Chapter 50 Retroactive Period

The sex scandal involving the Jiayin Group Trust was on the hot search list for more than ten hours. When Lin Jiaoyu landed in Shanghai, the storm finally calmed down.

When he came to the hotel to look for Zong Chi, the secretary told him that Mr. Zong was not in the room and had gone out.

Lin Jiaoyu asked Secretary Huang, "Are you meeting a guest or hanging out with your girlfriend?"

Secretary Huang had a private conversation with Lin Jiaoyu, and she discovered that this type of playboy was only slightly mean-spirited when it came to talking. When it came to getting down to business, he was completely decisive. The last time Secretary Huang relayed Zong Chi's message, Lin Jiaoyu had simply told her to believe it. When he got accurate information about the Dou family, he immediately sent her a message, no further nonsense. So, this time, Secretary Huang was returning the favor. "Neither of them."

"Where did it go then?"

Secretary Huang thought, "You and my boss aren't exactly close friends. We know nothing about anything, just that we moved bottles together." "No, he didn't. Anyway, he said he was taking the day off." Secretary Huang was still trying to figure out how to let slip that Zong Jingzhou and his wife had been scolded by Zong Chi and fled in panic.

Lin Jiaoyu across from him smelled something. "Take a vacation? A workaholic taking a vacation? What? Is he impotent because of his boss's old tricks? Take a vacation!"

Secretary Huang closed her eyes tightly, pretending not to hear. Just as she was about to return to her room, Lin Jiaoyu pulled out her cell phone and called Zong Chi. Honestly, she'd eaten her fill of melons in S City, and now, she admitted, it was quite vulgar. She also wanted to know where Zong Chi had gone.

As it turned out, neither Zongchi's personal phone nor WeChat were connected. Lin Jiaoyu groaned and then asked Secretary Huang, "Did he have a fight with his girlfriend?"

Secretary Huang wanted to clasp his hands together. You finally got to the point. "...I, don't know."

Lin Jiaoyu is a man who has been accused of beating his girlfriend for no reason. "That's for sure. This guy is a pure dreamer. I didn't even know him before, but he was already a dreamer back in school. If this continues, even if his wife retires and goes square dancing, he'll have to go along and keep an eye on her."

"What are you monitoring?" Secretary Huang was puzzled.

"Watch for any old men coming over to chat up or flirt with his wife."

Secretary Huang wept bitterly for Dr. He. "In that case, Dr. He should accept the offer."

Seeing that he could not see the real person, Lin Jiaoyu lost interest and prepared to retreat. He asked Secretary Huang to ask Zong Chi to come back and call him, saying that he had brought his friends to have a drink with him.

Secretary Huang finally agreed with the saying, "The emperor is not in a hurry, but the eunuch is." In the gap between her nods, she pretended to be casual and said, "Wait. I still have to go to the hotel where Mrs. Zong and Mrs. Zhou are staying to help settle the room bill."

Only then did Lin Jiaoyu learn about the public opinion of the clan.

*

Zong Chi's phone was not turned off, he simply didn't want to answer it. He didn't answer any calls except those from his secretary reporting to him.

However, every time a call came in, he picked up the phone and looked at it again.

Every time I watch it, I feel disappointed.

When Lin Jiaoyu bombarded him with calls for the 28th time, Zong Chi couldn't stand it anymore and started a verbal fight when he answered the phone. He scolded Lin Jiaoyu, saying that if he was chased by a wolf, he should go get a rabies vaccine as soon as possible and not come to him to get sick.

Lin Jiaoyu scolded him, "Why are you still here? Are you staying here all the time?"

Finally, we found out Zongchi's whereabouts and found out that he was in the villa where his parents used to live.

When Lin Jiaoyu arrived, he saw another car parked in the parking lot east of the front garden, besides the one Zong Chi usually used. He had a rough idea of ​​who it belonged to.

Lin Jiaoyu knew Zong Chi's parents' villa like the back of his hand. He walked into the area Zong Chi had mentioned with ease. The Zong family villa had two gardens in front and back, a swimming pool, and a Chinese-style courtyard with a view. Every facility was designed to cater to the young owner's growth trajectory. The squash court where Zong Chi was currently sitting was also built by his parents to encourage him to meet his physical fitness standards during his growth period.

