Chapter 118: Everything Exposed
“You mean that black clinic took Shen Lichuan’s money, then Chao Su visited twice, and when they were about to yield, Chao Su suddenly withdrew?”
“Yes.” Secretary Zhou’s nose tip was beaded with sweat, which dripped onto the tip of his shoe.
“What time?”
Secretary Zhou’s waist bent even lower, “The same time as when Miss Liu Lan was photographed, two weeks ago, on the eve of Miss Lian Cheng’s departure.”
Father Liang calculated the time; it coincided with the Gu family’s turmoil, when Gu Xingyuan’s wife was in a car accident and remained unconscious.
He understood in an instant, and with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, said, “My son, he never yields an inch to his father, but when it comes to women, he’s quite generous.”
Secretary Zhou followed the entire process from discovering Liang Chaosu’s suspected affair with Lian Cheng to confirming her pregnancy. He was also a participant in the upheaval within the Liang family.
He understood Father Liang’s implied meaning but had to pretend not to.
Like a wooden effigy, he hunched over and remained motionless on the spot.
Father Liang’s face was hidden in the dense shadows, his expression grim and lost in thought. He suddenly straightened up, his face appearing under the desk lamp’s light, “Wrong, wrong. If he withdrew, why did he not withdraw after Lian Cheng left? Instead, he openly confronted me.”
Secretary Zhou, now middle-aged, had been hunched over for a long time, and his head felt dizzy from prolonged blood congestion, causing him to collapse.
Father Liang’s mind was filled with bad guesses, and he furrowed his brow, gesturing for him to sit in a chair.
“How is the Liang Corporation doing recently? What about Gu Xingyuan? How crazy has he become?”
Secretary Zhou’s dizziness subsided, and his vision cleared slightly. He subconsciously replied, “You’ve recently intensified your efforts to investigate Miss Lian Cheng’s pregnancy to cut off her support. The Liang Corporation is being managed by those few old directors, and even if Gu Xingyuan is capable of biting, he can’t cause much trouble.”
Father Liang’s face instantly became ferocious and terrifying. He leaned his arms on the edge of the table, veins bulging along his skin, “After the informant he placed in the house was caught, has he never inquired about it?”
Secretary Zhou’s dizziness and blurred vision completely vanished. Seeing his expression, he was so startled his face turned pale again, “He did inquire. Xiao Da came the day before yesterday and asked.”
“Only Xiao Da?”
Secretary Zhou nodded.
“Secretly crossing the Chencang Pass,” Father Liang said with a smile that was not a smile, finding it absurd, annoying, and somewhat gnashing his teeth. “A fine ‘secretly crossing the Chencang Pass’.”
That day, he found Lian Cheng, and then Liang Chaosu followed. It was a trap, “luring the snake out of its hole,” and he had lost.
Liang Chaosu brought up the rumor again. He didn’t believe it, and they confronted each other in the hallway.
When Liang Chaosu mentioned “secretly crossing the Chencang Pass,” he only thought the wording was forced.
At that time, he had two choices: protect the chairman’s position and give up pursuing Lian Cheng, or give up the position and continue pursuing Lian Cheng.
It was indeed confusing and had tied him up, making it difficult to choose. Later, he planned to focus his attention on the Liang Corporation, but Liang Chaosu directly went to Iceland, as if Lian Cheng’s pregnancy was confirmed, and he was deeply worried, abandoning everything to comfort her.
He then changed his strategy and brought Nianci into it, having her investigate the pregnancy, using a two-pronged approach.
However, the informant named Xiao Wang voluntarily exposed himself, causing him to suddenly change his mind. Liang Chaosu’s trip to Iceland, disregarding everything, clearly indicated that Lian Cheng was important to him, and he was also concerned about the pregnancy, which was discovered by him.
It was as if another madman, “Gu Xingyuan,” was resisting his family for love.
Everything Father Liang is doing now is to sever this taboo incest. With the Gu family’s example before him, even if he wins against Liang Chaosu in the Liang Corporation, feelings, once they become stronger externally due to hardship, become more solid internally.
He planned to investigate the gestation period and start with Lian Cheng. Her willingness to leave indicated that her feelings for Chao Su were not deeply passionate and mutual.
