Chapter 31 The One Who Can't Be Driven Away
He Dongli called Zou Yan, and the call was busy.
After returning from the outpatient building, she made her usual evening rounds on her patients. Without even eating, she rushed to the general surgery department to find Zou Yan. A colleague told Dr. He that Zou Yan's afternoon clinic had been disrupted, and the department had temporarily suspended his appointments.
The emergency surgery department has also been coordinated to replace the staff, so they should be leaving get off work early by now.
He Dongli took a taxi and went to Zou Yan's apartment. When the door opened for her, Zou Yan was on the phone, silent. Even so, He Dongli could hear the barrage of scolding coming from the other end, because Zou Yan was smiling bitterly. After a moment of silence, he finally said, "Yeah, I do like her. The kind I can't live without. There are so many women in the world, I'm just a fucking loser, so what do you think?"
After saying that, he hung up the phone and threw it away.
He Dongli stood at the door for a long time without saying a word, and did not dare to go in.
The living room was quiet for a few minutes before Zou Yan regained his usual composure. He tilted his head and asked He Dongli, "What do you want to talk to me about?"
"I called you but couldn't get through. Your department said you were off work, and I just...if you just want to be alone, then I'll go back first, Zou Yan." He Dongli greeted him cautiously. She hoped that her friendship did not offend him.
Zou Yan smiled, stood up and went to look for clothes. After a moment, he picked up his coat and said invitingly, "Since you're here, come have a drink with me."
He Dongli was alert, "Your face is trending on the Internet, get out, it's not good."
Zou Yan said disdainfully, "You overestimate the loyalty of netizens in the entertainment industry. This trivial matter disappeared in less than three days."
On the way to the bar with Zou Yan, he told He Dongli that this was the second time she had comforted him. "The first time was when it was raining on our way back to the hospital. To be honest, that day, Old Zhou praised you profusely in front of my dad, even regretting that you didn't stay in our general surgery department. My dad used you as an example, saying that if any girl could handle pressure like that and excel, why were you just muddling along all day?"
"I really didn't like you the other day. When you spoke to me, I just wanted to curse you. Get out of here. Stop pretending to be such a good person."
"In the end, you handed me a piece of crumpled paper and left. He Dongli, I didn't use your paper to wipe my face. To be honest, your habit of holding paper is too rough." Zou Yan said, as if he was very interested, and couldn't help but glance at her.
He Dongli didn't care. "Then I'm going out for a run. I'll carry some paper with me. Do I need to wrap it with an Hermès scarf?"
Zou Yan smiled again, "So, I know you're a good person. So good that you're out of place in our hospital."
He Dongli felt particularly relieved when she was given the "nice guy" card, and even breathed a sigh of relief. She wanted to record it and let out a sound for those petty people.
He Dongli and Zou Yan's first encounter began during that rainy day, but their real relationship began when they rented an apartment. He learned that she wanted to move out of the dormitory and rent an apartment near the hospital. At the time, she was on her rotation as an inpatient and under immense pressure. Every time Zou Yan saw her, he could sense her tenseness, a tension that instilled in him a sense of empathy and compassion.
He Dongli wanted to rent a house with better conditions because she was in a bad mood and needed a good atmosphere to adjust herself. Otherwise, she would go crazy.
Zou Yan asked her what her budget was for a better house. She rarely spoke in a generous tone, saying that she had no budget and that liking the house was the most important thing.
Zou Yan laughed at her, saying that she was so arrogant and wanted to be a resident doctor.
He Dongli nodded and said, "Well, to tell you the truth, I did make some unexpected fortune, and I have been keeping it... for when I can't make it any further."
A university classmate of his had a house nearby, and the man had just returned to China to attend his mother's funeral. Zou Yan asked his old friend if he would rent it to a female colleague. The friend happened to be in need of a housekeeper, preferably one with a clean, stable job. She asked Zou Yan, "Does she mind renting this place where a funeral had just taken place?"
Zou Yan guaranteed that others could do it, but she wouldn't.
A friend smelled something and asked Zou Yan, "Girlfriend?"
Zou Yan confessed to his friend, "If I say she looks a bit like Zou You, will you be scared?"
My friend shook his head and immediately became curious about his female colleague A Yan.
