59 Chapter 59 (Resume Update)
Tao Xi was taken out of the school by Lin Qinhe, but they did not return to where they lived, but to a wonton stall in the old city.
Because Wenhua University is nearby, many college students come and go in the old streets and alleys. Night markets are busy setting up stalls on the roadside, and the cold air is filled with the aroma of cumin from the barbecue stalls.
Under the red plastic awning with the sign "Laosun Wonton", a gray-haired old man was making wontons in front of a large pot with white steam rolling out of it. When he saw Lin Qinhe coming in with a boy, he stopped what he was doing and asked with a smile, "Are you skipping class again?"
"I didn't skip class. I have a day off at night." Lin Qinhe said, letting Tao Xi sit at the dining table in the corner where there was no wind, and he washed the disposable dishes and chopsticks with boiling water himself.
"It's very clean, why do you still need to wash it? You are the only one who is so picky!" The old man couldn't help scolding Lin Qinhe when he saw how carefully he washed it.
Tao Xi sat on a plastic stool and watched them talk curiously. He didn't expect that Lin Qinhe would come to this corner of the market and seemed to be quite familiar with the old man called Lao Sun.
Old Sun noticed Tao Xi's gaze, gave him a kind smile, looked at him carefully for a while, and said something to Lin Qinhe. Lin Qinhe smiled lightly and replied with a word.
Not long after, Lin Qinhe placed a bowl full of wontons in front of him and said, "The wontons here are delicious, you should try it."
Tao Xi held the bowl and smelled it. The fresh fragrance instantly filled his nostrils. He used the spoon handed to him by Lin Qinhe and took several mouthfuls. It was indeed delicious. The soup was fresh and tasty, and his whole stomach was warmed up.
He asked Lin Qinhe who was sitting next to him: "Do you come here often?"
Lin Qinhe was also eating a bowl of wontons. Just as he was about to answer, he heard the wonton maker, Old Sun, say with a smile, "He ran away from home when he was six or seven years old and came to me!"
Tao Xi looked at Lin Qinhe in surprise: "Running away from home?" And at such a young age.
Lin Qinhe looked a little unnatural, and turned his head slightly to say, "I just walked here from home, ate a bowl of wontons and went back. It doesn't count as running away from home."
Old Sun smiled and said, "I was the one who treated him to that bowl of wontons, and he even told me that he would definitely repay me in the future."
Tao Xi couldn't help laughing. Under the hanging incandescent light, a smile flickered in his dim eyes. He asked Lin Qinhe, "Why did you run away from home?"
Lin Qinhe said calmly: "I don't remember much, maybe I had a quarrel with my family."
When Old Sun heard what Lin Qinhe said, he just smiled and shook his head.
A few more college students soon came into the awning, and Lao Sun was busy taking care of the customers. The cold wind was howling outside the plastic film, but the awning was warm in the air filled with water vapor.
"Did you go back by yourself? Or did your family find you?" Tao Xi asked curiously.
Lin Qinhe thought for a moment and said, "My family took me back."
"That's good." Tao Xi supported his chin with one hand and recalled, "In fact, I also ran away from home. I forgot what I did. I even walked to the next mountain, but I ran back by myself when it got dark."
Lin Qinhe asked: "Are you scared on the way back?"
Tao Xi nodded and said, "It's very dark and quiet in the mountains at night. I'm timid and afraid of the dark, so I get scared when I hear a dog barking. At that time, I thought, if I could become braver overnight, I wouldn't be afraid to leave there."
As he spoke, he felt his fingers being held in Lin Qinhe's palm, tightly wrapping him.
Lin Qinhe looked at him, raised his eyebrows slightly, and said, "You never seem to be timid in front of me."
Tao Xi was stunned, and recalled the time when he first arrived at Wenhua No. 1 Middle School, jumping up and down to get close to the iceberg-like Lin Qinhe, without any sign of fear.
"That's different." He smiled.
Running towards Lin Qinhe was the bravest thing he had ever done.
But I still feel scared when I return to a strange home, just like when I ran away from home as a child and was on my way back alone. I was afraid that my family would beat and scold me for this, but I was also afraid that they would not beat or scold me. I felt conflicted and uneasy.
Tao Xi stared at the bowl of soup in a trance, and Lin Qinhe held his hand and accompanied him in silence. After a while, he spoke again, his voice was low, as if he was talking to Lin Qinhe, but also to himself:
"You asked me before why I didn't tell you earlier, and I said it was because I promised Guo Ping, but it wasn't true."
"Because I'm a little scared. I'm afraid that I imagined it too well, but in the end things won't be as good as I thought. I'm afraid that they'll be disappointed in me and unwilling to accept me. I'm also afraid that they'll feel guilty about me and do everything they can to be nice to me. I'm afraid that they'll feel torn between me and Yang Duole..."
