Chapter 42 Barometer

Zong Chi once flew non-stop and stayed overnight to visit He Dongli. Afterwards, he had a big argument with his father over a business matter.

Even during that intense battle, he never avoided her during a single phone call. He Dongli, hoping he'd stop yelling, reached out to cover his mouth, but he snatched her hand away and continued arguing with the old man. Perhaps He Dongli's proactive handshake had irritated him. Zong Chi switched on speakerphone, and the phone boomed loudly, with Zong Jingzhou cursing at him for being so bold, agreeing to such terms. "You bastard, you're just gambling!"

Zong Chi hummed, and then he turned to the old man, "Everything you've done was won in a bet. Stop it. If you doubt someone, don't employ him; if you employ someone, don't doubt him. Go wash up and go to bed early. It's so late, we're staying up all night. If you don't sleep, we have to sleep too."

He was in his refractory period when he said this, but he found He Dongli's breathless state amusing. Her wet eyes blinked, as if she were terrified of this father-in-law she had never met. After a moment, her hand followed his heart, and he inserted a finger. He Dongli was too frightened to make a sound, her body wincing sensitively. She was so angry that she reached for her phone, wanting to cut him off.

The cell phone was on the right side of Zongchi. He wouldn't let her move it or escape. Finally, he turned his head, stretched out his foot, and kicked the cell phone under the bed.

Before the call was disconnected, Zong Jingzhou was still cursing Zong Chi on the other end, "You are so energetic all day long, why are you sleeping? Get back here right now!"

He Dongli was really angry and annoyed that time, but paradoxically, she drew boundless sense of security from Zong Chi, who treated her so unscrupulously and without any reservations.

*

Zongchi was acting strangely tonight. He was clearly drunk, yet he was clear-headed, objective, indifferent, and even aloof.

He had something to keep from her. He Dongli had practically put the words to his lips, but he didn't bother explaining or confessing. When his father called, he was so helpless that he had to run to the dark second floor to talk, and he no longer spoke in front of her.

When He Dongli was taking a shower, he couldn't ignore the shadows of the falling dominoes.

After she finished showering, she stood at the stairs. She didn't bother going upstairs, nor did she bother to know what he was arguing with his father about in the dark. Back in the room, He Dongli suddenly realized that she was sulking. She almost didn't recognize herself. She knew that the person he was talking to was his father, but she just felt uncomfortable. Zong Chi went upstairs without looking back. He Dongli felt abandoned for a moment, especially when he dismantled Chen Xiangyang so clearly tonight. He Dongli felt that Zong Chi had changed a lot. If he was the paranoid and stubborn Zong Chi before, then the one who suddenly appeared in front of her tonight was the arbitrary and scheming Mr. Zong.

In short, he is definitely not Koike.

He Dongli sat on the sofa and combed his half-dry hair, then stood up and took out a quilt from the inner room.

Including the toothbrush he asked for, the toothbrushes she had prepared for Jiang Xingyuan were all wasted as her friend used one every time he came. Now, she could only take out the spare brush head of her electric toothbrush.

After she had arranged these things, the person who had been hiding and talking on the phone also came downstairs.

Zong Chi was barefoot, and the sound he made when he moved the door was almost like demolishing a house, slamming it open and slamming it shut. He Dongli wanted to get angry with him just by hearing the noise, "Do you really think this is your home? You can go upstairs if you want to, and go downstairs if you want to. Does this door have a grudge against you?"

So she heard him ask her nonsensically what he had done wrong to have to sleep on the sofa.

He Dongli really wanted to ask him back, where do you want to sleep?

But it was already this late, and although they all lived in separate houses, she couldn't guarantee that if they really argued, it wouldn't disturb the neighbors. After all, the young master had lived in a separate house surrounded by gardens since he was a child, and he didn't understand the local customs of wandering around the streets.

He Dongli didn't listen to his twisted logic, and he wasn't the only one who would retreat to advance. "Well, if you think the sofa is too small for you, I can change with you." As he said that, he was about to pick up his pillow.

Before she even reached the door, Zong Chi stopped her unhappily, "Alright, this is your territory, you're the boss. Who am I to sleep in your bed?" Then, Zong Chi sat down on the sofa, on the quilt she had prepared for him. He then lifted his feet to look at the dust on them and spoke sarcastically, "There's so much dust upstairs, and your landlord doesn't care. He even has the nerve to put up a doorstop to block it. If you don't sweep it up, the old landlady upstairs will be furious!"

