windy city rainy season

On Christmas Eve this year, the business in Mary's store was still booming.Unlike other cheap shops, she sells well-crafted, Chinese-style and interesting items. Although the price is high, the quality and design are of high quality. Before Mary went abroad, she graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts. Many of the products are designed by herself, made by factories of domestic acquaintances, and then shipped to the United States for sale. This unique feature is also the reason for the popularity of her small shop.

Tao Yu was sitting behind the counter eating fried dough sticks and tofu nao bought next door, wearing a down jacket, which made the proprietress keep checking the temperature of the warm air in the shop.

"Do you feel cold?" Mary, who was only wearing a single shirt, couldn't help pinching Tao Yu's coat, "Or do you have an air conditioner in your clothes?"

"Sister, don't embarrass me, I'm almost in my late teens." Tao Yu recounted the injury he suffered a while ago, without mentioning Chang Zheng's younger brother, and only said that he was unlucky and got shot at night when he went home.

After hearing this, Mary kept getting scared, and refused to make Tao Yu get up to greet the guests, and only let him sit at the counter to collect the cash.He also suggested to let him take traditional Chinese medicine for conditioning, and recommended an old Chinese medicine practitioner who performed acupuncture and moxibustion.

Tao Yu kept the contact information of the acupuncturist. He didn't believe in Chinese medicine very much before, but since he was shot and almost met the King of Hades, he was very afraid of death. In addition, his body has not recovered well, and he is always worried about his young age. If you die young, you have to recite the four gods and Buddhas from time to time.At this time, listening to Mary's rheumatic cerebral palsy caused by acupuncture and moxibustion, I thought that something that has been passed down for thousands of years must be of some use.

"Your parents still feel safe to keep you here?" Mary said, "If something happened to me, [-]% of my studies would be dropped. Can a degree be more important than life?"

Tao Yu lowered his head and ate tofu nao without saying a word.

Seeing his expression, Mary doubted, "You didn't tell your parents, did you?"

"They don't care about treatment." He pretended not to care, "What's the use of telling them, just worry about it."

"You are big enough, you dare to hide it from your family!" Mary asked twice, "Who will take care of you when you are hospitalized?"

Tao Yuzhi muttered, "...friend."

"Girlfriend? Bring me next time and let me meet."

Before Tao Yu could answer, someone outside the counter gave a laugh.The two of them patronized and chatted here, but they didn't find any customers waiting for the checkout.Tao Yu looked up, hey, he's still an acquaintance.

"Tony, don't say a word when you enter the door." Mary greeted.

The person who came was Chang Zheng’s friend whose “family runs a dental clinic in Chinatown”.

Tao Yu's attitude towards Tony has always been neither salty nor insipid. Whenever he sees him, he thinks of a white Cayenne. Although Chang Zheng later explained that it was just showing his teeth, Tao Yu's aura of a fake foreign devil also makes Tao Yu unable to warm up.

"As usual, acquaintances are counted according to the purchase price." Mary confessed, and got up to greet other guests.

Tao Yu verbally agreed, and added 50.00% to the purchase price on his own initiative——I feel uncomfortable if I don’t cheat him!

When paying the money, Tony asked Tao Yu with a half-smile, "'Girlfriend' is still at work today?"

"Yes, resident doctors are laborers, and they can't compare with you."

Tony didn't take it seriously and said, "Let's have dinner together another day, I'm leaving after the New Year."

Tao Yu asked casually, "Where are you going?"

"A hospital in southern Sudan is planning to build a dentist, but there is no dentist. I went to help for a while." (Note: At that time, South Sudan had an autonomous government, but it had not yet voted for independence.)

Tao Yu looked at him in surprise: "Are you okay? I have a clinic at home, why did you go to Sudan... Where is Sudan?"

"A landlocked country in eastern Africa," Tony explained. "I joined Doctors Without Borders, and this was my first assignment. There is no shortage of dentists in America, but there is only one—me."

