windy city rainy season

Chang Zheng didn't understand why a one-month deadline was set. Tao Yu only said that the matter would be concluded at that time, but he didn't give any further explanation.

When Tao's father returned home that night, his face was sour. The first trial judged that the two operation managers and Tao Yu's cousin embezzled privately divided state-owned assets. The three refused to accept it and appealed in court.For the next few days, Father Tao came home very late, except to ask a few questions about Tao Yu's health, and shut himself in the study to talk on the phone.

Chang Zheng was worried about Tao Yu's emotions at first, but he found that his face was not as solemn as his father's. Sometimes he was cautiously wandering around the closed door of the study, and the eyes he looked at his father also had some meaning.Chang Zheng always felt that the atmosphere between their father and son was weird, as if there was some tacit secret.

One day after a week, Father Tao suddenly returned home early, uncharacteristically.Tao Yu was in good spirits that day, and cooked a sumptuous dinner.At the dinner table, Father Tao casually mentioned that he had gone through the formalities of withdrawing from the second line.Literally, Chang Zheng didn't think it was something worth celebrating, but Tao Yu seemed very happy. He opened a bottle of Moutai and asked Chang Zheng to have a drink with his father for him.

Father Tao was not in a good mood at first, and he didn't let go of his thoughts until after two or two drinks. He held up the wine glass to look at his son, and then at Chang Zheng on the opposite side. Don't fight for your life, just retire and live a few years of youthful life.

Before Dr. Chang was knocked down by the 52-degree Moutai, he still didn't know what the father and son were celebrating, let alone how Tao Yu's father got involved from "retiring to the second line" to "holding a grandson".

After helping Chang Zheng to sleep in the house, Tao Yu returned to the dining room, touched his father's wine glass with a glass of warm water and asked, "When will my mother come back?"

"Soon." Father Tao shook his wine glass and sighed, "Your mother is usually the strongest person, and she has been wronged these days. Others may think that I was influenced by her to retreat, but she was actually implicated by me." .”

Tao Yu looked at his father's neglected hair that showed white stubble recently, and explained: "It's good to retire, and you will have to work for another five or six years to get half a grade. What are you trying to do? Go out with my mother more in the future. You don’t have to be subject to so many restrictions when you go abroad. It’s okay, you can visit me and let me save some airfare.”

Father Tao took a sip of his wine and said, "You still want to go back with him? How about that kid?"

"What's wrong?" Tao Yu asked back.

"Anywhere is fine, how did you become like this?"

Tao Yu glanced at his father and said: "Okay, everyone has their own way of life, so don't worry about it. Besides, you and my mother have retired, and I won't finish my doctorate honestly. How will I mess around in the future?" eat."

Father Tao looked at his son for a while, and suddenly said with emotion: "When I was your age, I came to Beijing to go to university alone with a suitcase on my back. After you were born, I told your mother that our son does not need to eat His father has suffered. As a result, you grew up and ran farther away with your suitcase on your back. Although you have not been in front of me these few years, I can imagine the hardships. Your father is very proud of you. "

Tao Yu somehow remembered the scene when he left home, and now he can sit together calmly, listening to his father say these words, he can't help but lament that the times have changed, and he can't help the sore eye circles.Seeing that the wine glass in front of his father was empty, he picked up the wine bottle and filled it for him.

"The last glass, I can't drink any more." Tao Yu sealed the bottle and put it aside.

"This Changzheng is good everywhere." Father Tao complained, holding a glass of wine, "It's just that the capacity for drinking is too bad."

Tao Yu glanced at his father helplessly, "Don't worry about letting a drunkard get medical treatment!"

Sure enough, Mother Tao returned home not long after. Although it was found out that there was no financial relationship between her and Fang Xiaolong, and her original position had not changed, she still went through the formalities of internal retirement. Given her rank, she would have to wait until three years before her official retirement. .

