This night, Tong Qiangqiang slept until dawn, and the most important thing was that there were no more messy things in the dream.

She tilted her head to look at the empty space beside her.

I vaguely remember that last night, Han Lie slept next to him, and he hugged her all night.

Reaching out and touching the sheets.

Icy cold.

I can't help but suspect that it's an illusion.

Tong Qiangqiang sat up from the bed, looked at the sunlight coming in from the curtains, lifted the quilt and got out of bed, stepped on the clothes all over the ground, and there was her half-packed suitcase on the side. Tong Qiangqiang supported his forehead, carried all his clothes back to the bed, and then went to the bathroom to wash up briefly, and smelled the aroma of fried eggs as soon as he left the room.

Tong Qiangqiang took it for granted that Ah Hua was cooking breakfast, so she didn't pay attention, and walked to the table and sat down, and found that today's breakfast was different from the previous Chinese style, with some mashed potatoes, bacon, cheese grilled sausages and other foods on the plate, which reminded her of the breakfast style made by Mrs. Smith in Sydney.

Someone behind him brought up the freshly fried egg, the yolk was half-cooked, and it looked even more golden against the backdrop of a circle of ripe egg whites on the periphery.

Along with the fried egg, she had a glass of freshly squeezed tomato juice handy.

When Tong Qiangqiang looked up, Han Lie had already walked away from her and sat down in the seat opposite her.

In front of him was an identical breakfast to hers, except that the tomato juice had been replaced with espresso.

Tong Qiangqiang looked left and right to confirm that he didn't see Ah Hua's figure, and asked suspiciously, "You did all this?"

Han Lie took a sip of his coffee and nodded disapprovingly.

Tong Qiangqiang was very surprised.

Han Lie raised his eyebrows with interest: "What, don't believe it?"

Tong Qiangqiang naturally nodded embarrassedly. She clearly remembered that Han Lie's refrigerator in the past was always empty, and the kitchen was basically not on fire, and she saw that he was so familiar with ordering takeout before, no matter how you look at it, he should be a big man who can't cook.

Han Lie understood her expression and smiled: "If you don't cook, it doesn't mean you can't cook." ”

Tong Qiangqiang picked up the roasted sausage with a fork and stuffed it into his mouth, and said "hmm" in an ominous voice, guessing in his heart that since they were all Western-style meals, they probably learned it during his time in Australia. He immediately asked, "Uncle, don't you have to go to work today?"

Han Lie didn't answer directly, raised his wrist and looked at his watch, and said, "There are still three hours, you have time, you eat slowly." ”

Tong Qiangqiang swallowed what was in his mouth, confused: "What is there still three hours?"

Han Lie paused for a moment and informed: "Today, Mr. Smith will take An Lu back to Sydney with him." Three hours later on the plane, a moment with me to the airport. ”

Seeing Tong Qiangqiang's expression, Han Lie asked, "What's wrong? I don't want to go? It's okay if I don't want to go, it's okay." ”

Tong Qiangqiang hurriedly shook his head: "Go, I want to go." ”

While in the hospital, she knew that Smith had come to care for her. There are a few others. But at that time, she didn't want to listen to some pale comforts, and because she was tired, she chose to pretend to be asleep to escape.

Now that Mr. Smith is leaving, how can she not send it? What's more, she still wants to see An Lu.

After breakfast, Tong Qiangqiang went back to the room to change clothes, and when he was staring at his swollen eyes and worrying, there was a knock on the door. Tong Qiangqiang went to answer the door, Han Lie held an iron spoon in his hand, and without saying a word, he directly covered Tong Qiangqiang's left eye, and immediately a cold feeling covered his eyes.

Tong Qiangqiang winked at Han Lie with his right eye.

Han Lie looked at her one-eyed shape at the moment and explained, "It just froze out of the refrigerator, it can help you reduce swelling." ”

"Oh. Tong Qiangqiang responded softly, "I'll do it myself." ”

She raised her hand and wanted to take the iron spoon, but her hand pressed on Han Lie's hand, but Han Lie had no intention of letting go.

Seeing this, Tong Qiangqiang gave up. The two stood silently staring at each other, the pork belly circling beneath their feet, as if glad it was now close to her and would not be driven away.

