Chapter 55

When Tao Zhi led Jiang Qihuai back, the man was no longer there.

There were still lights in front of the cafe, and pedestrians were talking and laughing, and there was no time for the snow piles on the ground to clean up in the corner.

Nothing was left except for a small piece of body temperature on the dark ground that had rolled over the melting snow.

Tao Zhi turned his head and glanced at Jiang Qihuai and pulled him forward.

The moment I opened the door, the heater in the store was instantly surrounded, and the air was filled with the fragrance of coffee. Taozhi had not arrived for several months, and the store had no changes, and the vinyl piano music was soothing.

It happened to be dinner time now, there were not many customers in the store, and there were three clerks in total, so they were not too busy.

Tao Zhi pulled Jiang Qihuai to the small sofa in the corner and raised his hand to hold his hand.

The boy's hands were already a little red, and his fingers were cold.

She wrapped his hands tightly into her palms with both hands, covered them for a while before asking, "When is the time to get off work?"

"Ten o'clock."

His voice was a little dumb.

Tao Zhi wanted to talk to him again, but when he was working, she couldn't waste his time too much, so she had to nod: "Then I'm waiting for you here?"

Jiang Qihuai looked at her and said "yes".

She didn't ask a word about what happened tonight.

Jiang Qihuai didn't say anything.

Tao Zhi didn't know if she should ask questions on the initiative.

If she didn't count the ex-boyfriend who became a good brother like a house-playing house, she actually had no experience in dating.

What should I ask, what should I not ask, will I go beyond my limits, and will I meddle in other people's business?

She can't quite grasp the distance between boyfriend and girlfriend.

She slowly turned out the paper in her schoolbag, wrote a few questions, and crossed out the answers, but her mind was empty and she couldn't write it in.

After dinner time, the store became lively. The girls chatted with their friends and showed each other the spoils they bought on the street today. Jiang Qihuai stood behind the coffee machine and ordered the orders. His speech speed was neither fast nor slow, and he stood tall and his temperament was light and cold.

They are obviously young people with almost the same grade, but they are always divided into two worlds.

Some people are innocent and carefree, and their parents love each other. The biggest trouble in life is test scores and homework.

Some people are in a mess, worrying about living expenses and taking care of the elderly. They grow up early at the age when they should be taken care of, and then become the only backbone in the entire thin family.

Tao Zhi originally planned to wait until Jiang Qihuai got off work, but before nine o'clock, he received a call from Tao Xiuping on time: "Are you back?"

Tao Zhigan said bluntly: "Not yet."

"I knew that if I didn't urge you, you wouldn't be responsive," Tao Xiuping said in a tone of this indeed, "Zhizhi, do what you say, when do you promise me to come back?"

"Isn't this a little bit yet?" Tao Zhi hesitated, "Dad, can I stay for a while? My friend is not very happy today."

Tao Xiuping: "Is it your friend or your boyfriend?"

Tao Zhi: "..."

She didn't make a sound, as if she had agreed, Tao Xiuping didn't want to let go: "Hurry up, don't play emotional cards with me here. After I can't come back at nine o'clock, the access control will be changed to eight o'clock. Don't say I didn't remind you."

Tao Zhi bulged his cheeks and agreed in a silence.

After hanging up the phone, she looked up and saw that Jiang Qihuai was still busy and didn't notice this.

She packed up her things, sent him a WeChat message, and walked out of the cafe.

-

Jiang Qihuai didn't see the WeChat message Tao Zhi sent him until he got off work.

At around nine o'clock, the little girl first sent him several cat-headed expressions, and finally said something.

[Zhizhi Grape]: I will go home and pay the bill first, and then smuggle out to find you in the evening!

Jiang Qihuai glanced at the table that had been cleaned up in the corner, and he curled his lips and typed a few words.

[Smuggling illegal. Law.]

The boy who worked together in the back room walked out and stood at the door urging him: "Ah Huai, let's go!"

Jiang Qihuai put away his cell phone and left the store.

The boy locked the door, turned around and hooked his shoulder, and said gossip: "The girl who came in with you later today is your girlfriend?"

Jiang Qihuai said "hmm".

