Beijing, after all, has nothing to do with me

Chapter 18
Li Yaoming got off the car at the contemporary shopping mall, Tao Jie spotted him in the rush of people.

He was wearing the same white long-sleeved shirt, black trousers, and a black computer bag on his shoulder as when he went out in the morning. If he matched it with a tie, he looked like a handsome office worker in a Japanese idol drama, but squeezed together In a bus full of passengers, it is inevitable to appear a little shabby and downcast.

It was the first time that Tao Jie looked at the man she had loved for four years with such a strange and objective perspective.

She was very suspicious of whether it was necessary for him to bring out the computer as well, as if in such a big scene, he desperately needed a cheering assistant, and the computer was obviously his closest comrade-in-arms in this world.

Walking in front of Tao Jie, Li Yaoming straightened his neckline and sleeves subconsciously. The weather was so hot that there was no reason for it. Tao Jie saw that he was tightly wrapped in the shirt, and a thin layer of knots had formed on his neck and forehead. She was sweating heavily, and immediately felt that she was hot all over, but she didn't express her opinion on his clothes, she moved her mouth in one direction, "Let's go."

It can be seen that Li Yaoming is very nervous, but he hides this layer of tension under his skin very hard. Before he came, he encouraged himself to despise the "enemy" strategically and "value the enemy" tactically. This is the only rule of invincibility.

But unfortunately, he has not yet figured out whether the two old men came to negotiate whether it is the main battle or the main peace.

"Your parents...what do you mean?" Li Yaoming could only find out from Tao Jie's mouth.

"I don't know either." Tao Jie shook her head and sighed, she felt a little tired.

Or maybe because the relationship with Li Yaoming was in the cold war before, subconsciously, she felt wronged.

Calling Li Yaoming over to participate in the negotiation together was of course discussed by parents.

When Tao Jie was dragged back into the restaurant by her father just now, her mother's face miraculously eased a lot, and she was willing to talk to her, but her tone was polite like a politician at the negotiating table, and it was a bit less usual. The customary intimacy among women.

"You call him, we... want to see him," said the mother.

Tao Jie didn't know whether to be happy or afraid, but it seemed that she could only do so. She opened her mouth and wanted to explain to her parents that Li Yaoming had gone to work overtime, but she didn't say it.

Now they hope to get the understanding of their parents, how can there be any reason to let her parents join Li Yaoming?

After walking silently for a while, Li Yaoming couldn't hold back, "Tao Zi, what if your parents are not satisfied with me?"

"What do you think?" Tao Jie asked in a low voice.

Li Yaoming didn't answer, and stretched out his hand to hold her palm tightly.

It was such an inadvertent action that brought back the intimacy between the two that had faded a lot due to awkwardness.

Li Yaoming sat down in front of Tao Jie's parents as if facing an enemy, a thought flashed through his mind at the same time - in a hurry, he didn't bring anything to the two elders.

At this time, they have changed places, no longer a noisy restaurant, but a pleasant Starbucks.

In Li Yaoming's eyes, Tao Jie's parents were neatly dressed and well-behaved. One could tell at a glance that they had come out of a wealthy and comfortable environment, especially her mother, who had a pair of clean, white and slender hands. Knowing how picky its owner was, Li Yaoming only glanced at Mama Tao lightly, and didn't dare to look any further. There was a very obvious evaluation color in her eyes, and she was rating herself.

Compared with Tao's mother, Tao Jie's father looked much more kind, and his eyes were a little less sharp. Therefore, most of his confessions were told to Tao's father alone.

"Uncle Tao, Auntie Tao, I like Tao Jie very much. We have been together for four years, and our relationship has always been very good..." Li Yaoming said dryly, even though he criticized himself in his heart for how dry his words were. , but he didn't allow himself to say nothing like an idiot, "I, I can assure you, Tao Jie is following me, I will definitely not..."

"Xiao Li." Mama Tao called out a gentle address, and Li Yaoming suddenly stopped, with a thin layer of sweat clenched in his palms.

