She was not a pushover at heart and was not afraid of anyone. But whenever she encountered something unfair and was about to get angry, he would just glance at her and she would obediently shut up.
"It's just like a mouse seeing a cat." Hou Xiaodong once described it this way, "It shouldn't be like this. You are usually very friendly to others, but why are you like a cold-faced devil when you are with Xie Yi? It's like..." He thought for a while, "It's like a stern old father who has to have a gloomy face. I wonder if you, as a father, will be jealous of your son-in-law if you marry your daughter one day."
This kind of college life is what Xie Yi dreamed of, because she can be his follower again. The two-bedroom house was renovated into two bedrooms because she ran away from home two years ago. However, now he does not allow her to continue to exercise the rights of the previous owner. She lives in the school dormitory, and Li Zeliang always chases her back to school before dark. However, that was not her original intention, so she always finds excuses to delay time with him.
"It's half past seven." He looked at his watch. This was his opening statement before ordering the guest to leave.
"I haven't finished my homework yet. I'll go back after I finish it." She said slowly.
"Go back to the dormitory and do it."
"But I have something I don't understand and want to ask you." She continued to argue with him.
"I'm not studying law, why are you asking me?"
"Well… "
This excuse is indeed outdated.
There was one time when she was really sleepy but didn't want to go back to the dormitory.
"It's time to go home." He walked over and said, but found that Xieyi, who was originally sitting on the sofa watching TV, had fallen asleep. He didn't know whether she was really asleep or pretending to sleep. He called softly: "Xieyi?"
She didn't move.
He had no choice but to compromise.
So the cunning Xieyi unexpectedly found a trick to deal with him: when it was time to order her to leave, she would close her eyes and pretend to sleep. This was Xieyi's first strategic victory, and it worked every time. Later, he let her do what she wanted and cleaned up her room for her to live in, but he set three rules: she could only live there on weekends and had to return to the dormitory on time during the weekdays.
He was usually a bit low-key, and many people only guessed that his family was relatively well-off, but they didn't know it was so amazing. In his senior year, he prepared his graduation project and thesis with his classmates, and he was less alone, doing homework with the classmates in the same group. At that time, many people in the graduating class had their own homes outside, but his place was the most comfortable and spacious, so the classmates gathered at his place.
After living independently for nearly four years, Li Zeliang, though a serious man, became much more cheerful. He was especially good at telling jokes, often making Hou Xiaodong laugh so hard that he would fall to the ground holding his stomach. However, he was the only one telling jokes who didn't laugh seriously. Xieyi often sat next to a large group of seniors, watching him talk to other boys with his head tilted. The boys stayed in the room to study topics and discuss papers. Whenever they wanted to buy something, they would play rock-paper-scissors to solve the problem.
That day, it was cold outside and a few boys suddenly wanted to drink hot milk tea. It was Hou Xiaodong's turn to buy it.
Hou Xiaodong walked to the living room reluctantly and saw Xieyi sitting on the sofa, saying, "Xiao Xieyi, we are thirsty."
"There's running water in the pipes." She was reading a novel intently and answered without turning her head.
"We all want hot milk tea."
"Go downstairs, exit the gate of the community, turn left, and there is a hot drink shop less than 200 meters ahead," she said.
"You have a great sense of space." Hou Xiaodong exclaimed.
"That's right." She said with a raised eyebrow.
"But your brother A Yan also wants to drink."
"Huh?" Xieyi looked up immediately.
"If you lose the game of rock-paper-scissors, just go buy it yourself. It's so cold today, don't involve her in this." He said to Hou Xiaodong.
"Old Li..." Hou Xiaodong walked back, turned his chair around and faced Li Zeliang, saying earnestly, "Your love for your child is too strong. This is not conducive to the child's physical and mental development."
"I'll go buy it." Xieyi didn't hesitate, put on his down jacket and went out.
Two minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Hou Xiaodong opened the door and sighed, "Look at the power of the father-daughter relationship. They are as fast as a flying man."
When I opened the door, I saw a late boy.
The boy hurried in, untying his scarf, and said loudly, "Oh, I'm late. I almost had a car accident when I was riding the bus just now. A Buick passed us very quickly behind us, suddenly rushed onto the sidewalk and hit the street lamp. The driver seemed drunk and didn't even wear a condom. His face was covered in blood."
No one thought there was anything unusual, so they nodded and continued working quietly.
Only Li Zeliang turned a page after hearing this and said calmly, "So you still need to wear a condom when driving. I didn't expect that."
Hou Xiaodong burst into laughter, and everyone else laughed at the same time. However, when Hou Xiaodong turned around, he saw Xie Yi standing there, hearing these words. Everyone was a little embarrassed. Although it was common for boys to tease each other in such a sexual way, they had never shown it in front of such a little girl. Hou Xiaodong poked Li Zeliang and whispered, "Old Li, you are in trouble. Your burden heard your dirty jokes, and your glorious image is ruined in an instant."
