Beijing, after all, has nothing to do with me

Chapter 24
She thanked the cleaning staff gratefully, and walked out step by step, ashamed of her loss of control just now.

After returning to the seat safely, Sheng Jun stared at her and joked, "We've been there for so long, we all thought you went the wrong way, and we were just trying to find you!"

Tao Jie didn't want to explain anything, she was not interested in everything in front of her, she just wanted to go home as soon as possible, so she proposed to go first.

Maybe everyone saw that she was not in a good condition, so Qian Qian persuaded her to let her go after a few words, and Sheng Jun enthusiastically wanted to send her back, but Tao Jie refused.

Mai Zhiqiang, who was uncharacteristically quiet tonight, suddenly said at this moment: "I should go too, there will be a conference call tomorrow morning, to catch up with the Americans, I have to get up at five in the morning, I will send Tao Jie away. "

Without any explanation, he squeezed out and patted Sheng Jun on the shoulder, "Have a good time, you two!"

Tao Jie walked out behind Mai Zhiqiang, he led her to stand beside a pot of green plants, and said to her kindly: "Wait for me here, I'll go get your coat and bag."

Tao Jie obediently waited where she was.

The night wind was slightly cold, and it blew over suddenly, making people shiver without warning. Tao Jie couldn't help raising her arms to hug herself.

Right in front of her, there was a row of cars parked, which seemed to be a temporary parking lot. Two or three men and women helped a drunk man out of the bar, and walked towards the parking lot in a grand manner.

The drunk suddenly yelled "Aww", and Dou Tou threw a certain man who was supporting him to the ground, swung his fists and smashed violently, Tao Jie was stunned by the ruthlessness of the attack!The rest of a man and a woman were also frightened by this sudden change, they just stood aside blankly and forgot to try to persuade them to fight!

The man on the ground finally seized an opportunity to push the drunk man away, got up from the ground and ran!The drunk man refused to give up, swearing viciously while stumbling after him.

Tao Jie thought that this scene had nothing to do with her, but the fleeing man dodged left and right and did not find a good hiding place. Looking at it from the corner of his eye, he actually took a fancy to the huge bonsai plant beside Tao Jie, and ran towards it. Running in her direction!
Tao Jie supported the wall, seeing that the two men were about to chase after her, she hated that her legs were weak at this time, and she didn't know whether it was the effect of alcohol or she was just scared, but she couldn't move even half a cent!
The drunk's red eyes suddenly noticed Tao Jie, and suddenly revealed a fierce and cruel light. He immediately transferred his desire to attack the man to Tao Jie, paused slightly, and suddenly let out a roar at her.

Tao Jie felt her scalp go numb for a while, and her whole body was feeling cool. She seemed to be able to clearly see that the fists raised by the drunk man were moving the surrounding air, forming a gloomy and cold wind, heading towards her face. The door is coming!

"Don't—" she yelled, closing her eyes in fear.

Someone picked her waist up suddenly, and immediately after, her whole body was almost in the air, screams came from all around, she was so frightened that she even forgot to cry!

However, she was not thrown to the ground, nor was she hit by any fists or feet, but lay down firmly in someone's arms.

"It's okay." Mai Zhiqiang's voice sounded in her ear.

She opened her eyes in horror and bewilderment, only to realize that she had moved from the left side of the bonsai to the right side, and the drunk man wrestled with the man again, and everyone's exclamations were directed at them.

Tao Jie was at a loss for a moment, as if everything she saw just now was just her own imagination, neither the ferocity of the drunk, nor the oncoming iron fist.

However, the hand around her waist was real and could be touched. Even after she stood firmly, Mai Zhiqiang had no intention of letting go of her.

Stopping a taxi at the intersection, Mai Zhiqiang helped Tao Jie into it, and the two sat side by side in the back seat.

Looking at the time, it was only eleven o'clock, but Tao Jie felt physically and mentally exhausted.

My brother is listening to the night radio station, and the soft voice of the host brings a touch of warmth to the night in this city.

Tao Jie looked at the fiery trees and silver flowers outside the car window, and felt that Beijing was so illusory and unreal, she couldn't tell how many faces it had.

"Is it better now?" Mai Zhiqiang asked her softly.

"Well, it's much better." Tao Jie put away her confused look, and nodded gratefully to him.

"The clubbing is like this. Many people will go crazy when they are drunk." Mai Zhiqiang explained slowly, "Maybe one day you will find a familiar face in an office building."

Tao Jie also laughed softly when she heard the words, she knew that Mai Zhiqiang wanted to ease her fear just now.

"Why does everyone like clubbing?" she asked.

"It's too stressful." Mai Zhiqiang said, "Getting drunk can release a lot of stress."

"Are you stressed too?" she blurted out.

Mai Zhiqiang smiled, "Of course everyone has pressure." He glanced at her meaningfully, "Don't you?"

