Chapter 103: Liang Chaosu Feels Shen Lichuan Is A Coward
“That group that just appeared, they have strong physiques, their core is tightened when they move, and their hands are unconsciously placed on their lower backs. If I’m not mistaken, they should be armed.”
Old Ghost’s playful demeanor vanished, his gaze fixed straight ahead, daring not to look at her in the rearview mirror.
“You know I have a wife, a daughter. I do this damn business, living in constant fear, just to give them a good life, to live in a large villa, drive luxury cars, buy whatever bags she wants, buy all the genuine Disney dolls she wants. I… I’m just a snakehead.”
“How old is your daughter?” Liancheng took out a palm-sized hanging doll from her luggage. “This is my—this is a souvenir I particularly liked when I was traveling in Cui County before. Take it back home and give it to your daughter.”
Old Ghost didn’t take it. Liancheng threw it from the back seat into his arms. “As a keepsake.”
If she were caught and her pregnancy exposed, and if she were kept in the Jade Mansion by Liang Chaosu, then this doll, bought on the road to freedom, would at least remain free.
“That card—”
“That card, thank you.” Liancheng smiled with difficulty. “I understand your kindness in lightening my burden for the journey, and that you’re worried about carrying cash being unsafe. I can’t refuse your kindness now. Once I have an opportunity, once I’m a bit more stable, I’ll throw your card into the sea… so I don’t have to pay for postage to mail it back home.”
How could Old Ghost not understand her meaning? He wouldn’t use it much, to avoid increasing the risk of her being a burden to him, and he wouldn’t mail it back, to avoid exposing his location domestically.
“Stop at the intersection ahead.” Liancheng directed. “The identity you got for me includes an international driver’s license, and my driving skills are decent. A bit of speeding or drifting is no problem.”
It was late at night. Iceland was like a blind box wrapped in snow, utterly dark, vast, boundless, and silent and desolate.
The car lights could only illuminate a small patch ahead. The ice on the road made faint crunching sounds, and Liancheng drove, captivated.
Even if this road led to the ends of the earth, before she truly saw the end, she would never surrender. Even if she crawled, even if she rolled, even if she became a dog crawling on its belly, chasing on the path of freedom, her tail would be wagging passionately.
……………………
The atmosphere in the Liang family was strange.
During dinner, Shen Lichuan suddenly arrived to see Liang Chaosu.
The two met, exchanged not a single word, but shared a deep tacit understanding. They went upstairs one after the other, to Liang Chaosu’s study on the third floor.
Liang Wenfei was even more astonished. “Brother normally detests people entering his private study.”
Unlike Father Liang, who occasionally met guests in his study, Liang Chaosu’s room was a forbidden zone. No one was allowed in, no one was allowed to look, and he cleaned it himself.
That’s why when Liancheng knocked on his door early that morning, Liang Wenfei found it ridiculously amusing.
Father Liang looked at her. Her appearance and personality resembled the Liang family members, but her intelligence didn’t. If Liancheng’s intelligence and quick wit had been passed down to her, the Liang family would be flourishing now.
Upstairs, as soon as Shen Lichuan entered the room, he froze.
The overall decoration of the Liang family was in beige and brown tones. Father Liang’s study was no exception, perhaps with a bit of coffee color added, and the furniture replaced with walnut as the main color.
It was said that Mother Liang pursued a warm family atmosphere and specially invited Master Yun Ping from the domestic scene to incorporate original wood elements into the New Chinese style design, with details showcasing the hostess’s meticulous thoughts.
Only this room had a dark black and gray background.
There were only curtains, a desk, bookshelves, a carpet, and two identical chairs, cold and empty, so spotlessly clean that it felt desolate and barren.
Liang Chaosu sat down but showed no intention of offering Shen Lichuan a seat.
Shen Lichuan didn’t bother with such etiquette. In fact, from long ago, Liang Chaosu’s attitude towards him had never been good.
He strode to the desk. “Why won’t you let Liancheng go?”
Liang Chaosu rested his elbows on the desk, clapping his hands. “Good question. And how did you find out I haven’t let her go?”
Shen Lichuan didn’t fall into his trap. “She hasn’t appeared these past few days, meaning she’s left, right? And your actions targeting Uncle Liang at Liang’s were because Uncle Liang discovered it and stopped you, wasn’t it?”
Liang Chaosu’s eyes were like a net, woven with his scheming, experience, and shrewdness into a solid, unfathomable web, casting over him directly, a net few could escape.
Shen Lichuan felt a chill, forcing himself to remain steady. Suddenly, he thought of Liancheng.
He thought about whether she had endured such soul-piercing, bone-stripping scrutiny for these four years.
If so, how had she managed to persist and resist for four years?
Without being shattered, without being corrupted, never falling.
Her thoughts and ideas remained full of wit and wonder. The world appeared bizarre and varied to her, and everyone entering her inner world was like Alice in Wonderland.
Suddenly, Liancheng appeared in his vision. In the photo frame, inverted on the ebony desk, Liancheng stood in water that came up to her ankles. Lush green grass grew on the bank, and long branches gently stroked her toes in the water. Sunlight cast shimmering waves, and she was even more crystalline than the waves.
She was smiling, bright and lively. Her dense, white skin was also fluid, like a spring lake clearer than the stream water.
Anyone who saw her would never forget her.
Liang Chaosu abruptly retrieved the photo frame, turning the photo face towards himself, its rough back facing him.
Shen Lichuan: “What do you mean?”
“My woman. You’re staring at her. I haven’t even asked you what you mean.”
Shen Lichuan’s expression solidified like stone, absurd, illusory, baseless, terrifying. Finally, he realized it was laughable. “Your woman? Do you like her? Or is it possessiveness?”
“What do you think?”
Shen Lichuan had no desire to delve into the mind of a shameless person. He just seized the opportunity. “If you like her, you should let her go even more.”
A hint of mockery appeared on Liang Chaosu’s face, as if he were dealing with a pedantic scholar, a foolish monk chanting scriptures, or a sycophantic official who endangered the country by empty talk.
With Shen Lichuan, he always enjoyed this—Shen Lichuan trying to argue, to reason, only to be refuted by him.
“If you like her, you should respect her wishes. That means letting go, and wishing her a smooth and happy life—”
This time, Liang Chaosu didn’t even want to hear a complete sentence. He waved his hand to interrupt. “You think your liking is very rational, very restrained, and you even think giving her up is very noble?”
“I never thought I was noble. It’s my genuine caution and reluctance to disturb her from the bottom of my heart. My feelings for her have never lessened, but I will restrain myself. If you like someone, you should think of her.”
“This is cowardice,” Liang Chaosu’s face remained impassive, his eyes serious, firm, and unwavering, unprecedentedly self-assured. The light that erupted was like a world-ending fire, fierce, domineering, and violent, burning everything to ashes.
“You love her, yet you dared not utter the word ‘love’ just now. You want to be her prince charming and save her, but you hesitate, like a blindfolded donkey, afraid to resist for four years.”
“You say let go?” Liang Chaosu’s eyebrows curved into a smile, amused and disdainful. In the dimness of the room, it was like a sharp sword being unsheathed, unstoppable.
“Of course, you have to let go. You can’t break free from family ties and morality, you’re incompetent. You can’t let go of familial bonds and morals, you’re a fool. Don’t even talk about respecting her. You’re just afraid of facing her angry gaze after going against her wishes. You can’t bear her disgust and resentment towards you, yet you’re willing to hand over the rest of her life to someone you’ve never met, someone unknown, and inferior to you.”
