Chapter 41 Chapter 41 "Good night, see you tomorrow...
Although Qiao Yu stayed in Huaicheng, he still contacted Luo Hao and Qin Yulu.
Luo Hao seemed to be bombarded with firecrackers. He was so busy that he had no time or energy to deal with Qiao Yu.
As soon as Qin Yulu answered the phone, she started to curse Jiang Mian, saying that he wanted to die and wanted to drag her down with him. Now Beijing is cracking down severely and everyone is in danger.
However, both of them still had some conscience. Before hanging up the phone, they both told Qiao Yu to stay in Huaicheng and not to come to Beijing to join in the fun.
Qin Yulu even wailed in despair: "Oh my God! Who would have thought that all this was because of a crazy love-brain! Jiang Jinhua just scratched your eyelids, and Jiang Mian was able to wipe out the Jiang family. I really love you until I die! I can't stand it anymore, I want to vomit--"
Caught off guard by the busy sound, Qiao Yu put down his phone, slightly stunned.
Perhaps what Qin Yulu said made some sense, but Qiao Yu still didn't think Jiang Mian would make such a big fuss over such a small matter.
However, this incident reminded him of those evil concubines in history who brought disaster to the country. No matter what the men did, they would be blamed.
Even if Jiang Mian found a man, there was no way to avoid this problem. The Jiang family had brought this upon themselves. They should have thought of this retribution when they abandoned their wives and children.
He took advantage of the weekend to move his grandmother from the tube-shaped building to the large flat that Jiang Mian had bought before. On the one hand, the security in the community would be more stringent, and on the other hand, it would prevent someone from maliciously breaking into the window. After all, it was always more dangerous to live on the first floor.
Aunt Sun is quite happy about the new house.
The place has north-south ventilation and a wide view. Not only are all the home appliances available, but there are also people performing square dancing downstairs in the evening.
However, most elderly people are nostalgic, and grandma is very uncomfortable with the new environment. As long as Qiao Yu is not by her side, she will fall into a panic state.
Although the symptoms were alleviated after two days of Qiao Yu's close companionship, he still yelled occasionally.
Fortunately, Aunt Sun came up with an idea. She turned on the TV and played different cartoons for the old lady every day. The old lady was fascinated by the cartoons. Not only did she not stick to Qiao Yu anymore, she even lost the desire to go out.
When old people get old, they become like children, coaxing and deceiving each other, which makes people feel sad.
After a few days, Aunt Sun came to Qiao Yu and said, "The old lady's eyesight is not good. She feels dizzy and uncomfortable after watching TV for a long time. She has to be pushed out for a few turns. It's not a good idea to let her watch TV at home like this all the time."
Qiao Yu also knew that he had never been happy to let his grandmother come into contact with electronic products before. Now that special circumstances required special treatment, he didn't know how to explain to Aunt Sun what this "special situation" was.
Aunt Sun saw Qiao Yu looking embarrassed, sighed, and changed the subject: "Why haven't I seen Xiao Mian recently?"
Qiao Yu: “…”
It's even harder to speak.
"Even if you weren't in Huaicheng before, you would at least call. It's almost the New Year, why is there no news at all? Will you come back for the New Year?"
Aunt Sun already knows almost everything about the past.
However, what she knew was a simplified version. She only thought that Jiang Mian was adopted by his biological parents and was found nearly a year later. She didn't know anything else.
Qiao Yu pursed her lips and stumbled to find an excuse: "He may be on a business trip. I don't know."
Aunt Sun then asked, "What does he do for a living?"
Qiao Yu sat on the sofa, feeling like his butt was on fire. He got up guiltily and poured a glass of water: "Finance, selling insurance, I don't know much about it."
Aunt Sun sat on the sofa with a frown on her face, probably wondering how true or false this statement was.
Seeing that the situation was not right, Qiao Yu ran away directly, taking the water with him.
Aunt Sun stood up quickly, followed him eagerly, and asked hesitantly, "Is Xiao Mian doing a legitimate business?"
Qiao Yu paused for a moment, turned around and said in surprise: "Of course it's serious!"
