Chapter 187: For What Crime, What Punishment
“Me?”
Shen Lichuan’s back relaxed, and the expression in his eyes also relaxed, unrestrained and undisguised. “Of course, I am also a person.”
Liang Chaosu glanced, their eyes met, and Shen Lichuan’s thoughts were laid bare in his eyes, full of regret.
Liang Chaosu let out a rather perfunctory laugh, his sarcasm undiminished.
Shen Lichuan was not guilty. He leaned back against the chair and said, “No one has ever been able to guess your intentions, so I’ll ask directly. Do you think I’m cowardly, insincere, and tricking you? Or because I can’t win against you, and I don’t love Liancheng enough, so I’m afraid to let go?”
Liang Chaosu stared at him coldly, saying nothing.
Shen Lichuan laughed and shook his head. “It should be the former. You seem unable to understand that feelings can fade. Sometimes strong feelings cannot be forgotten, but they can transform, and it’s not always about possession and restraint. Forced cohabitation is worse than parting ways.”
Liang Chaosu narrowed his eyes.
Shen Lichuan was gentle and peaceful, while he was more gloomy and sharp, with an aggressive aura, deep and stubborn.
Yet, he restrained his nature and did not retort, continuing to listen.
Shen Lichuan was certain in his heart. Liancheng could rent an apartment, the Shen family could be safe, and after all this, Liang Chaosu could still see him. It was this inhuman wolf who, after everything was irreversible, began to try to put on a muzzle.
“A healthy view of love should be the ability to give love and the ability to restrain it, otherwise, it is a cage for her, a torment.”
The bright white ceiling light illuminated Liang Chaosu’s face, from his high eyebrows and deep-set eyes to his hands clasped on his lower abdomen, which showed no sign of relaxation. His defensive posture was maintained from beginning to end.
Shen Lichuan did not intend to sway him with a few words; he was merely stating his position. “There is absolutely no possibility of me and Liancheng getting back together, so I can help her as a friend or a family member without any need for avoidance.”
Liang Chaosu raised his eyebrows. “Are you begging for mercy? Hinting that I should let you go?”
Shen Lichuan shook his head again. “You have an agreement with Liancheng, don’t you? To threaten her with the things she cares about as much as possible.”
Liang Chaosu’s expression vanished, and his gaze bore into him, sharp and eerie. “Did she tell you?”
Shen Lichuan fastened his suit button. “Given her personality, it wasn’t hard to guess. Actually, I shouldn’t have come to see you today.”
He stood up. “But with that knife, I thought maybe I could try. Whether you agree with what I’ve said today or despise it, in the past, you thought no one was as good as you, yet you caused her the most harm.”
“To the point that even though she longed to find her biological parents, she endured and gave up because she feared you would threaten her when you investigated her background.”
The door was suddenly pushed open from the outside, and Xiao Da’s figure stood in the doorway.
Shen Lichuan said no more and left with large strides.
Xiao Da actually had nothing important to report. After his routine report on Liancheng’s reaction, Liang Chaosu waved him out.
In the hospital, no matter how luxurious the room, the smell of disinfectant could not be eliminated; it constantly filled his nostrils. Liang Chaosu opened a report, but the words on the page did not enter his eyes. There was an indescribable sense of emptiness and desolation.
No one was better than him, yet no one caused more harm than he did.
……………………………………
In the blink of an eye, another half month passed.
Liancheng stepped on the scale after washing up in the morning. The bright 45KG made her stare blankly, unable to come to her senses. Aunt Wang peeked and grinned.
“I told you the dietary methods of the older generation are the most effective,” Aunt Wang caressed her hair, which was like scorched seedlings that had drunk their fill, now moist and even sprouting short new hair. “Today, for lunch, we’ll have stir-fried spinach with pork liver and steamed small steamed buns. Do you want sweet or savory?”
Liancheng let out a sigh and stepped off the scale. “I’m going to work at Liang’s today.”
Aunt Wang was stunned. “Has the Eldest Young Master been discharged from the hospital?”
Liancheng hummed. “He was discharged last night. It was too late, so I didn’t tell you.”
“He’s just been discharged, shouldn’t he rest for a bit?” Aunt Wang, already biased, had some reservations. “It would also be good for you to rest for a few more days.”
Liancheng put her arm around Aunt Wang’s shoulders and walked towards the dining table. “Auntie, gaining ten pounds in a month means I’ve been well-nourished. If I rest any longer, I won’t be able to stop gaining weight.”
Liang Chaosu couldn’t wait either.
During this period, she stayed indoors, and the days were peaceful, but the outside world was rife with storms.
