(Before reading, please read the previous chapter!!!

The previous chapter has been greatly revised and the plot has changed a lot. Please read it again.)

It was 12: 30 in the afternoon in Boston. It was 12 hours away from home, which meant that it was 12: 30 in the morning over at Qiao Lan's place.

Qiao Lan finally got Tan Mo's phone number tonight. After she finished her work, she used the lady boss's phone to call Tan Mo.

It was a little noisy on the other end. Tan Mo's voice was a little hoarse. She didn't know if it was because he had a cold or something.

"Tan Mo, do you have a cold? Why is your voice a little hoarse?" Qiao Lan asked him. After a while, he replied with two words, "No."

Then, there was silence again.

If it wasn't for the fact that Qiao Lan already knew what kind of person Tan Mo was and knew that he was usually this quiet, she wouldn't have been able to continue the conversation.

Usually, when she talked to Tan Mo, other than when Tan Mo was talking about a topic or a book that he was particularly interested in, Tan Mo wouldn't talk if he could. If you didn't ask him, he definitely wouldn't take the initiative to talk.

Qiao Lan had looked into it and found that this was a common problem with Asperger's disease. It was because they felt that there was no need to talk about daily things.

Qiao Lan thought that when school started, she must try her best to change Tan Mo's habit of not talking. Otherwise, how would he interact with others in the future? She had the patience, but others might not.

"Did you go to America for something important?" Qiao Lan looked at the snowflakes floating outside. "You left in a hurry before, so I didn't have time to ask."

The noise on the other end of the phone gradually disappeared. Maybe Tan Mo had changed places, so he continued, "Grandpa is sick."

"I see," Qiao Lan nodded. "No wonder you left in a hurry. Is he better now?"

"He passed away the day before yesterday."

Qiao Lan: "… My condolences."

Tan Mo wanted to say that there was no need to grieve, and that there was no need to grieve, but he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

Uncle Chen pushed him out of the hospital. After they got into the car, the surroundings became even quieter. The sound of Qiao Lan on the phone became clearer. Uncle Chen could hear the voice on the other end of the phone.

When he heard Tan Mo coldly say "passed away," he couldn't help but cough. Tan Mo didn't understand the twists and turns in his words. He was just telling the truth, but his words were really choking. Qiao Lan was stunned for a few seconds before he quickly changed the topic.

"You left in a hurry last time and didn't even finish the last language exam. But in the end, you're still number one."

Tan Mo replied, "Oh." He wasn't very interested in the current conversation. He actually wanted to ask why Qiao Lan was calling him now, but Qiao Lan was talking now, so Tan Mo decided to talk to Qiao Lan obediently for the time being.

"Are you in second place?"

"Yes," Qiao Lan was very happy. "When the results were out, I wanted to tell you, but I didn't have your contact information. What a pity."

Tan Mo was stunned. He suddenly raised his head. Qiao Lan waited for a long time, but didn't hear any response. "What's wrong?"

"I left my contact information," Tan Mo said in a low voice. Then he added, "I asked the homeroom teacher to pass it to you."

This time, it was Qiao Lan's turn to be stunned.

It had been more than 20 days since the exam had ended. Qiao Lan hadn't seen the homeroom teacher at all, and the homeroom teacher hadn't given her anything either.

Therefore, Tan Mo had specifically asked the homeroom teacher to pass the message to her before he left. But did the homeroom teacher forget or delay something?

Qiao Lan didn't know what to say for a moment.

After a long time, she finally opened her mouth.

"I didn't receive it."

Uncle Chen, who was sitting in the front seat, sighed. He felt that there was something strange about this. As expected, it wasn't that Qiao Lan didn't want to contact him, but that she couldn't contact him at all.

Qiao Lan also said that when Mr. Feng came over for dinner, she specifically asked Mr. Feng for Tan Mo's contact information. Then, she said Happy New Year, which was two days late, to make up for it.

When the call finally ended, Uncle Chen looked at Tan Mo, who was staring at the phone in a daze, from the rearview mirror. He finally felt relieved.

During the New Year, Tan Mo suddenly told him that he didn't want to go back to China. Uncle Chen was shocked.

