Chapter 172: Bai Yixian Scares Father Liang
The phone call was suddenly chaotic, cups and saucers clashing, chairs toppling.
Shen Lichuan’s voice trembled, “Liancheng… you can contact me, did you escape?”
Liancheng stood by the window. Outside the hospital, there were rooftops of varying heights and colors. It hadn’t snowed in Iceland for a few days, and the snow on the rooftops had melted, washed clean by the meltwater, making them more vibrant and colorful.
“No.” Liancheng asked him first, “How are you doing now? Smuggling, dumping, Liang Chaosu said he’s stopped, is that true?”
Shen Lichuan thought it was Bai Ying who had revealed his situation, so he answered her question first.
“I’m not sure.”
The situation was difficult, and the Shen family was entangled in lawsuits. He no longer made hasty judgments.
After all, the business world is full of deception and trickery. It’s not uncommon for someone to relax their opponent’s vigilance and then launch an unexpected attack.
He stated the objective fact, “However, after the report, the Liang family did not pursue their advantage. Wen Yisheng, who resigned to do legal aid in Africa, also returned to the country yesterday.”
Shen Lichuan spoke very quickly, and without pausing, his voice became more anxious and sharper than ever, “Liancheng, you are still under his control, yet you can call me. Did something happen?”
Liancheng relaxed for a moment, then was touched by the change, her heart feeling like a heavy lead block sinking into an ice hole.
“I made an agreement with him, that the Shen family would be safe and you would be unharmed.” After her suffocation, her breathing became uneven. “But he’s not very credible. However, he arranged for me to be his secretary, to retrieve Liang family information. If you need–”
“There is no need.”
Shen Lichuan said seriously, “Liancheng, agreements require a price.”
“He arranged for you to join the Liang family and allowed you to retrieve information, almost implying he expects you to use Liang family intelligence to help me. Such a big concession means the price you paid was not small. What did you agree to? To return to the country with him and raise the child together?”
The child–
The window glass was sealed, but Liancheng felt a biting cold wind seeping in from outside. She remained stiff and cold for a long time, unable to make a sound.
Coincidentally, the sound of a door opening came from behind her. Bai Ying approached in a few steps, saw the phone, and asked in a low voice, “Is that Shen Lichuan?”
Liancheng nodded blankly.
Bai Ying subconsciously looked back at the door, which was tightly shut.
She turned, took the phone, and whispered into Liancheng’s ear, “Did you tell him about the child? After arriving in Iceland, my father tacitly agreed not to contact him.”
“Firstly, there’s that madman around. Secondly, he’s struggling to cope himself. If he knew and rushed to Iceland without regard, it would only escalate the conflict and be detrimental to your current situation.”
Liancheng shook her head, her voice trembling with faint breaths, “I haven’t told him yet.”
Bai Ying put her arm around Liancheng’s shoulder, “How about, you don’t tell him for now?”
She explained, “Otherwise, if he knew Liang Wenfei would definitely follow when he came to Iceland later.”
“If Liang Wenfei comes, those two old vipers from the Liang family might also come. Right now, the madman is incapacitated, and you are weak. If anything happens, you’ll be at a disadvantage.”
“It’s better to keep it a secret until you’ve recovered and returned to the country. Then, you can infuriate them and tear their faces off and stomp on them.”
And that’s putting it mildly.
Bai Ying felt that upon their return to the country, when Shen Lichuan learned that Liancheng had lost the child, he would no longer tolerate Liang Wenfei at all. However much she had been sarcastic and trampled on Liancheng before, she would face ten times, a hundred times the retribution for her actions today.
And the Liang family; that madman Liang Chaosu’s obsession with Liancheng, their own dog-eat-dog fight, it would be a grand drama.
Shen Lichuan heard a faint third voice on the phone. At first, he thought someone was preventing Liancheng from contacting him, so he stayed quiet and didn’t cause trouble. Later, he felt it wasn’t like that.
“Liancheng, is that Bai Ying?”
Liancheng took the phone, “Yes.”
Shen Lichuan was relieved, “Don’t agree to any of his conditions. You might not believe me when I say I can handle the Shen family’s problems. If I can’t, then that’s also wrong. We were brought up from childhood, and by this age, no matter how dangerous, we still have the strength to fight.”
“So, you don’t need to worry about me.”
Liancheng breathed heavily.