When everything was settled, as Tao Yu said, it took a month.Chang Zheng still didn't understand the connection. Tao Yu didn't intend to explain it to him. He took the remote control and changed several channels. The TV was full of news about the two sessions. Speeding up the adjustment of energy structure was an important topic at the meeting.

"I'll be back on the weekend." Chang Zheng sat on the sofa, seeing that Tao Yu was indifferent to his words, he could only ask again, "Aren't you coming with me?"

Tao Yu stared at the TV and said, "I was on sick leave this semester. My mother just came home, so of course I should spend more time with her. If I come back later, I won't have such a long time to live with them."

After hearing this, Chang Zheng didn't urge him anymore, and watched TV with the other party for a while, and found that every word the announcer said was very clear, but they didn't know what she was talking about together.Staring blankly at the screen for half a minute, Chang Zheng's thoughts had already drifted away, and he suddenly turned his head and said, "It's better if you go back later, stay away from that Senior Brother Chen. That day in the hospital, he was seriously destroying the harmonious society."

Tao Yu: "..."

"You'd better stop learning Chinese from the News Network." Dumbfoundingly turning off the TV, Tao Yu turned his head and said to Chang Zheng, "Chen Li has been in Shanghai a while ago, and he still has two students who haven't graduated yet, so he came back to guide the experiment. During the Spring Festival He came to Beijing to visit me a while ago, and advised me to go back and finish my doctorate from the perspective of a teacher. In fact, he has no obsession with me, but he thinks that I am similar to his former lover in some ways. They have been separated for several years, brother I didn't look for it again, I guess he still misses that person."

Chang Zheng did not dispel his hostility towards Chen Li because of this, he snorted and repeated the old tune: "You get what you get and don't throw a fit."

Tao Yu curled his lips and said, "Can you be more childish?"

"Finderskeepers, losersweepers."

Tao Yu rolled his eyes and got up, ready to go back to his parents' house for dinner.Since Mother Tao came back, the two of them temporarily lived in Grandpa Tao Yu's suite.

Before going out, I often use my mobile phone to watch the news, and suddenly raised my head and said: "The state has submitted a Civil Union bill, and both houses have passed it."

"Civil Union?"

"Civil union does not specifically refer to the opposite sex. Except that there is no MarriageLicense, it has the same rights as marriage, property rights, inheritance, less taxburden..." (translation: land ownership, inheritance rights, reduced tax rates...)

Tao Yu couldn't believe it, "Since 07, there has been a similar proposal, which has been rejected all the time, but it was passed this year?!"

"Don't expect too much." Chang Zheng raised the collar of Tao Yu's coat, pushed him outside and said, "The approval of the two houses does not mean that it will finally take effect, and the special session of the Legislative Council in August will still be passed. Approval, November and the veto of the Senate and House of Representatives, each of which may make the proposal... fall short..."

"It fell short."

"Yep."

"At least it's moving forward."

"If the bill hasn't passed by the time you graduate, we might as well move to Boston, and you can try contacting a postdoc at MIT."

"You want to go to Massachusetts General Hospital to do Fellowship?"

"The competition there is fierce, but it's worth trying. Their cardiovascular system ranks among the top three in the country."

"If you can get into Massachusetts General Hospital, we'll move to Boston and get married."

"Do Chinese-style marriages have to have an 'if... then...' premise?"

"Don't be dissatisfied, let you try to marry a 'Chinese mother-in-law'!"

……

On June 2011, 6, the Illinois Civil Union Act came into effect.

After a one-day mandatory waiting period, Tao Yu and Chang Zheng held a simple ceremony at the Cook County Government Hall in Chicago on June 6. Parents and a few friends of both parties were present—Chang Ling went to sea again and was unable to attend .The weather that day was very warm, it was drizzling, and it was raining heavily, just like the day when Tao Yu first came to the United States.

After the ceremony, the Civil UnionLicense signed by the two was registered.It is not a marriage certificate, but a testimony and a guarantee of power.

——End of text——