Chapter 121: I Am Not One Ten Thousandth As Hypocritical As Shen Lichuan
“He has nothing to do with it?”
Liang Chaosu repeated it gravely, then suddenly sneered. The sternness on his lips and tongue turned into swords, wishing he could flay Shen Lichuan alive with every word.
“You always protect him, even if you can’t protect yourself, you want to clear him.”
Liancheng tensed every nerve in her body, glaring at him, not blinking.
Liang Chaosu’s gaze pierced into her eyes, as if wanting to carve a hole in her heart, “You always think that for these four years, I’ve held onto him, seen everything, heard everything, mistaking every rustle of grass for an enemy, then relentlessly pursued you, forcing you to admit mistakes, to bow your head, uttering vows time and again.”
Mentioning this, Liancheng hated him even more, “Isn’t it true? Who is the root cause of my inability to protect myself? It’s you, Liang Chaosu, with your nerves, bringing your sister around like a mad dog. A baseless sliver of an indication, you expand and extend it, as if I would sleep with him the next second, get pregnant and have a child within a minute. It’s simply absurd and shameless.”
Liang Chaosu’s grip tightened suddenly, then relaxed. His face, back-lit, faded and sharpened in the dimness, a raging tide churning, devouring her alive.
“Am I absurd, or are you two unable to forget each other? You protect him, and he travels thousands of miles to see you day and night.” He sneered, sarcastic, and even more disdainful.
“But his deep affection is thinner than paper, cheaper than grass. For four years, he weighed the benefits and never once tried to win you back. He accepted gifts from the Liang family for the Shen family, yet didn’t fulfill the marriage alliance’s responsibilities, making Liang Wenfei suspicious. If I hadn’t stopped her, during your four years of university, she would have come north thousands of times, scuffled with you in public, ruined your reputation at school. What would Shen Lichuan have done then?”
“The cooperation between the Shen family and the Liang family deepens daily. They can no longer do without the Liang family. Do you think he would protect you, resist the marriage alliance, and break off with Liang Wenfei?”
Liancheng remained motionless.
Liang Chaosu seemed to soften. His fingers tightened their grip, caressing her cheek, as light as a cloud. “You don’t need to infer. These four years, more than 1,400 days and nights, are the answer. If he had done so even once, I would have respected him.”
“He only saves you once or twice when it doesn’t involve his fundamental interests, yet each time he exaggerates as if he’s fighting the whole world. You think I’m hypocritical, but am I even a ten-thousandth as hypocritical to you as he is?”
Daylight broke outside the window. The sun rose from the distant sea horizon, shining into the room through a gap the size of a palm in the curtain.
It fell precisely on Liang Chaosu’s back. In the golden light and shadow, he too seemed to glow with an irresistible radiance. Those he stared at could only merge into him, be enveloped by him, or else they would sink into darkness, degenerate into dried bones.
Liancheng’s voice was also hoarse, “Liang Chaosu, please let me go. The child is truly gone. I hate you, and it’s hard to dissipate. If for four years, you’ve gotten used to sleeping with a woman, it was me, or it was someone else, what’s the difference? The only difference is time. Why can’t you find someone else?”
Her words must have touched a nerve in Liang Chaosu. His face suddenly erupted from its deep layers, and frost overflowed, freezing at the corners of his eyes and eyebrows, becoming thicker and thicker. Anger was sealed behind the ice.
Liancheng knew he was so annoyed that he would surely be difficult to handle, yet it seemed she didn’t need to handle him.
Liang Chaosu’s chest vibrated intensely. With a few deep breaths, he seemed to be sealed by ice himself.
He bent down, scooped her up, and walked towards the bed.
Liancheng was greatly shocked and struggled with all her might, pushing and hitting him.
Liang Chaosu’s muscles were strong and powerful, as solid and hard as steel. When his entire body tensed, the barriers of his muscles were like the walls of a cage.
They say women are made of water and men of iron. At this moment, Liancheng’s fingernails and fists were truly like fine water hitting a wall, unable to shake him even a bit.