The Jiang family's evil ways had nothing to do with Jiang Mian. Jiang Mian was not even tempted by money to sacrifice his relatives for the sake of justice. Logically speaking, even if he couldn't get away with it, he should be fine.
There shouldn’t be...
Qiao Yu drank some water irritably.
"But..." Aunt Sun hesitated for a long time, but finally said, "When Xiao Mian left, he gave me a bank card, saying that it was clean money he earned himself, and that you could use it to help me out when I got into trouble in the future."
Qiao Yu was stunned.
"I didn't want it. You and I are not related at all. He was so generous that he handed the money to me. What do you think..."
Aunt Sun felt in her pocket and placed the bank card on the table next to Qiao Yu.
"I am also an honest man. I won't be able to eat or sleep well if I carry this thing. I think it's better to give it to you. I will feel more at ease."
Aunt Sun handed the things over, and as if she was afraid that Qiao Yu would stuff them back into her hands, she quickly ran away.
Qiao Yu's eyes fell on the card, and his Adam's apple rolled as if he had swallowed a huge weight.
His long eyelashes drooped, and finally he just raised his hand, held the card in his palm, and returned to the bedroom.
-
Although Qiao Yu was worried during this period, he didn't want to bother Luo Hao and the others all the time.
Feeling really uncomfortable, he took out the letter Jiang Mian left for him and read it over and over again, until the edges of the paper curled up.
The snow in December freezes into ice due to the low temperature, and then slowly melts when the temperature rises at the end of the month.
At the beginning of the winter vacation, the school was empty in an instant. Although Qiao Yu stayed in school, he never stayed in the laboratory for a long time like before. He hurried home before dark every day. The reason he gave was to go home to take care of the elderly. The teachers and classmates knew that he had a grandmother, so they all expressed their understanding.
Qiao Yu traveled between the two places like a thief every day, worrying whether someone was following him when he walked.
But fortunately, Jiang Jinhua might really be unable to handle everything, so he has always been safe and no trouble has arisen.
It’s early February and the Chinese New Year is approaching.
This year's New Year's Eve is much later than usual, and the small shops downstairs have all hung up lanterns.
As the festive atmosphere grew stronger, Qiao Yu bought a pair of couplets and planned to post them on New Year's Eve. However, she did not expect that the house was particularly lively today as Ji Zhongyuan actually came.
"Brother Zhongyuan?" Qiao Yu was a little surprised. "Why are you here?"
Ever since she and Ji Zhongyuan parted ways unpleasantly, Qiao Yu was afraid of causing trouble for him, so she tried to avoid him no matter what she did.
Ji Zhongyuan probably sensed the unfamiliarity, so he tacitly kept his distance from Qiao Yu.
There may be misunderstandings between them, but compared with decades of relationship, those misunderstandings are so insignificant that they are not worth mentioning at all after the two meet.
"I was out of town a few days ago and didn't spend much time at home. When I came back before the New Year, I found that my grandma had moved away, so I came to visit her."
Qiao Yu put down the couplet, took the tea from Aunt Sun and handed it to Ji Zhongyuan, then told Aunt Sun to go home early.
Grandma was reading the picture book that Qiao Yu bought, and Ji Zhongyuan was reading it with her.
Qiao Yu took off his coat and quickly joined the parent-child activity. Grandma liked them and was amused by them and kept laughing.
At night, after grandma went to bed, the two finally had time to talk alone.
Ji Zhongyuan spoke frankly and asked Jiang Mian about the relevant matters.
Qiao Yu didn't know how much he could say or how much he should say, and he didn't want to lie to Ji Zhongyuan, so he could only remain silent on most issues.
After asking around for no clue, Ji Zhongyuan sighed and had to change the question: "Are you and him okay?"
This can be answered, Qiao Yu nodded.
The speed was so fast that Ji Zhongyuan shook his head helplessly.
"Did he give you some kind of drug?"
Qiao Yu opened his mouth and wanted to refute, but felt that it was unnecessary.
Rather than saying that Jiang Mian had drugged himself, it would be more accurate to say that Jiang Mian was seriously ill.
