windy city rainy season

Before the opening ceremony, due to time constraints, Father Tao simply exchanged greetings with the people in the hall. Old Andrew, as the representative of American professors, was introduced by the principal.While shaking hands with Old Andrew, Father Tao gave Tao Yu a meaningful look, but did not speak to him.

Seeing his father and mentor entering the venue together, Tao Yu felt mixed feelings. The father and son hadn't seen each other for three years. He just heard someone introduce him to know that his father is still working in the energy department and is currently in charge of new energy development planning.

At the opening ceremony, Deputy Commissioner Tao made a brief speech, mentioning the optimization of energy structure and the country's emphasis on the upcoming climate change conference in Copenhagen.Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is also the main topic of this academic exchange on environmental protection. Tao Yu finally understood why his father came to the opening event.

After the ceremony, the professors will hold a round table meeting with a full-time translator. After confirming that old Andrew does not need to be accompanied, Tao Yu waited anxiously at the entrance of the hall, hoping to see his father again.

"Tao Yu, are you waiting for Andrew here?" Chen Li was about to rush to the conference room when he saw Tao Yu standing in the sun, he couldn't help but stop, "This meeting will be at least two hours, why don't you go in with me?" , if you want to find a shady place, you can go to my office, don't bask in the sun here."

"Brother." Tao Yu said hesitantly, "I'm waiting for Deputy Director Tao who spoke just now."

Chen Li looked at him in surprise, and asked uncertainly, "Are you...relatives?"

"...He is my father."

This answer surprised Chen Li. Before the opening ceremony, he was at the side when Bureau Tao met old Andrew. He didn't see any interaction between the father and son at all, and Tao Yu seemed completely unaware of his father's whereabouts.

"The Tao Bureau left as soon as the opening ceremony was over. He was holding an energy planning meeting in Shanghai during this period, so we had the opportunity to invite him."

"Really..." Tao Yu was disappointed in his heart, but he didn't want to show it on his face. Instead, he told Chen Li that he would go back to Beijing tomorrow for a visa, and asked him to take care of old Andrew during this period.

Chen Li nodded, watching him leave in a little disappointment, feeling that the father-son relationship between Tao Yu and Tao Ju was very strange.

Tao Yu found an air ticket agency at the school gate, and when he booked the ticket, he found that he didn't bring his passport and domestic ID card, so he had to go back to the hotel to get it.When passing by the lobby, the receptionist at the front desk stopped him and asked him if he was Tao Yu. After getting an affirmative answer, he handed him an envelope, saying that it was left by a Mr. Li.

"Surnamed Li?" Tao Yu wondered that he had just returned to China for two days and had no acquaintances in Shanghai. "What did the other party say?"

"It's your father's secretary." The girl at the front desk conveyed it seriously.

Tao Yu didn't know this "Secretary Li", but it wasn't surprising. The energy department has undergone major adjustments in recent years, and personnel changes are normal.

"Any other messages?"

The receptionist shook his head.

Tao Yu went back to the room and opened the letter, and recognized it was his father's handwriting. There were only two lines of writing, the first line was an address, and it said see you at 07:30 p.m.Tao Yu looked it up on the Internet and found that it was a hotel in Pudong.

Is this a signal of reconciliation between father and son?Tao Yu didn't dare to have too high expectations, carefully folded the note and stuffed it into his wallet, then dug out his ID card from the luggage to buy a plane ticket.

In the evening, the professors had dinner, but Tao Yu did not attend.Before leaving for Pudong, he hesitated whether to change into a casual attire. After thinking about it, he decided on a shirt and trousers. When he saw himself through the reflection of the glass door when he came out of the hotel, he thought to himself that this is not going to meet his father, and an interview is enough. up.

He arrived half an hour earlier than the scheduled time. He sat in the downstairs lobby for a quarter of an hour before he pressed the elevator. The door opened and he met a man wearing glasses. Tao Yu felt that he looked familiar. He greets.

