Chapter 41: Cutting off the tail to survive
Zong Chi's words reeked of alcohol, and his eyes etched with a washed-out, murderous intent. This was a habit he'd reserved for the occasional visits he'd made to her or the occasional silence he'd chosen. When He Dongli questioned him, he'd occasionally speak, and occasionally dismiss her. Anything he kept from her was bound to be a disaster.
He Dongli mostly remained silent, a companion. She wasn't the type to ask questions incessantly. She knew that Zong Chi's personality meant that if he insisted on not letting her know, it was either because she truly couldn't solve the problem, or perhaps it was related to her.
He Dongli was a little unsure tonight, unsure what was wrong with him. Before she could ask, the drunken man asked again, "Have you thought it through? It's been a day."
In front of the boss's wife.
He Dongli heard his words clearly, and the anger in his heart suddenly spread to his face. Zong Chi must have been really drunk, and his words were a bit rambling and harsh. He returned to the previous topic, "What do you mean by not wanting it anymore, huh?"
The proprietress still had her cigarette in her hand.
He Dongli had a strong intuition that he was in a bad mood. He knew something was wrong at this moment. Maybe his drunken rage would scare the owner into calling the police. He Dongli decided not to provoke him for the time being, so she subconsciously reached out and brushed the water off his windbreaker.
Zong Chi grabbed her hand. He Dongli pretended to get him some tissues and pulled them back. The proprietress saw this and handed the tissues off the counter to Dr. He, returning the cigarettes to the rack. He Dongli pulled out a few tissues to wipe him, but the drunk man blocked them with his hand. "What the hell are you buying here so late, He Dongli?" he called out to her, as if to clear his drunkenness.
He Dongli pointed to the toothpaste on the table.
The person who was logical enough to go to a shooting range and aim at a target continued to ask in a nonsensical way: "Don't you want toothpaste?"
He Dongli was really at her wit's end and could only use the excuse of her period to continue her act, "I wanted to buy some brown sugar, but they're out. The boss lady said she'd go look for it in the warehouse. It's too late. Forget it. Let's talk about it tomorrow."
Zong Chi glanced silently at the shopkeeper. The last time he came, it seemed to be her old man. The shopkeeper saw that the man was tall and had a rather mature demeanor. Looking at Dr. Xiao He's unusually girlish demeanor, she thought that Dr. Xiao He was dating someone and didn't want him to know that she smoked. She could only help her, "Okay, Dr. Xiao He, I'll go to the warehouse and find a pack of cigarettes that won't be a problem."
Without waiting for He Dongli to wave his hand to refuse, Zong Chi said, "Yes. Please go get a pack, thank you."
The boss lady assigned herself a big job before closing time.
After she went to the inner warehouse, He Dongli looked up at Zong Chi with a slight displeasure. He used his usual business logic and said, "She is in this line of work. If you don't want her, how can she earn money?"
He Dongli put the papers he didn't want back into his pocket. Zong Chi complained, "What's the use of those two papers? They've all become fuzzy after I wiped them off."
She said nothing, waiting for the boss lady to turn around.
Zong Chi saw she was still wearing the same coat she'd worn yesterday, with a change of clothes underneath. Her makeup was bare, even dusty. The fact she was still bright and rosy at this hour proved her professionalism was abysmal. Zong Chi wanted to tease her, calling her like a homecoming ox or horse. But she finally returned, and his mood brightened. He rested one hand on the glass cash register and scanned the shelves before him.
There were cigarettes and alcohol, but Zongchi discovered that none of the small shops on the streets and alleys seemed to sell those things.
He was thinking about something that was not in the store. He Dongli caught a glimpse of Zong Chi staring at the cigarette holder with a sharp gaze, as if he was spending the whole day trying to distinguish the true and false.
He Dongli decided to ask, "What's wrong with you?"
"What?"
"I'm asking you, what's wrong? Why are you so wet?"
Zong Chi walked over to the drinks stand nearby and casually picked up a bottle of water. He took two sips before paying the bill. "Chen Xiangyang sent you an invitation to their studio's housewarming party. He sent it to me. I'll bring it to you."
He Dongli spread his hands and asked him for an invitation.
