Chapter 62: Objection is invalid
This year's Great Cold coincides with He Dongli's birthday.
She didn't like the empty excitement when she was twenty, let alone when she was thirty.
Before Xixi's birthday, Yu Xiaohan delivered the gifts she said she would give to Xixi and Zongchi: a trust prepaid insurance policy handled by a lawyer, and a solid gold bar with the birth dates of He Dongli and Zongchi engraved on it.
Beneath the heavy gold bar was a small inscribed character: West and Pond.
Zong Chi was puzzled, "Why did your mother give me this for your birthday?" He already had a vegetarian ring on his hand.
"She wants to return your bribe, and gold is a hard currency, which suits you best."
This time, Zong Chi didn't accept her teasing. "Give it back to your mother. With the current price of gold, this piece of gold is not cheap. It's not easy for her to save up." As he spoke, Zong Chi weighed it in his hand. He didn't want to spoil the fun of such a thoughtful arrangement, so he changed his mind. "I appreciate the kindness. You can give her the money later."
This time, He Dongli obeyed Yu Xiaohan's arrangement. "She's determined to give it to me. Even if I give her some money, she... will still give it to me in the future. The person who gives the gift should be sincere, and the person who receives the gift should be even more sincere."
Zong Chi obeyed her. She was the birthday girl and she was the most important.
However, she still had to go to work on weekdays. Zong Chi booked a restaurant for the evening and did not urge her when to get off work. As long as she got off work before midnight, it would count.
"What time does the restaurant close?"
"I have frozen the time after eight o'clock."
He Dongli looked up at him and realized that he had booked the entire place.
Zong Chi took the gold bar upstairs. She asked him where he was going to take it. Zong Chi didn't even turn around and said, "Put it on my desk. No, I want to take it to my desk at the office."
"What if someone takes it away?"
"Kill without mercy."
*
When she was twenty years old, she flew to find him.
When her father fell ill, she had no desire to celebrate his birthday. Now, at 30, she was even less obsessed with material possessions. Of course, she wasn't completely vain; for example, she loved Zongchi's private dinners. Perhaps it was precisely because she had someone by her side who represented material possessions that she felt she was richer than anyone else, even though she had nothing.
She could go to Zongchi because there was always time to buy anything, as long as she asked. He was her 24-hour convenience store, always welcoming her.
The next morning, he woke up before the alarm clock rang. Before the alarm clock rang, he walked out of the room barefoot and closed the sliding door.
When He Dongli got up on time, she smelled the fragrance outside. She walked to the kitchen door with sleepy eyes, lifted the curtain and looked at the person inside. He skillfully held a tasting plate in one hand, sipped the cooked soup, and told her, "Hurry up and wash up, I'm preparing the soup."
He Dongli guessed it was yellow croaker noodles.
He really did it, he was a man of great ambition.
When Zong Chi brought a bowl of fragrant and colorful yellow croaker noodles to the table, he realized what Aunt Tang said: live a long and steady life.
He should be thankful that he didn't give away all his treasures on the first night he officially moved in, otherwise, the longevity noodles he had this morning would have seemed like a rehash of old stuff.
He Dongli asked him what time he got up to play games, but I didn't hear anything.
Zong Chi asked her if there was a rule when she was a child that prevented her from being beaten on her birthday.
"You can't hit the head."
"I won't be beaten anyway." He corrected: "The old sect will grant me amnesty on this day."
"It's your birthday, and I'm granting you amnesty. So I won't get mad at you no matter what you say, but I need to make it clear that you certainly can't hear anything because I've already learned how to do it, and I'm very skilled at it. Doctor He."
He Dongli's eyes curved in a smile. She loved this birthday gift. "It's more expensive than any luxury item. It's five years in the making, and the noodles are cooked."
He couldn't let it slip from his mind since it was just a "decree" issued by his family. He simply pushed the bowl of yogurt closer to the birthday boy and said, "Eat quickly, you'll be late for work."
That morning, He Dongli waited proudly for his mother's birthday call until he was about to go out.
She had one shoe on and complained to Xiaochi, "Did she sleep late today, or was she playing mahjong last night? She never forgets to call me."
As he spoke, he felt even more wronged, "Look, Jiang Xingyuan has sent it."
