Harbor
In the capital, apart from year-end social engagements, Zhong Yunxi basically stayed at the old house with his family. Even though his maternal grandfather treated him badly this year, he was in the wrong and should be taught a lesson.
I came over early this morning to have breakfast with the elderly. My grandfather had just returned from a walk in the park.
He reached out to help his grandfather take off his coat and hang it up, then followed him to the restaurant.
Grandpa didn't say anything; he stood there, not daring to sit. Grandma smiled and said, "This is the first time in all these years that I've seen you so well-behaved. Sit down and eat."
Grandpa glanced at him and snorted coldly: "He's been cold and aloof since he was little, never getting close to anyone, but now he's become a romantic."
Grandma was quite satisfied: "Not bad. I never liked how clueless he was. Now that he has a weakness, he's much easier to manage."
Zhong Yunxi: ...
His grandmother asked him, "When is the wedding?"
Zhong Yunxi didn't know, so he could only tell the truth: "I'll discuss it with Xiaoyi again."
Grandma had a pretty good idea of what was going on. Bai Yi was probably still not satisfied with him. She laughed at him, "Shi Yan is more successful than you. He met the youngest daughter of the Chen family through a blind date, and the two of them fell in love without ever having any arguments. Why don't you learn from Shi Yan?"
He was speechless, so he changed the subject and informed the old man of his itinerary, "I won't be having dinner at home tonight and tomorrow morning. I'm going back to Xiangcheng."
Grandma chuckled and sighed, "A life of luxury is a graveyard for heroes. Old man, what did I say to him yesterday? Was he going to not last until New Year's Eve?"
Grandpa was so angry he was speechless.
Zhong Yunxi had arranged to meet someone at a teahouse in the afternoon to discuss business. By the time it ended, it was almost dinnertime, so he went straight to the airport to fly to Xiangcheng.
He only called her when he arrived at Baiyi Building.
Bai Yi had just taken Paopao upstairs for a walk and changed her shoes, but hadn't had time to change her clothes yet.
Zhong Yunxi asked her if she had eaten.
Bai Yi glanced at the time: "What time is it? It's time to have a late-night snack."
Zhong Yunxi laughed and said, "What kind of late-night snack do you want? I'll take you there."
Bai Yi paused for a few seconds, then asked him, "Where are you?"
"downstairs."
Bai Yi: ...
She went to the balcony and saw him standing in the dim light under the streetlamp, but he said, "I ate too much for dinner, I don't want to eat."
Zhong Yunxi looked up and saw her: "Then can you eat with me?"
"The restaurants are all closed..." she muttered to herself, conflicted. She didn't want to go, but she didn't know how to refuse, after all, he had flown all the way from Beijing just to see her and have a meal.
Zhong Yunxi didn't say anything more, he just stood there, phone to his face, looking at the third floor with a smile in his eyes, waiting for her to speak again.
"Alright then..." She could never win against him.
She changed her shoes and went downstairs again. The old lady went to bed early, so she didn't knock on the door to wake her grandmother.
Zhong Yunxi watched her come out of the building, walked over and hugged her, "Did you miss me?"
Bai Yi: ...
"Not really."
She didn't really miss him. Every day, Zhong Yunxi would call and text her, and she would only reply or answer depending on her mood.
Zhong Yunxi raised his hand and lifted her chin, looking at her: "For this kind of question, don't tell the truth, just answer with the standard answer."
Bai Yi wanted to roll her eyes at him: "What is a standard answer?"
"Thinking about it day and night."
Bai Yi tugged at his arm and shook it: "Is it fun to deceive yourself? Did you use the same tricks on me before?"
Zhong Yunxi laughed and said he hadn't tried to trick her, then kissed her lips: "Answer me again, do you miss me?"
Bai Yi didn't want to look into his eyes, so she lowered her head, resting her forehead against his chest. After a long while, she only said one word: "I want to."
Zhong Yunxi took her back to the villa. When they arrived at the door, Bai Yi sat in the car staring at him, unwilling to move. Zhong Yunxi asked with a smile, "Do you not want to come, or do you want me to carry you down?"