Tong Qiangqiang lowered his gaze and raised his foot to tease the pork belly. The two front paws of the pork belly swooped down on the top of her feet, tilting its head back and staring at her, making Tong Qiangqiang wonder if it was making fun of her eyes.

The left eye suddenly lit up, and then the right eye darkened.

It was Han Lie who took the iron spoon away from her left eye and put it over her right eye.

Tong Qiangqiang raised his eyes, facing Han Lie who was carefully studying her newly finished left eyelid, stretched out his finger to touch her still a little thick eyelid, and shook his head: "It doesn't seem to have much effect." ”

Tong Qiangqiang's nose brewed a sour feeling: "Uncle." ”

"Huh?" Han Lie was thinking about whether there was any other way to help her get rid of the swelling quickly, and he didn't notice the change in her mood, and then he heard Tong Qiangqiang say, "Don't be so nice to me anymore." ”

Han Lie was slightly sluggish, only then did he find that Tong Qiangqiang's eyes were red, and he looked like he was about to cry again, and he couldn't help frowning: "What's wrong?"

Tong Qiangqiang blinked, his eyelashes were immediately stained with water, he sniffed and continued: "Don't be so nice to me anymore." I'm afraid I'm reluctant to leave you. ”

Han Lie's expression froze: "You still want to leave?"

Tong Qiangqiang was silent. In a trance, she remembered that she had mentioned it to him last night.

"Where are you going?" Han Lie had a bad expression.

Tong Qiangqiang continued to remain silent. She didn't think about it either, but anyway, she didn't have the ties of children, so she didn't have to think about it as much as before. has personal freedom, and the money Zhong Yuanshan gave her.

Han Lie was silent, probably seeing her uncertainty, and after a while, he said, "You think it out for yourself first." Continue to stay here until you think about it. Don't forget that the doctor said you need to recuperate for a month. ”

Tong Qiangqiang thought for a moment, and agreed in an astringent voice: "Okay." ”

***

The ice compress with the iron spoon was not completely ineffective, and it was somewhat swollen. Fortunately, he was more familiar with Mr. Smith, and Tong Qiangqiang didn't care too much, although he didn't wear makeup, he rubbed some lipstick to keep his lips too pale.

Han Lie knew about Mr. Smith's flight and soon met Mr. Smith in the VIP lounge. After a few days of not seeing him, An Lu's face looked a lot better, wearing a white dress, sitting in a wheelchair, his eyes were still staring at the void, but he no longer held a pillow in his arms, and changed to a Jenny doll wearing a white dress like An Lu.

An Jinghong sat on the sofa chair in the waiting room, staring at An Lu without blinking, the brother and sister seemed to solidify into sculptures together, and no one moved.

Tong Qiangqiang wanted to say a few words to An Lu, but when he saw this, he didn't dare to disturb their goodbye at all, so he watched silently not far from them.

After Mr. Smith and Han Lie finished talking, they walked over and patted Tong Qiangqiang on the shoulder: "Tong." ”

Tong Qiangqiang stood up: "Mr. Smith." ”

Mr. Smith looked like he wanted to say something, and finally smiled helplessly: "I think you have probably heard too comforting words." I'm so sorry I couldn't help you stop it that day. ”

Tong Qiangqiang shook his head and tugged at the corners of his mouth lightly: "If I accept your apologies, then should you also accept my apologies to Xiaolu before." ”

Mr. Smith understood what she meant, smiled, spread his hands, gave Tong Qiangqiang a parting hug, and whispered in her ear: "Tong, someone taught me a saying in Chinese many years ago, 'Life gives people despair as much as the hope it brings.'" I didn't understand what it meant. I don't know if it's right for you, but I still want to give it to you. ”

"Thank you, Mr. Smith. Tong Qiangqiang smiled, embarrassed to tell him, in fact, it really didn't apply.

Mr. Smith seemed quite proud to send out a great sentence in Chinese, and then said, "Our family is looking forward to the day when we will meet you again." ”

Tong Qiangqiang glanced at An Lu and curled the corners of his lips calmly: "Please help me bring my most sincere blessings to Mrs. Smith." ”

The announcement on the radio that boarding would begin in half an hour, Mr. Smith pushed An Lu and went to the ticket check and security check together.