Qiao Yu didn't know if Ji Zhongyuan would change his mind about Jiang Mian if he knew what he had done for her. Although this was useless, Qiao Yu would care because the other party was Ji Zhongyuan.
"He's been very good to me," Qiao Yu said softly, "He's never changed since I was a child."
-
On New Year's Eve, Qiao Yu and her grandmother were the only ones at home.
Fireworks were bright outside the window. Qiao Yu looked up at the night sky, wondering how Jiang Mian was doing now.
Grandma asked: "Where is Xiao Mian?"
She would ask this question every holiday.
Qiao Yu didn’t know how to answer before, but now he can just say “He will come back”.
I originally thought I would spend the New Year with Jiang Mian, Qiao Yu couldn't help but think.
But it doesn’t matter, among the thousands of lights, there is one that is still on, waiting for him to come back.
-
During the winter vacation after the New Year, Qiao Yu stayed at home with her grandmother and did not go to school unless it was necessary.
He would ask Luo Hao about the situation at the beginning of the month, and the replies he got were more or less the same, so he could rest assured that he had to go through the process.
Counting the days, this process has been going on for more than three months, and I don’t know how long it will take.
He seemed to have returned to the time when Jiang Mian had not come back, running back and forth between school and home.
It's only when I fall asleep at night that the longing becomes open and worth it.
-
School starts in March and the temperature warms up.
The school became crowded again, and Qiao Yu became busy.
He was busy with project proposals, experiments, and data processing, and he also cleaned up the messes caused by his junior colleagues. He was busy all day at school.
In addition, influenza was prevalent during the season change, and Qiao Yu had been unable to sleep or eat well for several months, and finally he succumbed to the disease.
He took a day off and slept at home for the entire weekend.
But even if I fell asleep, I couldn't sleep for long. I was always thinking about it. I slept lightly and woke up at the slightest noise.
What usually woke him up was the noise made by Aunt Sun when she was outside accompanying Grandma, but today it was unexpectedly quiet. Qiao Yu didn't know how long he had slept when he suddenly felt the bed beside him sink a little.
At such a close distance, he opened his eyes almost reflexively and suddenly stood up with his arms.
The person who had just sat down beside the bed was slightly startled and stretched out his hand to protect Qiao Yu.
Their eyes met, and neither of them spoke for a moment.
The curtains in the room were drawn, providing a good light-blocking effect. The room was dim and I couldn't see any of his features clearly.
The man was also wearing a black baseball cap, the shadow of which almost covered his entire face.
But Qiao Yu knew who it was.
He even felt that he had lost a lot of weight.
With a sore nose, Qiao Yu threw himself forward, but was caught steadily by the other party.
There was no way to mistake that familiar embrace, the scent of Jiang Mian had never changed.
"A Mian," Qiao Yu buried her face in the crook of Jiang Mian's neck, her voice trembling as she spoke, choking with sobs, "You're back."
Jiang Mian closed his eyes, tilted his head and placed a kiss on his hair: "Well, I made you worry."
The Jiang family’s case involves a large number of people and is still under investigation.
But Jiang Mian had reported the matter initially, and with the guarantor’s strenuous efforts, he was eventually extricated from the entire incident.
The scales of justice did not tilt at all, and Qiao Yu hugged Jiang Mian and cried with joy.
-
Jiang Mian did not plan to stay in Huaicheng for too long. A lean camel is bigger than a horse, and the Jiang family still had a lot of messes that needed him to deal with.
Qiao Yu's biggest knot in his heart was untied, and he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. He didn't care so much about Jiang Mian anymore.
After all, we are already twenty-four or twenty-five years old, and we can't always tie ourselves to our belts.
Jiang Mian had his own things to deal with, and he also had a lot of things to do at school, so they were both very busy.
"You know you're already twenty-four or twenty-five years old," Jiang Mian pinched the tip of Qiao Yu's nose, "I've only been gone for a few months and you're already sick?"
"Four months and three days," Qiao Yu sniffed and pouted, "Besides, I was infected by someone else. Almost everyone in our studio has caught a cold."
