Gentlemen's Friends

Chapter 44 Part 1: Four ([-])
Back in T City, life started again, and Le Xiao really started to prepare for the takeaway shop with him.

Qu Tongqiu suspected that this was because of drunkenness, but Le Xiao shouted that he was wronged, and swore to heaven and earth that he was pure and innocent.

Qu Ke also gave him the money she saved, as part of the capital for opening the store.All of a sudden, he seemed to be the happiest father in the world.

Although this new line of work is uncertain and very apprehensive, but during the preparation period, I also feel fulfilled and full of hope. It is such a joyful thing to experiment with my special sauce repeatedly.

As long as the family is together and lives happily, that's enough for him.

In this happy life where nothing else is desired, if Qu Tongqiu has any shortcomings, it is Ren Ningyuan's attitude.

The two of them logically have put aside their past grievances, and they are Qu Ke's biological father and adoptive father. They may become in-laws with many layers of separation in the future (a father always thinks far away for his daughter), but Ren Ningyuan is indifferent, When we get together, we are always thoughtful, or absent-minded.

Although Ren Ningyuan has always been difficult for him to see through, the two have known each other for more than ten years, they have been entangled several times, and they have gone through so much, and they will continue to communicate in the next few decades. Looking at flowers in the fog.He didn't think so either.

On this day, everyone gathered for dinner again, and it was still Qu Tongqiu who cooked.He has already gritted his teeth and spent money to rent a better house outside, so that it is convenient for Qu Ke to come and live for a while, and it is also convenient for him to hone his cooking skills.

"Dad, today's sour radish tastes better than last time."

"Really?" Qu Tongqiu was quite happy, "Amei said so too."

"Oh..." Le Xiao elongated the tone ambiguously, "It turns out we weren't the first to try it. Someone was biased."

"No," Qu Tongqiu hurriedly explained, "I helped Ami pick up Beibei yesterday, and I brought some for them to try."

"Well...and help pick up the children..."

Qu Tongqiu was embarrassed by his meaning: "Don't think about it. We are fine."

"Fatty," although Qu Tongqiu couldn't get along with the nickname anymore, Le Xiao still couldn't change his words, "Have you ever thought about marrying again?"

Qu Ke just took a sip of the soup when it sprayed all over his face with a "poof".

Seeing her daughter's reaction, Qu Tongqiu hurriedly took out a tissue to wipe Le Xiao's face, and comforted her: "Xiao Ke, don't worry, you're already this old, Dad won't want to remarry, I'm used to it..."

Qu Ke was choked and coughed for a while, her face flushed: "No. Dad, actually, I hope you can have a companion. When only the two of us are together, you will feel that something is missing, right? ?”

"what……"

"It's just that you have to choose the right person..."

"Amei is pretty good," Le Xiao said, biting her chopsticks in high spirits, "She has always liked you, and she is quite a nice person."

Qu Tongqiu was very nervous: "Don't talk nonsense, she has a husband."

"Her husband, divorce is a matter of time. Besides, Beibei likes you so much. Well, you two have been dating for a long time, right?"

Qu Ke's eyes widened: "Father, when did this happen?"

Qu Tongqiu was very embarrassed: "Stop talking nonsense..."

The three of them were arguing endlessly, only Ren Ningyuan seemed indifferent, picking the fish in the bowl with a flat expression.

After dinner, Qu Ke and Le Xiao went to wash the dishes noisily, leaving the two adults sitting in the living room.Qu Tongqiu looked at his daughter's back, and at the man next to him looking down at the magazine, and couldn't help but want to discuss with him the psychology of adolescent girls: "Xiao Ke said that, does she really want me to remarry?"

Ren Ningyuan only slightly raised his eyes and smiled: "You have to ask her about that."

"That's right, no matter how many people there are in the family, it will be more like a family. But, if you choose the right person..."

Ren Ningyuan looked up at him, and smiled again: "You have to ask yourself."

After receiving such an indifferent response, Qu Tongqiu could only be embarrassed.When I was sleeping at night, lying down for some reason, I remembered what happened when Ren Ningyuan and him returned to the semi-basement they rented at that time...

He wanted to ask Ren Ningyuan what he meant, but he just pondered over it by himself.Even if he asked Ren Ningyuan, he would not answer him, at most he would just smile again.

This is the unpredictable Ren Ningyuan.

A few days later, Qu Tongqiu received a call from Amei who invited him to dinner.Naturally, she couldn't help being teased by Le Xiao, making her face red.

When going to the appointment, Qu Tongqiu also brought some stewed vegetables that he made himself, because Beibei likes to eat them.The woman invited him to a Cantonese restaurant. She ordered three or four dishes, and there were many steamers. The two of them definitely couldn't finish it. Qu Tongqiu couldn't help but said, "Let's order less, it's a bit wasteful."

The woman smiled, lowered her head and brushed her hair: "Actually, this meal is to say goodbye to you. We will move out with Chao tomorrow."

Qu Tongqiu couldn't help but "ah".

The woman was a little embarrassed: "A Chao has been very kind to us recently. He won some money. He wants to take us to live in another place."

Qu Tongqiu couldn't react: "Really? I thought you were treating him...you always blamed him..."

The woman lowered her head and plucked the hair beside her ear again: "I've been married to him for so many years, so I just admit it. Sigh, I scolded him because I couldn't let him go, otherwise there would be many heartless people in this world who failed me. Why am I just complaining about him?"

Qu Tongqiu was taken aback by the words. He seemed to have thought of something, but he didn't know clearly for a moment. After a moment of silence, he handed over the stewed vegetables: "This is for Beibei. Where's Beibei?"

