Zhao Tingxing wasn’t as composed as he appeared. This roughneck, besides when drunk, had never spoken such sentimental words in his sober moments. He found them unbearably cheesy, but they just slipped out of his mouth naturally. After saying them, he returned to his car, his heart pounding in his chest.
He hasn’t changed, and he has. In his career, he is still ambitious and driven, but his approach is much more restrained, no longer as reckless as before; in his life, he is very simple. He spends his days waiting for Han Zhaoyi to finish school and picks him up, then drops him off at Han Li’s place later. On weekends, if he wants to take Han Zhaoyi with him, he does. If not, he goes to work or returns to Xiwang, Senzhou to attend meetings and maintain his network of contacts.
It is not only Han Li entering another stage, but also him.
Since that day when he spoke at the 4S shop, he has been very obedient afterwards, at least not doing anything over the line.
The in-service graduate student on Han Li’s side mainly goes to school for half a day on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, so most weekends are spent with Zhao Tingxing taking Han Zhaoyi.
This weekend’s class will mainly focus on the teacher sharing some particularly “quirky” buildings from abroad. Based on these unusual buildings, students will have free discussions and, disregarding all commercial considerations, use their imaginations to design the most bizarre building they can think of.
The teacher came from Senzhou University to teach this class. These photos of these bizarre buildings were not found randomly online, but were personally taken by the teacher herself in various places around the world.
The teacher teaches art-related courses, not architecture majors, so this class is taught from the perspective of aesthetic appreciation.
Han Li listened very attentively. These so-called bizarre buildings, of course, she had done in-depth research on them before, but today, from another angle and another dimension of thinking, she had a new understanding of these buildings.
After class, she took the initiative to discuss with her teacher the boundary between “quirky” and “characteristic”.
The teacher was very gentle and patiently discussed with her all the way from the classroom to the school gate, talking about this aspect. Han Li was like a sincere student, with endless exploration.
When they reached the school gate, the teacher suddenly stopped and looked at the person standing at the school gate. Han Li also stopped because she saw Zhao Tingxing and Han Zhaoyi waiting for her at the school gate. Standing next to Zhao Tingxing was a father and daughter. Han Li recognized them; it was Lu Kuò, the young master of Listening Whale Finance, holding his daughter in his arms.
The two men by the school gate, who were deep in conversation, both froze when they saw them come out together.
Lu Kuo is a protective father, he was holding Little Ears’ hand just a moment ago. However, when he was talking to Zhao Tingxing, the little boy Zhao Tingxing was holding kept talking to Little Ears. He not only gave his lollipop to Little Ears, but also promised, “When my mom lets me into the toy room, I will bring you my toys. What kind of toy do you like?”
The little one has shy ears but can already clearly express their preferences. They also like to play with older boys, taking the initiative to hold their hands.
Is that really possible?
Lu Kuo immediately scooped up Little Ears, preventing her from coming into contact with any other men, even if they were just little boys. He was extremely wary.
He came to Beijing with Ruan Ruan for weekend classes, and took Xiao Er back to see Grandpa by the way. At this time, seeing Ruan Ruan come out, he held Xiao Er in one hand and put his arm around Ruan Ruan’s shoulder, ready to say goodbye to Zhao Tingxing and Han Li.
At this time, Zhao Tingxing took the initiative to speak: “Young Master Lu, it’s rare to meet. Let’s have a meal together.”
He managed to kill two birds with one stone, both contacting Lu Kuo and finding an opportunity to have dinner with Han Li.
Facing his invitation, Lu Kuo was a bit embarrassed to refuse. Previously, when they had an incident at the mining company in County A, it was Zhao Tingxing who put in effort and helped him resolve it.
Also, he really didn’t want to go back to his old house for dinner tonight. The reason was that as soon as Lu Yao heard that he and Ruan Ruan were bringing Xiao Er back to Beijing, she also came back with Xiao Gu Lu to see her grandfather.
The old man treated Little Ear and Little Gurgle equally, but he still favored him and Lu Yaoyao. Especially since Lu Yaoyao was pregnant with her second child this time, the old man was so happy that his mouth couldn’t close, and then he turned the target to him, asking him why he didn’t want a second child?
Even the most enlightened elders can’t escape convention and desire a large family with many children and grandchildren.
Lu Kuò was speechless. “I’m not Gu Ruan Dong. Saying you care about Lu Yáo Yáo is one thing, but in action, I see no trace of it. You only care about having a good time. I can’t bear to see my dear Ruan Ruan suffer like this again.”
So, he didn’t want to go back home for dinner and listen to his grandfather’s nagging. He readily agreed to go out for a meal with Zhao Ting instead.
Thus, Han Li was unable to refuse and could only go with him.
Zhao Tingxing found a private kitchen restaurant in a hutong, not far from Lu’s house and their apartment complex, quite thoughtful.
At mealtime, Lu Kuo’s family of three sat together, with Xiao Er sitting in the middle. Zhao Tingxing’s side also had three people sitting together, with Han Zhaoyi sitting in the middle.
Don’t even say that the Lu Kuo family treats Zhao Tingxing and Han Li as one family. Even Han Li herself has some illusions, like a family dinner. Fortunately, although everyone doesn’t get together often, they still have common topics to talk about. Lu Kuo’s mining company in Southwest China is now on the right track, cooperating well with Senbing Group. Recently, he plans to invest in several other companies, so he consulted Zhao Tingxing about the situation of those companies. Zhao Tingxing knows everything and tells everything; Han Li and Ruan Ruan sat next to each other, so they continued talking about the questions from class just now.
The four adults chatted amongst themselves, but the atmosphere was surprisingly harmonious. The two little kids weren’t to be outdone either. By the time Lu Kuo reacted, Han Zhao Yi and Xiao Er had already left the dinner table and were sitting side by side on the sofa nearby, playing with a small toy together. Their heads were almost touching.
Lu Kuo allowed Zhuo family’s Shu Xiaonian to bring her little brother Xiao Er to play, but he treated all other little boys as if they were enemies. Usually, even going to preschool, whenever games required grouping up, he insisted on being in a group with other girls. This old father’s mindset was somewhat problematic. He had been told many times by Ruan Ruan about this, and seeing this scene now, his whole heart was hanging in the air. He immediately wanted to get up and hug Xiao Er, but Ruan Ruan glared at him, making him feel like he was sitting on pins and needles. He could only bear it with forced restraint.
He was distracted and stopped chatting with Zhao Tingxing, while Zhao Tingxing was also a bit absent-minded. He was listening to Han Li and Gu Ruannuan chatting. Their voices were calm and pleasant to the ear. There was no Han Zhaoyi between them this time. She sat upright with an elegant profile. Sometimes she spoke, sometimes she listened attentively. Just watching her made his heart flutter.
He would often feel speechless and yet happy about this kind of flutter in his heart. How could a jerk like him, who was about to hit middle age, still act like a young whippersnapper?