woman wearing irish linen shirt

It was the first time I saw Miss Pender in such disarray.

"Didn't you say that he is still in a state of self-deception, refusing to admit the fact that you came out?" Miss Pan De paced back and forth in the not-so-large study room, and had to change directions every six or seven steps, "I should How to greet him, do you think it would be impolite for me to just introduce my name? I haven’t learned more expressions...or I speak English and you can translate for me? Can you, Yao?”

Thinking of this good idea, her eyes lit up.

Just as I was about to speak, Miss Pande suddenly stopped in her tracks and put her hands on her chest: "Am I wearing this too informally? I need to change clothes...maybe a gray suit? Do you think knitwear or shirts are better?" good?"

I pressed Miss Pender's shoulder: "He's just an ordinary middle-aged man, nothing to be afraid of. Why are you more panicked than I was when I saw Rajiv?"

"Rajiv is nothing!" She raised her voice a little, "Rajiv is not scary at all!"

I pursed my lips: "Are you serious?"

Miss Pender paused: "Okay...but that's your father, it's different. I think I still—"

"Sonia. Sonia, Sonia—" I stopped her and made her look me in the eyes, "It's okay. His video is still connected, just saying hello, nothing, okay Is it? And I'll always be by my side."

Miss Pender held hands with me and followed behind me anxiously.

Back in the living room, I gestured and confirmed with her eyes.I saw her slowly take a deep breath and nodded to me.

I was much calmer than I imagined, I don't know if it was just my dad on the other side, or because I had nothing to fear.

She made me very proud.

I pick up my phone.

Miss Pender's smile seemed extremely stiff: "Hello, Dad."

I snapped the phone down with a bang.

Miss Pender pulled her hair: "How do you say that word? How do you say that word?"

"Uncle." I taught her, her heart beating fast, "Uncle—Uncle."

"Uncle." Miss Pender exhaled, hastily smoothed her hair, and patted her chest, "Okay, I'm ready, come on."

I looked at her and silently raised my phone again.

My dad is laughing.

Miss Pan De's expression was flawless, but she must be more nervous now than before—my arm was about to be strangled to the point of insufficient blood supply—Miss Pan De said perfectly: "Hello, Uncle."

"Hello." He spoke Mandarin first, looked at me, and then said in English, "Nice to meet you, I am Li Qun, Li Yao's father."

"It's an honor to meet you..." Miss Pan De made a "Qin" sound.

I quietly spelled it to her, and she smiled and said, "Qun, I think it is very memorable to see you today."

My dad was visibly taken aback for a moment.

I said silently, "Today is my birthday, Dad."

He said "Oh" in a very low voice, his expression was slow, and he collected himself before saying, "Happy birthday, Yao Yao."

"Thank you." I smiled slightly. "Let me introduce you. This is Sonia Pender, the most talented and knowledgeable woman I have ever met. She is also my girlfriend."

My dad nodded slowly, "Hi, Sonia."

Miss Pan De smiled, as if she was looking for a suitable conversation topic.

Only then did I realize that she even forgot to introduce herself.Fortunately, my dad doesn't mind the elders reporting themselves first, as he wasn't good at dealing with strangers in the first place.I have no intention of getting them acquainted: neither my dad nor I know much, at least not today.

Thinking of this, I hurriedly stopped this awkward conversation before Miss Pender could speak: "I know you still have some things to do?"

I raised an eyebrow at her.

The two greeted each other like textbooks for a while, and I took advantage of the chaos to rescue him.

In the video, only our father and daughter were left looking at each other. My father hesitated and said, "She is very..."

"Pretty, I know." I smiled.

"The appearance is very correct." My dad nodded, "Which country is your friend from?"

"She's Indian and her mother is Polish. She grew up in America." I glanced at Miss Pender next to me.She looked up at the bookshelves in the distance, pretending to be deaf to this side, even though she clearly couldn't understand what we were talking about-it was so cute.

"Did you know each other when you were in school?"

I paused, and replied, "But we're only together this year."

"Oh." My dad nodded again.

At the end, he said: "You are doing well, Dad is very happy."

I looked at him: "She's not just my 'friend'."

"I know." My dad was silent for a while. "Ah, I forgot to say that just now. You tell Sonia for me, just say that I welcome her to visit us."

I closed my eyes: "OK."

"Then you play your game? Is there anything else?"

"It's nothing." I said, "Go cook the noodles."

