Volume 1, Chapter 167: She started finding him adorable again.

The Lunar New Year was approaching, yet the atmosphere in the Liang household was one of gloomy despair.

Elder Liang and Liang Muzhi had both been discharged from the hospital. The truth about Liang Muzhi's injury had not been fully revealed to the old man; they only told him it was an accidental car crash during a street-racing session.

Weak as he was, Elder Liang merely sighed upon hearing this. "This boy has truly been utterly ruined by you all. To cripple his own hand over such reckless play... In my opinion, you'd better start planning his future early on. If you expect him to inherit the Liang Corporation, won't he just run the company into the ground as well?"

As Liang Zhengguo and Fu Wanwen were talking with the old man inside the bedroom, Liang Muzhi stood right outside the doorway. He had intended to push the door open, but upon hearing those words, he silently turned around and walked back to his own room.

Fu Wanwen believed that all of this was entirely Xu Zhi's fault, yet she had nowhere to vent her bitter grievances.

Both Elder Liang and Liang Zhengguo blamed her for spoiling Liang Muzhi, and even Xu Zhi had said the same. Who did Xu Zhi think she was? The fury within her heart grew wildly; sooner or later, she would find an opportunity to settle this score with Xu Zhi.

That afternoon, she carried a bowl of nourishing bone soup to Liang Muzhi's room and said to him, "I have a friend who is a registrar at C University. I spoke with her today. Given Xu Zhi's situation—she's a senior and about to graduate—even though she has enough credits, she still has her thesis and defense to get through. I can..."

Liang Muzhi bolted upright from the bed. "Mom! Enough is enough!"

Fu Wanwen sat by the bedside, staring at him in a daze.

Liang Muzhi frowned. "What do you want? Make it impossible for Zhizi to graduate? That's not what I want!"

Fu Wanwen retorted, "Then what? She drives you to this state without a single apology, and she still expects to live a peaceful life?"

Liang Muzhi was speechless.

He did not want Xu Zhi to be hurt, yet he also could not bear to see her living happily with Liang Jinmo.

Most of his life had already been ruined. Every time he looked in the mirror now, the person staring back felt like a stranger to him. He no longer spent his days thinking about amusement; instead, he thought of her constantly, wondering if he should go abroad to make a clean break of it all, yet he remained unwilling to let go, reminiscing about their past when things had clearly been so good...

Fu Wanwen was even more reluctant to let it go than he was. He was her only precious son, whom she had always held in the palm of her hand and protected. Now that Xu Zhi had reduced him to this wretched state, and with Xu Zhi acting so self-righteous about it, she simply could not swallow this anger.

She told Liang Muzhi, "Muzhi, don't worry. Your dad is favoring that illegitimate son of his right now, but it doesn't matter. Mom will get justice back for you. I will never let them off easy."

Filled with restless agitation, Liang Muzhi said, "Let this matter go, will you? I'm really exhausted right now."

"Fine, I won't press you. Don't upset yourself anymore, just drink the bone soup and focus on recovering."

Staying at home felt entirely too suffocating, so Liang Muzhi went out that afternoon.

With nowhere to go, he lingered outside the Xu family's residence for a few minutes, but Xu Zhi was not home.

Now, only Xu Heping remained at the Xu house. Xu Zhi likely held no lingering attachment to such a father, and he had no idea if she would ever return to this home again.

He walked over to the residential compound's landscaped green belt, sat down on a wooden bench, and pulled out his phone. The pinned conversation at the very top of his WeChat was still his chat with Xu Zhi.

They had not spoken in a long time. He scrolled up, reading through the chat history message by message, lingering over it for a long time as he recalled every little detail between them over the past few months.

He had missed her birthday—the very first time. He had accompanied Chen Jing to Hong Kong instead, yet Xu Zhi had not looked angry in the least. She had always been like that in the past, gentle and devoid of a temper.

Back then, had she actually liked him? What had she been thinking? Did she harbor any resentment toward him for breaking his promise?

All of this was now completely beyond his reach.

His phone suddenly vibrated in his palm—Monkey was calling.

He answered and brought the phone to his ear. Monkey asked him how his hand was doing on the other end.

He replied, "Same as before. It takes a hundred days to heal a broken bone; it's going to take a while."

