Volume One, Chapter 109: “I’ve come to pick up my fiancée.”
A sharp crack rang out, startlingly clear in the silent room.
The secretary felt like digging a hole and burying himself on the spot. He had been at Liang Zhengguo’s side for years, and had never once seen him this furious.
Liang Zhengguo had struck with full force. Even after the blow, his own palm was numb. His face was dark with rage, and the look he fixed on Liang Jinmo was like a blade. “Do you even know what you’re doing?”
Liang Jinmo had been knocked slightly to the side.
His cheek burned. He froze for a few seconds before turning back to face Liang Zhengguo.
“If I didn’t know, I wouldn’t have done it.”
His tone was calm. Seeing that attitude only made Liang Zhengguo more livid. “You bastard! Zhi is your brother’s fiancee!”
Liang Jinmo said, “It was Liang Muzhi who left first. When he walked away, he never gave a thought to Xu Zhi’s life or death.”
The issue was never really Xu Zhi to begin with. Liang Zhengguo snapped, “Then what about the Liang family’s reputation? The invitation had Muzhi’s name on it. Do you know how people will look at you after today, how they’ll look at Zhi, and how they’ll look at Muzhi?”
Liang Jinmo had fair, cool-toned skin. By now, his cheek was already swelling red, pain creeping in slowly, but his expression remained unchanged. His eyes were as still as an ancient well. “I’ve been called an unwanted bastard since the day I was born. I’ve never known what reputation is. And you want to talk to me about reputation?”
A crack appeared in Liang Zhengguo’s furious expression.
Of course he knew. Whether it was the Liang family or him as a father, they owed Liang Jinmo far too much.
To ask Liang Jinmo to consider the face of the Liang family, or Liang Muzhi, was plainly shameless.
But how could he soften now, how could he show weakness at a moment like this? He still held his face sternly. “If you truly have feelings for Zhi, you shouldn’t have done something like this. She’s a girl. The gossip and humiliation she has to bear will be far worse than you imagine.”
Liang Jinmo was silent for a moment before speaking again. “I know. That’s why I won’t abandon her the way Liang Muzhi did.”
Liang Zhengguo was so enraged he could not speak. He clenched his fists, barely restraining the impulse to strike Liang Jinmo again.
Was this what he wanted to hear? Somehow, the conversation had been dragged completely off course by Liang Jinmo.
Liang Jinmo looked at him and continued, “I know the Liang family has never welcomed me. Being sent here was never my choice. Over all these years, no matter how they treated me, I never asked you for anything. But this time...”
He paused.
“I won’t yield.”
Liang Zhengguo’s fists tightened even further. He knew what kind of temperament his son had. Indeed, over the years Liang Jinmo had suffered much, yet never once complained to him.
He had always thought Liang Jinmo was the sort of person who would endure in silence.
He had not expected this.
As the father, he had never done anything for this son. And once the past was brought up, he did not even have the confidence to keep scolding him.
Still, his anger would not subside. After a long while, he ground out a single word through clenched teeth.
“Get out.”
Liang Jinmo really did leave.
After stepping out of the lounge, he went straight downstairs, out through the side entrance of the hotel, and headed toward the parking lot.
Zhou He stopped him outside the side door and saw at once the swollen half of his face.
“Got hit?”
Zhou He was not entirely surprised. “Looks like just one slap. Easier than I expected.”
Liang Jinmo said, “Getting hit is nothing. The real trouble is still ahead.”
The two of them walked side by side to the parking lot and got into Liang Jinmo’s car before Zhou He spoke again. “Well, isn’t that obvious? Liang Zhengguo is probably about ready to explode from you. How are you supposed to survive in the company after this? Weren’t you just saying you’d settle accounts with the Liang family? Now what? You haven’t even started, and they may already fire you...”
Zhou He was indignant. “What exactly are you after? It’s not like there’s a shortage of women in the world. Why Xu Zhi? Why Liang Muzhi’s fiancee of all people? I am seriously speechless. What were you thinking? Did you think about the future at all?”
Liang Jinmo shifted into gear and started the car. “I’ll think about the future when it comes.”
Zhou He was infuriated. “How did I never realize you were this love-struck? What is so good about Xu Zhi? If she truly cared about you, she wouldn’t have gone back to get engaged to Liang Muzhi! You offended Liang Zhengguo early over a woman like that, and you think it was worth it?”
Liang Jinmo said nothing, just drove in silence.
After venting himself, Zhou He finally remembered to ask, “What exactly happened? I couldn’t find you in the banquet hall, and then the next thing I know you’re up there making a grand appearance. Where was Liang Muzhi?”
