Chapter 167: He’s Gone Mad, He’s Gone Mad, And So Has She
Bai Ying had no interest in business since childhood, focusing on medicine as she grew up, and was not very clear about the ways of commerce.
She only said, “It seems Shen Lichuan’s project in Africa ran into trouble, related to smuggling and dumping, and then there’s his loan with the bank, which implicates his uncle, Mr. Shen.”
Liancheng was engaged to Shen Lichuan, and she knew all his Shen Family relatives and had toasted them. The uncle related to the bank loan—
She asked, “Is it that one from the provincial level?”
Bai Ying nodded, and catching sight of Bai Yixian standing at the doorway out of the corner of her eye, immediately called him over.
“Dad—I don’t understand business, you explain it to Liancheng.”
Bai Yixian didn’t approach, “The situation is much like you said. It involves his uncle, making it more detrimental. It mainly depends on how the disciplinary committee above investigates and what conclusion they reach.”
Liancheng had been with Liang Chaosu for four years, and even without actively paying attention to him, she knew some of his tactics and methods for conquering in the marketplace.
If it involves politics, it means he has no intention of letting go and leaving the other party a way out.
Noisy sounds came from the corridor, approaching from afar, and Bai Ying instinctively signaled Bai Yixian, “Close the door.”
The noise stopped at the doorway.
Liang Chaosu, against the light in the corridor, stepped into the room. Xiao Da still stood outside the door, gesturing for Bai Yixian to enter.
Bai Yixian understood, and called to Bai Ying, “Come out.”
Bai Ying’s gaze swept over Liang Chaosu, then at Liancheng, and she did not object, obediently following Father Bai out.
The room became empty and silent, and when the door closed, it became even quieter.
Liancheng sat up straight on the bed, her dark eyes fixed on him, silent to the extreme.
And dangerous to the extreme.
Liang Chaosu approached, enduring her sharp gaze, and sat by the bed, “Bai Ying told you about the situation domestically, what do you intend to do next.”
Liancheng remained silent.
She didn’t inquire about Shen Lichuan, nor did she accuse him of madness, and certainly, she didn’t question him.
Liang Chaosu gazed at her pale face, the clarity and liveliness in her eyebrows and eyes had transformed into a sword’s edge directed at him.
The tip of the sword pointed at him, adding another stroke to his numerous crimes.
“You haven’t decided yet, have you?”
Liang Chaosu suddenly offered a smile, which was neither sarcastic nor entirely dejected, “Shen Lichuan is too naive. He might know the bottom lines that cannot be crossed in business, but his understanding is not deep enough. With all the rules and regulations, one careless slip is enough for the opponent to tear down his defenses.”
“And in crises like his, I’ve had countless such situations over these four years. How to curb the decline, how to lay the groundwork, how to counterattack, all under your supervision, and I never hid it from you.”
Not a flicker of emotion crossed Liancheng’s face. She recalled the past, the phone calls he received on her way to school, the computer screen’s unextinguished glow by her bedside late at night; these were all fragmented pieces she hadn’t paid attention to, and didn’t remember completely.
“And the Bai Family.” Liang Chaosu sat very close, leaning forward. His eyes were like dark nests, with fierce beasts curled up inside. Whether they would bare their fangs and claws the next second was unclear, but an invisible threat had already ensnared her.
“Shen Lichuan moving the loan created a cut. The falsified medical records of the Bai Family are also a cut. I will tear into them from this cut. The Bai Family Hospital will have the lowest level of scrutiny, Bai Ying’s physician license will be revoked, and then it will be the Bai Family’s main branch. Bai Yixian is much more capable than Shen Lichuan, but I don’t care about the cost; he won’t be able to stop me.”
Liancheng’s entire body tensed, the veins in her arms beneath the quilt bulged, almost bursting through her skin and flesh.
She felt she had gone mad.
But she still couldn’t out-mad Liang Chaosu, the devil.
“Even Aunt Wang, Shen Heng, Tai Duoduo, that fat team leader, plus the butler, I am protecting him now. Otherwise, if only he leaked secrets to Shen Lichuan, my father alone would be enough to make him suffer greatly, yet be unable to speak of his suffering.”
Liancheng was nearing her limit of endurance. Her gaze frequently fell on Liang Chaosu’s neck, her entire being stretched to its absolute limit, like an arrow about to be loosed.
