Xieyi was waiting downstairs of his house for Zhan Dongzhen to bring him the keys, opening and closing the cover of his cell phone. After sending the message, he never replied again.
Zhan Dongzhen appeared in time.
He said cheerfully, "I was originally going to stay in a hotel, but since I've been tasked with delivering your key, I'm going to stay here for one night."
"You're getting thicker and thicker."
Just at this moment, the phone rang. It was Zhou Pingxin.
Xieyi let out a long sigh of relief.
"Freehand painting is going to kill people!" said Zhou Pingxin.
"It's the middle of the night, and you're saying something like that that's really scary. What's wrong?"
"There was a client from Germany, and Sister Qiao asked me to find a translator, but something went wrong."
"Then what?"
"You speak German?"
"I seem to still remember." Xieyi smiled. So that's it.
"Please do me a favor, otherwise I will mess it up." Zhou Pingxin said.
"Well, what do you want me to do? I can't do something that's too difficult." She agreed immediately.
“Just accompany people around the scenic area.”
Xieyi hung up the phone, went upstairs to open the door, and repeated what he had said to Zhan Dongzhen.
After listening to me, he asked very seriously: "Is the person you are with a man? A woman? How old is she?"
Xieyi glanced at him and said, "It's the old man."
Men like to worry about things.
Xieyi's house is a one-bedroom apartment. In order to make the room brighter and the living room appear wider, there is no wall between the two rooms, and the curtains are usually drawn.
Zhan Dongzhen has been here, so he said it would be crowded if Xie Qing and her daughter came.
"I'll sleep on the bed and you'll sleep on the sofa."
He looked at the sofa laid out by Xieyi and pouted: "It's so cold, are you willing to let me sleep on the sofa alone?"
Xie Yi said without even turning his head: "If you don't like it, go back to your five-star hotel."
Zhan Dongzhen surrendered and never dared to complain again.
At night, Zhan Dongzhen heard Xieyi tossing and turning in bed.
"Freehand?" he called out softly.
"Huh? What?" One of them was in the living room and the other in the bedroom, but because there was only a curtain separating them, they could hear each other's words clearly.
"You can't sleep?"
"A little bit. I always have insomnia at night."
"You've been in a bad mood lately." This time when he saw Xie Yi, he felt that she was thinner than the last time, and always looked dazed.
“Is it because my hair is too long that it makes me look listless?”
"Short hair makes you look neater and suits your personality quite well," said Zhan Dongzhen.
"Really? Then when should I try it?" She had kept her hair long for many years, and the shortest was always above her shoulders. She obviously hadn't grown it intentionally, but it seemed like she did it just for his hobby.
"Did you meet him later?" asked Zhan Dongzhen.
Xieyi flipped to the left side and said, "Yes, he transferred some money to me."
Zhan Dongzhen was silent for a long time before he slowly said, "Sometimes, if you let go a little, you will feel more relaxed. The living should not only continue to live, but also live happily. I always hope that you will be happy, Xieyi."
"Dongdong, have you helped me to regret it?"
"You asked me last time, and I said I could do anything for Xie Yi, but..." He paused, "But I regret it now. If I knew it would make you more miserable, I would never have agreed to it."
She grabbed a corner of the quilt, bit her lip, and said stubbornly: "I am not in pain."
"I have something I've always wanted to tell you."
"What?"
"Have you ever thought that Li Zeliang has been in the business world for many years and has seen everything? Some of the tricks you and I played were really blatant and straightforward, especially the cooperation agreement in Lantian Bay, which was a nakedly unfair contract, but he signed it without even blinking an eye."
"So what?" Although Xieyi said that deliberately, his hands that were grabbing the quilt gradually tightened.
Zhan Dongzhen added, "If Li Zeliang is really that stupid, how has he survived all these years? You may not understand how difficult he is to deal with, as someone in the know, but who doesn't know it? Besides, he lives with you day and night, so can't you see any clues?"
After saying this, Xieyi didn't say anything else and the room was silent for a long time.
"Are you asleep?" he asked softly.
"Well, I'm sleepy." She answered vaguely.
In fact, how could she feel sleepy
"Can't he see the clues?" This sentence kept circling in Xieyi's mind.
She suddenly remembered that Lawyer Qiu mentioned that the gift agreement had been placed with him a month ago. She always thought that the other party had made a slip of the tongue or she had misheard. A month ago? That was the time when she found Meng Lili to loan him money. Why did he prepare this agreement at that time? Or did he already know her intention at that time? Or even earlier? It's not that she had never thought about it. However, her subconscious mind had been avoiding it. Whenever this thought came up, she would automatically ignore it and take a detour. She didn't dare to think about it. She just pretended that he didn't know and that she had truly succeeded in getting revenge.
No, no, no. She shook her head. It was impossible. If he really knew that she was acting in front of him, why would he cooperate with her? But... he was indeed very "cooperative" and followed her trap step by step. Except for a little mistake at the beginning, everything was just as she imagined.