"Your situation, Tao Jie told us just now."

Of course, Tao's mother couldn't talk to other people's children like she did to her own daughter. She just relied on her sharp eyes to weigh the weight of this handsome young man in front of her.

To be honest, she is not very satisfied. Her aesthetic standards are very different from those of young people. What's the use of looking good? No matter how handsome a person is, he still has the same old face when he gets older.The key depends on ability, but she really can't estimate how strong his potential is from this boy whose voice is trembling, but her daughter likes it, what can she do.

Just as her husband advised her, "No matter how thoughtful you are, it's just your idea. You can't replace Xiaojie and make all the decisions for her. Let her make up her own mind." Her heart surged Sigh slightly.

"I always say what I say. If there is something inappropriate, don't take it to heart." Mama Tao's straightforward words drew everyone's hearts to their throats.

"No, Auntie, just say it." Li Yaoming swallowed nervously, and bravely looked at her.

"I have always disapproved of the matter between you and Tao Jie. There are many uncertainties between the two of you so far away, but I didn't expect you to come together in the end. In this case, her father and I," Tao Mom paused, a little reluctantly, "There's nothing to say, after all, it's your own business."

"Mom—" Tao Jie was surprised and delighted, and couldn't help calling her mother.

Mom didn't look at her, her eyes still stayed on Li Yaoming's face with a happy face, "However, we have one condition."

Tao Jie and Li Yaoming looked at each other, and then both looked at Mother Tao.

"Tell me." Li Yaoming smiled, the most important and difficult hurdle has been passed, and the next problem should not be too difficult no matter how troublesome it is.

"Her father and I have only one daughter, so we always hope that she can stay with us. As the saying goes, raise a child to guard against old age. Although we have a daughter, we still hope that even if she gets married in the future, she doesn't have to be with us. Together, but at least they can live closer to us. Our request shouldn’t be too much, right?”

When Tao's mother said these words, Tao's father sat beside him with a serious face, without any surprise, obviously the two had discussed it seriously.

Tao Jie felt that when her mother said the last sentence, there was still a trace of resentment hidden in it. Although it was very shallow, she had lived with her mother for so many years, and even if it was only a subtle change, she could accurately capture it. , she unconsciously lowered her head, a little afraid to face her mother.

Of course, Li Yaoming didn't hear Tao's mother's dissatisfaction, but her request was really a big problem for him, and his mood that had just relaxed suddenly became procrastinated and heavy.

He never thought of leaving Beijing, nor did he think of following Tao Jie to spend his days in that beautiful but a little lazy city. There is no place where ambitious and promising young people like him are entrenched.

Of course he can't leave Beijing, he hasn't done anything yet.

"Well, Auntie, I..." He was extremely embarrassed for a moment, and turned to Tao Jie beside him as if asking for help, hoping that she could say a few words.

Tao Jie seemed to sense his embarrassment, and slowly raised her head.

To be honest, before this, Tao Jie didn't care where she lived, whether it was Beijing, her hometown, or wherever, as long as she could be with Li Yaoming, of course it was the most beautiful place.

However, the parents' entreaties, and most importantly, the mother's phrase "raise children to guard against old age", like a thorn, pierced into Tao Jie's heart unsuspectingly.

Yes, it has always been her parents who have paid for her selflessly, and why has she ever paid for her parents? Many times, when she made a decision, she didn't take them into consideration at all, and she left them confidently. They followed Li Yaoming, but they didn't feel the sadness of their parents at all!

When Li Yaoming looked at her, she was also looking at Li Yaoming, but there were completely different meanings in their eyes.

Tao Jie expected him to nod his head in agreement. This was not an essential problem for her. She thought it was a great idea to "be worthy of her parents and her husband". She even thanked her mother from the bottom of her heart.

But Li Yaoming's eyes told her clearly that he was unwilling.

Mother Tao hadn't finished speaking, she was not in a hurry to wait for the two people in front of her to express their opinions.