Tong Qiangqiang and Han Lie said goodbye to Mr. Smith until Mr. Smith and An Lu disappeared.

As soon as he turned around, he saw An Jinghong standing far away, his eyes still staying at the empty ticket gate, there was a faint emotion shaking in his eyes, and his hands were clenched into fists at his sides.

"I'll wait for you in the parking lot. Remember where the car was parked, right?"

Tong Qiangqiang looked at Han Lie when he heard the voice, and nodded gratefully: "Thank you, uncle." ”

Han Lie touched the back of her head and walked away first.

Tong Qiangqiang stared at An Jinghong silently for a while, and slowly walked to his side: "Senior brother......"

An Jinghong's gaze did not move, nor did he open his mouth to answer Tong Qiangqiang.

Tong Qiangqiang tried his best to organize the language in his stomach, but after he spoke, he still didn't understand the words: "I have been with Mrs. Smith, she is a very good person, and she will be a good mother. Xiaolu's trip to Sydney to reunite with Lady Smith this time will definitely help her condition. I believe she will recover gradually. ”

An Jinghong still ignored Tong Qiangqiang.

Tong Qiangqiang licked his dry lips, picked up the topic again, and said, "A few days ago, thank you for coming to see me." ”

An Jinghong turned his head and glanced at Tong Qiangqiang, not too enthusiastic but not cold, and said, "No." That's what I should. You're going to get knocked over, I'm going to take part of the blame, I just don't want to make myself guilty. ”

Tong Qiangqiang pushed the broken hair in his ear behind his ear and asked, "Are you ...... When are you going to Africa? I'll invite you to dinner and practice for you. ”

This time, An Jinghong's tone returned to his previous coldness, and he flatly refused: "No need, there's no need." ”

Tong Qiangqiang's expression was quite gloomy, and at this point, he really didn't know what else to say.

I heard An Jinghong also say: "If there is nothing else, I will leave first." ”

Tong Qiangqiang bit his lip and nodded: "Okay...... I wish my brother a safe journey and all the best. ”

"Thank you. An Jinghong said very officially, and immediately swept past her.

After two or three steps, he hesitated and said calmly, "I'm glad to meet you before." ”

Tong Qiangqiang's body stiffened, turned around, looked at An Jinghong's back without looking back, and muttered quite aggrievedly: "What was me before...... I haven't changed ......."

***

Tong Qiangqiang learned from Professor Zhou that An Jinghong had gone to Africa three days ago half a month later. An Jinghong said that he didn't need to practice, but he didn't give her a chance to practice, in fact, the night before leaving, he also had dinner with Professor Zhou.

Professor Zhou seemed to sense that the two brothers and sisters were having an unpleasant quarrel, but probably because neither of them had talked to Professor Zhou about it directly, Professor Zhou did not talk much after all, although he had an expression of wanting to say something and stopped.

Of course, even about Tong Qiangqiang's miscarriage, Professor Zhou was also considerate and did not ask more.

Tong Qiangqiang led the defense draft and returned to the apartment from school, and was greeted by a fragrant lunch made by Ah Hua and a stupid pork belly that grew longer and more cute.

In the past half a month, in order to regulate her body, she has strictly followed the doctor's instructions, almost never leaving the door, only staying at home every day to prepare for the graduation defense, and occasionally going to school to go through other complicated graduation procedures that require running errands in person.

Oh, by the way, in fact, it can be summed up as eating, sleeping, teasing pork belly - without children, she naturally has no reason to avoid pork belly, before she always complained that the pork belly was not close to her, and now she has a lot of time to get close to it, she put 50 tricks on Baidu to get along with dogs, and used it on the pork belly one by one.

Most of the tricks are related to guiding it with snacks, causing the pork belly to wag her tail and beg for snacks when she sees her, but only for snacks. Although he didn't treat her as ignorant as in the past, he couldn't compare to his enthusiasm for Han Lie.

Tong Qiangqiang was helpless - obviously she spent much more time with pork belly than Han Lie now.