He Dongli really wanted to get angry with him and say, "Who asked you to go up there? You even know that the landlord doesn't allow you to go up there, and you still think you're right!"

The young master, who was full of disdain, shouted that he wanted to wash his feet, but he couldn't find his slippers. "Where are my slippers? No, where are the slippers your mother lent me?"

He Dongli finally spoke, "At the stairs where you were busy going upstairs."

After hearing this, Zong Chi didn't immediately go looking for her. He just glanced at He Dongli's back, smiling. He could hear some of her sarcastic tone, and he was sure she wasn't eavesdropping. Even if she had a habit of eavesdropping, she couldn't get away with it so cleanly. He knew her too well. For a fool like her who couldn't even guess a multiple-choice question, eavesdropping was a crime in her eyes!

The heater was on in the studio, but He Dongli closed the door when she returned to her room. Zong Chi came over barefoot, and almost the moment He Dongli climbed onto the bed, he silently opened her door.

The person on the bed glanced at him and asked, "What's wrong?"

The person at the door was silent for more than three seconds, and finally said quietly: "If you close the door, the heater can't get in."

Without waiting for He Dongli to say anything else.

The person at the door, holding the spare brush head, stated objectively, "It's on."

When Zong Chi turned around and left, He Dongli, who was curled up on the bed leaning on the pillow, cursed him ten thousand times.

With the door open, He Dongli had a clear view of everything outside. Someone must have gone to brush their teeth and wash their feet, but they still hadn't returned. Just as He Dongli was almost counting down, someone walked back in, within the last minute she had set.

He still didn't lie down peacefully, but walked to the kitchen and made a lot of noise.

He Dongli listened to the clashing sounds of the cups and plates, the sound of him turning on the tap and opening a new plastic bag of purified water... Finally, she couldn't help it, got out of bed, ran to the kitchen, and wanted to ask him what he was going to do, "If you are hungry, just find a piece of bread to eat. Don't mess with my pots and pans so late at night."

As a result, she saw that there was a fire on the stove and a milk pot on it.

"What are you burning? If you want to heat milk, just microwave it."

Zong Chi lifted the lid of the pot to show her that it was shredded ginger in brown sugar.

He Dongli stared at the person in front of the stove in astonishment. Zong Chi was dressed in pajamas, his arms folded, and a sour face. "Didn't you buy some brown sugar? Come on, drink some. Honestly, you've been really grumpy these past few days."

He Dongli was furious. She'd lived for nearly thirty years, and now someone who everyone hated called her a bad temper. It was a complete joke. It reminded her of when a classmate copied her answers in school and then questioned her. He Dongli, you make mistakes sometimes, too. He Dongli looked over and realized the person had mistaken the period on the test paper for a decimal point.

Zong Chi's limited kitchen skills consisted of heating milk, cooking instant noodles, and making brown sugar and ginger water. These were skills He Dongli had forced him to master, and there were times when he could really shine. Occasionally, when Yu Xiaohan came over and she had to answer a phone call, she'd ask him to stir-fry a few dishes in the pot, then add a little salt and it was ready to go. That day, the stir-fried loofah and water chestnuts were exceptionally delicious, and Yu Xiaohan's praise was more earnest than that of a baby on their first day of kindergarten. Finally, before bed that night, Zong Chi told He Dongli that he'd put the salt in the wrong place and had added a lot of chicken essence instead...

At this moment, He Dongli felt that this bag of brown sugar was a good purchase. At least he could enslave someone with a body of a thousand gold, and at least he could protect her personal safety. Why not? "Well, if brown sugar really can control emotions, then make more, and don't forget to bring you a cup too."

After she finished speaking, she could still hear Zong Chi laughing when she returned to her room.

*

He Dongli lay back on the bed, and less than ten minutes later, Zong Chi brought him a large cup of brown sugar ginger tea.

Jiang Xingyuan once said that some men don't have to do anything, their sexual orientation is clearly written on their faces just by standing there.

Only a straight man could serve such a large cup of brown sugar ginger tea. He Dongli was lucky that she had a large-capacity cup for him to see. Otherwise, he would have brought the pot as well.

