Hello, How Long Has This Been Going On? - Chapter 78

When getting off the sightseeing bus, Tao Zhiyue hadn’t recovered yet.

After passing through the forest-like grove, the eyes suddenly open up, bounded by a white stone fountain, stretching out several cobblestone paths, leading to the garden with continuous flowering seasons and the open green space of the golf course.

Right in front is a manor-style building in white tones, which covers a large area and stretches into one piece, looking very exotic.

Tao Zhi looked back, but he couldn’t see the gate when he came here, it was completely covered by the bright and cool statues and water splashes, he couldn’t help but said: “How long have we been here by car?”

“According to the usual standard speed, it should be three minutes and thirty-three seconds.”

Huo Ran reported a number very skillfully, and seeing Tao Zhiyue’s surprised eyes, he added: “I didn’t count it, it was requested by my sister.”

Tao Zhiyue said sincerely: “It is very friendly to obsessive-compulsive disorder.”

Turning his head again, looking at the castle-like building in front of him, Tao Zhiyue still felt dreamy: “It feels like a dream.”

Huo Ran nodded: “I thought so too when I first came here.”

“At that time, I was only in junior high school. My dad said that my family would change to a bigger house. I thought it would be a villa at most. I thought it would be enough to build a big study for me.”

“As a result, when I came to see the house that day, I thought my dad was playing with me. I was shocked and asked him, is the current villa lived by many families?”

“Actually, according to my observations, my dad also thinks such a large area is exaggerated, but he pretended to be calm and said that this will be our home in the future.”

Tao Zhiyue laughed: “So why did you choose such a big place? Such a European style doesn’t seem like a style your dad would like.”

“It’s due to my mother and my sister.” Huo Ran recalled, “My sister’s habit of watching messy TV dramas was brought about by my mother. After finishing her homework every day, she would sit in front of the TV and watch dramas together, laughing for a while. After a while she shed tears and said that the house inside is so beautiful.”

Imagining Huo Ran, a junior high school student standing in this position ten years ago with a surprised expression on his face, Tao Zhiyue suddenly felt that everything around him seemed a little more intimate.

“Is that another fountain over there? It looks like a bronze statue.”

“It’s the wishing pool. I used to go there to make a wish before every exam.”

“Spirit?”

“In fact, the effect mainly depends on how long I have reviewed before the exam, and occasionally I get all right.”

Tao Zhiyue laughed: “Then you still go to make a wish every time.”

“There is a sense of ritual, and there are no tourists here. If we don’t make a wish, this wishing pool will look very lonely.”

“Speaking of the sense of ceremony, I think it is very suitable for two rows of servants to line up to welcome the returning masters. This is how it is filmed in TV dramas.”

“Actually, there was this link. My sister strongly recommended it, but I thought you might be embarrassed, so I canceled it. Do you want me to arrange it now?”

“…don’t want!”

After dawdling outside the gate for a long time, Tao Zhiyue reviewed all the surrounding scenery, and Huo Ran finally discovered his intention.

“Are you nervous?”

Tao Zhiyue flatly denied it: “No, I didn’t.”

I’m going to meet my parents in a serious way soon, so it’s no wonder I’m not nervous.

Huo Ran nodded in agreement, with a smile in his eyes.

“Then come with me.”

Before Tao Zhiyue could speak, he pushed open the door inlaid with exquisite reliefs, and he saw a very spacious hall, with a spiral staircase leading to the upper floor, and along the way were warm-colored marble steps with cloud and mist patterns.

In the center is a complex crystal chandelier several meters long, hanging down from the top floor, and the crystal clear bead chain reflects the bright light, which is extremely bright.

Tao Zhiyue was shocked again.

I didn’t expect it to be so consistent on the outside, and the inside is also very castle.

“The first floor is the banquet hall, mainly the dining room and the kitchen.” Huo Ran stretched out his hand and glanced at the time, “It’s still early, I’ll take you upstairs for a stroll, do you want to take the stairs?”

“Can I skip the stairs?”