Monkey fell silent for a moment before suddenly asking, "Did you know? My racetrack's operating license got revoked by inspections."

Liang Muzhi froze.

"I spent a few days running around, pulling all kinds of favors, just to find out..." Monkey said, "It was your mom's doing. She knows people at the State Administration for Industry and Commerce. For a profit-driven racetrack like this, it requires numerous operating permits. If they just flag safety management as inadequate on any front, they can easily crush a racetrack."

A chill ran down Liang Muzhi's spine. "Did you get it wrong?"

Monkey muttered, "Forget it... There's no point in telling you this. The people from the Bureau of Industry and Commerce told me to pack up my things. The entire plot of land for the racetrack is being reclaimed now. I don't plan on staying in this industry next year anyway. I already anticipated this result when you had your accident at my track, so it's not entirely unexpected."

After hanging up the phone, Liang Muzhi sat in a prolonged daze, his mind flashing back to Fu Wanwen's words.

If Fu Wanwen wouldn't even spare Monkey, what about Xu Zhi? Would Fu Wanwen really listen to him and give up her plans for revenge against Xu Zhi?

On New Year's Eve, Xu Zhi and Liang Jinmo returned to the large flat he had purchased—which was now the current residence of Zhao Niangqiao.

In previous years, servants would prepare the New Year's Eve dinner, but this year was different. Zhao Niangqiao personally prepared the dumpling wrappers and filling, and the three of them set out to make dumplings together.

It was quite evident, however, that both Xu Zhi and Liang Jinmo were thoroughly incompetent at it.

The dumplings Xu Zhi wrapped had a very distinct style: flat, thin semi-circles. No matter what, she simply could not master Zhao Niangqiao's pinching technique.

Like a failing student during an exam, she covertly glanced at the dumplings in Liang Jinmo's hands.

His looked very much like hers. Frowning like a pedantic scholar, he tried hard to pinch the edges into the shape Zhao Niangqiao had made, but with a bit too much force, a piece of the wrapper tore right off.

With a soft puff, Xu Zhi could no longer hold it in and burst out laughing.

Liang Jinmo raised his gaze toward her.

She said, "Sorry, I couldn't help it."

Then she turned her face away and continued giggling.

So even this man had things he wasn't good at. She found herself thinking he was adorable once again.

At that moment, Zhao Niangqiao looked quite kindly upon Liang Jinmo and said, "Jinmo, don't mind her. Let me show you how to wrap them. You need to pinch them like this..."

Under Zhao Niangqiao's guidance, Liang Jinmo produced a few more bizarrely shaped dumplings.

Zhao Niangqiao: "..."

Liang Jinmo: "..."

Xu Zhi let out another laugh.

Doubtful of her own existence in this world, Zhao Niangqiao said, "I can't teach you two. You are hands down the worst batch of students I've ever taught!"

Holding her own rather hideous dumpling, Xu Zhi felt it might still be saved, but Zhao Niangqiao would have none of it.

"Go play somewhere else, both of you. I'll handle the wrapping."

With hands thoroughly covered in flour, Xu Zhi and Liang Jinmo walked one after the other to the bathroom to wash up.

The moment they stepped inside, without any warning, Liang Jinmo raised his hand and pinched Xu Zhi's cheek. "Laughing at me?"

A white smudge was left on Xu Zhi's cheek. Sensing it, she brushed it with the back of her hand. "Your hands are covered in flour, yet you're touching my face."

Without a word, Liang Jinmo raised his hand again and pinched her other cheek.

Xu Zhi: "..."

She declared, "I'm going all out with you."

With that, she raised her hands, intent on smearing the flour from her own palms onto his face.

The man raised his arm to block her, but failed to stop her; she managed to leave a streak right across his face.

"Hahaha..." Xu Zhi crowed triumphantly. "You've grown a white beard!"

Buoyed by happiness, her eyes shone brightly, and her smile was radiant.

In the past, she rarely displayed such uninhibited emotions—at least, he had never witnessed them before. Stirred by the sight, he could not help but lean closer.

Xu Zhi felt the light before her dim for a fraction of a second. Her wrist was caught, the man's aura pressing heavily and completely around her as his lips met the soft warmth of hers, immediately followed by parting her teeth to deepen the kiss.