She actually didn't want to come, but she also wanted him to hug her.
It's hard to answer, but I'll still reach out my hand to him anyway.
Zhong Yunxi bent down and hugged her: "Have a meal with me, and then I'll take you back. I'm leaving early tomorrow morning, and I'm afraid you'll feel uncomfortable being alone here since I can't keep you company."
After entering the room, Zhong Yunxi told Aunt Wu to go and rest, and that he would cook wonton noodles himself.
Aunt Wu readily agreed, prepared the ingredients, and left, giving the two of them some space.
While Zhong Yunxi was cooking wonton noodles in the kitchen, Bai Yi was already sleepy. She pulled Zhong Yunxi's coat over herself and lay down on the sofa to doze off.
Shi Qi sent her a WeChat message. She heard her phone vibrate, but it took her a while to pick it up and look at it.
Shi Qi: Sister-in-law, has my brother gone back to Xiangcheng again? Don't exploit him too much. On the eve of the Lunar New Year, he got beaten by my grandfather as soon as he got home. I felt like his legs were about to be broken. [crying]
Bai Yi looked at the words "exploit" and felt something was off. How could she exploit him?
Without much thought, she asked, "Grandpa is so scary [shocked], why?"
Shi Qi: Because he arranged that drone light show for you, Grandpa was furious, saying he wasn't serious enough. [Sighs]
She didn't know how to respond; she hadn't even noticed that his leg was uncomfortable.
Shi Qi: But it's okay, I'll speak up for you in front of your grandparents and shift the blame to my brother. They definitely won't blame you. It's just my brother; he's very busy in Beijing. When you get back, please check on him. Even if he's not very useful for now, don't mind, hahaha.
I don't know what Shi Qi is talking about, what's not very useful, and what she can use it for.
Bai Yi: [Staring blankly][Staring blankly][Staring blankly]
The person cooking wontons received a screenshot of a chat from their cousin on their phone: "Brother, praise me! Am I the best mouth double?"
Zhong Yunxi: ...
Since Bai Yi wouldn't come to the restaurant to eat with him, he had no choice but to take the wonton noodles to the living room.
She lay on her side on the sofa, using a cushion as a pillow, while Zhong Yunxi pulled her calf onto his lap.
Bai Yi turned her head to look at him, curled up her legs to sit up: "What?"
Zhong Yunxi held her down, preventing her from moving: "Lie still."
She didn't know if his legs hurt from being pressed down like that. But she didn't want to ask, so she remained still.
Zhong Yunxi usually eats much faster than her, but today he ate very slowly. Bai Yi was almost asleep, her eyes half-closed.
She suddenly woke up when he picked her up.
He dimmed the lights in the living room and picked her up to go upstairs.
"Zhong Yunxi, have you finished your late-night snack? I'm going back now."
Zhong Yunxi gently pulled her into his arms, supporting her hips. "Go back tomorrow morning."
Bai Yi: ...
She raised her leg and kicked him, saying, "Why are you going back on your word?"
"People are very fickle, and so am I."
"Does your leg hurt?" Bai Yi asked with concern.
Zhong Yunxi chuckled softly, "It's alright, it won't delay your use."
She paused for a moment, not understanding: "Use what?"
He refined the subject-verb-object modifier: "It won't delay your use in bed."
Bai Yi: ...
Only now did she realize what Shi Qi meant by the message she sent.
Zhong Yunxi put her on the bed, and she sat on the edge of the bed, hugging her knees, looking up at him and saying, "Who wants to use you?"
"You don't need me? You can manage on your own?"
Bai Yi's ears were ringing from his constant lewd remarks, so she kicked his leg.
The kick landed precisely on his wound, causing him to hiss very softly and bend slightly at the waist.
Bai Yi was startled by his movement and touched him, asking, "Does it hurt a lot? Let me see."
Zhong Yunxi smiled and placed her hand on his belt buckle: "See?"
Bai Yi found him inexplicable. Zhong Yunxi looked down at her and said, "How can we see if you don't take your clothes off?"
