Chapter 114: Liang Chaosu Isn’t Worth Her Lifetime
After waking up in the morning, Liancheng got out of bed, washed up, ate breakfast, and then went upstairs back to her room.
Her attitude was neither warm nor cold; for every five sentences Liang Chaosu spoke, she would respond with only two. In the past, Liang Chaosu would have already had a stern expression, forcing her to apologize and correct her attitude, but he didn’t. He was gentle and amiable.
Aside from watching her to eat more and get enough nutrition, he behaved normally, as if he had never doubted her pregnancy.
Having reached this point, Liancheng wished a thousand times she could just break everything and let it all fall apart, unleashing the hatred that had accumulated over four years. Regardless of his immense power, regardless of cages and shackles, even if she were to be locked up for the rest of her life, she would constantly strike at him so he could not have a moment’s peace.
But what would her persistent efforts over these four years amount to under such a life?
A person must maintain her dignity.
Liang Chaosu, a lunatic and a devil, was hardly worth her sacrificing the rest of her life.
Liancheng was expressionless. For the first time, a malicious thought arose: if only Liang Chaosu smoked, drank, and didn’t work out, given the stress he’d accumulated over four years, he’d get a stroke, lung cancer, or die suddenly. Illness would eventually conquer him.
“What are you thinking about?”
Without warning, a chest pressed against Liancheng’s back, hard and solid as iron, warm and powerful.
Liang Chaosu’s physique was the most intimidatingly masculine, the most agile, with the most balanced musculature among men, his lines flowing and shapely, his limbs long and strong. He possessed a wild sexual tension, fierce and potent.
In a short time, illness would not conquer him.
Liancheng smiled, “I was thinking about how you never wear a shirt. It’s so cold, why aren’t you sick?”
“I have a good physique.” Liang Chaosu rested his chin in her shoulder socket and tilted his head to look at her, “Are you cursing me in your heart?”
“What could I possibly curse you with?”
Liang Chaosu’s chest rumbled with laughter, “I can’t guess. Your thoughts are always so original.”
Liancheng frowned, “Are you cursing me in your heart?”
Liang Chaosu looked surprised, “What makes you say that?”
Liancheng pushed his head away and turned around, “You called me strange, not a normal person, so you couldn’t guess my thoughts.”
Liang Chaosu paused, frowning as he gazed at her, “I didn’t mean that at all. Original means your thoughts are wonderful.”
“Ah, wonderful.” Liancheng said sarcastically, “Wonderful like a rare and strange meow? You’re not only calling me strange, you’re calling me a beast.”
Liang Chaosu’s expression stiffened, and he looked utterly baffled, “You’re overinterpreting.”
Liancheng spread her hands, “Are you sure? But you over-interpreted me first.”
Before her words were out, she turned and left.
Liang Chaosu stood stunned for a second. Taking advantage of his long legs and arms, he pulled her back with one arm, scooped her up, and held her up. He tilted his head to glare at her, but a smile played on his lips, “You’re holding a grudge against me again, how childish.”
Liancheng, taking advantage of the timing and location, didn’t hug his head and vigorously pulled at his hair to vent her anger, “I’m childish, you’re mature. You’re always scheming, capable of three harvests a year.”
Liang Chaosu was amused, but he let her pull at his hair as he circled the room, “Then what is your childishness?”
Liancheng, dizzy from his circling, said, “Cute, cute. Let me down.”
Liang Chaosu stopped, looked up, his eyes full of smiles pouring onto her, “Cute, or let you down?”
Liancheng perceived a subtle, disgusting atmosphere in his eyes. She let go of his hair, “Liang Chaosu, you have something in your eye, it’s so disgusting.”
She meant that word, disgusting, with complete sincerity.
The man below her indeed stiffened. The smiles in his eyes faded, replaced by a mixture of awkwardness and cracking. He turned his head away from her gaze, and his arms loosened their grip.
Liancheng slid down herself and darted out the door.
Liang Chaosu raised his hand to wipe his eyes, the corners of his eyes, his fingers clean, nothing there.
He stared for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter, unable to decide whether to cry or laugh.
………………
Liancheng went downstairs and looked around for someone.
