Chapter 254: Dog’s Conduct, Wolf’s Heart
Liancheng gripped Lin Xianzi’s arm, her mouth tasting a salty and astringent flavor, with a thick, bitter scent of ointment.
Lin Xianzi gently wiped her, asking about the wound on her lip.
Liancheng lowered her head to hide, “Internal heat.”
Lin Xianzi’s fingertip caressed her face, “You’ve been scared these past two days, that won’t happen again. I’ll take you to Europe, and you won’t have to worry about the Liang family. They won’t have the ability to entangle you anymore.”
Tears clouded Liancheng’s vision, like glass covered in dust. With one swipe, her vision instantly cleared.
She saw the solemn and composed face of the woman before her, now covered in a sheen of tears, a mix of excitement, regret, and suppressed emotions smearing her makeup.
As embarrassed as she was, she was just as resolute.
“During the paternity test in Hong Kong, I received a call from Far East Pharmaceutical. That’s the industry your father left behind, and everyone from top to bottom is someone I completely trust. Suddenly, there was a problem with the medication. I’m not sure how far Mo Shicheng went, or if everyone around me is clean.”
“Open attacks are easy to dodge, but hidden arrows are hard to guard against. After the car accident and kidnapping, Mo Shicheng is capable of murder. I can insist the test results are false, but I can’t gamble on a one-in-a-thousand chance. My daughter is in danger.”
“At that time, I heard the rumors from wealthy families in Nan Province about you and Liang Chaosu, ‘A prince’s dream, but the lady is indifferent.’ He was pursuing you, abandoning the trouble in Qingxi Valley to come to Hong Kong to protect your safety, and quickly took you away from Hong Kong after the test, far from danger.”
“I never expected your actual situation to be so shocking and terrifying. Between a one-in-a-thousand chance and a sea of suffering, a woman would rather choose the one-in-a-thousand. So hesitating this time was my biggest mistake.”
“Thinking about it now, if Mo Shicheng could implicate Liang Chaosu at the time of his arrest, he must have already been in contact with Liang Zhengping and knew his cruel nature, his treacherous heart. I will never let any member of the Liang family get close to you or harm you again.”
Liancheng’s face was pale, “It wasn’t contact with Liang Zhengping, but through Lian Yingying’s uncle, Gu Zhoushan. Gu Zhoushan had a cooperation with Liang Zhengping years ago and understood the Liang family’s affairs.”
A sharp glint flashed in Lin Xianzi’s pupils, and she pulled Liancheng closer.
“So that’s three parties. Liang Zhengping is within the Liang family, the internal side. Mo Shicheng helps Liang Zhengping, the frontal assault. Then there’s Gu Zhoushan, the Gu family, as the flank.”
“Three parties surrounding one person, Liang Chaosu, from three sides. It’s not that easy to escape. If we get involved and stir things up, it becomes a four-sided siege.”
Liancheng’s disordered heart suddenly paused, a heavy stone settling upon it. Her joy and elation vanished without a trace, replaced by a bitter hatred on her tongue, spicy and numb.
“He calculated it.”
Lin Xianzi’s emotions were still unsettled, and her reaction was a little slow, “Calculated what?”
Liancheng’s tongue was numb, and her eyes felt numb too. “He knew you were coming to Qi Province to see me, and he calculated how you would deal with him and Liang Zhengping afterward. He put everything out in the open for me to choose. I wanted to see you, and he made a bet.”
Lin Xianzi finally understood, grasping her hand. “A bet on what?”
The conference room was lit, the blinds half-drawn, with the light focused on Lin Xianzi’s face. Tears streaked her face, and beneath the sheen of water in her eyes was a calmness and seriousness of someone facing a decisive battle.
Liancheng had just cried her heart out, her appearance unspeakably disheveled and dispirited. “A bet on how all-powerful he is, how boundless his magic is, whether I’ll be trapped in his palm forever.”
“He’s scaring you,” Lin Xianzi tucked a strand of stray hair behind her ear, then cupped her face, meticulously tidying her, from her face to her collar. “The situation now doesn’t look good for him at all. Besides, seeing through something and dealing with it are two different things. What can be said may not be achievable. Don’t be afraid.”
Liancheng gazed at Lin Xianzi. Of course, she understood the principle that action is harder than words. Liang Chaosu was like that, and Lin Xianzi was even more so.
How to balance things in the future, how to jump between both sides to help.
Mo Shicheng’s goal was clear: as long as he could defeat Lin Xianzi, it didn’t matter if he cooperated with Liang Zhengping or Liang Chaosu. He could change targets at any time.
