Chapter 35 Parasitism

The operating room's visiting teacher's parents-in-law own a winery. Every winter solstice, they give everyone a sweet osmanthus wine specially made by the old man. Over time, it's become a tradition. No more gifts, everyone just orders per person.

He Dongli ordered a bottle for Yu Xiaohan every year. When the touring teachers were counting the number of people this year, He Dongli thought about it and decided that she wanted two bottles.

The itinerant teacher took note of it and couldn't help but tease Dr. He, asking why the volume was so high this year?

He Dongli hummed, a rare flattering tone, and said, "Support the local economy."

The statistics were collected in the morning and delivered to the teacher and his parents-in-law before the end of the get off work day.

After He Dongli finished the operation, she saw two bottles of sweet osmanthus wine on her workstation. She transferred the money for the two bottles of wine to the touring teacher in the work group, put one bottle in the locker next to the workstation, and put the other bottle in a vest bag.

As she came down from the surgery building, she was still wondering if this... was a little too shabby. Even more problematic than not being presentable, He Dongli wondered, they'd just been arguing about wine...

However, this is at most a winter solstice dessert. For those who can drink.

Yu Xiaohan loves everything about fermented glutinous rice. She said that when she was a girl, her grandmother often made fermented glutinous rice for them.

Therefore, every winter solstice, Yu Xiaohan would always prepare a winter solstice banquet, starting with sweet-scented osmanthus glutinous rice wine and ending with fermented rice dumplings.

When getting off the elevator, He Dongli seemed to feel uncomfortable because of the lack of gravity, because as long as Zong Chi still remembered the winter solstice meals that Yu Xiaohan cooked for them, he would always understand the meaning of this bottle of wine.

He Dongli was conflicted. She hoped he would remember, but she also hoped he would forget it all. That way, she could openly take it out and give it to him as a thank you to Zou Yan, and then he would scorn her. This thing was only worth a bottle of cooking wine at best. It was just a way to get rid of beggars.

Regardless of anything else, He Dongli was certain that he would be able to say such words.

*

The short tens of seconds the elevator took to descend felt even longer to her than when she first encountered his father's secretary in the school corridor and mustered up the courage to approach him.

A girl who was less than sixteen years old walked up to the uncle and asked if Zongchi had left.

The other party told her anxiously that he could not find the child. This child is really going to kill me.

He Dongli hurried to the physical education class. When it came to the free time, she hesitated for a long time and finally slipped away. She just wanted to try her luck. If he was really there, she thought, maybe she could say goodbye to him properly and ask him seriously, Zong Chi, why did you tear up your red list?

There was another line, about the night they argued on the covered bridge, when he said she had never looked down on him since she first saw him. He Dongli had no way to explain it; she felt that despising him for copying answers didn't equate to looking down on him.

She had complained about this in her mind on the way to the swimming pool. Whether he believed it or not, she had to clarify this with him.

This is very important to her.

*

After exiting the elevator and standing at the foot of the surgical building, He Dongli took a deep breath of cold air. She felt a sense of déjà vu about tonight's mood. But she was only sixteen then, ignorant and naive, and even what they considered to be deliberate schemes didn't matter. God always forgives young people.

She's almost thirty, and still acting on impulse is unacceptable. But as the teacher said, if you can't figure it out rationally, just let your intuition do it.

They say youth is priceless, and she gave it all when it was most priceless. Now, shouldn’t she worry about whether it was worth it or not? When Yu Xiaohan saw Xixi get off the car sent back by the Zong family, she hugged her, and it was like her heart returned to her chest. When she saw Xixi’s pale face and high fever again, she was so angry that she wanted to vomit blood. She raised her daughter until she was in her twenties. Because of her husband’s death, she almost never said a harsh word to her daughter, but this time, she scolded Xixi and wondered why Xixi agreed to come out to see him again. You know I can’t find you, my heart is like boiling oil. With his temper, if something happens to you, who will remember who you are, Xixi! Their precious son was so scared that he was afraid that I would call the police and tarnish the reputation of their Zong family. Do you know? Xixi, you love him so much that you want to pour your heart out to him, but in the eyes of his parents, they only feel sorry for their son who can't get what he wants. They can see that their son spends money and works hard for you, but no one sees you, Xixi, you shed a layer of skin for him, but this layer of skin is worthless in their eyes. They won't see it, let alone feel sorry for you. Parents in the world only feel sorry for their own children, do you understand?