He had never told Lin Qinhe about these contradictory and complicated thoughts, as he did not want to show his cowardly and timid side.
Lin Qinhe kept his eyes on him and said to him gently, "I understand."
Tao Xi nodded. He had not spoken much since he came out of school, but at this moment he seemed to open up, as if he wanted to pour out everything that was stuck in his heart. He continued:
"Today I met... them. Actually, I knew why they came to see me. Although the letter of apology was a bit unexpected, I can understand their actions. If it were me, I think they would do the same for me."
He felt the warmth of Lin Qinhe's palm, and this warmth seemed to give him the courage to continue cutting himself open.
"But unfortunately I still couldn't control my emotions. I don't know what happened. At that moment, I suddenly felt a little wronged. I wanted to tell them the truth loudly, but I just couldn't say it."
Tao Xi felt that when he mentioned the word "grievance", the person next to him seemed to hold his hand a little harder. He felt a little embarrassed as he spoke, and raised his head slightly and blinked. When he turned to look at Lin Qinhe, his eyes were full of sparkling smiles.
He said, “But I don’t seem to be afraid now.”
All the anxieties came from expectations, and were eliminated by greater expectations. When he saw Lin Qinhe in the conference room, he suddenly realized that he had a future and life of his own that he was looking forward to more.
"Are you really not afraid anymore?" Lin Qinhe looked at him and asked.
Tao Xi nodded and said in a relaxed tone: "At worst, I can just live with you forever. It's not like I have to stay in that house. I'll have to go out to study abroad or work sooner or later."
Lin Qinhe raised his eyebrows when he heard this and said, "You can live with me at worst? Even if you return home, you have to continue living with me."
Tao Xi asked with some amusement: "What if they insist on me living at home?"
"Isn't this your home too?" Lin Qinhe asked back.
Tao Xi was stunned, and looked at Lin Qinhe steadily. Lin Qinhe looked at him and continued, "Maybe there won't be any evidence to prove it for a long time in the future, but this point will never change, and there is no need to prove it, understand?"
They cannot have a legally recognized relationship in the country, nor can they be registered on the same household registration book, but what can they do?
There is no need to prove home.
Tao Xi looked at Lin Qinhe for a long time before she came back to her senses. Her eyelashes drooped slightly, but the corners of her mouth curled up, and she said, "I know."
He held Lin Qinhe's hand, scratched his palm, tilted his head and whispered: "Then don't be angry, okay?"
Before Lin Qinhe took him away today, he was obviously a little out of control with those elders. After taking him away, Lin Qinhe restrained all his emotions, but he knew that Lin Qinhe might still be feeling upset.
After a moment of silence, Lin Qinhe said, "I'm not angry."
He was just disappointed in his own powerlessness in this matter. How could Tao Xi not need his family? He hoped that Tao Xi could have a complete family relationship more than Tao Xi did.
After Old Sun finished serving a table of guests, he came over and asked if Tao Xi wanted some more wontons. Tao Xi nodded and thanked him, then ate another half bowl. In the end, he was so full that he could hardly stand up.
The two were about to leave after eating the wontons, but Tao Xi suddenly smelled the aroma coming from the barbecue stall outside, so he urged Lin Qinhe to go out and buy some for him.
"Can you eat more?" Lin Qinhe asked, but still went out to buy barbecue for Tao Xi. The barbecue stall was doing good business in the evening, and he waited in line for some time before he finished grilling. When he came back, he saw Tao Xi listening to what Lao Sun was saying, and they stopped talking when they saw him come in.
Tao Xi saw that Lin Qinhe looked a little serious. Just when he was about to ask what was wrong, Lin Qinhe came over and whispered to him that Fang Zuqing had fainted.
While waiting for the barbecue, Lin Qinhe received a call from Su Yun and learned that Fang Zuqing had been sent to Hannan Hospital after fainting in the conference room. Fortunately, the old man was not seriously injured, he just fainted due to temporary shock. The doctor said he would wake up soon.
Tao Xi's heart skipped a beat when he heard the news, and then he was overwhelmed with fear. He couldn't imagine what he would do if something happened to Fang Zuqingzhen.
Lin Qinhe held his arm and comforted him, "Grandpa Fang will be fine."
At this time, Lin Qinhe received another call on his mobile phone. He took it out and saw that it was Yang Zhengming.
Yang Zhengming rarely contacts Lin Qinhe. He has a bad relationship with Luo Zhengyin, but he occasionally contacts Lin Qinhe because of his son. This time he called Lin Qinhe for his real son. Lin Qinhe couldn't help but feel a little ironic.
Yang Zhengming's voice was hoarse on the phone. After a few pleasantries, he tactfully asked Lin Qinhe if he could talk to Tao Xi.