On the day of house viewing, the friend saw He Dongli and didn't say anything to tease him. It was probably because A Yan said that he looked like Zou You that she was obsessed with it.
Zou You is the most renowned talent in his circle, a bit aloof and unsociable, yet a master of all trades. When he tells a dry joke, you can sense he's really trying hard to connect with you.
He died in a car accident while traveling with his friends in his senior year.
At this point, the Zou family’s moon was extinguished.
Because of his brother's death, Zou Yan was forced by his mother to break up with Feng Qianxu.
While her friend was heartbroken over Zou You's death, she also felt sorry for A Yan, who had lived under his brother's shadow for years. But she knew he loved A You. Even though he resented his parents' favoritism, he never considered A You's death.
The two brothers had a big fight before the accident. The reason was that Zou You argued with his parents for A Yan, saying that A Yan didn’t want to study medicine. I don’t understand, how is it wrong not wanting to study medicine, how can it be an insult to you!
Zou Yan clearly didn't say anything, but in the end he was still the one who was scolded. He was furious at Ah You and said, "Don't worry about my business. Just take care of yourself."
His words came true, and Zou You finally just took care of himself.
During that time, A Yan was so depressed and self-blamed that he almost lost his composure. When his mother found out about his relationship with Feng Qianxu, she blamed him bitterly, saying he was just like his father, and that all men were bad.
Zou Yan's mother's careless words, "Why wasn't it you who died?", became a thorn that Zou Yan could not remove.
Zou Yan and Feng Qianxu parted ways cleanly, and for the next six or seven years, no one had seen him smile much. This time, when he brought his colleagues to view the house, his friends could see that he was relaxed and happy.
He Dongli was staring at the bunch of lilies that the landlady had bought on the spur of the moment in the kitchen. She hadn't had time to put them in a vase yet, so she placed them in the small pool of fresh water in the fruit basin. She was lost in thought, then turned to Zou Yan and said that she liked this place and had decided to rent it.
Zou Yan turned to his friend and asked, "What did I say?"
In the bar, He Dongli risked his life to accompany the gentleman to order a cocktail, but he was aware of other people's thoughts and didn't dare to say anything, let alone ask.
Zou Yan despised her. "You're just as dumb as Zou You, I'm telling you." He Dongli and Zou You were both alumni of the eight-year French program. They both loved hiding in the hustle and bustle while also being slightly unsociable. They both loved buttermilk with red bean filling, had the same needle-holding and knotting technique, and had the same unwavering personality of just going along with whatever you said...
Such people are not afraid of loneliness. As the saying goes, those with rich souls can walk alone just like in the crowd.
He Dongli was unhappy and accused Zou Yan, "Although this is about your brother and the dead are the most important, I can't be happy if you say I'm stupid, I tell you!"
Zou Yan sipped his wine with a smile, as if forgiving her. "Whatever you want to say, just say it. Consider today the day of my death."
He Dongli heard him curse him like this and quickly told him to touch wood. He pouted for him and then said calmly, "You should have told me about your brother earlier."
"I don't want to say."
"So being misunderstood as a male mistress doesn't matter?"
Zou Yan tilted his head to look at He Dongli, "Misunderstanding? How do you know it's a misunderstanding?"
"You left early that night."
"Yeah, that kiss photo is real."
"I know, but..."
Zou Yan opened his eyes wider and looked at He Dongli. The latter realized that he had let the cat out of the bag and quickly changed his words, "I mean..."
“…”
After exchanging bewildered glances, He Dongli decided that while Zong Chi deserved to die for back-checking, she was willing to vouch for his character. Zong Chi absolutely disdained such despicable tactics; even if he were to rob someone, he would be on the cusp of a mountain. So, she decided to keep this a secret for him. "Anyway, the kiss photo doesn't match the Sunday dinner date."
"Besides, it's not just the two of you having a secret meeting. We're obviously here too."
"You guys?" Zou Yan repeated for He Dongli, and after a moment, he seemed to agree, "Perhaps the person who leaked the news knew that Zong Chi was not easy to deal with, so he fired him."
He Dongli actually guessed it, but that wasn't the point. "The point is, Zou Yan, you're not that kind of person. I know that."
"What kind of people?"
