Chapter 20: In Adults’ Words, Making Friends Means Blind Dating

Tang…

Tang Man drove the car into the underground parking lot and took the elevator directly upstairs with the insulated lunch box.

Sure enough, as soon as she stepped out of the elevator, she saw Xie Li.

She was a bit puzzled, “You’re not going to the company today?”

Although Old Tang was hospitalized, Special Assistant Xie was also a senior executive in the company. Many affairs had to pass through his hands. He was usually even busier than the company’s managers. How come she saw him at the hospital every time she came?

“Director Tang called me over,” Xie Li answered, and took the lunch box from her hand in passing.

Tang Man gave an “oh”, glanced at the person, and walked towards the ward together, thinking that she had just used this person’s car, and quite a few times at that. She had troubled the other party quite a bit in life. Based on the principle of always making small talk when meeting, she casually asked a question.

“Special Assistant Xie still hasn’t found a girlfriend?”

In her memory, since the first time Xie Li appeared in front of her, he seemed to have been single for many years. She had never seen an intimate woman by his side. After all, this was a man who always buttoned his shirt all the way to the top, even his Adam’s apple was almost covered by the collar.

Xie Li’s expression remained unchanged, and he replied flatly, “Young Miss is now starting to care about the love lives of company employees?”

Tang Man smiled, “Seeing how hard Special Assistant Xie works, I’m just showing some concern on Old Tang’s behalf.”

“Corporate culture, corporate culture.”

Xie Li turned his head to look at the smiling Tang Man, his expression almost blank, but also seeming to contain something. Tang Man couldn’t tell. The smile on her face remained unchanged, casual and at ease. She did indeed make a sarcastic remark about the other party in her heart.

Then she heard Xie Li say, “Thank you for Young Miss’s concern. I currently have no intention of dating.”

An obvious perfunctory response. Sometimes when Tang Man didn’t want to listen to Old Tang, she would brush him off like this.

So she didn’t say more. She was just gossiping and showing concern out of boredom.

But when she entered the room, Tang Man raised her eyebrows. “Someone came today?”

The ward was filled with bouquets, some even placed on the sofa. It felt like a flower shop. The whole room was filled with the scent of flowers, and not just one scent, but various scents.

It proved that most flower scents weren’t actually pleasant, especially those from flower shops, mixed with a peculiar scent of ink and paper. The more expensive the flowers, the more artificial the fragrance. Only those common wildflowers might have a fresher and more elegant scent.

Almost as soon as she entered, before she finished speaking, her nose became itchy and she couldn’t help but sneeze several times.

Xie Li put the insulated lunch box on the side table and quickly pulled out a few tissues to hand to her.

Tang Man took them, wrinkled her nose and said thanks, then looked towards Old Tang lying on the hospital bed.

It seemed that among the delicate flowers, Old Tang also looked a few years younger and more handsome. But people age after all, no longer as vigorous as in their youth.

She had seen photos of Old Tang when he was young before. A pair of smiling, charming eyes, wearing a floral shirt, standing by the sea, smiling at the camera, his eyes full of affection. At a glance, he was a handsome man who could ruin a nation.

Now, her mother Madam Yang’s beauty had not faded, but the handsome man had grown wrinkles, no longer the same as before.

Old Tang noticed the lunch box Xie Li put aside at a glance and told Xie Li to bring it over quickly. He had no appetite in the morning and didn’t eat. He had been thinking about Tang Man’s soup all morning. It was the first time his daughter said she would make soup for him. One couldn’t blame this old father for being moved to tears.

He casually answered the question Tang Man asked when she entered, “The company’s executives and some partners came by in the morning.”

Xie Li helped open the lunch box. Almost as soon as he opened it and saw the dishes inside, his hand couldn’t help but pause for a moment. He couldn’t resist glancing at Tang Man, who was still wrinkling her nose not far away, using a tissue to wipe, seeming quite uncomfortable.

Old Tang also blinked when he saw the dishes in the lunch box. He looked up at his daughter not far away, somewhat in disbelief, raising his eyebrows. But in the end, he didn’t say anything and took the bowl and chopsticks from the silent Xie Li.

Seeing that Tang Zhengfeng had started eating, Xie Li tidied up a bit, stepped away from the bedside, walked a few steps, and quietly opened the windows of the ward a little.

Tang Man glanced at the other party. Before meeting Xie Li’s gaze, she withdrew her sight and sat not far from the window, smiling and asking, “Dad, doesn’t it taste good?”

Old Tang waited for the food in his mouth to be swallowed. After several seconds, he took another sip of the soup before saying, “This soup definitely wasn’t made by you.”

He was clear about his daughter’s cooking level.