Yes, compared to her idleness, Han Lie was completely in charge of everything. The appointment of his vice president, which had been shelved earlier, was finally brought up again. He hadn't come back when she went to bed at night, and when she got up in the morning, he had already gone out. Sometimes she didn't even know if he had ever come back to sleep.

Tong Qiangqiang and Han Lie couldn't communicate anything, and could only learn about Zhong's recent situation through the news.

It's basically good news. What project was officially launched, what was rated as the leading enterprise in Rongcheng by the government for many consecutive years, and what summed up the pull of major companies on Rongcheng's economy in the first half of the year, Zhong's still ranked first.

Whether it is really as optimistic as these good news reveal, Tong Qiangqiang is unknown.

The biggest piece of good news is that a few days ago, a large company in Hong Kong reached a strategic cooperation agreement with Chung and became a shareholder. The specific amount was not disclosed to the media, but the press conference was held very big and grand, and when Tong Qiangqiang watched the evening news, he saw Zhong Wenhao, Zhong Jie, and Han Lie attending together.

According to the reports of some experts, it is speculated that Zhong has temporarily survived the crisis of capital turnover because of this.

***

Zhong Zhai, the atmosphere is always relatively depressing.

On the one hand, it is because of the negative emotions that Zhong Wenhao and Zhong Jie brought back from the company.

On the other hand, Zhong Yuanshan recently had a cold that caused bronchitis. He didn't want to be hospitalized, so he could only ask the family doctor to run to Zhong's house every three or five times, and the one who really suffered was Hu Xiaoting, who needed to stay by the side every day.

Zhu Jinhua, who has always been healthy, was crushed by the sudden flu disease, and because of the pressure and heart disease caused by Zhong Wenhao's trouble a while ago and An Lu's child, he lay in bed for several days. was too busy to take care of himself, so the task of keeping vigil for Zhong Yuanshan basically fell on Hu Xiaoting's shoulders.

Naturally, she is not alone, the real main force is Sun Xian.

At the beginning, Hu Xiaoting was still worried about the will, and she couldn't wait to conjure up 72 hours a day, so that she could do her filial piety under Zhong Yuanshan's nose, and within a few days, her patience was worn out, and she also had two children to take care of, she could only hold on, and at night she asked Zhong Jie to lose her temper, and Zhong Jie comforted her and endured it again.

However, this forbearance not only did not endure Zhong Wenhao's complete fall from grace, but endured Zhong Wenhao to win shares and cooperation with a company in Hong Kong. The most angry thing is that Zhong Jie didn't reveal this situation to her before until she watched TV by herself, only to find out that even the press conference had been held, and it was already ironclad.

That night, Zhong Yuanshan called Han Lie, Zhong Wenhao, and Zhong Jie into the study, and chatted for a long time.

Hu Xiaoting quickly dragged Zhong Jie back to the room to ask about the situation.

Zhong Jie didn't understand what kind of fire she was making, and was a little angry: "It's a good thing that the company has survived the biggest difficulties, do you want to watch Zhong's go bankrupt?"

Hu Xiaoting couldn't wait to poke Zhong Jie's head: "The problem is why Wen Hao solved it? Aren't you also as busy as a dog every day? Why can't you achieve anything? Finally, you have a chance to get on top! Now it's okay, 'the wildfire can't burn out, and the spring breeze blows and grows', look at the old man's appearance, I'm afraid it won't be long before I will not blame Wen Hao for the past!"

In the end, it was Wen Hao and his sister-in-law who took the lion's share. When the old man leaves, how can we still have our status in the family? Have I worked all my hard work these days in vain? My sister-in-law has not done anything! I knew that I would be sick and lying in bed!"

The more he talked, the more aggrieved Hu Xiaoting became, the more annoyed he became.

"Then what do you want me to do?!" Zhong Jie paced back and forth in the room, "It was Wen Hao who had his own connections and ability, so he connected him with a wealthy businessman in Hong Kong." Wen Hao didn't do it mysteriously, and I and the third brother came to inform me when the contract was signed. What do you want me to do? Won't you destroy this bridge?"