"Ah Chao sent her to play at one of her children's houses. I have to say goodbye to him tomorrow. Ah Chao is also careless. I even forgot to carry Beibei's schoolbag for her," the woman pointed to the print on the chair. I bought a large children's schoolbag with cute patterns, "I wanted to send it to them at the station, but if I didn't catch up, forget it."

After dinner, Qu Tongqiu sent her back.When I arrived at the door of the house, I found that the door was wide open. I hurried in and saw that the house had been turned upside down like a thief.

"What's the matter?"

The woman turned pale with fright, Qu Tongqiu hurriedly picked up a broom, held it in his hand, looked inside and out, and made sure that there was no one hiding, and comforted her: "You first look for something missing, we Go to the police station."

However, nothing was taken away, and it was true that there was nothing valuable in the house, but it still felt weird.

Qu Tongqiu accompanied her to the police station to report the case.I made many calls to Ah Chao back and forth, but I couldn't get through.

The woman was alone at home, frightened and worried. Qu Tongqiu comforted her for a long time before she dared to go to bed.And he just leaned on the sofa all night, sitting and dozing by the door, and kept the kitchen knife and stick from the kitchen at hand, just in case.

Fortunately, there was nothing to do overnight, and seeing that it was dawn and the sun was out, there would be no thieves in broad daylight, so Qu Tongqiu dared to leave and go back.

When I got home, my head was dizzy and my legs were weak from sleepiness. When I entered the door and saw the person sitting at the table, I realized that Xiao Ke had no class today, so I invited Ren Ningyuan and the others to eat home-cooked food.

"You just came back now?" Le Xiao smiled, "Where did you spend last night?"

Qu Ke also raised her ears, and even Ren Ningyuan looked at him.

Qu Tongqiu became embarrassed: "Amei's house was burglarized, she was very scared by herself, so I stayed with her..."

"Well done, Fatty! It is necessary for a hero to save the beauty!"

"No, she was really scared, and she didn't dare to sleep alone, so I..."

"Just sleep with her?"

"Don't, don't talk nonsense!"

I don't know why, but the whole thing is getting darker and darker.

If you don't sleep all night, you will inevitably lose your standard when cooking, and you will always be distracted, and they will yell as soon as the dishes are served.

"The fish is a bit burnt..."

"Dad, you put too much MSG in this soup."

"Even if you spend the night outside, you won't be so lethargic."

Ren Ningyuan didn't speak critically, and didn't eat much. He just put down his chopsticks, remained silent for a while, and said, "That's a married woman, you are too casual."

Qu Tongqiu was taken aback by the words, feeling angry that he was underestimated, and brought up a pain in his heart, endured it for a while, but couldn't help it: "You can do it, so what qualifications do you have to say? I?"

The atmosphere froze for a while, the two children didn't know what was going on, they just stopped their voices and stopped their chopsticks, looking back and forth at the faces of the two adults.

Ren Ningyuan looked up at him: "Sure enough, you still can't forget those things."

"No, I want to forget them. I don't want to have feelings for you, and I don't want you to make up for me. But I just can't figure it out, why did you treat me like that?" It was just an angry sentence, and as I said it, I couldn't help but get excited, "Why, Ren Ningyuan? You give me a reason, we have been together for so many years, you should give me an understanding, right?"

The two children were quiet, and Ren Ningyuan was also silent.

In the silence of staring at each other, it seems that something is coming out, brewing little by little, trying to pierce a hole out of the tense air.

The phone rang in a hurry, and the sudden sound shocked all four of them. Qu Tongqiu was embarrassed, and took out the recently bought machine from his pocket: "I'll answer the call."

As soon as he picked it up, there was a woman's panicked voice, crying: "Fatty...he's going to die..."

Qu Tongqiu was taken aback, turned around and said to everyone, "Ah Mei seems to have something wrong, I'll go and have a look first."

The atmosphere that had finally accumulated disappeared completely, Ren Ningyuan lowered his eyes again, and picked up his chopsticks to eat.Le Xiao still looked left and right awkwardly.

Only Qu Ke said, "Dad, be careful."

"Well, I know."

When Qu Tongqiu arrived at the woman's house, she was crying like she was going to faint, seeing him was like grabbing a life-saving straw.

"Someone left this at the door today." The woman was sobbing, her legs looking limp.

The box was opened, and inside was a man's severed hand. Qu Tongqiu felt goosebumps all over his body in an instant, and blurted out, "Hurry up and call the police!"

"No, call the police and he won't come back," the woman was still crying, "Someone called just now and asked me to hand over my things tonight. But I really don't know what they are talking about. Ah Chao must have caused trouble by gambling outside again, and owed usurious loans..."

Qu Tongqiu managed to calm down a bit: "Don't panic first, think about it carefully, did Ah Chao take anything valuable home?"

"No, he gave me some household expenses, but it's not a big amount..."

"You think again."

The two searched the house, even knocking on the floor tiles one by one, in case something was hidden underneath.But the house is empty, even if there is really something good, it should have been searched away last time.

When night fell, both of them were exhausted. Qu Tongqiu sat down on the ground, turned his head and saw the schoolbag from last night thrown there, and said casually, "What's in this bag?"

The woman looked sad: "They are all Beibei's books, she likes to read them."

It was completely hopeless, but Qu Tongqiu opened the bag casually, but there was not a single book in it, all white things, neatly stacked one by one.

Just looking at it felt something was wrong, both of them had goosebumps and looked at each other.

(End of this chapter)