Chapter 41
Tao Xi started daily oral training. Lin Qinhe would read the English materials, record them and send them to him. He would listen on his mobile phone and imitate Lin Qinhe's pronunciation and accent.
He got up even earlier in the morning, ate a quick breakfast in the cafeteria, and then ran to the basketball court near the school gate to practice oral English for half an hour in the chilly December morning breeze.
Tao Xi checked the time and walked from the basketball court to the school gate with an English vocabulary booklet. Lin Qinhe should be here in a few minutes. He stood in the corner next to the guard room, lowering his head and memorizing the words in the booklet.
While reciting a very complicated word, Tao Xi suddenly felt a black screen in front of his eyes, as if something soft was covering his head and face. He pulled the thing off, revealing his eyes, and saw Lin Qinhe looking down at him with a smile on his face.
Looking down again, I saw a black cashmere scarf around my neck, which still retained the warmth of Lin Qinhe.
Lin Qinhe reached out and adjusted her scarf, wrapped it tightly around Tao Xi's neck, looked into his sparkling eyes and said, "Don't wait for me in the morning in the future. It's very cold."
Tao Xi shook her head in the soft and warm scarf: "I have to come out to practice speaking anyway. A little coolness will make my mind clearer."
Lin Qinhe glanced at Tao Xi's red fingers from the cold, frowned in disapproval, but said nothing.
The two walked along Xiangzhang Road to the teaching building together. In the past few days, Tao Xi would prepare oral materials every night and speak English with Lin Qinhe on the way together in the morning.
Lin Qinhe would correct his incorrect pronunciation and then give him random test questions to improvise on the spot.
Tao Xi racked his brains to answer Lin Qinhe's question. After he finished answering, he found that Lin Qinhe had taken him away from the path to the teaching building and came to the door of the convenience store.
"Do you want to buy breakfast?" Tao Xi asked.
Lin Qinhe didn't say anything and went straight into the convenience store. Tao Xi followed him in and saw Lin Qinhe pick up a pair of gray plush gloves, then went straight to the cashier to pay.
Lin Qinhe walked outside the convenience store, opened the package, and handed the gloves to Tao Xi.
Tao Xi took the gloves in a daze. The gloves were furry and there was a little bear on the back of the hands, which looked very similar to the little bear they had caught before.
Seeing Tao Xi staring at the gloves in a daze, Lin Qinhe thought he didn't like them, so he said, "Just make do with them for now."
Tao Xi looked up at Lin Qinhe, handed him a glove, and said with squinting eyes: "Let's each have one."
Lin Qinhe refused: "I don't need it."
Tao Xi put on both gloves, lowered his head, spread out his ten fingers, and looked back and forth.
After class at noon, Tao Xi went to the cafeteria with Lin Qinhe to eat. This was one of the things he had longed for the most in the past. Now, when he followed Lin Qinhe to get food in the cafeteria, he felt that the cafeteria aunties had become as beautiful as flowers, and their hands were very steady when serving food.
A group of third-year junior high school students came to visit the school today, and the cafeteria was packed. Tao Xi carried the food tray and looked for seats with Lin Qinhe. Along the way, many people were secretly looking at the two of them, mainly girls. Tao Xi didn't know what they were whispering about, and didn't care.
"Brother Qinhe!"
When Tao Xi heard these three words, her heart sank. She turned around and saw Yang Duole holding a tray and looking for a seat. Next to him was his roommate Xu Ziqi. She looked back and forth between him and Lin Qinhe, and her face looked unhappy for a moment.
Yang Duole's eyes fell on Tao Xi's black cashmere scarf for two seconds. He pursed his lips, walked up to Lin Qinhe and asked with a smile, "Are you looking for a seat too?"
Lin Qinhe nodded and glanced at Tao Xi beside him.
Tao Xi's expression didn't change much, and she even greeted Yang Duole and Xu Ziqi.
Xu Ziqi looked at Lin Qinhe, hesitated for a while, pointed to a table not far away, and suggested to Lin Qinhe: "I think those people are almost finished eating, we can sit there together."
Tao Xi frowned slightly, feeling annoyed.
Yang Duole also glanced at the table over there and said to Lin Qinhe, "Why not sit there? There's just enough space for four people."
Lin Qinhe said indifferently: "No need, let's find another seat." He paused, looked at Tao Xi and said, "Let's go."
Tao Xi secretly breathed a sigh of relief and followed Lin Qinhe away. Before turning around, he saw Yang Duole staring at him.
After Xu Ziqi and Yang Duole sat down, Xu Ziqi glanced at Yang Duole's face and said, "That person can only stay here for one year. He will go back to the mountain valley in his third year of high school. He will have nothing to do with you guys in the future."