Zong Chi handed her the windbreaker. Well, not only her female bestie sent it, but her male bestie did too. Zou Yan just happened to pop in a message: Happy Birthday.
When He Dongli retrieved her phone, she copied and pasted a bunch of hug emojis to all the friends and colleagues who had come to celebrate her birthday. Zong Chi smiled and told her to hurry to work, speaking for Ms. Yu. "She might call you later. She can't wait any longer."
He Dongli nodded decisively, admitting frankly that what she dreaded most in her life was waiting for news from others.
Zong Chi's eyes suddenly darkened as he told her, "The first year after we broke up, I spent the entire day staring at my text message box on my birthday. It wasn't until past midnight that I remembered I had changed my number, so I couldn't receive messages you sent me."
Before going to work, He Dongli leaned close to the cheek of the homemaker and sent him the belated text message.
*
It was not until noon that day that He Dongli finished his outpatient clinic and had time to call Yu Xiaohan.
Only after the call was connected did she hear the background noise from Yu Xiaohan's end.
…
After hanging up the phone with her mother, He Dongli's meal was bland. Finally, she called Zong Chi before the afternoon clinic.
Secretary Huang answered the phone, and He Dongli asked her directly, "Is Xiaochi busy now? I have something I want to talk to him about."
After a while, the phone was handed to Zong Chi. He responded hastily, knowing that she would not look for him like this unless it was urgent.
"Xiao Chi, my mother is in the hospital... No, not her, it's Xu Maosen..."
Xu Maosen had been suffering from back pain for the past few days. Last night, Yu Xiaohan suddenly had the urge to tidy up a curtain facing north in the cloakroom. This required climbing a ladder, as it was in their room, so she didn't call the nanny for help. Xu Maosen helped her climb up, and when he reached out to grab a hook, the supporting beam under the A-shaped ladder suddenly broke, and Xu Maosen fell on his back, with his spine hitting the island counter again.
The person immediately lost consciousness.
Yu Xiaohan called an ambulance last night, but they didn't go to this hospital. She was also concerned that today was Xixi's birthday, so she sent a blessing text message when she was free in the morning. He Dongli called her at noon, and only then did she realize that she could no longer hide it.
Fortunately, the injury was not too serious. All relevant examinations have been done, and the admission procedures have been completed. I am waiting for a schedule for a minimally invasive vertebroplasty.
Yu Xiaohan meant that Xixi should not come over, she could handle it alone, and Aunt Lu would also accompany her.
When Zong Chi heard this, he couldn't help but scold, "Why do you say she's alone? Where are the two from the Xu family?"
This was what made He Dongli angry. "I was notified, but he didn't show up."
Zong Chi's next words almost frightened He Dongli. He asked her, "Ali, do you still want your mother and that old thief Xu?"
"What's the meaning?"
"If you want me to have a solution, I have a solution. If you don't want me to have a solution, I have a solution."
He Dongli quickly stopped himself from going any further and said, "Zongchi, don't scare me. I'm discussing family matters with you, why do you sound like you want to fight or kill me? You can't allow this!"
Someone laughed. "It's a family matter. You said it, can I decide on your behalf?"
“Within the legal constraints.”
Zong Chi laughed again, and he asked her again, "What do you think now?"
"It's not in our hospital. But fortunately, the operation isn't complicated. I'll look for Zou Yan later to see if he has any familiar orthopedic surgeons there. I'll give them a heads up."
Zong Chi understood something and asked her, "Ah Li, was he really good to you all those years?"
"I never considered him a father, not even a stepfather. But he treated my mother well. In fact, he was also my mother's boyfriend. If his two children hadn't been mischievous, maybe they would have been married a long time ago. In that case, I wouldn't even have the room to deny it now."
"Baby, I'm asking if he treats you well?"
"If you're asking about food, clothing, and school commuting, then it's fine. But if you're asking about a father's love, Xiaochi, if that was my biological father lying there, I would have been crying and begging you to let him go long ago, instead of standing by and taking it for granted like this."
Zong Chi immediately understood and told her that when he came to visit a while ago, Yu Xu seemed to have had an argument.
He Dongli was speechless for a moment. Zong Chi called her and she hummed, "I know she's worried about embarrassing me. After all, they've been a de facto couple for so many years."
