windy city rainy season

Chen Li asked for a bottle of the beer that Tao Yu drank, took a sip and said, "It tastes good."

"Did you drink this when you were in America?" Tao Yu asked.

"At that time, I bought the cheapest Budweiser and Coors. There is a local wine in Chicago, what is it called? 312?"

"Yes, it's the local area code." Tao Yu looked at the bottle in his hand and said, "The brewing method of craft beer and commercial beer is different, and the taste is more mellow. Blue Moon is a very controversial brand. It is a small factory, but its producer is MolsonCoors, one of the largest brewers in the world. Some people in the craft beer association regard it as the result of the infiltration of the power of large enterprises, and believe that it has squeezed the interests of small enterprises. But It has to be said that it has turned more people into craft beer lovers.”

After listening to his words, Chen Li smiled and said, "If you understand so clearly, does that mean you are a beer lover or an alcoholic?"

"Neither, I just heard someone say it." An executive of the beer company is a private long-term benefactor of the Chloe Fund, and his youngest daughter is also a patient with Williams disease. The daughter successfully underwent a heart transplant operation and is living a normal life without obvious rejection.Naturally, Chang Zheng told him about the controversy over beer.

The TV in the bar was replaying the UEFA Champions League final more than a month ago. Manchester United vs. Barcelona. When he saw Messi's header to seal the victory, Tao Yu couldn't help shouting "Okay", and raised the bottle to talk to Chen Li. Touched it, drank it down.

"Didn't you watch the live broadcast?" Chen Li asked.

Tao Yu said on the spur of the moment, "Our family only watches baseball and football. There happened to be a baseball game during the finals, so I didn't watch it. I was busy afterwards, so I didn't bother to watch the replay."

Chen Li was a little surprised: "There are not many ladies who like to watch football games."

Tao Yu realized that he had slipped his tongue, smiled and didn't answer, asked the waiter to serve another bottle of beer, and continued to watch the remaining ten minutes of the game.

Chen Li looked at his watch and asked him, "Aren't you going back to Beijing tomorrow morning? Why don't you go back to rest?"

"Don't worry, drink this bottle before leaving." Tao Yu temporarily put the previous worries behind him, and asked casually, "Brother, why don't you go home? Isn't your wife urging you?"

Chen Li said with a smile: "Where can a wife come from if you are not married? You are alone when you go home, no matter where you are."

Tao Yu was a little confused: "Didn't you say yesterday that you had to go back to China because of someone? Not your wife?"

"It was then, but we broke up later." Chen Li waved his hand, "What happened several years ago is not worth mentioning."

For the other party to give up developing in the United States, Tao Yu thought, this doesn't seem like something worth mentioning, but since his senior brother didn't want to talk about it, he suppressed his curiosity and stopped asking.

After silently drinking half a bottle of beer, Chen Li changed the subject: "Did you see your father later?"

Tao Yu nodded: "I went to his place at night."

"Excuse me." Chen Li asked, "Do you have any conflicts with your father?"

According to Tao Yu's temper, he would not casually talk about family affairs with others, but tonight maybe because of drinking, maybe because Chen Li spoke calmly and decently, which gave him the desire to talk, and he laughed at himself: " To tell you the truth, it has been three years, and this is the first time the old man is willing to see and talk to me, and he asked me to return to China after graduation."

"Then what about your lover?"

Tao Yu thought that the other party would ask why his father refused to see him for three years, but fortunately he didn't ask, and he didn't intend to talk too deeply. He sighed and said, "He was born and raised in the United States, where his family, I have a job and family affairs to inherit, so I can't ask him to come back with me."

"Then you have only two options left, either you live apart, or you stay there."

Tao Yu ordered another bottle of wine, and couldn't help complaining while waiting: "Even if I come back to China, if I don't work in Beijing, it will take half a year or a year to go home. Isn't it the same for many people who work in other places?" ? What's the difference between staying there and me?"

"It feels different psychologically to parents." Chen Li said, "Even if they stay in the country and they are not in the same city, their psychological distance is close. As long as they want to see each other, they can buy a ticket to see each other at any time. It is different when you are abroad, at least You need to make an appointment for a visa in advance, and your father is a public official, so it may be troublesome to go abroad for private reasons."

Tao Yu drank silently. The good mood brought by the game was like antidepressants. He only took it for a while, and he whispered to himself: "I can't accept the separation of the two places. I don't even have a common home. I can do it anytime." Break up, what is that?"

Chen Li turned the wine bottle in his hand, and said after a while: "We may get tired of seeing each other every day..."

Tao Yu looked at him sideways: "Talk from experience?"

Chen Li didn't answer, took out the bottle from Tao Yu's hand and put it aside, pushed him away from the seat and said, "Let's go, go back to sleep, or you won't be able to catch the plane tomorrow, don't let me figure out a way for you."

"I have a jet lag, I can wake up at three o'clock in the morning..." Tao Yu said so, but he didn't object in his actions. Chen Li sent him downstairs to the hotel, and then went home on his own.