Right now, through the bright lights, you can see the shadows of people playing squash back and forth inside the glass curtain wall, and hear the clang of squash balls hitting each other.

The next second, the ball hit someone. Chen Xiangyang bent over and threw a squash ball away from his lower abdomen. Zong Chi on the opposite side picked up another ball with his racket and continued to serve. Chen Xiangyang, who was standing in front of the wall, hurriedly called out to him, "Enough, keep going, someone will die."

As they were talking, Lin Jiaoyu pushed the door open and entered, having caught up in a lively event. A while ago, Zong Chi had been praising this Chen guy so much that Chen Xiangyang had actually come to believe he was some kind of upstart. Lin Jiaoyu hadn't cared to see them collude or collude with each other. But now, with something like this about to become their enemy, he couldn't miss it.

Humph, Chen Xiangyang was wrong to think he'd become a close friend with someone as bad-tempered as Zong Chi. Zong Chi was born in the Year of the Dog. He and his father were always at odds. He was born that way. His temper and confidence were shaped by his parents and even his family. People like him wouldn't have much affection for a brother, let alone one who was just doing his bidding. Lin Jiaoyu smoked cigarettes nearby and watched the dog scold the man.

The sound of the earth hitting the ground resounded again in the room. Chen Xiangyang narrowly escaped from the arc of each ball.

He finally shouted to Zongchi, "It's over. I've already sent her away."

Zong Chi hit a backhand diagonal shot, and the ball passed over Chen Xiangyang's head before he could dodge it. Then it spun back and the person who hit it hit him hard. He wiped the sweat off his chin, not knowing how long he had been playing. He said tirelessly, "Good score."

The ball spun back again, and this time he threw it and the racket together. The racket scraped against the floor with a tearing sound as it finally came to rest at Chen Xiangyang's feet. As he picked up the racket, he heard Zong Chi calmly exhaling on the other end of the line, "I'm just cheering on Miss Li's behalf. You don't want to marry her anyway, so don't delay her. And, Chen Xiangyang, you didn't even have anything to do with the breakup, right? You're taking the blame for something when something goes wrong, aren't you? Humph, calling you a nice guy is putting it mildly. Wait until my lawyer comes to talk to you."

After saying that, Zong Chi walked towards the door. Lin Jiaoyu, who was smoking on the side, immediately opened the door for the young master like a dog. Chen Xiangyang shouted from behind, "Zong Chi, I swear to God, when did you say that there was a Singapore and a China? Li Anni was chewing you behind your back because you gave her a hint. Don't blame me. If you don't believe me, go ask your father. Damn it, I was helping you the whole time. Your old man wanted to please you, so he made this acquisition. He knew you would definitely fall into the trap. Tan Zhengjin's side was a perfect opportunity, so I kept drumming up support. I was a little late for the meeting at the Liang family, but I protected you all the way. I also informed you immediately when Liang Lao Er went to find Dongli. Damn it, Young Master Zong, you are looking for a wife, and we are all running around to get you married. What else can I say? Miss Zhou, this time, I am still thinking about helping you clean up the mess. If I hadn't held you down that night, you could have slept with your sweetheart and I would have taken your last name!"

"Fuck you! Get out!" Zong Chi cursed without even turning his head.

Lin Jiaoyu, who was enjoying the fun, quickly comforted the man who was so angry that he almost lost his way out, "Anger is bad for your health."

When Zong Chi returned from his workout and shower, Lin Jiaoyu was in the living room, fiddling with the food he had brought. Lin Jiaoyu urged Zong Chi to calm down and sit down to eat. "By the way, how did you get that on your eye? Did you try to keep someone as your mistress and then cut them with a scalpel again just because you disagreed with her?"

Chen Xiangyang came here with the intention of apologizing, so he naturally wouldn't leave easily.