Zong Chi felt in the inner pocket of his windbreaker and said, "I forgot it in the car."
He Dongli's eyes widened immediately. "Did you drive here?"
"ah."
"Zongchi, you drank so much, and you drove here?!"
Zong Chi caught sight of the proprietress returning with brown sugar in her hand. He deliberately raised his voice, "Ah, I was so busy coming to see you that I forgot, Ah Li, I forgot I drank so much. I'm going to..."
He Dongli suddenly grabbed one of his arms, silencing him. A few drops of water spurted out of the opened bottle of mineral water, jarred by her sudden embrace.
Because of the height difference, outsiders would think the woman was acting coquettishly. Zong Chi just laughed halfway when she suddenly raised her head and scolded, "Go out and wait for me!"
Zong Chi reached out to grab her chin, looking like he was about to lean over. He Dongli slapped him across the face. It wasn't very strong, but it was enough to startle the proprietress next to him. He Dongli almost kicked him out, then turned around and muttered an apology, "I'm sorry, he's drunk."
Finally, she paid the bill including the half bottle of water that Zongchi had drunk.
When He Dongli came out from behind the sunshade, Zong Chi had already picked up her umbrella from the turnover box. Seeing her, he stood under the sunshade, opened the umbrella, walked over, and tilted it over her head.
Before she could curse, Zong Chi laughed out loud, "He Dongli, it turns out I come before your principles. I thought you were going to team up with the boss lady to report me."
"Zongchi, if you think your life is too long, just keep talking."
The man holding the umbrella came over and held her chin with one hand, and was about to kiss her, but He Dongli pushed him away. He reeked of alcohol and cigarettes.
After being slapped and then pushed, someone seemed to enjoy it immensely. He walked over with a smile and repeated his old trick, only this time he pinched her face and led her to look at something not far away. He had parked his car farther away on his way here today because he had previously parked in front of her house and was spotted by a patrolling traffic officer, who indicated that temporary parking was not allowed there. Zong Chi wanted to get out and wait, but when the driver arrived, Chen Xiangyang reminded him not to leave him alone by the roadside, for everyone's safety.
Zong Chi raised his umbrella higher and stood behind He Dongli, pinching her face with one hand, forcing her to see Chen Xiangyang's car and his brave driver who refused to leave. He leaned over and asked her, "Are you still going to report me? You can't report me."
He was about to ask her if she had made up her mind, but with her in his hands, Zong Chi didn't even want to ask. It was like this whether you wanted it or not. So, he forced her closer to him because he wanted her so badly, so badly that he couldn't live without her. He just wanted to scold her, "He Dongli, don't even think about getting rid of me. Even if your mother doesn't agree, you have to agree."
After a night of drinking too much, numbing her to the bone, and the noise making her head hurt, she waited for a long time before Zong Chi pried open her teeth and, possessively, sucked her, then bit her hard. If she could grow another tongue tomorrow, Zong Chi would undoubtedly devour her tongue of irony.
She took a deep sip, and before she could scream in pain, Zong Chi covered her mouth with his hand.
He Dongli was furious and broke free, wiping his mouth in disgust, "Zongchi, you reek of a bunch of old men who drink and smoke."
He put his arm around her shoulders and carried her out into the rain, responding to her words, "What's the point of Lao Deng smelling like? You'll be more mad at me when I smell like another woman."
When He Dongli heard what he said, he stopped moving.
She had this habit many times before. When she went for a walk after dinner, she would stop and refuse to move if she heard something unpleasant. Zong Chi would either coax her or pinch her finger bones, forcing her to cry out in pain, and then, when she was off guard, he would pull her away like a carrot.
Seeing this, Zong Chi remembered something and teased her, "Chen Xiangyang is here too. He praised you like a flower. He is also a master."
He Dongli didn't buy it. Whether she was a flower or a vegetable, in short, "How can smoking and drinking smell good!"
"Yes. I don't smoke. This belongs to someone else. The truth is, I quit smoking a long time ago, except for that night at Liang's house when I deliberately provoked you to see if you would get angry."
Zong Chi then turned around and asked, "You still haven't told me whose cigarettes that are in your house belong to?"