Bai Yi: ?
Zhong Yunxi wasn't this shameless before.
Bai Yi was speechless for a long time. She grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. Zhong Yunxi hugged her and pressed her down on the bed, laughing in a low voice, "You don't even want to put in this much effort? What else can I expect from you?"
Bai Yi reached out to slap him, but Zhong Yunxi grabbed her hand and kissed it: "Okay, I'll take it off myself."
Bai Yi: ...
"Shut up."
He did make a move; he started to undress her.
Bai Yi was furious with him: "What are you doing?"
Zhong Yunxi turned off the main bedroom light, leaving only the bedside wall lamp on. He let out a long sigh, gently rubbing her waist and hips with both hands, and leaving a string of light kisses on her shoulder: "A little injury is nothing to brag about. As long as you like that light show and can forgive me, I don't care about the consequences."
Bai Yi never saw the injuries on his body.
At night, when she was exhausted, Zhong Yunxi still held onto her ankle and wouldn't let go, saying, "Be good, lift your leg up a bit, you're pressing on my wound."
She felt deceived, not knowing where he was injured or what the wound looked like. She could only let him do as he pleased, otherwise he would cry out in pain and say that he had touched his wound.
When he woke her up the next day, he was standing by the bed, impeccably dressed. Bai Yi suspected that his injuries were fake.
Zhong Yunxi fed her warm water: "I have to go back to Beijing. Why don't you sleep a little longer? The things in the dressing room here are the same as in Yuegang. If you want to eat something, just tell Aunt Wu. If you want to go home, the driver can take you."
She took two sips, then crawled back into bed. "Get out of here, you're so annoying."
I was so angry. Why didn't my grandfather break his legs?
Zhong Yunxi patted her back through the blanket: "Don't sleep too long. I'll have Aunt Wu come up and call you for dinner before nine o'clock."
He sat by the bed comforting her until, after more than ten minutes, Bai Yi mumbled an "uh-huh," at which point he got up and went downstairs to the airport.
Flying to Beijing, a little over two hours later, Zhong Yunxi sent Aunt Wu about ten messages, asking if Bai Yi had woken up, eaten, and when she was leaving.
A sense of unease welled up inside him. He felt a pang of regret, regretting that he shouldn't have come back yesterday, and even more regretting that he couldn't control himself and now left her alone at home again.
He glanced at his schedule; he wouldn't be back until three days later, on the afternoon of New Year's Eve.
All the things that used to be done in an orderly and effortless manner, that required no effort at all, such as self-control and delayed gratification, were gradually eroded by Bai Yi without him even realizing it.
When it comes to things related to her, he becomes hesitant or impulsive, acting without considering the consequences, yet also looking back and forth.
When he occasionally reflects on his actions, he also feels that he is fickle and unpredictable.
As soon as Zhong Yunxi landed, a message popped up on his phone. Bai Yi had sent him a photo of a poorly cooked steak.
The saying "A wise man keeps away from the kitchen" perfectly describes someone like me. [Sigh][Sigh][Sigh]
Zhong Yunxi smiled. She always knew how to find such a noble and righteous excuse for herself when she couldn't do a good job.
Ask her: Have you eaten yet?
Bai Yi: Hmm, Aunt Wu said her steak wasn't as good as Uncle Feng's, so Uncle Feng made me a new one. He said he taught me how to make steak when I was abroad.
Zhong Yunxi: Yes, if you're bored, you can chat with Uncle Feng. I often chat with Uncle Feng too.
Bai Yi: Oh, I'm going out now, I'm not going to talk to you anymore.
Actually, she texted Zhong Yunxi because Uncle Feng said he wasn't in a good mood when he left. He probably felt guilty and annoyed that he had come back in such a hurry and left her alone at home early in the morning.
In that instant, she suddenly missed him terribly and regretted being angry with him when they parted that morning.
So she made conversation with him for a few minutes, even though she never really knew how to comfort others.
Zhong Yunxi looked at his phone and smiled for a long time, all the worries he had felt on the way here dissipating.
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