Zong Chi placed the cup on her bedside and said in a convincing tone, "Drink it. If you can't finish it, I'll drink it."

He Dongli was so angry that she had a headache. She needed ibuprofen more than this big cup of brown sugar water. Finally, she fell dizzy on the pillow and asked him to leave. "I'll drink it later, you go out."

Zong Chi stood still beside the bed, and his reason was very good, "But I want to drink too. I'll wait for you to finish."

He Dongli was completely furious, so angry that she sat up suddenly, and the hot water bottle she was holding in her arms was exposed because the quilt was turned up. Zong Chi saw this and sat down beside her bed, picked up the hot water bottle for her, and stuffed it back into her quilt.

He Dongli almost subconsciously retracted her feet when she saw this. She sat on the bed, cross-legged. Zong Chi couldn't find her feet, so he finally held the hot water bottle in his arms. They looked at each other in confusion, and he urged her, "Drink it quickly."

"It's too hot, please get out first."

After he finished speaking, Zong Chi laughed for no reason, but did not say anything.

He Dongli looked at his inexplicable smile and realized what he was laughing at. She reached out to take back her hot water bottle and wanted to tell him to get out, but Zong Chi returned her hot water bottle faster than she could.

He suddenly pulled back her blanket and reached out to grab her feet, like a chicken, forcing her to lie back down and placing a hot water bottle at her feet. "You're wearing such thin shoes during your period. Walking back in the rain, your feet are soaked. What's the point of holding a hot water bottle in your hand?"

As he spoke, one of his hands was already on her foot. He Dongli was so angry that he was about to call him a scoundrel, but Zong Chi said quietly, "It's like a lump of ice."

His words were colder than her feet, yet his palms were dry and hot.

He Dongli stood there for a moment as if he had been struck by a bullet or had received an electric shock.

She couldn't say anything cruel. Zong Chi kept holding her ankles and signaling her with his eyes, "Drink."

In the end, He Dongli reluctantly drank three sips, thinking it was to get rid of him. Unexpectedly, Zong Chi took advantage of the situation and went over to her, took the cup, stood up, and began to slowly sip the brown sugar tea in her room.

From the bedside table to the desk, from all kinds of books to the cultural and creative items pinned on the curtains, the nerves of opening each wardrobe door are like a husband who comes home late and catches his wife cheating.

He saw the Hermès bag he'd bought for Ms. Yu thrown into the back of her closet, and he complained to her. He felt that since he hadn't given it away, he still had the final say. He reached out and took it out, placing it on a storage bench near the door, eager to see it as soon as the door opened.

When he walked back to He Dongli's bed with the cup in his hand, Zong Chi looked at her. He Dongli had been too quiet, and Zong Chi was most afraid of her being like this. He would say something and not get a response from her or hear her, which would make him feel frustrated and even disappointed. However, when she did respond or even glanced at him, he didn't dare to look at her any more, for fear that this nerd would discover something.

During the years that their relationship lasted, one person was insatiable and the other was struggling to break free. Zong Chi would occasionally catch a glimpse of her silence and loneliness, and his heart would feel uneasy. He felt that she must be thinking about how to escape, for sure.

Until this moment, he was alone with her in a room again, just like the summer vacation in the small house in Tongcheng, just like the days and nights in the mansion, just like the last few days in Sangtian Road, Zong Chi suddenly realized that He Dongli's silence was clearly a kind of favoritism.

During those years when he was so arrogant, he never understood her weakness.

Just as she never told him, perhaps his mother had blamed her for the kidnapping.

Tonight, he didn't want to ask her, didn't want her to react like she did during the phone argument, didn't want to ruin the beautiful silence of the moment. He didn't even dare to approach her, just hoping she would silently side with him, like a shadow under a night light, the darker the darkness, the longer the shadow's legs.

Zong Chi held the cup of brown sugar tea. Even though he had walked around the room like he was building a map, he only drank half of it. He walked over and put the remaining half on the bedside table.

He sat back down beside her bed as quietly as he could, and said helplessly, "I can't drink anymore."

