Tao You sat at his desk, listening to the music of square dancing coming from the window, thinking intently. How to take the tennis racket to school is secondary now, but how to take it out from the utility room downstairs is the most difficult. things. Tao You knew that the key to the utility room was on the bedside table in his parents' room. If he wanted to get the key, he had to avoid Tao's mother. This was her first time doing something behind Tao's mother's back, and she didn't know where to start.
"Xiaoyou, eat some fruit." Tao's father walked into the room with a freshly cut apple. He saw Tao You lying on the table. He thought she was tired and said to her, "Go to bed early if you are sleepy. There will be homework tomorrow." can do."
Tao You sat up straight, ate a piece of apple, shook his head and replied, "I'm not sleepy, I'm just thinking about something."
"By the way, dad, it's weekend, is mom going out?" Tao You rolled his eyes and asked, suddenly having an idea.
At this point, Tao's father also remembered, swallowed the apple in his mouth, and said, "She should go out for dinner tomorrow night. You can take care of dinner by yourself. The unit is busy recently and I have to work overtime tomorrow."
When Tao You saw that there was a chance tomorrow night, she immediately became energetic and urged Tao's father: "No problem, I'll just make some noodles. You go out quickly, I have to study." She now needs to make a careful plan to To prevent being discovered by Tao’s mother.
Tao's father took a deep look at her before going out, and felt that she had some bad idea, but he didn't rush to ask. If Tao You wanted to say something, he would say it himself, and she couldn't do anything outrageous.
"Xiqi, are you free tomorrow night?" As soon as Tao's father closed the door for her, Tao You immediately called Hong Xiqi and called her several times before she answered. Tao You asked straight to the point.
There was a lot of noise around Hong Xiqi. She covered her ears to hear Tao You's words clearly. She walked to the balcony and closed the door. When the noise around her subsided, she spoke: "There are guests at home these two days. I guess it's hard to walk around. You have What's the matter?"
Tao Hu sighed silently, a little disappointed, but he didn't want to bother her: "It's no big deal, just go about your business."
Hong Xiqi wanted to continue saying that if she really needed help, she could still find time to go out. Just as she was about to reply, someone behind her opened the balcony door and said to her: "Xiqi, what are you doing standing on the balcony? Go and give your aunt a bath." Tea!"
"Here it comes!" Hong Xiqi responded, and the noise entered the microphone. She increased her volume and walked in while talking, "Xiao Youyou, I won't tell you anymore. Just leave me a message on WeChat. I'll wait. I'll get back to you later."
Tao You agreed casually, hung up the phone, looked through her WeChat contacts, and thought about who else she could ask for help. The music outside the window became more and more intense, and her mood became more and more irritable. She hasn't lived in Weicheng these years, and her close friends are basically not here. Even if they can help, they can't help. Tao You flipped through his contacts three times and began to blame himself for not taking the initiative to make friends during the start of school, otherwise he wouldn't be unable to find anyone to help him now.
'Let's go out and play ball tomorrow. 'Song Yimian sent a message.
'I'll help you restore your basics, and your progress will be faster by then. '
Tao Youzheng was upset: "Why are you playing? My mother still has the racket!" '
'Mine for you. '
'No, I already have a way to come up with it, and I'm trying to find a way to get it to school. '
'I'll help you. 'Song Yimian replied without any hesitation.
Tao You hesitated when she saw Song Yimian's reply. Based on the relationship between Aunt Tingwan and Tao's mother, she was afraid that Song Yimian's mother would receive the news as soon as she brought Song Yimian home.
Before she could think about it, the phone rang. It was Song Yimian.
Tao You pressed mute, stood up and quietly walked to the door, opened it slightly, glanced at her parents watching TV in the living room, closed the door softly, sat back at the table and pressed the call button: "Hello ." Her voice was very low, for fear that her parents would notice.
"You didn't tell Aunt Shujiang?" Song Yimian was smart and could probably guess what was going on.
Tao You was also helpless and sighed: "You still don't know what my mother's temper is. She has explicitly forbidden me to join the club now. She said it would be a waste of time. My university major and other matters have been arranged for me by my mother." , it’s enough to work harder in cultural classes.”
"You..." Song Yimian didn't know what to say for a moment, but after thinking about it, he said, "Is what Aunt Shujiang chose for you what you want?"
The topic became serious, and before Tao You could change her mind, she opened her mouth, not knowing how to answer. She had never thought about this question seriously.
