Road to Revival

Tao Xiaohe resolutely refused to go back to the factory with Tao Tang, especially after the possibility of getting close to her idol. Near the end of the concert, Tang Yikun sent a car to take Tao Tang and Fang Ke back to the factory, and they agreed to contact each other the next day. Xiaohe was then handed over to Tang Yikun.

Mu Shang escorted Tao and Fang to Xiao Zhao's door, and Marin went back. Tao Tang struggled for a long time before finally knocking on Xiao Zhao's locked door.

"Oh, it's Mr. Tao. I'm so sorry, I was sleeping so soundly..." The sleepy-eyed duty officer hurriedly apologized.

"I should be the one apologizing. I've disturbed your rest. Please get me another room..."

"Okay, okay..." The duty officer looked closely at Fang Ke, went back to the room and found a room key. "303, it's right across from yours."

Tao Tang took the room key and led the silent Fang Lan upstairs. The small hotel was already sparsely populated, and during the holiday it was eerily quiet.

"I live across the street. You can rest. You can sleep in a little longer in the morning." Tao Tang opened the door to room 303, inserted the card to turn on the electricity, and checked the room. The layout was exactly the same as his own room 302, also a large suite, but with fewer appliances and furniture. "Oh, you'll have to wait if you want to take a shower," Tao Tang turned on the bathroom light and pointed to the electric water heater.

Fang Ke went into the bathroom, and Tao Tang took the opportunity to return to his room and close the door.

He didn't want to bring Fang Ke back, but he couldn't push her into the Tang family's care either. He hoped she would leave Pingquan soon... He wanted to call his mother-in-law, but it was too late. This day was fucking exhausting. Tao Tang turned off the light, lay down on the bed fully clothed, and fell asleep without realizing it.

In a daze, Tao Tang heard a knock on the door, turned on the lamp, went to open the door, and saw Fang Ke standing at the door in the dim light of the wall lamps in the corridor.

"What's wrong?" Tao Tang looked away, trying hard not to look at the girl opposite him.

"I left my pajamas and spare underwear at your classmate's house..."

"I guess I'll just have to bear with it. I should have faith in the hygiene of my guesthouse..."

"No. I need to change my underwear every day."

"Then we'll just have to wait until tomorrow morning. You should rest; I promise I'll get your luggage back by tomorrow morning."

"I can lend you yours, I'm not much shorter than you anyway... and a towel, shower gel... also, I'm a little hungry..."

"Okay, okay, you go back, I'll bring it to you." Tao Tang got up, took out an unopened white shirt and a brand new pair of athletic shorts from the closet, and then took out his own shower gel from the bathroom. "No new towels, the hotel towels are fine..." He turned around and saw Fang Ke follow him into the bedroom. "What are you doing in here?"

"What are you feeling guilty about? Is there something you don't want me to see?" Fang Ke turned on the bedroom light, looked around, then went into the bathroom and pulled a towel off the clothes rack. "I don't use hotel supplies."

"Hey! How could you use mine?"

"I didn't even complain about how dirty you are, why are you yelling? Get me some food, I'm going to take a shower..." Fang Ke carried the food back, without even closing the door.

"All I have is instant noodles..."

"Instant noodles are fine too," Fang Ke said in a muffled voice.

Tao Tang sighed, took a cup of instant noodles from the refrigerator, found two braised eggs, boiled some water in the electric kettle, put the seasoned noodles in the kettle, then lay down on the bed and actually fell asleep again. He didn't know how much time had passed when he heard a noise, opened his eyes, and saw Fang Ke, wearing his white shirt and athletic shorts, sitting on the edge of the bed looking at him.

"Are you really asleep?"

"I'm a little tired today... I'm so sleepy... I didn't sleep well last night..." Tao Tang sat up and rubbed his face vigorously. "The noodles are ready, and there are two eggs too. Take them home and eat them..."

Fang Ke didn't move, continuing to look at Tao Tang. "It's quite tidy. Did someone tidy it up for you? Don't get too decadent; your predecessor just collapsed, don't forget that."

