Chapter 17
Tang Hui felt a headache coming on at the thought of having to deal with Lisa's endless entanglement and pursuit.
To be honest, if any other woman had been so shameless in pursuing him, Tang Hui would probably have already lost his temper. But with Lisa, he couldn't, and he couldn't do that.
Lisa is his aunt's daughter. His aunt raised him, loved him, and devoted herself to nurturing him. She is one of the people he is closest to and most grateful to.
Even if he didn't care about the monk, he would still tolerate Lisa's willful and capricious behavior out of consideration for her uncle-in-law.
Tang Hui, whose appetite had been completely ruined by Lisa's phone call, looked at the tempting high-end sushi in front of him, silently put away the packaging and put it in the refrigerator.
He picked up his phone, feeling he still needed to inform his aunt and uncle—knowing Lisa as he did, he was certain she had come without telling her parents.
As expected, after Tang Hui calmly recounted the whole story on the phone, Franck, who was on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, flew into a rage. This was because Lisa had told them she was going to Chicago for an internship before leaving home.
They never expected that Lisa would be so bold as to sneak off to China—a country she had never been to before, had no relatives or friends in, and was completely unfamiliar with.
Finally, Franck repeatedly assured Tang that even if he had to fly to China in person, he would bring his daughter back and would not cause him any trouble. He told Tang to focus on his work in China and not to pay any attention to that crazy girl.
Tang Hui hung up the phone feeling extremely guilty. Hearing his uncle-in-law still considering his feelings and speaking up for him even at this time made him feel somewhat embarrassed.
Although Lisa caused the whole mess, it's rare that her uncle-in-law remained so impartial and even worried about his life being disrupted. On the contrary, he seemed more and more like a troublesome tattletale going to the parents to complain.
After ending the call with the American side, Tang Hui dialed Lisa's cell phone again, as if to say hello to the girl in advance, but it was still switched off.
Tang Hui was somewhat worried. Lisa was a young girl in a foreign country where she knew no one, and he couldn't contact her by phone or even know where she lived. How could he not be anxious? What if she ran away in a huff and got into some kind of accident? He was afraid he would never be able to face his uncle again.
But H City is so big, where is he supposed to find her? Tang Hui regretted speaking so harshly just now. No matter how angry he was, he should have calmed her down first, found out her whereabouts, and met with her first.
It's so frustrating when people don't know where they live and can't be reached by phone.
Just as Tang Hui was about to go out to look for people at each hotel, the doorbell suddenly rang.
His first thought was that Lisa had come knocking on his door. But then he thought it was unlikely; he had only recently bought the new house, and even his aunt didn't know the exact address. How could Lisa know?
After hesitating for a while, the person outside seemed very impatient and quickened the pace of ringing the doorbell, making it ring incessantly, like noise disturbing the peace.
"Coming!" Tang Hui shouted loudly and quickly went to open the door.
As soon as the door opened, Song Ziyi stood there impatiently. He complained loudly as soon as he saw him, "Why did it take you so long to open the door? Were you in the toilet?"
After saying that, he walked straight past Tang Hui at the door and entered as if no one else was there. He changed his shoes and went into the living room as if he were back in his own home.
Tang Hui was already used to Song Ziyi's occasional vulgar language and uninvited shamelessness. He closed the door, watched Song Ziyi place a bag of takeout on the dining table, and asked, "Weren't you on a date? Why did you suddenly come here? Don't tell me you haven't eaten yet."
"Don't even mention it, my wife stood me up," Song Ziyi complained as he pulled out takeout containers. "One of my wife's best friends broke up with her boyfriend and was crying her eyes out, so she dumped me to go and help her friend heal her heartbreak. That's why I'm coming to stay with you. Have you eaten yet?"
"Looks like you're only so-so in Mu Ci's heart," Tang Hui mocked, walking straight to the kitchen, opening the refrigerator, and taking out the half-eaten sushi that he had put in not long ago, ready to share it with his friend.
Song Ziyi crumpled the takeout bag into a ball and threw it at Tang Hui, roaring, "Are you going to gloat again? My wife loves me so much, and you, a bachelor for life, have the nerve to laugh at me."
Tang Hui picked up the takeout bag that had fallen to the ground with a blank expression, turned around and threw it into the kitchen trash can, saying irritably, "You come to my house and litter? If you have such poor manners, don't come again."
The two friends teased each other, but their actions betrayed their true intentions as they sat down and ate dinner together.
The takeout Song Ziyi brought was Chinese food: roast duck, cashew shrimp, lettuce with oyster sauce, and stir-fried cauliflower with cured pork. Tang Hui hadn't eaten much sushi earlier, and now he felt hungry too, so he silently and heartily devoured the food.