"October 17th, your handwriting, He Dongli, don't tell me the cigarettes are yours?" Zong Chi held her and walked all the way to the car.
He tapped the driver's side window. He Dongli thought he was going back to the car to get some invitations, but the trunk opened and he took out a luggage bag from the back.
He walked back to He Dongli's umbrella in the rain, turned around to tell the driver that it was time to go back.
The umbrella was tilted towards her. When He Dongli tried to straighten it, Zong Chi suddenly said, "I'm not leaving tonight."
In order to refuse to answer his question about the ownership of the cigarette, He Dongli could only face him, "What happened? Why are you hiding here?"
Zong Chi smiled after hearing this. "You guessed it, didn't you? A group of old men were drinking and playing cards together, and two troublemakers showed up in the middle. Chen Xiangyang took over to entertain them. You're right, Chen Xiangyang is a pushover. He pissed me off, so I showed his current girlfriend all the money he secretly gave to his first love. But I bet you, this current girlfriend won't last long."
He Dongli thought of Li Anni, whom she had met at the Liang family, and she felt a little unhappy. It turned out that Zong Chi really knew a lot about Chen Xiangyang's mess. "So you really helped Chen Xiangyang deceive his current girlfriend!"
"What did I lie about?" His voice was contemptuous and at ease.
He Dongli didn't bother to pay attention to him and turned to leave, but Zong Chi grabbed her umbrella. The two of them almost dragged each other back to the eaves of her residence. While He Dongli was taking out the key, Zong Chi held the umbrella for her and continued to ask her, "What did I lie about? Tell me."
"You helped Chen Xiangyang deceive Miss Li."
"That's nonsense. Oh, her last name is Li. Okay, let's just call her Li for now. She's more clear-headed than you, miss, you should just worry about yourself. She knew from the beginning that Chen Xiangyang had this first love, and she insisted that she was some kind of white moonlight. I just refuted her by saying that she wasn't really a white moonlight. That first love asked Chen Xiangyang to borrow money, but Chen Hui didn't use his own private account for the few payments. He was just afraid that the current girlfriend would be jealous because he didn't intend to recover the money. But the current girlfriend doesn't really care about what Chen Xiangyang gave to the first love. She just wants to make a bigger fuss so that her husband Chen will appreciate it and Chen Xiangyang's mother will buy into her. See how generous and tolerant I am. In fact, Chen Xiangyang is very smart and he won't choose either of them."
Because of the rain, He Dongli inserted the key to the iron gate, but it was difficult to open. Zong Chi handed her the umbrella, took her key, grabbed the half door handle with one hand, and used the other hand to forcefully poke the lock core.
When the black door opened, He Dongli asked him, "How did you know?"
"First, the fact that she can change partners several times in a few years proves that she moved on from her first love long ago. Second, the fact that she can tolerate her boyfriend repeatedly lending money to his first love only proves that she has no ambitions and deserves the position of Mrs. Chen. However, what Miss Li doesn't know is that although Chen Xiangyang pretends to be a good guy, he is not really a good guy. He is very ambitious and believes that men are in their prime at 41. He wants to wait until he reaches the position of Mrs. Chen, but he doesn't understand that some men can allow themselves to be 40, but that doesn't mean they will allow the women around them to be 40 at the same time."
I don't know if the night rain and wind are the best hangover cure, or if today's Zong Chi truly looks his age after a long time. In short, He Dongli rarely sees him like this. Clearly drunk, he's sober and patient, savoring an olive like a sip of wine. He's simply stating a fact; whether you believe it or not is not his concern.
"What if Miss Li was your aunt's Julia? Would you still be so blind to the truth?"
"I'll scold Julia until her head falls off. You have such poor eyesight. Why don't you donate your eyes to your horse?" Zong Chi then told He Dongli that Julia had raised a horse for the past two years. It was named after her ex-boyfriend because he cheated on her. She tied the horse's legs at the stable to prevent it from running.
He Dongli just wanted to say to Julia that the genes on your mother's side are still too strong.
The two people who came home late stood at the entrance to change their shoes. When He Dongli took off her shoes and hurried to the bathroom to get a basin to receive the umbrellas, Zong Chi realized that the floor was damp from her socks.
