Chapter 25: She Is Asking For Death
The next day, Thursday, Liancheng was able to go to work.
When they arrived at the garage, the new driver was also on duty.
“My surname is Han, Miss Liancheng can call me Old Han.”
Liancheng shook Old Han’s hand. He was a man around forty with a buzz cut, not tall, with a lean build, bright eyes, and calloused hands.
She glanced at the butler, “Did Old Han serve in the military before?”
The butler responded, but Old Han remained silent.
Most people would at least introduce themselves, or at worst, ask in surprise, “How did you know.”
Old Han’s silence suggested either Liang Chaosu had instructed him to monitor her, or it was his nature.
Liancheng’s heart sank.
Her previous driver, Xiao Liu, had been instructed by Liang Chaosu to monitor her. However, Xiao Liu liked to smoke, and after she detected smoke in the car several times, she didn’t report him, and Xiao Liu’s attitude gradually relaxed.
If it hadn’t been for being stuck in traffic and encountering Shen Lichuan, Liang Chaosu wouldn’t have realized he was turning a blind eye.
Old Han, with his soldier’s stoic temperament, was different. He was steady, adhered to principles, and his obedience was ingrained from his military training.
Upon arriving at the company, Liancheng was even more certain. Along the way, her topics had shifted from children to midlife crises, even discussing women in their forties with a few sentences that hit the mark for men around that age.
Old Han, besides nodding and shaking his head, seemed incapable of speech.
The timing of changing drivers to someone like him, just as she was preparing to leave, was akin to adding insult to injury.
Liancheng felt dejected internally, but maintained a smile externally. She squeezed her way from the elevator to her workstation. As soon as she turned on her computer, the secretary from the general manager’s office suddenly appeared, “Liang Liancheng, come to the general manager’s office.”
Liancheng was nearing the end of her internship. Aside from her dislike for overtime, all other aspects of her professional ability and conduct were perfect. The project team unanimously agreed to keep her among the interns.
The team leader couldn’t help but ask, “Secretary Huang, what’s the matter? Did Liancheng displease someone and catch their eye?”
Every workplace has internal strife. The project department, in particular, engaged in fierce competition for projects, often to the point of bloody battles. When a team recruited a promising new talent, other teams would become defensive and act against them; it was an old story.
Secretary Huang’s smile was flawless, “It’s good news, Young Madam Bai wants to see her.”
Liancheng was utterly confused.
She had specifically investigated the company when she joined. The Bai family’s business originated in the North, and they had only established this Shenheng Construction branch company in the South a year ago. Its scope of business overlapped with Liang’s, but they were not related.
They were not on the same level; it was as if Liang’s was hosting a feast, and they were picking at the leftovers.
The Young Madam Bai sent to expand the market was the third daughter of a concubine. She was two years older than Liancheng, and her abilities were neither outstanding nor poor, hence the lukewarm performance over the past year.
Now, being summoned so suddenly, had her identity been discovered? Or had Liang Chaosu put in a word?
Liancheng immediately denied the latter, knowing Liang Chaosu would not concern himself with her career.
Following Secretary Huang upstairs, Liancheng found that Young Madam Bai seemed to have been waiting for her for a long time. As soon as Liancheng entered, she pointed to a chair, “Sit.”
Liancheng recalled Young Madam Bai’s full name, Bai Xiwen, a name with a distinctly Hong Kong flavor.
Upon meeting her, she lived up to her name: slender and capable, with shoulder-length short hair, and bright, ambitious eyes. She exuded an aura of strong conviction and elite professionalism.
Among the second generation, she was career-oriented.
Liancheng sat down, awaiting her opening remarks.
“The company is competing for a major contract with the Liang family. The project department has therefore restructured into a special project team. We are in the final sprint phase, and we are short-handed. Manager Li recommended you.”
Bai Xiwen got straight to the point, “I’ve reviewed the two projects you handled during your internship. Your foundational skills are very solid, and your ideas are excellent. If you agree to join the special project team, you will be officially hired immediately, and your salary will be at the team leader level.”
