Chapter 4 Dongpo's Deep Love (Extra update for @Liuxia Hui in Silver!)

"Axin, why are you blowing wind alone on the rooftop?"

Zong Ji brought up two opened bottles of beer to the fifth-floor rooftop.

He handed one of them to Meng Xin Zhi.

"Probably waiting for Dad to come up and have a drink with me,"

Meng Xin Zhi laughed as she took the beer, clinked bottle necks with Zong Ji, and immediately gulped down half the bottle.

Her unfazed expression was as if what Zong Ji had passed her was a bottle of mineral water in a glass bottle.

"You haven't had a drink all night? You're this thirsty," Zong Ji followed with a big swig, unwilling to show weakness.

"Indeed, I haven't," Meng Xin Zhi took another sip before putting the bottle down and with a touch of helplessness, explained to Zong Ji, "All night, I was busy talking about 'Mona Lisa' with my sister."

"Mona Lisa?" Zong Ji helped Meng Xin Zhi tidy up the ends of her hair blown messy by the wind, "Don't tell me you dragged Ayi to watch 'The Da Vinci Code'."

"It was my sister who dragged me to watch it. I'm not taking the blame for this one!"

Meng Xin Zhi finished her beer, shook the empty bottle at Zong Ji with a somewhat provocative look in her eyes.

"How has it escalated to the point of taking the blame?"

Zong Ji looked up and finished off the beer in his hand.

He wasn't thirsty at all.

Facing his daughter's intentional and unintentional show of strength, he couldn't just laugh it off.

There are other things a daughter can do better than her father, but drinking doesn't have to be one of them.

Sometimes, the passage of time can be quite magical.

Zong Ji couldn't help but recall when Meng Xin Zhi was little, after eating a bowl of noodle soup with added cooking wine, she could lie on the couch, sleeping soundly for a whole six hours.

Now look at her, bringing her a bottle of beer to chat, acting like she's about to perform a bottle-blowing trick.

If he had brought up a bottle of red wine just now, would it be almost finished by now?

Zong Ji didn't see a problem with getting his daughter's alcohol tolerance up.

After all, girls who can't drink are more likely at a disadvantage.

In fact, Meng Xin Zhi only drinks a lot at home; when she's out, she doesn't touch a drop.

It's quite magical, there's nobody even trying to persuade her to drink.

Meng Xin Zhi has a rather unique look, one that gives off an aura as if she is insulated from alcohol.

She would fit better living in the paintings of Gu Kaizhi rather than in the 21st century, sixteen hundred years later.

"My sister got halfway through and then asked me whether there really are secret codes in Da Vinci's paintings, which had me explaining for quite a while. I almost thought I wouldn't be able to clarify and would be chased down by mom from a thousand miles away,"

Meng Xin Zhi touched her chest, as if she was Xi Shi who was imitated by Dongpo.

"Would that be such a bad thing? If your mom had the heart to chase you across a thousand miles, I'd take her to see you. She would be in charge of chasing, I'd be in charge of protecting. You and I could find a place to hide from your mom's sight and have a drink and a chat,"

Zong Ji quickly planned out the itinerary.

Meng Xin Zhi pursed her lips, nodding at Zong Ji with a smile that wasn't quite a smile.

She made a sound through her nose that resembled agreement.

"What's with that expression?" Zong Ji began to feel inexplicably guilty.

"An expression of doubt as to the feasibility after consideration," Meng Xin Zhi replied.

"Doubt?" Zong Ji feigned anger and put on a serious face, "Between father and daughter, do we really have so little trust now?"

"Of course, we don't. If my mom wanted to hunt me down, you'd undoubtedly be her number one hitman," Meng Xin Zhi was well aware of Zong Ji's position in the family.

"I'm openly mending the walkway but secretly marching through the Chen Cang pass, alright? I have to make your mom think that I'm on her side to secure more benefits for Axin, right?" Zong Ji found himself an excuse.

"Like what?" Meng Xin Zhi didn't give him an easy way out.

"Like..." Zong Ji quickly searched his memory, "after your graduation when you wanted to study abroad, your mom was absolutely against it, and wasn't it me who settled it for you?"

"Sounds like it might be true," Meng Xin Zhi responded insincerely.

"What do you mean 'might be'? It is the truth!"

"It was because I got a scholarship, and everything was ready to go; my mom knew her opposition would be futile,"

"Whether opposition is futile or not, and whether to oppose are two different things," Zong Ji emphasized again, "how can you discount dad's role in this?"

"I don't want to expose you, my dad,"

Meng Xin Zhi adopted a peacemaking attitude.

This attitude made Zong Ji, as a father, feel utterly uncomfortable.

"I'm waiting for you to expose me!" Zong Ji declared.

"Alright then, if Comrade Zong so wishes to be hammered, I'll grant you your wish," Meng Xin Zhi could guess, "Did you tell my mom that if I continue to stay, I would lead my sister astray? The best way is not to let us be together all the time."