Jiang Mian held his face with both hands and rubbed it: "Take the medicine quickly and get better. Don't let grandma get infected."
"Okay," Qiao Yu squinted his eyes due to being rubbed by him, and even his words became slurred, "So this is what you are worried about."
Jiang Mian laughed, and Qiao Yu laughed too.
Their foreheads touched each other, and Jiang Mian touched the tip of Qiao Yu's nose.
"Take care of yourself, I'll go home as soon as possible."
The low voice tormented his eardrums. Qiao Yu finally felt a little reluctant, but still nodded.
"Be safe, I'll wait for you to come home."
-
As spring turned to summer, Qiao Yu changed from cotton-padded clothes to short-sleeved shirts.
His proposal went very smoothly because he had a large amount of experimental data as a foundation. The teachers circulated it to each other and nodded their approval.
The tutor was very proud of his student and asked Qiao Yu more than once whether he intended to pursue a doctorate.
In fact, Qiao Yu still wanted to graduate early and make money, but his tutor brainwashed him every now and then, making Qiao Yu laugh and cry.
If it were before, he would have refused long ago.
But now, it is not impossible to consider.
Because it has to be admitted that since Jiang Mian came back, Qiao Yu's life pressure has indeed been reduced a lot.
At first, he loved his major, so he gritted his teeth and studied for a master's degree despite the difficulties. Now that his life is getting better, it is not impossible for him to study for a doctorate...
But once you accept this doctorate, you will have to wait for three years to graduate. Qiao Yu struggled with this for several days but couldn’t come to a conclusion. When he talked to Jiang Mian on the phone, he mentioned it casually and the other party said: Just study!
Qiao Yu laughed: "It's easy for you to say that."
"Don't think too much about it," Jiang Mian advised, "Wait until things are over here, I'll take care of grandma, you just need to do what you want to do, don't let other things put you off."
Qiao Yu curled her lips and said "hmm" softly.
Jiang Mian's words reminded him of a few years ago when he was a junior in college and was hesitating whether to continue his postgraduate studies.
When there was still Qingming Festival at that time, grandma told him that it would never hurt to read more, and just study if he wanted to, and not to think about trivial things.
Family members always have similarities.
-
During the summer vacation, Qiao Yu went on a business trip for his tutor.
Coincidentally, the location was a university in Beijing.
Qiao Yu did not tell Jiang Mian, for fear that he would find out and insist on picking him up at the station. Instead, he finished the work at hand after arriving in Beijing, and then called Jiang Mian just before dinner.
The other party went from being in disbelief to being overjoyed, and asked Qiao Yu to wait there, he would be there soon.
After hanging up the phone, Qiao Yu smiled and sighed.
When I looked up again, my sight swept across the bustling crowd and the city of tall buildings, but I no longer felt as depressed and frightened as before.
Soon, a black car stopped in front of him. Jiang Mian got out of the car and hugged him tightly.
"Hurry up, hurry up," Qiao Yu pushed the person to the car, "Can we park here? Are you going to get out?"
Jiang Mian didn't know what he was doing before answering the phone, he was still wearing a suit.
The man had broad shoulders and a narrow waist, and a handsome face. His hair was much shorter than before. He used his hands to push the back of his head, revealing his forehead. He no longer had the youthfulness he once had, but instead looked a bit more fierce and calm.
Qiao Yu had not seen Jiang Mian like this many times, and his eyes were almost glued to him.
The traffic light at the intersection turned red. Jiang Mian loosened his tie with one hand, tilted his head and raised one corner of his lips: "Does it look good?"
Qiao Yu glanced forward guiltily, but couldn't help but looked back again and nodded in a very cowardly manner.
Jiang Mian moved his face closer and pointed with his index finger: "Give me a kiss."
The tips of Qiao Yu's ears turned red, but she still obediently leaned forward and kissed him.
Soon, like a cat scratching, the kiss made people feel even more itchy.
The red light turned green, Jiang Mian made a "tsk" sound, clicked his back teeth hard, and started the car.
"Are you still eating?" He didn't know whether he was asking himself or Qiao Yu, "What do you want to eat? How about having it delivered directly to your room?"
