Tao Zhi conveyed this with his posture and expression.
Super busy.
Do not disturb.
Sister: 【Nothing much, just saw that May Day is coming up and wondered if you’d come back?】
Sister: 【This year’s May Day is five days off.】
Sister: 【Bro, you coming back?】
Tao Zhi thought for a moment.
His busy fingers paused, then flew across the keyboard: 【Probably not.】
Tao Zhi: 【Got part-time work over May Day.】
Thanks to the part-time gigs Fu Si Heng had found him, Tao Zhi learned about house-sitting jobs like pet feeding and dog-walking.
Big cities had tons of cat and dog owners, and during holidays when they traveled far, figuring out what to do with their furry kids was a huge headache.
They hired people to come over for feeding, watering, dog-walking, playing with cats—the pay was sky-high!
Way better than handing out flyers.
Tao Zhi planned to stay in S City over May Day, mapping a route from school to Fu Si Heng’s place, feeding from morning till evening.
He had already posted the ad, and tons of people messaged asking about rates—no time to go home.
Big cities really offered so many money-making chances. Tao Zhi wanted to save more, hoping to pause his student loan repayments next year.
He had already scrimped quite a bit.
Tao Zhi was a little money-grubber.
Sister: 【O~O Oh~】
Tao Zhi: 【What’s wrong? Something happen?】
Tao Zhi found his sister’s emoji odd and couldn’t help probing.
Sister: 【Nope.】
Sister: 【Just missing you a bit.】
Huh?
Tao Zhi was even more baffled.
Tao Zhi: 【I haven’t been gone from home that long.】
Sister: 【But I miss you.】
Sister: 【I feel like you’re working so hard, so tired.】
Sister: 【Back then I was immature, always clinging to you, bothering you.】
Sister: 【TvT Bro, you’re so hardworking.】
Tao Zhi: “?”
Tao Zhi grew even more confused from Tao Tao’s words.
Why this sudden sentimentality?
Clueless, he stared at the screen for a good while, seemingly pondering.
Fu Si Heng’s voice sounded by his ear: “What’s wrong?”
“My sister, I don’t know what’s up with her, suddenly saying all these weird things.” As Tao Zhi answered Fu Si Heng, he suddenly seemed to think of something and went back to typing.
Tao Zhi: 【What’s going on with you? Did something happen at home?】
Sister: 【O~O Huh? No.】
Sister: 【Just a sudden sigh.】
Tao Zhi wouldn’t buy that.
His sister was usually carefree—when had she ever gotten sentimental?
He simply called Tao Tao.
“Hey, Bro.” As soon as the call connected, Tao Tao’s voice came through first: “Why are you calling? Really, nothing’s up, nothing happened at home… Mom had surgery again last week. Don’t panic—the surgery went smoothly, and recovery’s been good. Don’t worry.”
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Tao Zhi jolted at Tao Tao’s first half, his pounding heart gradually calming at the follow-up.
Tao Tao: “You’re away, telling you would just make you worry for nothing.”
The family hadn’t meant to hide it from him on purpose.
They couldn’t anyway—Tao Zhi could video call home and find out everything.
Tao Tao was on her way to the hospital right now.
For the past half month, she had skipped evening self-study after class to care for Mom at the hospital, which sparked her earlier sentimentality.
“Dad said to ask if you’d come back for May Day. If yes, head straight to Auntie’s—I’ve been staying there lately too. If not, no need to tell you about Mom’s surgery, to spare you the worry.” Here, Tao Tao scratched her nose: “Didn’t expect you to find out.”
Tao Zhi: “…”
“You should’ve told me.” Tao Zhi said.
Money-making was nothing compared to family.
“It’s fine now.” Tao Tao said: “Mom’s recovering well. Dad said if you don’t come back, you save on train tickets.”
“Round trip’s over a thousand.”
“…Doesn’t matter.” Tao Zhi tightened his grip on the phone: “I’ll come home for May Day.”
–
And so it was settled.
Tao Zhi deleted the pet-sitting post, but he still had to handle the dog-walking in the neighborhood—the owner had booked him half a month in advance.
They were going abroad for May Day, offering double pay for walks, begging Tao Zhi to help.
He had agreed then.
Now…
He handed the job to Fu Si Heng.
Fu Si Heng agreed readily.
The high-speed train took six hours. Fu Si Heng originally wanted to book him a flight, but Tao Zhi refused.
During Spring Festival, he had agreed because of the girlfriend role and couldn’t find a reason to argue. But not now—Tao Zhi didn’t want to take advantage of Fu Si Heng.
He set off in the afternoon and only arrived at the county seat at eight that evening.
Instead of going to his aunt’s as Tao Tao suggested, he headed straight to the hospital after getting off.
Tao Tao met him downstairs, and when they entered the ward, others were there too.
His aunt was there, along with his high school cousin.
Tao Zhi called out “Mom” upon entering, then greeted his aunt.
“Little Zhi’s back? Must be tiring after a whole day on the train?” His aunt stood up, naturally taking the backpack from his shoulders and patting them: “You’ve grown taller. Why didn’t you go home first? Uncle’s waiting with dinner for you.”
“Hungry?”
“Not hungry, Auntie.” Tao Zhi said: “I’ll go back with you all later.”
“I heard from Tao Tao you’ve been helping take care of things. Auntie, thank you so much.”
“What’s family for? I haven’t done much.” His aunt smiled.
Tao Zhi spoke nicely—sincere, thoughtful, polite, quite likable.
In comparison…
Tao Hui casually grabbed her son, who had been ignoring everyone while glued to his phone: “Still playing? Always with those earphones, eyes stuck to the screen—want me to smash it?”
“Your cousin’s here and you don’t even greet him.”
“Got it, got it… Mom, don’t yank my earphones.” The high school boy stood up reluctantly.
The moment he unplugged the earphones, the sound from his phone kept playing.
The familiar music made Tao Zhi pause slightly, then his cousin turned off the screen.
“Cousin.” He greeted him.