Tao Yu was incredulous, in his impression Tony was never a selfless image, a young dentist who opened a Cayenne, asked him to see a thing with inflammation of the gums and paid every ounce of treatment fees, and suddenly became Doctors Without Borders!This feels like watching a play about Qianlong when I was a child, and the fourth master suddenly became the emperor, blinding the eyes of ignorant people like that!

"How long are you going to be there?"

"It's hard to say, maybe a year or a few years, we need to train successors locally, or wait until the organization sends another dentist there."

This news was even more shocking than Chang Ling's going to be a soldier. Tao Yu couldn't help but ask, "Why do you think of being Doctors Without Borders?"

Tony said: "A few friends and I went to Jerusalem this year, and then went to Saudi Arabia through Jordan. In Jordan, a friend got sick, and the driver took us to a local emergency hospital. There we met a Hong Kong anesthesiologist, He is a member of Doctors Without Borders and has been working in that hospital for three years. We saw many poor people, including children, who could not get medical care elsewhere, and were already seriously injured when they were sent. At that time, I I really want to stay, but there is no plan to build a dental clinic there for the time being. After all, those injured may not even save their lives. After I came back, I also registered with Doctors Without Borders. My father always disagreed and was worried about my safety. I promised him not to go He is willing to give the green light when a country that is at war comes back five years later to take over."

Tao Yu's impression of Tony changed greatly, and he was almost speechless for a moment, secretly regretting that he overcharged him just now.

After making an appointment for a meal, Tony took his things and was about to leave. He suddenly asked, "How is Chang Zheng's aid project in West Africa? When is the departure?"

"What?!" Tao Yu was startled, "What West African aid project?"

"Didn't he tell you?" Tony knew he was slipping, "Actually, it's nothing. Their hospital plans to send two doctors to a hospital in Africa for nine months. I heard that he wanted to sign up, so he probably changed his mind." So I didn't say anything."

Tao Yu's heart sank, Chang Zheng never mentioned this matter.He was still feeling sorry for Tony's righteous deed just now, but when it was his turn, his first reaction was the same as Tony's father.

All afternoon, Tao Yu had something on his mind, but he held back and refused to make a call, until Chang Zheng sent a message saying that he could leave.

Tao Yu wrote back: "I'll take the subway into the city, so you don't have to run back and forth."

"Cold, pick you up." Doctor Chang's text messages are always concise and to the point.

Mary dismissed the last customer, and asked while tallying the goods: "Is your girlfriend here to urge you? How will the young couple plan to celebrate today?"

Tao Yu couldn't explain it, so he made a mistake and said, "I don't have any ideas, let's go to Sears Tower."

"It's very romantic to go there every year!" Mary laughed, "I'll give you an idea, you may consider proposing there in the future."

Tao Yu was a little embarrassed, and praised a few words indiscriminately.

When Changzheng arrives at the parking lot, Mary must meet him.Tao Yu couldn't help it. He didn't want to hide it on purpose, but he didn't think it was necessary to publicize it. Since she misunderstood it from the beginning, it was fine.

Walking out of the pedestrian street, Tao Yu saw their new white SUV at a glance——Chang Zheng’s previous used car was also gloriously shot, and it was not worth the money to repair it after selling the broken car, so they used the insurance company to compensate themselves and Added a little, simply changed to a new car.At this time, seeing him walking with others, Chang Zheng got out of the car to meet them.

Tao Yu helplessly turned to look at the dumbfounded Mary, and said apologetically, "Sister, I don't actually have a girlfriend, this is my boyfriend..."

Christmas songs were playing on the radio, and there were still not many vehicles on the road. Everything was similar to last year, except that the snow came later this year, and there was no scene of heavy snow pressing green pines.

Tao Yu was silent all the way, Chang Zheng asked: "What's the matter? Isn't your boss very nice, why are you unhappy?"

"It's nothing, I'm a little tired." Tao Yu wrapped his down jacket tightly and leaned against the car door, "Tony came to the store today, and he's going to Sudan, you know?"

