Chapter 34 "As you say."
At around six o'clock the next morning, He Dongli received a WeChat message from someone who had pinned the message.
This is a real-time address sharing, Zongchi has already landed in Hong Kong.
She'd always been a light sleeper, and today's surgery was the first on the waiting list. She stared at the news of a safe landing for a moment, then let the screen stay on that page.
After a while, the second message came in: The Zou matter has been settled, Feng will issue a public relations statement at 8 o'clock.
He Dongli picked up his phone and wanted to ask him what was going on, but it was so early in the morning and he would be very tired even if he had a direct flight. If he was not stopping in Hong Kong for business and was just a transfer, then forget it, it wasn't too urgent.
After typing a few words, he quietly deleted it.
Just as she threw her phone aside and prepared to wash up and go for a morning run, a video call came in on WeChat. He Dongli hesitated for a moment, then switched to voicemail and answered.
The other end said, "Why did the voice change?"
He Dongli said: "It's not convenient."
"Are you showering or using the toilet?"
This guy, with that kind of mouth, should be thankful to be born in a peaceful era. "He's halfway through his shower and already using the toilet. Are you satisfied?"
The other end laughed and teased her, "He Dongli, I've told you before, you're just a rebellious kid. They don't understand you."
He Dongli tossed his phone aside. At the sink, an electric toothbrush began vibrating. Zong Chi continued with their half-finished joke, "Are you done?"
"Are you okay? I need to get washed and ready to go out."
"Going to work so early?"
He Dongli put the toothbrush in his mouth and told him vaguely to go for a run.
The voice was a little farther away, and He Dongli thought it was because of a bad signal. He hung up, but within a second, he called back, and they were video chatting.
He Dongli had no choice but to click the connection button. When the video became smooth and stable, she realized that he was in the VIP lounge. He had just taken a shower, his hair was half dry, and he looked energetic. He Dongli actually admired him sincerely. She was considered energetic, but compared to him, she was not as good as him.
He Dongli was in her pajamas, her hair tucked away with a clip for easier washing. To avoid facing each other, she'd already bent down to lather once. Unexpectedly, when she stood up straight, the electric toothbrush started talking first. The voice system automatically reminds you halfway through the process. She'd bought it like that and hadn't bothered to turn it off. As they stared at each other, bewildered, a robot suddenly appeared: "Great!"
Fortunately, Zong Chi didn't hear clearly. He sipped his coffee and asked her, "What did your toothbrush just say?"
He Dongli didn't want to continue with such an idiotic topic, "How did you help Zou Yan and the others solve it?"
"Well, since you want to know, why did the WeChat message disappear while I was typing it just now?"
He Dongli switched hands to hold the toothbrush and told the truth, "It's too early. I thought you wanted to rest or something."
"Then I sent you a message. Did I wake you up?"
"No. My biological clock is set at this time."
"Oh." Zong Chi continued to drink his coffee to stay alive and gave her a brief overview. He was wearing Bluetooth headphones and his voice was low. "Anyway, in this dog-eat-dog situation, Zou Yan is innocent. Feng knows this very well, and she really wants to protect Zou Yan. And you're so desperate to fight him, and Chen Xiangyang criticized me, saying that my dictatorial and dog-barking behavior towards you was my original sin. So, when the love triangle gets out of hand, they drag me into this to take the blame."
He Dongli didn't strictly brush his teeth for three minutes. He closed the toothbrush early, rinsed his mouth hurriedly, and asked him, "What's wrong with you?"
"What?"
"Why are you taking the blame?" she blurted out hastily. It was just like the old days, blaming him for being so annoying watching TV and movies that he'd forget what happened before. He kept asking about the relationships between characters, but couldn't remember even after asking.
"I agree with Feng on releasing us both. We need to establish that this was a friendly gathering." Although the VIP building wasn't crowded at this hour, Zong Chi was still cautious not to mention the full name in public. "Since they're intent on discrediting this dinner, we only need to clear that part of it. There's no need to prove anything else. They're focused on sexually humiliating the woman, and the photo was just to titillate the public. If the photo is real, who cares about the timeline? Does the timing really matter? After all, if a woman has multiple men, it's a sin."
