Chapter 27
Before the club activity on Sunday, Tao Xi reminded Lin Qinhe:
"Tonight at 6:30, Cantonese and Hong Kong Tea Restaurant in Ode Plaza, you must not stand me up! Otherwise I will..."
Lin Qinhe took out the sheet music and looked at him calmly: "What else would you do?"
Tao Xi choked.
What can he do?
He will be disappointed, but he will still like this person so much.
So he snorted and said to Lin Qinhe: "Not so good, maybe I won't talk to you tomorrow."
After a pause, he added in a useless whisper, "Just one day."
Tao Xi heard Lin Qinhe laugh softly. Before he could see Lin Qinhe's smile clearly, Lin Qinhe left the classroom with the music score.
Tao Xi sat in his seat for a while before getting up and heading to the Art Club.
Before he started painting, Qiao Yitang found him and said, "Tao Xi, I showed your paintings to my grandfather last time, and he wants to meet you. Are you free this afternoon?"
Tao Xi was stunned and looked at Qiao Yitang blankly.
Qiao Yitang smiled and said, "Oh, by the way, you probably don't know who my grandfather is. My grandfather's name is Qiao Henian. You should have heard of him, right?"
Tao Xi's heart trembled. There was no way that he didn't know Qiao Henian. This painter in his seventies was a famous oil painting master in China and was once the president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. He didn't expect that Qiao Yitong was actually Qiao Henian's granddaughter, and he didn't expect that Qiao Henian would want to meet him.
He was naturally excited to see Qiao Henian, but not today. He said to Qiao Yitang, "I really want to see Mr. Qiao, but I have a dinner appointment tonight. Can I visit the old man next week?"
Qiao Yitang's eyes lit up, and he asked curiously, "Are you going to date someone tonight? You need to prepare well! It's okay. My grandfather plays chess and plays with birds at home every day. I don't have much to do. I'll meet him next week."
Tao Xi knew that Qiao Yitang had misunderstood, but the word "date" made him feel sweet in his heart. He did not refute. His eyes were shining, and he couldn't suppress a smile on his lips. He said thank you.
Qiao Yitang looked at the innocent look of the boy in front of her and thought he looked a lot like the white kitten she used to raise. She felt a little itchy and wanted to stroke Tao Xi's hair, but after thinking about it, she held back and said slowly:
"Dress up nicely and have a good date!"
Tao Xi nodded happily and said thank you again.
Qiao Yitang turned and left the studio, walked to the corner of the corridor, took out his cell phone and made a call. As soon as the call was connected, he started to chatter:
"You owe me another big favor! I helped him to introduce him to my grandfather. But after seeing his paintings, my grandfather was really interested in him. Maybe he will accept him as his apprentice in the future. You know, my grandfather doesn't accept any students except me now."
"I really don't understand you. At first I thought you wanted to go into politics like your grandfather and uncle, so you supported the country's targeted poverty alleviation policy. But what you are doing is not poverty alleviation, you are raising a child bride!"
"But I'm going on a date happily tonight, so don't let me end up with nothing!"
The person on the other end hung up the phone without saying a word. Qiao Yitang looked at the phone screen angrily, thinking that it would be best if this taciturn person who only did things but never said anything would end up with nothing!
After finishing her painting, Tao Xi ran back to the dormitory and spent a long time picking out suitable clothes from her closet but couldn't find any.
He didn't have many clothes to begin with, and since coming to Wenhua No. 1 Middle School he hadn't bought any new clothes because he had to wear school uniform every day.
I still have to go buy some clothes, he thought.
Tao Xi left school and went to the mall again. The salesperson saw that Tao Xi was good-looking and kept asking him to try on clothes. He really looked good in the clothes and was pressed down to take a bunch of photos like a model. However, he was immediately discouraged when he saw that the prices were over a thousand yuan.
Although the school gave him a lot of money, he would never waste it on buying such expensive clothes.
Tao Xi finally found a relatively affordable underground shopping mall and spent three hundred yuan to buy a set of clothes that were on sale last year. It was a beige knitted sweatshirt with two fluffy and soft braided ropes hanging in front, and a pair of light-colored jeans that made her legs look long and thin.