"Don't worry about that, I'm not that stupid." Tao Tang tried hard not to look at Fang Ke, especially her two bare legs that were mostly exposed.

"That's not necessarily true. You yourself said that people who aren't supervised are bound to cause problems. Who's supervising you now? Nobody, right?"

"Are you going to eat it or not? It's getting cold!"

Fang Ke smiled, got up and returned to the table, "You should know I don't eat these seasonings, this is terrible..."

"You should have said so earlier."

"Why do you always eat this junk food? I've told you before, you can't eat these things."

"Occasionally."

Fang Ke got up, picked up the teacup from Tao Tang's bedside table, rinsed herself in the bathroom first, then filled it with boiling water. "I'm really hungry..." she said, tearing open a braised egg. "Want one too?"

"I'm not hungry."

"Hmm? Where do you usually eat? This guesthouse?"

"Yes."

"How's the food?"

"good."

Fang Ke quickly devoured the two braised eggs. She took a sip of water, got up, and placed the glass on the bedside table. "Busy with work? Still like Sheng Dong?" Fang Ke sat on the edge of the bed, moved back against the headboard, and "threw" one leg onto the bed.

"Almost." Tao Tang tried to look away from Fang Ke.

Fang Ke chuckled, "What do you think? Should I go meet your family? It was a bit rushed, I didn't bring any gifts."

"Isn't that unnecessary? You're going back tomorrow?"

"Why are you kicking me out?"

"How was the Qingdao art exhibition?" Tao Tang once again used his special skill—changing the subject.

You wouldn't understand even if I told you.

"Yes, I don't understand your life, and you don't understand mine either."

"So, I need to understand your life. I've decided, hire me into your company."

"Are you kidding me?"

"I'm not joking. I promised my sister I would take care of you for the rest of your life."

"Get some rest. I'm going to sleep too..."

Fang Ke suddenly jumped up, "Go ahead and hide, hide! Let's see how long you can hide! I'll remind you again, I'm already 28 years old!" She rushed out and slammed the door shut.

Tao Tang turned off the light, plunging himself back into darkness. He preferred pitch-black environments when he was thinking. His firm refusal to accept the offer stemmed from both his age and personality. If we could turn back time 20 years, he might not have acted this way. Young people are often more concerned with appearance, but time teaches us that personality is the most important factor in marriage.

Fang Ke and Fang Lan have completely different personalities. The former is outgoing and passionate, while the latter is introverted and reserved. Tao Tang remembers that when he was young, he always brought his work frustrations home, yelling at Fang Lan over trivial matters, even throwing things. After his outburst, he would immediately feel remorse and apologize to his wife. He pretended to be mature and composed at work, but he always inevitably slipped up at home. Fang Lan, however, never got angry about it, always defusing his outbursts with her calm and collected demeanor. She even told him, "If this makes you feel better, then don't change it. I understand."

He truly understood after Fang Lan left, but it was too late. If it were Fang Ke, she would never have possessed Fang Lan's refinement and gentleness; it would have inevitably led to arguments… Besides, Fang Ke loved excitement and all things beautiful, which was probably related to her profession. Tao Tang had seen Fang Ke's paintings; the colors were vibrant and unrestrained, the compositions bold and exaggerated, revealing her passionate and exuberant inner world. Fang Ke had told him that she could change, that she could become like her sister. But he knew that, let alone the difficulty of changing one's temperament, even if she did change, Fang Lan would be ruined, no longer herself.

Love is free, and being loved is equally free. Tao Tang didn't think he had done anything wrong. Besides personality, age was also a crucial factor. Fifteen years was no small difference. According to Yin Yutao (who wasn't referring to Fang Ke but to her students), the difference between generations wasn't ten or twenty years, but three to five! Almost every class of students was very different. How many generations were in fifteen years? Her concerns, likes, and dislikes were almost entirely different from his own, which was no small matter. How many conflicts would arise if they lived under the same roof? Bodhisattvas fear the cause, mortals fear the effect. Tao Tang considered himself a mortal after all, and didn't have that much patience to appease his young wife. He had examined himself countless times; in reality, he was very selfish, always preferring to arrange and conduct things according to his own pace, whether at work or in life. This personality trait was probably hard to change. Finally, there was something he seriously suspected: Fang Ke didn't love him, but rather admired him. It was precisely because she had lived in his family's house for so long when she was young that she had confused the difference between love and admiration. The most beautiful and reasonable relationship between husband and wife is one of equality. Losing equality will inevitably lead to hidden dangers.