The silent person suddenly broke into a smile, a slight flaw only at the corner of her mouth. Someone came towards her and bit/kicked her, light as a drop of rain, heavy as the barometer experiment we did as children, where the glass was stuck in the soil and then taken out in the evening to see water droplets on the glass, which meant it would rain tomorrow.

He Dongli cried out in pain, and the man who bullied her on the bed almost pushed her down with overwhelming force.

He covered her, fingers intertwined, their bodies entwined. His erosive kiss carried the familiar mint and brown sugar ginger flavor.

He also applied her body lotion as face cream, and when he kissed her face, the scent of roses filled her body.

He Dongli gradually lost the oxygen and the support for independent thinking. She always believed that the meaning of walking upright was that people were most alert when they stood upright, and that was during the day.

Once your feet leave the ground and it's late at night and everyone is asleep, it's easy to lose your mind.

Therefore, there is an essential difference between a standing kiss and a falling kiss.

For men, the former is at least a spiritual kiss, while the latter is almost a second sexual intercourse.

When people are entangled in such a situation, it is difficult for them to keep any secrets and their self-esteem is almost lost.

The smell of alcohol on Zong Chi became much lighter, but when it blew onto He Dongli's face, it was still so hot that it burned him.

She was wearing a button-down pajamas with a front opening. Someone's kiss came out of her lips and tongue, almost with a determination without any negotiation. He lifted her clothes up, and He Dongli subconsciously dodged.

When Zong Chi's nose touched her, He Dongli kicked her legs and suddenly stopped. During those few seconds of pause, she felt like ten thousand butterflies flew out of her heart, and her heart was sucked out along with them.

The empty-hearted person suddenly hummed aloud, and gradually turned into a kind of amber that was unable to break free, like a drop of falling amber.

Zong Chi grabbed her waist with both hands, preventing her from dodging in any direction.

Hearing her familiar sobs, he raised his head to look at her. From her eyebrows to her lips and tongue, he called her name, from Dongli to Xixi. He thought of their first time, which was also like this, with both coaxing and deceiving. He Dongli's only theoretical knowledge about this matter was that it would be very painful.

Zong Chi didn't know either. He turned his head away from her and spoke to her in a negotiating tone, "Shall we give it a try?"

He Dongli was actually shaking her head. He held her chin to prevent her from moving, and moved her head up and down, asking her to nod.

He then told her that his parents had already educated him, so he had been waiting for a long time until she turned eighteen. Ah Li, haven't you thought it through yet?

I'm your eighteenth birthday present, isn't that good?

He Dongli was not fooled by him, but she did not feel very good about it, because Zong Chi, you are very troublesome, have a bad temper, and are very impatient. You missed the intersection when you drove, and you didn't listen when I told you. You clearly took the wrong way, and you didn't apologize properly when you went back.

Zong Chi defended himself by saying that it was because you were not driving. People who drive don’t have time to stay calm and listen to other people’s suggestions. Their speed is faster than their brain. When you were scolding me, I had already run over you.

But we went back and got off the bus, and you didn't apologize, Zongchi.

Oh, but I peeled the orange for you.

The Xinhua Dictionary doesn't define peeling an orange as an apology, He Dongli argued.

Zong Chi held her face and laughed out loud, saying that it was so cute when one of us pretended to be cute.

He Dongli wanted to take his hand away, but he kept pestering her. Ah Li, I want to give it a try...

She was still angry, pouting, and said that if she really wanted it, she could try with someone else.

Zong Chi angrily blocked her mouth, and the two of them ended up kissing each other. Zong Chi had clearly promised her that he would stop if she cried out in pain. However, when it really hurt, he would only lie to her and could not stop, because he was also in pain.

He Dongli didn't believe it. Zong Chi leaned over to her ear and whispered passionately, "Ali, I will never feel better when you are in pain." It was this sentence that gave her the illusion that he would be extremely gentle when doing intimate things with Zong Chi.

She felt that Zong Chi, who was so thoughtless and even a little humble, was too much like the Bernese Mountain Dog that his parents brought back from abroad. The first time she saw the Bernese Mountain Dog, Zong Chi was leading it. He Dongli pointed at its feet and said to Zong Chi: Its feet are really big.

Zong Chi said arrogantly, "Fool."

*

With their four limbs entangled, He Dongli felt like he had fallen into a quagmire, or like he was soaking in a hot spring.