After the two had eaten a few bites, Song Ziyi asked, "This sushi looks very fresh, like you just bought it. Why haven't you had dinner yet?"
Tang Hui paused slightly with his chopsticks and sighed, "I was eating, but something happened and I suddenly lost my appetite."
Song Ziyi was about to ask what was wrong, but before he could finish speaking, he suddenly remembered something and quickly swallowed his words back along with his food.
After clearing his throat, Song Ziyi cautiously asked, "Is it because of what happened this morning? Or did that female doctor contact you again, still not giving up?"
In Song Ziyi's view, the only thing that had happened recently that made the usually calm and collected Tang Hui lose his appetite was the incident involving his father, Zhou Nianhua.
Tang Hui rolled up a roast duck for himself and said with a helpless wry smile, "It has nothing to do with that female doctor. It's Lisa. She came to China, and she's in H City."
Lisa? Song Ziyi took two seconds to recall who Lisa was. When he remembered, his eyes widened instantly, he gasped, and his voice trembled slightly.
"Lisa? Your little cousin? The one who's always liked you?"
Tang Hui nodded, and judging from his expression, he seemed about to cry.
"Holy crap, this girl didn't come to China just for you, did she? Is she planning to settle down here and date you... no, keep you company?" Song Ziyi exclaimed.
Tang Hui gave Song Ziyi a look that said, "You guessed it all right," and was so frustrated that he didn't even want to say anything.
As Tang Hui's best friend, Song Ziyi naturally knew Tang Hui's family, including his remarkable aunt and uncle, as well as his somewhat difficult-to-define cousin, Lisa.
After all, when they were in college, Lisa caused quite a stir in their university in her pursuit of Tang Hui.
Song Ziyi had actually guessed it; the reason he was able to so easily persuade Tang Hui to return to China to start a business was probably because Tang Hui was trying to avoid Lisa.
But to his utter surprise, this little cousin was actually a total hopeless romantic, and she traveled all the way to China to pursue a man.
If the woman in this "scandalous affair" had been someone else, Song Ziyi would probably have been gloating and egging Tang Hui on, tricking her into surrendering.
Unfortunately, Lisa is Tang Hui's cousin, though only in name, and the two are not related by blood at all. As a Chinese person who has received traditional Chinese education and understands the principles of morality and ethics, he simply cannot be as open-minded and magnanimous as Westerners.
Family is family. You can't just do whatever you want to family members who aren't related by blood, right?
"What do you plan to do about this?" Song Ziyi swallowed the shrimp in his mouth and looked at Tang Hui with some sympathy.
Tang Hui put down his chopsticks and said dejectedly, "I've already tried to persuade Lisa to go back, but I still angered her. She refuses to answer my calls anymore. Just before you came in, I called the US. She really did run away from her parents. Hopefully, her parents can take her back."
Song Ziyi picked up a piece of cured meat with his chopsticks, put it in his mouth and chewed slowly. He said leisurely, "If you ask me, you have to take some responsibility for her going crazy like this. You gave her a glimmer of hope."
"Nonsense." Tang Hui glared at Song Ziyi and said irritably, "When did I give her hope? I clearly rejected her from the beginning, and I even emphasized that we are siblings, relatives, and there is absolutely no possibility of us being together."
"But you've always been single," Song Ziyi said with a hint of schadenfreude, reminding Tang Hui.
Tang Hui glared at his mischievous friend and retorted, "Are these two things related?"
"Of course there is!" Song Ziyi picked up a thin pancake and wrapped it around some roast duck. "You've never been in a relationship. For a suitor, isn't that constantly giving her hope? Let's put ourselves in her shoes. If you were pursuing a girl, wouldn't you have to give up if she had a boyfriend? But if she's single, wouldn't you feel there's still a chance to win her over? Would you be willing to give up in that situation? Maybe Lisa even thinks you've been single for her sake. You can't accept this relationship because of your sibling relationship and your aunt's husband's kindness, but you've remained celibate for her sake. If she really thinks that way, she'll be incredibly moved, and it would make perfect sense for her to travel all the way to China to pursue you."
Tang Hui stared at Song Ziyi, utterly incredulous that a lawyer could conjure up such a melodramatic scenario. "Song Ziyi, you should quit being a lawyer and become a novelist. Lisa, after your fabrication, seems like a complete lunatic!"
Song Ziyi laughed heartily, patted Tang Hui on the shoulder, and said earnestly, "If that girl had a normal thought process, she wouldn't like her cousin who she grew up with."
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