Lin Qinhe looked at Tao Xi who was standing beside him. Tao Xi said softly to Lin Qinhe, "Tell him that I'm going to Hannan Hospital tomorrow."
Fang Zuqing fell ill, and he should go to visit him. Sooner or later, this matter will have to be laid bare and clarified, there is no need to avoid it.
After Lin Qinhe told Yang Zhengming, Yang Zhengming seemed a little unbelievable. After saying "OK" several times incoherently, he told Lin Qinhe the ward number in detail and asked if he needed him to pick up Tao Xi tomorrow. Lin Qinhe refused.
After hanging up the phone, Lin Qinhe said to Tao Xi: "I'll take you there tomorrow."
Tao Xi nodded and agreed.
After they returned that night, while taking a shower in Taoxi, Lin Qinhe called his father Lin Zeshi. Before Yang Zhengming hung up the phone, he told him that his mother Luo Zhengyin was not in good condition and had been picked up by Lin Zeshi.
He knew that the people who were most shocked after the truth was revealed included the two elders of the Fang family and his mother. The child that Fang Sui had raised with more than ten years of hard work was not her biological child. This was more difficult and painful for Luo Zhengyin to accept than it was for Yang Zhengming.
Lin Zeshi had obviously known about Tao Xi's situation through Su Yun a long time ago. He told Lin Qinhe that Luo Zhengyin's depression had indeed relapsed and that he was now with her in the sanatorium, and asked Lin Qinhe not to worry.
Tao Xi came out of the shower, wiped her hair with a dry towel and walked into the bedroom. She saw Lin Qinhe sitting in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the neon lights outside the window. He had a calm expression and seemed to be thinking about something.
Noticing Tao Xi's footsteps, Lin Qinhe came to his senses, put his arms around Tao Xi's waist, let him sit on his lap, then picked up the hair dryer that had been placed aside and started blowing his hair.
For some reason, Lin Qinhe seemed to be very keen on doing this. Tao Xi yawned and lowered his head weakly, feeling the warm breeze and the slender fingers running through his hair.
After blowing his hair, Tao Xi raised his hand and touched his head. Not surprisingly, he felt a mess of hair. He sighed silently, closed his eyes and leaned against Lin Qinhe's chest. After a while, he asked:
"Are you going to tell me something?"
Lin Qinhe was still trying to fix his hair with his hands. Hearing this, he stopped what he was doing and said after thinking for a while, "Your...adoptive mother is in the hospital."
After Tao Jian's former colleague saw Tao Jian appear in Hannan Hospital, he reported the matter to Su Yun. They soon found out that Tao Jian was in Hannan Hospital to accompany Guo Ping in the hospital. After Lin Qinhe knew about it, he hesitated for a long time and never told Tao Xi.
In his original plan, he never wanted Tao Xi to tell the truth to the Fang family himself. He couldn't bear it.
After knowing that Guo Ping had come to Wenhua City, he planned to let the instigator of all this to uncover everything. Guo Ping agreed and even offered to apologize to the Fang family. Because Guo Ping had difficulty moving in bed, only one video was recorded in the end.
But he didn't expect that the Yang Duole incident would happen later, disrupting his plans.
After hearing that Guo Ping was hospitalized, Tao Xi froze for a moment. After a long while, she calmly asked, "What's wrong with her?"
Lin Qinhe said: "Uremia, late stage."
Tao Xi closed his eyes tightly and rested his chin on Lin Qinhe's shoulder. At that moment, he didn't know what he felt in his heart. It was dull, mixed, and confusing.
He tried hard to recall the signs Guo Ping had experienced in the past, but he had seldom gone home in the past two years, and Guo Ping's face, which was always filled with sadness, had become somewhat blurred.
Does he hate Guo Ping? Of course I hate it, but...
Tao Xi buried his face in Lin Qinhe's neck and took a deep breath. Lin Qinhe raised his hand and gently stroked the back of Tao Xi's neck, kissed his hair, and whispered, "Go to sleep."
Tao Xi did not sleep well this time. He had a very long dream. Sometimes it was Guo Ping, sometimes it was Tao Jian, and finally it was Tao Le. The little girl hugged him and cried, saying something, but he did not hear clearly because he was woken up by Lin Qinhe.
In the morning, Tao Xi and Lin Qinhe went to Hannan Hospital. He bought some fruits near the hospital, just like all younger generations who visit their elders.
But he didn't expect to meet Tao Jian at the entrance of the inpatient department.
Tao Jian was wearing a pair of slippers and his beard seemed to have not been shaved for a few days. He looked very sloppy and Tao Xi almost didn't recognize him.
