Chapter 249: Body
After midnight, the night was cold and the wind bitingly sharp, blowing into the window, causing the scattered documents to flap and curl into strange shapes. Liang Chaosu smoothed them out one by one, signed them, and closed them.
The room was filled with the wind’s turmoil. He was the only vast abyss, desolate, unfathomable, mysteriously frightening, yet alluringly hazy, drawing one in.
Gu Xingyuan feared him, yet he couldn’t help but follow.
“I don’t understand. You used to say that sweetness only comes naturally, but the result in Iceland has already proven that power, forcefulness, and threats are ineffective against your wife. Since you learned your lesson after returning to the country and used methods of manipulating hearts in the business world, why are you returning to this path now?”
Liang Chaosu held his pen. The polished walnut desk reflected the scars on his fingers. Gauze overlapped on his neck, clearly white against the blurred scars.
“You’re worried about Chen Sirou abroad, perhaps you can tolerate a brief separation to give her time, because you’re certain she has feelings for you.”
Gu Xingyuan furrowed his brow and quietly gazed at him.
Liang Chaosu always possessed a chilling, oppressive aura, which became even more potent when he was silent and serious.
His presence was naturally imposing, piercing, and could crush a person alive.
Those who longed for salvation would bow to his sword, cling to him, and become parasites. Those who were self-assured would find him a cruel whip, a branding iron, a demon’s den to escape from.
“Your wife dislikes being bound—”
Liang Chaosu glanced at him, and Gu Xingyuan suddenly stopped.
He realized that Liancheng disliked being bound, and if she left Liang Chaosu, she would never have a future with him again.
One Lin family, one Mo family, hundreds of countries in the world, tens of millions of nameless islands in the four oceans. Liancheng could hide from Liang Chaosu for a year by moving between them. If Liang Chaosu didn’t push Lin Xianzi to a dead end, it would be impossible to see Liancheng again.
If he pushed her to a dead end, then he and Liancheng would have no future either.
“But your wife agreed to the engagement, which means she doesn’t have no feelings for you.”
“I promised her I would destroy Liang Family through public opinion and deal with Liang Zhengping. She also agreed to the engagement to keep me tied, so she wouldn’t get involved with the Mo family.”
Gu Xingyuan was dumbfounded. “Then what is it now—”
“Now, Lin Xianzi has exceeded my expectations. In Hong Kong, she chose revenge over Liancheng, which indicates her bottom line isn’t Liancheng. So, after Liancheng and I are married, I will dismantle Liang Family and offer her a lifeline when she’s in the most danger. She’ll admit me as her son-in-law, and Singapore’s Huang family and I will back her.”
Gu Xingyuan swallowed. He was the heir cultivated by the Gu family since childhood, with his own vision, insight, and way of thinking. Setting aside emotional factors, he analyzed these words.
Lin Xianzi’s most dangerous moment—when would that be, and how dangerous would it be? Liang Chaosu had decided to take advantage of the situation.
If Lin Xianzi’s fire wasn’t burning hot enough, would he add more fuel?
If he dismantled the Liang Family, how could he then join forces with the Huang family as a backup?
He first considered himself, a clear example.
The Gu family received Liang Chaosu’s support. If it weren’t for the period before and after the year, when Liang Chaosu was preoccupied with his own problems, two-thirds of the Gu family would have already changed their name to Liang.
Yet, he knew clearly that he had invited a wolf into his home and had no way back. Love and selfish motives, reason and logic—Liang Chaosu held all his vital points in his hand.
At that point, even if Lin Xianzi won, what would it matter? The chains forged with the entire Liang Family would bind her to her roots, and Liancheng would never be able to leave him in this lifetime.
Not in the slightest.
Gu Xingyuan couldn’t help but feel a chill run down his spine.
His scheming, shrewdness, and power were too immense, too terrifying.
Liang Chaosu calmly closed the document and opened the next one. “But she has chosen Liancheng now; she has weighed the pros and cons and reached a conclusion. There is no possibility of cooperation.”
Gu Xingyuan took a few steps back and sat on the sofa. “Then have your father return and have him ally with Mo Shicheng, and you reap the benefits?”
