows how to be funny."
Qiao Zhuo paused, luckily he hadn't dropped the needle by mistake. He glared at him and said, "Get out."
Tan Du was very obedient and stood up to leave. Before he even left the house, Sister Zhao's attention fell back on Qiao Zhuoyi and she started to introduce him to someone.
A vein on Qiao Zhuo's forehead throbbed, and he shouted to the smiling person outside the window, "Come in."
"Oh, you two young men have a very good relationship. My two sons are the same. When they were young, they fought every other day, but now they are as close as one person..."
Tan Du sat down on the sofa and chatted with people with great interest.
He didn't stop until Qiao Zhuo said the word "OK".
Qiao Zhuo glanced at him while packing his things. This man was sociable, but he had never been so talkative.
Boss Joe was sure that he was nervous.
He accepted the phrase "two lives", whether it was literal or the man said it on purpose.
Now that things have come to this, there is no room for Tan Du to retreat.
After seeing Sister Zhao off, Tan Du closed the door.
Qiao Zhuoyi drank his coffee without saying a word.
Tan Du sat down next to him and tentatively placed his hand on his wrist. When Qiao Zhuo didn't dodge, he rubbed it with confidence and whispered, "My parents went abroad when I was very young and sent me to live with Bai Yue's family."
The children were naughty, especially the two boys, who acted lawless when they made trouble. I don’t know how much trouble they caused to Mr. and Mrs. Bai.
Bai Yue disliked Tan Du at first, always feeling that this man had taken away his parents' love. Tan Du was also stubborn at that time, and the two would fight whenever they disagreed.
It is easy for young people to hate someone, but it takes an opportunity to become close friends.
When they were in high school, the two saw Su Qi being blocked by thugs outside the school, and they went to rescue him without any prior arrangement.
One of them learned Taekwondo and the other learned boxing. It shouldn't be difficult for them to face a few thugs, but they couldn't withstand some of the dirty tricks.
A gangster attacked by surprise, and in anger he drew his knife and slashed at Bai Yue's back who was nearby.
Tan Du pulled Bai Yue over to block the attack for him, and his forearm was cut. Blood gushed out like a flood, and everyone was stunned.
Bai Yue's eyes were bloodshot and he carried him on his back and rushed to the hospital.
After this incident, the two of them started talking. They knew that brothers could only bully each other behind closed doors, but if outsiders tried to interfere, they would fight to the death.
Qiao Zhuo touched the scar on his forearm and asked, "Is this the injury from that time?"
Tan Du responded softly, his tone tinged with nostalgia: "Bai Yue, although he looked tall and strong, cried so hard during the stitches that anyone who didn't know him would have thought he was the one injured."
"Then what?"
How could brothers who have shared life and death together end up like this?
Tan Du's parents came back once a year at first, but a few years later they had another child and their frequency of coming back dropped significantly.
Bai Yue noticed his low mood, patted his shoulder awkwardly and said, "My parents are your parents."
Tan Du really treated Bai's father and mother as his own parents and was filial to them.
I gave the old couple a big red envelope with my first salary after I started working, and I would go back to see them every New Year and other holidays.
Bai Yue pretended to be angry and said, "Don't be too filial, otherwise it will always seem like I, your eldest son, am not doing enough."
Tan Du would just roll his eyes at him: "Why are you the eldest son?"
The two are the same age. If we really talk about birthdays, Tan Du is a few days older than Bai Yue. However, during puberty, Bai Yue grew rapidly, so he always regarded himself as the elder brother.
"It seems like you are taller now?" Qiao Zhuoyi said.
"Well," Tan Du said, "I caught up with him later, and he was pretty pissed off."
He spoke calmly with a smile on his lips, but Qiao Zhuoyi felt endless sadness.
The sky gradually darkened and the temperature dropped.
The air conditioner seemed to be completely ineffective. Qiao Zhuo held Tan Du's cold hand and rubbed it gently.
"In the past, when I came back from evening self-study in the winter, my aunt would rub my hands like this."
A drop of scalding liquid hit the back of Qiao Zhuo's hand as the last sound came out. He paused and forced himself not to look up.
Tan Du's hoarse voice trembled as it fell into his ears: "It was me. I killed my uncle and aunt."
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