windy city rainy season

Land in New York City is very expensive, and it is not suitable for building large and uneconomical single-family villas. Most of the luxury houses on the Upper East Side are apartment-style. It is not uncommon for each floor to have a family and an apartment with an apartment of a thousand square meters.

Walking into the elevator, Tao Yu stared at the numbers on the display screen and suddenly felt nervous. This was the first time he met his parents in this capacity.The dignified and conservative atmosphere in this building made him feel a lot of pressure.

Seeing his breath-holding concentration, Chang Zheng raised his hand to rub the back of his neck, and said with a smile, "Don't worry, it's like coming to your own home."

Tao Yu thought of his parents, and felt that these words did not help at all.

The elevator stopped on the fourth floor, and the door slowly opened, revealing a porch like a porch.The door at the other end also opened, and Chang Zheng's mother stood at the door with a smile to welcome them.

Friendly and energetic, this is Tao Yu's first impression of Chang's mother. She wears bright clothes that women of this age want to wear but dare not wear. Her complexion is very fair, and she has a more obvious mixed-race appearance than Chang Zheng.

"mom."

Chang Zheng stepped forward to hug his mother, kissed her cheek, and then pulled the people around him to introduce her: "This is Tao Yu."

Chang's mother also gave Tao Yu a Western-style hug, and said with a smile, "I've been excited since last night, and I finally meet a new member of the family!"

Her enthusiasm made Tao Yuxuan's heart in mid-air gradually subside, and he relaxed a little, and said sincerely: "Auntie, you look so young!"

Chang's mother was very happy, patted his arm and said, "Since Chang Zheng got his driver's license, I haven't heard such praise for ten years!"

Chang Zheng followed helplessly and said: "Mom, your youngest son praises you more than ten times a day."

"When your brother asks for others, he even praises me for breaking a cup." Chang's mother said to Tao Yu, "Their two brothers have completely different personalities. Impatient. After he got his driver's license at the age of 17, he said to me, 'Givemeacar, leavemealone!' But the driver's license was confiscated by his father for three months before returning it to him."

Tao Yu couldn't imagine that a person like Dr. Chang had an adolescence when people hated dogs, so he couldn't help turning his head and asking: "Did you look like the American youth in "Growing Pains" at that time, with afro hair and bell-bottom pants? "

"How is it possible! That's my dad's look at that time!"

"Oh, he had long hair." Chang's mother revealed, "I'll show you the photo later."

Chang Zheng sighed: "Mom, stop talking..."

When Tao Yu entered the door, he noticed that the eight windows he saw outside belonged to the same room. It was a huge open-plan living room, and it would not be a problem to accommodate hundreds of people for a reception.The overall decoration of the living room is simple and modern, while the column-like structure and the details in the corners vaguely carry the style of the 30s.

"After my grandfather bought this apartment, he opened up several rooms and decorated them into a ballroom." Chang Zheng saw Tao Yu looking at the house and introduced, "It is said that my grandmother was keen on holding dance parties when she was young. It was designed to look like the home at that time. Later, my parents moved in and redecorated the place.”

Tao Yu recalled what Chang Zheng had said, that his family had left the mainland for four or more years and then moved to the United States. In Tao Yu's mind, Grandpa Chang had always been an image of a refugee who left his home with his family in troubled times.But being able to buy such a house for the first time, he belatedly realized that this grandpa might not be an ordinary refugee.

Mother Chang led them to a small living room for family gatherings, and asked Tao Yu kindly, "Do you want orange juice or apple juice?"

"Mom, Tao Yu is not a child, can you stop using that tone of coaxing little patients?" Chang Zheng took two cans of zero-calorie Coke and handed Tao Yu one, and asked his mother, "Where did Dad go?"

"In his study, he is having remote consultations with experts from other hospitals. The Doctor Craven you met when you went to Seattle to receive a heart last time is also online. Should you go and say hello?"

Chang Zheng put down his Coke, and said to Tao Yu, "Sit down for a while, I'll be right back." After speaking, he got up and walked out.

Tao Yu was left in the living room to face Chang's mother by himself, which made him somewhat cautious.The other party didn't leave any time for silence. She sat on the sofa next to Tao Yu, smiled and said to him: "I'm very glad that you can come with Chang Zheng. He called me three months ago and said he found Wanted someone to live with, I was so excited, I wanted to fly to Chicago to meet what kind of people. But he told me to wait, make sure you agree with him. Now you can come together, I think it should be confirmed."

Tao Yu thought three months ago was when they moved out from Mr. Tang's house and first started living together.It turned out that Chang Zheng was not sure about his thoughts at that time, but he did not hesitate to give him a promise to live together.

"Chang Zheng is very good...he takes good care of me."

Tao Yu is not used to talking about their relationship with others, after all, in the eyes of most people, this is not a normal relationship between lovers.However, the person in front of him was Chang Zheng's mother, and the encouraging look in her eyes made him feel that he should say something.

Chang's mother smiled and said, "I know my son, how can he take care of others, but I heard from him that you are very good at cooking."

"I don't mean taking care of life..." Tao Yu hesitated how to express, "His attitude has always been very clear—I mean, he will actively resolve any conflicts in our relationship, which makes me believe those Conflicts will not affect our life together."

Talking to the mother of the other party made Tao Yu blush a little, but he didn't think it was inappropriate. Perhaps it was the listening attitude and focused eyes of the other party that inspired him.Tao Yu thought, Chang Zheng's mother is indeed a pediatrician, probably no matter how difficult a patient is, she will obediently obey her.