Liang Jinmo answered briefly, “He ran.”
“See?” Zhou He seized the point. “If Liang Muzhi hadn’t run, none of this would have fallen to you. Was Xu Zhi the one who asked you to save the situation? I’m telling you, you should never have gotten involved. You should have let her go up there alone!”
Liang Jinmo pressed his thin lips into a line and fell silent again.
Zhou He glanced out the window. “Where are we going?”
“To the Xu residence.”
Zhou He frowned. “What are we going there for?”
“Xu Heping won’t let Xu Zhi off,” Liang Jinmo said, looking straight ahead. “He couldn’t lose his temper in the hotel because it wasn’t convenient. Once they get home, Xu Zhi is very likely to be hit.”
“And what, you can stop her father from beating her?” Zhou He frowned. “That’s their family business.”
“Right now, I’m her fiance.”
“So you’re proud of that now, are you?” Zhou He was nearly losing his mind. “I’m begging you to look in a mirror first, brother. You’ve already been hit. Don’t you feel the pain? Your face is swollen!”
He was so exasperated by Liang Jinmo that he fell silent for the rest of the drive.
By the original plan, once the engagement ceremony ended, both families should have gone home in harmony.
But now things had come to this...
Liang Zhengguo and Fu Wanwen left the hotel discreetly through the side entrance, first going to the hospital to check on Old Master Liang’s condition. The secretary and assistants remained behind to handle the remaining work at the hotel.
As for Xu Zhi and Zhao Nianqiao, Xu Heping, still unclear on the situation, led them from the hotel’s main entrance to the parking lot. On the way, they even ran into a paparazzo, who fired off shot after shot with a single-lens reflex camera.
The Liang family’s orchestrated spectacle had indeed paid off. They were not people from the entertainment industry, yet now even paparazzi were tailing them. It was easy to imagine that this engagement would become a topic of endless gossip for some time to come. An engagement ceremony in which the fiance was suddenly changed at the last minute—such a thing would be enough to set tongues wagging even in an ordinary family, let alone a wealthy one.
Xu Heping was practically itching to hit someone. He forced himself to endure it and got into the car in great haste.
His assistant was in the driver’s seat. Xu Zhi and Zhao Nianqiao followed them in. Zhao Nianqiao had used a bit of caution and made sure Xu Zhi did not sit in the middle; she took the middle seat herself so Xu Zhi would not have to sit beside Xu Heping.
The atmosphere inside the car was so cold it felt as though it had frozen over, making it hard to breathe.
As the car pulled away, Xu Heping turned his head to look at Xu Zhi. “You have nothing to say?”
Xu Zhi said, “No.”
The car was too quiet. Xu Heping clenched his fists tightly; the cracking of his knuckles was distinctly audible.
Zhao Nianqiao frowned and looked at him. “Muzhi broke the engagement first. What exactly do you expect Zhi to do? Just wait to become the woman everyone laughs at after being abandoned?”
Xu Heping turned his head. If the car’s interior had not been so cramped, he would already have struck someone. His voice was full of agitation. “What do you women know? With so many people watching, now that she’s engaged to that bastard son, how is she supposed to marry Muzhi in the future?”
“You can still dream up something like that?” Xu Zhi suddenly said, and gave a soft laugh. “I’m engaged to Liang Jinmo in front of so many witnesses. From now on, I’m Liang Muzhi’s future sister-in-law. If I have anything to do with Liang Muzhi again, that would be incest.”
“You!” Xu Heping’s face turned livid with rage. “Do you even know what shame is?”
He raised a finger and pointed it at Xu Zhi’s nose. Zhao Nianqiao hurriedly blocked him. “Enough! We can settle everything after we get home. We’re still on the road!”
Xu Heping was so angry his head throbbed. He turned to stare out the window, thinking that once they got home, he would be sure to teach Xu Zhi a proper lesson.
Yet one annoyance followed another.
As the car entered the villa district and turned into the road before their house, they saw another vehicle already parked by the entrance.
Leaning against that car was none other than Liang Jinmo.
Xu Heping’s anger shot straight to the top of his head. He shoved the door open and got out at once.
Seeing Liang Jinmo, Xu Zhi could not help but get out as well.
Liang Jinmo straightened and walked over. Xu Heping stormed up to him and spoke with no courtesy at all. “What are you doing here?”
Liang Jinmo glanced past Xu Heping to the Xu Zhi standing behind him, and replied in a calm, cool voice, “I’m here to pick up my fiancee.”