Chapter 32: Leave Home

Tan Mo doesn't know anything about people, but he's really smart.

This moment of grumpy anger is real, but so is the inherent intent.

Qiao Lan said there was nothing between them that would make him help her or provide for her in this way, and the words "there was nothing between them" played over and over in his head like a TV video that suddenly got stuck.

The volume has even been deliberately increased.

He threw his knife and fork down hard on his plate, angry, sad, annoyed, and emotions he wouldn't describe himself, like disappointment, like aggravation.

There was a haze in his eyes and he just wanted to walk away in anger.

Qiao Lan hurriedly apologised to the disturbed guest and ran back, "Uncle Chan hasn't arrived yet, where are you going? Tan Mo, I didn't mean to upset you."

He didn't want to hear it, he could go anywhere now, he didn't want to be here at the moment anyway.

Qiao Lan quickly arranged Tan Mo's crockery and blocked Tan Mo's wheelchair to prevent him from leaving.

There was some tension between them, but this was felt unilaterally by Qiao Lan, Tan Mo did not sense it. He stared at Qiao Lan for a long time without saying a word, suddenly remembering a short confrontation between them when he was the first to bring breakfast to Qiao Lan.

At that time, Qiao Lan refused to eat, and he looked at Qiao Lan in the same way, saying that if he didn't eat it, then he would throw it all away, and finally Qiao Lan gave in.

Qiao Lan did not know what was going on in Tan Mo's head at this moment, and looked at the spilled soup and said helplessly, "I'll put a new one on for you. "

Tan Mo came back to his senses.

"No," he gazed up at Qiao Lan, "I don't want to eat."

Qiao Lan looked down at the steak he had barely touched, Tan Mo had only eaten a small amount today, he would be hungry later.

"Then I'll pack it up and ask Uncle Chan to take it back later."

Tan Mo's eyes flickered, "I'll make Uncle Chan drop it."

Qiao Lan: "......"

Tan Mo looked at Qiao Lan's speechless face and finally felt a little better, thinking that Qiao Lan was finally going to give in, just like the last time, but then Qiao Lan stopped smiling and looked away from him with an expressionless face.

"If you want to throw that away, throw it away."

He really felt that Tan Mo was a bear at this moment, so spoiled that Qiao Lan turned around and walked away.

Tan Mo was left with confusion and dismay in her eyes, and when the confusion receded, the storm was left.

A short while later Uncle Chan rushed over, and as soon as he did, he noticed that the mood was not right and took a cautious glance at Tan Mo's face.

What's going on here?

Uncle Chan inexplicably took Tan Mo to the car and drove off for half a day before asking Tan Mo, "What's wrong? Did you have a fight?"

It was half an hour before Tan Mo's muffled voice came from the back, "She said not to let me come back here."

Tan Mo's voice was just a little lower and muffled than usual, the same cold tone of voice with no rise and fall, but Uncle Chan could hear the aggrieved tone in it.

Uncle Chan had probably guessed why Tan Mo was not allowed to come back to the restaurant, but still asked, "Did Qiao Lan say why you weren't allowed to come?"

Uncle Chan does not pass up any opportunity to have a normal conversation with Tan Mo, and every interaction with mood swings is helpful to Tan Mo.

Tan Mo is silent for a moment, looks up, expressionlessly at the distant streetlights and begins to make a statement.

"Qiao Lan said I had spent a total of 70,000 yuan in three months and that the amount spent was too high, I said it was not high and she said it was high and that it was wasteful and that western food was not good for my health, she also said we were friends and classmates and that friends and classmates don't do that to each other so I didn't need to give her money or help her."

Although Uncle Chan has always been very distressed by Tan Mo's Asperger syndrome, he sometimes finds it convenient, such as not lying, not deceiving when answering questions, and being able to express the whole thing without a word of nonsense.

Although the word order or sentiment can be a little off.

After listening to Uncle Chan's description, it seems that Qiao Lan's reasons for not letting Tan Mo come are similar to what he thought.

As a normal thinking person, Uncle Chan not only understands Qiao Lan's feelings, but also appreciates what Qiao Lan is doing. However, if it were Tan Mo, he would not feel Qiao Lan's difficulty, nor would he find Qiao Lan very difficult.