"You still care about your family, your father's expectations of you, and without your brother, you have to live the life he wants for him." He Dongli tried to empathize, "Otherwise, you would have quit this job long ago. I know that, and I would not have helped Miss Feng without telling my family."
He Dongli was all too familiar with the quarrel in the box that Sunday night. Zou Yan, who almost wanted to escape, was the same He Dongli back then. Suspicion and suspicion of someone you cherish are the most heartbreaking, and yet, Feng Qianxu's words were the most revealing to Zou Yan.
She (he) knows that he (she) doesn't love others, but she (he) can't keep him (her).
Zou Yan was drunk and faint before he tried to speak his mind to "Ah You." "The dead cannot be resurrected, just like my breakup with Lulu. Over the years, she's drifted further and further away, and I couldn't keep her. Yet, she has a million reasons to blame me. It was me who was heartless and didn't want her in the first place, so she has every reason to hate me and enslave me forever. Even if she hugs me and forcefully kisses me a thousand times, we both know in our hearts that there's no going back. She can't let go of her hatred for me, nor can she give up her fame and fortune. She can't even do the simplest thing, which is marrying her into the Zou family. What kind of love is that? In fact, she despises me even more than I do. What kind of daughter-in-law of the Zou family is that? She's nothing!"
Zou Yan talked for a long time, and the people around him seemed to be silent before him. He tilted his head to look at her. He Dongli rubbed her face with both hands. When she took her hands away, Zou Yan saw tears in the corner of her eyes.
He Dongli quickly adjusted himself and comforted Zou Yan as if nothing had happened, "You drink, I'll stay sober. If you get drunk, I'll find someone to take you home."
In the end, Zou Yan didn't get drunk. He Dongli sighed, this is another point of criticism for people with heavy moral shackles, even getting drunk is so difficult.
While they were waiting for the designated driver, He Dongli felt her phone vibrate several times, so she took it out and answered it. The bar wasn't too noisy, but when she got down from the high chair, people at the next tables were watching a football game. When a goal was scored, some people cheered while others criticized it.
When He Dongli answered the phone, he heard the applause and the constant whistles and boos from the men on the other end of the phone.
"Zongchi, I have something..."
The other end interrupted, "I'll come in advance..." After saying that, he paused and asked her solemnly, "Where are you?"
He Dongli explained, "Zou Yan had some problems, so he came to drink, and I accompanied him."
"Is it not possible to go with Zou Yan?" Zong Chi's voice was actually quite calm, almost a hint of weakness. But because of the one-hour time difference, the distance separated by the 360-degree distance after rising and falling from a height of ten thousand meters, his slightly numbed brain from alcohol, and the overwhelming weight of what he had heard, He Dongli instantly fell back into the vortex of those past days and nights.
Emotions were raw and tense, and for a moment she couldn't distinguish between past and present, questioning and concern. Perhaps she had simply built up a fire, sealed and dry for far too long, like a Pandora's box, unopenable except for the key of fame. It would have been fine if he hadn't returned to try to open her, but he was already prying at her, shaking her pride and desires. Her rage was legitimate, and he was the only victim.
Zong Chi waited for a long time without her saying anything, and asked more urgently, "Drinking, don't you know how much you can drink? You went to drink with him..."
He Dongli interrupted him, "I think it's none of your business, Mr. Zong, to decide who I drink with."
"He Dongli!"
"Don't call me, never. Zong Chi, I hate you so much. You're always like this. I didn't make it clear to you last time, did I? My colleagues are all women or men. You don't allow me to interact with other men or even have normal social interactions. Then kill all the men in the world, including your group of cronies. Use Lin Jiaoyu as a scapegoat first, because compared to you, Lin Jiaoyu is even handsome!"
The victim was really burned, and his breathing was louder than his breathing. "Xixi, you are drunk, aren't you? Is that what I meant?"
"You are it." He was venting his anger and then hung up with a beep.
Zong Chi immediately hit back, but He Dongli ignored him.
But when she returned to Zou Yan and wanted to ask if his designated driver had arrived, he got in the car smoothly and she left first.
Zou Yan was answering the phone. At first, He Dongli thought it was the designated driver. But, Zou Yan listened to the phone and slowly handed the phone to her. He Dongli understood immediately. She held Zou Yan's phone to her ear.
