windy city rainy season

"Teacher Tang, you are blessed, and grow up with your daughter!"

Tao Yu greeted Tang Hainan across the table, patted Chen Li on the back, and said in a relaxed tone, "Brother, we meet again!"

Chen Li raised his head and smiled at him: "I didn't expect you to live in Teacher Tang's house before, and I heard that he picked it up from the street?"

"It was miserable when I first came to the United States!" Tao Yu pulled a chair and sat next to Tang Hainan and said, "If Teacher Tang didn't take me in, I would have to sleep on the road, and I even worked for him as a long-term worker for half a year. Teacher Tang, you To be honest, do I cook better than my sister-in-law?"

"The food you cook all has the same taste, that is, the taste of Chinatown." Tang Hainan pushed his face aside annoyedly, picked up the wine bottle and touched Chen Li and said, "When you first bought a house, some of your friends You even celebrated my housewarming, and it’s been eight years since you agreed to stay in Chicago, but you all left one by one.”

"The situation can't be controlled by others, it can't be black here." Chen Li said with a sip of wine.

Tang Hainan said: "You and Yan Zhao were the first to leave. Later, some of Xiao Wu and the others returned to China and some went to Canada. In fact, I have never figured out why you just left. You are a J1 visa, a postdoctoral fellow. Why did you go back after doing well?"

Tao Yu looked at Chen Li, but the other party didn't explain, but smiled helplessly and said, "Who knows what it will be like to stay for a few more years, there are universities in China that offer offers, so I don't want to miss it."

"Have you decided to come back now?"

"It's not enough right now." Chen Li said, "There are two master's degrees graduating next year in China, and there is one undergraduate course and one postgraduate course this semester. You can't just leave students behind half a month after school starts."

Tao Yu was a little surprised, and interjected, "You didn't suspend your job? I thought you wouldn't leave this time. Gruca said in class tonight that Professor Chen would teach microbiology in the second half of the semester."

Chen Li turned the wine bottle and said, "I'm still coordinating with the school. I'm planning to borrow the class hours of other teachers, and try to finish the class in the middle of the semester, and then make up my class time for others. At present, I plan to come in mid-November. Those two It’s easy to talk about a master’s degree, I go back every month, and usually communicate remotely, and I always have to bring them to graduate to be at ease.”

Tao Yu said: "Don't you have a tutor group, and the two masters can be trained by other teachers."

Chen Li shook his head: "If I'm sick and can't go to work, I can let someone else do the training for me. Now that I leave my students behind for my own future, isn't that the same as remarrying my parents and not caring about the children?"

Tao Yu didn't answer any more, and the three of them drank in silence for a while. Tang Hainan suddenly changed the subject and asked, "Where has Yan Zhao been these past few years? Haven't heard from him for a long time?"

When Tao Yu heard this name for the second time, he raised his head and glanced at Chen Li, who stared blankly at the wine bottle in his hand and said, "I don't know..."

"Aren't you all in Shanghai? I saw photos of you getting together a few years ago, but I stopped contacting you later?" Tang Hainan asked.

"He went to Hong Kong later, I don't know where he is now." Chen Li got up and went to the bar with an empty wine bottle.

Tao Yu had a vague feeling that the person they mentioned had something to do with Chen Li's return to China. Just as he was about to inquire about it with Tang Hainan, his shoulders sank suddenly, and a familiar voice above his head said, "Teacher Tang, I haven't seen you for a long time. You look good." .”

Tang Hainan raised his wine bottle and greeted the visitor: "Dr. Chang is off work?"

Tao Yu turned his head and said, "What kind of complexion do you talk about as a Western doctor, just say that his epidermis has excess oil secretion."

Tang Hainan was so angry that he wanted to pat him with a wine bottle, but before he got angry, Chen Li brought back half a dozen beers from the bar, and he couldn't help but stop when he saw Chang Zheng.

Tao Yu stood up and introduced, "Senior brother, this is Chang Zheng, the doctor from our family." He looked carefully at the other person's face.

Chen Li didn't show any surprise. He put the wine in his hand on the table, shook hands with Chang Zheng and said, "Hello, Doctor Chang. I heard from Tao Yu that you like watching football games. We can communicate."

"Okay, the NFL just started this year, do you have a team you support..." Chang Zheng pulled a chair and placed it between Chen Li and Tao Yu.

Tao Yu heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the two chatting about the results of the rugby teams they supported in recent years. Chen Li treated him closer than ordinary friends, but perhaps it wasn't the kind of relationship he imagined. The deep look in the eyes may be misunderstood.His thoughts went back to the person named Yan Zhao, and he intuitively guessed that it was the person who made Chen Li give up his development in the United States and return to China. He wanted to ask Tang Hainan, but Teacher Tang also added the topic of rugby in a blink of an eye.Tao Yu has never been able to understand what's so interesting about that kind of brutal game, especially he can't understand that the Americans want to call it football when the ball is thrown by hand, but there is no market for real football here.While slandering in his heart, he drank half a bottle of wine in boredom, and as a last resort, he also joined the conversation of the other three.

BOG closed at 11:30, Chen Li took a taxi to the hotel, Teacher Tang went home to watch the children, Tao Yu and Chang Zheng strolled home in the cool evening breeze.

"How is my senior brother?" Tao Yu started the conversation.

"What do you mean?"

"Not specifically, what kind of person do you feel as a whole?"

"Not talkative, but he has a clear mind and has his own ideas." Chang Zheng asked back, "What kind of person do you think he is?"

Tao Yu thought for a while and said, "It's about the same as what you said."