From childhood to adulthood, Tao's mother did not put too many demands on Tao You in life. She was always very strict about studying. She helped Tao You arrange everything and told her how to do it step by step: Elementary school When she was a child, she did not require Tao You to get full marks in every exam, but she had to stay in the top five in the class so that he could be admitted to the experimental class of a key junior high school. She filled up all kinds of cram schools for Tao You, whether during the weekdays or during the winter and summer vacations. , As a result, in the year of primary school promotion to junior high school, all experimental classes in junior high schools in the city were cancelled, and the classes were randomly arranged by computer;
When she entered junior high school, she asked Tao You to keep his grades in the top 100 of his grade. Only in this way could he be admitted to a key high school. As a result, in the third year of junior high school, two key high schools introduced a new priority admission qualification, which provided a better way for subsequent competitions. To prepare for the class, the condition is that those who rank in the top 50 in the school in the first half of the third grade of junior high school in the final exam can take the qualifying exam held during the winter vacation. Tao You's science scores were too poor, and he was delayed in exam after exam. Under the supervision of Tao's mother, , Tao You went to the most annoying science cram school, but the effect was minimal. He still lagged behind in the final exam and scored over 100 points.
That time, Tao's mother was so angry that she kept Tao You at home doing exams during the entire winter vacation. She failed to pass the New Year's exam and finally passed the high school entrance examination. Tao You thought that the next two and a half months would finally be free, so she just took three days' rest. , even the subsequent travel plans were almost arranged. Tao’s mother brought back a large pile of high school books and told Tao You that these were all carefully selected by her. She must preview half of each class before the start of school. They were even looking for training courses, but as a result, Tao's father and Tao's mother had their jobs changed, so Tao You followed them back to Weicheng, and the nearly brand-new books were sold together when they moved.
After coming back, Tao's mother was even busier at work. When things happened suddenly, she more or less relaxed her control over Tao You's studies and didn't have much time to help her arrange everything, but she let her have a good summer vacation.
Tao You tried to resist at first, but all she got in exchange was stricter demands and a reprimand from Tao's mother. As time passed, she became completely numb to Mama Tao's demands, and she couldn't tell whether it was what Mama Tao asked her to want or what she wanted. She only remembered that when she met her mother's requirements, her mother would be very happy. .
When I was in elementary school, there would always be classmates in the class who had unrealistic dreams and threatened to do great things when they grew up. Tao You also had those fantasies. Watching space documentaries, she wanted to become an astronaut in the future, sleep hand in hand with the sun and the moon, and see if the stars over there were shining brighter than what she saw; watching various news on the news After reports of such disasters, she wanted to be a doctor, or even a Doctors Without Borders, who could go to the front lines and save lives and help the wounded. Seeing that her favorite singer had more and more fans and her songs were sung by more and more people, she She also wants to be a singer and sing the songs she wants to sing, so that thousands of households know her songs; she accidentally saw an international tennis competition on TV, and she wants to become a professional tennis player and stand on the highest level in the world to receive awards. On stage, maybe then, I can meet Song Xiaopang again.
But every time she went home and talked about this with Tao's mother, Tao's mother always said that she would help her pave the way. Don't think about these messy and useless things. What she needs to do is to study with peace of mind, get good grades, and pass the exam. She went to a pretty good university and chose a major that was profitable and promising. Even the various interest classes she had taken since she was a child were stopped. Many times, a few friends from the neighborhood who were having fun came to ask her to go out. Tao's mother would come forward to play with Tao You on the grounds that he wanted to study. Occasionally, she would agree. As time went by, no one came to play with Tao You anymore, and Tao You's temper became more and more boring. His temper also became unstable.
At this time, Song Yimian's words woke her up. So far, she didn't seem to have a dream that she could work hard for.
"Are you still there? Hello? Youzai?" Song Yimian couldn't get a response from Tao You for a long time, fearing that something would happen to her, so he sounded anxious.
Tao You came back to her senses, lowered her eyes, wrung her clothes with her hands, and said vaguely: "I don't know either." She answered the previous question.
The other end of the phone fell silent, and Song Yimian heard clearly.
The music of the square dance continued, mixed with the screams of children playing and the advice of adults, coming in through the window; the sound of the TV in the living room mixed with the discussion of Tao’s father and Tao’s mother came through the crack in the door below. Come in. Several sounds rushed into Tao You's ears and the other end of the phone.
Tao You's mind was confused. Song Yimian's silence made her irritable and her brows furrowed. She was afraid that she would lose her temper at Song Yimian the next second and said quickly: "Hang up. "
"Wait a minute." Song Yimian called her.
"Don't worry, there's still a lot of time for you to think about it. You know the bonus points system for the club, but Aunt Shujiang may not be so clear. You should sit down and have a good chat with Aunt Shujiang. Don't be too aggressive. Talk to her. She will understand your own thoughts." Song Yimian's mellow and gentle voice flowed into Tao You's ears, slowly soothing her inner irritability. Song Yimian is the other person besides Tao's father who has magical powers. He can instantly extinguish her anger, calm her down, and light a fire with just one word. He understands her very well.
Tao You's nose felt sore, and she took a deep breath, with aggrieved tone in her voice and moist eyes: "I've tried everything I could. She just doesn't make sense. No matter how much we talk, it's useless."
"Don't talk about this," Tao You didn't want to continue these topics that hurt her mood, and said with firm eyes, "After all, I still don't know what I want to do in the future. If I really have a goal, it will be in vain even if tens of thousands of my mothers stand in front of me. .Are you free tomorrow night?"