But now … Uncle Chen was relieved. After the old man's funeral, they could go back to China.

However, compared to Tan Mo's naivety, Uncle Chen thought deeper.

Previously, when he called Tan Mo's homeroom teacher, the homeroom teacher confirmed that he had sent the phone number to Qiao Lan's parents. If Qiao Lan's parents had received the message, why didn't they tell Qiao Lan?

Did they deliberately not tell her or did they forget?

The former was malicious, the latter was indifference.

No matter which one it was, it was definitely not the attitude of a normal parent. When he saw Qiao Lan coming out to work, he just thought that Qiao Lan's family was poor. But now, it seemed that it wasn't that simple.

Uncle Chen frowned and thought for a long time. He then turned to Tan Mo, who was still staring at the phone in a daze. "Young Master, did Qiao Lan mention what her parents do for a living?"

Tan Mo stared at the phone for ten minutes. He didn't look up and said, "She did."

"What do they do for a living?"

Tan Mo had a good memory. He remembered clearly what Qiao Lan said. "There's a small restaurant in front of Affiliated High School."

Opening a restaurant in front of the school?

A small restaurant in front of the school was definitely not a poor family. There were many students and customers in the school. Even if it didn't make a lot of money, it wouldn't be too little either.

Then why did Qiao Lan work?

Previously, Uncle Chen only thought that Qiao Lan's family situation was special. Now, he was vaguely certain that there was something wrong with Qiao Lan's parents.

In the Qiao family, Qiao Lan didn't give Qiao Yuan any tutoring. She didn't have the time and didn't want to.

Fortunately, Qiao Lan spent almost the entire holiday in a western restaurant. The restaurant provided food for her, so she didn't have to go home to eat. She left home early every night and came back at midnight. She didn't have any direct contact with the Qiao family.

She heard that Qiao Yuan's parents gritted their teeth and hired a tutor from a school to give her tutoring at home. One lesson was 100 yuan, and it wasn't just one lesson. They spent a few thousand yuan during the winter holiday.

So, sometimes when Qiao Lan came back, she would occasionally bump into Qiao Lan's mother, who stayed up late to watch TV. Qiao Lan's mother looked at her as if Qiao Lan owed her money.

Qiao Lan closed the door and began to think about applying for boarding this semester. Facing the Qiao family every day would affect her mood.

However, boarding students had to close at 11 pm. She had to work at night and couldn't go home by midnight. This was another problem.

She couldn't think of a good solution. So, she could only dismiss the idea of boarding early. She thought to herself that she would get through her first year of high school and apply for boarding as soon as she reached her second year of high school.

Winter break was much shorter than summer break. It wasn't even the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and school had to start again.

The day before school started, Qiao Lan went to the bank and deposited all the money she earned during the winter break. Then, she checked her balance.

Twenty thousand one hundred and twenty-three.

It was much more than what Qiao Lan had expected when she first started working.

When she found this job, she only earned 1,600 yuan a month. The restaurant would give her a commission, tips, and occasionally bonuses. Qiao Lan calculated that she would earn 2,000 yuan a month.

She didn't need to support herself for the time being, so she didn't have any expenses. She saved all the money. By the end of her first year of high school, she should have 20,000 yuan.

The boarding and tuition fees of high school were less than 3,000 yuan a year. She had 200 yuan in her meal card every month. In the future, when the Qiao family stopped supporting her, she would have an extra 300 yuan a month for living expenses. After all, school meals were very cheap.

In this way, if she could earn 20,000 yuan, she would be able to go through her second and third year of high school without any worries.

But now, only half a year had passed, and the money in her card had reached the expected amount.

It was reasonable to say that Qiao Lan should be happy when she saw the money in her card. However, she couldn't be happy.

When she thought about where more than half of the money in her card came from, Qiao Lan felt that she couldn't sit still.

Most of the money on this side was the commission and tip that Tan Mo gave her for eating at the western restaurant.

She was a waitress who earned 2,000 yuan a month, but Tan Mo's commission made her a middle-income person who earned 5,000 yuan a month. Qiao Lan felt that it was hot to hold this card.