Putting the umbrella in the basin against the wall, he asked her, "When did the shoes get damp?"
"It rained heavily on the way back." He Dongli took off his wet socks and wiped the soles of his feet with a tissue before putting on his slippers.
When she looked up again, she saw Zong Chi, who was still standing at the bottom of the entrance steps. She thought he didn't have a pair of slippers waiting for her to arrange, so she took a pair that Yu Xiaohan occasionally wore and threw them to him. "My mother has worn them and washed them. If you don't mind, you can make do with them for now."
Zong Chi glanced at the slippers, which he wasn't sure were originally that red or had faded from being washed so many times by Ms. Yu, with a hint of disdain. However, he was more concerned about another issue right now. "You let me wear them. What if your mother comes over tomorrow morning? How are you going to explain me? Will her heart be able to handle it?"
"Well, you better go then."
"Where am I going?"
"For my mother's physical and mental health."
"I can't even take care of my own health now, how can I care about others." The shameless man went forward without retreating. He took off his raincoat and threw it on the ground, making a loud noise, including his two shoes.
"You don't think I smell too much of cigarettes and alcohol, do you? I want to take a shower. Do you want to take a shower first, or should I?"
He Dongli was stunned for a moment, but remained silent. Zong Chi smiled, slipped his feet into his slippers, and then tilted his head to look at her. "What's wrong? Is this question difficult to answer?"
"You wash first. I forgot I still have a can of caramel crisps in my bag that Zou Yan gave me."
Zong Chi has become immune to her male best friend. "Why are his gifts getting cheaper and cheaper?"
"Well," He Dongli suddenly said, "The operation is over. Why are you still so attentive? Besides, this operation was performed by Senior Brother Tan's flying knife."
"Ali, you didn't buy me a toothbrush." Zong Chi remembered something and said bluntly.
He Dongli choked and said, I gave you a chance to speak.
Zong Chi was upset. Tonight, he just wanted to spend some time alone together, not explaining anything. Explaining Tan Zhengjin would require explaining how he had formed a close relationship with the Tan family, a relationship that Yu Weishi had helped him maintain. He couldn't deny that Yu Weishi had endured much for him and his father, but he also didn't know when his mother began to emphasize and even demonstrate her sacrifices through verbal accounts, fearing that her husband or son would forget the days of her tears. This was also the reason why Zong Jingzhou had tolerated his wife without complaint for decades. Regardless of their status or age, there were countless prejudices and conventions that needed to be overcome. Yu Weishi devotedly loved this man her entire life, even to the point that, thanks to her husband's frequent returns to Singapore, she finally felt her life was returning to normal with her family's acceptance.
When Zong Chi was seventeen, he was forcibly taken back to the Zong family home by his parents. That was the moment he felt he had lost his home. He felt that the parents he once depended on had become the so-called boss, while the other had become an increasingly vague figure, the wife of someone.
When he was young, Zong Chi really felt that his parents were too loving and inseparable from each other. The year he graduated from high school, he had a real erotic dream, which was either a wet dream or the result of his parents' love. They were in the study. Zong Chi and Lin Jiaoyu had long understood what kind of fight scene the sexual relationship between men and women was. However, through a door, they actually heard that kind of practical movement, which suddenly appeared in the boy's dream. Zong Chi scared himself awake early in the morning because he made He Dongli cry in his dream.
From that morning on, he felt that he was sick, so sick that he could only focus on one person.
Zong Chi's inexplicable hatred for Yu Weishi, a mix of love and partiality, and even more of his own selfishness and willfulness, filled him with hatred for his parents. They had finally managed to survive, only to be devoured by the very family that had once loathed them.
Even though Zong Chi felt an unsatisfactory hatred in his heart, he had to remember that he would never let his people become the second insecure Yu Weishi.
Since you cut off your tail in order to survive, you shouldn't think about turning back.
-
After taking a bath, Zong Chi was filled with a rich fragrance. He enjoyed the pleasure of being favored by He Dongli in the bottles and jars on the washbasin.
He picked up whatever bottle he wanted and wiped his face roughly. Then he saw a few more bottles of restocking placed behind the mirror cabinet. He laughed out loud.
