Chapter 242: Fake Marriage, Real Union
The noise of sightseeing cars sounded outside the courtyard gate. The manager who had just been there pressed the doorbell. Liang Chaosu put down his pen, and from under another stack of documents, he took out a remote key.
There was a threshold at the entrance of the main hall. The manager pushed a small dining cart in. The cart held a clay pot and four dishes. Seeing Liang Chaosu sitting in the main seat, Liancheng sat at the lower position.
Although the distance was not far, it was not close. Especially considering the strict order in traditional Chinese seating arrangements, the left of the main seat is considered more honorable, and the hostess sits on the west side.
Juniors and guests, when visiting, sit in the two rows below the main seat.
And the atmosphere between the two was also strange. After the manager greeted them, he remembered the reporter storm at the press conference, and held his breath, lowering his eyes, not daring to look too much.
Liang Chaosu folded the documents and moved them to the side table, clearing the eight-immortal table. “Put it here.”
The manager carefully picked up the purple clay pot. “As you instructed, the shredded chicken was cut extremely finely, the matsutake mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms were soaked in mountain spring water beforehand, and it was stewed until soft and tender. Only a little shredded ginger was added, with no other seasoning. It’s all-natural, easy to digest, healthy, and warms the stomach.”
Liancheng had eaten a burger at the service area. The patty was hard and greasy, it wouldn’t go down, and it wouldn’t come up, stuck in her esophagus. The more the manager introduced, the more she felt disgusted.
But that wasn’t important. The impact of the reporters at the press conference had been a constant source of disgust. Given Liang Chaosu’s controlling nature, her leaving without a word had touched a raw nerve.
But from entering the door until now, his successive reactions were all outside her predictions.
Liancheng got up and sat in the right main seat.
The manager was an old hand at reading people’s expressions, and after arranging the dishes, he left without delay.
Liang Chaosu served her porridge and handed her a soup spoon. Perhaps it was because they were sitting close to each other, but Liancheng felt his contours soften slightly.
She lowered her eyes. The ginger flavor in the porridge was faint. After stirring it a couple of times, she found the ginger shreds had been removed beforehand.
During the four years they lived together, Liancheng ate whatever she could, without tasting it. She swallowed the ginger shreds from the stir-fried chicken without changing her expression.
It wasn’t until she returned to the country at the beginning of the year and lived in a rented apartment that she actually started to be picky about her food again.
It was just that she didn’t know when this had been revealed to him, and he had noticed.
“That time at Jade Mansion, I lied to you. My stomach is very good, I don’t have a cold stomach.”
An abrupt sentence.
Her voice was light, like a wisp of wind passing through the hall, leaving no trace.
Liang Chaosu’s hand paused, and he gazed at her. She lowered her eyebrows and eyes, taking small sips of porridge, as if she hadn’t spoken at all.
The hidden frost in his eyes softened a little. “Later there were progesterone injections. You did lose your sense of taste eventually. All your blood work is normal now, but some conditions cannot be detected by Western medicine. Once the Qingxi Valley affairs are settled, I will take you to Jingdu to have Bo Yizhang examine your pulse.”
Liancheng was suddenly dazed. Admitting she lied at Jade Mansion was indeed her intentional attempt to ease the atmosphere.
What she hadn’t expected was that Liang Chaosu wouldn’t use it as an excuse to vent his anger and question her attitude towards the engagement, but would instead bring up Bo Yizhang.
Bo Yizhang was a master of gynecology, specializing in infertility.
And the patient reactions reported from Far East Pharmaceutical were mostly related to immune system problems, which had nothing to do with gynecology.
He was intentionally overstepping his bounds, wanting to turn a false marriage into a real one.
“No need, I—”
“Bo Yizhang’s main focus is gynecology, and he is skilled in women’s physical conditioning, not just treating infertility.”
Liancheng felt no relief in her heart.
They had lived together for nearly two and a half years without any contraception, and he had diagnosed her with difficulty conceiving through both Western and traditional Chinese medicine. Yet, she had gotten pregnant.
The hospital in Iceland diagnosed her with infertility, so he might not have completely given up.
“We have an agreement. The prerequisite for marriage is that you don’t touch me.”
Liang Chaosu raised his hand and reached towards the corner of her mouth, his thumb gently wiping away a grain of rice.
The startling touch that lingered, so sudden, gentle, and unwearying, was an atmosphere of undisguised affection that washed over her.