At the beginning, when she approached him, he treated her differently from others, but he was not anxious, as if he had nothing to do with her. So, she took advantage of the moment when Yang Wangjie took her to a wedding banquet and met Li Zeliang, and arranged a car accident on the highway. Unfortunately, this self-torture did not lead to any substantial progress between them. She took another approach and used her relationship with Zhan Dongzhen to anger him.
Unexpectedly, Li Zeliang paid for it completely, and in a rage, he used Lantian Bay as a bargaining chip to force her to be with him. That method was completely different from his usual style of doing things, but he did it anyway. Perhaps she had to thank that somewhat insulting transaction for her to return to his side so naturally. Without this premise, all the traps would have been in vain. Everything was just right, not too early or too late, as if he had come here specially to complete this scene with her. Suddenly, Xieyi remembered that she was intact after the car accident, but he was injured. On the hospital bed, Li Zeliang once asked her a strange question.
"Shen Xieyi, don't you need to say something to me?"
Could it be that he understood all this from that time on, and that was why he suddenly became cold and strange towards her
That’s why he hugged her in the garden of the Li family’s old house and sighed, “No, you’re gone.”
So, he said later: "Xieyi, I don't want you to cry. Even if you are heartless and against me, I don't want you to cry."
It seems that perhaps Li Zeliang's mood swings were not entirely due to his strange psychology after becoming disabled, but rather the contradiction of knowing clearly that she came to avenge him, but still acting with her seamlessly. Her previous method was already shameful enough, and now looking back at the truth of the matter, she felt even more despicable. The only weapon she had that could hurt him was the love he gave her. Thinking of this, tears rolled in her eyes, and finally poured out. She curled up into a ball and shrank into the quilt. She was afraid that Zhan Dongzhen would hear her crying, so she covered her head and hid inside, sobbing softly.
She and Li Zeliang had been entangled for more than ten years since their teenage years.
In the past, she was not sure whether he pretended not to know her and did not bring back her painful memories when she pretended to have amnesia because he truly loved her or because he felt guilty. She was also not sure whether he treated her so gently and tolerantly during that time out of habit or guilt.
Now, she finally realized that he cared about her so much.
He loved her so deeply that he was willing to give up everything and destroy everything for her as long as she wanted.
In the silence of the night, Zhan Dongzhen knew that she was hiding and crying, so he stood up and walked over. He walked to Xieyi's bed, bent down and stretched out his hand to call her, but stopped mid-air, slowly retracted his hand, and sighed.
The next day, Qiao Hanmin came to Xieyi and asked, "Zhou Pingxin said you are responsible for the translation?"
"Ah, yes. But won't it screw up? I'm not very professional."
"If those who came back from Germany are not professional, who else can be professional?" Qiao Hanmin laughed, "The level is high enough. It's not a business matter. I just go to receive them. There are translators for other places."
At noon, Xieyi and Zhou Pingxin went to pick them up at the airport and then took them to the hotel. The customers were an elderly couple with very kind personalities, and they actually came from Mannheim.
In the car, Xie Yi said with a smile: "I studied abroad in Heidelberg."
The old lady was surprised and said: "Heidelberg is very close to us."
"I used to go to Mannheim a lot when I was studying. It's a big city."
The old man interrupted humorously: "When you see many chimneys, it means we have arrived in Mannheim." Because Mannheim is a famous industrial city in Germany.
Freehand chuckle.
After several conversations, Xie Yi learned that the couple's son had business dealings with Tang Qiao.
"Come to travel?" Xieyi asked.
"Yes, my son told me that China is very beautiful, so I came to see it," the old lady replied.
"Also visit some friends." The old man added.
At this time, Zhou Pingxin said: "We are here."
She and Zhou Pingxin sent the couple to the hotel and considered their work completed. Someone else would come to pick them up later, but to be on the safe side, Xieyi still left her contact information.
Xie Qing and Aunt Ren stayed in City A for a few days. Xie Yi helped them contact doctors everywhere. Later, he used Qiao Hanmin's connections to finally find them a place.
That day, Xieyi took a whole day off to accompany Xieqing to see a doctor. Xieyi had been to the affiliated hospital of the medical school before. It was where she was sent when she and Li Zeliang had an accident on the highway. When they arrived at the hospital, Aunt Ren and Xieqing went in, and she went to the bathroom.
Coming out of the bathroom, she turned around and saw Li Zeliang in a wheelchair. Xie Yi was at a loss for a moment, not knowing where to hide. He looked up and saw her. He seemed to be waiting for an examination. He was not wearing a hospital gown, but was dressed casually.
You can't see it when you look up, but you can see it when you look down.
However, strangely, he seemed even more surprised to see her. His eyes flashed, and he frowned and asked, "What are you doing in the hospital?"
Xie Yi was stunned for a moment, then slowly said, "I... am accompanying someone to see a doctor."
At this time, Aunt Ren came out of the consulting room. She said, "The doctor asked us to go to the consultation room upstairs and wait for him."
Xie Yi nodded, "Okay, I'll go up later."
Aunt Ren led Xie Qing out and prepared to go upstairs. She didn't know whether she didn't recognize Li Zeliang or didn't notice him at all, but Xie Qing took a special look at Li Zeliang and stopped.