She had observed them these past two days. Among the seven mercenaries, the middle-aged captain spoke little, was disciplined, and belonged to the iron-blooded faction. The translator was the strategist, cunning and fluent in multiple languages.
The rest either had bad tempers or fierce gazes, making them difficult to approach. Only the Slav who had hung on her window had some youthful spirit and was approachable.
Liancheng was self-aware; she only had two hundred thousand Euros, not enough to match Liang Chaosu’s wealth and bribe her way to freedom.
She would just try to gather some information and grasp the situation around her as best as possible.
In case of any eventuality.
Walking past several mercenaries chatting on the first floor, Liancheng wandered to the basement and discovered it had been converted into a simple gym.
The little Slav was doing pull-ups on the horizontal bar, alternating arms, with a wolf head tattoo on his right arm biting two crossed spears.
His entire body was soaked in sweat, his army-green T-shirt clinging to him, his muscles clearly defined, protruding where they should and concave where they should.
Liancheng didn’t stare, she walked over and greeted him.
Children from wealthy families were raised bilingually from a young age, and as they grew, they developed other languages based on their interests. Liang Chaosu was fluent in English and German, while Liancheng knew English and French; her Russian was limited to the word ‘Ura’.
However, mercenary work was an international profession. Except for China, they went wherever the money was, and English was a necessity.
The boy on the horizontal bar seemed not to hear, a stark contrast to his previous stiff and unsmiling demeanor.
Liancheng paused for a second and tried to strike up a conversation, “How did you hang upside down on the window that night? Did you have something tied to your feet? Or did you just hook on with your feet? It was truly amazing.”
The little Slav paid no attention. The Mr. Liang who hired them didn’t seem very “generous,” but he paid very generously.
This generosity was enough for them to willingly avoid his other, less “generous” side.
Liancheng continued her efforts, “Are all the people from your country this aloof? Do you not like talking to women?”
Her tone was impolite, laced with a hint of provocation.
The little Slav remained unmoved.
Three tries was the limit; beyond that, it went beyond casual conversation.
Liancheng withdrew.
As soon as she reached the first floor, she saw Liang Chaosu talking to the mercenaries, with his back to her.
He had changed into a dark blue sweater, was holding a down jacket, had changed into thicker pants, and was wearing snow boots, clearly getting ready to go out.
Liancheng’s heart stirred, and she slowly approached.
As if Liang Chaosu had eyes in the back of his head, he sensed her approach within a few steps and naturally raised his arm, which landed behind her, encircling her, “Alright, you guys get ready.”
The captain opposite nodded, waved his hand, and led his men out.
Liancheng looked up at Liang Chaosu, “Are they leaving?” She then looked at the clothes in his hand, “Are you going out too?”
Liang Chaosu stroked her hair, “Aren’t we going to see the aurora?”
Liancheng had no desire to see the aurora, but she seized every opportunity to go out, “You need a specific location to see the aurora, right? And you also have to consider the cloud cover and aurora index. Where is it? Is it far from here?”
Liang Chaosu hooked a strand of her cheek hair and tucked it behind her ear, teasing her, “The ends of the earth.”
After the engagement ring “big promise,” here came the hint of “the ends of the earth.”
It seemed that no matter how stern a man was, when it came to children, he would lower himself to coax a woman.
Liancheng’s stomach cramped repeatedly, “It’s too far. We’ll freeze to death before we get there.”
“There’s heating in the car.”
“Then we’ll starve to death.”
Liang Chaosu’s smiles disappeared from his eyes. He lowered his hand, “If you don’t want to, we won’t go.”
Liancheng grabbed him, “If you don’t have fun when you’re young, you’ll get dementia when you’re old.”
Liang Chaosu gazed at her, saying nothing.
Liancheng knew what he wanted to hear and could have easily fooled him. But a sense of hesitant despair, like willingly walking to her execution, churned in her heart, coupled with the obvious defensive alertness she’d just received from the little Slav, clearly at someone’s instruction.
At this very moment, she couldn’t utter a single word.
“I’m going up to change.”
Without waiting for Liang Chaosu to speak, Liancheng turned and went upstairs.
