Chapter 538 Father and Son

The Peninsula Hotel.

In the cold night, Zhong Xu was the only one drinking to drown his sorrows.

Looking out the window at the night view of the bay, my heart feels empty.

After being rescued from the poisoning, he thought more than once about why he had ended up in his current situation.

One wrong step leads to all wrong.

It's ridiculous to have fallen into the status of a gigolo.

Considering the hundreds of thousands of dollars in my bank account, I had to sell all my valuables to get this little bit, and I don’t know how long it will last.

Feeling depressed, he called Lin Yan.

After three short rings, the phone was connected. "Hello, who are you?"

"Ayan, it's me, Zhong Xu."

Lin Yan was very successful in his career, he was in a good mood and spoke with more patience.

"Why are you calling so late? Is there something wrong?"

Zhong Xu heard clearly the good mood on the other end of the line, but he kept his grievances to himself.

"Nothing, just wanted to ask how you've been doing lately?"

"It's a hard life, and there are a lot of things to do." Lin Yan didn't tell him the details of the work, and he was on guard. "Have you recovered? What are your plans for the future?"

"Why."

Zhong Xu smiled and sighed, as if mocking himself, "What plans can I make? I just live one day at a time."

Hearing the loneliness in his words, Lin Yan thought back to their past as friends.

He tried to comfort her again, "Ah Xu, I advise you to leave Hong Kong and stay abroad for a while. When you can really accept everything calmly, your life will be better."

"The past is the past, and people should look forward. If you keep living in the past and living in regret, you will only hurt yourself."

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone, and Lin Yan thought the other party had hung up.

I looked down to confirm and the time showed that I was still on the call.

Time seemed to be stretched into a long line, and then suddenly resumed its flow.

"Ayan, thank you."

Zhong Xu said nothing in the end, but it seemed as if he had said everything in the endless silence.

Lin Yan understood him.

All the unwillingness is insignificant in the face of absolute strength.

All the unwillingness is insignificant in the face of absolute strength.

The night passes and the sun rises.

After Lou Yueming waited for her husband to leave, she took the prepared soup and drove to the Peninsula Hotel.

There was a knock on the door. Zhong Xu knew who it was even without opening the door. During this period, that woman was the only one who took care of him.

"Didn't I tell you not to come see me?" He still opened the door with a cold tone.

The frail young man who looked a little sickly was a hundred times better than her old husband. The more Lou Yueming looked at him, the faster her heart beat.

"Ash, you're not fully recovered yet, I'm worried, have you eaten breakfast? I brought you some soup and some fruit."

Seeing that she pretended not to understand, Zhong Xu felt annoyed.

"What do you want to do? You want me to be your gigolo? That's just wishful thinking."

Lou Yueming did not admit his thoughts. He smiled cheerfully and walked around him and went straight inside.

She put down the cloth bag in her hand, took out the thermos bucket and the fruit she bought on the roadside, "You misunderstood me, I just wanted to care about you, I will leave after you finish your soup."

“…”

Zhong Xu couldn't explain clearly how he felt about her, but it was impossible for him not to be touched that someone was willing to take care of him at this time.

"You and I can't keep making mistakes. Don't come after you leave. I'm leaving Hong Kong in a few days. You..."

"What? Leaving? Where are you going?" Lou Yueming was shocked. "Are you going out to relax?"

Zhong Xu selectively lied, "Yeah."

Lou Yueming carefully examined his expression, unwilling to miss any clues. She didn't believe that he was just traveling.

"Where are you going? When will you be back?"

Zhong Xu sat opposite her and it took him a long while to utter two words, "California."

"Will you write to me?"

"No." He answered simply and neatly.

The one who refuses to let go is like a dead tree coming back to life in spring, the other is like a migrating bird on the sea with nowhere to land and can only fly forward across the deep sea that will swallow it.

…

The autumn sun is less hot than in summer.

It is also a season that symbolizes harvest.

On weekend afternoons, the Zhong family gathers together for afternoon tea.