Zong Chi spoke for a long time, but He Dongli did not say anything.
After a moment, Zong Chi added, "I'm talking about what the general public believes to be original sin."
He Dongli remained silent, but he really wanted to despise him for adding unnecessary details.
Zong Chi asked her again, "Do you agree?"
"Agree to what?"
"Release our photos. If you want to clear Zou Yan's name, this is the most direct way."
"Whatever." He Dongli was not that narcissistic. Even if she was included, no one would remember her.
"What if your mother sees it?" Zong Chi asked quietly.
The person who wet the face towel was stunned for a moment, then she put on her best nonchalant expression, "I saw it. No one said we can't have dinner together after breaking up."
Zong Chi felt a surge of inexplicable resentment during the scene, but her attitude was at least a step above what he'd expected. "Does your mother know I'm back? I mean, I came to S City. Maybe she saw the news on the official account."
He Dongli quickly washed her face and deftly combed her hair. She wore no makeup, just a spritz of moisturizing spray and a smear of cream. "No. She's a vulgar, conceited old woman with no awareness of the importance of national and people's livelihoods. At most, she scrolls through TikTok and sees a bunch of health supplement ads, sharing them with me and asking me to help her debunk them. Even though I've told her that different fields are like different worlds, she still believes that you medical students must know more than us."
Zong Chi couldn't help but laugh when he heard this. He had said at the time that He Dongli was probably more like her father, because she looked nothing like Ms. Yu. Ms. Yu was actually quite loud and would tell them all the gossip about the Zhang and Li families. Occasionally, when He Dongli was in a bad mood and lost her temper, she would be very straightforward and act coquettishly with her daughter, saying, "Xixi, what's wrong with you? It doesn't matter if you're being mean to me, but if you have something to say, just speak up."
So Yu Xiaohan has always been a very important portal between them. Occasionally, He Dongli watched Zong Chi buy gifts to flatter Ms. Yu, and she would just stand by and say nothing. Yu Xiaohan would then help to polish it, complaining to Xiaochi, "I don't want it anymore. My daughter is on good terms with you. If I accept some gifts from you, people will at most say you are good at coaxing your mother-in-law. If we are no longer on good terms, and I still want these from you, people will look down on me. My daughter won't agree." Then that day, they reconciled before Yu Xiaohan went back. When Zong Chi sent Ms. Yu to the car, he took the gifts for her and put them in the trunk. Yu Xiaohan asked Xixi, "Why are you willing to reconcile again?" He Dongli looked up at the sky. The sun was too strong. She urged her mother to get in the car quickly. She was afraid of the sun and didn't want to admit anything. She just said, "Well, I think you can get Hermès for your sake."
Yu Xiaohan scolded Xixi, saying, "She's just copying everyone she's talking to, so outspoken." "You say that, and I don't know what you mean, but I'll take it seriously. If my daughter exists only so I can get designer goods, then I'd rather use my cheapo goods forever." Yu Xiaohan didn't even bow in front of Zong Chi, her tone always proud. "I'm paying for my daughter to go to a good school and get a good degree, not so she can get married and repay me." It's because she's always had good grades. Her father always said, no matter what, she's the only way out for poor people. "Education is the only way out for us," she said. "We strive for the right to choose, otherwise we'll just be chosen."
Yu Xiaohan suffered from the latter in her life, but she was devoted and sincere in supporting her daughter.
-
Zong Chi listened to He Dongli's humorous remarks about Ms. Yu, as humorous as ever. But to be honest, he hardly dared to see her anymore. Seeing this boyfriend, who worked so hard to care for his daughter, love her and her family, just as He Dongli described her, Yu Xiaohan was just an ordinary, ordinary woman, but that didn't affect Zong Chi's love for her. He asked himself, over the years, if he had treated Ms. Yu with respect, he had even tried to curry favor with her as her mother-in-law.
However, in their last meeting, he hurt her completely in both appearance and heart with almost any words he said without thinking.
