windy city rainy season

When the idea of ​​returning to China came up, Tao Yu wanted to book a plane ticket and leave immediately, but he had to wait for a week for the regular visa.After two days, the enthusiasm at that time cooled down, and he finally realized what it means to be close to home and feel timid.

"The air ticket almost caught up with my one-month living expenses." Tao Yu hesitated and said to Chang Zheng, "How about we wait until the off-season?"

Chang Zheng asked several travel agencies, and the prices for the summer vacation were all the same, especially because their trips were short and they didn't book in advance, so they were more expensive.

"Don't delay any longer, I've already asked for leave. It's time to solve the problems between you and your family. Can you deny your parents for the rest of your life?"

Tao Yu defended: "They don't recognize me, unless I bring a girl back to get married..."

Chang Zheng called back the travel agent with the cheapest offer, and said to him while waiting, "So I will go back with you."

"Are you a girl?"

"I'll accompany you to talk to them!"

It rains from time to time in Chicago in the summer, and the weather is cool, which is completely different from the sauna days in Beijing.Dr. Chang, like most American youths, wears short sleeves all the year round. In winter, when the temperature is minus [-] degrees, he wears a down jacket over the short sleeves. When he gets off the plane in Beijing, he wants to take off his skin.

"It's only June." Seeing his sweaty face, Tao Yu couldn't help but said, "It's not the hottest time in Beijing yet, how would you live if you come in August?"

"That's why I said it can't be delayed anymore... This city is like a steamer, I feel like it's about to be steamed!"

The two found a hotel to settle down, and Tao Yu called home, and when he heard the call ringing, he couldn't help but get nervous.

"Hey--"

Hearing the long-lost voice, Tao Yu felt his throat congested, took a deep breath and said, "Mom, I'm back."

There was a silence in the microphone, and he added: "I'm only coming back for a few days, I want to see you... I have friends coming back with me."

"Where are you now?" Mother Tao asked.

"hotel."

After a moment of silence, Mother Tao said, "I'm going on a business trip tomorrow afternoon, and I'm at home this morning. You can come over."

Tao Yu asked hesitantly: "Mom, how long have you been away on business? Can't you just push? I'll be back on the weekend..."

"My business trip can bring rewards. I raised you. What do you get in return?" Mother Tao said without emotion, "Do you have a lot to talk about? You can't finish it all morning?"

Tao Yu didn't want to argue on the phone, so he asked, "Is Dad here tomorrow?"

There was a faint whisper in the microphone, and Tao Mu said after a while: "He is not here, he is going to inspect the field, and he will leave early tomorrow morning."

After hanging up the phone, Tao Yu wondered if it was worth the trip.He thought that he worked so hard outside, studying for a Ph. D., earning a scholarship, and supporting himself, which would change his parents' attitude.But judging from the phone call, they didn't waver at all. His father obviously didn't want to see him, so he went to "inspect".Is it really that heinous?Tao Yu thought, I tried my best to become an excellent person, but in their eyes, I might as well stay at home and grow old, and then find a woman to have a child and the whole family grow old together?

The bathroom door rang, Chang Zheng took a cold shower and came out.

Tao Yu looked at him and sighed, "Come and fight a tough battle with me tomorrow."

Tao Yu's parents lived in a compound on Xueyuan Road, which was the room that Tao's father used to work in a certain department. Later, his job changed several times, but the family did not move. Tao Yu also went to college in this compound.

Tao Yu and Chang Zheng arrived downstairs at seven o'clock in the morning. Although his father did not want to meet, Tao Yu felt that he should fight for it.It's a pity that it was still a step too late. A black official car passed by downstairs, and by the time he realized it, the car had gone far away.

Tao Yu looked at Chang Zheng, then turned silently and entered the corridor.

When Mother Tao opened the door, she stared at her son in a daze for a moment, seeing her son for a year, it seemed that something was different from before.When she saw the person behind him, she came to her senses and couldn't help but ask, "You're downstairs..."

"I haven't met." Tao Yu shook his head, and introduced sideways, "This is my friend Chang Zheng."

Chang Zheng greeted Mother Tao according to the etiquette, but she hesitated for a moment, then nodded and shook hands with him.

"Sit down." Mother Tao asked, "Have you eaten yet?"

Tao Yu said: "Because of jet lag, I got up early in the morning and ate something casually outside."

"Come here and have another bowl of porridge."

The three of them sat down in the restaurant, and the atmosphere was a bit awkward. Tao Yu took out the bank card from his pocket and put it in front of his mother: "Mom, I have a scholarship to pay for my tuition and living expenses every month. Take it back."

Mother Tao glanced at the card, pushed it back to him intact, and said, "It's your own business that you have money, and this is our duty as parents. Now that your wings are hardened, we will fulfill our duty." Here we go."

Tao Yu choked on a mouthful of porridge, remained silent for half a minute, raised his head and said, "Mom, do we have to do this? You must let me find a woman to marry to be satisfied? I have nothing else to do but get married? Can you pay attention to my other places, I..."

