Chapter 29: Grass Growing and Birds Flying
When Lin Jiaoyu called Zong Chi, he apologized to Feng Qianxu and Zou Yan, saying that he and A Li were going downstairs to meet a friend and would be back soon.
The waiter brought back the coats for the two guests who had stood up. He Dongli didn't put them on right away, but held them in her hand. Zong Chi looked at her and told her to put them on, "It'll be cold outside later."
She didn't listen, but just apologized to Feng Qianxu and the others, asking them to eat first and come back later.
Lin Jiaoyu's car was parked on the side of the road in front of the store. When he saw them coming out, he got out of the car calmly.
He Dongli walked out of the Japanese restaurant and felt the cold winter wind outside. Only then did she feel a little awakened.
She stood on the steps, putting on her coat. Lin Jiaoyu, a few dozen steps away, started making noises, teasing and shouting, "Hey, let me see which Bethune woman is coming towards us."
He Dongli felt that Lin Jiaoyu was even noisier than when he was in school.
Lin Jiaoyu walked over and without saying a word, he put one hand forward and hooked He Dongli's shoulder. It wasn't that he crossed the line, on the contrary, it was a frank hug like that of a classmate.
Then he let her go. He Dongli was a little stunned by his sudden attack and almost subconsciously glanced at someone next to him.
Lin Jiaoyu completely ignored Zong Chi standing beside him, and spoke with disdain, "Why are you looking at him? In the past, you two were famous and powerful, and he cared more about you than his old man's property, guarding us like thieves. Now that you two have broken up, why are you afraid of him? Hug whoever you want, be friends with whoever you want, if you don't agree, just hold it in."
Lin Jiaoyu said this, not forgetting to glance at his old friend. Seeing Zong Chi's silent expression, Lin Jiaoyu was extremely happy. He almost said, "You will only have to endure the pain of love in this life. Just bear with it, young master!"
He Dongli did not respond to Lin Jiaoyu's words, but greeted his friend whom he had not seen for a long time seriously and asked him if he had been doing well over the years.
Lin Jiaoyu nodded. "Very good. At least better than someone else. He's turned over a new leaf in recent years. He's stopped playing around and making trouble. He's been working like a machine. I almost asked him several times, 'Is your clan facing a financial crisis? Or is your old man fighting for your inheritance with an illegitimate child?'"
He Dongli stopped opposite and still didn't respond.
Lin Jiaoyu changed the topic and praised Ah Li for being still so beautiful. She looked still as beautiful as ever after changing 18 years. She looked still as beautiful as ever after changing 28 years.
He Dongli's deadpan comedian arrived late, but she corrected him, "Well, it's twenty-nine."
Lin Jiaoyu laughed heartily. He still remembered the first time he went to the Affiliated High School to see Zong Chi. He blamed their school for being so nagging. The old man at the gate was worthy of the Ministry of State Security. He was almost leaving his parents' marriage certificate and his birth certificate with the security guard. He urged Zong Chi again, "Hurry up!" Why did you mop the floor so clean? You looked at the blackboard instead of the floor. Really?
Zong Chi cursed and said he would die if he couldn't wait.
Lin Jiaoyu was about to curse back, "You'll die...", but he noticed a girl glanced at him with a very scrutinizing look, and was extremely cold.
That day, Zong Chi and the girl had a fight over a hundred yuan. The reason was that Zong Chi wanted to give her his mobile phone as compensation, but she refused and then blamed Zong Chi for giving her too much money. She chased him to get the remaining money back.
In short, the conversation was meaningless. The girl only took 100 yuan from Zong Chi, but because of the quarrel with Zong Chi, she missed a bus and waited at the bus stop for another 20 minutes.
Even after the other party left on the bus, Zong Chi still didn't let the driver drive away. Lin Jiaoyu was furious and asked Zong Chi if he was going to play basketball or not.
Zong Chi suddenly got angry and said, "I'm not going anymore. You're too noisy. Get out of the car!"
That was the first time Lin Jiaoyu witnessed Zong Chi's mental illness, because he actually quarreled with a girl and looked very angry, which eventually caused Lin Jiaoyu to have an attack.
At this point, Lin Jiaoyu asked Ah Li to solve the case, "Why did you stare at me so fiercely that day?"
He Dongli didn't seem to have anything to hide. "I thought the provocateur had already gone from outside the school to inside the school."
