Chapter 107: Father Liang
On New Year’s Day, it rained in Nan Province.
In the evening, the sky was hazy and damp. Secretary Zhou quickly got out of the car, his leather shoes stepping on fallen leaves in the courtyard. Rainwater splashed from the leaves, wetting the cuffs of his trousers.
The dampness clung to his ankles, making a flapping sound as he walked. He reached out to pull them up, but then paid it no mind. He crossed the Liang family’s living room in three quick steps and went straight to the second floor.
There were guests in Father Liang’s study, several directors of the Liang family in their sixties.
The atmosphere was lively, and the directors chatted animatedly about how they had commanded armies in their youth, their faces flushed with the pride of guiding the nation, as if they could still take up arms and fight their way through the ups and downs of the business world seven times over.
Father Liang was the least affected by the memories among them. His eyes were clear, and the smile lines at the corners of his mouth were sparse.
Amidst the lively buzz, he was both a listener, a conversation starter, and a controller.
When the conversation reached its peak and the directors were fired up, he finally smiled warmly and asked, “Is the old general still capable of fighting?”
His voice was clear and resonant, not loud, but it carried immense weight.
The scene seemed to come to an abrupt halt, as if the directors’ throats had been choked. They stared in disbelief, their breathing stiff. After a few seconds, the passion on their faces scattered like a magnificent but fleeting wisp of smoke in the wind.
They were left staring at each other, their faces a mixture of pallor and embarrassment.
Father Liang’s expression remained unchanged during the tense tug-of-war of seconds. The warmth in his eyes gradually faded, eventually settling on his face like a mask.
Secretary Zhou’s scalp tingled at the doorway. He hesitated for a full two minutes before stepping forward to break the deadlock.
“Director Liang, I have an urgent matter to report to you.”
The old directors, as if hearing a divine pronouncement, rose and took their leave without delay.
Secretary Zhou turned and closed the door. Father Liang was still sitting on the sofa, his teacup held mid-air. With his eyelids lowered, he seemed lost in thought.
Secretary Zhou held his breath and stayed by his side for a moment. After Father Liang slowly blew away the tea dregs and took a sip, he quietly reported, “The Eldest Young Master is not in Nan Province.”
Father Liang appeared not to hear and continued to sip his tea.
Secretary Zhou’s limbs felt stiff and tense. He bent down and bowed, “It was my dereliction of duty. Miss Lian Cheng sold her hairpin, lost her location, and the group she hired was not as professional as the Eldest Young Master’s. They have now been shaken off.”
Father Liang looked up, pinched his cup, and gestured to the sofa, “Sit.”
Secretary Zhou’s first instinct was not to sit, but he dared not disobey.
He sat down beside Father Liang, his backside half on the edge of the sofa, and continued his report.
“Gu Xingyuan has been acting recklessly lately. His child is gone, and his wife is missing and presumed dead. He harbors this hatred and is willing to be the Eldest Young Master’s dog. He will do anything as long as the Eldest Young Master helps him get revenge. Especially—”
He cautiously observed Father Liang’s expression, “For things the Eldest Young Master finds inconvenient to do, he—”
“He has turned his attention to me,” Father Liang put down his teacup. “The old men are frightened by the mad dog and are thinking of betraying me.”
The latter half of his statement was too heavy.
Secretary Zhou cautiously tried to smooth things over, “The directors who support you are all advanced in age. After half a lifetime of wind and rain, they want to leave their family business to their children and grandchildren. It’s understandable that they wouldn’t dare to take risks.”
“Leave their family business?” Father Liang mulled over the words. “Zhou Dazhi, do you think I am no match for Chaosu? That I will surely lose?”
“Of course not,” Secretary Zhou broke out in a cold sweat. “Your prestigious reputation in the business world is known to all. The directors are not afraid of that amateur Gu Xingyuan. Ultimately, they are wary of the Eldest Young Master behind him, and even more so of you.”