Yu Xiaohan was brooding over this incident. She even blamed herself for saying something too harsh, which led to their breakup. It was also because of her that her daughter's self-esteem was hurt.

This was also the reason why He Dongli insisted on coming back. She didn't talk about repaying her mother. She just wanted to prove that she had never blamed her mother from beginning to end. She didn't want her mother to hurt her body. She already had few loved ones.

However, she didn't dare to imagine what her mother's expression or disappointment would be when she knew her decision tonight. When they went to eat at Yu Xiaohan's house that day, He Dongli was afraid that Xu Xize would mention Zong Chi's name at the dinner table. She was afraid that Yu Xiaohan would order her not to see him again.

During the phone call last night, she still despised Zong Chi for carving a boat to find a sword, but in fact, it was she who was carving the boat.

However, she thought about it with a sense of spiritual victory. In the past, she cared too much about the results. This time, if she put aside the fateful fruit, she only wanted to remember how the pomegranate bloomed and shed fruit step by step and produced that honest and deep wound.

The online taxi was waiting for its passenger at the emergency room gate. He Dongli got in the car. Since it was on her way, she discussed with the driver whether he could stop in front and wait for her for a few minutes while she went home to get something. The driver nodded.

He Dongli arrived at her residence, hurriedly took the paper bag containing the coat, and returned to the car. Because she was in a hurry, she grabbed a few chocolates for her master.

The master took it with a smile and asked her if she was a doctor or a nurse. She lived nearby and it didn't look like she was going to see a doctor or visit a patient.

He Dongli explained softly, yes, she works in the hospital and just got off work.

When the master was about to ask her if she was a doctor or a nurse, He Dongli's phone rang. She picked it up as if escaping, "Yeah."

Zong Chi heard her voice sound strange, "What's wrong? Are you being scolded by the director?"

He Dongli whispered softly, "Who would dare to answer the phone while being scolded by the boss?"

The other end smiled, and there were sounds of running water and what seemed to be washing. "That means it's time to get off work."

"Yeah, just got in the car."

"Whatever you want to eat, I can order it first."

"Whatever."

"The host should have at least 60% of the decision-making power, 30% should be left to the guests, and the remaining 10% should be to eliminate dietary restrictions."

"Then let's have Western food. Didn't you already have Chinese food this morning?"

"Okay, eating red meat is good for you." The voice came closer and farther away. He walked into a relatively closed space. He Dongli heard him fiddling with the clothes hanger, probably taking out clothes to change.

He Dongli had a natural anti-detection instinct when he mentioned red meat or fish. She remained silent.

Zong Chi's voice came closer again. He said, "When the car arrives downstairs, let me know in advance."

"what?"

"I'll go pick you up. You've saved me the hard work of being a driver. I should be aware of this and be grateful."

He Dongli thought it was unnecessary, but Zong Chi insisted, "If you don't inform me in advance, I will go down now."

"Okay, I'll tell you when we're almost there."

"Good boy, deal."

About forty minutes later, the car arrived at the hotel. He Dongli had notified someone five minutes in advance, but she didn't see the person who was supposed to pick her up until she got out of the car.

She was about to go through the revolving door when a car slowly drove out from the reception steps. The windows reflected the bright lights of the hotel as it passed by. The next second, someone called her name, "He Dongli!"

