Chapter 32: The Escape Plan Is Doubted
Liancheng had always felt that if Liang Chaosu were not her brother for eighteen years, based on his actions, Liancheng would have liked to tear him apart.
Her child would absolutely not be kept.
But that child had been in her body for six weeks, surprisingly well-behaved; she jumped and got excited without being affected, without causing her morning sickness or drowsiness, as if it knew her situation was dangerous and quietly accompanied her through six weeks of storms.
And now, it had an early heartbeat, and under the amplified sound of the ultrasound, it formally declared to her, “Mom, I’m here.”
Liancheng was reluctant.
For these four years, in her dreams at midnight, she had struggled and sunk in overwhelming sadness, longing for someone to continue loving her, to give her a home.
If, after realizing that the Liang family was not a home, heaven took pity on her plight and sent her a home?
Otherwise, why would so many families wish and wait, and why would the Goddess of Bestowing Children show mercy to her, who had been sentenced to infertility?
“Liancheng?”
Street traffic flowed endlessly. A Bentley with a special license plate pulled out of the main flow and stopped in front of the bus stop where she was waiting. The rear window rolled down, revealing Liang Chaosu’s indifferent face.
“What are you doing here?”
Liancheng’s heartbeats accelerated uncontrollably, her fingers clenching her bag.
“Buying something.”
“Buying what?”
Liancheng felt both fear and annoyance. Fear of being discovered, and annoyance at his endless vigilance and interrogation, like he was catching a spy.
“Company secrets.”
Liang Chaosu raised an eyebrow. “Secrets from me too?”
Liancheng was choked up. Shenheng was counting on winning the large expansion bid for Liang’s Botanical Garden. This was crucial for Bai Xiwen’s year-end performance and reputation at the Bai Family’s annual conference, and more deeply, it concerned her competitive standing within the Bai family.
With the full resources of Shenheng poured into it, this project was like breaking the cauldrons and sinking the boats, a desperate struggle.
If Liang Chaosu suddenly decided to inquire about the company’s situation now, let alone secrets, even the basic accounts of the entire company could be presented for his review.
“Who is this?”
Liancheng’s gaze probed into the car. There was another man in the back seat. Her view was limited, and she could only see him sitting in a dazzling white suit, looking unrestrained.
No matter who it was, he was perfect for her to change the subject right now.
“The Gu family, Gu Xingyuan,” Liang Chaosu introduced verbally, but did not move aside, showing no intention of introducing them.
Liancheng clearly paused but wisely didn’t press further. By chance, she glimpsed a bus approaching as the traffic light changed. She smiled politely and nodded. “I know you’re busy, I won’t delay you.”
As the bus was about to enter the station, it was inconvenient for the vehicle to block the platform. When Liang Chaosu raised his hand, Zhang An immediately started the car to leave.
In the rearview mirror, Liancheng, in a long black overcoat, boarded the bus and disappeared from the platform.
Gu Xingyuan straightened up from his languid posture. “Your sister… is very afraid of you?”
Liang Chaosu’s eyelids flickered. “What makes you say that?”
Gu Xingyuan looked at the rearview mirror. As the bus pulled up, he saw the girl in dull clothing, lacking the vibrancy of someone in her early twenties. The moment she saw Liang Chaosu, she instinctively tensed up and became vigilant.
“If she’s not afraid of you, then she doesn’t like you.”
“She likes me.”
He was so certain, almost without thinking, firm to the point of being resolute.
Gu Xingyuan raised an eyebrow and turned to him. “Do you truly believe she likes you, or do you wish she liked you?”
The question was a bit convoluted, but Zhang An instinctively glanced at Liang Chaosu in the rearview mirror.
As expected, he saw Liang Chaosu gently raise his hand.
The vehicle’s partition rose.
A smile played on Liang Chaosu’s lips, but his eyes held no mirth. “You’ve overstepped.”
“When I married Xiao Rou, I asked you.” Gu Xingyuan met his gaze, his words subtle, probing, and sharp. “Why, regardless of cost, did you support me, this scandalous and immoral person. You didn’t answer then. Today is a good day, why not give me an answer.”