He was overwhelmed by his anger. He couldn't imagine how Xu Xize and his sister bullied He Dongli, and how she, with such a personality, could endure it for the sake of her mother's current relationship. He just hated why she endured it, or why she didn't tell him since she had already come to the swimming pool to find him. Even so, he would still stay for her, at least he would vent her anger. Zong Chi's blood was too hot at the time to allow him to endure the humiliation he suffered, including hers. He urgently needed a way out. He swerved the steering wheel as if to avoid danger. It was difficult for him to turn around. The only collision object he could see was Yu Xiaohan. He blamed her for not loving Xixi well, as if such anger or scolding could reduce his guilt for pushing his girlfriend to such a state. However, when he returned to Singapore, Lao Zong, under the pretext of restricting entry into China, sent him to Indonesia to develop a new project. A year later, he returned to Singapore again. By chance, he went to the kitchen to prepare a yellow croaker noodle dish. The nanny saw him waste at least four or five pieces of fish that day, but the soup was not good. The nanny was from Shanghai, so he asked her the truth. The nanny said, "Xiao Chi, if you want to eat it, I will make it for you. It's not good to waste it like this."
Zong Chi poured out all the fish soup in front of his aunt. It was not until he could not get the taste he wanted at home or in the restaurant that he realized that Yu Xiaohan actually took good care of Xixi. She was innocent and independent, ate the food she liked, went to the school she wanted to go to, and did what she wanted to do.
What a mother can do is just this much. If she asks for more, she is no longer herself, but the widow of a man named He, a useless arch of chastity.
To catch a thief, you must first catch the leader. When it came to He Dongli, Zong Chi knew that her biggest concern was the gap between them, and what completely confirmed the crux of their conflict was Zong Chi's slander against Yu Xiaohan.
That was the last straw.
On Sangtian Road, she practically broke down in tears as she accused him, "My mother treated you so well, but you, in your eyes, can shatter everything at your will." "When we were together, she was my mother. With your so-called favor or love for me, my mother could rise to the top and enjoy the wealth and glory you bestowed upon her. Now that I want to break up with you, you can trample on her without any burden." "Zongchi, I will never forgive you."
These words flashed over and over in Zong Chi's mind, almost like mold growing on him. So, he complained to the almost disorganized other end through the camera, "I don't look down on your mother."
He Dongli was holding up his phone, but not facing her directly. She seemed to be going back to her room to get something or something. Her hair was rustling, and she hadn't come back to Ruhua for a long time. Zong Chi continued, "You can blame me for losing my temper with your mother, or even barking like a dog, but I don't look down on her. He Dongli, you've been talking about your mother since the first day I met you. I know everything about you, including your mother's remarriage. If I were what you call looking down on her, you wouldn't have been dating me for so many years. You know that if I were that kind of person, you would have lost your temper and cut ties with me a long time ago."
He Dongli was silent for a moment. She picked up her phone, changed her clothes, and said she was going out. When she was nervous or upset, she had a habit of making plans for herself, saying she was going to go for a run, buy breakfast, go to the hospital, make rounds, give medical advice, and then go into surgery without stopping.
Zong Chi listened to her daily routine, feeling an indescribable sense of pride. It was a kind of cultivated happiness. After all, she'd complained all those years about so many majors, about why she'd chosen medicine so recklessly. The idea had first come to her during a mountain trip in ninth grade. One of their classmates had accidentally fallen and injured his knee, and they'd met a female military doctor on leave who urgently cleaned and bandaged the wound and sent him to the hospital for stitches. That day, Zong Chi had fought with Xu Xize for her. He Dongli, fearing the teacher would punish him or ask his parents for help, had run all the way to the homeroom teacher to plead for mercy. Zhu Fengchun made an exception for Zong Chi because he had prominent parents, but when it came to He Dongli, he'd spent ages earnestly nagging her not to study with Zong Chi. He was just a second-generation rich kid, and his parents would always have his back. You're different. Your precocious intelligence and sensitivity need to be put to good use, kid. Rather than focusing on doing the right thing, shouldn't talented children be more focused on meaningful things? What He Dongli saw and thought that day gradually gave rise to what she wanted to do, something meaningful that she thought of independently.