Once when I was very young, probably three or four years old or younger, Tan Mo was building a snowman in his room and playing with it.

To normal children, they may not understand the principle that snow melts when heated, but they do understand that snow is not to be moved into the room.

Tan Mo's mother, who was still alive at the time, held Tan Mo's tiny, red, frozen hands and asked him why he was building a snowman in his room.

Because it was uncomfortable with the wind outside but I wanted to play with the snow, I moved it into the room and made snowmen in the room.

This is young Tan Mo's own logical thinking.

To the untrained eye, it looks unbelievably silly.

Tan Mo's mother waited with him until the snow had melted, telling him that when it melted it would turn into water and would stain the floor and wet the sofa, and Tan Mo was convinced.

Tan Mo is hard to give to change his mind unless you can convince him with more sound logic.

At first Tan Mo's mother could use the melting snow to convince Tan Mo that it was a natural phenomenon, intuitive and clear; but now Qiao Lan doesn't allow him to come to the restaurant because Qiao Lan can't accept it in her heart.

He cannot understand why Qiao Lan would be embarrassed and unhappy when he helps her; and when Qiao Lan is unhappy because of his help, Tan Mo might think that she doesn't want it because she doesn't like him.

Qiao Lan Not accepting his money is no different from not accepting his person.

Uncle Chan has a headache.

He used to want Tan Mo to have a friend he could talk to and be nice to, but now that he has one, a new problem has arisen.

Tan Mo does things differently to his friends, and even his definition of friendship is very different from the average person.

The next day Uncle Chan sent Tan Mo to school with fear and trepidation. He sent a text message to Qiao Lan, asking him not to treat Tan Mo coldly, as it would be very irritating for Tan Mo.

Uncle Chan wouldn't have done it even if he hadn't said Qiao Lan.

Last night she read about Asperger's syndrome until 2am and now she is so sleepy she can't keep her eyes open.

But when Qiao Lan spoke to Tan Mo, Tan Mo kept her mouth shut and did not speak to Qiao Lan, who tried to reason with Tan Mo, "Tan Mo, rejecting you and refusing your help are not the same thing, you've helped me all semester and I don't need it anymore."

Tan Mo finally opened up, "You need to, you're still working part-time."

Qiao Lan: "......"

Qiao Lan finally understood a quote from the book.

For people with Asperger's syndrome, whatever is logical for them, they believe they are right and nothing anyone else can say will help.

Saying more might even have the opposite effect.

Tan Mo pursed his lips, wanting to say something but not saying it after all.

When she left the restaurant that day, there was a moment when Tan Mo felt so sad that she never wanted to see Qiao Lan again and never wanted to go to school.

He was still angry at Qiao Lan for what he had said and done, but on the other hand, he was worried that if he really didn't go, Qiao Lan wouldn't care about him anymore.

Even if Qiao Lan's rejection of his deceitful feelings made him so upset, he still didn't want to break up with Qiao Lan.

Pei Ning, who had no sense of perspective, came to Qiao Lan to ask her an English question, and when she finished, she looked up and met Tan Mo's baleful gaze.

Then he quickly looked away and asked Qiao Lan in a whisper in her ear, " What's wrong with Tan Mo? I didn't mess with him, did I?"

Qiao Lan: "...my question."

"You can still make Tan Mo angry?" Pei Ning expressed surprise that he really thought Qiao Lan was too good to be true when it came to Tan Mo.

Pei Ning's voice was so small that Tan Mo could not hear what they were saying, but could only see them close together, their hands suddenly rising.

A soft, thin ringing sound.

Tan Mo looked down and saw that the tempered film had shattered, the tiny crumbs cutting a small gash into his fingertips, blood seeping out at once and dripping onto the white school uniform.

Qiao Lan turned his head to see the blood on Tan Mo's school uniform and asked him in a frightened voice what was wrong, quickly pulling a board of band-aids from his school bag.

"Reach out," Qiao Lan said helplessly, looking at the uncooperative Tan Mo.

Tan Mo looked at her steadily, motionless.