He thought it wasn't cool enough, but the salesperson praised it so much that he was blown away.
After buying new clothes, Tao Xi squatted beside a bench in the rest area of the shopping mall, took out the test paper from her schoolbag, lay on the bench and started doing her homework.
A middle-aged man who was sitting nearby waiting for his wife to go shopping said, "Little boy, it's so tiring to squat here. There's a cafe over there. It's more comfortable to do your homework there."
Tao Xi shook his head: "The coffee shop is too expensive." He paused, looked at the uncle seriously and said, "Besides, I'm a sophomore in high school, I'm not a kid anymore."
The uncle smiled and said, "You look like a junior high school student. Besides, a sophomore is still very young, not even an adult yet."
Tao Xi frowned and thought, this outfit is indeed not handsome enough.
The uncle sighed with emotion and said to himself: "If my boy was so obedient and sensible, I would definitely live to be ninety-nine."
Tao Xi finished his homework until 5:30. When he stood up, his legs were so numb that he almost fell down. He stretched his legs for a while, packed his schoolbag and ran to his destination.
The rush hour after get off work in big cities is always crowded. After the autumnal equinox, the sun sets earlier and earlier, and the dusk is gradually swallowed up by the night. Tao Xi stood at the entrance of the crowded Ode Shopping Mall, staring down at the WeChat dialog box on his mobile phone in a daze.
Do you want to ask where Lin Qinhe is?
But it’s not even six o’clock yet. Will Lin Qinhe be annoyed by being urged?
Tao Xi then took out an English vocabulary booklet from his schoolbag and stood in the bustling crowd to memorize the words. Many people passing by looked at him in surprise.
But he couldn't memorize it at all. The letters came together in front of his eyes, then scattered in his mind, and finally turned into the three words "Lin Qinhe".
A college boy standing nearby waiting for his girlfriend couldn't help but say to Tao Xi, "Are you also waiting for your girlfriend to go on a date? She'll be angry if she sees you studying while on a date."
Tao Xi was startled and asked in surprise: "Will you really be angry?"
But if he doesn't study hard, Lin Qinhe will get angry.
"Of course, it means you don't care about her all the time." The college boy seemed to be very experienced. As soon as he finished speaking, he saw his girlfriend coming over. He smiled and gave her a hug. The two of them walked into the mall hand in hand.
Tao Xi quickly put the vocabulary booklet back into his schoolbag and began to stare blankly at the WeChat dialog box on his phone.
It's already six o'clock, should I be okay to ask?
Tao Xi mustered up the courage to start typing on her phone:
"Where are you going..."
Just when I was halfway through the call, the interface suddenly changed to an incoming call reminder.
It’s Lin Qinhe’s call.
At that moment, Tao Xi felt his stomach cramp, which was a surge of nervousness and excitement. He answered the phone in a panic, holding the phone tightly and asked:
"Where are you? I'm at the entrance of Ode Mall, next to the lamppost on the left."
When he made a sound, he found that his voice was trembling with excitement, and his throat seemed to be blocked by a ball of wet cotton.
There seemed to be some noise on the other end of the line, but Lin Qinhe's deep voice was still clear:
"Tao Xi, I'm sorry, I can't come over tonight." He paused and continued, "I'm sorry, something happened suddenly at home."
Tao Xi's heart sank quickly at the first half of the sentence, but immediately rose again at the second half. He asked anxiously, "What happened? Is it serious?"
Lin Qinhe said: "Yang Duole is sick, and my family and I are on the way to take him to the hospital."
Tao Xi finally heard clearly that the noisy background sound was intermittent sobbing, and an old lady comforted her gently: "Don't cry, my dear grandson, we will be at the hospital soon."
The voice cried out "Brother Qinhe" again, and then came Lin Qinhe's voice after the phone was taken away:
"Le Le, bear with it a little longer, the pain will go away after you see the doctor."
Tao Xi suddenly found that he couldn't find air to breathe.
He felt his heart aching, so aching.
It hurts so much.
The pain made my vision blurry.
The voice on the other end of the phone was close again. Lin Qinhe's voice was very low and soft:
"I'm sorry, I'll treat you to a meal next time. You can eat whatever you want, okay?"