At that moment, Xie Yi also thought that a miracle would happen, and she would recognize people other than her parents and Xie Minghao. However, Xie Qing just tilted her head to look at him, and then smiled.
"Xieqing, come with your mother quickly. The doctor is waiting." Aunt Ren coaxed her and took her away.
Li Zeliang looked at the backs of the two people and frowned, "Shen Xieqing?" Too many complicated and difficult to discern expressions flashed across his eyes.
Xieyi knew that Xieqing had been managing the business for her father at Hairun in the Shen family, so she must have had a lot of contact with Li Zeliang. Xieqing got sick when her father passed away, but no one had a definite answer to the specific circumstances. Xie Minghao said that it might be because her father's death was too much of a blow to her.
"It's Shen Xieqing." Xieyi said.
I don’t know why, but it was Li Zeliang’s subtle look and Xie Qing’s simple pause that made Xie Yi feel as if Li Zeliang knew the cause of Xie Qing’s illness.
So, Xieyi deliberately said, "It seems that Xieqing has a good impression of you. She has never looked me in the eye after being with me for such a long time."
Li Zeliang sneered, "I'm not interested in who she likes."
"… "
This is his usual style of being cold and silent. If you want to know something, but want to get it out of Li Zeliang's mouth, it is harder than climbing to the sky.
When Xieqing finished her medical examination and walked out of the hospital, Xieyi couldn't help but let Aunt Ren and Xieqing wait for her for a few minutes. She got on the elevator and found the nurse who pushed Li Zeliang's wheelchair at the nurses' station and asked about his attending physician.
The nurse said, "Mr. Li's attending physician is Dr. He."
Xie Yi followed the nurse's instructions and found Dr. He in the office at the end of the corridor. Only then did she realize that they had met before. The last time she kicked Li Zeliang, the doctor who came late at night was Dr. He.
"The results of his amputation weren't very good. Especially recently, the residual limb was swollen so badly that the prosthesis was almost impossible to put on," explained Dr. He.
"Swelling of the residual limb?" Xie Yi didn't quite understand.
"After amputation, the limb muscles begin to atrophy rapidly, and their functions drop sharply, which directly affects the return of blood and lymph."
Dr. He clenched his right fist and made a squeezing gesture with his left hand.
"Moreover, the lower limbs have to bear the weight of the body, and the prosthesis is squeezed and bound together, making it more difficult for blood to return to the heart normally. These two reasons cause the swelling to worsen. This is a torturous pain, so we have banned him from wearing prostheses."
"What if it's serious? I mean, what if it continues like this? Then he will never be allowed to wear a prosthesis again?"
Doctor He glanced at Xie Yi and said, "The consequences will be worse than you said. If the condition is severe, in the worst case scenario, we can only continue to cut upwards and perform a second amputation."
Xieyi was suddenly startled and opened his mouth in surprise.
Before leaving, Dr. He said, "He is an alcoholic and a smoker. He must change these habits. Please give him more advice."
Xie Yi smiled bitterly. How could he persuade her? Just based on his attitude towards her, he might not listen to anything she said. He and her were no better than strangers.
But she really couldn't bear to see him ruining himself like that.
Recently, Zhou Pingxin has found her new admiration for freehand painting, because according to Qiao Hanmin, the German couple likes it very much and keeps praising her.
"You speak German really well." Zhou Pingxin sighed again.
"Do you still understand?" Xie Yi laughed.
"Everyone said it was good, it must be good, and it sounded good. I used to hear people speak German, and it sounded bad."
Xieyi had no choice but to smile.
She didn't speak well at all, not as well as Li Zeliang. His voice wasn't particularly low, but he spoke German with a lot of charm. He used to teach her to pronounce words slowly, with a hint of elegance in the low voice, which was very charming.
In the evening, Xie Yi was watching TV at home. When he turned to the city channel, he saw Li Zeliang appearing in a personality interview program. He has always been very low-key and doesn't like these occasions, but this time he was out of character. Li Zeliang sat there, wearing a light gray suit and his prosthesis. He would never do what the doctor said, and he probably wouldn't appear on camera if he didn't wear the prosthesis. The beautiful host, who was known for her harshness, was very polite to him and asked gentle and polite questions. Questions such as the retention of Li's funds were denied one by one by Li Zeliang with a smile.
"The last question is for Mr. Li Zeliang," the host said. "You are still single, so is there anything you can reveal to our audience about your personal feelings?"
"I am just an ordinary businessman, not a public figure. I believe that you are not very interested in my personal issues." This was the only rebuff he gave to the host throughout the entire event, and he smiled faintly after saying it.
That handsome face with a faint smile was frozen in a photo and appeared on the cover of Economic Weekly the next day. When Xieyi passed by a newsstand, he stopped and couldn't help but buy a copy.
She read it carefully while sitting on the subway. She bet that the author of this article was either instructed by Li Zeliang or accepted benefits from him to speak for Li Zeliang, but this person was good at writing and flattering without leaving any trace.
Suddenly, Xie Yi realized that his recent high profile was just to save Li's positive image and regain investors' confidence. Therefore, he came out to move around even in a wheelchair, which was something he had never seen before.