Qiao Yu was still complaining about how shameless Jiang Mian was one second, and the next second she was pressed on the bed and kissed until she felt dizzy.
"If you had told me you were coming earlier, I would have arranged everything for you," he panted, lifted the hem of her clothes with his fingers, and pushed up along her waist, "Where's grandma? Is Aunt Sun watching her at home?"
He asked questions while kissing her. The questions he asked were too normal, but the way he kissed her was too obscene. Qiao Yu always felt that it was too sinful for them to discuss grandma in this position, but Jiang Mian's kiss was impenetrable, and he could not answer anything except intermittent hums and uncontrollable moans.
Qiao Yu angrily grabbed Jiang Mian's hair and pulled it back.
“Are you a dog?”
He pursed his lips that were bitten so hard.
There was a little blush on the porcelain white skin, and the water that was sucked was shimmering.
Jiang Mian couldn't control himself just by looking at her, and he wanted to kiss her again even if his hair was grabbed.
The whole world was in chaos, the sky overturned, and the sea flooded back.
Qiao Yu grabbed his driftwood and floated up and down in the wind and waves.
"Ah Mian... Ah Mian..."
They seemed to have returned to their childhood, snuggling tightly together in that narrow little bed.
"I love you," Jiang Mian kept kissing him, looking into Qiao Yu's eyes with pity and devotion, "I only love you."
…
Afterwards, Qiao Yu slept for a while.
Jiang Mian carried him to take a shower, but woke him up in the middle of the shower.
Dinner was delivered to the room, and Qiao Yu ate a little from Jiang Mian's hand.
He was not very hungry, and he needed a soft hug more than hot food.
"I'm so sleepy. I want to sleep."
He snuggled into the quilt.
Seeing that Jiang Mian could no longer feed her, he put down the bowl, snuggled into the quilt and held Qiao Yu in his arms.
A warm, living being, the more I hold it, the more I love it.
"Why did you suddenly come to Jing City? Did you miss me?"
Qiao Yu wanted to laugh when he heard this: "The school is on a business trip."
The smile on Jiang Mian's face disappeared in an instant: "Didn't you come to see me because you missed me?"
"Why are you so hung up on this?" Qiao Yu muttered, "Didn't I come to find you?"
"That's different." Jiang Mian was in high spirits when he was happy. Not only was he not sleepy, but he couldn't stop talking and kept disturbing Qiao Yu's sleep. "I haven't been home for more than two weeks. Don't you miss me? If your school is not on a business trip, you won't come to see me?"
"I have a lot of things to do," Qiao Yu said, covering Jiang Mian's mouth. "Ever since he promised to supervise my postgraduate study, he has been treating me like an animal. I am exhausted all day long."
"You agreed?" Jiang Mian kissed him several times in surprise, "Don't worry, you study and I'll support you."
"I also have a salary, I don't need you to support me..." Qiao Yu's voice became lower and lower, "Okay Jiang Mian, shut up, shut up..."
His fingers were still on Jiang Mian's lips. Jiang Mian held his wrist, kissed him, and put his arm back into the quilt.
The air conditioner in the room was set at a low setting, but the quilt was not very thin and was just the right size to cover myself.
His breathing became long and deep. Jiang Mian looked at Qiao Yu quietly in the darkness for a while, his eyes sweeping over his blurry facial features, describing them over and over again.
Although there are still some tiny waves left after the huge waves hit my calves, they no longer pose any threat.
They are no longer the ignorant teenagers they once were, but have grown up in the five years of separation and become strong and outstanding.
"I know you don't need me to support you," Jiang Mian hugged Qiao Yu, put his lips on his forehead, and complained softly, "Can't you rely on me a little more?"
The five years of separation may not be made up, but they still have a long and good future ahead of them.
Maybe we can't be together every day like we did when we were children, but can we see each other immediately when we miss each other?
"When are we leaving?" Jiang Mian began to mutter again, "Are we leaving tomorrow?"
"I'm not leaving." Qiao Yu put an arm around his waist and leaned her face against Jiang Mian's arms. "Good night. See you tomorrow."
【End of the article】
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