In fact, according to the previous practice, people would go fishing at sea or hike in the mountains.

But considering that Lin Yiyi has language classes in the morning and afternoon, the family gathered together to chat.

Most of the topics are still about the twins' funny and embarrassing stories.

Mr. Zhong waited for his wife to bring up the topic but couldn't, so he could only speak up himself, "Yiyi, are you interested in participating in the painting submission competition?"

“Painting campaign?”

Lin Yiyi returned the tiny toy to him and took the opportunity to pinch his chubby face again.

Mozi rolled his eyes secretly and climbed onto the empty seat on the sofa next to his daddy in a very proud manner.

Youyou sat on grandma's lap and sipped the black soda happily. Why did he sip? Because it was just a little bit.

Father Zhong nodded, his serious expression showing a bit of the kindness of an elder. "It's a competition to design ancient buildings, similar to temples. The top three in the competition will receive prize money."

Zhong Jiasheng's eyes were following her all the time, and he didn't say that he was the one who paid for the competition.

I was afraid that someone would give her a backdoor and make her angry.

She was also afraid that if she wasn't given a back door, she would be even angrier.

He saw that she was happy from the bottom of her heart because of making a small profit, which was a sense of identity in life that he could not give her.

In the past, Zhong Jiasheng always thought that she liked the lazy, wealthy life of staying at home, but it seems that that is not all she wants.

"architecture?"

Lin Yiyi opened her almond-shaped eyes wide, half in surprise and half in admiration. She didn't understand this at all.

She was fine at drawing cartoon buildings, but she definitely couldn't get a lot of data to accurately measure and draw specially designed buildings.

Father Zhong smiled again, as if he saw through her. "Only the appearance will be used. The specific construction drawings will be drawn by a dedicated person after on-site survey."

Hearing this, Lin Yiyi was somewhat tempted. She asked more carefully, "Dad, are there any requirements for registration? If possible... I also want to give it a try."

"Registration fee is 4 dollars, submission is due by the end of this month, the theme is the temple on the island."

Zhong Jiasheng met her inquiring gaze, seeming shy and timid, but he didn't refuse outright, which meant he wanted to.

He curled his lips and gave a fair opinion, "I think you can give it a try. It's just a small painting competition, and it's okay to have fun.

If I win a prize, how about treating everyone to a meal?"

Yang Ying also supported the idea, but she felt somewhat guilty about being involved in the conspiracy.

"Then I'll give it a try. Whether I win the prize or not, I'll still host the dinner."

Lin Yiyi was a little embarrassed, but still tried it boldly.

When she wasn't paying attention, the Zhong father and son and Ms. Yang made eye contact, then quickly separated.

Dinner was seafood dumpling soup made by Lin Yiyi herself.

Cooking a delicious dinner for your family and receiving compliments is a great sense of accomplishment.

Of course she had seafood soup, and Youyou and Mozi also had seafood soup.

For others it's really seafood dumpling soup.

Add some coriander and pepper to make it very fresh.

After dinner, Lin Yiyi took a stroll in the garden while thinking about the painting competition.

I racked my brains to think of where to start.

Calculating the time, I feel that time is a little tight.

The figures in the garden can be seen in the study.

Zhong Jiasheng stood by the window discussing the birthday party the day after tomorrow with his father.

With his attention distracted, Mr. Zhong could only sigh, “Is this the private space you promised to give Yiyi?

She's walking the dog, so why don't you go with her?"

“…”

Zhong Jiasheng deliberately showed the cigarette between his fingers and said calmly, "I'm just afraid of choking Dad. What are you thinking?"

"Oh."

Mr. Zhong sneered and started talking about the arrangements again.

"You still have to oversee the construction of the temple, and you can decide how to do it.

Keep it safe and low-key. What are your ideas for raising funds at the birthday party?"

“…”

Zhong Jiasheng frowned slightly and curled his lips. He said that the old man had no good intentions in proposing to him to hold a painting competition.

It turned out that she was waiting for him here.