"What are you doing?" Song Yimian said with a smile. Across the screen, he could imagine Tao You's rich expression when he said these words.
Tao You clicked his tongue: "Do me a favor."
Just as Tao You hung up the phone, Tao's mother knocked on the door and came in.
"Who are you calling? Why did I hear about tennis?" Tao's mother asked with sharp eyes.
Tao You's hand holding the apple shook, feeling uneasy: Maybe he didn't use the speaker just now, or did he speak too loudly? What did mom hear?
"No, you heard wrong." Tao You tried his best to keep his eyes from wandering and his voice was calm, "Hong Xiqi asked me about my homework."
Tao's mother looked at the homework book open on the table and nodded, expressionless. She didn't know if she believed Tao You's words: "Eat quickly, don't stay up late, just get up early tomorrow and do your homework. You can finish it in one day. Do some extracurricular exercises the day after tomorrow, the learning progress here is still different from that over there, you have to adapt as soon as possible, keep up with the rhythm here, and don’t fall behind.”
"Oh." Tao You replied obediently, but he was seriously thinking about his future and didn't even listen to what Tao's mother said.
The next day was cloudy. Starting from the afternoon, Tao You became restless and wandered around the living room and room.
Tao's mother stopped mopping the floor, looked at Tao You's movements, and said, "Why are you wandering around? It's cloudy and you don't feel well anymore? Clean the tables and cabinets when you have time."
Tao You was not in the mood to do his homework at the moment, so he went to the balcony to get a rag and water and started wiping.
"Mom, when will you be back tonight?" Tao You asked tentatively, wiping the table.
Tao's mother stood up straight with support on her waist and took a long breath: "It's probably eight or nine o'clock. What's wrong?"
Tao You kept moving his hands, "Nothing, just asking."
"Then I'll order takeout tonight. I'm too lazy to cook it." She casually changed the topic.
Tao's mother rested for a while and continued to mop the floor: "Don't always eat those. What you cook yourself is the cleanest. You can cook a bowl of noodles so quickly."
Seeing that the topic was successfully changed, Tao You didn't say much and agreed hastily: "I know, I know, what does it matter if I eat it once in a while?"
She got the approximate time and felt more at ease. She finished wiping it in a hurry and went back to the room to send a message to Song Yimian.
'When can you come over? I have to be at home after eight o'clock. Tao You typed quickly.
'I was just about to send you a message. Lao Tan just called me and added an emergency training in the evening, from 6 to 10 o'clock. '
When Tao You saw the news, he was flustered and his hands became cold, "What should I do? My mother doesn't know when she will go out!" You promised me first, don't go back on it! 'In one sentence, Tao You made a mistake several times.
Song Yimian was also very distressed. Coach Tan called him a minute ago to inform him that the autumn league was approaching. He had made an appointment with the coach of Fengqiao Middle School tonight for a friendly match and he had to arrive on time.
"Mom, when will you go out later?" Tao You asked cautiously, lying at the door.
Tao's mother looked at her suspiciously: "It's about five o'clock, what on earth do you want?"
Tao You laughed and said, "Just asking if anything happened." After saying that, he hid in the room.
'My mother didn't leave until after five o'clock! ! ! Not enough time! Forget it, don't come over. Where are you going to play a friendly match? I'll get the racket and go directly to you. '
'The Weicheng Stadium in the city. The No. 15 bus is direct. Call me when you arrive. '
The two agreed that Tao You would wait for Tao's mother to go out. She was very nervous, her body was tense, and no matter how hard she rubbed her hands, they were still cold and stiff. Her legs under the table kept shaking, her ears stood up, and she listened carefully to what was going on outside. Her eyes looked at her watch from time to time, and she couldn't even turn a page of her homework for half an hour. .
After finally waiting until 5:30, Tao's mother changed her clothes and prepared to go out: "Xiaoyou, do your homework after dinner and stop playing with your mobile phone. I will come back to check, don't order takeout."
"Oh, bye." Tao You stood at the door and waved to Tao's mother.
As soon as Tao's mother closed the door, she rushed into the master bedroom. Before she could open the drawer, there was the sound of unlocking the door again. She quickly ran into the study room opposite and pretended to look for books in front of the bookshelf.
"Do your homework first and then read." Tao's mother went back to her room and picked up her mobile phone. When she saw Tao You in the study, she couldn't help but nag.
Tao You agreed casually. This time she had experience. After closing the door, she put her eyes on the cat's eye and looked out. She waited until Tao's mother came downstairs and the footsteps disappeared before returning to the master bedroom.
Sure enough, the key to the utility room was lying on Tao's mother's bedside table.
She took a photo first, then picked up the key, went back to the room, put her small bag on her back, and sent a message to Song Yimian as she went out.
After going downstairs, she didn't rush out. She observed at the gate for a few minutes, then turned to the underground floor, opened her utility room, turned on the light, found the racket bag that had been casually thrown in the corner as quickly as possible, and patted it away. The ash above didn't dare to delay, turned off the lights, locked the door, and went straight to the bus stop.
