Chapter 44: Platinum Bag Is Discovered
As Liancheng stepped out of the elevator, she bumped right into Liu Lan.
As soon as Liu Lan saw her, she subconsciously stepped back, trying to hide.
Liancheng narrowed her eyes slightly, staring at her for two seconds, and asked with a smile, “Is there something you need to come up for?”
“Yes,” Liu Lan’s face was stiff, “just a small matter.”
Liancheng tilted her head, her gaze passing over Liu Lan and landing on the fire escape door, which was open behind her. “Whether big or small, it’s company business. Why are you sneaking through the stairs?”
She said earnestly, “You look like you’re hiding something. What’s up? We’re old colleagues, I can help you.”
“No need,” Liu Lan took a step back, her eyes darting away. “I, I—I suddenly remembered a small detail, I won’t trouble you.”
Liancheng did not stop her, quietly watching her disappear into the fire escape.
Liang Wenfei had caused a stir when she first arrived at the company, and Liu Lan’s sudden appearance and closeness made it seem unlikely she would be well-behaved and let things slide.
Liancheng’s temples throbbed. She had known her relationship with Liang Chaosu was precarious, but never had it been like now, a sinking ship with so many holes it was impossible to plug them all.
She entered the project team’s area, carrying an unending sense of irritation.
She heard Maitreya Buddha loudly scolding, “An employee’s computer data is company confidential. If you don’t listen to my warning, I’ll call security.”
Liancheng’s eyelids twitched, and she quickly walked over.
Hu Tiande stood at the entrance to the workstation, blocking Maitreya Buddha and the others. Liang Wenfei was sitting at her workstation, rummaging through things, making a mess of the desktop.
“Liang Wenfei, you graduated from a dog school.” Liancheng walked past Maitreya Buddha and grabbed Hu Tiande. “Take your pretty boy and get lost.”
Liang Wenfei ignored her and bent down to open the cabinet under the desk.
Liancheng’s hair stood on end. She shoved Hu Tiande aside and went to grab Liang Wenfei’s clothes. “Are your hands itching? Did your mother teach you no manners or politeness? You haven’t learned a single thing, have you?”
Liang Wenfei’s gaze was fixed on the deepest part of the bottom of the desk. Disregarding Liancheng’s tugging, she squatted down and pulled something out from the shadows.
It was heavy and bulky, a limited edition creamy white platinum bag that was twice her size and had been waited for a month, now distorted.
The expenses incurred by Mother Liang on Liancheng over the years wouldn’t even be enough to buy the clasp of this platinum bag. Furthermore, Liancheng had never missed giving a gift on Liang Father and Mother Liang’s birthdays each year, which, all things considered, far exceeded her own expenses.
Even if Liancheng still had her previous savings, she couldn’t get this bag.
Her identity as the fake young lady had been revealed to the public, and the sales assistants at those luxury goods stores had long since removed her from their VIP list.
It must have been a gift from someone else, someone whose financial standing and status could rival the Liang family’s.
Liang Wenfei looked up and asked sternly, “Who gave it to you?”
Liancheng snatched it over and quickly threw it onto Tai Duoduo’s workstation next door. “It’s a fake from a colleague, it’s not mine.”
“Do you think I’m blind?” Liang Wenfei stood up. “What kind of fake can have the craftsmanship and feel of a real bag?”
Liancheng ignored her and pulled her out of the workstation. “Let’s talk outside.”
“Are you guilty?” Liang Wenfei pushed her hand away and went straight to Tai Duoduo’s workstation. “You won’t leave until you explain this bag clearly today.”
Tai Duoduo was now certain that Liancheng’s older sister was no pleasant guest.
She quickly blocked the entrance to her workstation and took out her phone. “I advise you to stop right there. If you take one more step, I’ll call the police immediately.”
Since returning to the Liang family, Liang Wenfei had been doted on by her parents and indulged by her elder brother, and had become accustomed to being arrogant.
Let alone calling the police, even if the mayor came, she wouldn’t be afraid, and her steps didn’t stop at all.
But unexpectedly, Hu Tiande stopped her, glancing at Liancheng, who stood a few steps away with Tai Duoduo. “We can’t make a scene. My parents just went to your house—”
He deliberately lowered his voice, so Liancheng couldn’t hear even by straining her ears.