Liancheng was now certain that her connection to the Liang family had been discovered.
Bai Xiwen seemed to see through her thoughts but didn’t reveal it, “You can consider it carefully. Besides the project sprint, the last half of the month will require overtime, which will be tiring, but the profit sharing is generous, and there will be promotions upon project completion.”
Liancheng’s heart stirred; overtime…
If there was unavoidable overtime, it could serve as an excuse, greatly increasing her time spent outside.
Firstly, she would have time to ponder ways to leave, and secondly, she could avoid Liang Chaosu. She had been pretending to be on her menstrual period for a week, and using that excuse with Liang Chaosu again was clearly no longer feasible.
“Of course, I am willing to join the special project team. However, I fear my abilities may be limited and insufficient to meet Young Madam Bai’s expectations.”
Wealthy families, regardless of their background, when raising their daughters, might not excel in other areas, but they were definitely skilled in verbal sparring.
This ability referred not to her professional skills, but to her influence within the Liang family; the project team sought her Liang family identity.
However, Liancheng felt uncertain. If it was that project from the Liang family, and it didn’t require Liang Chaosu’s personal review, most of the executives knew her and would likely give her some face.
If Liang Chaosu personally reviewed it, her presence would be more of a hindrance than a help.
Bai Xiwen waved her hand magnanimously, “Expectations are expectations; I understand project risks.”
This was a gamble.
Liancheng was personally escorted by Secretary Huang to the Human Resources department to sign a new official employment contract.
Her workstation was moved from downstairs to upstairs. The leader of the special project team was named Liu, a smiling Maitreya Buddha.
It wasn’t that Liancheng immediately nicknamed him; the team leader’s real name was Mi Lefu, and “Maitreya Buddha” was the nickname the team members used.
Besides him, there were also Yellow Horned Immortal, Taiyin Xingjun, Black Wuchang, and White Wuchang. It was the first time Liancheng had encountered a workplace where employees used nicknames based on mythological immortals.
However, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Her first official act was to search online for the Investiture of the Gods, to establish herself as an immortal.
………………
When Bai Ying came to find her, Liancheng was still grappling with this matter.
“I’m relieved to see you can come to work today,” Bai Ying sighed. “That big fool Shen Lichuan actually went to see the director at my hospital right under Liang Chaosu’s nose. Fortunately, I had warned him in advance, otherwise, he would have dragged me down this time.”
Liancheng already knew. Liang Chaosu’s unusually gloomy expression during his medical examination was likely due to this.
And during Liang Wenfei’s attempt to catch her in the act, when he went upstairs to interrogate her, he had asked if she had seen Bai Ying or Shen Lichuan.
At the time, she thought he was referring to her sneaking out to go to the hospital. Yesterday, she overheard him asking Shen Lichuan about the teahouse, and it suddenly dawned on her that he had known about her meeting Bai Ying, even when he had intentionally dismissed the driver.
Liancheng suddenly realized that aside from her pregnancy, there was nothing she could conceal from Liang Chaosu.
His scheming and methods were truly chilling.
“Mr. Bo was in a car accident. You had great luck yesterday.”
Liancheng sat by the flowerbed, swinging her legs. “Seeking life from death, how long can it last?”
“That’s true,” Bai Ying sighed. “So what are your plans from now on?”
“Run,” Liancheng said listlessly. “Shen Lichuan knows I’m pregnant now, and the way he looks at me makes me feel like he’s saving up for something big. And Liang Chaosu, I’m genuinely afraid of him. He has three eyes and eight hundred schemes; I can’t outplay him, I can only run.”
Bai Ying found it hard to accept, “Run where? If you’ve decided to leave the Liang family, why not move to a smaller city? Why are you fleeing like in the feudal era?”
Wasn’t she fleeing for her life?
Liancheng looked at her weakly. “Have you forgotten that Liang Chaosu wants to arrange a marriage alliance for me? He’s playing a game with me for a hundred million, and now I want to leave the Liang family. Isn’t that suicidal?”