On the seventh day, as soon as her death declaration was revoked, all sorts of speculations began to emerge like mushrooms after rain.
Initially, it was within the scope of her being in distress and being rescued. After the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth, it became increasingly absurd. The disappearance of Father Liang and Mother Liang, Liang Wenfei’s “confinement,” and even Liang Chaosu being stabbed in the heart in the hospital—these news items were gradually exposed and confirmed.
Noblewomen in wealthy families never lacked the imagination for decadent affairs between men and women. The speculations about the cause and effect of the entire incident were also getting closer to the truth.
Some even, unable to control their curiosity, investigated the Bai Family father and daughter who flew to Iceland years ago, and went to the Bai Family to inquire for news, both openly and covertly.
If it were still mere rumors at this point, it would be fine, but wealthy families are never just gossipy busybodies. Those who were suppressed by the Liang family father and son, and those who envied the Liang family’s cake, all pounced like sharks smelling blood.
First, there were trial balloons in bars and clubs, which further developed into public opinion. By the end of the month, public opinion had surged, and the real fight had officially begun.
If Liang Chaosu did not retaliate, he would be defeated in three months, and the Liang family’s foundation would be destroyed.
After breakfast, Liancheng changed into the uniform provided by the Liang Family’s secretary’s office, her hair tied into a low bun at the back of her head.
It was a short walk to the subway station, costing eleven yuan, and it went directly to the building of Liang’s.
Xiao Da had asked when he notified her to come to work last night if he could pick her up in the morning.
Liancheng found it strange at the time and asked if it was his own initiative or if Liang Chaosu had instructed him, unlike Liang Chaosu’s devilish tone. “Did he tell you to ask, or did you want to ask yourself?”
After a moment of hesitation, Xiao Da did not lie. “Mr. Liang asked me to ask.”
Liancheng said, “What if I refuse?”
Xiao Da hesitated for a moment. “Mr. Liang respects your opinion, but since your health has just recovered, he suggests you travel by car.”
Liancheng said, “So it was a symbolic inquiry, and there was no choice, right?”
After hanging up the phone, within a few minutes, Xiao Da sent her a form.
It was a timetable and schedule of the nearest bus and subway routes from Liancheng’s residential community to Liang’s, with the accompanying message: “Mr. Liang respects your choice.”
Liancheng was very surprised.
The elevator went all the way to the top floor. As she was late, the secretary’s office was having a small internal meeting.
After Father Liang toured the world, Zhou Dazhi submitted his resignation, but Liang Chaosu neither approved nor rejected it. Coincidentally, Su Chenghuai was transferred to Singapore to work as a network administrator, and he remained the Chief Secretary.
Zhou Dazhi, seeing Liancheng emerge from the elevator from afar, shortened the thirty-sentence meeting to five.
As Liancheng approached, she only heard one sentence: “The board meeting is at eight-thirty. Director Liang has already arrived. Remind the other directors again.”
The young secretaries dispersed.
The self-introduction Liancheng had prepared got stuck in her throat.
Zhou Dazhi invited her to walk to the right. “You don’t need to introduce yourself. All the secretaries on duty know you, and your job nature is different from theirs.”
Liancheng stopped. “I’m in a secretarial position, how is my job nature different?”
Zhou Dazhi’s peripheral vision could not help but repeatedly scan her lower abdomen. He had participated in the whole process but was not without guilt.
He revealed, “Director Liang has approved all the documents for the projects he handled in the past for you to compare and review. Except for those involving the most fundamental aspects of the group, you can even take other documents out to show others.”
Liancheng’s hanging arm tensed.
She found it ridiculous. That stab, the blood splattering—if Liang Chaosu hadn’t thought they had returned to their previous state.
The back-and-forth probing, the tacit understanding and hidden malice.
Sending Xiao Da, revealing an attitude of being willing to go to jail.
Burying a few loopholes in the project, dangling her like a donkey, until she couldn’t be held any longer, and being imprisoned for a few days or two weeks for commercial crimes.
Then he was wrong.
She wanted him to confess his guilt and be brought to justice.
What crime to commit, what law to abide by.
Upon arriving at the Chairman’s Office, it was completely different from how it was decorated a few years prior. Father Liang’s preference for rosewood and red sandalwood had disappeared without a trace. The overall color scheme was black and gray, exuding a pure Chinese classical grandeur, with a floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the most decadent center of Nan Province.
Liancheng’s gaze swept halfway around when the door to the lounge on the right opened.
Liang Chaosu stood there, wearing a steel-gray suit, his posture still upright. He was tall but slender, looking at her and smiling.
“Secretary Lian.”
Liancheng gazed at him.
His smile deepened. “Come here.”