Qiao Lan had no choice but to grab Tan Mo's wrist, wipe the blood off his fingertips with a tissue and wrap it carefully with a band-aid, "I don't know if it will be affected by the monthly exams coming up.

Tan Mo drew his finger out in silence and said coldly, "No."

Then on the way home in the afternoon, stared at the band-aided finger for nearly half an hour.

The first monthly exam of the term is in a couple of days and when the results come out, Tan Mo is still at the top of her grade but for some reason she has not scored a hundred and forty in English this time.

Many people were surprised, but were afraid to ask.

Tan Mo stuffed his English answer key into his bag without saying a word.

During the lesson, Mr. Liu, the English teacher, showed several English essays on the projector in the class, saying that they were the high scoring essays.

The theme of the English composition is friendship.

One of the three English essays that Mr. Liu raved about was written by Qiao Lan, who wrote that friendship is sharing, that friendship is a feeling that will not dissipate even if we don't see it for many years, and that it is a good thing that will make everyone better.

Tan Mo also wrote about friendship.

In his essay, he writes that friendship is possession, possession, an absolute domain where no third person is allowed.

With fifteen marks for the essay and only two marks at the end, he threw the answer key into the bin in silence.

After school in the afternoon, Qiao Lan continued to work in the western restaurant. Tan Mo could not go to the western restaurant anymore and sat in the car watching Qiao Lan's back.

As a result, Tan Mo's attention has been drawn away.

Even Uncle Chan was shocked to hear the news.

Uncle Chan was listening to the city's news, a mishmash of everything, where the traffic was jammed and where there was a car accident, when he heard on the radio that there had been a robbery in the early hours of last night and that two men had robbed a woman and injured her.

Normally, this kind of news would have drawn a few comments at most, but if the robbery had taken place on the street where the western restaurant was located, it would have been enough to put Tan Mo on edge.

The restaurant where Qiao Lan works every day is in a busy part of town, but it is not on a big, shiny road, which is safe in the daytime but really dangerous at night.

Especially very late at night, when there is not much in the streets and the girls are alone.

Tan Mo hadn't thought about it because he hadn't heard anything like this before, but now that he did, all he could think about was the standard voice of the radio host.

Even though he was angry and upset, the first thing he thought of was Qiao Lan's safety.

Uncle Chan sighed, "Do we have to wait for Qiao Lan to take her home from work? That's too late, how about this, let's go home first, then I'll come and pick her up every night, is that good?"

Tan Mo calmed down after his nervousness and then remembered the situation he and Qiao Lan were in.

Tan Mo inexplicably doesn't want Qiao Lan to know that she still cares so much for her.

"No good", Tan Mo said in a muffled voice, and after half a day said, " Uncle Chan, you find someone to take her back every night", and added, "Follow secretly, don't let her find out. "

Uncle Chan: "......"

Why does it have to be such a shaft when you obviously still care.

"Okay," Uncle Chan agreed, but then asked, "How long will you follow him?"

"I don't know."

Just keep working and keep following.

Uncle Chan: "......"

Forget it you are happy.

Qiao Lan had no idea what was going on, but when they were working part-time, the team leader specifically approached them and said that something had happened here recently and told them to be careful, especially the girls who worked the night shift, and gave each employee a bottle of spray and a fruit knife.

Qiao Lan: ......

It's been a peaceful few days and I've heard that the police have tracked down the two robbers, but it's always a good idea to be careful.

With everything packed, Qiao Lan gathered her things, looked at the time and headed home as usual.

It's 11:47 now, I should be home around 12:20...not a lot of homework today, mostly done in between classes...but I still need to prep for tomorrow's lesson...

Qiao Lan was in a tizzy, making plans for the evening, and by the time he reached the bottom of Qiao Family's building, it was 12:20.

I looked up and was slightly surprised that the house was actually lit.

At this time of night, everyone in the Qiao family is supposed to be asleep, unless Qiao's mother is up late watching a TV show, but she doesn't usually leave the living room light on this bright.

The lights are on and Qiao Lan's pace up the stairs slows down, always feeling that something is about to happen.