When he closed the cabinet door and came out, he saw that the windbreaker he had thrown on the ground had been picked up again. Even though it was stained by wind and rain, He Dongli still hung it up for him.
He also took out his cell phone and Chen Xiangyang's winter solstice invitation from inside.
He Dongli didn't say anything, but just reminded him that his cell phone had rang several times.
Zong Chi took a look and saw that it was Zong Jingzhou's secretary and the old Zong who were calling.
The room was so small, Zong Chi thought. If he didn't call Lao Zong back, the old man's temper might make him come to him at three in the morning. He glanced at the people around him, and finally dialed Lao Zong's number. He hummed, and then, as a matter of course, opened the protective door to the upstairs.
He Dongli stood there, watching Zong Chi, without even turning back, break into the restricted area set up by the landlord just to make this phone call. She said nothing, grabbed her clothes, and went to take a shower.
Zong Chi made a quick decision after receiving the call. He lifted the white dust sheet covering the second floor in the dark and sat on the sofa without turning on the lights. The darkness around him and the white sheet everywhere made him look like a funeral with no one in attendance.
Zong Jingzhou's point was, "I've seen your methods in business, this time I want to see how you handle family matters. Don't look down on the Zhou family; the Zhou family in your eyes is you. Don't always criticize others." In the end, Lao Zong still had to favor his wife. He said that without this favoritism, we wouldn't be father and son anymore. I protect my people, you protect yours. He's always been temperamental and unreasonable.
Zong Jingzhou never called his son by his nickname. It was his wife who gave him that nickname because she thought his full name was too grand, as if he was born for your career, your inheritance. But he's my child, and I don't want such complicated meanings. He should be like the small pond downstairs, full of fresh water and vitality. "Your mother thinks the Zhou family is nothing but you. If you hadn't caused such a big stir over the years, she wouldn't look down on you. Who can believe you can last long if you live in a life full of fighting and killing every day?"
Zong Chi was hit in the sore spot by the old man, so he wanted to hit him back. The old man's excuse to the outside world to block the matchmaking for him was that the young Zong was afraid of illness and doctors, but he didn't know that there was someone else in the family who was really afraid of illness and doctors. "My mother looked down on her. It's a historical problem left by you. It's because of your first wife. Don't think I don't know, Mr. Zong, your first wife was a surgeon. And my mother's mother-in-law loved and recognized only this one daughter-in-law until her death. After the old lady passed away, the mourning clothes left for that one were still for the daughter-in-law."
Zong Jingzhou was so angry that he said, "Shut up!"
Zong Chi finally stopped talking. Before going downstairs, he replied to his father, "If you still feel the need to contact the Zhou family, then let your team handle it. Old Zong, I can tell you with certainty that if the Zhou family's daughter wants to marry me, I'll have to divorce my surgeon wife... I don't have time to run away and start my own business. I get what I deserve. I'm a vested interest in the Zong family, and by the same token, I'm the one who creates the benefits for my descendants to inherit."
Zong Jingzhou was completely furious. "With your stubborn temper, anyone who marries you is blind. Your doctor, by marrying you, is simply accumulating merit for his next life."
"I haven't finished this life yet, why would I care about the next life?"
After hanging up the phone with the old man, Zong Chi went downstairs and realized that his feet were covered in dust. The cleaning staff on the second floor had licked the floor with dust.
This was not the worst. He opened the sliding door to see if she had finished her shower. Instead, he saw He Dongli, who had just washed up, wearing pajamas and with her long hair loose. She put a quilt on the sofa. When she saw that he had finished his call, she pointed at the sofa and put a new electric toothbrush replacement head on the coffee table.
After giving these instructions, she went back to her room to sleep, saying that she would have to check on the ward the next morning.
Zong Chi put one hand on the sliding door. When he came in barefoot, he used more force and pushed the sliding door all the way to the bottom. He was thinking that he had to take over the house as soon as possible, otherwise she would rely on her higher position to oppress him.
Zong Chi reached behind him and closed the sliding door again. As he walked over, he carefully glanced at her face, a little suspicious that she had gone upstairs to eavesdrop. Otherwise, this was not what he had imagined of staying overnight. "What did I do wrong to have to sleep on the sofa?"
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