Only Zong Chi understood this sentence. It turned out that she was afraid that Zong Chi would fight with someone again.
Lin Jiaoyu didn't quite understand, so Zong Chi finally spoke up, perfunctorily answering him, "You were yelling at the door of our classroom, how about we take a look at you!"
Lin Jiaoyu lost his temper and immediately gave the box of chocolates he had been holding to Ah Li. He was not afraid of Zong Chi getting mad. When Ah Li and Zong Chi were together, she was the only one who could control Zong Chi's temper. Occasionally, when Zong Chi got upset at their dinner, it was only Ah Li who helped smooth things over. In front of everyone, before Zong Chi could even speak, she would call out to him, "Xiao Chi, I want to eat more of that golden cauliflower dish."
Therefore, in those years, everyone who was close to Zong Chi agreed that he had chosen the right girlfriend. Even Zong Jingzhou had to thank the girl for her stable emotions and the fact that she could control the young master.
Lin Jiaoyu still remembers that Ah Li loved sweets. Perhaps it was too boring for her to work as a worker who had to balance mental and physical labor. Once, Ah Li came to their party and didn't want to eat anything. In the end, she only ate the dessert at the end of the meal, which was pistachio ice cream.
At that time, Lin Jiaoyu secretly felt that she and Zong Chi were going to break up. She sat there, looking thinner than the last time they saw her, and her mind was wandering. But Zong Chi at that time couldn't see through it. The fence rooted in the land might just want to protect a home, and reaching for the stars in the sky would only go in the opposite direction.
Five years later, Zong Chi returned, and the two of them were able to eat together. The adults knew that there was still love.
But if the remaining feelings are just remnants, and cannot be turned into a fire or cooked into a pot of rice, then they are worse than ashes.
Lin Jiaoyu still said the same thing. He felt sorry for He Dongli. Her appearance was already a treasure for many men to admire, not to mention that she was outstanding in every aspect, yet she had to face Zong Chi. Not only did she suffer from his torture, but she also didn't receive the slightest favor from the Zong family.
Lin Jiaoyu said he bought some at a chocolate shop on his way here, as a welcome gift for Ah Li. "You know there's someone here who's so mean-spirited he can't even get past them. He bought you flowers or incense, so you'll be safe. If he goes back to Singapore, he'll be retaliating against me."
As he spoke, Lin Jiaoyu handed a box of chocolates to He Dongli. Then, he asked Zong Chi beside him calmly, "How long can you keep this project?"
It was not visible on Zongchi's face.
Lin Jiaoyu glared at Zong Chi. Sometimes he really wanted to scold him. "Why don't you learn from your old man? If you had all his romantic tricks, you wouldn't be so caught. You don't learn this time and still have that stubborn temper. You have to break up! What's the point of always being unable to lose face and always trying to force others? You have to bend the hook and coax her into biting!"
The first step to test a woman’s heart is to see whether she really cares about you and whether she is worried about gains and losses.
She doesn't care whether your Young Master Zong stays or goes, so what the hell are you doing?
Zong Chi and Lin Jiaoyu, whether on the court or in the casino, had a tacit understanding. It wasn't that he didn't understand Lin Jiaoyu's intentions, but he just didn't like such tricks. However, he saw He Dongli holding chocolates, but he still didn't seem to be listening to them. So, he made up his mind and said, "Before New Year's Day. I promised them that I would go back to celebrate New Year's Day."
Lin Jiaoyu sighed. She watched Ah Li beside her, her head bowed, unpacking a box of chocolates. It was a beautiful, delicate, caviar-like pistachio chocolate. It was her favorite brand, but it was too greasy and choking to eat on its own.
Just as she was about to close the lid, Zong Chi reached out and took one from the grid. He Dongli's obsessive-compulsive disorder made him want to curse, "Why did you take mine? There were originally nine square ones, and you took one away. How come I am not symmetrical?"
They had a meeting upstairs, and Lin Jiaoyu was about to leave. He said he had a flight tomorrow morning, and he and Zong Chi still remembered their old friend's instructions. If Zong Chi had already flown away when he came back, then they would meet in Singapore next time.
After that, he asked Ah Li to add him back on WeChat. He then threatened: "Don't delete me again this time. He is him, and I am me."