"If you are willing to go back with us, I don't think you can find anything about work with Xiao Li's ability. Although our city M is not comparable to a metropolis like Beijing, the number of companies is not small, and there are dozens of foreign companies. Home, the environment is good; as for the cost of buying a house," Mother Tao took a deep breath, and said the following sentence confidently, "We will be responsible for it."

"Mom, no need!" Tao Jie blurted out. Although she was grateful for her mother's contribution, she really didn't want to rely on her parents for everything like before. She believed that with her and Li Yaoming's abilities, it might be enough in Beijing, but in M ​​city, absolutely able to support themselves.

"Yes, Auntie, we should be responsible for the house. How can we spend the elders' money?" At this moment, Li Yaoming found an opportunity to speak, although his words were a little insincere, it seemed that he had already promised to go to M City.

Li Yaoming has never been very clear about Tao Jie's family background. Tao Jie is not a girl who likes to show off. She is low-key and simple.Therefore, Li Yaoming has always been in a state of ignorance and semi-guessing about the situation of her family.But at this time, Mother Tao's calm and composed tone made him understand the distance between the two of them.

Of course he couldn't accept such a gift, not because he was noble, not because he was unmoved, but he was too aware of the meaning behind it.

What he said in the refusal was actually insincere. His own parents were both poor and white people. It was not easy to bring him up and support him to study.But if Tao Jie's parents paid all the money for buying the house, then he, even his parents, might not even be able to hold his head up in front of Tao Jie's family in the future. He is a person who wants to save face.

Tao's mother glanced at him. His words "We should bear it ourselves" made her very uncomfortable. It was obvious that he was going to suffer together with Tao Jie.

"These are trivial matters, and they are easy to discuss." Mother Tao said indifferently, "What we want to know now is, are you willing to go back to City M with us?"

Tao's mother had already read her meaning from Tao Jie's face. Now, she was pulling Tao Jie into her team, and Li Yaoming became the helpless opposite.

Apart from Li Yaoming, probably no one will realize the essential change after she just lost the word "men".

Starbucks was air-conditioned, but the sweat on Li Yaoming's forehead gathered again crazily. He was competing with himself in the depths of his heart, and outside of his heart, he had to compete with three people who were waiting for his answer.

"Uncle, aunt," he said with difficulty, "it's like this. I've been working in Beijing since I graduated. I've been working in Beijing for more than three years now. Many relationships are here. I have my ideals, although they haven't been realized yet. But there are some clues, so I may... be unable to leave Beijing for the time being."

Tao Jie stared at him blankly. At that moment, she suddenly felt that he was selfish. Li Yaoming didn't look at her, but looked at her parents sincerely, "Can you give me... let's have a little more time, three years , I only need three years, if after three years I am still as penniless as I am now, I will immediately go to City M with you."

This time, not only Tao's mother, but Tao's father and Tao Jie's expressions changed.

"So, how do you plan to arrange Tao Jie for these three years?" Mother Tao asked unhurriedly, her sharp eyes exuding an aggressive aura.

Tao's father touched Tao's mother's arm a little uneasy, as if trying to stop her from continuing, but Tao's mother ignored it at all.

Li Yaoming regretted what he said just now, but what he said was the truth from the bottom of his heart.

"Whether I succeed or not, I won't ignore Tao Jie. No matter how hard or tiring I am, it's my own business." His afterthought only earned a cold snort from Tao's mother.

"Three years later, we Xiaojie will be 27. Who can guarantee that there will be no changes in these three years? Besides, if you don't want to be separated from her, you have to listen to our opinions. We won't let Xiaojie leave— —" The more Mother Tao talked, the more she couldn't hold back her face.

"Enough!" Tao Jie screamed, her lips trembling slightly, "Can you stop talking?"

Her eyes moved from mother's face to father's face, and finally stayed on Li Yaoming's face, "I'm not an item, I can fight for you like this!"

She got up again, thinking infinitely desolately, all the people sitting in front of her were her closest and most trusted people, but why did she always want to escape from such a situation again and again?
She really can't stay here calmly anymore, not even for a second!

(End of this chapter)