Watching Liang Chaosu lift the quilt, watching Liang Chaosu lower his shoulder and press down, Liancheng’s eyes blazed with almost burning fire, “Liang Chaosu, you beast—”
The quilt was thrown over her head. She felt the corners being tucked in on both sides, the silk quilt pulled over her head and smoothed down to her jaw.
Liang Chaosu sat by the bed, leaning over her, his arms braced on either side of her. “The hospital, you don’t need to think about it. I will arrange for a doctor to come to the house. This is not because I don’t believe the child is there.”
Through the quilt, he caressed Liancheng’s lower abdomen. “It’s twelve weeks. It’s time for the NT scan.”
Liancheng’s eyes widened in fury.
Liang Chaosu raised his hand again and gently brushed aside the strands of hair by her temples. “Be good. Things will be chaotic in the country for a while. You are here, free and joyful, peacefully giving birth to the child.”
Liancheng felt her whole body go limp. Every word he spoke, every gaze when he spoke, every breath from his heaving chest, explained his impeccable nature from head to toe, thoroughly breaking her, shattering her, and re-shackling her.
She felt as if her soul had been drained, leaving only this shell.
Take it all, take it all away.
……………………
In the country, seven-thirty.
The Liang family’s board of directors meeting was about to be convened urgently.
Father Liang smoked a cigar in the chairman’s conference room.
The upper class favored cigars for a reason. The cigar leaves were fermented and refined. Compared to ordinary tobacco leaves, they were not as harsh on the throat, had lower nicotine content, removed the gamey smell of tobacco, and better highlighted the flavor of the tobacco itself.
Father Liang usually did not inhale the cigar smoke into his lungs, only letting it linger in his mouth. Only when his emotions were close to losing control would he puff and smoke, and even then, he had to be careful to avoid Mother Liang.
Now, in the Liang corporation, Secretary Zhou did not try to dissuade him, only glancing at his expression. “Can Miss Lian Cheng understand your subtle hints?”
“Doesn’t she already understand?” Father Liang coughed as he spoke. “Asking me about an illegitimate child, no need to go to the hospital.”
Secretary Zhou was startled. “Miss Lian Cheng is so smart.”
The tone was one of praise, yet it was a question.
Father Liang squinted at him. “Zhou Dazhi, know when to use your little tricks.” He warned him, then smiled. “She and Chaosu were both taught by me since they were young. As toddlers, I would hold her during board meetings. She didn’t understand what she heard on my lap, but she was steady. By looking at the directors’ expressions, she could divide them into two factions: those who obeyed me and those who opposed me.”
Secretary Zhou was already by Father Liang’s side at that time, but not qualified to be his personal secretary. Hearing this account of fatherly affection, he couldn’t help but feel suspicious.
If he had such deep feelings for Miss Lian Cheng, why was he so ruthless now, simply because of immorality and transgression? But the main reason was not Miss Lian Cheng’s fault.
Secretary Zhou looked at his phone again. “Since Miss Lian Cheng has understood, there’s no movement from Iceland. Could there be some mistake?”
Father Liang, hidden in the grayish-white smoke, narrowed his eyes and did not answer.
Just then, the secretary from the board office knocked. “Director Liang, the directors have arrived.”
Father Liang put out his cigarette butt, stood up, and headed towards the conference room.
The Liang corporation had recently been renovated. The style had shifted from Father Liang’s official and retro aesthetic to Liang Chaosu’s deep and stern new Chinese style. The furnishings still used solid wood, but the colors had changed from reddish-orange to black and gray.
The old faces of the directors had not changed. Father Liang was gratified, and his confidence grew.
The main topic of this meeting was a report to the relevant departments by name, accusing a project that Gu Liang was cooperating on of using substandard materials, misappropriating project funds, increasing advertising budgets, and neglecting the essential for the trivial, disregarding the safety of the people.
The directors present were all old foxes who had been in the battlefield for a long time. While Vice Chairman Liang was on an overseas inspection, the project he led had encountered such a major flaw without any warning.
Director Liang did not conceal it; instead, he escalated the issue to hold a meeting. The father-son conflict had become a clear omen.
