Chapter 184: He Wants To Be Your Dog
Shen Lichuan was greatly surprised and instinctively turned his head to look at Liancheng.
She was also caught off guard, shock pouring out from her eyes layer by layer, covering her entire face, pale and voiceless, “What?”
Liang Wenfei ignored her and faced Shen Lichuan, “Do you believe me? I’m here to discuss serious matters, not to stir up trouble. If you’re reassured, then please excuse yourself first.”
Shen Lichuan looked back at her, “Why should I excuse myself?”
Liang Wenfei avoided his gaze and turned to Liancheng, “If he’s here, I won’t say it.”
Liancheng narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing her.
This house did not have heating installed; the air conditioner was on for warm air. After Liang Wenfei entered, she did not take off her down jacket, her nose tip and forehead beaded with sweat, as if she were oblivious.
She looked exhausted and weak, as if she had just returned to the country.
Liancheng considered it for a moment and nodded at Shen Lichuan.
Shen Lichuan clearly hesitated, faltered, and finally left without a word, taking his overcoat from the foyer coat rack and going out.
Liang Wenfei watched him leave, looking at the dark gray iron door panel, and suddenly smiled, “Do you know why my brother is so wary of Shen Lichuan?”
Liancheng stood with her arms crossed at the junction of the living room and kitchen, impatient, “Why?”
Liang Wenfei was still smiling, with hatred and jealousy, “Do you like dogs? Shen Lichuan is so obedient to you, like a sheepdog, in sync with you. My brother is a wolf, who also wants to be your dog, but you don’t even look at him. The sheepdog is gone, you don’t want him either, and you still miss the sheepdog.”
Liancheng showed annoyance. She grew up in the Liang family, and now she found it impossible to communicate with them. People have personalities and dignity; how can they be belittled and subservient?
Moreover, that devil Liang Chaosu would only train others into dogs, never consider himself a dog.
“Tell me directly about my background.”
Liang Wenfei’s expression fell, her pupils reflecting the light, “My brother is investigating your parents. When Xiao Da went to report, he was careless, and when the document he was holding fell to the ground and spread out, I saw one page.”
Liancheng frowned tightly, lowered her arm, and walked up to Liang Wenfei, “What did that page say?”
The light in Liang Wenfei’s pupils changed, “A place name.”
Liancheng’s heart tightened, her hand silently clenched into a fist, and she stared intently at Liang Wenfei.
Their eyes met, and Liang Wenfei did not evade, “I’ll use this place name to exchange for one condition.”
Liancheng’s face tensed, “Liang Chaosu is looking for my parents, intending to impress me. If you don’t say it, I’ll go and ask, and I’ll find out anyway.”
Liang Wenfei looked around the room, “I’m not as smart as you, but after these four years, I’ve gotten to know you. You didn’t want any entanglement with my brother even when you were pregnant, and you won’t want it even more after the miscarriage.”
Liancheng watched her in silence. Liang Wenfei had always been strange; usually frivolous and impulsive, but at the most crucial moments, she was always disrupted by her, and her alertness and sensitivity surpassed Mother Liang’s.
“What condition?”
“Self-preservation.” Liang Wenfei smoothed her hair, one hand damp with sticky sweat, which she ignored. “My brother sent my parents on a global trip on a cruise ship. Their next opportunity to disembark is in three months, for a two-hour rest stop before boarding the next leg.”
Liancheng was completely unprepared, her face showing shock.
Liang Wenfei continued, “The other day, he invited my father to experience bumper cars on the snow. Four cars collided with the four corners of my father’s car from front, back, left, and right. When the airbags deployed, my father injured himself protecting my mother; he was much more seriously injured than you were at the time.”
Liancheng’s first reaction was disbelief. Biological parents, how could they do such a thing?
Liang Wenfei’s face was excessively pale, “It was for you. If you showed any desire for revenge against me, he would absolutely act on your behalf, at least to appease you if not to inflict severe punishment. That’s why you ignored me before the child was born.”
This was the last loophole she wanted to plug. Before, she had caused her pregnancy to be unstable to make Shen Lichuan visit her. The child must be born to tie down Shen Lichuan, and only then would Liang Chaosu see her as a weapon and keep her.
Liancheng’s brows were tightly furrowed, lost in the impact, trembling and dazed.
In her impression, Liang Chaosu was a devil to her, but respectful and loving to his family. Now, first, his favoritism towards Liang Wenfei was revealed to be false, then he ascended to the position of Father Liang, and then the global cruise, a form of soft imprisonment, completely overturned her speculation.