Liang Chaosu leaned back against the seat, his demeanor casual yet exuding an overbearing aura. “The Gu family is valued at 7.6 billion.”
Gu Xingyuan, however, seemed to have received a reassurance and burst into laughter. “When you put it that way, I’m not afraid anymore.”
Liang Chaosu looked out the window. The bus overtook them, its body flowing past them.
The last row revealed a mass of dark black contour, thin, and small.
She deliberately turned her head away, not looking in this direction.
Not looking at him, not even wanting a direct glance.
Was she scared of him?
The bus completely passed, revealing newly planted Spring Cherry trees in the green belt.
The tree roots were wrapped with jute rope halfway up, the brown-yellow binding forming a city. The new wounds on his fingers suddenly twitched with pain without any omen.
A black truck drove parallel nearby outside the window. The glass of the truck instantly became a mirror, clearly reflecting his pupils, dark and chilling.
A kind of suppressed, dangerous, deep intensity.
………………
Liancheng began to feel that Liang Chaosu was her unlucky star; any little movement she made seemed to bring him into her path.
Fortunately, the small clinic she found was in a narrow residential street, a block away from the station. Even if he had three eyes, he might not be able to connect them.
As for Gu Xingyuan, she knew that name. He was the heir to the Gu family’s fortune who had married despite his family’s disownment, her forbidden senior.
Now that the Gu family was supporting another branch and aiming to reclaim the dominant position, Gu Xingyuan had been flying to Nan Province these past few days, likely to discuss countermeasures with Liang Chaosu.
Liancheng didn’t care about their affairs, but she cared about the influence this matter would have. Having personally experienced Gu Xingyuan’s ruined reputation, she wondered what Liang Chaosu would think of her own forbidden relationship.
Would it affect her escape plan?
Just thinking about it made her feel very urgent.
Back at the company, Liancheng took out a box of chestnut cakes from her bag.
Tai Duoduo loved these, but she was on a diet, so she ate the original flavor without added sugar. Liancheng paid extra for the boss to make a new batch.
As the thermal container was opened, it was still steaming, its fragrance filling the air.
Tai Duoduo’s polite refusal turned into, “I’ll try one piece.”
“What do you mean try one box?” Liancheng feigned difficulty. “Alright, it’s all yours.”
Tai Duoduo laughed, spitting out crumbs. “Stop tempting me. I’m serious about my diet.”
“Right, you even posted about it on WeChat Moments and Weibo.”
“I can’t stand you. You eat too.” Tai Duoduo couldn’t resist and took another piece. Looking at Liancheng’s slender figure, she was truly curious.
“You’re constantly eating, yet you’re still so thin. Do you have some secret to losing weight?”
Liancheng ate so much at work, but at home, facing Liang Chaosu and Liang Wenfei, it was like facing the King of Hell and his judges alternately, her life hanging by a thread every second, her stomach spasming to the point where even drinking water made her want to vomit.
Unlike how relaxed she was at the company, where her colleagues were friendly and interesting. “The secret is doing sit-ups consistently.”
One sit-up at night, one in the morning.
She didn’t say the latter half, as it would derail the conversation. “I also like hiking and traveling. By the way, is there anything fun to do in your Cui County? After this project ends, we’ll have seven days off. I want to rent a house for a short while and play there.”
Tai Duoduo frowned, her gaze suspicious.
She didn’t think Liancheng seemed like she was traveling.
It was like when she initially thought Liancheng was just trying to get close. But in the past few days, Liancheng had consecutively asked her many questions: which urban areas had good security, which areas had lax inspections, how were the prices…
Most of these were things that couldn’t be found online, only known by locals.
Taken together, it looked like she wanted to move to Cui County; her questions were extraordinarily detailed.
No, in this era of rule of law, one didn’t need to ask such detailed questions to move.
It was more like she was planning to go into hiding, or scouting for an escape.
She was just a young girl.
This was too abnormal.