Before the topic became heated, Chang Zheng, who had been silent for a long time, stretched out his hand to hold him down, turned to Tao's mother and said, "Auntie, Tao Yu has worked very hard in the United States this year, working part-time day and night to earn tuition fees, and sleeping in the living room of the landlord's house." I lived on the sofa for half a year. He worked very hard. His scholarship came from a government project. Among the students at the same level who were able to participate in the project, he was the only one. He is a very good person, and I love him very much. The conflict at home is painful, I am very sad, and hope to get your understanding together with him."

Tao Yu thought that Chang Zheng must have put a lot of effort into this rather heavy confession in written language. He was both moved and a little sad to hear the other party speak for him so seriously.

"Mr. Chang." Mother Tao asked politely, "Does your family agree with this matter?"

"My parents knew a few years ago that I would not marry a woman." Chang Zheng replied seriously, "They couldn't understand it at first, but they knew that I would not mess around with people, so they gradually accepted it. I I told them that I have found someone who I want to live with, that is Tao Yu, and they have no objection. Because my work is very busy, and my parents live in New York, they are also very busy, so we haven't met yet, we have already agreed on the beginning of July Tao Yu and I went to New York to meet them."

Tao Yu turned his head to look at Chang Zheng, and said why didn't he know about this?

Chang Zheng explained: "My license exam is at the end of June. I told them on the phone that I will take you back on Independence Day this year."

Mother Tao said: "Mr. Chang, you have to understand that Chinese people and Americans accept this kind of thing differently. If your parents approve, it doesn't mean that Tao Yu's father and I will agree. Did you grow up in the United States?" ?”

Chang Zheng nodded: "My family immigrated from Taiwan to the United States when my father was very young."

"Oh, your ancestral home is Taiwan?"

"No, my ancestral home is in Nanjing. In [-], my grandfather took his family to leave the mainland. My father was born in Taiwan."

Mother Tao nodded and asked again, "May I know what your family does?"

"My father is a cardiovascular surgeon and my mother runs a pediatric practice. I graduated from medical school last year and am now a resident at Northwestern Hospital in Chicago. My major is the same as my father. I also have a younger brother who is studying finance in college. Next year graduate."

Tao Yu thought to himself that Dr. Chang, an honest person, would explain everything to the family.

"Mom, Chang Zheng's father is a very famous doctor, and his family even set up a fund to perform operations on orphans with heart disease." Tao Yu added a few words carefully.

After hearing this, Mother Tao was silent for a while, then stirred the porridge in the bowl with a spoon and said, "It's not just a matter of personal and family well-being. I raised you until you were in your twenties, and I never asked you how much Achievement, I just hope that you can study, work and start a family step by step like everyone else. When we get old and retire, the family can enjoy family happiness. But you told me that you want to spend your whole life with a man, what do you want us to do? acceptable?"

"Mom, I..."

Mother Tao waved her hand: "I know what you want to say, but I don't understand, Wei Wei is married, why can't you..."

"Wei Wei married?" Tao Yu was a little surprised, but not surprised. When they were together, he had a premonition that Wei Wei would eventually compromise with the family.

Mother Tao glanced at Chang Zheng, and said to Tao Yu: "After he resigned, he went to a private company, which was the company that outsourced the project and made desulfurization equipment for us. I heard from the manager of your former department that he got married a while ago. Several colleagues also went to his wedding."

A year ago, Tao Yu would have gone mad when he heard the news, and maybe he would find someone to make trouble at the wedding.But now, he felt like an outsider, he was so single-minded and desperate at the beginning, and looking back, it was just that, and he broke up as soon as he said it.

Mother Tao was a little emotional: "Because of this person, you fell out with your family, put aside your good work and ran away from home, and suffered outside yourself, is it worth it?"

"Whether it's worth it or not, it's meaningless to say now." Tao Yu looked at Chang Zheng, "But those crimes were not in vain. I have studies to complete now, and I will have my own career in the future, so I don't have to rely on my family. Arrange a job for me, and it's nice to say it, right?"

Mother Tao had no intention of continuing the meeting. She got up and left for a while. When she came back, she put a key in front of Tao Yu and said, "I'm going to pack up my things and prepare for a business trip in the afternoon. This is the key to your old house. You can return the hotel to me." Drop, live there for a few days."

Tao Yu took the key and asked, "Mom, when are you coming back?"

"When will you leave?" Mother Tao asked back.

"Flight at 05:30 on Saturday afternoon."

Mother Tao hesitated for a moment, and said, "I'm going back to Beijing on Friday night. If you're interested, you can come back on Saturday morning."

Coming out of the house, Tao Yu led Chang Zheng to walk in the compound where he had lived for more than [-] years. It was time for work and school, and there were not many people on the road.

"Your mother doesn't seem to make things difficult for us." Chang Zheng commented objectively.

Tao Yu smiled and said, "You are a teacher's killer, Dr. Chang! After you introduced your household registration book, I think my mother's tone has loosened."

"What is the account book?" Chang Zheng asked seriously.

Tao Yu patted him on the back without explaining, thinking that although his mother didn't make it clear, it could be heard from her words that she did let go, otherwise she wouldn't have asked Chang Zheng about those family matters.After all, he didn't mess with anyone, and the other party was also serious.

This is a good sign, Tao Yu felt relieved suddenly, and said to Chang Zheng: "Let's go, I'll take you to see Beijing!"