Chapter 287: Little Sweetheart
“How has Shen Lichuan been recently?”
Bai Ying couldn’t help but think of a word: “Striving for strength.”
Perhaps it was insincere, Liancheng’s chest suddenly felt stuffy, she took a breath, and only then realized her head was also heavy, feeling dizzy and faint.
“That child, he actually cares.”
Bai Ying pouted.
Shen Lichuan was good at everything: kind, generous, clear and bright, but at times like these, she sneered at such gentleness.
Women have simple requirements for love and loyalty: preference and exceptions, unconditional support.
Shen Lichuan’s humanity was too radiant, lacking possessiveness and stubbornness. If Liang Wenfei were pregnant, it would be impossible for Liang Chaosu.
“Aren’t you angry?”
Liancheng’s hand touched her forehead, the touch was ice-cold, cooling her dizziness. “What am I angry about?”
Bai Ying sat up, “Liang Wenfei treated you that way, and others stood by you, yet you still pity Liang Wenfei’s child. Don’t you feel betrayed?”
Liancheng opened her eyes and looked at her, frowning. “What does betrayal have to do with it? His bloodline, his first child, he cares and pities him. Isn’t that human nature? If he had no feelings at all, would he still be human? Shen Lichuan is not a beast.”
Bai Ying didn’t understand, “Then don’t you feel a bit uncomfortable?”
“No.” The icy temperature on the back of her hand was gone, Liancheng switched hands. “I understand him.”
“I get it,” Bai Ying said with a look of sudden enlightenment and realization. “You don’t have possessiveness over him. You actually like his broad and loving humanity, not romantic love.”
Liancheng was speechless. “You understand, Miss Know-it-all.”
Bai Ying wanted to mention Liang Chaosu.
Her relationship with Xiao Da had been rather convoluted. After they got together, she often felt it was ordinary.
It wasn’t just Xiao Da who was ordinary, but she was even more so. On the exam of relationship development, they first did the fill-in-the-blanks: personality, attraction, each other’s shining points, family background.
After completing and checking the answers, it was time for multiple-choice questions.
There were single-choice and multiple-choice questions. Bai Ying was fortunate that her innate conditions determined that ninety-nine percent of the multiple-choice questions she encountered simplified many decisions.
If every question were single-choice, she would definitely have moments of giving up on Xiao Da.
She felt Xiao Da was the same.
Witnessing her own ordinariness, she couldn’t help but feel that the unreserved, fierce, and unwavering determination of beasts was unforgettable.
Liang Chaosu’s four years of filling out this exam, presenting today’s unrecognizable answer, would certainly have involved a slow process of deliberation and compromise. What would that process look like?
But she ultimately didn’t mention it. Given her identity as a best friend, her bias was natural.
Liang Chaosu was reviled by everyone, disgraced, and trampled into the mud, but she still believed Liancheng’s happiness was most important.
After returning from the suburbs, Liancheng developed a high fever that could not be brought down. By evening, she fell into a coma, and the doctors were helpless, only able to announce, “Her condition has worsened too quickly, faster than our worst predictions. Lin, you need to seriously consider a kidney transplant now.”
Lin Xianzi was incredibly distraught, forcing back tears and questioning, “Clearly yesterday’s test data were still within the standard range. Did someone—”
The doctor immediately made a gesture, “Impossible. For the sake of confidentiality, this hospital has been thoroughly scrutinized by your people countless times. Even if 007 were here, you would have screened them out.”
“Her deterioration has nothing to do with other factors; it’s her emotional state. Like a rubber band, it was pulled too tight before, prematurely draining her health. Now that she’s relaxed, the rebound is more painful.”
Lin Xianzi choked up and slumped down. Mother and daughter had experienced similar things. She had a premature birth and was infertile for life; even after her uterus was removed, she remained healthy. Yet Liancheng was critically ill, and the culprit was her own pharmaceutical company, the injection she led the research on.
Bai Ying also cried, “Aunt Lin, the kidney source—”
She didn’t know what Lin Xianzi’s plans were or how far the private matching had progressed, but Liancheng’s deteriorating speed was already out of control and unpredictable; it could be a month, or it could be a few days.