"Hello, Mr. Tao, we met at X University this morning. I am your father's secretary. My surname is Li."

Tao Yu remembered that he had indeed met this person in the morning, and he presumably delivered the letter to his place of residence.

"Ju Tao is in the room, you go up, I'll see if the driver has arrived.

"My dad is going out at night?" Tao Yu asked.

"The nine o'clock train goes back to Beijing." Secretary Li said "excuse me" and left.

Tao Yu froze on the spot, feeling as if a bucket of cold water had been poured on his heart. It took him an hour to type scores on the way from here to the train station, which meant that his father only gave him half an hour at most.With a wry smile, he went upstairs to find the room, took a deep breath outside and knocked on the door.A moment later, the door opened, and the father and son were inside the door and outside the door. Tao Yu stared at the person in front of him. Three years seemed to shrink to an inch, but he didn't stop his father from aging. more intense in motherhood.

"dad……"

Father Tao let his son in sideways, closing the door behind him.Tao Yu saw that his father's suitcase had been packed and stood by the wall, and it looked like he was ready to leave at any time.

"Why don't you fly back to Beijing? You have to sleep overnight on the train?" Tao Yu asked breaking the silence. (Note: The Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway was opened only in 11 years.)

Father Tao sat down on the sofa, and said in a flat tone, "Heart is not good, the doctor told me not to fly as much as possible."

Tao Yu recalled that when Liu Jingyang had said on the Internet that his father had been hospitalized due to a myocardial infarction when he first went to the United States, he felt guilty all of a sudden, because he was angry at him.

Father Tao looked at his son and said, "I didn't expect you to come to the meeting."

"Yes, I didn't expect... I mean, I didn't expect you to come too." Tao Yu was a little incoherent.

"That white-haired Andrew is your mentor?"

Tao Yu nodded: "He is going to retire, and I am his last student. The tuition and living expenses for the past few years have all been paid out of his project."

Father Tao looked at his son for a while, and said: "You have really changed my view of you in the past few years. At first, your mother and I thought that you would go home because you ran out of money in half a year at most, but you can rely on your own ability. Read it over there, this is something we didn't expect. I heard that your mother transferred you a hundred thousand dollars, and you have not moved it. "

When Tao Yu heard his father's words, his eyes suddenly felt sore, as if he had found an outlet for all the hard work and suffering he had suffered in these years.He realized that no matter how he avoided it, his father was always the most trusted elder in his heart and was irreplaceable. As long as the other party recognized him, those efforts would not be in vain.

"Your mother said you were shot, how bad was it?"

Tao Yu was worried that his father wanted to see his injury, the scar was nothing, but he was afraid that the tattoo on his back would irritate him, so he said lightly, "It's been a year and a half, it's healed a long time ago, it's fine."

Father Tao didn't insist, and turned the topic back to his studies and asked, "How many years do you have to graduate?"

"The plan is for two years, but we need to see the employment situation. The unemployment rate in the United States is very high now. If there is no improvement at that time, graduation may be postponed."

Father Tao said, "I discussed this with your mother. We hope you will come back to China and don't have to worry about work..."

"Dad..." Tao Yu interrupted softly, "My mother told you that I plan to stay there."

"What's wrong with coming back?" Father Tao raised his voice a bit, "Is staying in someone else's country necessarily better than your own?"

"Dad, it's not a question of whether China is better or foreign countries are better." He hesitated for a while, and felt that it was not an option to avoid blindly like his mother, so he mustered up the courage to say, "I have someone who lives with me over there, and I can't leave."

The atmosphere in the room froze, Father Tao didn't mean to compromise, but he didn't fly into a rage like three years ago and tell him to leave.Tao Yu glanced at his father nervously, saw him frowning, picked up the water glass on the table, unscrewed it, put it back without drinking.

After a long time, Father Tao said, "Your mother and I still can't accept it, but we know that we can't change this matter. When you grow up, nothing can stop you."

"Dad, I..." Tao Yu wanted to say that he didn't have hard wings, so he came to force his parents to compromise.

