On the twenty-ninth day of the year, almost all work units are on holiday, and many migrant workers have returned early. Everywhere in the capital seems extremely empty, and even the crowded streets in the past seem a bit depressed.
Early in the morning, Xi Bao called, "Mom, I miss you. When will you come to my grandparents' house?"
Hearing her son's childish voice, Qiao Xinwei felt at ease, "Baby, it will take about a day for mom to clean the house. Be good and mom will go over before dinner, okay?"
"Ah, it only takes one more day. It's been too long. I miss you so much."
"It's Chinese New Year. I need to clean up my house. Grandma's house also needs to be cleaned. Can Xi Bao help?"
"Yes, I helped Grandma Li pass the rag."
"Haha, you're so good. Mom, hurry up and clean up. When you're done, hurry over there, okay?"
"Okay, mom, I'm going to ride a bike. I won't tell you anymore. Goodbye."
Xi Bao quickly hung up the phone. Qiao Xinwei smiled unconsciously while holding the phone. Children are so good. As long as they eat well, sleep well, and have toys to play with, everything will be fine. She hopes Xi Bao can enjoy this to the fullest.
A wonderful childhood time.
The duplex house has a large space and many rooms. It is really a hard job for her to clean it alone, but she has never been afraid of hard work.
She didn't want to let herself stop, not even for a second. Because with this second of free time, she would think about Jiang Hao. With this second, there would be the second, and there would be another.
The next countless seconds will be as painful as last night after being drunk.
She didn't know how long it took, but her cell phone rang. When she saw it, it was Arnold calling. She picked up the call while holding on to the mop, and said, "Hey, Arnold, what's the matter?"
"What are you doing? You're out of breath."
"Cleaning, the first day of vacation is cleaning."
"So virtuous."
"That's right, haha, actually there is no need to clean. Jiang Hao kept it very clean. I just tidied the room and mopped the floor."
"Oh, I was thinking that you were on vacation, so I asked you to come out and sit around. Recently, all the part-time workers have gone back to celebrate the New Year, and the store has become a lot deserted. Do you have time to come out and sit around?"
Qiao Xinwei looked at the time. It was almost one o'clock, but she didn't notice. "Wow, it's one o'clock, and suddenly I feel so hungry. Then wait for me, I have to clean myself up, maybe half an hour."
"Okay, I'll wait for you."
The cafe on the corner, the small open-air balcony, the warm sunshine in the winter afternoon quietly shines down, the flowers, the green leaves, everything looks so quiet and lovely.
Arnold was sitting on the sofa chair on the small balcony, leaning leisurely on the railing and looking at the end of the alley. She often sat and looked like this for a whole day. She didn't know if the person she was waiting for in her heart would appear.
She didn't know who she was waiting for.
A white Audi drove into the alley. She braced herself and looked carefully. It was Qiao Xinwei's car. Jiang Hao had driven it here before, so she recognized it.
Arnold stood up, combed his hair twice, then stretched out his arm and waved to Qiao Xinwei who got off the car, "Xinwei."
Qiao Xinwei waved to her with a smile on her face, "I haven't had lunch yet, can Boss Liu give me a bite of my meal?"
"Come up quickly, it's ready."
Qiao Xinwei quickened her pace and walked in. It was really deserted inside, even the waiters at the bar were playing with their phones with their heads down.
"Welcome, oh, it's Mrs. Jiang, the landlady is waiting for you upstairs."
"Haha, I know." Qiao Xinwei smiled at the waiter.
As she walked upstairs, she heard the waiter saying, "Look, look, it's her. She is Jiang Hao's wife."
Then, another waiter also raised his head and looked towards the stairs, "Oh, it turns out it's her, the boss's friend, she was here last time."
Qiao Xinwei didn't care about anything and walked straight upstairs.
The sun was shining brightly on the balcony. There was no wind today. The sun was shining and I didn't feel cold at all. Arnold was sitting lazily with a thin blanket covering his legs. You could tell by the blurred look in her eyes that this guy must be sleepy.
"Here it comes, the food is almost cold." Arnold opened the stew pot, and as soon as he opened it, bursts of hot steam came out, along with the aroma, "It's not cold yet, come and eat it quickly, the Guoqiao rice in the stew pot
The money and the taste are great.”
Qiao Xinwei's mouth was watering and she quickly sat over, "Thank you, dear, then I'm welcome."
Arnold looked at her and said, "You have dark circles under your eyes. You haven't slept in the past few days, okay?"
"That's it."
"Jiang Hao really returned to the army?"
"kindness."
"Aren't you going to stop me?"
Qiao Xinwei shook her head and kept stuffing food into her mouth, "It's delicious."
Arnold continued to ask, "Why didn't you stop it? I think those critics analyzed it very clearly. They all said that whoever goes will be the next Guo Xueyan."