Xieyi walked in as usual and put the steaming hot milk tea on the table, "Ayan, you need to drink it." Then he went out to read.
"What about ours?" Hou Xiaodong asked eagerly, "You only bought one cup?"
"Buy it yourself." Xieyi glanced at Hou Xiaodong proudly.
Then, she stupidly asked, "Why is your temper different when you're with me than when you're with them?"
Don't expect him to answer a question like this that explores the inner roots.
Even during the winter vacation, Xieyi went to City A and stayed with him for quite a while, but at Shen Zhihong's insistence, Xieyi did not stay at his house but slept in a hotel.
When Li Zeliang had nothing to do, he loved to write regular script in the room, and she followed him to copy his calligraphy. He didn't care about her and let her do what she wanted, knowing that she would probably change her hobbies within three days.
Sure enough, after just two days, Xieyi said, "I don't want to write anymore. I want to break my brush in two after learning so much."
He raised an eyebrow and continued writing his work, ignoring her.
She didn't dare to make a noise, so she just lay down beside him and watched. Later, when he was out of the study and not paying attention, she picked up a pen and wrote crookedly on the snow-white rice paper: Ayan, Ayan.
He turned to the second page and wrote a few more words: Can we go shopping
Page 3: Can I stop writing
Page 4: I'm so bored.
Seeing him answer the phone, she quickly pulled out a stack of white paper and put the mischievous words at the bottom.
Summer is Xieyi's favorite season to buy clothes. She only has a few hundred yuan for her monthly living expenses. Although Su's mother is gentle, she is very stubborn about money and will never allow her to use Shen Zhihong's money casually. Now she has become a wild horse when she goes to other places. In less than ten days, she has squandered all her monthly living expenses. Fortunately, she has always been with a rich man, a rich man who is so poor that he only has money left.
"Ayan, buy this."
"Ayan, I want to buy that."
"Ayan, shall we go have a big meal today?"
Of course, Hou Xiaodong also came to eat and drink.
This kind of life caused his expenses to skyrocket.
In fact, he was usually quite frugal when he was alone, and never spent money recklessly except for the necessities. Her arrival almost wiped out all the scholarship he had saved for three years.
But just loving to spend money is not enough, she also loves to show off.
There was a boy in Xieyi's class whose family was slightly wealthy. He was very arrogant in the class. He always drove a Japanese sports car to school, which was very cool. Many girls circled around him like bees collecting honey. Xieyi didn't even look at this playboy, which made him feel hurt. He changed his girlfriend every week. Such behavior made Xieyi, who regarded himself as the protector of women, very angry. How could he have a good impression of him
"Su Xieyi, get in, I'll take you for a ride." That day, Xieyi and Hou Xiaodong happened to be walking on the road. The boy suddenly braked and stopped in front of them. He looked at Hou Xiaodong with some contempt and said these words to Xieyi.
"Tsk!" Xie Yi glanced at him, "I don't want this kind of broken car."
"A broken car? This car costs more than 400,000 yuan. I don't know if the classmate next to you named Li can afford it even if he doesn't eat or drink for a few years." This playboy had heard about a boy named Li in the Department of Xie Yi and Management. He misunderstood that Hou Xiaodong was the legendary Li Zeliang, so he deliberately provoked him.
Hou Xiaodong took the blame for someone else and smiled happily.
However, Xieyi said, "We in Ayan's family don't have a weird-looking car like yours. The cars we ride are the ones with the letter B in them. I don't know if you can afford one even if you save your whole life without eating or drinking." She didn't know what car it was, so she could only give a messy description like this and then retorted.
Then he turned his head proudly and said, "Monkey, let's go!"
The boy stayed where he was. "What's wrong with your brain? What? There's a B in an angel. The bicycle you installed yourself..." He paused here. "There's a B in an angel. Bentley?"
Hou Xiaodong described the scene to Li Zeliang while laughing so hard that he fell over.
"What a rubbish, I don't even want it if you give it to me. This bad guy, not only abuses girls everywhere, but also dares to compete with A Yan. If we compare his study and appearance, he is not even worthy of carrying shoes for our A Yan, but he still thinks that he is very rich and our A Yan can just use his finger to..."
Li Zeliang glanced at her with boredom, forbidding her to continue.
"Shameful." He said with a dark face.
"Yeah, it's embarrassing for him to be like this."
"I'm talking about you." He continued with a sullen face.
I really don’t know how Shen Zhihong, who was so wise all his life, could have given birth to a daughter like this.
Xieyi looked similar to her current appearance when she was 20 years old. She was tall but had a chubby face. She had long straight black hair and always tied it into a simple ponytail, looking neat. She was afraid of heat and liked to wear very short jeans to show off her long legs. Not to mention others, even Hou Xiaodong, who had seen her ugly appearance when she was a child, couldn't help but take a few more glances at her legs.