Liang Chaosu’s gaze enveloped her. His face was clearly visible in the bright light of the hospital room, his eye sockets deep, like black holes that devoured people, dark and shackled within, yet burning with heat.
“Liancheng, you hate me to an unsolvable degree, but I will not let you go. If you break free from me, there will always be things in this world that you care about. In the end, it will be like a bombed-out ruin, everything you cherish turned to ash, and I too will be completely mad. Golden houses built as cages have always existed since ancient times, and we will fight to the death until the last second.”
Liancheng’s nerves snapped suddenly. She threw off the quilt, a shard of glass hidden in her hand, aimed at Liang Chaosu’s neck, but he precisely grasped it.
Liancheng’s eyes were about to split open, her whole body trembling.
She knew too well that Liang Chaosu was skilled, exceptionally so. A one-on-one fight in the ring was child’s play, a one-on-two was a warm-up, and in a one-on-three, he wouldn’t be at a disadvantage. But she couldn’t hold back after all, and didn’t wait for his opening or moment of weakness to deliver a fatal blow.
The bright light in the hospital room reflected off the pink walls, soft and warm, the atmosphere enveloping the two of them, yet it was a patch of scorched ash.
Liang Chaosu pried open her hand, taking the glass shard. Her palm was cut, her hand covered in red, like a fire that wouldn’t die, blazing into his eyes. “Bai Ying gave it to you. She’s appeasing you. A novice who hasn’t practiced will find it very difficult to hit the carotid artery with a single strike.”
He found gauze and alcohol from the bedside table, treated the wound, and wrapped it with layers of gauze. Liancheng’s eyes were bloodshot, half hatred, half despair, taking root and sprouting within her blood vessels.
Liang Chaosu tied the gauze into a knot, a perfect butterfly knot. He lowered his gaze for two seconds, “But I don’t want you to suffer. I want you to smile, to be happy, to have all the best things in this world. So Liancheng, we seek a solution within the unsolvable.”
He took out the dagger from his embrace, held the hilt, and pressed the hilt into Liancheng’s other, uninjured hand, “The only way you can vent your anger is if I die. Now the knife is in your hand, and we will resolve this game.”
“If you stab this knife into my heart and I die, there will be no devil to torment you. Xiao Da has your new identity, a Swiss bank passbook, and several companies. You also won’t have to worry about the Liang Family retaliating against you; I’ve arranged for people.”
“If by a slim chance, I survive. You stay by my side, and I won’t touch you, maintaining a gentleman’s boundary with you. During this time, I welcome you to scrutinize and understand me in every way, dissect and examine me with the harshness you would use on a criminal, as long as you are objective.”
“If in the end you still hate me, you can collect my crimes, just as I did with Shen Lichuan, and sentence me to life imprisonment.”
Liancheng clutched the dagger tightly, her entire bones, eyelashes, hair strands, and even pores trembling uncontrollably.
Liang Chaosu released his hand, unbuttoned his shirt, and opened his lapel, revealing his entire left chest. His gaze, like a whip blending madness, tenderness, and mixed blood and bone, fell upon her. One moment it was the lash of pain, the next it coiled around her, wanting to merge into her bone and blood.
It was terrifyingly strange.
“You are very familiar with the location of my heart. For these four years, through all the storms, I rushed back. In the deep night and early morning, you slept with your ear pressed against it. Did you think it was noisy?”
Liancheng raised the dagger, the tip hovering an inch from her wheat-colored skin. She didn’t know what she was shocked by, only feeling hatred, and also feeling like she wanted to explode, forcing her to cry out hoarsely, “You think I don’t dare, do you think I don’t dare?”
Liang Chaosu’s cheeks still bore the redness of her slap, as if pre-painted with a layer of blood. “You’re doubting if this is a psychological tactic.”
He smiled, “I will absolutely not dodge this blow. I will use this blow to exchange for you to look at me, approach me, and recognize me. Why your brother became a madman, and a madman became a devil, it’s all in those four years. Come find the answer.”
Liancheng heard about those four years, those four years—
It was like a paperclip puncturing a balloon on the verge of explosion, like the final millimeter of a bomb’s fuse, the fear she had been searching for an exit from day and night, the grief of her bones being scraped and her flesh being carved, her shattered four years and her disastrous life.
There was blood.
So much blood.
She mechanically pushed the hilt forward, staring at the blood-covered vision.
It wasn’t the illness that defeated him; it was her.
He’s gone mad, he’s gone mad, and she’s gone mad too.
The extreme ones have all become sick.