"Fuck, you're moving very quickly. When you came last time, we asked you what you said?" The boy raised his face and said in his tone, "I'm not familiar with him, classmate."

"I was thinking about waiting for her to come next time to communicate," the boy touched his chin, "If you don't move, just my face will make her lose her life if you see her, you can even make her feel a little secret."

Jiang Qihuai smiled lightly and glanced at him: "Is it possible that I can't tell if I have a secret heart, but it's true that I have thick skin."

The boy hooked his neck and pressed it down hard, and smiled and said, "Why are you talking to your senior?"

Jiang Qihuai lowered his body and had no reaction.

The two walked all the way to the bus stop. The boy was quiet for a while and suddenly remembered: "By the way, that guy today, didn't you do anything, right? Who is he?"

Jiang Qihuai frowned, his face looked ugly, and he said hard: "It's okay."

The boy saw that he didn't want to say much and nodded: "Okay."

As they were talking, they walked to the bus stop. The two of them did not take the same bus. The boy's car came, and he said hello to him and left.

Jiang Qihuai stood under the empty station sign, put his hands in his jacket pocket, staring at the layers of small advertisements posted on the station sign for a while.

-

Jiang Qihuai first met Jiang Zhi when he was four years old, the day he was taken home by Jiang Qinghe.

At the gate of the courtyard, the dean's aunt smiled at him for the first time. He held Jiang Qinghe's hand and walked out of the big courtyard with a small bag on his back.

Jiang Qinghe wanted to help him carry it: "Is it heavy?"

Xiao Jiang Qihuai shook his head.

It was really not heavy. After tidying up, I found that he had nothing at all. He only had a towel and a toothbrush in his schoolbag, which was empty in his cloth bag.

He came alone and left alone.

But from then on, he had someone who was willing to like him and could have a home.

Just like an ant.

Xiao Jiang Qihuai stood in front of the vermilion door, looking at the small hole that would belong to him, his eyes lit up.

Jiang Qinghe opened the door, gave in to the side, and looked at him with a smile: "Come in."

Jiang Qihuai held the belt of his little schoolbag tightly, couldn't help but pursed his lips nervously, and took a step in quietly.

This room is much smaller than where he lived before, and there is no large yard, but it is warm.

The temperature came to my face with a sound: "It's too slow? What are you doing?"

Jiang Qinghe's expression changed instantly, and he frowned: "Who told you to come back?"

"Why can't I go back to my own house?" the man said in a dragging his voice.

Xiao Jiang Qihuai secretly raised his eyes and looked inside.

A man was lying on the sofa in the living room. He lay in his hand with a bottle of beer in his hand and looked over. His eyes fell on Jiang Qihuai.

Jiang Zhi looked at him firmly, then placed the wine bottle in his hand on the coffee table, spread all over the floor, his voice a little hoarse: "Who did you bring this child back?"

Jiang Qinghe held back his anger: "This is your son!"

"I have no son," said Jiang Zhi.

Xiao Jiang Qihuai stood beside him with his head down, without saying a word.

Jiang Qinghe looked at his small, soft hair, suddenly sighed and said tiredly: "Azhi, I've found my child. You'll break up with those people in the future. Don't do any ridiculous things. You can find a job and live a good life. Let's raise the child together, can you?"

Jiang Zhi didn't say anything, just looked at the little child.

Jiang Qihuai bit his lips uneasyly, his little body shrank back without moving, trying hard to integrate himself into the background board.

After a moment of silence in the room, Jiang Zhi looked away and sneered: "I don't know who came out of my belly. What to raise, I can't afford to live anymore. I don't know what dreams you, a dead old man, have to support you every day. I'll love you to raise yourself."

He irritatedly picked up the bag from the coffee table and turned around and walked out.

His legs brushed across Jiang Qihuai's small body, and he walked out without even looking at him.

The security door was slammed.

In a quiet state, Xiao Jiang Qihuai turned around and looked up at Jiang Qinghe.

The old man stood still, his shoulders falling down, as if he was supporting something with all his strength.

"Grandpa." Xiao Jiang Qihuai called him a little.

Jiang Qinghe took a deep breath, raised his hand and wiped his face, and squatted down: "Hey, grandpa is here."
To be continued...