Chapter 73: Brought Back To The Liang Family
“Where did you get these shoes?”
Liancheng didn’t understand, “The deliveryman brought them.”
Mother Liang scrutinized her expression, “These are pre-release new models from A’s show. Domestically, I was the only one the brand gifted two pairs to in advance—one in coffee for me, and a pink pair for Feifei. The white pair has a designer’s autograph and is not for sale.”
Liancheng tensed for a moment, then relaxed, kicked off her slippers, and stood barefoot on the floor.
“I didn’t know these slippers looked like show models, but I bought them from Yiwu. I suppose the vendor was just too on-trend. If Mother doubts me, she can have someone verify. There’s absolutely no signature on these.”
Liang Wenfei ordered Sister Liu to come forward and check.
Liancheng bent down to pick up one of the slippers for her, her peripheral vision subtly sweeping over Liang Chaosu.
Her wallet was empty; she couldn’t afford luxury goods and habitually didn’t pay attention. But Liang Chaosu was different. Although he was now Vice Chairman, he was essentially an emperor.
Father Liang’s net worth might not even compare to his.
For these noblewomen chasing and competing over luxury goods, his privilege meant it was just a word, or they wouldn’t even need him to come forward personally.
The brand’s most prized possessions were offered with both hands.
Last time, the bag was already prepared. This time, the slippers were unavoidable. Fortunately, when she went out, she thought the white fluffy long fur was cute and couldn’t help but stroke it several times, knowing clearly there was no signature on it.
“Once, twice now,” Liang Wenfei clearly remembered, her gaze wandering over Liancheng’s clothes. “The top is a D brand haute couture fall, and the pants are also from A. Liancheng, this outfit alone is worth over 300,000 yuan. Is this also from Yiwu?”
Liancheng saw Sister Liu shaking her head at Mother Liang, her demeanor becoming more composed. “I’m vain. I can’t afford it, but I want to wear designer brands.”
Liang Chaosu’s chest heaved repeatedly, as if approaching a breaking point. After calming down, he met Father Liang’s observing gaze.
“Chaosu, you don’t want Liancheng to return?”
Liang Chaosu gave a wry smile, “If I drive her away, doesn’t that clearly state my attitude?”
A meaningful glint flashed across Father Liang’s face. He glanced at Liancheng again, “Then Liancheng, what are your thoughts? Father knows you’ve been wronged. Tell Father, are you still willing to stay in the Liang family?”
Liancheng started, not expecting the progress to be this fast. The storm she had envisioned had only begun with a pair of slippers and had already reached the final stage.
She subtly glanced at Liang Chaosu; his face was chillingly cold, carrying a hidden warning.
He warned her to cherish this last chance to choose, yet he had never given her a choice.
She lowered her eyelids. “Father, are you asking because you can’t bear to part with me?”
Father Liang probably hadn’t expected this answer from Liancheng. After a few seconds of pause, he said, “I can’t bear to part with you.” A smile touched his lips. “Liancheng has grown up.”
Compared to Liang Wenfei, who was the same age, she was much more mature, much calmer, and… much smarter.
But it was precisely her excessive intelligence that revealed traces.
A storm began to brew in Father Liang’s heart.
Liancheng pretended not to hear the hidden meaning in the latter half of his sentence. She raised her hand and vaguely wiped her eyes with her sleeve. “Then I’ll stay.”
“I disagree.” Liang Chaosu was like a sky about to unleash wind and rain, dark and swirling storm clouds, oppressive and soul-stirring.
This time, Father Liang was not rushed or angry. His tone was leisurely, “Why? What’s your reason?”
“I’m tired,” he said. “I’m tired of endlessly entangling with someone who spews lies and is shamelessly persistent in a meaningless place. If driving her away still brings her back—”
Liang Chaosu scanned Liancheng from head to toe. His eyes showed no surprise, no anger, no fiery rage at being deceived by her lies again. The gloom condensed into a bottomless, pitch-black dead sea.
A chilling coldness that struck the heart.
It poured in, submerged her, and froze her to death.
“Then remove her household registration, revoke her surname, and issue a public announcement to society under the name of the Liang family, severing all ties with her completely.”
For a long time, Liancheng at least forgot to breathe.
Her senses were all fading, leaving only her ears incredibly clear. The silence was deafening.
It was Liang Wenfei laughing, Mother Liang gasping.
It was Father Liang asking, “Are you sure?”
“Sure.”
It was a man’s mocking laugh, filled with weariness, disdain, and malice.
“Father doesn’t need to be suspicious anymore, Mother doesn’t need to worry, and I don’t need to constantly divide my attention thinking about these things. Everyone will be happy.”
“Do you hate her, or do you hate that Mother and I suspect things?”
“Is there a difference? The root of all problems is her.”
Liancheng found it absurd.
She didn’t have grand ambitions. At the ambitious age of twenty-two, her greatest longing was for peace and stability, to live like a human being.
She wished for countless nights of her remaining life to be like the wind and moon of that small inn.
She wished for a day when she could speak as vividly as an old woman, shouting without reservation or pretense, “Girl, I’ll give you a discount, three yuan.”
She envied Tai Duoduo so much, yet she never dared to hope that life would treat her as it treated Tai Duoduo.
If possible, she could live in a corner of Cui County, perhaps a bit larger, just a little.
She would divide it into two rooms. When her daughter was young, the other room would be a study and a playroom. When her daughter grew up, she would paint it her favorite color and make it her own little bedroom, giving her the key and never barging in without permission.
And for this tiny, grass-like hope, her duplicity towards him, and the chain reaction from her efforts to resist, had become her unforgivable, monstrous sin.
He wished he could dismember her into eight pieces and destroy her, inflict as much pain as possible, tear her to shreds, and crush her.
…………
“Liancheng.” Father Liang stood before her at some unknown point. “Come to the study, Father has something to talk to you about.”
Liancheng stiffened, returning to herself. “Okay.”
She followed Father Liang onto the stairs sluggishly, vaguely sensing a gaze behind her, deep, oppressive, chilling, yet burning like fire, prickling her back.
The study.
Just like every intimate talk in the study when she was a child, Father Liang sat on a single-seat sofa by the window.
Liancheng hesitated for a few seconds on the spot, and just like in the past, sat on the low stool beside the sofa.
Wrinkles formed at the corners of Father Liang’s eyes, and a smile spread across his face. “These past few years, Chaosu has been expanding the Northern Market, and I’ve had to secure our rear. You’ve been away at university, so it’s been four years, hasn’t it, since we’ve had a heart-to-heart talk.”
Liancheng forced a smile. “I used to study history and see how it was easier to conquer dynasties than to rule them. Rear area funding, personnel supply, relationship management—the Liang family’s rapid progress these four years, Father, you deserve the primary credit. You are the hero behind the scenes.”
Father Liang chuckled, pointing at her in the air. “That tongue of yours is definitely taught by your mother.”
Liancheng’s mouth twitched; she remained silent.
Father Liang’s eyes also brightened. Unlike Liang Chaosu’s sharpness, they held the seasoned wisdom polished by years.
“Do you resent your mother?”
Liancheng’s voice was very soft. “I don’t resent her.”
Father Liang leaned back in his chair. “Liancheng, your mother, she’s someone who despises evil and loves good, extremely protective, like a lioness on the savanna.”
Liancheng lowered her eyelids.
A lioness on the savanna protects her cubs, but she hadn’t been considered a cub for a long time.