Zong Chi, dressed in a single layer of clothing, slumped down in a chair. He had no interest in Lin Jiaoyu's food, and even less of a dignity to stand up to his nagging. He declared bankruptcy, "It wasn't her, it was her mother. I've figured it out now. She's not the type to want to get married anyway. She should just be a good doctor. As long as she doesn't marry anyone else, anything's fine. We'll just leave each other alone. I'll accept it. Isn't that how we've been living all these years?"

Lin Jiaoyu cut a piece of meat and put it in his mouth, sighing, "What happened? Why are you hitting me again? Isn't it normal for your mother-in-law to hit you a few times? Why are you being so pretentious?"

Zong Chi looked at me as if he knew nothing, and fiddled with an old BlackBerry phone in his hand.

Although Chen Xiangyang didn't know the details of the Zong family's situation, he could guess a few things. Zong Jingzhou and his wife had hurriedly taken the Zhou family back to Singapore; it must have been Zong Chi's doing. And Mrs. Zong's decision to leave behind the elderly man she had employed for decades was clearly a sign of goodwill. But Zong Chi, always cautious, seemed to have completely changed after just one day and one night. He said his facial injuries were from his mother-in-law, which meant he must have learned something from her that he didn't. Chen Xiangyang almost guessed the child was the cause. Could it be that Dongli had lost a child for him that could have so deeply affected Zong Chi?

Dare to think so, dare not say so. Chen Xiangyang tried to show goodwill, but it was like standing at attention and taking a beating. He tried to comfort her, "Your mother-in-law still has complaints and scolds you, but it doesn't count as a defeat. You have to believe this: when women are ruthless, men can do nothing. Their true ruthlessness is always silent."

The last sentence was like rubbing salt into Zongchi's wounds. He thought about the day she openly made an appointment with his mother, but dismissed him with a single word.

Three grown men were eating steak in the living room. When Aunt Tang came back from shopping, she saw Xiao Chi sitting by the table without taking a single bite. She quickly asked him why he wasn't eating. "You're made of iron, come on, eat a couple of bites first. I'll finish what I'm doing and make you some soup. Your mom was right, you're a stubborn donkey."

Aunt Tang did not follow Yu Weishi back to Singapore this time. She had nowhere to go for the time being, so Zong Chi brought her back here. Fortunately, there were many places being reclaimed and built that needed people to watch over them, so Aunt Tang was like a gatekeeper.

Lin Jiaoyu joked to their old nanny, "Being heartbroken is like being a widow. You'll always be sad for a while. Aunt Tang, you don't understand men."

Aunt Tang pouted at Lin Jiaoyu, "You are widows because of a broken heart. Xiaochi is just starving. He will be back to life after eating a few bites."

Lin Jiaoyu and Chen Xiangyang believed this. As men, if they really broke up, they would not watch the other person's every move or even forbid the other person to get married.

That day, Lin Jiaoyu pulled Zong Chi and said he was going to meet someone, the Dou Yunong, who had been mentioned during their previous phone call. Jiaoyu came back and they arranged a party, so they could get to know each other through fighting.

Lin Jiaoyu asked Zong Chi to stop looking so gloomy. "Tell me, what happened? There's no need to be so polite in front of me."

"When we broke up, you remember she deleted your contact information as well."

"Um?"

"It was my mother. I gave her some money and asked her to leave me alone."

"Oh my god. I was wondering why they deleted me. Turns out it was because of their money."

"Is this the point?" Zong Chi suddenly became angry.

Lin Jiaoyu hurriedly comforted him, “Okay, okay, please continue.”

"What the hell, I forgot where I was talking about."

"You said your mother was a wicked mother-in-law who broke up a couple!"

"Okay, stop provoking me."

Lin Jiaoyu rarely saw Zong Chi acting so useless. This was even more devastating than when they broke up. "Are you mad that she actually took the money?"

Zong Chi stood up and was about to leave, but Lin Jiaoyu quickly held him down, offering a playful smile and a bit of comfort. "Alright, I don't know you yet. You were so angry at her that you might have given up on her the moment you accepted the money, right?"