"Zongchi, you've really gone too far."
The person being scolded ignored her and just asked her, "How much did you drink?"
"Do you really have to force me to argue with you outside?"
"Don't you know how much you can drink? You went out to drink. What happened?"
"It's none of your business." He Dongli hated that he always had this ability to force his lover in such a coercive tone.
Hearing this, the other end was furious, "Even if something terrible happens, you're not allowed to drink. Do you understand?"
"I don't know. I only know why you care about me! What's your identity? What's your attitude? Am I your thing or your pet?"
"You're not!" The other end suddenly lost control and denied it as an affirmation, "You are nothing, and I am not worthy of it, okay. Yes, why should I care about you, I'm just a fucking slut, why should I care about you drinking, why should I be anxious, you asked me for my identity, I don't have it, didn't you take it all back? He Dongli, I can't bear you to drink, in the end, you ask me for your identity! What is identity, nationality, passport or household registration, a legal document that is tied to you, right? If I had known you would ask me for this thing today, I shouldn't have agreed to let you go down the mountain, or you could just watch Zong Jingzhou finish me off with his own hands. When I die, you will be free."
"Zongchi, you bastard!"
The jerk on the other end swallowed hard, then changed his tone to a slightly more soothing one. "I've already sent a car to pick you up. Drinking won't solve any problems. We've already drunk, Ah Li, just promise me you'll go back first, okay?"
Zong Chi once said something that softened her heart the most: "I don't see you half the year, and I spend who knows how many hours flying to see you the other half." Ah Li, if you've ever experienced a twelve-hour flight up, landing only to spend a night, and then another endless twelve hours on the way back, you'll understand the emptiness in my heart.
But their arguments were exhausting. She thought of a common saying among her colleagues: people can't even empathize with themselves from the previous moment. Yes, just a moment ago, she had softly hinted to herself that resentment and oblivion were more terrifying than ever-lasting love. She feared that resentment would become irreversible, and she feared even more that her mother would forget about him the way she had forgotten her father. People are alive, their hearts are beating, and the living can never remember the dead.
Death, He Dongli felt a flash of panic. Ultimately, she was afraid. She no longer confronted him on the phone, in the time difference between countries. She was afraid that he would come back without a care in the world, repeating the drama of their lover's wrath. If something happened to him, his mother would once again accuse her of the condescending words: "Maybe you don't love him."
So, the person, already in tears, said to the other end of the phone, perhaps she should have thrown him away cruelly from the moment they met again, "Zong Chi, you're the only one who knows how much I can drink. For so many years, there's no exception. You know why, because no one else is as bad as you! But it's only in front of a bad guy like you that I dare to let my guard down and drink a few more glasses of bitter wine that makes me sick. There's another thing. You've been nagging me for years, and I'll tell you too. Back then in the basketball hall, you thought I was stupid for turning back to drink the Frappuccino after it had already left my sight. Yes, in the eyes of a rich young man like you, a Frappuccino is nothing. Is it worth turning back to get it? You treated me to it, and I didn't think it was out of my sight. That's all. I'm telling you this so that I can solemnly inform you next: Zong Chi, we're over. Once you're done with your acquisition, please leave my city immediately. If you're still a man, please continue to honor your father's ban on you."
After saying that, He Dongli threw the phone back to Zou Yan.
Before Zou Yan could pick it up, He Dongli, distraught, snatched the phone back and barked orders at the other end, "Don't try to scare anyone with that act of returning home immediately. I have a witness this time. If anything happens to you again, I will ruthlessly distance myself from your parents. Zong Chi, I mean what I say."
The other end said nonchalantly, even with a gangster-like tone: "Then I can't return to my early morning flight to Hong Kong, huh? Because of your words, if I return, I will make a scene. He Dongli, what did you say just now? If I were still a man, I'm telling you now, I'm not, I'm not, no one can do anything to me!"
The person He Dongli was familiar with was back again——
Fifteen-year-old Zong Chi, on a summer break from the horse ranch with Lin Jiaoyu and the others, ran into He Dongli on a tourist street, collecting folk songs by a small bridge and a stream. She'd just learned her mother was remarrying, and she was feeling down and depressed, not wanting to talk to anyone. She was sketching something, and perhaps someone had offered her thirty yuan. After some hesitation, He Dongli finally agreed, took the money, packed up her sketchpad, and prepared to move on.