He knew that Yang Duole, like himself, didn't like Tao Xi, and was even more uncomfortable with Lin Qinhe's good relationship with Tao Xi.
Yang Duole lowered his eyes so that his expression could not be seen clearly. He only said, "He has nothing to do with us now."
Cathy Xu saw the opportunity and agreed, "Yes, he is not from the same world as us."
With the arrival of several cold waves in December, the temperature in Wenhua City continued to drop. Tao Xi changed into winter school uniforms early and got up early every day to study. He thought it was a fallacy that early love would affect study. At least he felt that he did not, and he even learned better.
During this period, he successfully joined the Qinghua Association and was pulled into a WeChat group of hundreds of people. Vice President Guan Fanyun took the initiative to add him on WeChat. Only then did he remember that this woman was Yang Zhengming's lover whom he met at the art exhibition.
During the lunch break at noon, Lin Qinhe went to the school's temporary competition sprint class for training. Tao Xi couldn't help but click on Guan Fanyun's WeChat Moments to check.
Guan Fanyun's circle of friends is mostly filled with the same old selfies, or showing off gifts and other content showing off their affection, but there are no photos of Yang Zhengming. There are also a few paintings she drew herself. Tao Xi took a closer look and found them to be very ordinary, and not on the same level as Fang Hui. I don't know how she became the vice president, and I don't know why Yang Zhengming treated her as Fang Hui's substitute.
Tao Xi felt it was boring, so he quit WeChat, turned off his phone, took out a pen and started doing TOEFL reading questions. Not long after he started, a boy came up to him and said:
"Tao Xi, when I went to the security guard to pick up the package, I ran into your dad and asked you to come over."
Tao Xi clenched the pen in her hand: "I understand, thank you."
"I was just delayed on the way back. Maybe your dad had to wait a little long. I'm sorry." The boy apologized.
"It doesn't matter."
Tao Xi thanked the boy again and took out a roll of money tied with a rubber band from the compartment of his schoolbag. This was the money he had prepared a long time ago, just in anticipation of the day when Tao Jian would come to see him again.
Tao Jian might have found a job before, but he must have lost everything in gambling and came to him for money. He knew this "father" too well.
Although he knew that this might be a bottomless pit, he had to fill it, even if it was only temporarily.
He would not allow anyone to destroy his life here with Lin Qinhe, never.
Tao Xi took the money and quickly walked to the guard room, but did not see Tao Jian. The security guard was familiar with him because he read English at the school gate every day, so he waved to him:
"Your father did come half an hour ago, but he left again."
Tao Xi frowned, and for some reason he had a bad feeling in his heart.
He was silent for a while, then asked the security guard, "Did he say anything?"
The security guard sighed, and seeing Tao Xi's serious expression, he hesitated for a few seconds before finally saying, "Nothing to say, go back and prepare for class."
Tao Xi was full of doubts. He nodded. Before leaving, the security guard whispered to him, "Try to have your father come to school less often in the future."
Tao Xi pursed her lips, lowered her eyes and said, "I'm sorry to trouble you."
He thought that Tao Jian might have made a big fuss in the guard room again like last time, so it was understandable that the security guard felt annoyed.
The security guard waved his hands and said politely, "It's okay. I don't mean anything else. It's just that your dad seems to be easily emotional, and I'm worried that your study state will be affected."
Tao Xi thanked the security guard and turned to leave.
When the security guard saw Tao Xi walking away, he sighed to his colleague who came in to change shifts, "This child looks like a good kid, but his father doesn't seem normal."
My colleague asked curiously, "Did we quarrel with you again?"
The security guard shook his head and said, "Not with me, but with..." He paused and sighed, "Forget it, he's just an uneducated country boy, I won't say anything more."
He was on duty in the guard room in the morning and saw Tao Jian coming in wearing a pair of peeling leather shoes. He didn't have a good impression of this father because of what happened last time. Just as he was about to tell him that he could not enter the school without the permission of the class teacher, he saw Yang Duole coming in.
He immediately asked with a smile: "Yang Duole, are you taking leave to go home again?"
Before Yang Duole could answer, Tao Jian walked up to him and asked loudly with a strange look on his face, "What's your name? Yang Duole?"
Yang Duole seemed a little frightened at the time, staring at Tao Jian and saying, "Who are you?"
The security guard felt something was wrong, but before he could move Yang Duole behind him, Tao Jian suddenly grabbed Yang Duole's right hand and rolled up his sleeves, revealing the red birthmark on his right wrist.
He found it difficult to describe Tao Jian's expression at the time. He only clearly remembered that Tao Jian's face turned red, as if he had drunk alcohol. He stared at the birthmark, then at Yang Duole's face, with a gleam in his eyes, and muttered something vaguely like "my son".