His adoptive father was holding a plastic bag, which seemed to contain breakfast. When he saw Tao Xi, he was stunned for a moment. His eyes fell on the fruit basket in Tao Xi's hand for two seconds, and then he glanced at Lin Qinhe who was standing beside him with a cold look.
Tao Jian sneered, "You finally came to see your mother?"
Tao Xi frowned upon hearing this. Tao Jian reacted quickly. Seeing Tao Xi's expression, he knew that he had said something wrong. He quickly forced out a sneer and said sarcastically, "Oh, it seems that you have already recognized your biological father and are rushing here to show your filial piety?"
Lin Qinhe looked at Tao Jian with a gloomy look.
Tao Xi didn't react to Tao Jian's words. She just said calmly, "I don't have time to argue with you now."
After saying that, he and Lin Qinhe turned around and continued walking towards the elevator, but after a few steps, Tao Xi heard the sound of slippers shuffling behind him, and he paused.
Tao Jian stretched out his hand and tried to grab Tao Xi's arm, but Tao Xi was hugged by Lin Qinhe and took a step back, so his hand fell empty.
He didn't do anything else, but just raised his eyebrows and asked Tao Xi: "Do you know where that kid Yang Duole is now?" He bit the three words "Yang Duole" very heavily, almost gritting his teeth.
Tao Xi asked back: "Haven't you been asking him for money? How could you not know?"
Tao Jian's face suddenly turned livid, and his throat was raging with anger: "I'm his father. His mother is sick, so shouldn't I pay for her medical treatment?!"
Tao Xi frowned and said, "I don't know, go find him yourself."
Tao Jian fell silent. At that moment, Tao Xi seemed to see deep fatigue and dejection in this man whom he had called "Dad" for many years.
Tao Jian finally waved his hand and turned to leave, but after a few steps he suddenly turned around and said to Tao Xi impatiently, "Go see her when you have time, she wants to see you", and then walked away completely without waiting for Tao Xi's consent.
Tao Xi stood there without moving for a while.
As they pushed their way through the outflowing crowd, Lin Qinhe held his hand, placed it in his palm, pulled him into the elevator, and told him about Guo Ping's condition.
Guo Ping is already in the late stage of uremia and has been undergoing dialysis in the hospital for some time. However, the doctor said that a kidney transplant would be best. Tao Le is too young and also suffers from lupus erythematosus. Tao Jian is anxious to find Yang Duole, probably because of this matter.
Tao Xi felt that this might not be what Guo Ping meant.
Guo Ping was willing to hand her son over to someone else and keep the secret for more than ten years. Would she have the heart to let him donate a kidney for her?
But this has nothing to do with him anymore.
After the elevator door opened, Tao Xi saw Yang Zhengming standing not far from the exit looking at him, obviously waiting for his arrival.
Yang Zhengming was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday. The crisp and expensive fabric had some wrinkles. His handsome face, which was always warm and gentle, now showed deep fatigue. There was still a lingering smell of cigarettes on his body. It was obvious that he did not get much rest that night. But when he saw Tao Xi, he quickly smiled.
It was just that when Yang Zhengming called Tao Xi's name, he felt a moment of awkwardness. This awkwardness became more obvious when he wanted to take the fruit from Tao Xi's hand, but Tao Xi said, "No need, Uncle Yang."
Yang Zhengming withdrew his stiff hands, a smile lingering on his lips, and turned to lead the way for the two. He has always been good at conversation, but at this moment he didn't know what to say to the child in front of him who was his own biological child but a stranger. He could only say something like Fang Zuqing had woken up and told him not to worry.
Tao Xi naturally continued Yang Zhengming's conversation, showing no resistance, but also no desire to get close.
To be honest, he didn't have a very good impression of Yang Zhengming. Guan Fanyun, who looked like his mother but was stupid, was enough to make him have an extremely bad impression of this father.
The distance from the elevator to the ward was not far. Tao Xi quickly followed Yang Zhengming to the door of the ward. Lin Qinhe stopped and turned his head to Tao Xi and whispered, "I'll pick you up later."
After all, this was a family affair between the Fang and Yang families. Lin Qinhe knew that he was not suitable to get involved. He held Tao Xi's hand and squeezed it lightly.
Tao Xi nodded, shook Lin Qinhe's hand in return and then let go.
Yang Zhengming saw the two people holding hands just now, and without saying anything, he pushed open the door of the ward.
Tao Xi looked at the open door and suddenly remembered that night in the hospital. He hid outside the ward door and watched his grandparents wiping tears for Yang Duole lying on the hospital bed. They were only a door away, but it seemed like a world apart.
At this moment, in the same hospital, outside the same ward, he took a deep breath, took a step forward, and walked towards the two elderly people inside.
The author has something to say:
Sorry for the delay of four months before resuming the update. The previous chapters have been modified to a certain extent, which will not affect the general plot.
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