Chapter 93: Those Four Years Weren’t Without Good Times
Father Liang waved his hand, and the servant at the door immediately closed the door.
He embraced Mother Liang, “Regarding this matter, you listen to me. Wait until there is evidence…”
Smoke curled and wound indoors, like a mass of gray-blue flowing clouds, whispering within the clouds.
On the other side.
Liang Chaosu rushed to the hospital, the red light of the operating room was alarmingly bright. Under the light, Gu Xingyuan slumped limply in a chair, his white shirt and linen trousers stained with bright red blood, with over a dozen wounds on his face and hands, some with glass shards.
Liang Chaosu walked up to him, and he didn’t react for a long time, unable to cry, unable to speak.
Between extreme breakdown and extreme hatred, he was numb like a shell drained of its soul.
Liang Chaosu frowned, looking around, but there were no doctors to treat the wounds.
At this moment, a man hurried from the end of the corridor, Gu Xingyuan’s assistant, holding a long string of payment receipts. Seeing Liang Chaosu was like seeing his backbone.
“Vice Chairman Liang, our Madam has RH negative blood. The hospital’s current blood supply is insufficient. They have already urgently arranged for transfers from other hospitals, but there is traffic congestion, and helicopters require prior application to the relevant departments. What do you think?”
A pregnant woman hemorrhaging is a critical moment where every second counts. Liang Chaosu had long been experienced with women being pregnant and was well aware that normal approval processes now could mean the difference between life and death for every minute it took.
“Go find my secretary. Everything will be convenient. He will take you.”
The assistant hurried away again. Gu Xingyuan returned to reality from his daze, covering his face, his spirit collapsing, “It was me, it was my rashness. The Shen family appeared, and when the situation loosened, I thought it was stable…”
“Call Xiao Rou to come back… I was going to pick her up, but I forgot that a cornered dog will bite. Gu Xingyu went all out. He was defeated, and he wanted me to lose everything too…”
Liang Chaosu usually looked down on his immature demeanor, but unexpectedly, he remained silent, listening to his fragmented, incoherent venting.
“I made so many preparations: bodyguards, a residence, medical staff for prenatal check-ups, I screened them over and over. I thought I had made foolproof arrangements for Xiao Rou, but even foolproof plans are afraid of mutual destruction. A beggar can be desperate enough to kill an emperor…”
Liang Chaosu stood straight and motionless.
Gu Xingyuan suddenly asked him, “You don’t agree, do you? If it were you…” He showed signs of collapsing again, “With your ability, could you have protected her?”
“I don’t have children, so yes.” Liang Chaosu looked down at him, his expression indifferent yet deep, like a bottomless abyss, ready to devour, impeccable. “If there were children, they would be too delicate, and if the child is delicate, the mother is even more so—”
He didn’t continue, but Gu Xingyuan understood.
Liang Chaosu was decisive but cautious, capable of being aggressive or patient. He used different methods for different situations.
If it were him, he would never have let Xiao Rou become a target from the beginning.
………………
Lian Cheng returned to the Liang residence after nine in the evening.
A few days ago, around this time, Father and Mother Liang would have already been in the bedroom, preparing to rest.
Today, however, they were sitting in the living room, discussing Liang Chaosu’s marriage while looking through a photo album.
Lian Cheng stood in the foyer, and just as she heard one sentence, Mother Liang’s gaze pierced through the carved screen and directly at her.
Lian Cheng’s heart leaped, but she suppressed it forcefully, and walked into the living room step by step, “Father, Mother.”
Mother Liang’s face seemed to be coated with a layer of false wax, her eyebrows and the corners of her eyes were frozen, motionless, making one’s heart crawl, yet it was impossible to see through the true emotions she hid beneath her expressionless face.
Beside her, Father Liang’s smile was much gentler, very natural. His gaze lingered on Lian Cheng’s hair for a moment, “Why aren’t you wearing that hairpin? Don’t you like it?”
Lian Cheng smiled, “I like it, it’s too precious, and inconvenient for daily wear.”