Tao Xi dug his palms hard with his fingers and tried to blink his eyes, but the neon lights of the tall buildings and the endless stream of car taillights were still blurred into brilliant spots of light in front of his eyes.
He murmured: "But, but..."
He was stubborn and unwilling to agree, but he couldn't give a reason.
Lin Qinhe asked him patiently: "But what?"
Tao Xi closed his eyes and said in a hoarse voice:
"But I want to see you."
No reason, I just want to see you.
I want to, I want to, I want to very much.
This sentence seemed to have used up all his courage. Tao Xi closed his eyes tightly, as if he could not hear any sound in the world.
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a moment, which seemed to be only three seconds, but also seemed to be a long time. He heard Lin Qinhe say to him in the sound of his suppressed breath:
"Just stand there and don't move. I'll send someone to pick you up, okay?"
The voice was as gentle as the October evening breeze, so gentle that he had the illusion that Lin Qinhe was coaxing him, just like he was coaxing Yang Duole.
Tao Xi held his breath and said, "Okay."
After he finished speaking, he realized that he couldn't make any sound at all. He took a deep breath, and his hoarse throat made a sound again:
"good."
After hanging up the phone, Tao Xi reached out and touched her face; it was wet.
He held his cell phone and looked blankly at the bustling crowd.
White-collar workers going home after get off work, couples holding hands on a date, friends shopping together, parents with children...
Everyone plays his or her own role in the lively neon night, but what role does he play tonight?
Tao Xi didn't have to wait long. A black car that he didn't recognize but was being frequently stared at stopped not far away. A young man in a suit got out of the car and soon found him at the entrance of the mall and asked:
"Hello, you are Tao Xi, right? I am Chen Ting, the driver of the Lin family."
Tao Xi nodded woodenly and got into the car with Chen Ting.
He was soon sent to Hannan Hospital, and Chen Ting took him into the hospital.
Tao Xi began to regret the moment he entered the hospital elevator. Why did he come here?
Yang Duole is sick, why did he come here so shamelessly?
visit? Visiting? care?
Act as one of the many caregivers for Yang Duole's relatives and friends?
It will only bring trouble to yourself.
There were a lot of people in the elevator, and there was a pungent smell of disinfectant. Tao Xi was squeezed in a corner with her schoolbag.
An old man holding a lunch box nearby saw the child in the corner, who seemed to be wrapped in dark shadows and was obviously sad. He thought he was sad for his sick relative, so he asked him kindly:
"Come visit your family after school?"
Tao Xi shook his head silently.
He just wanted to see Lin Qinhe.
Just take a look and leave.
He said to himself.
The elevator opened again when it reached the fifth floor, and Chen Ting whispered to him, "We're here."
Many people in the elevator started to walk out, and Tao Xi was the last one to walk out of the elevator, following behind the others.
The crowd dispersed, and the view became wider. He saw Lin Qinhe standing not far from the elevator entrance, looking at him.
Tao Xi suddenly couldn't walk anymore. He stood there looking at Lin Qinhe. The elevator door behind him closed again with a ding.
He thought, this one look was enough.
He should have said something and gone back.
Lin Qinhe walked up to him, took the schoolbag from his arms, and asked him in a low voice:
"Are you hungry? Do you want to eat something first?"
Tao Xi didn't say anything, just looked at Lin Qinhe. Her long eyelashes were clearly visible under the light from above, and there was only this person in her pupils.
It seems like there is only this person in the whole world.
Lin Qinhe lowered his eyes and looked at the moist eyes for a while, then suddenly raised his hand to touch Tao Xi's soft hair.
But his fingers paused before touching the hair, and instead picked up the braided string of Tao Xi's sweatshirt that was thrown behind him, and gently placed it on his chest, his movements as gentle as pinning a rose on his chest.
He withdrew his hand, and the fingers hanging by his side curled up slightly.
Tao Xi grabbed the soft braided rope and squeezed it tightly in his palm. He looked at Lin Qinhe and suddenly said:
"Lin Qinhe, I'm so hungry."
He thought.
Just one glance seems not enough.
It's never enough.
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