Chapter 35: His Unusual Anomaly
Last year, on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, Little New Year’s Eve, it poured with rain.
Lian Cheng didn’t remember the specific reason, only that Liang Wenfei had a huge fight with her and lost badly. Mother Liang took Liang Wenfei’s side and instructed Aunt Wang to pack her luggage, sending her back to school right at the start of the holiday.
In the heavy rain and strong wind, she didn’t let the driver take her, and no one even gave her an umbrella.
How did she endure it then? Why didn’t she run away?
If she had run away then, she wouldn’t be walking on eggshells now, struggling for survival.
That’s right.
Halfway back, Liang Chaosu blocked her path in his car and escorted her directly to a house near the school. He vented his frustrations on her until New Year’s Eve night. He felt refreshed and rushed back to the South to celebrate the New Year lively.
He found a nanny to act as a jailer, monitoring her as if she were imprisoned in a cold house. He even felt the punishment wasn’t enough on New Year’s Eve and specifically called to instruct the nanny to forbid her from watching the Spring Festival Gala.
It was a childish tactic, yet it precisely targeted her longing for a home and pierced her to the core.
Therefore, not letting him vent this time, deliberately opening the door to scare her out of her wits, could only be considered an appetizer.
Old Han being on holiday was the signal for the main course.
She didn’t know what else awaited her from now on.
……………
Suddenly, the sound of an engine approached rapidly from a curve behind, its bright headlights turning from the mountainside to the center of the road.
Lian Cheng raised her hand to shield her eyes from the blinding white light, moving to the side of the road.
In the blink of an eye, just as she regained her footing, the vehicle stopped abruptly beside her.
Lian Cheng’s eyes adjusted to the light, gradually focusing, and she saw the passenger window lowering.
Zhang An, in the driver’s seat, leaned over and smiled at her, “Miss Lian Cheng, please get in.”
Lian Cheng looked at the back seat. The dawn light was a deep, dark sea blue, and everything she could see was hazy. The car lights were off, and she couldn’t tell if anyone was inside.
Although Liang Chaosu often didn’t eat breakfast at the Liang family’s house, he wouldn’t leave this early.
Lian Cheng calculated that it would be around seven o’clock at the earliest. She held onto a sliver of hope and pulled the passenger door open.
Zhang An, with a smile, stopped her, “Miss Lian Cheng, the back seat.”
So Liang Chaosu was here.
Lian Cheng took a deep breath.
She couldn’t afford to be willful and refuse.
Last night, Mother Liang had misunderstood things by mistake, so her chance to escape was still there.
The future was still promising.
Mentally preparing herself, Lian Cheng got into the car.
The vehicle glided forward, and Zhang An raised the partition without being told.
At the same time, he turned on the reading light, and the car’s interior instantly became brightly lit.
The man’s body outline was illuminated by the warmest yellow light. Black leather shoes, black trousers, black shirt; the belt cinched his narrow waist.
His attire was simple and low-key, yet he exuded the charm of a mature man.
“Going to work this early today?” Liang Chaosu crossed his legs, sitting casually. “Not eating breakfast?”
Lian Cheng hadn’t looked at his face until now. Hearing his casual tone, she couldn’t help but glance at his expression.
Perhaps it was a deliberate setting by the car manufacturer, but the reading light had a softness that other lights lacked. Enveloping him at this moment, it actually softened his sharpness.
Making him seem gentler as well.
It was as if he wasn’t planning to settle accounts with her, or perhaps his anger yesterday was purely her imagination.
It was both strange and absurd.
“The project is busy, and the company provides breakfast,” Lian Cheng replied, filled with uncertainty.
“The Liang’s Botanical Garden project?” Liang Chaosu reached out, took her bag, and removed it from her shoulder.
Lian Cheng instinctively clutched her arm, but he easily took it, unzipped it, revealing a mobile phone, charger, and tissues.
Nothing else.
“These few items require such a large bag?”
Lian Cheng gritted her teeth, cold sweat breaking out on her back.
Of course, there were more than just these. Before leaving the house this morning, she had also brought the map of Cui County she had researched online, marking the locations Tai Duoduo had mentioned, along with an action plan.
She thought that paper was too conspicuous and cumbersome, so she quickly burned it after memorizing it this morning.
“I’m accustomed to carrying the bag,” Lian Cheng said, reaching out to grab the bag with one hand and the phone with the other.
“Get a new one.” Without further ado, he rolled down the window and tossed the old bag out. From beside his feet, he pulled out a Platinum Bag, a custom matte elephant gray, a limited edition that noblewomen in Nan Province had been scrambling for this year.