Shen Lichuan smiled again, comforting her, “I’ve realized that the fundamental reason I could only cowardly choose to compromise each time is my lack of strength. To change this, tempering is necessary. Moreover, there are still people stirring in the Liang family; they are not impeccable.”
“Liancheng, you will certainly be free in the future.”
Like a promise, Liancheng responded, her voice strained from her throat, “I will.”
She would be free, but she had learned her lesson and didn’t want to involve others anymore.
After hanging up the phone, Bai Ying held her hand. Before she could comfort her, Xiao Da entered with embassy staff.
After a series of procedures were completed and the staff left, Bai Yixian entered.
He had come to say goodbye.
“Liancheng, tomorrow is Spring Festival. Uncle Bai needs to return to the country to preside over ancestral worship. Bai Ying will stay here; I’ll be at ease if you look after her.”
Liancheng knew the Bai family had a ancestral temple and that ancestral worship was a major event every year. She did not try to keep them.
“Uncle Bai, Happy New Year.”
Bai Yixian chuckled, pulled out a red envelope, “I was waiting for you to say that, Liancheng, Happy New Year.”
…………………………
Bai Yixian landed his plane at midnight on the first day of the new year. He immediately went to pay his respects for the new year and worship his ancestors, not having a moment of leisure until ten in the evening when he prepared to wash up and rest.
The butler knocked on the door, “Mr. Bai, someone from the Liang family has arrived.”
Bai Yixian jolted and opened the door, “Who? Who has come?”
“Only Mr. Liang. He did not inform us in advance, so I have asked him to wait for you in the small reception room.”
Bai Yixian went downstairs.
The Bai family’s decoration was in a classic Chinese style, with rosewood furniture and landscape screens. The chandelier in the small reception room was a Qing Dynasty-style palace lantern, with an octagonal eave for the canopy and red tassels hanging down.
Father Liang did not sit. He stood with his hands behind his back, staring intently at the tassels, lost in thought.
Bai Yixian’s footsteps startled him. Father Liang turned around. His thick black hair was streaked with a few strands of white, and his eye wrinkles had deepened. His pale face, under the yellowish light of the palace lantern, showed no sign of the joy of the New Year.
Compared to his former spirited demeanor as Director Liang, he now exuded an air of aged fatigue, as if his great momentum had passed.
“Happy New Year,” he cupped his hands, a faint smile on his face, “Director Bai, I apologize for disturbing you.”
Bai Yixian chuckled and invited him to sit, “Happy New Year to you too. You shouldn’t call me Director Bai; just call me Yixian. Is there an urgent matter at this late hour?”
Father Liang sat opposite him. He had intended to praise the palace lantern first.
In the dim light, Bai Yixian’s smile lines were deeper than his own, and more genuine. Father Liang looked for two seconds before getting straight to the point.
“Xiao Ying isn’t returning for the holidays. Are they planning to return to the country after the child is born?”
Bai Yixian pondered.
When Liang Chaosu landed in Iceland this time, he had completely blocked news from the mainland. Actually, it wasn’t entirely blocked. After they left, Liang Chaosu hadn’t threatened or silenced anyone; he had wanted to avoid it himself, and for Liancheng.
However, before he left, Xiao Da had already sent back the application to revoke Liancheng’s death declaration, and even hinted to him that on the seventh day, when the court reopened, Liancheng’s death declaration would be revoked, and she would return to the country.
Everyone was a seasoned fox, like immortals from a thousand tales, understanding unspoken implications. They had simply not intended to hide the news from Iceland anymore.
But Father Liang did not know this now because the court was closed on the first day. The death declaration was still in the hands of Liang Chaosu’s people, so Father Liang hadn’t heard any rumors.
This father and son from the Liang family were equally stubborn. Liang Chaosu wouldn’t let go, and Father Liang could show up on the first night of the new year, clearly unwilling to give up. There would be more struggles ahead.
Since Liang Chaosu didn’t care about hiding things, Bai Yixian decided to do Father Liang a favor.
“She will return to the country on the seventh.”
He paused slightly. Revealing the matter of Liancheng’s child would affect Shen Lichuan, and it involved the younger generation’s romantic affairs. It was better for Liancheng herself to reveal it.
Finally, he couldn’t resist.
Bai Yixian stared intently at every subtle change in Father Liang’s expression, adding, in a show of friendship, “Using Liancheng’s former identity.”
These eight words were not difficult to understand and were perfectly clear, leaving no room for misunderstanding.
Father Liang’s pupils trembled, and he exclaimed, “What?”