Liang Chaosu met his gaze. “Whether they win or lose, I won’t intervene, so how can I reap benefits?”
Gu Xingyuan’s heart pounded like a drum.
He thought of Liancheng’s eyes, clear and distinct.
Since Iceland, since the psychological offensive upon returning to the country, her eyes still held the firmness of iron and the unyielding nature of steel.
For the first time, he began to admire a woman from the bottom of his heart, and felt more sympathy for her.
“Your father is also a cunning old fox. His surprise attack at the press conference might not go according to your plan.”
Liang Chaosu’s gaze settled on his face. “He will definitely ally with Mo Shicheng; that is the fundamental nature of his personality, his logic for dealing with the world.”
Gu Xingyuan remained stiffly seated, motionless.
After a long while, defeated and crestfallen, he softened his gaze and his tone. “You don’t usually open up to people and reveal everything. What do you want by suddenly telling me all this?”
“I always make mistakes with her; I can do nothing about her,” Liang Chaosu leaned back, gazing out the window at the cold, intense night.
“This time, I don’t want to.”
……………………………………………………
Liancheng was not accustomed to relying on others’ homes, and wedding preparations were unavoidable with Liang Chaosu.
Director Qin agreed to help her because he was happy to see a loving couple, not a farcical husband and wife where one tried to hide and the other pursued.
Liancheng stayed at a hotel a few hundred meters from the official residence. The deputy director assigned a guard to stay in the room next to hers to ensure her safety.
It was already the afternoon of the second day when Liang Chaosu finally had time to return to the provincial capital.
He entered the living room of the suite. Liancheng was looking in the mirror, applying medicine to the corner of her mouth.
“What’s wrong?”
Liang Chaosu took off his jacket and hung it on the rack, then strode closer.
Liancheng was holding a cotton swab when the light was suddenly blocked. She lost her aim and poked her wound, letting out a hiss. She got up to move.
Liang Chaosu saw the redness and swelling on her lip, with two tiny blisters the size of sesame seeds faintly visible. A bit of white medicine covered half of it, unevenly applied. This made her hiss, her eyes wide and watery like grapes, appearing pure and pitiful.
His heart softened. Frowning, he took the cotton swab from her hand. “Is it internal heat?”
Liancheng turned her head away to avoid him, but he held her chin. “I ate spicy chili oil rice noodles this morning and misjudged the spiciness of the sauce—”
The cotton swab gently touched the corner of her mouth. It rubbed against the swelling, and with the slightest carelessness, it poked into her mouth. Liancheng endured the pain and closed her lips tightly.
Liang Chaosu swept his gaze over her with a serious expression.
She was covered up tightly: a high-necked base layer, a knitted outer sweater, and long jeans. Her entire body was dark.
This contrasted with her flawless white face, which was pale and colorless. The hint of rosy complexion she had recently acquired was gone, and her eye sockets were sunken.
It was as if overnight, she had suddenly become much weaker.
Liang Chaosu felt inexplicably nervous. “Did you see a doctor?”
The medicine was applied. Liancheng moved to sit on a single sofa. “It’s just internal heat. Director Qin has an appointment with the director of the museum’s wedding exhibition at six o’clock at Xiangyuan Villa.”
Liang Chaosu didn’t care about that. He clasped her arm tightly. “Let’s go to the hospital first.”
Liancheng felt he was overreacting. Moreover, she was meeting Lin Xianzi tomorrow, and the location had already been agreed upon. It was best to avoid any complications now.
“I just had a medical examination,” she said, intentionally observing Liang Chaosu’s reaction. “I’m healthy and rosy-cheeked.”
It had been a long time since she had spoken such a playfully witty phrase. Liang Chaosu was unexpectedly amused and his expression softened.
“The problems at Far East Pharmaceutical are very serious in Europe. You’ve been injected with medication, and I’m worried.”
Liancheng tilted her head up.
The man’s face was sincere and honest, as if he didn’t know the blood from the last check-up had also been replaced.
“When is your father coming back?”
Liang Chaosu’s smile faded.