Zong Chi was silent for a while, neither acquiescing nor directly refuting. Instead, he drank glass after glass of water. He could no longer drink, and was too drunk to wake up. He sat on the second-floor viewing platform, overlooking the various people on the first floor, young men and women. Each one seemed to be that person, and yet each one was not that person. After a long time, he said desolately, "That's why she didn't keep the appointment. That's why when I came back to see her this time, she was always indifferent. She didn't want to tell me anything, as if she had sobered up enough to not care about my efforts to change for her. Jiao Yu, she said she never thought of marrying me. I don't blame her, I'm just sad. Sad that if I had rashly spoken to her that day, she would have been so scared, and I would have been so embarrassed. She wouldn't believe that I had a fiancée, but when my mother showed up and mentioned that I had a marriage partner, I knew that all her pride collapsed at once. What else could she say except to my mother?"

Lin Jiaoyu was helpless. Not to mention that Zong Chi, a dreamer who only wanted to get married, even he, who hadn't considered marriage, couldn't find a girlfriend his mother would agree with. It was a more complex puzzle than the chicken and the egg: why did mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law never get along?

As they were talking, Dou Yunong arrived. This person had the final say, and Dou's mother nicknamed her Empress Dowager Dou. Lin Jiaoyu introduced Dou Yunong to Zong Chi, and Dou Yunong had accidentally connected with Zong Chi because of Feng Qianxu's public opinion controversy. When Master Zong asked Jiaoyu to mediate, he said that Miss Feng was a close friend of Zong Chi's girlfriend, and there must be some misunderstanding. His girlfriend insisted that she must speak up for her friend and clear up the public opinion. Photos of the four people's gathering were also not allowed to stigmatize. Jiaoyu passed on the message that Zong Chi's girlfriend had been with him since she was thirteen or fourteen years old. Although they were not married, he loved her more than ten wives. You have to give him this face no matter what and ask your mother to stop making trouble. At that time, Dou's mother was very dissatisfied with Feng Qianxu. Feng Qianxu also blackmailed Dou Yunong for some personal gain, which led to Dou's mother manipulating public opinion to preemptively discredit Feng and reduce the fairness of her words.

In the end, both sides were hesitant to act. The Dou family was afraid Feng Qianxu would reveal something; Feng Qianxu was concerned about Zou Yan's academic achievements and reputation. Then, out of nowhere, the young master Zong, a wife slave, showed up. The Dou family, concerned about the Zong family's reputation, had no choice but to let the matter go.

This time, when Lin Jiaoyu came back, Dou Yunong had to come to pay her respects at the Zong family's dock no matter what.

Zong Chi was determined not to drink any more, but he couldn't stand the pressure from both sides. At the last drinking party, he drank himself to the bone.

A drunk man named Zong wanted to call someone with Lin Jiaoyu's phone, but he couldn't unlock it. He tried desperately to enter his password, but ended up locking his friend's phone system.

Lin Jiaoyu directly took Zong Chi's phone and wanted to call the other end, but the damned Master Zong had brought an antique phone today, and there was no number saved. He asked Zong Chi to tell him the number, and the drunk man kept repeating unconsciously, "Why didn't you say it? You don't love me anymore, so why do you care about me messing up the house!"

Lin Jiaoyu asked him to stop nagging, "Phone, Ah Li's phone number."

"Who?" The drunk man asked with his tongue stuck out.

"Your wife."

The person on the sofa froze for a moment, their eyes red and dull, like they were trying to find the right password to turn on their phone. Then, they called out a string of numbers. Lin Jiaoyu was a bit skeptical. After all, the young master was a lazy person who only paid for his services. He was only there to solve problems that those with good memories and abilities couldn't. He had memorized Ah Li's new number in less than a month. Could Meng Nan have been secretly memorizing it under the covers every day? After all, this guy had spent a year studying diligently to pursue Ah Li, fearing she would look down on him.

The phone rang twice and was finally connected.

Lin Jiaoyu fed him, confirming the other person's identity. "Is it Ah Li?"

The other end said in a characteristically concise manner, "What's up?"