Zong Chi said the same thing, "As long as your mother is willing, or is willing to give up, I will definitely make sure that you and your daughter have a clear ties with the Xu family. I will send your mother to Hong Kong or abroad to live out her retirement."
"No." He Dongli choked subconsciously, "I'm not going there. I don't want my mother to be so far away from me."
Zong Chi's heart softened immediately, "Silly child."
He Dongli then told him that the year she graduated, her mother fell ill without telling her. Xu Xilin called and she rushed back to the ward, only Xu Maosen was there. He was shaving apple puree for Yu Xiaohan, who was lying in bed.
He Dongli suddenly let go of everything, because at that moment, it was not redemption for her, but liberation.
After all, people are just ordinary beings enclosed in a shell. Over the years, she and the Xu family have always lived in peace and harmony. It was because of that scene that He Dongli was willing to give up her sense of existence.
She had also mentioned that when she left the Xu family's house to look for Zong Chi that day, at sixteen, she had hoped her mother would vent her anger, but unfortunately, she didn't. It took her many years to get over her mother's selfish motives.
This selfish motive is for her fame and fortune, and of course, there are also desires that belong to the mother herself.
Many years later, when He Dongli was approaching her mother's age, she realized that people can only live in cognition and the present, and even backbone needs soil.
Her mother might have been irresponsible and guilty about her at that moment, but in the endless years that followed, she would always be He Dongli's clam shell. The pearl came from the clam meat, but the moment it was taken out meant her demise.
As women, if the mother is just a carrier, then He Dongli may be more selfish than her mother, and her cognition may be more cruel than her mother. She would rather not have children than lose herself.
"Xiao Chi, my mother has never gotten over this. She's afraid I'll be angry, especially now that you're back. On the one hand, she's carefully dealing with the person I like, and on the other hand, she has to protect me from people who are eyeing her covetously.
"She's not a perfect person. She's just a little selfish, but not too much. And she's bound by the word 'mom'. It's like being a mom means she has to be the answer, right in every way. Even the slightest mistake, even the slightest bit of spit, will bury herself."
"Have you discussed this with her?" Zong Chi asked the person on the other end of the phone.
He Dongli admitted that she was not born to be a good communicator.
Zong Chi comforted her, "Well, if you want to be a master of something, you have to practice hard to reach the pinnacle. However, being a master is easy. Every time Lao Zong can't win an argument with me, he always drags his white politician friends into it, saying that I am suitable to follow them and start as an activist. After all, if I don't have a good vocabulary, I can make up for it with money.
"Of course, don't worry. Back then, you forced me to listen carefully even to the "A Dream of Red Mansions" appreciation class. My Chinese will definitely not fall behind Xu Xize's."
He Dongli was shocked to realize that someone was about to cause trouble, "What are you going to do?"
"Going to see my mother-in-law. How could I miss such a great opportunity to show off? She's all alone in the hospital, so panicked. She's someone who even has to join in on people's fights and breakups, and staying alone in the hospital to accompany her must be so anxious that she's going to die."
He Dongli had originally just wanted to talk to him, and it wouldn't be too late for her to go after work. But now, she'd become a snitch, the kind that whispered in his ear.
The hurricane caused by the butterfly is a natural disaster that cannot be reversed without human intervention.
*
That day, after Zong Chi finished his meeting, he mobilized his friends to find the contact information of his brother-in-law, who had a feud with him in the past and had fought with him several times.
Lin Jiaoyu wanted to fly back and asked Zong Chi, "Why did you ask him out? To fight? No, why don't you wait for me to go back."
"Get lost."
Lin Jiaoyu was relentless and insisted on finding out what was wrong with Zong Chi.
Zong Chi's words were concise and to the point. When the couple had the ability to stop Xu Maosen from marrying, they should have expected what would happen today. You have to know that if you stop something with that piece of paper, you are bound to lose something.
No one can take all the benefits. "If you take in but don't give out, you'll get nothing."
That night, Zong Chi came to the ward where Xu Maosen was hospitalized, accompanied by his secretary. Flowers, fruits, and nutritional supplements were all available. He didn't look like someone who came to visit a patient, but more like a star who was dressed too fashionably to take a look around the ward.