Qiao Lan felt that she had to find a chance to talk to Tan Mo about this matter. She didn't want him to come to the western restaurant again. What was the point of being a child of wealth every day?

She put the card away. She didn't dare to leave it at home, so she put it in the small pocket in her schoolbag. After she finished the handover with the western restaurant, she resumed her daily life of working late at night. After she went to bed early at night, she went to school early the next day.

School started.

The registration started at nine o 'clock in the morning. However, there weren't many students who came on time. Maybe they didn't get enough sleep, or maybe they stayed up all night to finish their homework.

After Qiao Lan entered the classroom, there were only a few people in the classroom. The homeroom teacher wasn't there either. Qiao Lan wanted to ask the homeroom teacher about Tan Mo's phone number. While she was thinking about how to ask without being too rude, the homeroom teacher, who had just finished a meeting, saw her and spoke first.

"During the final exam last semester, Tan Mo asked me to pass a message for you. I was too busy and forgot. I sent a message to your mother later. Did your mother tell you?"

Qiao Lan: "…"

No, Mother Qiao didn't tell her anything.

She didn't need to ask anymore. She already knew everything.

The homeroom teacher was still talking to herself happily. "Oh, I really didn't expect Tan Mo to improve so much. When he first opened the school, he didn't say a word and ignored everyone. Now, he actually took the initiative to contact people …"

Qiao Lan couldn't listen. For a moment, she had the urge to run out of the school gate and rush into the small restaurant to ask Mother Qiao why she didn't tell the homeroom teacher about the message. However, she stopped herself in the end.

She had to reason with normal people. People like Mother Qiao couldn't be reasoned with at all.

Besides, there was no need to ask why. Mother Qiao either forgot about it or deliberately didn't tell her because she didn't tutor Qiao Yuan.

After signing up, Qiao Lan went to the mobile phone store in the afternoon.

When Zeng Jin was in high school, Qiao Lan had never used a mobile phone. She didn't have many contacts anyway, so a mobile phone wasn't too important to her. Therefore, in this life, Qiao Lan didn't feel that it was inconvenient to not have a mobile phone.

However, after this incident, Qiao Lan still felt that it was better to buy a mobile phone.

The middle-aged man selling mobile phones welcomed her warmly. "What brand and model do you want?"

Qiao Lan didn't want a brand or a specific model. At this stage, she didn't have many requirements for a mobile phone. She thought for a while and said, "As long as it can make calls and send messages."

The middle-aged man: "…"

People who buy mobile phones like this are old ladies and old men. Why are you, a little girl, joining in the fun?

Just as he was about to say something, Qiao Lan hurriedly said, "Let's buy a slightly better one."

In the past, she had to wait for the weekly information class to look up information. It was really inconvenient. It was good to buy a mobile phone to look up information. Previously, she had read a book about Asperger's disease on the Internet. Buying a mobile phone was just nice.

After buying the mobile phone and getting the card, Qiao Lan went to the western restaurant.

At night, Qiao Lan was busy serving the dishes. A girl pulled her and pointed at the door. Qiao Lan turned around and saw the young man she hadn't seen for a month appear in the western restaurant again.

Uncle Chen, who was pushing his wheelchair behind him, also looked at her happily and smiled.

The girl beside her smiled and took the dishes from her hands. With a meaningful smile on her face, she said, "Go, go."

Qiao Lan: "…"

Everyone in the restaurant had some misunderstandings about her relationship with Tan Mo. No matter how much Qiao Lan explained that she and Tan Mo were just classmates, no one believed her.

Qiao Lan didn't need to explain to them what Asperger's disease was, so she just let them be.

She walked over and greeted Tan Mo. Uncle Chen looked at her with a smile, "I haven't seen you for a month. You seem to have gotten whiter."

"It's winter. Everyone will be whiter if you just cover yourself," Qiao Lan smiled and looked down at Tan Mo, "Your favorite seat is empty today. Let's go."

Tan Mo, who had been staring at Qiao Lan since he came in, finally opened his mouth, "Okay."

They hadn't seen each other for a month.