Liang Zhengping held leverage over him. Once Liang Chaosu decided to join forces with him, he would definitely find a way to resolve it. Then, she would use the recording as her trump card, defeat Liang Chaosu, and free Liang Zhengping.
Or perhaps, Liang Chaosu anticipated this and wouldn’t cooperate with Mo Shicheng, but instead would use the Lin family to his advantage. When he was weak, the Lin family’s help would be his shield; when he was strong, he would misrepresent the Lin family’s help to Liang Zhengping as harm, making it his spear.
Lin Xianzi could see that beneath her silence, Liancheng was being torn apart by fear and dread, suffering.
“Liancheng, I can’t guarantee absolute certainty, but I can at least protect you. If I can’t, the Lin family will. You can have a joyful and carefree life anywhere in the world for the rest of your life.”
Liancheng’s body trembled. There was no relief at all. The boulder crushing her heart grew heavier, so heavy that her flesh and blood couldn’t bear the burden, groaning with a crunching sound.
Lin Xianzi’s phone in her pocket vibrated. She glanced at it, her expression changing subtly, but she smiled at Liancheng.
“I noticed it from the phone call before. You look like me, and your personality is like your father’s. You’re too pure, kind, and benevolent, preferring to wrong yourself rather than implicate others even a little. But am I ‘others’?”
Liancheng was stunned.
Lin Xianzi caressed her. “I am your mother, your Mama. Everything else in the world can be weighed and prioritized, but your matters cannot. If, after knowing your true situation, I let you fall into the hands of your enemy, then what is the meaning of my revenge all these years? Am I worthy of you calling me Mother?”
Liancheng felt as if she were split in two. One half was the home she had longed for, with meals and seasons and her mother loving her dearly. The other half was the wind and snow of Iceland, the heavy feeling in her lower abdomen. She would never forgive herself for her impulsive haste.
As a result, her reason was reason, and her emotions were emotions. Alone, she was brave, but Liang Chaosu’s setup, for him, was similar to those four years. For her, it was like Iceland reappearing, the blood-red winter turning into thorns that encircled and nailed her down. She made a decision and then wanted to retreat.
Lin Xianzi couldn’t dispel her hesitation, nor could she untangle the rust in her eyes. She changed her approach and asked, “Why did you agree to bet with him?”
“Because if I compromise this time, there will be a next time—”
Liancheng suddenly fell silent. She hadn’t yet told Lin Xianzi in detail about those four years, and there was no time to mention the recording.
What she feared even more was that once a compromise began, Liang Chaosu was cunning, and the recording might become useless at any moment. She would also lose her principles and completely resign herself through the psychological torment and internal consumption of repeatedly choosing to surrender.
It would be worse than death.
So she gambled. If she won, the nightmare would dissipate. If she lost—
“Mama,” her voice was hoarse, as if scraped by sandpaper, trembling uncontrollably from crying so hard. “I’ll go with you. If we lose this time—”
“If we lose, we lose,” Lin Xianzi’s brow didn’t even furrow. It wasn’t calm, nor was it comforting, but somewhere between hatred and attainment, she gazed deeply at her.
“Twenty-three years ago in the mountains, when your father died, I didn’t want to live anymore. But you were still here. I wanted to bring you into the world and raise you, to tell you how much your father loved you. Then, for your ten percent chance of survival, I endured until ten years ago.”
“The night the remains were identified, your uncle stayed with me all night and cursed me all night. If I had died, my enemies would have set off firecrackers for three years, celebrating the death of the first wife, and how good it was that she died. From then on, every day would be peaceful and joyful.”
“Hatred sustained me until now,” Lin Xianzi hugged her tighter. “Liancheng, you are above hatred. By chance, Mo Shicheng sent you back to me. I have already won.”
Liancheng felt another kind of suffocation. It was too much oxygen, too much warmth around her, her blood flowing too fast. She experienced a drowning sensation different from pain; it was a beautiful reality, a hidden joy, but also bittersweet, because danger lurked everywhere.
Lin Xianzi wiped the tear tracks from her face and took her outside. “Moreover, my preparations were not empty words. Feng Shien is waiting for you at the fire exit. He will take you on a detour to the airport in the neighboring provincial capital, and then fly directly to Europe. During this time, do not answer any calls, do not listen to any messages, and absolutely do not return.”
Liancheng’s heart pounded with fear.
Lin Xianzi bypassed the elevator and took the stairs down. The stairwell was empty, and each step echoed with a clanging sound. “Mom didn’t treat you like an idiot, nor will I hide anything from you. It’s just that time is pressing and there’s no time for detailed explanations. Remember this: if you are in Europe, I am fishing. If you come back, it will be others fishing for me.”