"There should always be one of the two people who plays a guiding role. This kind of relationship will be stronger and last longer." Chang's mother said, "I am very pleased that Chang Zheng can do this. His character is very frank about people and things. , I think it should be the same for feelings, two people tell each other what emotions they have, and for him, this is a manifestation of a sense of security."

Tao Yu nodded thoughtfully, thinking that the reason for the cold war between the two of them a while ago might be because the other party couldn't figure out what he was thinking.

While Tao Yu was talking with Chang's mother, a father-son conversation was going on in another room.

Chang's father turned off the conference video and looked at the eldest son who was sitting on the opposite sofa.Regardless of appearance, personality, or career choice, the eldest son inherits more from himself.The family education that Chang Zheng received since he was a child is reflected in traditional social and family responsibilities, and he understands self-discipline and the ability to advance and retreat.At the same time, influenced by Western self-values, compared with American young people of the same age, he does not lack the courage and vision to forge ahead.It would be comforting for any father to see his son making his own career plans and making steady progress—especially when there was a naughty young son at home for comparison.However, there is always a fly in the ointment. Thinking of Chang Zheng and his same-sex partner, Chang's father can only sigh silently in his heart.

"I heard from Dr. Craven that you are doing a doctoral thesis with Parker? What topic?"

Chang Zheng graduated from medical school with an MD degree, and he plans to take a research-oriented PhD during his residency.Many of the attending doctors in the teaching hospital are also professors of the School of Medicine of the school. Parker, Chang Zheng's supervisor, also leads the research work of doctoral students. In his spare time, Chang Zheng conducts experiments under his guidance.

"We're doing research on heart transplant rejection. Vessels and inner wall cells are the main...uh... simulators and targets. We'restudyingthedifferentialimmunepropertiesofvascularcellssowecanproperlyapplyhumanvesselsinthetransplantsetting.We'vedoneexperimentsontheroleofvascularsmoothmusclecellsin..."

Speaking of professional aspects, Chang Zheng's Chinese sometimes cannot accurately express complex medical vocabulary, so he unilaterally switched to English mode during the conversation with his father.

After listening to his explanation, Father Chang thought for a moment and said, "So you want to prove that vascular smooth muscle cells can inhibit the activity and proliferation of CD2+ T cells by selectively releasing indoleamine 3-dioxygenase. In order to capture the adaptive immune response?"

Chang Zheng spent half a minute connecting the Chinese and English vocabulary that his father said in his head, nodded, and at the same time changed into a pleading tone and said: "Dad, can't you use English? It's just the two of us .”

Father Chang said unmoved: "This is the rule set by your mother. Chinese must be used at home and among family members. You said a while ago that you hope to have the opportunity to cooperate with Chinese hospitals in the future. If you can't speak Chinese Understand and explain professional vocabulary, how do you read their medical materials, how do you communicate with the other party’s doctor? You have to understand that the other party is not obliged to speak English to you.”

Chang Zheng frowned and asked helplessly: "Do you have any suggestions for my research?"

Chang's father also brought a Ph.D. Hearing his son's project, he intuitively believed that there was a lot of room for research.He thought for a while and said: "I think you can work more on the mechanism of IDO inhibiting T-cell growth. The release of IDO is the cause, and the inhibition of T-cell activity is the effect. What else is there to change the chain?" With this cause and effect, understanding this part is enough to complete a doctoral dissertation, otherwise it can only be submitted to a journal as a discovery."

Chang Zheng thought for a while, then nodded.

"When do you plan to come back to New York?" Father Chang suddenly changed the subject, "Actually, you stayed at Cornell or went to Columbia Medical School, the conditions are better than Northwest, you can complete your PhD research during your MD , graduated with a double degree.” (Note: New York-Presbyterian Hospital is a joint teaching hospital of Cornell University and Columbia University.)

"Dad, when we applied for medical school, we had already discussed it." Chang Zheng sat up straight and said, "I will always be under your aura if I stay here, and people will think of 'Heistheson of Dr. Chung' when they see me. .'I don't care if it takes two more years to get a research degree. Chicago is also a densely populated city. There are many opportunities to contact various patients and operations at Northwestern Hospital. I want to at least complete the residency there. Where will I do a specialist after that? I am still thinking about training. Currently, I have two intentions. One is the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital under Stanford, which has a children's cardiovascular disease research center, and the other is the Heart Institute in Miami. If Dr. Craven has not retired by then , I may also consider going to Seattle... Tao Yu should have graduated by then, it depends on which city he works in."

Now that Tao Yu was mentioned, the topic inevitably changed its focus again.

Although Chang's father accepted the fact that the eldest son likes the same sex, it does not mean that he can discuss his same-sex lover with his son without any grievances.After a long silence, Father Chang asked, "What kind of person is he?"

Chang Zheng looked at his father and said: "I can use many labels to describe him, but what kind of person he is can only be realized slowly when we live together. My first impression of him is that he was in the most difficult time. Hearing that I owe the bank 20 tuition loan, he will think of saving me money. When I feel that if I am in his situation, I may be forced to bow my head and compromise, he can still joke around and find a part-time job At the beginning, what attracted me was his resilience and optimism. After getting along for a long time, I saw that he was serious about work, sincere to friends, and cared about our lives with care. He has some minor problems, and I have them too. We fight sometimes, like most couples do, but it doesn't hurt the basics of life."

After listening to his words, Father Chang sighed, stood up and said, "Let's go, take me to meet the partner you have chosen."