Chapter 233: Liang Zhengping Makes A Move
Liang Chaosu’s stubble was rough; even its tips felt prickly. Liancheng’s skin wasn’t particularly sensitive. After he grazed it lightly, a patch turned red, like a blush of rouge.
He stopped immediately, seeing her frown, her dislike evident.
“Go shave.”
Liang Chaosu’s nose bridge pressed against her ear. He hadn’t truly angered her yet, “Are you regretting the marriage?”
Liancheng’s palm covered his face, pushing his head back.
Her slap was grand in gesture, but the force was small,
it was unclear if she dared not hit him, or did not want to hit him.
A smile bloomed in Liang Chaosu’s eyes. He bent over, his arm wrapping around her knees, and lifted her into a carry.
Liancheng’s vision blurred. She had suddenly grown over a meter taller, and looking down at him, she realized he was being audacious, crossing boundaries.
“Liang Chaosu,” she said, looking down from her superior height, maintaining her composure, “You were drugged back then, under some kind of hallucination. Was that night a figment of your imagination?”
Liang Chaosu carried her into the bedroom.
The room faced the sun, less than ten square meters. The large red sandalwood bed was covered with a “Duck Crossing the River” bedsheet. The quilt was askew to the left, its beige color warmed by the sunlight.
Liancheng used to choose bedding in black, blue, and navy.
Liang Chaosu didn’t know if it was because of him, but late at night, under the lamplight, her skin was fair and tender, her fingernails lustrous. She would often become flustered and scratch him, making him dizzy.
She had also grown to like dark colors.
“Yes,” he said, removing her shoes and socks.
Liancheng subconsciously resisted, her toes curling, wanting to kick him away, but she still had to listen to him talk about that year. She pushed him, standing on the bed.
“What were you hallucinating about?”
Liang Chaosu indulged her struggles, loosening his grip. He still looked up, his features deep, his eye sockets like two sunken abysses, inscrutable and alluring, drawing one in unconsciously.
“You married Shen Lichuan. He was incapable. My mother became more and more biased, covering up Liang Wenfei’s actions. Your marriage became crowded with three people, existing only in name. You were very sad, but also free-spirited, packed your bags, and left decisively.”
He crumpled her socks in his hand, as if holding a trace of her body heat. With a slight twist, it all vanished.
“It couldn’t compare to the heart-pounding fear back then. For many years, there was no news. Finally, I found you. I opened the door, and you were packing your bags again.”
Liancheng’s first reaction was absurdity, but looking at Liang Chaosu, she felt it was real.
“I found out that hallucinogenic drugs amplify the subconscious. So this is your speculation? You believed it so strongly that you committed such an act?”
An act.
Liang Chaosu interpreted these two words as brutal and violent behavior, but to her, it was still an assault.
He took a step closer, his calf hitting the bedpost, “It was my speculation. He eloped with you, but couldn’t even plan their departure properly. How could they have a future?”
Liancheng raised her hand to stop him. She walked around the foot of the bed, wanting to leave, but he wouldn’t let her. Turning in circles made her dizzy and more confused. She blurted out, “He was only eighteen then.”
Liang Chaosu’s face darkened. He raised his hand to grab her, “You still have feelings for him.”
Liancheng, extremely agitated, dodged him with large steps, a question that had plagued her for four years, refusing to understand.
“I’ll state it one last time, I don’t.”
Liang Chaosu gazed at her, saying nothing.
He stood facing the sunlight streaming in through the window. His coarse stubble appeared a light brown, forming a halo. His brows and eyes were bright and sharp, rough and powerful, with a stern coldness.
Liancheng’s wariness reached its peak. She rapidly retreated to the head of the bed, regretting entering the bedroom.
“You favored Liang Wenfei and bullied me. Bai Ying said you did it to protect me. Is that true?”
Liang Chaosu slipped off his slippers. He had taken off his socks at the foyer. Now he lifted his leg, as if to step onto the bed.
Liancheng shrieked, “They’re dirty, get down.”
Liang Chaosu bent his leg, pressing one knee against the foot of the bed, “I never disliked you.”
He opened his hand, revealing her pink sock in his palm.
Liancheng loved cleanliness; her living items were tidy and organized, with clear distinctions.
Unlike her outdoor socks, these pink socks were exclusively for home wear. The laundry detergent used was also a scented kind, oud and rose, with a long-lasting fragrance. Even stepping on him with them would smell pleasant.
Liancheng endured for a moment, but she couldn’t stand him touching her personal items like this. She reached out to snatch them.
“Dislike me if you want, but my socks aren’t for you to hold.”
Liang Chaosu gave her the socks and hooked his arm around her waist, pulling her back securely.
Liancheng was wary but a beat too slow, almost reacting instinctively. He spoke slowly, “Half.”
Liancheng stopped her fists and feet, staring at him.
Her face wasn’t round, but her eyes were. She was recovering from a fever, sweating. Tiny beads of sweat on her nose tip were also round, glistening and clear on the small mole. She looked wary yet eager to listen, incredibly soft and charming.
Like a proud little cold cat bristling, ears pricked, waiting to hear what he was.
With no follow-up, Liancheng couldn’t help but frown.