He stood at the end of Xu Maosen's bed with an apologetic tone. "Because today is Xixi's birthday, I originally planned to wear this outfit and not come back to change. But she called me at noon and was so anxious that she arranged for me to come over and take a look."
When Xu Xize arrived, Zong Chi was sitting on the sofa facing the door of the administrative ward, slowly peeling a red apple.
As footsteps approached, the person sitting upright also raised his eyes, then raised his face. The surprise of meeting an old friend and the greetings were mixed. "Master Xu, long time no see. How have you been?"
Xu Xize did not answer, and did not greet Yu Xiaohan when he came in. He walked quietly and silently to Xu Maosen's bedside and asked his father how he felt.
Xu Maosen said something unpleasant.
Xu Xize's expression was indifferent. The surgery wasn't scheduled today, and he was busy with other matters. He'd also consulted with the doctors, and it wasn't a major operation; having someone by his side was enough for the old man. "You're old now, so you should just focus on yourself. There's no point in trying to climb high."
He then gave a few verbal instructions and said he would come again on the day of the operation.
After saying that, he turned around and was about to leave. Yu Xiaohan never asked about the relationship between father and son, and let Xu Da go with a blank face.
But today's God of Killer didn't agree. He came to visit the patient, and he brought a fruit knife with him in his fruit basket. Yu Xiaohan looked at the peeled fruit and saw that it was fresh, so he kept dragging it down for several rounds.
"Wait a moment." With that, the fruit peeler stabbed the blade into the fruit flesh, slowly stood up, took off his windbreaker, and was now dressed in a spring shirt and jeans. As he came closer, Xu Xize could smell the non-greasy fragrance on him, which was obviously from a woman. "I asked you to come because of your father. Whether you take one or two glances is not something my mother-in-law and I can control, but just remember to be on time on the day of the surgery. After all, as the eldest son, if you don't come to sign, your father's girlfriend doesn't seem qualified to take over."
Xu Xize looked at the young master coldly, "When did Young Master Zong hold his wedding banquet? His mother-in-law has already called him."
Zong Chi's eyes tightened. Interesting. You've been nagging him about his father for so long, and all he hears is the word "mother-in-law." "Why, you have an objection? Or when the pastor asks if anyone objects, you'll be the one to speak out?"
Their eyes met, and the swords clashed. Xu Xize recalled the day when He Dongli coldly confronted them and walked away, leaving them without even caring about her mother.
He always felt that He Dongli's love for this young master was a waste of her talent. She had endured humiliation and struggled for so many years, but in the end, she still couldn't escape the attention of a rich young man. How could a pearl shine in front of such a luxury?
In the silent moments, Zong Chi could sense something in the silent gaze of the other person. They had fought three times, all three times because of the same person. The first two times, Zong Chi didn't notice anything, but the third time, in Shanghai, they were dining at the same restaurant and ran into each other. Xu Xize asked He Dongli if she would go home for the weekend, and if so, he would give her a ride. He Dongli didn't say anything, just shook her head as a refusal.
Zong Chi left his car keys in the compartment. When he went back to get them, he heard people talking about him:
"Who can compare to Master Zong's first love, a beautiful and smart girl, who is like a sister when she takes care of him and a younger sister when she serves him, tsk."
When Zong Chi stepped forward to greet him, Xu Xize was one step faster than him and slapped the man who was speaking.
When they scuffled that day, they knew what was going on between them: one was angry, the other jealous. He Dongli, who had been found, had a quarrel with Zong Chi over this, because no matter how she asked him, he refused to say anything, only saying that he would hit her if he didn't like her!
To this day, He Dongli still doesn't know why they fought back then. "Objection is useless." Zong Chi suddenly smiled wickedly, "Because she will definitely agree to marry me."
"I asked you to come here. First, for your father, you must show up. Second, I want to ask you something. How did you bully her in the first place? Think it over before you speak, Xu Xize, otherwise you will still be a runner-up in the next bidding."
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The author has something to say: 1. There are probably three more chapters left;
2. I'm a soft-hearted wimp. Well, the sister that readers have been asking for will appear, don't worry;
3. The bonus chapters are not within the scope of the above. I have already decided to write about 28-year-old Zong Chi and 18-year-old Xi Xi. [Let me see]
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