If things continued like this, and all her assumptions about him were wrong, she would never be able to gather evidence.
Liang Wenfei observed her expression, and after a long while, unable to guess her thoughts, she couldn’t help but probe, “If you don’t say anything, does that mean you agree?”
Liancheng came back to her senses and stared at her.
Liang Wenfei breathed a sigh of relief, then realized her whole body was hot as a steamer, the sticky sweat making her anxious, but she suppressed it, “Ao Jia Wa, surrounded by mountains on all sides. That’s all I could see.”
Liancheng immediately wanted to find her phone to search, but stopped herself as she raised her foot.
After Liang Wenfei left and Shen Lichuan returned, she gave a brief explanation and went back to the bedroom where Aunt Wang helped her search.
A cursory search revealed sixty-three Ao Jia Wa locations nationwide. Twenty-seven of them were surrounded by mountains, ten in the north and seventeen in the south, with their status distributed like scattered flowers.
There were also several that they couldn’t find.
Liancheng saw Aunt Wang out and turned off the lights.
The moonlight outside was cold and cast a misty shadow indoors, elusive and hazy. But those were her biological parents. Yet, she could barely look after herself. Even if she found them, it would only give Liang Chaosu leverage.
Liancheng curled up in her quilt, her mind in turmoil.
…………………………
The next day, Xiao Da arrived with a stack of documents.
After they sat on the sofa, he first handed her an employment contract, “Mr. Liang’s wound has worsened, and the doctor estimates he will need to stay for two full weeks. A secretary is not needed for now. Your signing this contract counts as your official hiring. You don’t need to report to Liang’s; you can familiarize yourself with the materials at home and start working directly after Mr. Liang is discharged.”
Liancheng gazed at the stack of documents on the table, piled high and precarious, “Assistant Xiao has a bad habit; he always drops his documents.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the documents “slammed” onto the table, scattering everywhere, and then with another “slap,” one fell to the floor.
Xiao Da instinctively looked at Liancheng, his eyes wide with shock.
Liancheng signed the document and said calmly, “I’m not jinxing it.”
Xiao Da withdrew his gaze awkwardly, “Sorry, it’s my bad habit.”
Liancheng grunted.
Xiao Da organized the documents and handed her another one, “Your death declaration was revoked this morning. Your identification documents and household registration have been reissued, saving you another trip out.”
Liancheng was sharp, “He doesn’t want me to go out?”
Xiao Da looked as if it were natural, “You’re still in your recovery period; it’s best to avoid going out.”
Liancheng was silent for two seconds, her hand clenched and then released, then clenched again, “What if I want to go to the hospital to see him?”
Xiao Da was stunned, staring at her in shock.
Liancheng repeated, “I’m going to the hospital to see him.”
Xiao Da fumbled the documents in his hand, which scattered with a “whoosh.” He reacted blankly, “Alright—” Xiao Da stood up, “The car is downstairs.”
The entire way, Xiao Da wanted to speak but hesitated. Liancheng turned her head to look out the window, silent.
The cardiovascular surgery department of the provincial hospital was on the seventh floor, the top floor of the special care building.
Liancheng remembered the layout of the special care building from when she was hospitalized for appendicitis at fifteen. To the right of the elevator were single rooms with bathrooms; to the left were two-bedroom suites, and those with status could even book an entire floor.
She had encountered this during her hospitalization; it was the retired old provincial governor of Nan Province. Due to health reasons, he couldn’t go to Jingdu for surgery, so he invited the chief director to Nan Province for a flying surgery and stayed on the top floor afterward.
Liang Chaosu came to keep vigil and was taken upstairs by the old provincial governor for entertainment. Afterward, he looked at the computer and researched that women’s cardiovascular systems are more fragile than men’s. He said that if her heart were to have problems in the future, he would be willing to give her his heart.
Liancheng had burst out laughing at the time; could he survive if his heart was transplanted?
She also researched and retorted sharply. The symptoms and characteristics of female heart attacks differed from men’s, and the probability of women being diagnosed with heart disease was lower than men’s.
Therefore, women also lived longer than men. — This last sentence was a fabrication she had made up by random association.
Liang Chaosu, whether he had discerned it or not, just smiled, “It seems I need to exercise aerobically regularly to improve my heart function, protect it well, so that I can live a long life with you.”
Later, he indeed exercised regularly, and his heart was well-protected. Despite being stabbed by her, he still survived.