“There is an elevator.” Huo Ran said, “If there is no elevator, living here is really tiring, and you have to run up and down every day to eat.”

Makes sense, but it always sounds like bragging rights.

Huo Ran was about to press the elevator, Tao Zhiyue reacted in time: “Where’s your dad? Don’t you need to say hello to him?”

“He should be working in the study now. He is very busy every day.” Huo Ran thought for a while, “It’s better to meet again while eating, so that when you don’t know what to say, you can eat with your head down to ease.”

There are reasons and evidences that cannot be refuted.

“So what’s for dinner tonight?”

Tao Zhiyue felt that he had fully accepted the painting style of this house, and even began to look forward to the dinner in the castle.

“I always feel that in this environment, there should be a large table of Thanksgiving turkeys, the kind of long table, white tablecloths, candles, silverware, and vegetable salads that look like grass.”

Huo Ran couldn’t help laughing: “It seems that I really ate like this once before, and then there is no more. It’s better to eat hot pot.”

“I reported all your favorite flavors to the butler. If you are curious, we can go to the kitchen to have a look.”

Tao Zhiyue said very reservedly: “I’m just a little curious.”

There may be a kitchen as big as a suite in an ordinary family, and a group of chefs and servants are busy preparing meals in it. He is really just a little curious about this spectacular picture just thinking about it.

Huo Ran comprehended: “I’ll take you there, behind.”

There is a long corridor between the banquet hall and the kitchen, and there are endless lawns and gardens outside, with chirping birdsong from time to time.

If it is not hallucination, he seems to have seen a lake.

There is an extraordinarily gorgeous flower bed by the lake, with large double-petaled flowers in full bloom, and the gradient colors are dreamlike.

“Those flowers are beautiful.”

Huo Ran followed and looked over: “That’s the dahlia my sister mentioned to you. There are many varieties with fancy names. She will definitely take you to see it later.”

“Speaking of which, where did she go today? Under normal circumstances, you should hear her bluffing as soon as you enter the door.”

Following his words, Tao Zhiyue vaguely heard a familiar female voice speaking.

He said uncertainly: “I seem to hear Sihan’s voice.”

“…I heard it too.” Huo Ran concluded, “It seems that she went to the kitchen to steal food again.”

Walking through the corridor and the dish delivery area, and into the kitchen, they saw Huo Sihan who was eating, but there were no crowds of cooks and servants as expected.

There were only three people in the huge kitchen, and it even seemed a little empty.

“The meat is a bit greasy after tasting it, give me a slice of cucumber.”

Huo Sihan leaned close to a woman, staring longingly at the fresh and moist cucumber slices on the plate.

“Eat again and you will be full, how can you have dinner?”

“Just one piece, one piece.”

The woman smiled and shook her head, but still fed a slice of cucumber into Huo Sihan’s mouth.

Huo Zhendong was wearing an apron, and he stood in front of the pool washing vegetables, and there were piles of selected vegetables in the drain basket.

Somewhat surprised, Tao Zhiyue quietly looked at Huo Ran beside him.

Huo Ran stopped in his tracks, looking at the long-lost scene in front of him, his eyes flickering quietly.

After a while, the woman turned her head as if observing something, froze for a moment, and showed a very gentle smile to the two of them.

So Huo Ran came back to his senses, and greeted the person in front of him with a smile.

“Mom, you’re here.”

It’s Huo Ran’s mother.

“Keep the two of them secret.” Huo’s mother seemed a little regretful, “I thought you wouldn’t go into the kitchen when you came back, and I wanted to surprise you, but you were discovered so early.”

Soon she looked at Tao Zhiyue again, her eyes lit up: “You are Zhiyue, right? I finally saw you.”

The years don’t seem to have left too many marks on her body. Even the shallow wrinkles at the corners of her eyes are beautiful when she smiles. After giving birth, her figure is a bit plump, which erases the sense of age and looks very energetic.

She has a pair of beautiful eyes, much like the mother that can only be seen in dreams.

Tao Zhiyue was a little overwhelmed and almost yelled wrong along with Huo Ran.