Tao Jie understood what he meant, and recalled the embarrassing situation that day when he entered the meeting room by mistake and was caught crying by him, she was a little embarrassing and didn't answer.

The mobile phone in the bag suddenly rang, and Tao Jie flipped through it slowly, knowing who it was without guessing.

"Tao Zi, where are you?" Li Yaoming's anxious voice came from the receiver.

Tao Jie knew that if she told Li Yaoming that she was going clubbing tonight, he would have to ask questions and entangle them endlessly. Li Yaoming was actually very traditional and stubborn in many places. He once said that going clubbing is not something a serious girl should do.

"I'll be back soon. I'm already on my way." Tao Jie suppressed the impatience rising in her heart, finished speaking in a low voice, and without waiting for Li Yaoming to continue, she closed the flip of the phone.

There was silence in the car for a while, Tao Jie turned her head to look out the window, and returned to the previous bewildered state.She was unhappy, since she found out that Li Yaoming started the company, maybe earlier, she fell into such a state of unhappiness for no reason.

"Your boyfriend cares about you very much." Mai Zhiqiang's voice came from the side, probably because he felt a little embarrassed to be silent all the time.

Tao Jie turned her head and smiled, how much can outsiders know about the matter between her and Li Yaoming!
"Mr. Mai," she called him, and suddenly wanted to hear his opinion. Hearing this, Mai Zhiqiang looked at her seriously.

"Isn't it... a man with an entrepreneurial spirit can be considered a good man?"

"It should be." Mai Zhiqiang obviously didn't expect her to ask this, and answered slowly, "Who would fall in love with a mediocre man?"

"I used to think so." Tao Jie breathed a sigh of relief, and said in a low voice, "But now I realize that I don't like him to start a business at all. So what if he is rich? I don't want a plane to make money. Machines! What's more, even if he does that, he may not necessarily be rich." She felt that she seemed to be speaking a little harshly, so she smiled apologetically at Mai Zhiqiang, "Am I being selfish, very...excessive?"

"It's not too much." Mai Zhiqiang was not intimidated by her, and smiled softly, "I understand what you want to say, only people who really know how to enjoy life would think so."

"Thank you for comforting me." Tao Jie suddenly felt embarrassed, she felt that Mai Zhiqiang was probably teasing herself.

Seeing her looking at the scenery outside the window, Mai Zhiqiang unconsciously asked her: "Do you like Beijing?"

"I don't like it." Tao Jie shook her head slowly, and said frankly, "I don't like it at all."

Mai Zhiqiang was silent. Many times, when he looked at her busy figure in the office, he could always smell the loneliness, and it really was true.

"Maybe Beijing is a good place, but it's not suitable for me. The longer I stay here, the more I want to escape. I know I'm worthless like this, but sometimes I really can't control myself..."

As soon as the chatter box was opened, Tao Jie found that she couldn't help but want to confide. These words had been hidden in her heart for a long time, but no one could say them.

She told Mai Zhiqiang a lot of troubles and grievances, some of which were not used to life, and some of which were the hesitation she felt in the BR environment.There are also some, of course, the subtle but real tense and dangerous estrangement with Li Yaoming, but she doesn't realize where the real problem is, and this is what scares her the most.

"We don't even have a decent place to live in Beijing. Once a classmate came to visit me in Beijing, but I didn't dare to take her back. I don't know if I'm being vain, but I really... Mom and Dad I don’t like him, I know they actually want me to leave him. I can’t tell him about these grievances, and he himself has suffered a lot. If he talks too much, he will think that I want to go back on my word... But these are not the most important, If we could be happy every day like we did at the beginning, I wouldn't have so many complaints... But I find that I don't understand him more and more, and I get farther and farther away from him... I often feel scared, I see Sometimes I really regret not seeing my future..." When she said this, she suddenly stopped.

Is she regretting it?regret what?
I felt as if I had woken up from a sleepy state, as if I had just realized that there was an audience beside me, and something in my mind was burning like ignited gasoline.

"I, I seem to have said too much!" She glanced at Mai Zhiqiang in a panic, and tried to smile, "I seem to be drunk, my mind is a little messed up..."

"Do you want to go back on your word?" Mai Zhiqiang interrupted her suddenly and asked abruptly.

Tao Jie was stunned, "...I don't know."

She felt like she was walking on a tightrope, with a cliff at her feet, she would fall any moment, and then her body would be broken to pieces, her thoughts began to be confused, "I don't know... maybe... no, I don't want to."

But her expression clearly revealed the contradictions and hesitation in her heart.

Mai Zhiqiang didn't speak anymore, his dark eyes were extraordinarily bright in the darkness.

When she arrived near the neighborhood where Tao Jie lived, she became more sober and insisted on getting off the car at the entrance of the alley to walk in by herself.

Mai Zhiqiang took a few glances into the dimly lit alley, no matter what he looked at, he was not at ease. Seeing Tao Jie staggering in, he hurriedly paid the bill. step after the past.