Lin Jiaoyu laughed and told her, "Zong Chi is drunk and he insists on talking to you." As he spoke, he passed the phone to the ear of the person who had been nagging all night. Lin Jiaoyu kicked him out and said, "Go on, say all those words you have about your husband." But the drunk man was like a machine, at a loss for words and out of paper, and couldn't spit out anything. Lin Jiaoyu was so angry that she pressed her solar plexus and was about to take the phone back. The person on the sofa seemed to sense who was leaving and snatched the phone back, "Ali, you have already exceeded the hindrance period, right? You don't care what I do for you anymore, even if I vent my anger for you or scold you back, you don't care, because your hindrance period has long passed, right? But what can I do? Even my passport was confiscated at that time. Why didn't you tell me? Call me, email me, or anyone around me to let me know. I will definitely come back if I know. At least your hindrance period will not pass, no!"

Zong Chi vented a lot and finally tried to stand up, but his hand slipped and his cell phone fell on the carpet. When Lin Jiaoyu picked it up, the call was forced to be interrupted.

When He Dongli called again, Zong Chi was already drunk and unconscious. Lin Jiaoyu asked her if she could come over when she was free.

He Dongli stated truthfully, "I'm sorry, I'm on duty and can't leave."

Lin Jiaoyu sometimes felt that this woman was really cruel. It was no wonder that Yu Weishi was so crazy that he couldn't bear to part with his own son. Indeed, all the sufferings of Zong Chi in this life were caused by her. "Ali, you two always scold Zong Chi, you know that. Don't blame me for speaking for my brother this time. Even if his mother gave you money, so what? You know Zong Chi's personality. He even contradicted your mother for you. How could he be afraid of his own mother? This anger can't be covered up. You are afraid that he will conflict with his family, but he still did. He wanted to overthrow his parents last night. You should know that he is not only doing this for you. If he didn't value you, he would not be so reckless. You are his interest, what are you afraid of? You will be upset when I say this, but you should understand that in this world, only interests will not disappear. Your family is not the only one that fights between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. He can't support you at the critical moment. What do you need him for? What do you want from him!"

"But now, he's been branded as an unfilial son, but in the end, he's gained nothing. He didn't even get any favors from your mother. He's truly a nobody. You've been with him for so many years, why haven't you learned his banditry? If someone poops on his head, he'll grab it and stuff it in their mouth. There's no way he'll hold it in his hands and smell it. There's only one person left in the world who's happy, and that has to be Zong Chi!"

He Dongli listened to Lin Jiaoyu's humming voice on the other end. The background sound was very broad, and the descending tune floating in the air was that classic line:

I'm afraid time goes by too slowly... I wish I could turn gray overnight...

Lin Jiaoyu finally hung up the phone abruptly.

He Dongli didn't have time to think before a patient called for her in the ward, so she got up and went. Actually, today wasn't her ward shift. A colleague wanted to spend Christmas with his girlfriend, so he asked Dongli to take his turn yesterday. In return, he helped Dongli on the Winter Solstice shift.

Dongli joked at first, I don’t need it on the Winter Solstice.

After a few seconds, she finally agreed. Worried that she didn't particularly want to change, her colleague offered to make up for it by treating her to a movie and milk tea.

Dongli smiled and said, forget it, there is nothing I particularly want to see, but a friend has an appointment and I didn’t have time before, but now I can go.

Half an hour before Lin Jiaoyu called, Chen Xiangyang also called her and asked Dongli if he would be free to attend the company's housewarming party on the winter solstice.

He Dongli did not answer.

As a result, Chen Xiangyang apologized directly. He said that due to some misunderstandings, it was necessary to clarify that Zong Chi did not have a fiancée. Some of Chen Xiangyang's jokes were just what he said behind closed doors after drinking. He did not expect to cause some unnecessary misunderstandings. He has already negotiated with his ex-girlfriend.

He Dongli heard the sharp word "before" and thought to herself, "Mr. Chen, you really don't do anything without profit." The fact that he'd called her meant he'd probably already been through the court with Zong Chi. And she was certain he wasn't getting along well with Zong Chi, so she had no choice but to try to appease her.

He Dongli actually wanted to curse, "Just separate your hands, don't blame us." He immediately didn't want to go anymore and said bluntly that he was busy at work.