He suppressed the sudden surge of emotion in his heart, managed to regain his calm voice, and said in a low voice, “Hello, Auntie.”

Huo Zhendong turned his head from the vegetable sink, greeted them, the struggle with the vegetable leaves came to an end, and then he picked up the potatoes and the peeler quite seriously.

“I’m still busy, you guys talk.”

Huo’s mother was very happy, she even ignored Huo Sihan who took the opportunity to eat several slices of cucumber, wiped her hands, and walked towards the two of them.

“I heard Huo Ran mention you a long time ago, but he has been refusing to show me the photos. I don’t know when he became so stingy.”

Huo’s mother complained and looked at Tao Zhiyue carefully.

“How old is this year? It looks about the same age as Sihan.”

Tao Zhiyue almost made a mistake again.

“I’m one year older than Sihan, 22 this year.”

“So young.” Huo’s mother sighed, “I heard from Huo Ran that you have already worked, are you working hard? Will you feel uncomfortable?”

“It’s not hard work, the company is very good, and the colleagues are also very good.”

“That’s great, do you have to face the computer every day? Protect your eyes and don’t be short-sighted.”

“I just had a physical examination this year, and my eyesight is very good.”

Huo’s mother is very similar to Huo Sihan, she seems to have endless things to say, rambling on and on, but it makes people want to keep listening.

“Good and sensible, much better than Huo Ran.” Huo’s mother was obviously very satisfied with her son’s boyfriend, “Are you hungry? Do you want to eat something first?”

Huo Ran and Huo Sihan protested at the same time.

“Mom, I’m still here.”

“I want to eat too!!”

There was a muffled simmering sound from the casserole on the stove, and a strong meaty aroma spread from the edge of the lid.

“I made braised pork today. I haven’t cooked for a long time. I don’t know if the taste is right.”

She pulled Tao Zhiyue up, “Come here and help me taste it.”

Huo Sihan continued to look anxiously: “I want it too, I have forgotten what I tasted just now.”

Huo Ran laughed at her: “Don’t think about it, go eat cucumbers.”

“…you don’t even have to eat cucumbers!”

Open the lid, the fat and thin pork belly trembles slightly in the sugary sauce, with an attractive color.

Mother Huo carefully selected a piece of meat and brought it to Tao Zhiyue, with her other hand under it to prevent the juice from dripping down.

Her palm spread upwards, a little rough.

Tao Zhiyue couldn’t help thinking of the feeling when he held hands with his mother when he was a child, dry and warm.

“Blow it, be careful it’s hot.”

The braised pork was so glutinous that it melted in the mouth, and the taste was so rich that he almost bit his tongue.

Looking at Mother Huo’s expectant eyes, he smiled so much that his eyes curled up: “It’s delicious, I haven’t eaten such delicious braised pork for a long time.”

“That’s good.” Huo’s mother breathed a sigh of relief, “It will be fine after a while.”

Unwilling to be lonely, Huo Ran came up to interrupt: “I don’t believe it, unless you give me a taste.”

“Try it again and you’ll be gone.” Huo’s mother closed the lid mercilessly, “We’ll eat it after dinner.”

“mean.”

“Be stingy first, who told you not to show me the photos.”

“…” Huo Ran was speechless and tried to change the subject, “Why didn’t you bring the kid? I want to pinch her tire leg.”

“It’s too noisy, crying and screaming, even more noisy than when you were a child.”

“Where did I make a fuss, it’s obviously Sihan who made a fuss.”

“It’s none of my business!”

“You two are equally noisy and equally noisy.”

Tao Zhiyue remembered that Huo Ran said that his mother had just given birth to a child last year and had a complete new family.

Looking at Mother Huo who was close at hand, Tao Zhiyue suddenly asked a somewhat abrupt question.

“Are you well?”

“Um?”

After Huo’s mother realized it, she smiled even more happily.

“He’s recovering well, and he’s in good health. You’re still caring, unlike the two of them, you just know how to eat.”

“That’s great.” Tao Zhiyue stared at her smile and murmured, “It’s really good.”