“You only have one son, the Eldest Young Master. Currently, you are controlling the Eldest Young Master. Even if you win, you will eventually have to hand over the Liang Corporation to the Eldest Young Master. The Eldest Young Master has a cold disposition, so the old directors are not afraid, but the younger directors are.”
Father Liang leaned back on the sofa, his gaze lost in thought. “Do you think he foresaw this outcome?”
Secretary Zhou knew clearly that “he” referred to Liang Chaosu. However, with father and son facing each other, there were some topics that, even if Father Liang asked, he should not answer.
The room was silent, and the air was still.
Father Liang narrowed his eyes, pondering his thoughts.
Chaosu was not in Nan Province, nor was he even in the country. His disappearance at this point, where he had gone was self-evident.
But at this crucial juncture of confrontation, with the Liang family in turmoil, the Liang Corporation unstable internally, and the Gu family in a storm, for him to let go so easily, to remain so calm, showed extraordinary courage and temperament. He was inherently strong under pressure, unfazed even if Mount Tai collapsed before him.
Or was it—
Lian Cheng was truly pregnant, and he had to go comfort her?
As Father Liang considered this, he came back to himself with a smile, but his eyes held an endless chill. “Chaosu is far-sighted. As his father, I naturally cannot be outdone. This game has a long way to go.”
Secretary Zhou had expected this.
The men of the Liang family were wolves, ferocious and decisive in their actions from any angle, persistent and never yielding.
Arrogant and stubborn.
Secretary Zhou, “Then should we start by suppressing Gu Xingyuan?”
Father Liang showed a subtle hint of disdain. “Zhou Dazhi, how long have you been with me? You still see problems so superficially. Gu Xingyuan is at most a target. What use is it to you to painstakingly defeat a target? Chaosu has many such targets under him, Xiao Da, Su Chenghuai… I can’t even count them all, and they can be deployed at any time.”
Secretary Zhou accepted the lesson with a sheepish expression.
“That’s enough,” Father Liang waved his hand, signaling him to withdraw. “You are not needed for this matter. Go and call my wife and Feifei back.”
……………………
Lian Cheng opened her eyes.
It was pitch black.
Her nose tip was directly at the center of the man’s pectoral muscles, his warm, firm chest rising and falling with each breath, almost burying her.
She moved a little, and the man’s arm tightened around her, not heavily. Lian Cheng stopped struggling.
Her voice was muffled, “Liang Chaosu?”
The man remained motionless. Lian Cheng felt suffocated by his bulging muscles.
Turning her head, her ear pressed against his left side. Her heartbeat was audible through the skin and bone, steady and strong.
In the darkness, only this sound remained, and only this sound.
Lian Cheng listened for a long while, feeling as if she were still half-asleep. The hug just now was merely a muscular reaction.
Lian Cheng didn’t believe it, but she didn’t expose him either.
She needed some time to formulate a plan.
After that kiss where he had seemed desperate to devour her whole, she had thought Liang Chaosu would ask about the pregnancy, or at least probe indirectly.
To her surprise, he hadn’t.
Not only that, but the fiery desire he had exuded had also subsided.
Under what circumstances would a man of intense desires and sharp nature restrain his temper and suppress his lust?
Lian Cheng’s worst suspicion was about to surface.
But she had observed him carefully. His gaze never unintentionally fell on her lower abdomen. He held her while sleeping, patted her behind without touching her belly. His behavior was the same as before.
A person’s thoughts cannot be completely hidden in small details; they always reveal themselves unintentionally.
Liang Chaosu was cold-hearted and deeply cunning, yet he valued his family. If she had conceived his bloodline, he would have shown at least a trace of it, no matter how composed he usually was.
Lian Cheng mulled it over and over in her mind, feeling deeply uncertain.
In the end, she could only make up her mind: regardless of whether he knew or suspected, as long as he didn’t expose her, Lian Cheng would find a way to play along with him, avoid a complete confrontation, and increase her chances of leaving.