Tao Jie heard footsteps behind her, turned her head suddenly, saw that Mai Zhiqiang was still following her, was startled, and said blankly: "I'm not drunk, I can go home by myself."

"I won't go to your place." Mai Zhiqiang walked to her side, looked at her firmly and said, "But I have to watch you get in safely."

Tao Jie stopped talking, turned around and continued walking. Under the street lamp, the outline of the rented house was already in front of her. She turned around and wanted to persuade Mai Zhiqiang to leave, but the turning was too large, and her body actually fell to one side. Mai Zhiqiang He grabbed her waist again.

The old street lamps gave off a dim yellow light, flickering between the shadows of the trees, like ghosts and ghosts.

Mai Zhiqiang slowly bowed his head as if bewitched, and kissed Tao Jie lightly.

The moment their lips touched, the two of them were unable to move as if they had been electrocuted. They maintained this coquettish posture for a long time, allowing the night to cover up all the restlessness and uneasiness.

The surroundings were so quiet that even the sound of leaves falling to the ground could be heard clearly.

The soft "click" sound was like opening a dusty lock for a long time. Tao Jie shuddered. She woke up, pushed Mai Zhiqiang away suddenly, and rushed towards Xiaowo as if flying past!

Mai Zhiqiang stood dazedly at the edge of the messy alley, listening to Tao Jie's frantic footsteps from near to far, accompanied by the sound of her gulping breath, obviously extremely nervous.

Standing at the door, Tao Jie frantically took out the key from her bag and stuffed it into the keyhole, but dropped it on the ground several times. She seemed to be suffering from malaria, and she was shivering all over.

The door was opened from the inside, and Li Yaoming appeared at the door in pajamas and pajamas, with a surprised expression, "What are you doing? I can't find the key?"

Tao Jie looked around on the road when she came here in panic. In the shadow of the lonely street lamp, Mai Zhiqiang had long since disappeared.

A smell of alcohol drifted into Li Yaoming's nose, he frowned, unable to hide the astonishment on his face, "Have you been drinking?"

Tao Jie walked past him without saying a word and walked into the back room. Li Yaoming was still asking behind him, "Where did you go all night? Don't tell me. Check your mobile phone. How many times have I called you?" A phone call, you..."

"You don't tell me everything in advance, do you?" Tao Jie interrupted him coldly, and the whole person fell into the sofa as if his skeleton had been removed, very tired.

Li Yaoming was so choked by her words that he couldn't utter a syllable for a long time. He was not without resentment. After a while, he muttered in a low voice: "Isn't it because I didn't tell you about starting a company? Are you talking about it!"

Tao Jie was furious, she opened her eyes and stared at Li Yaoming, startling him, "What do you want?"

A sense of powerlessness and boredom hit Tao Jie's heart, she closed her eyes again, and gave up the crusade against Li Yaoming, arguing about these things all day was really meaningless, she was bored to the core.

"Are you really drunk?" Li Yaoming sat next to her, his voice softened a lot this time, "Where did you drink so much?"

Tao Jie pushed him away, "Go to sleep, I'm going to take a shower." She stood up staggeringly, but fortunately, she was in the room, and there were many things that could be used as handrails.

"There is hot water in the bathroom, do you want me to put it away for you?"

"No need!" Tao Jie gritted her teeth and replied.

Li Yaoming glanced at her straight and stubborn waist, and sighed a little annoyed and helpless.

In the dead of night, the people around her could hear the sound of breathing evenly. Tao Jie turned over and over again, always feeling weak and uncomfortable.

Under the silver-gray moonlight, Li Yaoming's broad and thick back was in front of her eyes. She really wanted to reach out, hug him coquettishly like before to absorb warmth, and moved her fingers slightly, but she didn't reach out her hand after all.

She was so upset that she couldn't fall asleep for a long time, no matter how hard she tried to drive her away, she still couldn't stop Mai Zhiqiang's face from forcibly entering her mind.

What was the meaning of that sudden kiss, she couldn't figure it out, to be exact, she didn't dare to think about it.

She didn't know how long she was exhausted before she fell asleep.

She had a dream, dreaming that she was in the middle of the endless sea, there was no driftwood around, no one to support her, she kept yelling, hoping that someone would come to save her, but she struggled desperately for a long time, She was still alone, and all she could hear was a desperate cry for help from her throat, so she began to cry...

It was Li Yaoming who woke her up from the nightmare, he pushed her hard, "Tao Zi, wake up, wake up!"

She finally woke up, limp, gasping for air with her mouth open, trying to calm herself down.

It turned out to be just a dream, she thought somewhat relievedly.

In the dream, she didn't know that she was a guest, but the feeling of desolation and helplessness still lingered in her heart.

There was a wet coolness on her face, she wiped it with her hands, and at some point, her cheeks were already filled with tears.

(End of this chapter)