Hu Xiaoting also knew that Zhong Jie's words were reasonable, but she was unwilling, so she could only sit on the bed and cry with a sullen breath, crying Zhong Jie was upset, and hugged Hu Xiaoting to comfort: "Actually, it's not a big deal." Now the old man has delivered the two big fat pieces of hotel and tourism to the third brother, the third brother is different from Wen Hao, the third brother can really treat me as his own person, and almost everything in his hands is counted as my share. It doesn't matter if Wen Hao solves a big problem, my third brother and I don't have to do things in the future. ”

Hu Xiaoting wiped his tears and reminded Zhong Jie: "So what? If Wen Hao regains power, he will still be the heir in the future, and will he still have any fat and lean meat? ”

Zhong Jie was blocked by Hu Xiaoting's words, and couldn't help but scratch his ears: "Why did everything become dejected when it came to your mouth? Can't you forget that Wen Hao once lost power? If these things hadn't happened recently, the Zhong family and the Zhong family would have belonged to Wen Hao, but now they are just turning around and about to return to him, aren't they?"

"What happens happens happens when it happens. Seeing that I can smell the aroma of pork, and it's gone to my mouth, can I not be upset?" Hu Xiaoting sniffed, his expression cold, "No, I have to do something for the old man before he regains confidence in Wen Hao!"

Zhong Jie frowned: "I warn you not to mess around!"

***

Tong Qiangqiang obviously felt that after that day's press conference, Han Lie's schedule gradually slowed down, until a week later, on Friday afternoon, Tong Qiangqiang came back from school after participating in the defense, and found that Han Lie was there.

He was squatting in front of the potty of the pork belly shoveling.

Tong Qiangqiang knows that the pork belly has been eating too much recently because of her set, and she only needs to shovel it once every two days, but now she shovels it once a day. The is very big and hard, and the most important thing is that it stinks, she couldn't resist the three-layer mask she brought yesterday, and finally gave up and asked Ah Hua to clean it up.

It was rare to see Han Lie as a shovel officer with her own eyes, Tong Qiangqiang was curious and wanted to know if she would see a smoked expression on Han Lie's face, but she came back a step late, only to see Han Lie tie up the garbage bag with lost pork belly poop, and immediately went to the sink to wash his hands.

When he turned around after washing his hands, he found Tong Qiangqiang, who was slightly stunned and asked, "Your teacher appreciation banquet is over?"

Hearing this, Tong Qiangqiang was stunned in turn.

After the defense, there was indeed a thank-you banquet in the evening. However, in the four years of college, she had very little communication with her classmates and teachers, and she would be uncomfortable going to that kind of occasion, and she became a "news figure" a while ago, so she was even more reluctant to attend.

So after the defense, she came back directly. She didn't even sign up for tomorrow's prom. Therefore, in addition to the fact that her graduation certificate has not been received, she has completely ended her student career after today's defense.

What surprised her was, how did Han Lie know that she had a graduation thesis defense and a thank-you banquet today?

But soon she thought that it was probably Ah Hua who told Han Lie.

Han Lie walked up to her and smiled faintly: "I thought that if you attended the teacher appreciation banquet tonight, you would inevitably have to drink, but I will come back early and pick you up when the time comes." What's wrong? Is it canceled?"

"It's not. Tong Qiangqiang shook his head and lied, "I'm a little tired and not very comfortable." ”

Han Lie's brows furrowed, and he stretched out his hand to touch Tong Qiangqiang's forehead: "What's uncomfortable, didn't you just go to the hospital for a recheck?"

Tong Qiangqiang's back stiffened slightly, he took a step back, avoiding Han Lie's concern, lowered his eyes and said, "It's not a big problem, maybe I've been preparing for the defense in the past two days, and I'm tired." I want to go in and sleep for a while. ”

After speaking, without waiting for Han Lie's reaction, she walked back to her room quickly, closed the door, paid attention to Han Lie's movements outside, and her footsteps swept past her door and returned to his own bedroom.

Tong Qiangqiang then walked to the desk, turned on the computer, and checked the reply to her recent job application resume, as well as the feedback on the rental website.

Looking at it, my attention was distracted, and I didn't know what I was looking at.

Tong Qiangqiang let go of the mouse and buried his head on the desktop.

Can't live anymore...... Otherwise, as soon as she saw Han Lie, her hard-won heart would be shaken uncontrollably......