He Dongli turned around at the sound and saw Zong Chi, dressed in a white shirt and black pants. He had come downstairs in a single layer of clothing. His shirt was as thin as paper, distorted by the north wind, and his broad shoulders were slouched. He looked almost identical to the time when he had personally walked her downstairs.

He'd been wearing only one piece of clothing year-round since he started school. The school had a strict uniform policy, and even under his winter down jacket, he wasn't allowed to wear any casual clothes. In short, no matter how he undressed, he had to be in school uniform.

When everyone was wearing down jackets, he was the only one still wearing his autumn uniform. The teacher said it was no use, but he said he was not cold and he was wearing his school uniform, so he did not violate the school rules.

Back in college, Yu Xiaohan couldn't stand it and wanted to urge him to wear long johns. Zong Chi practically screamed for help from He Dongli behind his back, saying asking him to wear long johns was like a sex change. He Dongli could only persuade his mother to give up the idea and reassure him that he wasn't cold. He slept next to me like a furnace.

The fact is that his four seasons are like spring. Not everyone has to experience the scorching summer and the freezing winter.

However, when someone came over, he sneezed loudly.

It was cold outside, and he was holding a cup of ice cream in his hand, a hazelnut-flavored Frappuccino.

When He Dongli saw it clearly, her heart was already pounding. You call him stupid, he knew to buy a cup of evidence to call back; you call him smart, drinking this in the middle of winter, she almost cursed, how could anyone do that!

So, Zong Chi handed it to her and teased her deliberately, "This is for you."

He Dongli asked him quietly, "Why is there only one cup?"

"Isn't one cup enough for you?"

He Dongli knew he was doing it on purpose, so he just gave it to him, "Why don't you buy yourself a drink?"

“It’s too cold.”

"Oh, you know that." When He Dongli squinted at him coldly, he had a pair of arrogant fox eyes.

Zong Chi laughed out loud, innocent yet arrogant, "You said it yourself, it's safe within my sight."

"Well, safety doesn't mean reasonable, thank you. You keep it for yourself, I'll drink it..." He Dongli felt like she had gotten up early to go to the market and bought nothing, and had a bloated feeling of being cold. She was about to talk about menopause, but she felt it was too rough and didn't dare to say it out loud. But she was really angry,

I thought to myself, you're going backwards. What on earth were you thinking about giving a girl this in the middle of winter? I didn't even need to ask you; I knew you hadn't had any other lawsuits in recent years. So, I finally turned to, "I can't drink it."

In Zong Chi's ears, it became a hint, even a show of force. In the past, when he rushed back and took her back to the hotel, she would occasionally ask him unreasonably if he came back just for this when she was in a bad mood. Zong Chi hated her for always stabbing him in the heart, so he would get angry and fight back, of course.

He Dongli wasn't the type of child who cried easily, so her occasional tantrums were perceived as hurtful by Zong Chi. He'd blamed her then, asking, "Can't you just act a little more loving, like my mother looked after Old Zong?" Over the years, through countless flights, drinks, meetings, and negotiations, he'd encountered all sorts of women. He had no interest in flattery, even in displays of weakness. He couldn't develop the slightest aesthetic sense connected to male sexual desire. Their beauty or ugliness was irrelevant to him. He always felt that He Dongli, who had helped him on their first encounter, was both brave and vulnerable. He Dongli, after graduating with a doctorate and wearing a red robe with her tassels removed, felt both bitter and sweet. There was a comfort and tranquility that grew in his bones. He was willing to love her like a lover, to pamper her like a child.

Countless times when he was watching her video vlogs, he had flirted with He Dongli who was wearing scrub clothes, scolded her, and finally blamed her for being a fool. Even if I go back for this, it's just because it's with you.

She had come here so proactively tonight, but the moment she opened her mouth it was like a disclaimer. Zong Chi couldn't help but laugh.

He Dongli asked him, "What are you laughing at?"