If it wasn't for the fact that he couldn't leave because of some things, he could have come back even earlier.

The feeling of seeing Qiao Lan again was even better than he had imagined before he came.

Tan Mo couldn't help but want to keep staring at her. He thought so and did so.

Just now, Uncle Chen said that Qiao Lan's skin was a little whiter. Tan Mo looked carefully but couldn't see it.

However, after thinking about it, he felt that it should be the case. Qiao Lan had been busy for the whole winter break. No one sent her all kinds of food every day like him. She was going to be malnourished again.

However, her eyes were still as beautiful as before, just like the obsidian pearls he had specially bought.

He had seen the obsidian pearls occasionally. They were black and transparent. When Tan Mo saw them, he thought of Qiao Lan's eyes, so he bought them.

Qiao Lan skillfully ordered for the two of them. When she looked down and saw Tan Mo sitting obediently, the word "cute" popped up in her mind. She suddenly remembered something and looked back. She didn't see the head waiter, so she whispered to Tan Mo, "I went to buy a phone today. You don't have to look for others to look for me in the future."

Tan Mo looked up. He probably wanted to frown, but he couldn't. He kept a straight face and said, "You need money."

"It's not very expensive," Qiao Lan hurriedly said. She looked back again and took out the phone to Tan Mo. "Help me enter your number on it."

Tan Mo took the brand new white phone. He gently stroked the metal edge of the phone and slid open the screen saver to open the contact list.

His fingertips pinched the phone.

It was clean. There was not a single number on it.

He was the first.

Suddenly, a small spark seemed to have jumped into his brain. It was so hot that his thoughts were a little unstable.

He liked the word "one". First, only, together, always. He liked all these words.

His fingertips landed on the screen.

tan...mo。

He seriously entered his name and then his phone number. Tan Mo returned the phone to Qiao Lan. Qiao Lan dialed Tan Mo's number. "This is my number. Remember to save it."

Of course, he would save it.

However, he had already memorized it in his heart after just a glance.

Qiao Lan still wanted to say something, but the head waiter came over. Qiao Lan couldn't chat with Tan Mo anymore. She quickly put away the phone and ordered, "Wait for me."

After saying that, she quickly left. Tan Mo and Uncle Chen didn't even realize what had happened.

After a while, after the head waiter left, Qiao Lan jumped back. She took out a small box from her pocket and handed it to Tan Mo.

"New Year's gift. It's a little late, but it's not the 15th yet. It still counts. I made it myself. Don't think it's ugly." After saying that, she didn't dare to delay anymore and quickly ran away.

Uncle Chen smiled and said, "This kid is in a hurry." He turned his head and said with a smile, "Open it and see what it is. Tsk … peace knot."

Qiao Lan didn't know what to give Tan Mo. It wasn't realistic to buy something expensive, but it was also meaningless to buy something cheap. When she passed by a boutique, she saw a peace knot made of colored rope. She was tempted and bought a lot of it.

After making a bunch of knots, she finally made one that she was satisfied with.

For Tan Mo, what he lacked the most was health and safety.

Before Tan Mo left, Qiao Lan was busy again. Uncle Chen saw this and smiled. "I'll see you in class tomorrow. Let's go home first."

Tan Mo glanced at Uncle Chen, then looked away and got into the car.

When he got home, Tan Mo took out the obsidian beads that he bought from outside from the cabinet. The round black beads had an excellent color under the light. Tan Mo picked one out and gave it and the peace knot to Aunt Chen.

He wanted to string the bead onto the peace knot.

"Don't take the front apart." If it was taken apart, it wouldn't be made by Qiao Lan. "Then put the bead on and make it into a bracelet."

Aunt Chen stared at the bead and peace knot for a long time and sighed. "Let me try."

Aunt Chen wore her reading glasses and sat under the light with Tan Mo for almost two hours. Finally, she finished the difficult manual modification and put the bracelet on Tan Mo's wrist. His pale skin contrasted with the black bead and colored rope.

It was very fitting and beautiful.

Tan Mo looked left and right. Finally, he pushed his wheelchair back to his room with satisfaction.