Because Zong Chi's body was so hot, he put one arm around her waist and used the other to wipe her tears. This practical embrace made his feelings after their reunion completely clear. "Ali, you've lost a lot of weight."

He Dongli closed his eyes, tears flowing from the corners of his eyes into his hair.

Just as Zong Chi's explanations were faster than his brain could handle, her tears were flowing faster than his own. He owed her so much, and even if he remained stubborn and unyielding to his parents, he knew they were right. He hadn't grasped the situation all those years. He had been relentless in his demands, desperately wanting her to sever all ties with him, her studies, her mother, her family, and stay with him wholeheartedly.

That's why the old patriarch scolded him, saying that he was no different from the Zhou family.

But Zong Chi still wants to appeal, it is different and it is different, because I am now very sure that the person I love also loves me.

She loves me without needing to emphasize it out loud.

"Don't hide from me. I don't want to sleep on the sofa either." Zong Chi couldn't catch the two tears that flowed into her hair. He could only lie there with all his heart and said to her seriously, "I said I'm back, He Dongli. I wasn't joking. The truth is, you know me. I've never joked with you."

He was just pressing on her like that, and when he spoke, the vibrations could be felt in her body.

He Dongli was almost out of breath. She pushed and pushed but couldn't move him away. Finally, he pulled her legs around his waist to save her some energy.

This posture was too ambiguous, and for an old lover, it was the most frivolous suggestion. He Dongli almost subconsciously closed her eyes and frowned. With such physical contact, no matter how maliciously Zong Chi rubbed her, He Dongli's sense of shame was no different from when she was ignorant.

Zong Chi's hand was no longer restless and slid down from the waist, but He Dongli quickly pulled his hand away.

For a moment, they stared at each other in awkward silence. The clarity of their bodies was more revealing than anything else. Zong Chi's face leaned in, his gaze piercing. He Dongli was furious and spat at him. The man, like a dog chasing someone, burst out laughing, "So, you're pretending to be on your period to avoid me."

He Dongli continued to look at him with a stern face, "I didn't say a word from beginning to end. It was you who took it personally and started to imagine things."

Zong Chi nodded readily. At this point, He Dongli had completely fallen into his trap. He was just waiting for her to speak. He could perfectly connect any sentence she said, "Oh, it's my fault. Yes, I was daydreaming. How could I not think about..." As he said that, he dragged her hand to hold his.

He Dongli was so angry that her face turned red. Just as she was about to say something, the cell phone on the coffee table outside the room rang like a zombie. She was startled and was hugged tightly by Zong Chi again. With her face almost against his neck, she could clearly feel his swallowing sound.

She pushed him to answer the phone, but Zong Chi pretended not to hear her. He said slowly, "Ah Li, I don't care if you're on your menstrual or mental period. I said I could wait for you. I said that that idiotic incident at Sangtian Road would be the last time. So, don't even think about getting rid of me. Sharing the same bed is a couple's duty."

"You're crazy, who would want to be your husband?" He Dongli was sweating profusely because of him.

"You!" The phone was still singing, and the owner of the phone was biting someone on the bed.

He Dongli was like being oppressed by a ghost, unable to move. The ghost panted again, "I'll wait for you, Ah Li. The store across from your house doesn't sell that stuff. I mean, can I buy it in advance?"

"What are you buying?"

"T..." After saying only one word, He Dongli pushed and covered his mouth.

The first call was fruitless, then another. He Dongli was at his wit's end, so he said to him in a negotiating tone, "You answer it!"

"No matter what, the sky won't fall." He said, and went to her lips again to kiss her. One hand suddenly picked up the phone beside her pillow. He Dongli was on guard for a moment, thinking that her phone was ringing. She turned her head to grab it, but the phone was snatched back. The man who successfully distracted her also leaned over and took one end of her mouth. When he reached out, his fingers touched a delicate wetness.

Instantly, both of them fell silent. The urgent ringing of the phone outside continued. Zong Chi leaned in almost instinctively. The person in his arms suddenly curled up and resisted, then gradually became confused and gave up resistance.

It was not until He Dongli climbed onto Zong Chi's neck unconsciously that Zong Chi was truly pleased. The so-called ethereal advanced civilization suddenly crawled into his bones, and his spirit entered her.