Chapter 265: Mutual Destruction
Lin Ziqiu didn’t ask what worried her. “You go,”
Lian Yingying took a step, but he remained motionless.
The gentleman beside her raised his glass and brushed past Lian Yingying’s shoulder. Lin Ziqiu saw her hesitate and stop, “Aren’t you going to greet him?”
This time Lian Yingying noticed his strangeness and didn’t dare to be careless, “If Grandpa Seven isn’t here, I won’t go either.”
Lin Ziqiu chuckled, “You are the daughter of Xianzi and Jianhong. I brought you out to see the world, not to be a follower. Furthermore, you will inherit the Mo family in the future, you can’t be so indecisive. Go if you want.”
Lian Yingying had no experience fighting in the marketplace herself, but she often observed the old foxes of the business world wielding both overt and covert attacks.
What was said was not important; what mattered was the implied meaning behind the words and the actions accompanying the speech.
Lin Ziqiu wanted her to be a pawn, to scout ahead, to use her identity as Lin Xianzi’s daughter to test Liang Chaosu for him.
The gaping wound in Lian Yingying’s chest cavity continued to expand. She couldn’t help but want to refuse forcefully, but reason ultimately prevailed.
When Liang Liancheng came to Hong Kong, she could lose her status at any moment. To refuse again, to be stepped on and exploited, to offend Lin Ziqiu, and to lose her last bit of value would be self-destruction.
Pushing through the crowd, the large crystal chandelier shone brightly. Liang Chaosu stood directly beneath it, the light pooling on his brow bone, his eye sockets recessed in shadow, making him appear even more inscrutable and profound.
Lian Yingying’s heart felt as if it were being seized. She raised her glass to him, her voice trembling almost imperceptibly, “Hello Director Liang, I am Mo Yingying. We met last year.”
Liang Chaosu looked up. His pure black suit had no hidden patterns or designs. His broad shoulders were straight. The banquet hall was not short of well-mannered magnates, but none possessed his imposing presence.
That kind of cold, resolute decisiveness was as majestic as a towering mountain and black water. Under his gaze, Lian Yingying felt a fatal sense she had never experienced before.
“I heard you are getting married—”
Liang Chaosu looked her over, his gaze holding an indescribable feeling.
Lian Yingying couldn’t see through him. She only felt as if an invisible hand was choking her throat, her syllables blurred and trembling.
The next second, this intimidating aura receded like a tide.
For reasons unknown, the man answered her, “I am getting married, Miss Mo.”
He called her Miss Mo.
Lian Yingying’s heart pounded wildly, “Congratulations, you’ve established yourself at thirty, with a successful career and family. Did your wife come to this finance forum? We met briefly last time, and I was flustered and confused. I hope I didn’t offend her in any way.”
Liang Chaosu’s peripheral vision flickered imperceptibly towards the distance, then retracted, “Miss Mo wants to see my wife?”
Lian Yingying was astonished. It was too direct.
She had interacted with countless high-society individuals. Even socialites and playboys would hint, and even during games or boisterous parties, they would think before speaking.
Liang Chaosu’s directness was not because he didn’t understand elite social interactions; it was because he saw through her ulterior motives for approaching him but found her beneath his notice and was impatient with her games.
“When we came to Hong Kong this time, my wife and I are staying at 177 Hoi Hing Road, West Kowloon. Miss Mo is welcome to visit.”
Lian Yingying was truly taken aback.
Jin Tonghai had an inside contact in the Lin family. She knew that the residence Lin Lanfeng had arranged for Liang Liancheng was at 178 Hoi Hing Road, West Kowloon.
It was a slope with government-protected century-old trees, their canopies providing cover, making climbing impossible. The security company was Lin Lanfeng’s private property. Years ago, Lin Lanfeng’s secret lover gave birth there, and even with Hong Kong’s paparazzi digging everywhere, they couldn’t capture a single window from there.
They had no way to monitor it and had even considered sending someone to live opposite. However, the owner of the house lived in Singapore and refused to rent it out, so they had to give up.
Liang Chaosu glanced at her calmly, “If Miss Mo is unwilling to grace us with her presence, then so be it.”
Lian Yingying suddenly snapped awake, “No.” She took a breath, “It would be my greatest honor. Just tell me when it would be convenient for you?”
Only then did a smile appear on Liang Chaosu’s face, hidden beneath his skin. His eyes were cold and deep, yet inexplicably showed pleasure.