When he went upstairs and opened the door to his room, Qiao Lan looked up and saw that Qiao's father, Qiao's mother and Qiao's grandmother were all there on the sofa in the living room, Qiao's grandmother had a good look on her face and Qiao's father and Qiao's mother had an extremely ugly look on their faces. Qiao's father Qiao's mother looks extremely uncomfortable.

"What are you doing standing at the door, why don't you come in?" When she saw Qiao Lan enter, Qiao's mother stood up.

Qiao's grandmother "tsked" twice, "Maybe she has a ghost in her heart and is afraid to come in."

Qiao's father sat on the sofa with a fierce face and bellowed, "Get in here!"

Qiao Lan narrowed his eyes and paused as he was about to enter the door.

When she came up, she guessed that something might have happened, such as Qiao's second aunt crying and saying that her husband had found a new mistress, Qiao's grandmother and Qiao's mother arguing again, but never thought about herself.

After all, she hadn't done anything.

But now these three people in front of her were acting as if she had done something unforgivable and great.

Qiao's mother saw her standing still and became even more furious, "You can't hear me, can you? Let you in, close the door, I'm afraid others will hear you!"

Qiao Lan wrinkled his brow, "How am I embarrassed?"

"I told you that you must have learned something bad by running away every day, not coming back every night and not knowing what you are doing, stealing money from the family and not admitting it."

Qiao Lan finally heard what was going on and suspected her of stealing money from Qiao Family?

"I didn't steal it," Qiao Lan said.

"I put it in the bottom drawer of the coffee table, and I never noticed it. "

"I don't know, it's not me", Qiao Lan said, expressionless, "ask someone else."

"Not you are who, ah, you said, your grandmother simply can not afford to spend money, your father and I can not take, Qiao Yuan I just gave a few days ago on the body has money enough to use, your big sister two sisters have not come recently, not you is a ghost stolen?"

"Qiao's mother was irritated by Qiao Lan's attitude and couldn't sit still. "She stood up, turned around several times, and took a broom out of the toilet, "I'll ask you again, did you steal it?"

"Qiao's grandmother glared at Qiao's mother, her small eyes fixed on Qiao Lan, and suddenly she stood up. "Look, I told you she stole it, look what's hanging around her neck..."

He is about to run over and grab the apple jade pendant around Qiao Lan's neck.

Qiao Lan slapped Qiao's grandmother's hand away to protect her neck, Qiao's grandmother's voice became even more shrill, "This shameless person should just be beaten to death..."

Qiao's father, who had not said anything, finally jumped up when Qiao's grandmother was pushed aside by Qiao Lan, his fat face full of flesh shaking, and jerked the broom from Qiao's mother's hand with one hand and shouted, "Get over here... "

Qiao Lan pushes the door open and runs down the stairs.

Qiao's father ran out after her with a broom.

Qiao Lan is young and physically fit, and Qiao's father, who is fat and wearing slippers, probably did not expect Qiao Lan, who has always been a timid introvert, to run away.

He was so angry that he cursed for a long time before he went up.

Qiao Lan ran out of the neighbourhood and didn't breathe a sigh of relief until she reached the road, where she crouched under a street lamp to get her breath back.

If Qiao's father had caught her today, she could have been killed.

Now that she is safe, Qiao Lan is worried about the empty road in front of her.

Where to now? Where to afterwards

The Western restaurant was closed and she couldn't go back, and she couldn't possibly hang out on the street all night as a girl, nor could she go to an internet cafe and hang out all night like some boys do.

Get a room?

It hurts just to think about it.

But I couldn't think of anything else to do but to use my phone to search for the nearest hotel and find a slightly cheaper one, so I could get through the day first and then think about what to do after tomorrow.

I was crouching on the road, scratching my phone, looking left and right and finally seeing a home I could live with, tapping on the map again, identifying the road and then getting ready to stand up when a black car slid by in the distance and finally stopped in front of Qiao Lan.

The door of the car slowly opened and the young man, dressed very thinly, with a pale face and gloomy eyes, sat in the car looking down at Qiao Lan, who was crouched in a ball on the road with a confused face.

They looked at each other for nearly half a minute before the teenager finally looked away and said.

"Don't come up yet."