Early the next morning, Tao Yu was woken up by Chang Zheng's phone call. He looked at the time and it seemed that he was about to fall asleep. He couldn't remember if the alarm had sounded.The two chatted about the situation at the reception the day before, and Chang Zheng persuaded him to go back to Beijing to meet his parents. Tao Yu hung up the phone impatiently, and got up to take a shower.

Before departure, the phone rang again. It was an unfamiliar local number. Tao Yu answered it and realized it was Chen Li's landline.Drinking together for two consecutive days made Tao Yu feel a lot closer to Chen Li, and he spoke more casually.

"You are too thoughtful, and you also provide wake-up calls." He held his mobile phone under his shoulder, and checked the visa materials for the last time.

"I want to ask if I need to take you to the airport?" Chen Li said on the phone.

"Oh brother, I'm always moved! But no need, I just take a taxi downstairs."

There was silence in the microphone for two seconds, and Chen Li said, "Anyway, I'm already up, so I'll take you there, in case there's no taxi if we go out so early."

Tao Yu didn't insist anymore, and waited downstairs in the hotel after making an appointment with the other party for 10 minutes, and hung up the phone.

After saying hello to old Andrew, he went downstairs with his bag on his back and saw a taxi parked outside the hotel, thinking that Senior Brother Chen was really worrying too much.A Passat drove up and stopped in front of him, with the windows down, Chen Li waved him to get in the car.Tao Yu opened the co-pilot's door and saw a paper bag on the seat, picked it up and put it in the back.

"It's your breakfast." Chen Li said.

Tao Yu felt a little uneasy, took the bag and sat in the car, wondering if the other party was being too considerate.

Chen Li didn't look at him, turned left and entered the driveway, and said casually: "It's some special snacks in Shanghai, you may not be able to eat them in the United States."

After hearing this, Tao Yu felt that he was being sensitive again, and it was just that he warmly brought some local snacks.Opening the bag, he took out a fried bun and asked Chen Li, "Have you eaten?"

"not yet."

Tao Yu handed the bun to the other party, Chen Li glanced down, holding the steering wheel with one hand, and took it with the other.

"I have to trouble you to take care of the old man today." Tao Yu said while eating, "Without his report today, there should be nothing wrong, but he is old and has jet lag. You remind him to go back to sleep at noon. Otherwise, it would be embarrassing to snore at the venue in the afternoon."

Chen Li smiled and said: "You are quite careful, no wonder the old man must ask to bring you here."

"Old boy." Tao Yu said, "My grandparents passed away early, and I have no chance to be with them. The old man treats me well, so I treat him like a grandfather."

Chen Li looked at the line in the right-view mirror, and glanced at him: "You have a good heart."

Everything went well for the visa back to Beijing. After finishing the mailing of the passport, it was still early. Tao Yu went to Liu Jingyang's "information company".When it was time for people to get off work, Liu Jingyang went around asking people to meet him at night, but after Tao Yu thought about it, he decided to go home and have dinner with his parents. Boss Liu was so angry that he kicked him out of the office and asked him to take a taxi home by himself.

On the way, Tao Yu called his mother. Tao's mother had already heard that her son was back, so she wasn't too surprised, but she couldn't hide the joy in her tone when she heard him say that she would go home for dinner. The last time a family of three had a reunion dinner, Can't remember how long ago it was.

Tao's mother rushed home to cook her son's favorite dishes, and the father didn't go out to socialize. The three gathered around the dining table and had a long-lost home-cooked meal.His parents expressed their approval of his studies. In the past, Tao Yu went to school and went to work according to the family's plan, which made him feel that everything he had was given by others.After so many years, he finally gained confidence in front of his parents.

Seeing his father's forehead lines, Tao Yu felt that he was really old, and he no longer talked to himself like before, and deliberately avoided topics that might touch the minefield when speaking.Such a change made Tao Yu feel sad, he felt more and more difficult to simply reject his father's proposal, but on the other side was Chang Zheng, he also couldn't say what he wanted from the other party.

Originally planned to return to Shanghai that night, seeing his parents busy for him, Tao Yu couldn't bear to leave immediately.He went to the balcony to call Chen Li and told him that he would fly back tomorrow morning.Chen Li reassured him that everything is fine with the old man.

"Where are you?" Tao Yu heard some noisy background sound.

"I just finished eating at the Oriental Pearl Tower."

Tao Yu was surprised and said, "How much money do you have for this event, and you actually go to the Oriental Pearl Tower for dinner?!"

Chen Li said with a smile: "It's not the funds for the event. I just hired the old man. He was also my boss before. The old children have to coax them."

"Why did you rush me back to Beijing to treat you?" Tao Yu was annoyed.

"I invite you when you come back." Chen Li said, "The old man is going to see the Bund, so I'll hang up first, and you have a good trip."

Putting away the phone, Tao Yu thought to himself that the old man's trip to China was really nourished by a young apprentice following him and a big apprentice holding him in his arms.