Mother Liang and Liang Wenfei each got one. Liang Wenfei even held a party to show off.
“No need.” Lian Cheng took back the charger and tissues, attempting to snatch her phone.
Liang Chaosu’s arm naturally wrapped around her, while his other hand took the phone and tossed it into the Platinum Bag.
Propping open the bag, he gestured to the items in her hand, “Put them in.”
Lian Cheng struggled for a moment, realizing his arm had tightened. She offered no further resistance and threw the items inside.
Liang Chaosu seemed satisfied, stroking her hair with a gentle touch. “I’ll drive you these few days.”
Lian Cheng froze and lowered her head to hide her expression. “The project team’s overtime is unpredictable, it would be inconvenient to delay your time.”
Liang Chaosu gazed at her, only seeing the top of her silent head.
Every second of silence was filled with fear.
His punishments over the past three months had been too severe.
It was wrong for him to have pushed her to the point of fear, even if he wanted to teach her a lesson for choosing the wrong answer after graduation and make her remember her mistake.
Fear… would only push her further away.
“The botanical garden is a Liang’s project,” Liang Chaosu’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he lifted her chin. “If you don’t work overtime, it will only benefit the project.”
Lian Cheng’s skin was porcelain white, her facial features exquisite, and her eyebrows dark and lightly arched, the look of a wealthy beauty.
Upon closer inspection, one could notice a small mole on the tip of her nose, smaller than a sesame seed, adding a touch of delicate charm to her radiance.
He kissed her.
Lian Cheng leaned back to dodge, catching a glimpse of a soft light in his eyes, a mixture of cold hardness and tenderness.
Her heart immediately sounded an alarm.
If he wasn’t going to settle accounts, why the bag, the hints to be obedient, and the offer of the project?
What kind of leniency act was this, and what was his purpose?
……………
Lian Cheng struggled to reach the company without understanding.
She sat blankly at her workstation to recover.
Tai Duoduo, after clocking in, was first surprised to see her, then exclaimed, “No way, how early do you actually get here? I came a full hour early today, and you’re still here.”
Lian Cheng rubbed her face with her hands, mustered her energy, and replied, “Overtime pay is triple; I treat the company like home.”
Tai Duoduo gave her a thumbs-up. “Boss Tu Xingsun is awesome.”
As she passed Lian Cheng’s workstation, her peripheral vision caught a glimpse, and she immediately stopped in her tracks.
“Birkin, crocodile skin, elephant gray, with accessories it’s worth seven or eight hundred thousand. Did your second-generation boyfriend give it to you?”
Lian Cheng’s gaze followed hers, and she realized she had habitually piled her bag in the corner of the desk and forgotten to put it away.
“A high imitation,” she replied nonchalantly, handing it casually to Tai Duoduo. “It cost me half a month’s salary from a WeChat seller. I guarantee it’s indistinguishable from the real thing unless you take it to the counter. How about it? Is it authentic?”
Tai Duoduo picked it up and examined it back and forth several times. “It’s authentic. If you hadn’t tossed it to me so casually, like throwing away a rotten cabbage, I might not have believed you bought it from a WeChat seller.”
Lian Cheng raised an eyebrow. “Why?”
“Because of your second-generation friend who drives a Mercedes coupe.” Tai Duoduo leaned in to gossip. “Didn’t you see the company’s main group chat last night? Liu Lan, your former colleague from Team A, posted in the group that you took leave to go to a hotel with a second-generation guy. If it weren’t for Maitreya Buddha arguing with her in the group, she would have posted photos.”
Lian Cheng had set the company’s main group chat to do not disturb. Last night was hectic, and she hadn’t checked it.
At this moment, she opened it to find over a thousand unread messages.
She skimmed through them. Someone was questioning her promotion, saying she had connections and was undeserving, pushing out Liu Lan, who should have joined the special project team. This led Liu Lan to directly accuse her of hooking up with a second-generation heir.
Lian Cheng had already read more than half of it when she saw Maitreya Buddha appear.
About ninety percent of the company’s employees were present, spectating. Maitreya Buddha sternly criticized Liu Lan for slandering a colleague and demanded a public apology.
Liu Lan, unable to back down, directly posted in the group that Lian Cheng had gone for a prenatal check-up at a black clinic in an alley yesterday.
At this, the group chat exploded.
Lian Cheng’s face turned pale. Scrolling to the end, it was Bai Xiwen who personally stepped in to call a halt.