Chang Zheng smiled and said, "You guys had two weeks of exchange opportunities in Shanghai, and I only knew him for more than an hour. Do you think the same about him as I do?"

"What do you mean?" Tao Yu turned his head and asked.

"Let's put it this way, Tao Yu, you never introduce me to your friends for no reason." Chang Zheng walked forward holding his hand, and stated calmly, "We have been together for three years, and I am only with you." I have met with a limited number of friends. These people include your good friends from childhood to adulthood, some of your current classmates, and the bosses of the places where you worked before. One thing they have in common is that you have known them for a long time. Time, you trust these people, so you let them know more about you. You only had contact with Chen Li for two weeks in Shanghai. Since Zhou gave you such a sense of trust in him, then the feeling he gave you must not be just the superficial observation I mentioned."

After hearing these words, Tao Yu asked: "Are you dissatisfied that I didn't introduce you to more people?"

"Some people don't care about other people's opinions, and some people are used to self-protection. There is no distinction between good and bad, right and wrong. It's just that each person's personality is different. I'm just talking about the facts. From what I know about you, you Although you can quickly establish communication with strangers, it takes a long time to develop a sense of trust in the people around you, Chen Li broke this routine, so I'm also a little curious about your opinion of him."

Tao Yu sighed lightly: "Compared to Chen Li, I think you have a clear mind and can analyze everything in every way. Have you considered minoring in psychology?"

"When you were emotionally cold before, I read a lot of psychology books, and I don't need a degree. I'm not interested in other people's psychology." Chang Zheng dismissed his thorny words.

Tao Yu hesitated for a while, and then said, "We drank together a few times when we were in Shanghai—don't get me wrong, it was just drinking and chatting. After drinking, he went back to his house, and I went back to the hotel. There was nothing we shouldn't do... ..."

Seeing that the other party just looked at him without speaking, Tao Yu suspected that his description was getting darker, so he simply gave up explaining.

"We don't talk much about our lives. The topics are basically related to majors, as well as the treatment of domestic universities. He gave me a lot of suggestions. Regarding publishing papers, topic selection, and experimental methods, I said I wanted to stay in the university after graduation. In the United States, he talked about some ways to apply for a green card and the preparations to be made, in short, some very useful suggestions, probably because I have talked with him a few times, so I trust him."

"That's it?" Chang Zheng asked.

Tao Yu raised his eyebrows: "You don't think it's hot enough? What do you want to hear? Oh, I also helped him check some information on pollution treatment technology."

"Sounds like a meeting of two PaperNerds."

It was the first time that Tao Yu was dubbed a "nerd" at such a young age, and he was in a bad mood. The image of himself wearing black-rimmed glasses, a plaid shirt and a fur vest appeared in his mind.

"Why am I a nerd?! This is the normal relationship between two adults!"

Chang Zheng smiled, noncommittal.

When he got home, he dug out two bottles of beer from the refrigerator, handed Tao Yu a bottle, and dragged Tao Yu to sit on the balcony.

"Still drinking?" Tao Yu looked at the wine in his hand, "Aren't you afraid you won't get up tomorrow?"

Not far away, the Chicago baseball team WhiteSox arena is still lit. Chang Zheng said: "Sit outside for a while, and go back after they finish the game."

"It's almost twelve o'clock and the competition is not over yet, what a grand event tonight!" Tao Yu sighed while drinking.

"Do you think you will win?" Chang Zheng asked.

"It's better to win. If you win, you can watch the fireworks."

As soon as the words were finished, cheers came from the direction of the stadium, and the bright lights on the sidelines dimmed after a while.

"Good luck!" Tao Yu pushed Chang Zheng with his shoulder.

When the first firework bloomed in the night sky, Chang Zheng suddenly said without beginning or end: "Seeing Chen Li tonight makes me a little worried."

"What are you worried about?" Tao Yu turned around and asked.

"...I'm afraid he will abduct you."

Tao Yu was stunned for two seconds, then shouted: "You are sick! I told you that I have a normal relationship with him!"

"I don't doubt that you have anything with him..." Chang Zheng paused, and whispered, "I just feel that he is the kind of person who will make you fall in love. He is stable, mature, and can give you care and support like a father and brother." guidance."

Tao Yu laughed angrily: "Are you praising yourself in a different way?"

"I'm not joking." Chang Zheng said seriously, "I also make you feel dependent to a certain extent, so you will choose me, won't you? But I can't give you academic help, you and him will There are more common topics.”

"According to what you say, then I might as well love old Andrew!"

Chang Zheng took a sip of wine, looked at the colorful night sky and said: "I feel uncomfortable when chatting with Chen Li, maybe it's the way he looked at you inadvertently, maybe it's the way he mentioned you, I hope I'm overreacting, but if he really thinks something about you, I don't know if it will affect our lives."

Tao Yu found that he didn't have the courage to say, "You think too much, wash up and go to sleep." When he called Chang Zheng to go to BOG, he really had the idea of ​​a showdown in his heart. Pretend to be confused with an ambiguous attitude.Chang Zheng said that he is easy to be tempted by people who "can give care and guidance like a father and brother", and it is not without basis. The former Wei Wei, the current Chang Zheng, and Chen Li all "guidance" in some aspects. "My own people, he always lacks resistance to such people.

"Chen Li is a good match." After the fireworks in mid-air were extremely splendid, there were only wisps of gray smoke in the dark blue sky, which gradually drifted away. Tao Yu looked at the people around him and said, "But I have you. If you live together, even if you don't have a marriage certificate, what you said still counts."

Chang Zheng looked into his eyes, leaned over and whispered, "Couldn't love youmore..."

The final sound disappears at the corners of the touching lips...