Zong Chi really wanted to say bluntly, "I think I scared you quite a bit." In the end, he relented. He'd said he had plenty of time, and he wondered, "How can I make you understand? I can wait?" So, he brought up the piano bench she'd left exposed to the moonlight, "I wonder if that piano bench has completely dried out from the moonlight it received during your period."

He Dongli finally realized that this guy... he misunderstood that she couldn't drink it because... In fact, if He Dongli was thicker-skinned, he could ask him directly. If you can't drink smoothie, you can even go to the piano bench. What is going on in your brain so fast?

Do you want to check the temperature outside today? Master!

*

In the end, Zong Chi didn't give her the Frappuccino. He said he didn't really want her to drink it. "I came down early, so I thought I'd buy one. If nothing else, it's my lifesaver. Okay?"

He Dongli was puzzled, "What savior?"

"If you hadn't mentioned Frappuccino, I wouldn't have known I'd wronged you. If I hadn't known I'd wronged you, you wouldn't have been so willing to help Zou Yan and make amends. If I hadn't made amends, wouldn't you have used my clan's banner to force me to leave the country and return to fulfill the injunction?"

He Dongli couldn't help but burst out laughing. This time, Zong Chi was laughing right in front of her. He quickly leaned over and caught her, saying, "You laughed."

He Dongli did not avoid his gaze. Zong Chi's eyes were right above her breath. She heard him jokingly say, "It's really not easy to make our Doctor He smile."

His words made her want to run away, but the next moment, Zong Chi picked up the bag in her hand and asked her what it was, because it was so heavy. He then pulled her back inside. The lobby manager on duty knew Zong Chi and offered her the drink he was holding. "It's too cold, she can't drink it. Give it to one of your male colleagues."

After saying that, Zong Chi looked carefully at his clothes in the bag. They were dry-cleaned and came with a special disposable dust bag from the dry cleaner. There was also a paper label with the last digit of her cell phone number written on the button.

He smiled at her, "Aren't you very busy? Are you also following my example and secretly hiring a secretary?"

He Dongli was too lazy to pay attention to him. He saw another bottle of something in the bag and took it out from his vest pocket. What was it?

"A gift from a colleague."

"Well, so, you brought it here to give it to me?"

"If you don't mind, try it."

"I'm a little disgusted. Honestly, this couldn't have been made by some unlicensed workshop. This bottle looks like the Sprite soy sauce bottle your mom used to wash. It's almost the same."

He Dongli rolled his eyes. What did she say? He just had so many tricky words.

"Well, I could have taken it back too. I just didn't have time to take it home after get off work..."

Before he could finish his words, he said, "Come here and it's mine." Zong Chi led her upstairs.

The elevator went up to a floor that was neither the top floor public area nor the western restaurant floor. He Dongli finally realized, "Isn't this for dining?"

Zong Chi acted as if he hadn't heard. "Your mother makes fried dried whitebait with osmanthus and winter wine. It's delicious."

He Dongli was stunned for a moment, then heard Zong Chi say, "Let's eat in my room. You want Western food, I've already asked them to prepare it, but I really want to try this sweet wine. By the way, ask them to fry some whitebait, okay? This is 30% of my guest's performance."

The guests' performance was 30% of what he invited to his suite. The suites in this hotel were equipped with kitchens without open flames. As soon as Zong Chi came in, he asked He Dongli if he wanted the wine chilled.

He Dongli had to remind him, "You were just complaining about the three-no plastic bottles downstairs. Do you think you should calm down?"

"All right."

He went to find a cup while He Dongli took a quick look at the suite's layout. It was arranged in a U-shaped pattern, with the dressing room and bathroom on the left and the living room and bedroom on the right. A U-shaped corridor connected the two, making it spacious enough to ride a bicycle around. He Dongli walked towards the corner glass curtain wall opposite the living room, which offered a panoramic view of the entire city at night. There was also a telescope nearby.