She only saw Liang Wenfei burning with rage, but after a few moments, she suddenly calmed down and imperiously ordered Liancheng, “This is a matter for the Hu family. Go home now and state your position.”
Liancheng was bewildered. The Hu family was a huge enterprise; why would she need to state her position? Besides, when had the Liang family ever cared about her stance?
However, she didn’t ask any more questions; the most important thing now was to get Liang Wenfei out of the company.
After the three of them left, the tense atmosphere in the office relaxed.
Maitreya Buddha clapped his hands and ordered everyone back to their workstations. In a corner, a female colleague suddenly held up her phone and exclaimed, “Liang Wenfei! That woman just now, she’s the Liang Group’s true daughter who returned four years ago, Liang Wenfei!”
The office fell silent for a moment, then erupted.
Tai Duoduo rushed to the female colleague’s side, holding her shoulder to look at the phone. Those who had already sat down now crowded around.
“Then Liancheng—”
“The fake young lady?”
Maitreya Buddha squeezed his way in and realized, “No wonder Liancheng knew the data for Liang’s Botanical Garden.”
The group looked at each other in disbelief. “With Liancheng here, then our project is surely—”
Before the words were out, Tai Duoduo suddenly rushed back to her workstation and picked up the bag Liancheng had thrown on the ground. Her movements were too abrupt, and the bag’s opening spread apart, causing a men’s overcoat to slide out.
Tai Duoduo fumbled to pick it up, and Maitreya Buddha came to help her organize it, his hand pausing.
The fabric of the overcoat felt light and smooth, its color rich and bright. The material was definitely not ordinary cashmere.
The female colleague who had just discovered Liang Wenfei’s identity leaned over and curiously touched it. “Holy crap, this is vicuña wool. I worked part-time at a fabric studio in college and saw it. Importing this material requires a permit under the CITES—Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora—and a coat made from it costs at least 200,000 yuan.”
The colleagues felt like a new world had opened up and crowded around again. “Liancheng is undoubtedly a member of the Liang family, but why is this overcoat for a man?”
Tai Duoduo’s hand paused, and someone else muttered, “Speaking of which, this morning near the alley entrance by the company, I saw a Rolls-Royce with the license plate Nan A05050. Could that be the Liang family’s too?”
Maitreya Buddha choked. “Are you sure the license plate was Nan A05050? That’s Liang’s Eldest Young Master Liang Chaosu’s car.”
When he took over the project, Young Madam Bai had casually mentioned Liang Chaosu, saying he was a man who was good at hiding his emotions. The old fox of the business world could read people like a ghost, yet no one could guess his thoughts.
The license plate number, with its obvious special meaning, had been displayed for three or four years, and not a single person had been able to figure it out or try to curry favor with him.
“Then… this overcoat… it couldn’t be his, could it?”
The intermittent words were particularly clear in the silent office. Liu Lan, shrinking at the entrance to the fire escape, held her breath and listened to the entire conversation.
Liancheng was the Liang family’s fake young lady, she came to work in Liang Chaosu’s car, and she had Liang Chaosu’s overcoat…
She had such a good relationship with Liang Chaosu, yet she had falsely accused her of being pregnant and having a miscarriage.
Liu Lan was so terrified she couldn’t stand steady. Liancheng’s attitude towards her just now had been so hostile, it was clear she wasn’t going to let her off the hook.
She couldn’t just wait to be dealt with.
Liu Lan’s limbs went limp, but then she suddenly thought that Liancheng and the Liang family’s true young lady had clashed several times just now, not like sisters, but more like enemies.
The enemy of an enemy is a friend, and perhaps the true young lady could help her?
………
When Liancheng returned to the Liang family, the moment she entered the living room, the atmosphere was tense, and the air was solidified.
On the sofa, Mother Liang, unable to maintain her noblewoman’s composure, glared angrily. Next to her, Hu Tiande’s parents looked either solemn or indignant.
The three of them, with their six eyes, all stared at Liang Chaosu, who sat alone on the opposite sofa. The man exuded his usual sharp aura, his posture upright, but his expression was calm and composed, even showing a hint of distraction.
Liancheng hesitated before stepping forward and heard Mother Liang speak, “It was just a small matter that Tiande mentioned. Isn’t Mother stepping in enough for you to stop targeting the Hu family?”
Liancheng’s raised foot completely stopped in its tracks.
Liang Chaosu’s voice was level, “I will not stop.”