Zong Chi was annoyed by his nagging, "I'll delete you if I want to. She deleted me too, why would I keep you around?"
He Dongli ignored their quarrel. Zheng nodded and added Lin Jiaoyu as his friend again. He repeated his words, "Well, I won't delete you this time."
After saying goodbye to Lin Jiaoyu, when the two of them went upstairs, He Dongli and Zong Chi asked him to take the chocolate.
Zong Chi refused to give it to him and threw it into his suit pocket. He said jokingly, "Why? Just a chocolate."
Yes, just one chocolate! He Dongli argued, "Lin Jiaoyu gave it to me. If you take one, my collection will be incomplete. Even if I go back to the department to share it, there won't be enough."
"Then keep it for yourself. Shancai Tongzi, distribute everything at the company. Who should you give it to, Doctor Zou? Give him the butterfly cookies and the chocolates. Should he go to work or kindergarten?" Zong Chi was furious. I told you to leave on New Year's Day and you had no reaction. But you have already thought of a distribution plan for a box of chocolates, right?
He Dongli seemed to be yelled at by him. He said nothing and went upstairs silently.
Zong Chi followed her a few steps behind. After a moment's reflection, he felt a surge of regret. He shouldn't have let Lin Jiaoyu meet her. What the hell was this? Bringing up New Year's Day for no reason, giving her chocolates for no reason. What a mess.
Going up to the second floor, in the corridor, Zong Chi called out to the person in front, "Alright, I'll give it back to you. Get a broken chocolate and treat it as a treasure..."
He hadn't finished speaking when He Dongli paused in front of him. Zong Chi thought she had stopped to wait for him. But when he got closer, he saw her with her index finger to her lips, pointing towards the box they were heading back to... as if they were arguing.
"Ayan, do you mistake her for Zou You?"
"Do you like her?"
Feng Qianxu's voice.
Zou Yan's calm voice came immediately, "I think who I associate with is not under your control."
"You like her, but she doesn't like you. It's obvious that Zong, who's with her, is better than a hundred of you. Give up."
Zong Chi heard the strong reference to himself in the voice and almost stepped in.
He Dongli hurriedly grabbed him and said, "Don't go in, you can't go in. If you let Zong Chi go in with his temper, the table will definitely turn upside down during dinner today."
Zong Chi had a gloomy face, and He Dongli was almost at her wit's end. She hugged one of his arms with both hands, wishing she could beg him for mercy. Zong Chi subconsciously pinched her chin with his other hand, forcing her back. After two steps, the two of them fell against the wall at the door of the box.
Just as he was about to lean forward, he heard Zou Yan standing up from inside. He then said to Feng Qianxu, "There are many other things to do in this world besides those trivial matters of love!"
The sliding door slid open all the way, creating a muffled creak. The person at the door, taking in the light from inside, could clearly see a couple outside, leaning against each other.
Feng Qianxu, who was losing control of his emotions, yelled at the person who was about to leave, "Ayan, you just treat her like Zou You. You hate that she's better than you, and you hate that she doesn't want to be with you anymore, right?"
Zou Yan ignored Feng Qianxu's words. The two men, unable to separate at the door, seemed to be nudging the other man's chest. Zong Chi released his grip on the man's chin, but they didn't move away. He even used his shoulder to shield the man in his arms. He turned to Zou Yan and said nonchalantly, "What's the matter, Doctor Zou? Do you need to leave first?"
The dinner ended on a sour note. However, it wasn't their guests' fault; Zou Yan claimed there was an emergency call from the hospital and he had to leave first.
Mr. Zong also went back to the box to retrieve Dr. He's bag, saying he had an urgent flight and had to send Ah Li back. "Ms. Feng, thank you for your hospitality. Goodbye."
Zong Chi left the private room, picked up the chocolate box, and led He Dongli, who was standing at the door, out of the room. They hadn't left for long when they heard the clinking of glasses. Both turned back, helpless. This was the first time Zong Chi had witnessed, from a distance, the disastrous and unbearable state of affairs that followed mutual demands and suspicions.
*
He Dongli, held by Zong Chi's hand, walked all the way down from the second floor of the store. When he got outside the store, he called someone and soon Chen Xiangyang's driver showed up.
The driver took Zong Chi's keys and heard that the address he gave was He Dongli's.