Xie Li, standing by the window, lowered his eyes upon hearing this. He leaned by the window, looking downstairs.

The sun was nice today. Some hospitalized patients were walking around downstairs, taking the opportunity to bask in the sun.

Tang Man smiled, sniffled, couldn’t help but sneeze again, and said, “You know my level. I can’t even recognize all the pots and pans. When scallions and garlic sprouts are on the shelf in the supermarket, they look like the same thing to me.”

“Si Jiahe made this. Didn’t you see him yesterday? He cooked the dishes and steamed the rice in the rice cooker. Your daughter only helped wash the vegetables.”

In the end, she was even chased out of the kitchen by Si Jiahe. Of course, Tang Man didn’t say this, after all, she had to leave some room for Old Tang to feel touched.

Who knew Old Tang would glance at Tang Man, take another big gulp of the pork knuckle soup before saying, “The soup is good, but that boy is no good.”

Looked delicate and prissy, didn’t speak with vigor, not a bit of masculinity. In a word, Tang Zhengfeng looked down on him.

Tang Man laughed, almost rolling her eyes, “Come on, you’re drinking the soup he made, and still say he’s no good. You have no sense of gratitude for eating his food.”

But after wiping his mouth and putting down his chopsticks, Old Tang continued, “A friend of mine recently returned to the country. Haven’t seen each other in a long time. Planning to get together. They also have a kid about your age. Meet up and chat, make a friend.”

“Is the company in trouble?”

This was Tang Man’s reaction upon hearing this. It really sounded too much like he wanted her to go on a blind date for a marriage alliance.

Old Tang directly let out a crude word, “What nonsense are you saying!” This sentence had quite the hooligan quality of his younger days.

Tang Man smiled sarcastically, “I thought you were going to sell me off for a marriage alliance.”

Tang Zhengfeng rolled his eyes, “What marriage alliance? Just want you to make friends, see the world. They’re all my old brothers. Most of the time they stay abroad. Now they’re homesick and bringing their sons back to the country to develop. So our two families meet up. Where do you get this blind date marriage alliance stuff?”

Tang Man gave an indifferent “oh”, then firmly refused, “Then I won’t go. I’m busy with work these days, no time to go.”

She’d be a fool to believe Tang Zhengfeng’s “meeting friends”. Which of his drinking buddies had she not seen? Most of them hung out in pleasure quarters, all unfaithful to their wives.

She remembered one time when she happened to run into an uncle and his unknown-numbered mistress celebrating a birthday while she was on a dinner date with Du Henian at a restaurant.

The scene was really awkward.

Of course, the one who felt awkward was mainly that uncle. After all, Tang Man was an oddball. At that time, seeing that unknown-numbered mistress, she suddenly thought of the man’s original wife at home.

That wife was truly memorable. Even in Tang Man’s memory, she was one of the few women, not because of her pretty face, but because of her gentle and graceful manner when dealing with people, her temperament was exceptional.

So at that time, Tang Man looked at the middle-aged man across from her, whose smile was a bit unnatural, with great distaste. She raised her eyebrows and joked with a smile, “Uncle looks quite well recently, glowing with health.”

That uncle could only exchange a few polite words, ask about Old Tang’s health as etiquette required, then naturally replied, “Man Man, having dinner here with your boyfriend? Haven’t seen you in a long time. When you have time, come to uncle’s house for a meal with your dad.”

These were all just adult pleasantries. Next, they should have gone their separate ways. But Tang Man deliberately didn’t. Her temper flared up. She glanced at the woman beside the middle-aged man and said with a smirk, “Who is this young lady? I don’t think I’ve ever seen her before. Is she the daughter of one of Uncle’s friends?”

Tang Man had always been skilled at sarcastic remarks. She rendered the middle-aged man speechless, his face stiffening. At that time, even Du Henian beside her noticed something was off, let alone the girl beside the man. She almost immediately took a few steps back, distancing herself from the middle-aged man. She said a few words and hurriedly left.

From then on, that uncle basically avoided Tang Man whenever he saw her. For a period of time, even Old Tang noticed the oddity and couldn’t help but curiously ask.

So in reality, Old Tang was now the most outstanding one among them, standing out like a crane among chickens because he was too upright.

But speaking of which, it was all just the bad roots of men. Old Tang… Tang Man glanced at Old Tang’s appearance and felt it was better not to say anything.

Although Old Tang was Tang Man’s dad, in Tang Man’s eyes, he wasn’t anything good either.

Of course, she wasn’t a good person either, at least not a good woman in the conventional sense. The genes passed down from the previous generation had already marked her bones with instability.

Seeking thrills, quickly getting tired of the old and craving the new.