However, Zong Chi, unhappy with some arguments with his family, tried to persuade her to give up the idea of studying medicine. He told her that with her academic ability, she could do anything, and he could provide her with the financial support and even the confidence to start all over again. This caused some rifts between the two of them, but in the end, she persevered and made it through.
"I'm staying in Hong Kong for about four hours to meet with an agent and handle some personal matters. Do you want to buy anything?" Zong Chi asked her.
He Dongli shook his head, "No, thank you."
"You're not buying anything, so why thank me?" Zong Chi said unhappily, "Maybe your mother wants to bring something?"
He Dongli was not a good student at all. She was very mean and mean. "If you want to bring her any local specialties or souvenirs, you can just call her directly. I'm not sure if she will accept them."
Zong Chi wiped his face, feigning indifference. He'd ordered two orange slices for his black coffee to help him stay awake. He didn't bother squeezing juice into his coffee, so he just forked it over with a fork and shoved it into his mouth, skin and flesh included. He chewed it calmly, spitting out the orange peel as he asked perversely, "Oh, so is her number still the same as before?"
He Dongli was now anxious, "Zongchi, how dare you!"
Zong Chi immediately laughed and accused her, "Keep your voice down. We're in a public place, people might think we're arguing."
He Dongli was so angry that her face turned pale. Zong Chi told her to stop running and hurry up to eat breakfast. "For someone like you who needs high energy and physical strength to cope with the workload, it's best not to stop eating high-protein fish and red meat. What do you think?"
He Dongli ignored him. Before she left, Zong Chi put aside the matter of calling Ms. Yu for the time being, but asked He Dongli to help him decide what to have for breakfast: baked lobster eggs Benedict with toast or porridge with dried scallop, fish maw and fish slices with barbecued pork buns.
He held up the menu to show her, but He Dongli dismissed him impatiently, "Chinese, please."
Zong Chi hummed, "Okay, I'll listen to you."
Only then did He Dongli hang up the video and go out as he wished.
On her way to the hospital after her morning run, she saw a message from Zong Chi that she had sent almost as she left the house: I'll land in the afternoon and go back to catch up on some sleep. I'll pick you up when you're done today, no matter how late it is.
That morning, it was not until He Dongli finished the first operation and walked off the stage that he saw the statement issued by Feng Qianxu's studio on his phone. The statement calmly clarified yesterday's public opinion, saying that it was a gathering of friends and that the four-person group was misled by someone with ulterior motives into this way. It was completely false.
The press release included photos of the four-person dinner party leaked from a follow-up camera angle, which included clear details of the second-generation leader of the Jiayin Group and his female companion entering and leaving. The photos revealed the second-generation leader's front and side details, while the female companion's appearance was not exposed throughout the whole process.
Feng Qianxu's statement was met with immediate support and heartache from fans, and the public opinion surrounding the comments began to shift. It was astonishing that a dinner party within the entertainment industry could be portrayed as a secret meeting for cheating, and the kissing photo was completely absurd. The other side of the public opinion also played the same game: a dinner party is a dinner party, and if you can even discredit that, what else can be true? These fabricated stories are despicable. Some of these rivals should stop being so hateful.
He Dongli looked at the WeChat and saw a message from Zou Yan. He sent her: "Thanks. I know Master Zong definitely didn't do this for Qianxu and me."
Jiang Xingyuan has been busy collecting materials for her article on people's livelihood and economy these days. She is at the Jiada Daily Chemical Factory. On the one hand, she sighs that Zong Chi was very thoughtful in asking his secretary to arrange a temporary representative identity for her, and even her meal standard is the best. On the other hand, she sends a message to Dongli to chat: Young Master is accompanying you to chase stars.
He Dongli didn't reply. He looked at the time, thinking that person was probably on a plane again at this time. His fatigue intensified. He didn't think too much about it and replied to the message he sent this morning:
It's going to be a little late today. I'll come find you after I'm done and treat you to dinner.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
