Be in low spirits

Kong Zhixi held the phone and muttered, "Parking is expensive." After sitting on a chair in the lobby and waiting for more than 20 minutes, Li Li finally called. He was already in the parking lot. She hung up the phone with disdain, walked to the parking lot, and saw him and complained, "You asked your parents to go home without discussing it with me. You called me when you got to the parking lot. Why didn't you just wait until the case was solved and notify me of the divorce?"

"The case isn't solved yet, and I'll be distracted if they're here. It'll be safer if I go back, and don't keep talking about divorce." Li Li sat in the passenger seat and fastened his seat belt.

Kong Zhixi stepped on the accelerator hard, and Li Li leaned forward. His wound touched the seat belt, and he couldn't help but exclaimed, "Ah!" Her anger disappeared at once. "Does it hurt? How about we go to the hospital and get it fixed?"

He tried his best to look normal and said, "It's okay, it's just difficult to apply the medicine. You have to help me with it tonight." Thinking of last night, Kong Zhixi thought that after sending his parents away, she could live in the dormitory or go home like before. Now he sent them back, didn't he want her to take care of them?

"You still need to go for rehabilitation, I'll take you to the hospital first, and we'll do it there."

"Not today, just take me home." He smiled shamelessly.

"Then how do you eat?"

"I can just order takeout at noon and cook for you at night. You haven't eaten my cooking for a long time." The smile on his lips never fell.

Kong Zhixi felt another sharp pain in her heart, but it soon disappeared. "You cooked? When did I eat it?" She didn't remember them eating together. "I might have to work tonight, so I might not be able to leave on time."

Li Li had it all planned out. "I asked the Fei Office, and he arranged for you to work in the Household Registration Department, so you can get off work on time."

She was a little unhappy: "Are you interfering in my work?"

He was as if facing a great enemy: "No, I just asked him when you can get off work. Besides, Fei Suo is a very upright person. How dare I, a team leader, give him orders?"

Kong Zhixi always felt that something was wrong. "It's strange that you really don't care and can let me get off work on time. Didn't your mother say that she found a caregiver for you?"

"No caregiver is needed. I'm not used to being taken care of by others." He became more and more shameless.

Kong Zhixi didn't want to argue with him about this matter: "Get out of the car."

"Come home early for dinner." He got out of the car and held the door, raising his eyebrows and admonishing. She watched him skipping towards the community, and she always felt that something was going to happen.

After returning to the institute, he handed the self-review to Fei Suo. After reading it word by word, Fei Suo frowned and complained: "You need to ask your husband to teach you about this matter. He knows how to do it. You should learn more from him in the future. Forget it this time. It's just a stretch."

She was still thinking about being able to live in the dormitory after her shift: "So can I be on duty?"

"No, your job is to get off work and come on time. When the time comes, you will be asked to take the shift. Go do your job."

Kong Zhixi pouted and went back to work. When she got off work in the evening, she received a call from Kong Zhiting: "Sister, come to the tavern for dinner, and pick up your brother-in-law and your parents-in-law. Dad and Mom said that the whole family should get together."

"What are we getting together for? Your brother-in-law said he was cooking and his parents went home. Why didn't mom and dad tell me?"

"I told my brother-in-law that we have something to discuss. We'll talk when we get there." After saying that, she hung up the phone. She glanced at her phone. It wasn't the weekend yet. So they went to the pub for dinner? His father had no objection?

After picking up Li Li, the two of them rushed to the place where they were having dinner. Kong Zhixi asked, "My sister said she had something to discuss. Do you know what it is?"

"I think I know. Is the USB flash drive still with you?" Li Li asked about the USB flash drive out of the blue. It seemed that he wanted to talk about serious matters.

She probably guessed it was related to the case, so she didn't ask any more questions: "Yes, I'll bring it to you after dinner."

He tapped his calf and said casually, "No, keep it first. If anything happens, take it out and give it to Uncle Qi and Uncle Jiang."

He said this, which made her worried: "What happened?"