One night, He Dongli lay on the bed in the duty room, barely closing her eyes for a second. She thought about the resentful words Zong Chi had said on the phone, and about what Lin Jiaoyu had said: "You are not the only family in the world..."

The next day, He Dongli transferred to the outpatient class, and it was another high-intensity day.

She finally made it to the end of her shift and walked to the convenience store in a trance. Zou Yan and his colleagues were buying coffee.

He waved to her from a distance, asking her to come over, and then pulled her to a corner, acting mysteriously.

He Dongli was in a bad mood and teased him, "Why, you want to borrow money from me? How much do you want? I'm very well off recently."

Zou Yan smiled so hard that wrinkles appeared at the corners of his eyes. "How well-off! He secretly resold all the jewels and gems that the young master gave him."

"Yes, he did give me a lot of things. How can this not be a way to make money?"

"Stop talking nonsense. Let me tell you something serious." Zou Yan showed He Dongli his WeChat chat history. The latter was puzzled. Before reading the specific content of the conversation, she found that Zou Yan's note for Feng Qianxu was not her nickname, but "don't mess with me".

She was about to look up and ask Dr. Zou, "Don't bother me, why are you still talking so much? You must have just been slacking off during your bathroom time." Zou Yan's irritated expression made him say, "Read the full text!"

The whole conversation went something like this: Feng Qianxu complained to Zou Yan about her one-time boyfriend Dou Yunong, calling him a bastard. The scandal between her and Zou Yan was spread by the Dou family in order to ruin her reputation, because Feng Qianxu had evidence of him partying and touching those things abroad. Feng Qianxu originally wanted to get some resources from him before breaking up, but Dou's mother found out, which led to the subsequent chaos.

Anyway, it doesn't matter if it ends up in nothing, but Dou Qiandao came back last night, and this playboy had a drinking party and ended up staying at the Dou family's hotel with his friends.

Feng Qianxu said that she would always keep an eye on this bastard. But when she looked at the specific photos in the news, it seemed that Zong Chi was also among them.

He immediately started to argue with Zou Yan, saying they were birds of a feather. What a joke! He should tell his doctor, Dr. He, to stay away from these young men. They are not good people.

He Dongli glanced through it and fell silent for a moment. He had gotten drunk in a similar situation last night...

Zou Yan took back his phone. He felt that this was not a smear or revenge against Master Zong, but a kind reminder. "In short, it is a good thing to be close to gentlemen and stay away from villains."

Although He Dongli was angry, she did not show it on her face. She remembered that night in his hotel room, he mentioned Dou Yunong in a very obscure way. In fact, she guessed that he avoided talking about it because he was afraid that she would be angry. But she didn't know why, she couldn't help but save face, but she felt that it didn't count, it was an exclusion statement, on behalf of Zong Chi, "He won't. His grandfather created the trust inheritance to restrict the seven or eight grandchildren. The amount of dividends distributed every year is an astronomical figure for us. Once he violates the restriction, the inheritance will be completely confiscated. The seven or eight grandchildren in his family are all fighting for it, and they can't wait to overthrow others and monopolize it. No one dares to do this."

He Dongli finished her ramblings when she noticed Zou Yan glaring at her with an unpleasant expression, as if he was really fed up with all the rich people's tricks. "Oh, I'm sorry for saying too much."

"No. I know you care about me. What I mean is, he wouldn't dare."

"Your prohibition is quite strong."

He Dongli was carrying a bag of red bean bread back to her residence that night. When she saw a familiar car parked at the door, she paused for a moment, then saw Secretary Huang get out of the car, looking like he had been waiting for a long time.

Secretary Huang watched He Dongli return home and told Miss He that Mr. Zong had something to give her.

Until they entered the house together, He Dongli watched Secretary Huang wearing white gloves, carefully lifting something that looked like an oil painting from the protective layer and holding it in front of her.

The expression on He Dongli's face suddenly changed from irritation to surprise, and finally turned into a silent sigh.

This painting, she had... because of it, the two of them went crazy and crossed two cities in the middle of the night to chase the moon.