This situation required a broader search.
Lin Xianzi knew this clearly. She wiped away her tears and looked at the doctor, “You come with me.”
When Liancheng woke up, she had been asleep for a day and two nights.
Outside, it was drizzling.
Dark clouds, rarely seen in the Apennine region, hung low.
The hospital room was dark, with no lights on, and silent.
She was stunned for a moment, then got up to go to the restroom. As she passed the doorway, she heard Lin Xianzi’s voice from the corridor.
“You are Liancheng’s maternal grandfather. You care for Liancheng. Hong Kong didn’t make a move, but did Mo Shicheng have scruples? Did he restrain himself? He was even more brazen. If it weren’t for Liang Chaosu, could Liancheng have survived that bullet?”
The voice on the phone was Mo Shifu.
Liancheng stopped.
Mo Shifu panted, “Without Liang Chaosu, there wouldn’t have been that bullet at all. Shicheng’s people weren’t prepared to harm her.”
Lin Xianzi understood, “Since you know so clearly, it seems the kidnapping case was also under your control.”
She sneered again, bitterly and hatefully, “So, the scenario in Hong Kong was orchestrated by you, Mo Shicheng kidnapped Liancheng to threaten me, forcing me to admit Far East Pharmaceutical’s crimes, then release him from prison and hand over everything Jianhong had?”
“No,” Mo Shifu’s breathing grew more rapid. “Xianzi, as long as you agree not to pursue Shicheng for hiring someone to murder, I will immediately force him to confess the mole. Far East Pharmaceutical’s problems will be covered by the mole, and you both will be unharmed. Isn’t that good?”
“Unharmed?” Lin Xianzi’s hatred was piercing. “Father, Jianhong is dead. Mo Shicheng concealed Liancheng’s medication records, causing her to miss early treatment. Now she’s deteriorating and needs a transplant. Isn’t this harm? In your eyes and heart, there is only Mo Shicheng. As long as he is safe, there is no harm. Jianhong and Liancheng deserved to be treated like grass?”
Mo Shifu’s voice gradually faded, almost to silence. Liancheng couldn’t hear clearly.
Lin Xianzi’s expression suddenly intensified, her eyes reddened. “Do as you wish, do whatever you want. At this point, I would rather die than let go.”
Mo Shifu became completely agitated. “You previously concealed Liancheng’s illness, fearing it would spread in Europe and victims of the injection would seek revenge, possibly leading to mass protests. Politicians and Far East’s competitors would be happy to stall Liancheng’s kidney matching. It is you who is delaying her condition.”
Lin Xianzi’s anger and hatred reached their peak. Instead, her emotions calmed. Numbly, coldly, with cursed malice.
“Then you might as well see who finds Jin Tonghai’s evidence first and exposes the inhumane beast Mo Shicheng faster, or if you, in good health, can rush out to advocate for your own son faster.”
The phone call ended. Liancheng quietly lay back in the hospital bed and closed her eyes.
She felt Lin Xianzi compose herself, adjust her appearance, and push the door open, gently stroking her hair and tucking her in. “Mom lost control and woke you up?”
Liancheng opened her eyes, embarrassed. “I can’t hide anything from you.”
She cautiously observed Lin Xianzi’s expression, held her hand, and pressed it against her cheek, rubbing it softly. “Mom, don’t be sad. Those who do too much injustice will eventually destroy themselves. You have me, I will always be with you.”
Lin Xianzi’s heart was filled with a thousand emotions. She felt a pain that made her blood boil with madness and a softness that scraped her bones. She smiled through tears, “I’m not sad. Regarding the Far East Pharmaceutical case, your uncle and Lin Ziqiu have made rapid progress and have caught Jin Tonghai’s weak point. The mole in the Lin family has also been isolated. Victory is in sight.”
Liancheng squeezed her hand in affirmation. Suddenly, rapid footsteps sounded in the corridor, and Lin Xianzi’s secretary pushed the door open, sweating profusely, “Manager Lin, Liang—”