"Let's talk after dinner." He avoided the question again. When they arrived at the tavern downstairs, Kong Jianping and a few others were already waiting there. There was only one private room, so the two of them pushed the door open and walked in. Li Li politely greeted everyone. He had met Kong Jianping and Kong Zhiting at work, but this was the first time he met Kong's mother. "Dad, Mom, we were in a hurry this time and didn't bring anything. I'll come to apologize next time."

"No, you two are busy, just live your own life." Kong's mother was also very polite. "Brother-in-law, you order two dishes, we've ordered for all of us." Kong Zhiting handed him the menu, he nodded and took it, Kong Zhixi pulled him to sit down and poured him some water.

"Didn't you say you had something to discuss?" She was a little curious about what it was.

Kong Jianping stopped her, "Let's talk after the food is served." The mysteriousness of the few people made her even more curious, although she roughly guessed that it was about the case. When the meal was almost over, Kong Zhiting finally spoke up, "The person who died last night was indeed the former accountant of Cheung Kong Group, Tian Bingan."

"Accountant Tian?" Kong Zhixi felt that the name was familiar.

"What was the cause of death?" Li Li seemed to have expected it.

"Death by suffocation. Time of death was three days ago. When found, the person was wrapped in a plastic bag and buried underground. The murderer was very experienced. No footprints or fingerprints were found around." Kong Zhiting kept her voice as low as possible and told everything she knew.

"When will the autopsy report be available?" It turned out that Li Li had already started investigating the case. Kong Zhixi bent over and stretched her neck to listen carefully.

"The next Monday, judging from the food residue in his stomach, he had noodles and mushrooms for dinner, which seemed to be picked in the mountains. But the body was found on a flat land in the suburbs, and there were no mountains around."

"Yeah." Li Li nodded, smoothed Kong Zhixi's hair with his hands, and pushed her shoulders to make her sit up straight. "Is that why I called you over last night?" She stretched her neck again and asked.

"Don't ask nonsense questions, just eat your meal." Kong Jianping put a piece of onion in her bowl, and Li Li picked up the onion and ate it herself. She looked at her old father, frowned and said, "I don't eat onions."

"Ahhh, come on, come on, eat some vegetables." Kong Jianping said perfunctorily to her, pointing to the plate of vegetables in front of her.

After finishing the meal, the three of them walked back home shoulder to shoulder. Kong Zhixi stood behind them and felt a little sad. None of the three asked her to go home. "It's okay. I'm here. Go home." Li Li put his hand on her shoulder and looked at the backs of the three people.

Kong Zhixi rolled her eyes at him and said, "Let's go." Li Li looked at the camellia on her ponytail and felt a sense of loss in his heart, "Wait for me." Then he limped after her and put his hand on her shoulder.

When they got home, Kong Zhixi found some medicine for him, poured some water for him to take, and brought the medicine box. After watching him finish the medicine, she told him to sit on the sofa and started to take off his clothes, preparing to change the gauze for him. Li Li grabbed her hand and asked her tentatively, "Are you unhappy today?"

"No." She tried to pull her hand away, but it was no use. He pulled her to sit down, looked at her and asked, "Can you tell me again what you said in the hospital that day?" Every time he looked at her seriously, that look in his eyes made her a little scared. Her father was right. She looked kind and soft-hearted, but her temperament was cold. She didn't know how to respond to that affectionate and burning look. "What did you say? I don't remember." She tried to stand up and wanted to unwrap his old gauze.

Li Li held her waist and asked her to look straight at him, saying: "You said you are not a substitute for anyone, where is the substitute?" She sighed, not knowing why she said that, but she just wanted to explain the relationship in this marriage and draw a clear line between them. "I just hope you can understand that our relationship is not your... um~"

He suddenly held the back of her head, kissed her lips, held her face, and said seriously: "Our relationship is a husband-and-wife relationship in name only. There is no substitute, only you, and from the beginning it was only you!"

She could clearly hear her own heartbeat, pounding and trying to jump out of her throat. The pain in her heart began again. She grabbed her chest and rested her head on his chest.