Liancheng almost stood up. The myriad of storms and questions about the Mo Family and Liang Zhengping in her heart weighed her down, making her sit back down, tightly gripping the spoon handle.
“This matter is not urgent. The reporters earlier were definitely connected to your father. He has returned to the country, and he will not agree to the marriage.”
Liang Chaosu gazed at her and suddenly burst out laughing. “You’re worried the marriage will be obstructed and you won’t be able to have the wedding smoothly?”
Liancheng choked.
She bit her lower lip, neither denying nor affirming.
“He wouldn’t agree even if he were abroad,” Liang Chaosu picked up a piece of greens with his chopsticks and offered it to her lips. “How about—”
Liancheng didn’t open her mouth.
His chopsticks hovered, but he smiled without speaking.
Liancheng snatched the chopsticks and ate the food in one bite.
Without chewing, without tasting the oil, without savoring the flavor, she swallowed it perfunctorily.
Liang Chaosu’s smile faded. “How about returning to the country, it’s more reassuring.”
Liancheng didn’t taste the food he offered, but her mind repeatedly mulled over his meaning.
She had seen how resourceful and capable Liang Chaosu’s methods were. To suddenly have him so close at hand meant he was strictly guarding and monitoring her.
She suddenly realized that when she heard Liang Zhengping had contacted Lin Xianzi, she would instinctively suspect Liang Zhengping of having improper intentions and playing a larger game.
So, had he suddenly changed his strategy because he discovered Liang Zhengping had approached Lin Xianzi?
Liancheng’s mind raced. “Is Secretary Zhou being detained at the police station down the mountain?”
“Yes.” Liang Chaosu’s eyes were obscure. “I went to see him at noon.”
“Did he make you change your mind?”
Yes, Liang Chaosu had made deductions from Zhou Dazhi, with an 80% chance that Feng Shien was not discovered. The remaining 20% was that Liang Chaosu always controlled the overall situation, and with his divided attention, it wasn’t impossible that he was monitoring her.
No, then he definitely knew that Feng Shien had come to Qi Province.
Liang Chaosu gazed at her quietly.
“I don’t lie to you. If you ask, I will answer.”
Liancheng froze silently, her fingers tightening around the spoon, not blinking.
Liang Chaosu was indeed very direct. “Yes and no.”
Liancheng was stunned.
Logically, since Liang Chaosu answered every question, all the questions swirling in her chest should have come out one after another.
But the more proactive he was, the more she had to stop there.
If he knew Feng Shien’s whereabouts, he would understand Lin Xianzi’s change. But Lin Xianzi’s escalation to meet in Qi Province was confirmed by Feng Shien via mobile phone.
Liancheng deliberately avoided phone calls that could be overheard and only used text messages. Unless Liang Chaosu browsed her text messages, he couldn’t have obtained this information.
And she wasn’t good at dealing with textual traps; the more she asked, the more she would reveal.
At that point, it wouldn’t be her probing, but Liang Chaosu testing her.
The bowl of porridge was tasteless. Unknowingly, the bowl was empty. Liancheng put down the spoon.
Liang Chaosu instructed someone to tidy up. The service staff were well-trained. He seemed to be pondering something, leaning his elbow on the armrest, his fingers covering half his face, propping up his chin, motionless.
After the staff left, his gaze lingered on her face for a long time.
The depths of his eyes were deep and obscure, like an extremely calm, bottomless black sea, without waves or ripples, utterly silent, yet like turbulent currents, each second of his gaze was unfathomable.
Liancheng was still digesting the burger she had eaten, and then she drank another bowl of porridge. She was so full she couldn’t sit comfortably, yet she dared not move.
“Is something wrong?”
“Yes.” Liang Chaosu’s voice, in the grand and spacious hall, evoked a sense of hollow loneliness. “Do you have any other questions?”
Liancheng couldn’t decipher the reason for this loneliness, but her heart felt completely lost.
“Should I have any?”
Liang Chaosu was silent for a moment, then picked up the documents again, looking at her. “The banquet starts at eight tonight. You’re tired from driving. Go upstairs and rest for an hour.”
Liancheng immediately got up.
The stairs were on the right side. She walked past Liang Chaosu at a distance of half a meter.
He seemed to casually raise his hand, accurately holding hers, and then their fingers intertwined tightly. “I’m also a bit tired.”
