windy city rainy season

The day after Chen Li finished drinking at BOG, Chen Li returned to Shanghai. Tao Yu didn't go to see him off, but only left a message on Weibo, "Safe trip", and Chen Li replied, "See you in winter" before boarding the plane.

This year's winter has not yet arrived, and Chang Ling, who finished his overseas mission, has returned to China.After boot training he was sent to a naval base in California for specialized training in air control, and then at John.He served on the USS Stennis aircraft carrier. In the two years since he joined the army, he has already made two overseas missions. Last year, the USS Stennis was sent to the Persian Gulf to participate in the strategic deployment against Afghanistan and Iran. At the beginning of this year, he was transferred to Busan, South Korea. Homeport in San Diego.This time he took three weeks of paid leave, planning to stay in Chicago until Thanksgiving before returning to New York.

Chang Xuan had just been promoted to the rank of E-4 professional technician, wearing the new epaulettes proudly, talking about the aircraft carrier he served in endlessly. "...Stennis is equipped with two nuclear reactors and has unlimited endurance. The deck can be used for fighter planes to take off and land at the same time. Do you know how much challenge this is for the control of the tower? In the Persian Gulf, it often lasts for more than ten hours without eating or not. I can't go to the bathroom after drinking, and I feel so stressed that I want to jump into the sea!"

Tao Yu was cooking noodles while listening to the other person's chatter. When we first met, he thought this boy was quite mature. When he didn't speak, he even had a bit of a stern military air.Chang Xuan is not yet 23 years old. If he had finished college, he would probably be working in a financial job on Wall Street with a good fortune.However, his life turned around two years ago. As an American soldier with only a high school education, the war is closer to his life than he imagined.Thinking that such a change has something to do with him, Tao Yu always feels uneasy, wondering whether Chang Yao will regret his life after a few years.

The water in the pot boiled, Tao Yu added a bowl of cold water, stirred the noodles with chopsticks, closed the lid of the pot and said, "You guys have been out at sea for half a year, and the plane can't fly every day, right? What do you do when you don't have missions?"

"I want to jump into the sea even more when I have no mission!" Chang Xuan said with a bitter face. "Every time I go out, I jump off the aircraft carrier, and some play tricks and throw life jackets to pretend to fall into the water. Once someone jumps into the sea, the entire ship's 5000 people will die." I got a report from my workplace, you know how painful it is to be woken up while sleeping, and there was another time when I was taking a shower, I just put on my clothes and went to the assembly before I put on the bath lotion, and if I got there late, I should have thought I jumped into the sea!"

Listening to little brother Chang complaining, Tao Yu smiled and asked, "There's never a time when you can't think about it, right?"

"I can't think about it, it must be because there are no beautiful female soldiers on board, and it has nothing to do with work pressure." Chang Yao said with a smile.

"You really have self-knowledge." Tao Yu turned around and took out a bowl of noodles, mixed with seasonings and chopped green onions, heated up two pieces of heavenly grilled pork ribs and pushed them to him, "Get the dumplings on the car and get off the noodles, this bowl is for you , let's go out to eat after your brother gets off work in the evening."

Chang Ling was so grateful to eat pork rib noodles: "The army is full of potatoes, macaroni, chicken nuggets and steaks. I want to eat Chinese food. I am going crazy! When I was in Busan, I went to the Korean restaurant outside the base. It was either miso soup or kimchi. It’s not half as delicious...do you still have ribs?”

This flattery made Tao Yu comfortable, so he simply gave him all the leftover ribs.

"The female soldier you met in the boot camp, did you still keep in touch later?"

"On the same aircraft carrier." Chang Ling purred, "She is in the Hornet fleet and was the best aircraft maintenance chief last year. Her name was sprayed under their captain's aircraft. Have I Told you she was super powerful, she..."

"The abdominal muscles are stronger than yours." Tao Yu took over the conversation, "You said it last time, I didn't see that you would fall in love with such a strong girl, is there any drama?"

Chang Ling cried and said: "I'm not bragging, I'm also the main force in our department, but she always ignores me, it's amazing to be able to repair planes, without our control tower, the takeoff and landing would be all messed up!"

