259

At that time, May.

In the early summer of City B, the sky is full of poplars, and the whole city is full of large moon flowers, blooming in patches on the flower stands on both sides of the road.

Houhai on the weekend is the most laid-back and comfortable look. There is water and can view the mountains, weeping willows blow the shore, the green shade is full of streets, the green leaves in the park are like covers, and the water is as clear as oil.

The cool breeze of early summer blew in through the wooden windows, and the bells on the curtain tinkled in the quiet private room of the teahouse.

Teng Zhongqian wears a stand-up collar Chinese-style white shirt, black trousers, long sleeves pulled up to the elbow, and an old-fashioned watch with a silver white dial on his left wrist.

Dressed like this, he looks like an ordinary middle-aged man.

He sat under the window, holding a white porcelain teacup in his hand, smiling at Tang Xien, kind and kind.

Tang Xien was in a trance for a while, and for a moment he forgot that the man in front of him, who was like the uncle next door, was the most authoritative person in the judicial world.

She stood outside the door, looked at him, swallowed her throat, and after a long time, shouted astringently: "Hello Dean Teng." ”

Teng Zhongqian put down the teacup, put one hand on his lap naturally, and beckoned to her with the other: "Xiao Tang, come in." ”

Tang Xien tightened the bag strap that straddled his body, and after entering the private room, he turned around and closed the wooden sliding door.

She walked over to Teng Zhongqian and sat down, subconsciously straightened her back, and looked at her with a smile: "Hello Dean Teng, do you have anything to do with me?" She did everything in her power to make herself look generous and decent.

Teng Zhongqian looked at her with a smile and said straight to the point: "I watched the issue of "Lawyer Says" you participated in, and there was a lot of uproar on the Internet, saying that you are going to enter the entertainment industry to make movies, and I don't want the legal and political circles to lose such a talent as you, so I thought I must meet you." ”

His tone was relaxed and he smiled the whole time, which eased Tang Xien's nervous mood a lot.

Tang Xien pursed his lips, shook his head and said with a wry smile: "A film company came to ask me if I wanted to make a movie, and I have already refused." I was on "Lawyer Says" because the law firm I co-opened with my friend had never received a case, so I wanted to advertise on the show. There is absolutely no idea of entering the entertainment industry. ”

"That's good." Teng Zhongqian nodded, poured a cup of tea for her, and poured himself a cup.

When drinking tea, he looked at Tang Xien, who was sitting opposite him, through the thin mist, as if he had seen her the first time he saw her at the Gu family.

If he looked at the Gu family that time, his eyes were full of suspicion, then the eyes were full of relief when he looked at him like this. Looking at her eyes, I didn't know it, and it became as if I was looking at another person through her.

Tang Xien lowered his head to drink tea, put down the teacup, as if to hide his crampedness, pursed his lips and smiled, with deep dimples on the right side of his cheek.

"I heard that the Department of Treaty and Law of the Ministry of Commerce has been wanting you to come over, but you didn't agree?" Teng Zhongqian put down the teacup and asked with a smile.

Tang Xien smiled, with a little embarrassment on his face, he originally wanted to explain that the reason why he couldn't go to the Law Division now was because after the bankruptcy last year, the economic pressure had not eased up until now, but thinking about it, it didn't seem so appropriate to tell an unfamiliar elder that he was short of money, so he avoided the important and said lightly: "I want to earn money now, and I can only look at the matter of going to the Law Division later." ”

Teng Zhongqian listened patiently, didn't ask any further questions, and after beckoning her to drink tea, he poured her another cup: "I heard that your hometown is from the city?" ”

"Yes," Tang Xi'en nodded, "Luocheng County, Taobao Township, Ruanjia Village." "Good Mood Literature Network

"Momho Township?" Teng Zhongqian put down the teapot in his hand, "I heard that place is very poor, and it has not been lifted out of poverty until now, and there are few people who can go to school, how did you end up in the United States to study for a doctorate?" ”

"yes. It's very poor, and it's all loess. After the house was built with mud bricks, it was like that, and the poultry came in and out of the yard and the room, and when it rained, the shoes and pants were all muddy. Tang Xien smiled, his slender white fingers pinched the mouth of the teacup, and looked down at the clear yellow tea in the white jade porcelain cup.

"Over there, more than ten years ago, girls were generally not allowed to go to elementary school. I was lucky enough to go to the town in junior high school, then to high school in the city, to study in Hong Kong for undergraduate, and then to go back to University B for graduate school. I just applied casually to go to Harvard for a Ph.D., but I didn't expect to get in. ”

She said it lightly, and in a few sentences, she summed up her difficult student years. It's not that she is embarrassed to let Teng Zhongqian know that she has had a hard time in those years, but she feels that it is not appropriate to talk about those sensational things in the past in front of an elder who met for the second time.

Just like Fu Shiyu asked her about her previous things, she also tried her best to talk about the good side, those years of hardship, she only complained to Le Man in the middle of the night when she was a poor student, in the lonely and helpless night.

.

She didn't show off or cry miserably, but it made Teng Zhongqian's heart feel all kinds of things. How could he not imagine her experience in those years, but if she didn't say it, he wouldn't ask any more.

As close as he could to get close to her, he planned to ask her more about it, so that it would be easier for people to confide in her and reminisce about the past.

"You're very competitive." Teng Zhongqian said, "Now that you have a firm foothold in City B, have you ever thought about taking your parents over?" ”

"Yes. I took my mom and my sister over. ”

"How many siblings do you have at home?"

"There is a younger brother and a younger sister."

"It's hard to be the eldest sister, isn't it?"

Teng Zhongqian asked about the Ruan family, and Tang Xien suddenly didn't know how to answer.

She felt her eyes astringent, and her throat was a little choked.

As soon as she mentioned the Ruan family, she thought of Ruan Fusheng's hideous appearance. But looking at Dean Teng, who had only met twice in front of her but cared about her, she only felt that her emotions were complicated.

She actually understood that she shouldn't tell Teng Zhongqian too much about her life experience, but she didn't know why, at this moment, she couldn't hide her words.

After struggling for a moment, she replied impulsively: "I am different from the traditional 'eldest sister', my younger siblings and I were not born by the same father, and we have no feelings since we were young, and the stepfather's intentional provocation has made the relationship even colder, especially my younger brother, who is often my enemy." But luckily, I went to school in town at a very young age, so I didn't spend much time growing up with them. ”

"Is your stepdad treating you badly?" Teng Zhongqian asked.

Tang Xien stared at the teacup in his hand, bit his lower lip and shook his head, his eyes were slightly wet: "It's not good." But he didn't say much, just three words to summarize Ruan Fusheng's harsh treatment of her in those years.

Teng Zhongqian looked at her like this, his eyes were also a little red, and the masseter muscles were clearly textured because of the clenching of the root of the teeth.

The hand he placed on the table, loosened and clenched into a fist, the men's diamond ring stuck on the ring finger of his left hand, glowed blindly in the sunlight outside the window.

The light moved, slowly approaching Tang Xien's right hand on the table.