Father Tao raised his hand to stop him, and continued: "Three years ago when you fell out with your family, you also said that you couldn't do without that person, but what happened? Your mother and I are both older, and you are the only one My child, I hope you can get closer to us. Can we each take a step back, you come back to China after graduation, who do you want to live with, we will stop interfering."

Tao Yu felt that many words were blocked in his heart, but he couldn't express it quickly.He understood what his father meant. You used to love him to death, but in the end you just broke up, so what guarantee is there now?The family will no longer force you, and it is up to you who you want to live with in the future, provided you live in China.

Tao Yu understood that he could not use the only child as an excuse to blackmail his parents, but what his father said was not a threat from his parents.The father and son were in a stalemate, Tao Yu couldn't agree, Chang Zheng had already paid too much for him, and he couldn't just ask the other party to back down.But to his father, he couldn't make up his mind to say no.

At this time, the phone in the room rang, and it was Secretary Li calling, informing him that the car had arrived.

After hanging up the phone, Father Tao said, "You don't need to answer now, there are still two years left, think about it yourself, there is your family here too."

Tao Yu followed his father's car back to Puxi and got off in front of the hotel.He didn't want to go back to his room, so he walked aimlessly on the street, took out his mobile phone and called Chang Zheng. He thought that Dr. Chang was at work and the call would be transferred to voicemail, but he didn't want the other party to answer it soon.

"Tao Yu?"

"How do you know it's me?" Hearing the other party's voice, he felt a little more relaxed.

"The caller ID showed a series of strange numbers, so I knew it was an international call." Chang Zheng asked, "How was the meeting?"

"Very good. The opening ceremony this morning. In the afternoon, the old man gave a lecture to the graduate students here. Many students asked questions. The old man was very happy."

"When are you going back to Beijing?" Chang Zheng asked.

"The flight tomorrow morning." Tao Yu couldn't help asking when he heard the noisy voice from the microphone, "Where are you? Why are you so noisy?"

"In New York, wait a minute, I'll change rooms."

Tao Yu heard the background sound in the microphone gradually weakened until it was completely quiet, and the other party spoke again: "It's not noisy now, right? I'm in Chloe's room."

"You went back to your parents' house?" Tao Yu asked in surprise.

"I came back this morning. There is a reception at home in the evening for those who have provided long-term support to the fund. Originally, I didn't need to attend, but my dad wanted me to learn how to deal with these people, so he called me back temporarily."

"Then go get busy." Tao Yu said.

Chang Zheng heard that he was not in a good mood, and asked, "What's the matter? Is there something wrong with you?"

"No." Tao Yu denied, originally wanted to talk to the other party about what happened tonight, but after hearing Chang Zheng's words, he changed his mind, and didn't want the other party to know about his father's request.Chang Zheng has a job there, and there is a fund that needs him to take over, how can he let the other party give up everything and come back to China with him.

Chang Zheng was still worried, and said to him: "No matter what happens, adjust your emotions, find the person in charge when you encounter difficulties, and don't keep it in your heart. Don't think about things that have nothing to do with the activity, come back and tell me, okay?" ?”

Listening to the other party's instructions, Tao Yu felt like crying, covered the microphone and took a deep breath, trying to make his voice sound normal.

"I know, there's nothing wrong, I just want to call you."

Chang Zheng's voice softened: "Take care of yourself, don't worry me. Iloveyou."

"Loveyoutoo."

After hanging up the phone, Tao Yu rubbed his face and found that he was not far from the bar that Chen Li took him to yesterday, so he decided to have a drink.

"Blue Moon, thank you."

After ordering a bottle of beer, he sat in front of the bar, thinking about the meeting with his father tonight.Just when he felt that it was hard to let go of his mood, someone behind him suddenly patted him on the shoulder.

"I didn't expect you to like this bar quite a bit, but you can't sleep because of jet lag?"

Tao Yu looked back: "Brother..."