My dad didn't hang up in a hurry.

I waited silently, not urging him.

Is this also my aesthetic?I squinted my eyes: Is this my love for my dad, or some kind of nostalgia?

My dad is still my dad, and I am still me. The relationship between people cannot be bonded by glue alone.The package was opened today, but I didn't feel relieved.

On the contrary, there was a very strange feeling surrounding me - "surrounding" didn't seem to be accurate, because it should rush from within.

I belatedly.

I am making peace with myself.

After a few seconds of waiting, my dad asked: "If you want to change to a bigger house, tell your dad, I've got over here. I'll find a way to remit the money to you."

I couldn't help laughing, I didn't expect him to say this to me: "Thank you Dad, no need. You can keep the money and put it in the company's account for circulation."

"You... are you working over there?" His words seemed to come out of the clouds, and he had no confidence in the temptation.

"My work situation is not bad." I pursed my lips, "Now I manage about fifty people."

"Oh." He was silent for a second or two, and added, "That's good, congratulations Yao Yao, Dad is very happy for you."

Why is his vulnerability so exposed?

I frowned slightly, then forced a smile and said, "Then let's go eat first, and you should eat earlier."

He came back to his senses: "Ah, good."

"Goodbye, Dad."

"Goodbye."

The video call hangs up, and I walk over to the sofa, sit down heavily, and lie back on my back.As if sensing my tiredness, Miss Pan immediately walked over and looked at me asking: "Do you want a hug?"

I nodded vigorously.

She is so warm.

"Are my sleeves cold?" My chin was in the hollow of her neck.

Miss Pender shook her head: "I like us hugging like this."

"Me too." I sniffed her hair, "I like the smell of your shampoo."

"You used the same shampoo as me today."

"You smell better, maybe it has something to do with the perfume you wear." I pressed against her neck and slowly rubbed behind her ear, "Tulips?"

"Hmm." She turned her head, as if to kiss my face, but I knew she just wanted to keep me away from her ears. , It is said to have the taste of early spring."

I rubbed against her ear: "That sounds very illusory."

Miss Pan De laughed helplessly, and said softly, "Yao..."

"What's wrong?" I lazily raised my eyelids.

"Why don't we eat first?" She tried to stand up, "I have never tasted your cooking. At least let me see the salad. If the situation is not optimistic, we can make other plans early."

"I think we can make other plans now." I put my arms around her waist.

She doted on me to the extreme, looked over, sat on my lap, and rubbed the top of my hair: "If you want. How do you feel?"

I hugged her tightly and sighed slowly.

Miss Pender put her arms around me.

"My feelings are too complex to describe in simple words." I kissed her chin, "Now in my heart, there is a happy part. It makes me feel happy to be able to introduce you to my parents." It's... very grounded and safe. On the other hand, I don't have the joy of sharing my joy with my family, as if they were just a label."

She rubbed my face: "You told your mother too?"

"Yes. I sent her a picture of us together." I lowered my eyes. "But if it's a formal introduction, I think I'd be very happy, very happy-only I have to learn to talk to my mother before then. Getting along, time has changed, the situation has changed, we have to find a new way of getting along. Especially now, I can feel that I still have a lot of emotions towards her hidden in my heart, some are negative, and there are also positive emotions, For example, my thoughts and worries for her over the years."

"Take it one step at a time, don't worry." She looked at me, "I'll be here."

"I know." I closed my eyes and leaned against her.

Miss Pender and I cuddled together.I never knew that intimacy is such a thing, it is extremely soft, but it can withstand wind and frost, it is obviously just a small happiness, but it will not die in the severe cold, and it will not die in the wild fire.

Just her skin, her body temperature, and her usual perfume, my fatigue immediately melted into comfort, and I gained confidence, and a spirit and soul to become brave.

"I feel very tired and tired." I slowly began to confided, "I thought I would be in a state of restlessness, maybe I would find something I hadn't noticed before, maybe I would feel relieved. I have to say, I The anticipation about unpacking the 'package' was unrealistic at times. I just didn't expect to be this tired, and as a start, the tiredness didn't come across very well. "

Miss Pender sat up a little, looked into my eyes, and said, "I'm so proud of you."

I pursed my lips: "I don't know what to do because of the feeling of being tired."

"Hmm..." She looked at me, "Maybe we can start by changing the wet shirt?"

I was stunned and laughed: "You're right."

Miss Pender gave me a kiss.