Father Liang persuaded her, “You are a young lady of the Liang family, what inconvenience is there? Wear it. Father likes to have his kind gestures respected.”
Lian Cheng did not refuse and nodded in agreement.
Mother Liang’s chest rose and fell sharply, and she stared at Lian Cheng with piercing eyes. Father Liang put his arm around her shoulder and gently shook her.
It was a comfort, a hint.
Mother Liang drew a breath but still couldn’t calm down. She shook off Father Liang’s arm, “Chaosu’s birthday is the day after tomorrow. He’s invited several young ladies to celebrate at home. You are an adult, and an adopted daughter. Sticking to Chaosu will cause gossip. Do you understand what I mean?”
Lian Cheng’s fear vanished, and she couldn’t help but feel joy, “I understand. I’ll go stay at Bai Ying’s house tomorrow evening and come back after the birthday.”
With Mother Liang’s decree, her disappearance the day after tomorrow would be legitimate, and the time of discovery would be reasonably delayed.
After Liang Chaosu’s birthday was over and he had the free time to look for her, perhaps she would already be on an airplane in a neighboring country, having disappeared completely.
Lian Cheng fell asleep with the excitement of her impending escape.
This sleep was stable, her future promising. For the first time in months, she slept peacefully in the Liang residence.
Liang Chaosu emerged from the hospital near dawn.
At noon, Gu Xingyuan’s child was lost, and his wife was in a coma due to severe bleeding. In the afternoon, experts from Jingdu, in conjunction with the provincial hospital, held a meeting to discuss treatment plans, but the prognosis was not good.
After Gu Xingyuan came out of the ICU, his hatred had become a madness from his bones. A radical who handled affairs aggressively, driven by fury, was more regardless of cost and less rational than a violent madman.
Liang Chaosu rejected his notion of mutual destruction but supported his revenge, and they discussed until midnight.
For the next period, he could foresee himself being very busy.
Liang Chaosu returned to the Liang residence, and a servant came to report.
“Madam also learned that Miss Lian Cheng has been staying out of the university and reacted strongly. After Director Liang persuaded her, Madam calmed down for now. But since your birthday is the day after tomorrow, Madam has forbidden her to appear. Miss Lian Cheng agreed and will stay at Miss Bai Ying’s house the night before, returning after your birthday.”
Liang Chaosu remained silent for a second, walked to Lian Cheng’s door, pushed it open, and found it locked.
The servant got him the key, “Director Liang and Madam slept late and just fell asleep.”
Liang Chaosu turned the doorknob.
Lian Cheng lay on her side by the bed. She slept very properly, curled up in one position until morning. When he was there, she rested her head in the crook of his arm, like a kitten nestled in his embrace, obedient and soft, yet picky. Her hands could hold him, but not touch him carelessly; her legs could encircle him, but not press on him.
She disliked him for being hard, for being strong, for having too much strength, for being wild. Over time, it became a habit; she disliked men with rougher body hair.
But her pickiness was delicate and proud, so much so that he couldn’t get angry and only wanted to draw her closer, to hold her tight, only to be kicked away by her in exasperation, and to be cursed at by her cold face, “You’re so annoying.”
Their four years were not without good times.
It was just that she held grudges fiercely. That summer, he truly wanted to let her return to the Liang family, but work unexpectedly changed, and he had to fly abroad. Not taking her with him would have wasted that opportunity of favorable timing and location.
She muttered grumpily on the plane, and grinned broadly upon landing.
He worked diligently, attending meetings, staying up all night, neglecting to eat or sleep.
His female secretary took her on a two-week tour of Europe. She didn’t answer his calls or texts. In the photos the secretary submitted, she was eager to return home, looking dejected. In private, her social media accounts had ten travel videos a day, with a beaming smile, posting “nice,” “happy,” “very good” every day.
He ‘accidentally’ liked a post, and three minutes later, the account was deleted. She again held it against him—watching him like a prisoner under strict guard.
Relax your guard, and she’ll run. Be strict, and she’ll hate you. She was neither soft nor hard, and was as patient as a turtle, and as prickly as a hedgehog.
But she was so vibrant.