How to convince her? Yes, she's 28, and it's time for her to get married. But in Yanjing, that age isn't a big deal. She can absolutely find suitable love and a happy ending.

His parents' approval was also selfish; his mother-in-law's approval, out of love for Xiaohe and sympathy for him, was also selfish. Fang Ke's parents' approval stemmed from helplessness—Fang Ke had been a willful child since childhood. None of them truly considered Fang Ke's perspective; only they thought of her. Twenty years from now, he would be old and frail, while Fang Ke would still be energetic and vibrant. Could such a marriage be happy? He seriously doubted it. Many years ago, reading the history of Chinese philosophy, he ridiculed Yang Zhu's school for its extreme selfishness—"not even plucking a single hair to benefit the world"—a stark contrast to the Mohists' advocacy of "working oneself to the utmost to benefit the world." But later he discovered that the extreme selfishness advocated by Yang Zhu's philosophy wasn't entirely true. Not letting others take advantage also means not taking advantage of others. In real life, such a principle is certainly undesirable and impossible to achieve. But selfishness doesn't necessarily harm others, and universal love doesn't necessarily benefit the masses. This is especially true in matters of the heart.

I didn't do anything wrong. Didn't I? I can't impose my will on others, but others have no right to impose their will on me...

……

Hearing the loud knocking, Ye Mei rushed out of the duty room opposite the third-floor staircase and saw a tall, beautiful woman banging on Tao Tang's door. "Hey, who are you? Nobody's here!" Ye Mei shouted.

Fang Ke, dressed in a Tao Tang shirt and athletic shorts, stared at Ye Mei and asked, "And who are you?"

"I'm a waiter! How did you get in here? Huh?"

Where did Tao Tang go?

"Mr. Tao has gone home. Hey, did you stay here last night? Who handled your paperwork?"

"Tao Tang brought me here, don't believe me?" Fang Ke looked Ye Mei up and down, and Ye Mei was also looking Fang Ke up and down.

"President Tao is back?" Ye Mei asked suspiciously. "What's your relationship to him?"

"I'm his girlfriend. Open his door, I left my things in his room."

"Are you really Mr. Tao's girlfriend?" Ye Mei was unaware of Tao Tang's family affairs. "You're lying!"

Fang laughed. "Of course you don't know your CEO Tao is single. See this? This is his shirt. He probably went to get me some clothes."

Ye Mei was starting to believe it; the shirt and the athletic shorts definitely weren't hers. "Is President Tao really back?" she wondered, her mind still replaying Fang Ke's earlier words.

"Don't you believe me?"

Ye Mei took the room key and opened Tao Tang's door. After just one glance, she believed Fang Ke's words. Tao Tang had indeed returned, but she didn't know where he was. "I'm sorry. I just took over the shift and didn't see President Tao." The girl immediately started tidying up the instant noodles and other trash on the desk.

"Do you usually clean the house?"

"Yes, the factory assigned me to take care of General Manager Tao..." Ye Mei looked Fang Ke up and down again: She's even taller than me... I guess this woman just met General Manager Tao, otherwise why would she book another room?

"How corrupt. He's not without hands and feet." Fang Ke was also sizing up Ye Mei. "What's your name?"

"My surname is Ye, you can call me Xiao Ye."

"Oh, go ahead... I'll stay in this room."

"That won't do. You can't be here."

Why can't I be here?

"You can't be here alone until your identity is confirmed. What if you lose something? I'll be responsible."

Fang Ke found it amusing. Hearing Tao Tang's voice in the corridor, she went out to greet him and saw Tao Tang returning with his suitcase in one hand and Xiao He in the other.