He Dongli remembered that this painter's works had long been placed on a list of works restricted from export. Earlier this year, he had read news reports that this painting had sold for eight figures at a Hong Kong auction. While not a stratospheric sum, the painting's size and fame weren't particularly high, so its sale at a spring auction was a real surprise.

He Dongli never imagined that the new collector behind the painting was Zong Chi.

Secretary Huang carefully placed it in a corner for Miss He and said that she had to go back to prepare her luggage for tomorrow's flight to Singapore, so she would not disturb Miss He.

When He Dongli heard his secretary say this, she knew that he was probably about to fly again. She didn't want to accept the painting, but she also didn't want to embarrass the workers so late at night, so she said goodbye to Secretary Huang in silence.

When Secretary Huang politely said goodbye to her, He Dongli asked, "Did he ask you to send it here before he returned to Singapore?"

Secretary Huang was stunned. Miss He's duplicity reminded her of her girlfriend. Just as she was about to shake her head, she was confronted with another blunt outburst. "Then go back and tell him, 'It's too expensive. I don't want it.' I'm leaving it here because I'm worried about thieves. It's one thing to steal the painting, but it would be unfair if it caused my other property to be lost! That's it..."

Just give He Dongli his exact words. If he doesn't come, send someone to take it back intact when they have time. That's what she was going to say. Secretary Huang smiled at her, interrupting her outburst, "He's sick."

He is not the boss, nor Mr. Zong, but an ambiguous and blank person.

Secretary Huang watched as someone suddenly stopped dead in their tracks, frozen in place. Their soft, beautiful, and calm demeanor was so striking that even Secretary Huang was objectively shocked. "He had been drinking heavily for two nights in a row, got slapped by Mrs. Zong, and hadn't eaten. Then, his scoundrel friend, Mr. Lin, took him to a bar, and he collapsed."

After Secretary Huang said this, he nodded and left.

He Dongli stood there in a daze for a long time, not moving at all, not caring about the painting that was so expensive that she couldn't afford it even if she saved up all her salary in her next life. Before she came back, she had even joked with Zou Yan that reselling the things he gave her was a way to make money...

His secretary said he was ill. They had been together for so many years, and he was obviously as strong as a bull...

When He Dongli said those words to his mother, he had clearly made up his mind that this time it would be like this and he would not change it whether he came or not.

She doesn't care how sick he is. Since you have the leisure to drink with such a weird person, you deserve to die from drinking!

Anyway, this time, whether you die sideways or upright, it’s not my fault.

He was slapped by his mother, and it was easy to imagine how much outrageous words he could have said to deserve such a fate. Even so, He Dongli still cursed with a cruel heart, "Not a single slap you received was in vain..."

Even more so, if no one comes and you resort to these tricks, who cares!

He Dongli was so angry that he couldn't sleep most of the night. He wanted to chop up the painting, so he walked over barefoot and squatted in front of the painting, as if staring at an enemy from past life or present life, as if he wanted to see through him. Finally, he was so annoyed that he wanted to turn the painting away.

When he moved his hand, he found a letter behind the painting.

When the letter was unfolded, the title page showed the English name he had specially given her.

Cici:

Best regards,

This past spring, I met an auctioneer at my cousin Lin Jiaoyu's wedding. He habitually tried to recruit me as a client, completely unaware that I was a bandit and had no interest in such frivolous things. But I stumbled upon this painting in one of his mass-distributed auction brochures and immediately contacted him, hoping to buy it.

My original plan was to come see you this winter, before your birthday, and give it to you as a gift for your 30th birthday, or perhaps as a reward for the profits you've accumulated over the years investing in Chen Xiangyang under my name. Ultimately, I'd like to celebrate your winter birthday with the summer moon, hoping you'll feel a little less cold this winter.

But when I was writing this letter, I changed my mind. He Dongli, if the retroactive period has passed and it is difficult for me to redeem the money, can you please make a deal with me and use the money you don't want to buy this painting: if it is not enough, I can allow you to pay in installments, and I will donate the surplus to your hospital in your name as funds for horizontal projects.

Looking forward to your reply!

There was a scratch on the signature, blue ink had crossed out the signature he had used on gift cards over the years, and it was unknown.

It became a halo that he could never take off.

Zongchi.