But he underestimated Liang Chaosu; his son had predicted his thoughts. He boldly entrusted everything to that erratic madman Gu Xingyuan, while also using him to investigate Lian Cheng’s pregnancy, and on the other hand, attacking the Liang Corporation. It is likely that Father Liang’s old cronies have already been largely undermined by him.
Father Liang leaned back against the chair.
The situation was like a scale, with one side high and the other low. Liang Chaosu wanted the Liang Corporation, stripping him of his future means to interfere.
However, the victory or defeat in emotions was not about power; his hand might still have the means to make a small bet for a big win.
……………………
Lian Cheng slept until ten o’clock. When she got up to wash, she found a jade buckle on her wrist.
She stared at it for a minute, a hint of sarcasm flashing in her eyes. She didn’t untie it and didn’t ask further questions.
She pulled down her sleeve to cover it, as if she had never noticed it.
After breakfast, Lian Cheng returned to her room upstairs, turned on the television with interest, and scanned through all the Icelandic television channels.
Coincidentally, the local news was broadcasting about the aurora borealis from the previous night.
The sky glow on the screen flickered, but it couldn’t compare to witnessing it firsthand; the awe-inspiring brilliance of the firmament was one in ten thousand.
Just as Lian Cheng was about to change the channel, the perspective on the screen shifted to the ground, a vast expanse of empty snow. Small hills undulated like white sea waves, and at the crest of the waves, next to a blurry, car-shaped rectangular outline, stood two small dots, closely embraced as one.
The wind and snow swirled around, the waves flowed and gradually dispersed, leaving the small dots in place, blurring into black and gray.
The aurora was romantic, the wind and snow beautiful, and the scene was inexplicably profound.
It was as if the world had become a lonely island, and on this island, only these two people and a car remained.
Lian Cheng immediately changed the channel and glanced at the sofa beside her.
Liang Chaosu sat upright, a pair of rimless glasses perched on his nose, facing the laptop on his lap. The reflection of the screen flickered across the lenses as dense files scrolled up and down, ending with his electronic seal and signature.
He had been very busy since morning, not leaving his computer even at breakfast. With such intense focus, he definitely hadn’t noticed the news just now.
She breathed a sigh of relief and withdrew her gaze.
However, the man suddenly looked up, his gaze catching hers, “Watching me?”
Lian Cheng, wary of his previous entrapment, moved further away, “If you have something to do, why don’t you go to the next room? I’m planning to watch a James Bond movie soon, and it might disturb you.”
Liang Chaosu took off his glasses and rubbed his temples, “Change it, the explosion sounds are too stimulating.”
What was stimulating, he didn’t say.
Lian Cheng wasn’t sure either. She wasn’t sure if he meant he didn’t want to be disturbed by the sound, or if it would stimulate the baby in her belly, which would be too absurd. These detailed pregnancy facts were things she had only started paying attention to after becoming pregnant.
The internet said that men generally didn’t pay attention to these things, and many expectant fathers couldn’t even remember their wives’ gestational weeks.
She leaned against the armrest, “Oh.”
In Iceland at this time, the sun had not yet risen.
The floor lamp next to the sofa was turned to its brightest, casting a warm yellow glow. Lian Cheng’s loose home clothes hung on her, making her appear even more slender. Her posture was languid and soft, both obedient and alluring.
A crack appeared in Liang Chaosu’s serious gaze, and he removed the laptop with one hand.
Lian Cheng, having anticipated this move, immediately jumped off the floor. As she moved, the red string of the jade buckle was revealed from her sleeve.
Liang Chaosu’s gaze swept over, fixating on her.
Things had progressed to this point, and Lian Cheng could no longer refrain from asking. She spoke, “When did you buy it? The craftsmanship here in Iceland isn’t good—”
Suddenly, Liang Chaosu’s phone, placed on the side, rang. Lian Cheng glanced at it and saw it was Father Liang.
She was startled and looked at Liang Chaosu. He stared at the flashing screen for two seconds and then answered.
Father Liang’s voice carried a sense of utter exhaustion, “Did Xiao Da tell you that I found the black clinic on the Ring Road and confirmed that Lian Cheng is pregnant?”
Lian Cheng felt as if she had fallen into an ice cellar in an instant.
It was over.
This unspoken play, acted out until now, had surprisingly been revealed by Father Liang.
