Beijing, after all, has nothing to do with me

Chapter 33 Epilogue
In the late spring of 2010, M City.

On Saturday morning, Tao Jie's father was sitting on the balcony reading the morning newspaper, and her mother had just returned from the vegetable market and was preparing lunch in the kitchen.

The doorbell rang a few times, and Mother Tao wiped her hands and ran out to open the door.

Standing outside the door was a man with a good appearance. He was well-dressed and gave a very comfortable and calm feeling. He was neither old nor young.

"Who are you looking for?" Mother Tao looked at him curiously.

"Oh, may I ask, does Tao Jie live here?" Mai Zhiqiang asked politely, and at the same time took out a small note with the address in his hand to check again.

"You're looking for Tao Jie! Who are you?" Mother Tao's expression changed from curiosity to surprise.

"I am..." Mai Zhiqiang didn't know how to introduce himself, "Tao Jie's colleague when he was working in Beijing, my surname is Mai..."

"Mai Zhiqiang, isn't it?" Before he could finish speaking, Mother Tao announced his name first, and a cheerful smile appeared on her face immediately.

Mai Zhiqiang was surprised and delighted, he didn't expect Tao Jie to mention himself to his parents, and at the same time he was a little embarrassed, "Yes, I'm Mai Zhiqiang, it's very presumptuous to come here uninvited, I, cough, just happened to have something to do M city, so I want to stop by to see Tao Jie, may I ask, is she at home?"

"Come in, come in and talk." Mother Tao graciously ushered him in.

Their movement alarmed Papa Tao on the balcony, and he took off his reading glasses and walked in.

"Old Tao, this is Mr. Mai, the one Xiaojie often mentions."

"Oh, oh," Papa Tao suddenly realized, and walked up to shake hands with Mai Zhiqiang enthusiastically, "Oh, I really want to thank you, Xiaojie said that you gave her a lot of help when she was in Beijing!"

The enthusiastic greetings made Mai Zhiqiang a little at a loss. While coping with it, he subconsciously looked around the room, but there was no sign of Tao Jie.

"You came to see Tao Jie?" Papa Tao looked very regretful, "It's not a coincidence that she is not at home."

Mai Zhiqiang was a little disappointed, but he still did not give up, "She works overtime?"

"No." Tao's father smiled, but his expression was a little helpless, "Oh, this child has been clamoring to go on a trip since she came back from Beijing. No matter how hard I and her mother persuaded her, there is no way, she can only go. , we don't have high requirements for her, as long as she is happy. Oh, she will leave after the new year, and she said it will take at least half a year, what kind of time do you want to play...gap year. "

Mai Zhiqiang smiled knowingly, "Where is she now?"

Mother Tao came in with a cup of tea, "It's not certain. I called last week and said I was in Yunnan. I should have left the country this week. I said I was going to Myanmar. I don't know if I have arrived. I never called."

She sighed softly, "It's nothing else, I'm just worried about whether she will encounter any accidents outside!"

Upon hearing this, Mai Zhiqiang put down the teacup in his hand, and said solemnly: "Don't worry, I want to go find her."

"Ah?" Tao's father and Tao's mother looked at each other, and then they couldn't hide their joy, "That's the best, we can rest assured that she can have a companion. It's just..."

Mother Tao wondered: "Her whereabouts are not certain, and we can't tell where she is."

"Has she ever written anything? For example," Mai Zhiqiang asked, "blog or something?"

Mother Tao smiled awkwardly, "We don't know much about computers, and we don't know much about this new thing..."

Before the words were finished, Father Tao hurried out from the study, took a small notebook in his hand, handed it to Mai Zhiqiang, and said, "I heard her muttering, but she didn't mention it to us. This child doesn't like us interfering with her since she was a child." Too many—you’re talking about blogs, I don’t know if this is it.”

Mai Zhiqiang took it over and took a look. On it was a line of delicate small characters, with an address written in English, and a nickname "Night Sky" next to it.

He transcribed the information into his mobile phone, smiled and said to the Tao family elders: "I'll go back and get ready, and I'll be leaving in two days."