It was rare that she was in such a good mood, and it was rare that she didn't miss Jiang Hao so much. That was good. Arnold wanted to press the question, so she said calmly: "He insists on going. There is nothing I can do about what he insists on."
"So how is he now? Where is he? Is he okay?"
Qiao Xinwei raised her head and looked at Arnold, "Haha, you care about him so much?"
Arnold laughed exaggeratedly, stood up and came to her, saying: "No, I care about you, okay? You just remarried Jiang Hao, your son is still young, and he just returned to the army.
I’m not worth it for you.”
Qiao Xinwei pressed Arnold's shoulder and asked her to sit back, "Don't be so excited."
Arnold's eyes flickered and he smiled awkwardly, "Haha, I didn't. Aren't I worried about you two?"
Women are naturally sensitive, especially when it comes to relationships between men and women, and their sixth sense is particularly sensitive. Arnold's look at this moment, the little panic in her eyes, was exactly the same as Sun Ronghuan's look back then.
However, she didn't care at all at that time, but today she is no longer stupid enough to ignore this.
Qiao Xinwei put down her chopsticks and stared into Arnold's eyes, uncharacteristically, "Arnold, you called me here today just to ask about Jiang Hao?"
Seeing her solemn and serious face, Arnold felt even more nervous. The more nervous he felt, the more his eyes would dodge. She didn't dare to look at her at all. "No, I'm not too bored. I want you to take a vacation too."
I just asked you to come out and have a chat."
Qiao Xinwei said: "I can't ask about Jiang Hao. So far, the army has not contacted me, so I don't know Jiang Hao's situation."
"Then you can't contact him?" Arnold blurted out. After she finished speaking, she wanted to slap herself in the mouth and lowered her head in annoyance.
At this moment, the only thing Qiao Xin didn't feel hungry at all, but felt nauseated and bloated, "Arnold, you... tell me the truth, you and Jiang Hao..."
"No!" Arnold denied it hastily. The two people's eyes met here, and they looked at each other speechlessly. With just one look at each other, Arnold was already defeated.
Qiao Xinwei couldn't sit still anymore. She couldn't imagine this. Even just thinking about it, she found it hard to breathe. What happened in the past four years, the four years she left?
Arnold must have criticized Jiang Hao because of her injustice. Jiang Hao must have contacted Arnold constantly in order to find her. Over time, the two of them got acquainted. Arnold resigned and wanted to open a store, and Jiang Hao also spent three thousand dollars.
Wan made investments, contributed money and effort, and helped find a house. Later, when the cafe opened, Jiang Hao would come and sit there??
Thirty million, this is not a small amount, she dare not think about it anymore, it hurts too much.
She had long suspected the origin of the 30 million, but she had never doubted anything between Arnold and Jiang Hao.
She thought her friendship with Arnold was very strong, and she thought her relationship with Jiang Hao was very strong, just like her relationship with Sun Rongxuan and Ji Xiaohai back then.
However, they both betrayed her.
Arnold began to cry, crying silently, no sound could be heard, only tears flowed silently. She bravely looked into Qiao Xinwei's eyes and said frankly: "Xinwei, it was my unrequited love for Jiang Hao, and Jiang Hao did not betray her."
You have nothing at all."
"Do you think I will believe you if you say this? Anyway, Jiang Hao is not here and everything has passed. Whatever you say."
Arnold raised his hand and swore, "I swear every word I say now is true. If there is any deception, I will be struck by thunder."
Qiao Xinwei pushed the stew pot hard, and the soup in the stew pot splashed out directly onto her hand, "Huh??"
The temperature of the boiled stew pot was 200 degrees. Although it was left to dry for a while, the temperature was still not low. Once it was heated, the tiger's mouth on the back of her hand immediately became a large red.
"Are you okay?" Arnold was flustered and anxious, holding her hand and blowing on it, "Does it hurt? Do you want to take a shower?"
Qiao Xinwei withdrew her hand and looked at her quietly, "Arnold, tell me, I want to know everything." The pain in her hand was nothing compared to the pain in her heart. Even if they were related, so what?
She divorced Jiang Hao at that time, how could she say Jiang Hao cheated?!
The two sat down again, but the wind became stronger, causing the hot steam on the stew pot to leak out at an angle.
Arnold said: "It is difficult for a man like Jiang Hao not to fall in love with him. When I realized this idea, I was shocked. I thought I hid it well, but he still discovered it.
What a wise man he is. After he found out, he withdrew his shares and told me clearly that he only wanted to help the people you care about. After hearing this, I felt, I don’t
I’m worthy of being your friend, I’m sorry, Xinwei??”
"When did this all happen?"
"I discovered that I fell in love with him when the cafe first opened. He came very rarely, only five times in total. So in May this year, he realized that I treated him differently from others. After that,
He immediately withdrew his shares."
Arnold was so frank that she couldn't believe it. Thinking about how Sun Rongxuan and Ji Xiaohai secretly cheated on Chen Cang back then, she couldn't believe what Arnold said.