Eating, drinking, and chatting, the dinner ended past nine in the evening.
Dou Bao was already tired and had been coaxed to sleep by Zeng Hui.
After seeing everyone off, she asked Chen Dongyang to wash up while she tidied the room.
Although Chen Dongyang had drunk a lot that day, his mind was very clear.
He didn't want to sleep. He had waited for several hours, waiting for this moment. He could no longer bear it and wanted to have a showdown with Zeng Hui.
After Zeng Hui finished giving him instructions, she took a rag and went to clear the table. Chen Dongyang pressed his forehead with his hands on his knees.
"Don't clean up yet. Sit down, I need to talk to you."
Seeing his serious demeanor, she knew something important was going to be said, but unsure if it was good or bad, Zeng Hui felt a bit resistant.
"You've had too much to drink. Go to sleep. You have to work tomorrow. We can talk about it tomorrow night."
"I'm not drunk. Zeng Hui, sit down."
Zeng Hui had no choice but to sit down opposite him.
Chen Dongyang looked up at her and leaned back on the sofa.
"Didn't I make myself clear last night?"
What kind of question was that? What kind of attitude was this?
Zeng Hui felt that she had appeased him all day, doing housework and trying her best to please him in front of his colleagues, only to be met with this?
Her face immediately fell. "What do you mean? What are you trying to say?"
Chen Dongyang didn't want to pretend with her or beat around the bush. It was meaningless.
"My meaning is very clear. Zeng Hui, what I owe you and Dou Bao is something that I, Chen Dongyang, deserve to repay for the rest of my life, whether by working like an ox or a horse. If you ever need anything, no matter where I am or if I have the ability, I have the obligation to appear immediately. But that's all."
"That's all?"
Zeng Hui's face darkened further. "What exactly do you mean?"
Even with him saying this, she was still pretending not to understand?
Chen Dongyang was speechless for a moment. "You're a smart person. Isn't it better to leave it at that? Must you say it so harshly?"
Zeng Hui trembled all over, her self-esteem feeling like it had shattered into pieces.
Hadn't she done enough? Wasn't she good enough? Why didn't Chen Dongyang appreciate it?
"I'm not a smart person. What do you mean by 'leave it at that'? What exactly are you trying to say?"
Chen Dongyang was furious. He rubbed his temples again, saying tiredly.
"Zeng Hui, can you not be like this? We are just the responsible parties for Dou Bao's upbringing, nothing more."
"You will always be my best friend's girlfriend. I have no improper thoughts about you. Don't be like this."
Although Zeng Hui knew he was going to say these things from the moment they sat down, hearing them again was still difficult to face.
Embarrassment, unwillingness, and various emotions surged out, and she was so distressed that she almost cried.
"Are you trying to distance yourself from me? Now that you're capable and your life is getting better, you think I and Dou Bao are a burden and look down on us?"
"Fine, Chen Dongyang. If you dislike us, we'll leave. We'll leave tomorrow. There's no need to talk about owing debts. Aren't you disgusting?"
Chen Dongyang didn't want to argue with her. He corrected Zeng Hui.
"I don't dislike you, nor am I trying to drive you away. I'm just reminding you that you and my best friend were once a couple, and you have a child. I have no improper thoughts about you, you..."
"So you mean you look down on me because I've been with someone else and had a child, and I'm not worthy of your single and childless status, right?"
"...If you insist on misinterpreting my meaning, then there's no point in talking. You know very well what I mean."
Zeng Hui acted spoiled and unreasonable. "I don't know what you mean. Just explain it more clearly. Do you look down on me, think I'm ugly, or dislike me because I was with Dou Bao's father? Why are you acting like this today?"
Suddenly?
He had already said it once last night!
Chen Dongyang looked up at the sky speechlessly and paused for a moment.
"I'll say it one last time, Zeng Hui. I don't look down on you for any reason, nor do I think you're a burden because life is getting better. On the contrary, I will be responsible for both of you my entire life."
"But all I can help you with is financially. As for emotional matters, I apologize, but I can't help. Don't talk about our relationship with others anymore. Isn't it better to stick to the facts?"
Zeng Hui's uncontrollable tears immediately fell. Looking at Chen Dongyang, she trembled like a sieve.
She looked as pathetic as a wife abandoned by him.
Chen Dongyang couldn't stand her like this. He was so annoyed that he wanted to run out the door, but he didn't dare, for fear she would go crazy.
"Zeng Hui, I never intended to hurt you. Nor did I ever think I would say such things. It's my fault. I apologize. If you feel awkward, I'll move out tomorrow..."
Zeng Hui slapped the table with a "bang," interrupting him.
"All this talk is because you have someone else outside! Just say you want to be with Jiang Jing Tian and that my existence is a problem, why beat around the bush like this?"
"Dongyang, you were never this hypocritical before. I've given you so many chances to tell the truth, but you haven't, which truly chills me."
Chen Dongyang was momentarily speechless.
What she said was indeed the truth.
However, she was so emotional now, and she had done something reckless just a few days ago. Chen Dongyang dared not admit it directly.
Tian Tian's identity and status could not withstand her tantrums.
"We are discussing the issue between us. Regardless of whether she exists or not, we cannot get to that point. Why do you have to involve someone else?"
Zeng Hui was relentless. "Whether she exists or not, you can't develop a relationship with me? How can you be so sure?"
"Am I that ugly? Do I have no charm at all? Without even trying, you're sure you'll never fall in love with me?"
Chen Dongyang was going crazy.
He had to end the conversation quickly, or he would surely go mad.
"After some time, when Dou Bao finishes his surgery and recovers, I'll send him to school, or you can raise him directly, and you can go to work."
"Zeng Hui, your circle is too small now, and you only know a limited number of people, which is why you think I'm good. Once you go out..."
But Zeng Hui couldn't hear anything.
In her eyes, as long as Chen Dongyang didn't admit to liking someone else, she still had a chance.
"Do you think I'm the kind of person who would abandon my child to seek happiness for myself? If so, I wouldn't have given birth to him in the first place."
"Since you want to be responsible for him for a lifetime, so do I. Why don't we just be together? I don't care how good others are; I've decided on you for this lifetime. Just for the way you treat Dou Bao, I'll stick with you forever."
"You can think I'm shameless and have no self-respect. Now that things have come to this, I don't care about my reputation anymore. It was my fault for being too distant before, with all my attention focused on Dou Bao. I'll change from now on. I'll be gentle, considerate, and do everything you like. Dongyang, please don't refuse me anymore. Let's give it a try, okay?"
"Perhaps if you try, you'll fall in love with me."