Tao Yu secretly laughed that the other party looked like a male peacock spreading its tail wildly, but it was a pity that the target was not a native chicken looking for food, his beautiful feathers and chick-picking skills were useless.

"The girl in the dormitory with her is interesting to me." Chang Yao said complacently, "It's the maintenance of another fleet, from South Africa, white, with a first-class figure, we all bet she doesn't wear underwear under her overalls... tell you There is no common language for this.”

Tao Yu gave him a sideways glance: "You deserve to be the first girl to ignore you, thinking about stepping on two boats before you catch up?"

Chang Xuan gnawed at the ribs and said indifferently: "It is not allowed in the army to fall in love with colleagues, just for fun, and not to find someone to marry. The girls I have dated can form a fleet. Everyone is serious. How can I have a relationship?" time work?"

Tao Yu almost laughed at this righteous reason for picking up girls. He patted Brother Chang on the shoulder and said, "I hope your control tower can control your own airport."

Chen Li came to Chicago in mid-November. Professor Gruca’s Biochemistry was about microbes as planned. Anyone can follow the basic theory of this part, but when it comes to the application of microbes to pollution treatment technology, several professors in the department did not report. Rich experience.

Facing Professor Chen on the podium, Tao Yu tried his best to treat him as an ordinary lecturer, even calling him Professor when they met after class.Chen Li seemed to understand his thoughts, and laughed at this change in address. In school, the two looked down and kept a proper distance tacitly, as if they were gradually getting used to this simple teacher-student relationship.However, one or two times, seeing the other party leaving alone with a book under his arm, Tao Yu would think of the time when they had a relaxed drink and chat in Shanghai, recalling the care of the other party at that time, and he felt sorry for his estrangement at the moment.

The night before Thanksgiving, Tao Yu took an environmental management course at a business school in the urban area. After class, he took the school bus back to the main campus. When he got off the bus, he accidentally saw Chen Li under the streetlight.

"Brother?"

Tao Yu said hello, smelling a faint smell of smoke in the air.

Chen Li turned his head to see him, his expression froze for a moment, and it was only when he got closer that he came back to his senses and smiled and said, "I haven't heard this name for a long time, and my generation has come down again?"

Tao Yu was a little embarrassed, he looked around hesitantly and said, "Are you...waiting for someone here?"

"Come out for a walk and smoke a cigarette." Chen Li flicked off the ash and asked, "Did you go to class in the city?"

Tao Yu nodded.

The bell rang on the top of the main building, and the blunt metal sound echoed in the cold night of late autumn. The Gothic-style steeple bell tower had a mysterious sense of solemnity under the dark sky.

Chen Li smoked silently, and when the bell fell silent, he said, "One year I was waiting for someone on Thanksgiving, and it was also the nine o'clock train. When I heard you call me just now, I almost thought that time had flown back."

Tao Yu knew that he was talking about the year when he was a postdoctoral fellow here, so he asked in a strange way: "Is that Yan Zhao, the person you were waiting for at that time?"

Chen Li raised his hand holding the cigarette to his mouth, and when he heard his words, he turned his head to look: "Teacher Tang mentioned Yan Zhao to you?"

"I heard you talk about it when I was drinking last time..." Tao Yu was a little guilty. He asked Tang Hainan after Chen Li left last time. He knew that Yan Zhao was studying for a master's degree in the business school and graduated the year after 911. He couldn't find it. After returning to China for work, he went to Shanghai. One month later, Chen Li accepted an offer from that university in Shanghai.

"Did you go back to China because of him?"

Chen Li put out the cigarette in his hand and threw it into the trash can. A gust of cold wind rolled up the fallen leaves. He tightened the collar of his windbreaker and turned to Tao Yu, "You don't really care about Yan Zhao, but you want to know how I treat you." Attitude isn't it?"

Tao Yu was unprepared for the other party's sudden bluntness, and he didn't know how to answer for a while.

"How about a drink?" Chen Li suggested, "Just chatting."

"BOG won't open the door today..." Tao Yu subconsciously made an excuse, but then he thought it was better to be honest than to hide, because after all, we still have to get along for a long time.

"There's beer in the lab fridge, want to go?"

Chen Li raised his eyebrows: "You put beer and chemical reagents together?!"

"Not on the same floor..."