Yang Duole was still struggling, but as if he heard what Tao Jian said, he was instantly frightened and his face turned pale. His lips were trembling and he even forgot to struggle.
The security guard thought the man was crazy and rushed forward to separate the two, but Tao Jian quickly let go of his hand. He looked Yang Duole up and down for a while, and suddenly pointed at him: "Come out with me, I have something to tell you."
The security guard protected Yang Duole behind him and angrily said to Tao Jian: "Aren't you here to look for your son Tao Xi? He might be on his way here. This student has nothing to do with you!"
Tao Jian impatiently took out a cigarette and said, "How do you know I have nothing to do with him?!" He lit the cigarette, pointed at Yang Duole with the hand holding the cigarette and said threateningly, "If you don't come out, I'll tell you right here."
After saying that, he walked out of the guard room and waited outside the door while smoking a cigarette for Yang Duole to come out.
The security guard turned to look at Yang Duole, ready to ask him if he knew this man, but found that Yang Duole's face was ashen, his forehead was covered with cold sweat, and his eyes were empty and lifeless, as if he had just woken up from a nightmare.
He murmured, "Is he here to look for Tao Xi?"
The security guard looked worried and said, "Yes, he is Tao Xi's father. If you don't know him, don't go out. Go back to school and wait for your family to pick you up."
Yang Duole's face turned even paler. He shook his head dully and was about to walk out. But before he walked out the door, he suddenly turned around and said to him, "Uncle, can you not tell other people about this?"
A pair of eyes were dark and lifeless.
The security guard was stunned for a moment, subconsciously nodded and said "OK", but out of concern he still asked: "Are you really okay?"
Yang Duole opened his bloodless lips, said nothing, turned around and walked out.
The security guard watched Yang Duole and Tao Jian walking away anxiously. Yang Duole seemed to be avoiding Tao Jian as if he were a snake or a scorpion, but he didn't completely get rid of him. The two of them started arguing fiercely halfway through the walk.
He guessed for a long time but couldn't figure it out. He wanted to call Mr. Yang, but then he remembered that he had promised Yang Duole, so he gave up.
When Tao Xi returned to the classroom with the money he hadn't given out and a gloomy face, Lin Qinhe had already returned to his seat. He adjusted his facial expression, returned to his seat, and asked Lin Qinhe in a brisk tone, "Is the training finished so soon?"
Lin Qinhe did not answer. He lowered his eyes to look at Tao Xi's eyes, reached out and pinched his chin, pressed his thumb on the corner of his mouth and lifted it up, and asked:
"Why are you unhappy?"
Tao Xi was startled, and looked around first, and then he felt relieved when he was sure that no one was looking behind him. He dodged Lin Qinhe's hand, put the TOEFL practice questions on the table on Lin Qinhe's table, and said:
“I got a lot of reading questions wrong.”
Lin Qinhe didn't ask any more questions and started to explain the reading questions to Tao Xi.
In addition to lunch break, Tao Xi would also set aside a fixed time to practice English during the break before evening self-study. Whenever Lin Qinhe was free, he would usually tutor him.
"You seem to have a call." In the evening, Tao Xi tapped Lin Qinhe's arm, and he heard Lin Qinhe's cell phone vibrating.
Lin Qinhe put down the pen in his hand, took out his mobile phone and saw that it was a call from Luo Zhengyin. He frowned slightly, said to Tao Xi, "It's my mother", and then answered the call.
Tao Xi was wondering whether he should step away, but Lin Qinhe held his hand with his other hand and pinched his fingers one by one under the table, making his fingertips itchy.
"Okay, I'll be right back."
Lin Qinhe frowned deeply. He thought for a moment and said to Tao Xi, "Something happened at home. I need to ask for leave to go back tonight."
Tao Xi's heart was lifted, and he asked, "Is it serious?"
Lin Qinhe shook his head, tightened his grip on Tao Xi's hand, and whispered, "Don't worry about the TOEFL test. It doesn't matter if you fail it once. You can take it many times."
Tao Xi didn't expect that Lin Qinhe still remembered that he said at noon that he was unhappy because he didn't do well in the reading test. He scratched Lin Qinhe's palm and said with a smile: "I'm not nervous anymore."
Lin Qinhe stood up, packed his schoolbag, said "see you tomorrow", then turned and left the classroom.
Tao Xi watched Lin Qinhe's back disappear completely, and put the money roll in his pocket back into his schoolbag.
Why did Tao Jian come to school and then go back halfway?
He didn't believe Tao Jian because he suddenly felt guilty.
Tao Xi thought about it for a while, but couldn't figure it out.
The author has something to say:
Yang Duole often has nightmares that he is not his parents' child, as mentioned earlier.
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