On the small bridge, Zong Chi ran into his old enemy from the private school. Lin Jiaoyu encouraged Zong Chi to take revenge on the spot. He stood on the bridge with one hand on the head of the stone lion, and watched the two sides provoke each other to fight. The security guard not far away ran over and scolded them. He Dongli was bumped on the shoulder by the onlookers. When she bent down to pick up the drawing board and looked up again, Zong Chi had already come down from the bridge. Lin Jiaoyu behind him grabbed a boy from the opposite side by the neck and threw him into the river.
Zong Chi glanced back, his smile both arrogant and indifferent. By the time he pushed through the throng and reached He Dongli, the security guards had already targeted him, treating him like the culprit and yelling at him not to leave. Zong Chi grabbed He Dongli's wrist and ran off. That day, the sky was exceptionally fine. The azure sky was dotted with puffy, low-hanging clouds. As He Dongli sketched, she even had a plan for her composition. The rhetoric would go something like this: The cloud god must have gotten drunk, or perhaps Sun Wukong had given him a sleepy bug. In short, the little cloud monsters had all come out.
The two people on the ground ran all the way out of the tourist street, and finally ran back to the temple next to their school on a familiar route. Under the centuries-old ancient tree, He Dongli's nose bled a lot because of the intense running. She scolded Zong Chi harshly, saying that he was a troublemaker, but she also confided her awkwardness and discomfort to him while crying. When she returned home that night, Zong Chi asked her on QQ where she was now, and he had a supply pack for her. He Dongli didn't understand, but she went downstairs to see him at the appointed time. He gave her a bottle of milk and a box of chocolates, and claimed coldly and arrogantly that it was a buff for her blood loss. She had no idea that it was because of her words that Zong Chi changed his mind and stayed in the country. It was useless for her parents to be surprised, because he said he was notifying and deciding;
Seventeen-year-old Zong Chi once again postponed his parents' original plans for him because He Dongli went to the swimming pool to look for him. Whether it was to comfort him or to say goodbye, or because he had been brooding over the years and felt that she went there on purpose, seducing him for revenge and taking revenge on him.
At the age of thirty, He Dongli was at her wit's end. She used her coldest words to drive him away. However, she knew this close friend for seven years too well. He could pester her to treat him to a bowl of noodles worth six yuan and never mention paying the money back, or he could rent a mansion garden house for her with an annual rent of several million yuan until she graduated with a doctorate. He could listen to Yu Xiaohan nagging him for a long time without saying a word, or he could impatiently scold the old man when his father just said a word on the other end of the phone, saying, "Stop talking nonsense. We'll see the result when the case is closed. Don't worry about how I did it for you." He could He had let He Dongli wade through the water and damaged his car due to an error of judgement without blinking an eye. As a result, when the lawyer came to him to sign the documents, He Dongli realized that the car was the public property of the group. For the sake of public accounts, Zong Chi bought it from his father with the dividends from the trust fund for the next year. He could transfer all the bonuses from every project to He Dongli and ask her to keep them for emergencies, claiming that it was earned by him and it was natural for him to support his girlfriend, but he could also be content with the fact that his living expenses depended on the money he got from the projects, and he had to go out to beg for food and cook it for her.
The more arrogant and righteous Zong Chi acted in front of others, the more mischievous and childish he became when he was alone with He Dongli, even becoming a scoundrel and a vulgar person. In the past, she usually didn't respond to him, and when he got angry, he would try to comfort her without saying a word.
Years passed, and she didn't know if it was because she had learned more about the world and hardened her heart, or if she had simply been corrupted by him, but it wasn't just Sun Wukong who attacked the Cloud Palace, nor was it just Zong Chi. He Dongli knew that no matter how early or late she spoke, as long as she said no, he would have a trick up his sleeve. He was the only person in the world who couldn't be driven away. "Zong Chi, you don't even care about your dignity!"
"Well, compared to you, face is nothing!" Someone was too calm, and this sentence seemed to have been planned for a long time before it was revealed like turning over the table.
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