During this time, the butler brought room service, which was the Western food that Zong Chi had ordered earlier. He asked the butler and assistant at the table where the dishes were being served in the restaurant if he wanted to treat the guests with something like fried dried silverfish. Did they have any?

The housekeeper nodded and said that he could go to the Chinese kitchen to ask.

Mr. Zong did not forget to give them a tip and said thank you for their hard work.

After they finished negotiating, He Dongli remained on the sidelines, not participating in the entire process. She had been the one who treated him to the meal, and when she asked for the bill, Zong Chi let her do as she pleased. "Well, I'll send you the bill after I officially check out and settle the bill."

As he spoke, he walked over with a whiskey glass filled with osmanthus wine. "Would you like some?"

He Dongli shook his head, and Zong Chi said, "Why don't you drink again? This alcohol content is obviously suitable for you."

"Well, since you helped me solve my troubles, you don't have to drink." He Dongli's voice sounded like a compliment, and her troubles were close to Zou Yan's.

Zong Chi's eyes were filled with uncertainty and surprise. "It seems that Zou Yan is really influential. Not only did he bother you to intercede for him, but he also provided after-sales service after the matter was completed." As he spoke, he took one step closer to He Dongli and repeated what he had said on the phone last night. "So how are you going to thank me for him?"

They stared at each other, their eyes meeting, their breath blending together. Zong Chi's breath was filled with the aroma of sweet-scented osmanthus and gardenia wine. Almost as his nose brushed against her cheek, He Dongli subconsciously tilted her head, "I'm thanking you on his behalf. Isn't wine and food enough?"

Zong Chi then slowly straightened up, looking sullen but also satisfied. He said to himself that he would let her go and that damned Zou Yan go too, "That's more or less the same. He Dongli, if you sacrifice yourself for another man, I will strangle him to death. You better believe it."

The indoor heating was very strong, and soon the person wearing warm clothes started sweating from the nose. Zong Chi reminded her to take off her coat.

He watched her as if he was going to help her get her clothes. Finally, He Dongli took off his clothes and threw them casually on the sofa in the reception room. There were several bags of luxury brands on the sofa, along with the dry-cleaned jacket she had brought back for him, taking up all the space.

Zong Chi urged her to eat first, and He Dongli went to wash her hands. In the crystal vase in the center of the double basin in the bathroom was a double-petaled white lily.

In the past, every time he returned to China, he would accompany He Dongli for a walk after dinner in the evening. On the way back, He Dongli would always pass by a familiar flower shop to buy a bunch of lilies. She hoped that Zong Chi could stay in China for a few more days, so she would say to him, "I'm in the laboratory these days. Can you help me prune the branches and change the water every day, Xiaochi?"

Of course he wouldn't. He was busy when he had work to do, and he was busy even when he had nothing to do, even on vacation. He teamed up with Lin Jiaoyu and the others to smoke so much that the flowers wilted. Finally, before she came back, he secretly bought a new bouquet, but was exposed by He Dongli. Because of his guilt, he even bought double-petaled ones, thinking there was no difference, but in fact the price was several times the difference.

He flew out early the next morning. He Dongli saw the message he sent on WeChat: You deliberately hung your suit next to the lilies last night, and now I still smell like lilies.

The second one is disgusting, just like the smell inside you.

He Dongli was so angry that he sent him a hundred pieces of shit.

She washed her hands in front of the basin and turned on the faucet. She heard footsteps behind her. Zong Chi was still holding his wine glass, and in his other hand was her cell phone.

"It kept vibrating in your bag, so I took it out for you. It's your mother."

He Dongli didn't have time to take out some paper to dry his hands, and he almost took the call with wet hands.

Zong Chi, relying on his height, raised the phone higher. The phone vibrated in his hand. He Dongli was about to reach it when Zong Chi said, "Can you please not answer it?"

He Dongli looked at him, and finally climbed up his arm and took the phone back.

She stood in front of the sink, with her back to Zong Chi, and answered Yu Xiaohan's call.