Whenever he noticed, he would coldly ask Hou Xiaodong: "Where are you looking?"
"Your daughter is pretty good. She's about to be cooked."
Summer vacation was here and he was going to Germany in August, but he still had some things to deal with at school, so he sent Xieyi home first.
"I don't want to leave." In fact, she was afraid that if she left, he would go to Germany.
"School is on vacation, why are you staying here just hanging out?" he said.
When returning to City B, Hou Xiaodong came to see Xieyi off. She was not used to flying, so Hou Xiaodong had to buy a train ticket for her.
"If I'm not around, will he be snatched away by someone else?" While Li Zeliang was shopping, she asked Hou Xiaodong a very practical question.
"Don't worry, Xiao Xieyi. You've been chasing him for so many years but still haven't succeeded. It's impossible for other women to have more powerful skills than you."
"How can I be shameless? We are in love with each other, okay?"
"You may just say this to fool me or yourself, but how dare you say it in front of your brother A Yan?" Hou Xiaodong rolled his eyes deliberately.
"But..." She was at a loss for words.
"Have you ever seen anyone as 'in love' as you two?"
"Perhaps."
"Do you believe that he has always treated you like a little brat?"
Hou Xiaodong hit her on the spot.
"Okay, let me give you an example. Have you ever..." He wanted to ask a bolder question, but he was afraid of scaring the girl, so he changed the topic and asked, "Have you ever kissed?"
"No."
"Have you ever held hands?"
"No."
"Did he ever say he liked you?"
"No."
"Have I ever given you flowers or gifts, or said sweet words to you?"
"No."
"So what do you two do together all day long?"
Xieyi thought about it and came to a bleak conclusion: "Study."
At this time, Li Zeliang came back with a drink and asked, "What are you studying?"
Hou Xiaodong quickly patted Xieyi on the shoulder and laughed, "I'm teaching your child to have big ambitions and do great things from a young age, and to study hard."
The two of them escorted Xie Yi to the train. When they came out of the platform, he asked, "What did you say to her?"
Hou Xiaodong chuckled and narrated the whole story.
He returned to his residence alone and suddenly found the house unusually quiet. He read the German tutorial for a while and felt a little tired, so he fell asleep on the bed. He didn't know when the door was suddenly opened by a key.
He turned over sleepily, but he was surprised to see someone running in in three or five steps, dropping his luggage and lying on top of him.
"Ayan..." As soon as the two words came out of her mouth, Xieyi's eyes turned red and tears fell. Later, she cried more and more uncontrollably, and all she could hear was her sobbing voice calling his name.
He propped himself up, and after most of the sleepiness had gone, he sat up and asked, "Why did you come back?"
"Ayan, you don't want me anymore." She cried so hard that her voice broke.
He didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "Why did it suddenly..."
"Monkey said you wouldn't like me, but Ayan, I like you, so you can't leave me. Ayan will always be mine, no matter you treat me as a little brat or a burden, you can only be mine. You were mine before you went to Germany, and you are still mine after you went to Germany. In this life, Ayan can only pick meatballs for me, explain homework to me, buy clothes for me, take me to the dentist, cook for me, say sweet words to me, hold my hand, kiss me, be in love with me, say he likes me, and you will always be mine."
She spoke in a childish, crying voice, and finished a long, incoherent confession in a coquettish way. He did not answer her after listening to her, but he felt a vague feeling of warmth in his heart.
After a long while, he said, "You are still young."
She was tired of crying and fell asleep in his arms. She didn't hear anything. He kissed her forehead gently and said, "Xie Yi, wait for me to come back."
However, she arrived in Germany before she could wait for him to come back.
She met him in Heidelberg and said, "Ayan, it turns out that you are the only one who belongs to me in this world." Although she was smiling, there were tears in the corners of her eyes when she said this.
Now, after so many years, they are lying on this bed again.
There was a drizzle outside, hitting the window glass.
Li Zeliang couldn't sleep late at night, looking at the sleeping face next to him. The baby fat on her face had faded, but her habit of sleeping with her mouth slightly open had not changed at all.
"Freehand." He called her, "Freehand."
"Hmm?" She gradually woke up.
"Xie Yi, it hurts me," he said.
Xieyi quickly sat up and said anxiously, "What should I do? Where does your leg hurt? Let me rub it for you."
"Not the legs," he said.
"Where is that?" she asked anxiously.
"Here." He grabbed her hand and placed it on his chest, "It hurts here."
Xie Yi frowned, "You actually teased me."
"Really." He smiled slightly, "It really hurts." As soon as he finished speaking, he pulled her to his chest.
He looked at her forehead and murmured to himself, "I kissed her here last time, so I'll start from here this time." Then he gave her a long, lingering kiss.