Father Tao was worried, "I think it's safer to wait until she calls before leaving. There are so many people, where can you find her?"

"I think I should be able to find her." He smiled confidently, with a charming and sure charm.

In the early summer of 2010, Bangkok, Thailand.

Early in the morning, Tao Jie walked out of the hotel with a backpack on her shoulders. She held a travel guide of "Lonely Planet" in her hand. Then he stepped out steadily.

Seen from a distance, she was a little thinner and darker, but also a little stronger, and her whole body radiated a healthy atmosphere and a radiant look.

On the bustling Khaosan Road, Tao Jie stopped and looked around. Her destination today is Linjiang Square. I heard that there are theme performances there every day, which are full of Thai characteristics.

After identifying the direction, she raised her foot and just walked out two steps, when a familiar figure suddenly appeared in her vision, and she was frozen in place at once.

Mai Zhiqiang was wearing a smoky gray travel jacket, with a black backpack slung over his left shoulder, standing across the street and watching her with a smile.

Seeing him walking towards her step by step, Tao Jie pursed her lips and rubbed her eyes vigorously, not quite believing that this would be true.

When he walked in front of her, just in time to see her secretly pinch his own flesh, and then secretly hissed in pain, Mai Zhiqiang's smile deepened.

"Miss, are you Chinese?"

"Of course." Tao Jie tilted her head and looked up at him, suddenly in a good mood, "How do you know I'm here?"

"It's a secret." Mai Zhiqiang glanced into the distance, then turned his gaze back, "You don't keep your word."

"Uh?"

"You said you would send me postcards once you travel."

"I've written it!" Tao Jie hastily clarified for herself, pulled off the backpack with a bang, and took out a thick stack of postcards with different scenery from it.

Mai Zhiqiang took them over and checked them one by one. Sure enough, they were all for him. He stared at her deeply, "Why didn't you send them to me?"

"I..." Tao Jie didn't know how to explain, she brushed her hair drooping in front of her eyes, and said in a low voice, "I'm afraid of disturbing you."

"No confidence in me?"

Tao Jie smiled shyly, made a strange face and said, "I am no longer the good girl you imagined."

Mai Zhiqiang looked at her for a while, "No matter what you become, I like it."

Tao Jie's face turned bright red, shy and joyful at the same time.

The beautiful morning light of early summer shone through the leaves, forming a clear circle of light and shadow above her head.

"Are you on vacation?" She tilted her head and asked him.

"No." He looked at her and said, "I quit my job, and now, like you, I want to do something I wanted to do before but never tried."

Tao Jie stared in surprise.

"Don't look at me like that," Mai Zhiqiang shrugged with a smile, "You can, why can't I?"

"I didn't say you can't do it." Tao Jie also smiled, "I just feel very surprised, so what are your plans in the future?"

"I haven't thought about it, let's live with the situation." Mai Zhiqiang smiled comfortably, "Maybe I will go back to Beijing, maybe find a city with a slower pace to spend the rest of my life easily, but before that," he said, pausing , staring at Tao Jie's face, "Do you mind if I travel the world with you?"

"Tell the truth?"

"Truth."

"I feel so lonely traveling alone. If you don't show up again, I plan to go back after visiting Thailand." After Tao Jie finished speaking, he looked at Mai Zhiqiang's weird expression, "Do you think I'm worthless?"

"A little bit," he said solemnly.

Tao Jie stared at him and puffed up her cheeks, but after a while, she suddenly let out a sharp cry—Mai Zhiqiang picked her up suddenly, and turned around on the ground!

Tao Jie giggled, and her heart was suddenly filled with satisfaction. She felt that she had been away for so long, as if she was waiting for such a day-she could recognize herself and the person who could accompany her for the rest of her life.

Mai Zhiqiang put her down, but did not let go of her hands. The two hugged each other quietly, enjoying this peaceful and warm moment.

When Tao Jie closed her eyes comfortably and leaned against his chest, she heard Mai Zhiqiang whisper in her ear, "Come home with me."

She opened her arms and slowly wrapped them around Mai Zhiqiang's waist, with a bright and satisfied smile on her lips.

(End of this chapter)