When the other end asked her what she was doing, she just replied that she was in the hospital.

When Zong Chi heard her words, a feeling of neglect and betrayal suddenly filled his brain and quickly spread down his spine.

He walked over, put down his wine glass, like a hunter who couldn't bear to see his prey turn its back to him. His steps were light and his breath was even. By the time the prey turned around, he had already embraced it steadily and accurately, suppressing it with his height.

Zong Chi could feel the person in his arms tense up. When she moved, the person holding her from behind tightened their grip, one arm around her neck and the other around her waist.

The hunter was unusually quiet, almost burying his head in her neck, sniffing and licking to find the right spot to bite so as not to make her bleed.

Because they were so close, Yu Xiaohan was asking about her daughter, Zou Yan, on the phone. Ms. Yu was still gossipy, but Zong Chi, hearing the familiar Zou Yan mentioned, felt a mixture of jealousy and resentment. He didn't loosen his grip on He Dongli's waist, freeing his left hand to turn on the faucet and quietly rinse his index and middle fingers. He Dongli thought he was being naughty, or perhaps doing it on purpose, and that he wouldn't be doing his job if he didn't make some noise. He Dongli reached out to turn off the faucet, then opened his hand.

Zong Chi chuckled softly in her ear. Yu Xiaohan's voice came through the phone clearly again, "Xixi, the person having dinner with Zou Yan and the others in the photo is... I mean, is that Zong Chi?"

“…”

"The one next to him?"

"Yes, it's him." The clothes He Dongli wore that day were new. Yu Xiaohan had never seen them before. Moreover, the photo was blurred so precisely that only the gender could be seen. If one were to investigate the identity, it would be difficult for even his mother to tell.

However, He Dongli still underestimated his mother's extraordinary ability to identify her own child. Yu Xiaohan listened to Xixi's words and said, "Oh, I only found out today from Xu Maosen. How long has he been here?"

He Dongli shook his head when asked, "I don't know. How would I know about him?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zong Chi, as if he couldn't force the emperor to abdicate, started to resort to despicable means. He used two fingers that he had just washed to caress the mouth that was full of lies. He Dongli was already annoyed by trying to do two things at once, and with his pressure like a mountain, she was almost unable to breathe. Just when she was about to breathe, Zong Chi, the pervert, put two fingers into her mouth and pressed down on He Dongli's tongue as if nothing had happened.

She was about to turn her head away, but the culprit was quicker, turned her face over, leaned over and covered her mouth. If she said again that she didn't know about him, he would bite her until she screamed.

Zong Chi's hand reached into her open cardigan, smelled the dry rose scent from her collar, and then tasted and kissed her, feeling her wetness and softness, which was completely different from her appearance. He felt like he was gradually coming back to life after being drunk.

No, what returned was at most his consciousness. If he felt any more miserable, he would feel like he had lost his heart, so he had to pull her closer so he could parasitize on her heart.

He held her tighter with a little more force, just below the limit of what she could bear, but almost touching the line. His mind was desperately wandering, and it was also because Zong Chi knew that if it was broken, he couldn't put it back together.

The wine he drank was gradually transferred to her senses.

The phone was unusually silent for a moment, and Yu Xiaohan called out from the other end, "Xixi."

He Dongli's senses on the mudflat were momentarily forced by the hot and hard force and blinded by the sweetness of osmanthus. When she came to her senses again, it had turned into begging, teasing, stabbing, sucking and sealing.

She was called by her mother and hung up the phone almost like a frightened bird. Her legs went weak and she fell down subconsciously.

Zong Chi laughed and pulled her up. He Dongli couldn't leave him, so in desperation, she could only bite him.

Someone left with a vague voice. He Dongli was glad that she hung up quickly, because the next second, Zong Chi was breathing calmly. He did it on purpose. He was afraid that Yu Xiaohan didn't know what he was doing!