Chang Zheng nodded: "Yes, he asked me when he registered for MSF. I suggested that he go through the organization in Hong Kong. He has a Hong Kong residence permit, so there is no problem. There is also MSF organization in the United States, but you know, if you send it to In the Middle East, Islamic militants don’t like Americans, and it’s dangerous to be caught, and it’s very risky to be a doctor without borders.” (MSF: Médecinssansfrontières, Doctors Without Borders)

"He surprised me." Tao Yu said, "I didn't think he would be a public welfare person before, but suddenly his image has been subverted."

"Tony is a nice guy, but you don't want to see him."

"I heard from him that you plan to go to Africa?" Seeing that the other party didn't intend to confess, Tao Yu asked straightforwardly.

Chang Zheng looked at him sideways, and suddenly realized: "I said why I was unhappy, so it was because of this."

Tao Yu didn't deny it. To be precise, he was angry because the other party didn't tell him about such a big matter.

"The hospital has a medical aid project for West Africa." Chang Zheng explained, "When I was notified of this incident, Tony happened to call me, so I told him by the way. Later, I found out that only one obstetrician and one anesthesia are needed. Master, I didn’t have the chance to sign up. After you got injured again, it’s even more impossible to go.”

Tao Yu thought to himself that if there were no registration restrictions, he would definitely not be happy if the other party went to Africa for nine months. The conditions there are so bad, what if he contracted some disease?He felt more and more that the world was turned upside down. These poisonous seedlings of capitalism wanted to help this and that all day long, but he, the successor of communism, was shown to have a low consciousness.

Parked the car downstairs at Sears Tower, Chang Zheng paid the fare on the roadside meter, and the two walked quickly into the building.

Like last year, there was still no one in the observation hall, and the only staff member disappeared after they entered.Chang Zheng pulled Tao Yu to stand on the glass roof, and the scene outside the window was the same as last year - even Tao Yu's weak legs hadn't improved since last time.

Looking at the lights in the distance, Tao Yu said softly, "It's been a year..."

A lot of things happened in a year, and this person around him always firmly convinced him that they could manage two people's lives from scratch.

"If we stay in Chicago..." Chang Zheng said, "we can come here every Christmas Eve."

Tao Yu laughed and said, "You have a grudge against that buddy at the door. It's a big festival, and he just hangs a sign on his chest: Get the hell out of here! I'm embarrassed to ask him to take a photo." (Translation: Get out of here!)

"We don't need him, we can take pictures by ourselves." Chang Zheng said and took out the camera and tripod from his carry-on bag.

Tao Yu looked at him in surprise: "It's so complete!"

Chang Zheng adjusted the angle and set the camera to the ten-second photo mode, walked quickly to Tao Yu's side and put his arms around his shoulders, the two of them smirked at the camera together.After waiting for a while, Tao Yu laughed until his face froze, but he didn't hear the sound of the shutter.

"Your mode is not adjusted, right?" He said, going to check.

"I'll go." Chang Zheng pulled him back, fiddled with him for a while and said, "I just turned off the shutter sound, and took another photo."

Tao Yu continued to look at the camera until Chang Zheng came to him, held his hands, and knelt down on one knee.

Tao Yu looked at Chang Zheng in shock, and heard him speak nervously.

"Whenpeoplesay'whenyouknow,youknow.'Ididn'tknowhowthatfeltlikeuntilImetyou. Godmustcreateyouwhenhehadmeinmind.HemadeyoutheexactoneIwant, andhemademeapartofyou. you lying in your blood. That was the worst day of my life. If Ilose you, I will lose myself. I love you omuch, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?” (Translation see The author has something to say.)

Tao Yu didn't know what words to use to describe his mood at this moment. He never thought that he would experience "marriage proposal" in his life. Chang Zheng's declaration almost made him cry, and he couldn't care less about "how to get married" and "how can I get married?" Marriage" question, said three "Yes" in a row, trying to pull the other party up.

Chang Zheng was still kneeling on one knee, and took out a ring from his pocket, without any ostentatious decorations, only with a soft metallic luster, he took Tao Yu's left hand, and carefully put it on the middle finger.

He got up after doing this, and kissed his lover in the bright lights of Chicago, on the highest point of the city.