Zong Chi stuffed He Dongli into the back seat and got in. Before He Dongli could say anything, he said, "Are you still savoring the feeling of someone liking you?"
He Dongli looked completely unconcerned. "Zou Yan won't like me." This time, she didn't wait for Zong Chi to finish his sour words and stopped him sternly. "I'm sure. He's right. When a man and a woman are together, it doesn't necessarily mean they're in love."
Zong Chi laughed and said, "What are you sure of? You are only sure that you don't like him. You can't be sure of anything else."
"I don't like him, and he doesn't like me. I'm sure of that."
Zong Chi laughed again, "Are you sure about what you said to me?"
He Dongli was speechless and moved her body. Zong Chi grabbed her before she could open the car door and told the driver, "Drive."
The car drove for a long time, and neither of the two people in the back seat said a word. Finally, Zong Chi moved, leaning in front of the person next to him, examining her to see if she was asleep or thinking about someone else.
He Dongli sat in her seat, full of energy, still holding that damn box of chocolates. Zong Chi came over, but she remained silent, her eyes rolling around. Zong Chi suddenly thought of something and asked, "Is your ward shift tomorrow 24 hours on call?"
He Dongli hummed, without saying anything more. Their eyes met, their gazes reaching the spirit.
Zong Chi thought about it and gave up. He didn't want to lose to anyone, let alone the battle. He blamed that Zou guy, saying he was crazy and there was no point in doing anything.
He Dongli felt Zong Chi fall back into his chair in frustration, and she was shocked. After a moment, she turned around and looked at the silent man again and again.
Even with his eyes closed, Zong Chi could sense someone stealing beside him. He opened his eyes, tilted his head, and met her gaze. "What's wrong? Is there gold on my face, or did you see a streak caused by your anger?"
He Dongli saw nothing, including the stitches between his eyebrows. She hesitated for a moment, thinking it would be easier to say something than to say nothing. Perhaps only here with Zong Chi could she ask something without feeling burdened. "Since you know that Zou Yan and Miss Feng were related, you should also know that he had a brother who passed away."
"Well, I understand now." Zong Chi meant that she had finished speaking.
He Dongli was dissatisfied with his attitude, "You've checked Zou Yan, why are you pretending not to know?"
"Why am I pretending? Do I need to, Miss? You think I'm your daily tea party intelligence bureau. When you're busy with serious things, I'm not idle either. If I remember everyone's troubles, the server will crash."
He Dongli admitted he was in the wrong and said "oh", then proceeded to tell Zong Chi about the family affair. "He had a twin brother, who seems to have passed away. I guess he was also a medical student. He was quite a loner. In the years I've known him, I've never heard him talk about his family. I guess his relationship with his parents wasn't that good either. One time, I went downstairs and saw him walking back wet in the rain, but I didn't dare ask. You can imagine, in a medical family like this, if the outstanding brother dies, it will be a huge shadow and blow to the mediocre one."
Zong Chi hummed, and from her rambling, he only accurately extracted two words, "You said he was mediocre."
He Dongli shifted his seat anxiously. "I'm talking about his parents' perspective. That's just my guess. Admit it, even parents in this world don't treat everyone equally."
Zong Chi smiled. He had no interest in other people's family affairs, but he didn't mind her nagging or confiding in him. After all, he hadn't listened to her worries enough in those years. He believed her words. If she said something wasn't true, then it definitely wasn't true. On the contrary, she was still willing to talk to him endlessly, which at least proved that she wasn't completely disappointed in him.
"Well, what then?" Zong Chi let her continue.
"That's all." He Dongli said and then turned off the microphone.
If there is no more, then let's talk about their later days. Zong Chi came to set things right, "Did you take New Year's Day off?"
He Dongli then turned her head to look at him. Zong Chi thought Lin Jiaoyu's bad idea should go away. He didn't need to test her level of concern. He had always cared too much about these things in the past. He didn't want to repeat the drama of today's disagreement in the box.
Zong Chi said to He Dongli, "I'll probably be back for a day. When I come back, I don't plan on staying in a hotel. My parents' house has been uninhabited for a long time. The front and back gardens are deserted, and the grass is taller than a person. What do you think, should I move in there, or should I find a new house?"
The person who heard this suddenly turned around and looked out the window. It was clearly a bleak winter night, but the flashing neon lights made it look like lush grass and flying orioles.
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