Lian Yingying couldn’t fathom it, but a secret sense of happiness bloomed within her, as if she had pleased him.
………………………………
The next morning.
Liancheng finished breakfast and went upstairs to her bedroom.
Outside, the sky was gloomy and a strong wind had picked up. The leaves of the banyan tree rustled and hit the window, like a moving wall blocking out the dim light indoors.
Liancheng turned on the floor lamp and lay on the chaise longue by the window. Nearly twenty hours had passed since her call with Lin Lanfeng yesterday.
The rule of law in the mainland had been progressing over the years. After several crackdowns on crime, even street thugs who dared to wield knives were rare. Kidnapping cases involving Hong Kong and Singapore affairs, like Lin Xianzi’s, would be directly handled by the provincial department, with arrests made within twenty-four hours.
Even if an arrest wasn’t made, there would be significant progress.
Yet, Lin Lanfeng had not contacted her again.
Liancheng stared at the screen for two minutes before dialing.
Lin Lanfeng answered quickly, “Liancheng, did you sleep well last night?”
“Very well.” She truly slept well.
Regardless of any bet, she had escaped Liang Chaosu’s control.
She wasn’t in his house, not within his sphere of influence, and didn’t have to fear waking up in the middle of the night to find him sitting by her bed.
“My mother—”
“Don’t worry.” Lin Lanfeng’s voice was hoarse from lack of sleep. “The information you gave me yesterday afternoon was very timely. Mo Shicheng’s kidnapping this time is indeed consistent with our objectives.”
“Your mother’s location was updated yesterday afternoon to Ao Jia Wa in the southwest, only twenty kilometers in a straight line from the mountains where the kidnapping occurred that year. However, she likely discovered this long ago while being moved by the kidnappers, but couldn’t contact us.”
“Has the police made any progress?”
Lin Lanfeng pressed his temples with his hands. “Yes, not only the police, but Lian Yingying also attended the finance forum banquet with Lin Ziqiu last night and met Liang Chaosu.”
Liancheng frowned.
“Liang Chaosu said you and he live at 177 opposite, and invited Lian Yingying to visit.”
Liancheng sat up abruptly.
Liang Chaosu hadn’t lied to her. He hadn’t intended to use her to disrupt the situation, but he also hadn’t intended to let her out of his grasp.
Yesterday’s standoff at the door had ended with Feng Shien voluntarily withdrawing, not staying there. Liang Chaosu had stopped blocking her, and Liancheng thought he had also backed down.
Unexpectedly, he had been waiting for this. Inviting Lian Yingying to encounter her, with her at 177, using the identity of Mrs. Liang, everything would be plausible.
She was at Lin Lanfeng’s 178…
“I will handle this matter.” Liancheng asked, “Has Lian Yingying made any other moves?”
“After the banquet, she and Lin Ziqiu returned to the Lin family together. Lin Ziqiu came to me and directly asked about Lian Yingying’s authenticity.”
Lin Lanfeng opened a drawer to find a cigarette case. A flash of scarlet light illuminated his face, which was filled with dejection. “He is disheartened; I can see it.”
Liancheng had never even met Lin Ziqiu and felt a sense of closeness to the Lin family, which couldn’t be applied to someone whose name she only knew, “Do you think the mole isn’t him?”
Lin Lanfeng didn’t answer immediately. He took several deep, rapid drags from a cigarette before saying, “My wife and I, we suspect Jin Tonghai. Your mother owes him a life debt and doesn’t believe he would be bribed by Mo Shicheng after saving her.”
“Now that Mo Shicheng is also a mole in this kidnapping, he will inevitably make various misleading suggestions to make us eliminate our own people. Moreover, Lian Yingying has been showing him favor, so I don’t think it’s him.”
Liancheng detected something unusual, “Do you have other concerns?”
Lin Lanfeng said heavily, “Jin Tonghai has gone to Qi Province. Liancheng, we have won too much. With you, Lian Yingying has become a useless piece, and by finding the mole, the dilemma with Far East Pharmaceutical will also be resolved.”
“Mo Shicheng has no chance of winning. Your mother is in danger.”
Liancheng felt a chill run through her, a coldness creeping from her pores.
If it came to a desperate struggle, in the mainland there was the real mole Jin Tonghai, and also Liang Zhengping.