Seeing this, Liang Chaosu almost lost his control and laughed.
Her cheeks were rosy. As she frowned, her cheeks seemed to tremble with stubble. This was the countdown for his patience; if he didn’t speak soon, her claws would come down on him.
“I don’t want to be called ‘ge’ (brother).”
Liancheng’s frown deepened, staring at him, “So you let Liang Wenfei suppress me. I wasn’t wronging you.”
“Yes,” he tightened his embrace, “We lived together. I was gentle, and you called me ‘ge’. I cherished you, and you called me ‘ge’. I risked my life to protect you on the highway. The cold rain made me lose consciousness, and you begged ‘ge’ to wake up quickly. If I hadn’t survived that night, in your heart, would you miss your brother, or your man?”
Liancheng’s heart, which had been chaotic all day, suddenly stabilized.
Her mind flashed back over four years, divided into two stages.
For the first two years, although he protected Liang Wenfei, he wasn’t as cruel as he was later. Each time she felt his doting and pity, she thought his reason and morality would eventually make him pull back from the brink and change his mind.
He corrected her more and more fiercely. It was only after she took leave from school that she started fearing him, being intimidated by him, and maliciously speculating about him.
Liancheng inhaled and asked the last question, “Why didn’t you explain?”
Liang Chaosu’s chin rested on her forehead, “Because every single instance, I acted according to circumstances. It was all opportunistic, with impure intentions.”
Liancheng painstakingly pried his fingers apart, centimeter by centimeter, pulling away from him, “Now it is you defending yourself, there is no misunderstanding on my part. I still cannot forgive this behavior of yours.”
She was like a cat that had smelled danger and judged it an enemy, its preparedness to pounce withdrawn, receding.
Her dark eyes firmed up again. The fresh intimacy she had repeatedly suppressed just moments ago also faded.
The quiet joy growing in Liang Chaosu’s heart also diminished, leaving a cool, astringent aftertaste. “I know.”
Iceland made it clear.
His good, his bad, his soft, his hard, no matter what, there was no tender warmth in her eyes.
Later, when his plans ran out, he was like a mad, abandoned dog, insisting that kinship was blocking her, and ended up on a wrong and evil path.
Severing kinship, love and hate, love was gone, affection was unseen. She only had hatred, with only badness left in her heart.
Every day upon waking, Liang Chaosu acquired a new charge.
Upon returning to the country, he changed. He accepted not being liked by her, accepted that she didn’t love him. As long as she was before his eyes, beside him, within reach.
Supported by him.
“We’re going to Qingxi Valley tomorrow afternoon,” Liang Chaosu said, checking his watch. It was five o’clock.
“Your fever just broke. Rest tonight, and we’ll choose a wedding dress tomorrow morning.”
Liancheng moved away from him again, “I’m not going.”
Liang Chaosu narrowed his eyes slightly. His usually calm demeanor tore open, revealing his awe-inspiring and dangerous dominance.
“You don’t have to forgive me. But you *will* go.”
……………………
Lin Xianzi received a call from the Nan Province police.
They were inquiring if she was involved with the suspect in the Nan Province hospital who maliciously swapped blood samples.
She fully cooperated with the police, providing a recording, and then handed the matter over to her lawyer.
Lin Lanfeng saw the lawyer out and closed the door.
“What does Liang Chaosu involving the police mean? He’s bringing trouble upon himself and wants to warn us?”
Lin Xianzi, facing a mountain of documents, flipped through two pages anxiously, then snapped them shut, “Is it true that he told the doctor at the hospital he was going to marry Liancheng?”
Lin Lanfeng handed her his phone. “He told the Liang family bodyguards at the hospital, calling Liancheng ‘Madam’ himself. Someone filmed it, and it’s already exploded on mainland social media.”
Lin Xianzi scrolled back and forth through the video. The man’s voice was deep and angry. His “my Madam” was spoken with clear, slow enunciation, as if deliberately emphasizing each syllable, yet a tender affection crept in unconsciously.
Lin Xianzi gritted her teeth in disgust.
Lin Lanfeng continued, “The public opinion heat is still rising. If it continues to snowball and spread like this, he’ll either have to break off the engagement and claim the recording was synthesized, or netizens will dig deeper, contact Qingxi Valley, and the mainland government, to maintain credibility, will at least have the police administratively detain him.”
Lin Xianzi rubbed her temples vigorously, pulling her thoughts away from the messy international drug case.
“He’s not shallow. The fact that public opinion has reached this point in such a short time means someone is definitely behind it.”
Lin Lanfeng pondered, “Mo Shicheng? Mo Shifu?”
Lin Xianzi continued browsing the news. After a while, she saw a clue. “It’s not them; it’s someone from the Liang family.”
She flipped her phone over and pushed it back to Lin Lanfeng. “This one, if it wasn’t someone from the Liang family, they wouldn’t have such detailed information.”
Lin Lanfeng looked at the screen. The headline was explosive: “Human nature twisted, morality degenerated Liang Chaosu, forcibly detaining his biological sister and disguising her as a fake sister, exiling his parents.”
He gasped, suddenly understanding, “Is it his father, Liang Zhengping?”
