Volume One, Chapter 51 He said, “I can wait, but you cannot spend your life just running away.”

The rest of the journey passed in silence.

At first, Xu Zhi pretended to nap with her head down, but eventually she truly fell asleep, so she didn’t notice when the car turned into the villa district.

It wasn’t until she heard Liang Jinmo swipe the access card at the villa gates that she jerked awake in a daze and sat up. “Are we here?”

With sleep still clouding her eyes, she raised a hand to rub them, then covered her mouth to stifle a yawn. A tuft of her hair stuck up from her nap, though she hadn’t noticed.

Liang Jinmo glanced at her in the rearview mirror. The sight almost made him laugh.

Suppressing a smile, he said, “We’re in the neighborhood now.”

Xu Zhi’s mind finally cleared. “There’s no need to go inside, just drop me at the gate.”

If the car entered the neighborhood and her parents, or anyone from the Liang family, happened to see, it would be troublesome. She’d have to explain why she was with him.

Liang Jinmo’s gaze, once more fixed ahead, grew cold. “We’re already inside. I’ll stop soon.”

He saw through her intentions at once—it was nothing more than her not wanting to be seen with him.

She was much cuter when she was drunk, without all these worries. Once sober, she became cautious, thinking everything through. He’d always believed she cared most about Liang Muzhi’s feelings, but now, even setting Liang Muzhi aside, she still cared about others’ opinions, always holding back.

He parked at a temporary spot on the side of the road in the villa district. Xu Zhi said, “Could you pop the trunk? I’ll grab my suitcase.”

As she spoke, she reached for the door handle, but it wouldn’t budge.

Liang Jinmo didn’t turn, but met her gaze in the rearview mirror.

He said nothing, his dark eyes making her uneasy.

She bit her lip, her voice small. “Open the door, please.”

Liang Jinmo asked, “Are you sure you have nothing you want to say?”

Alarm bells rang in Xu Zhi’s mind.

Whether he was serious or not, she wasn’t ready to pierce that thin layer between them.

Seeing her silent, he continued, “Nothing you want to ask me?”

Xu Zhi chose to retreat into her shell. “I… I want to go home.”

Her reaction didn’t really surprise him. He suspected that she had never once truly considered him as a possibility.

If she hadn’t been tipsy and uninhibited, if he hadn’t lost control the night before, perhaps they could have returned to a comfortable friendship.

But after that kiss, there was no going back.

“Xu Zhi.” He called her name.

Nerves taut, Xu Zhi cut him off before he could continue, repeating, “I have to go home.”

Liang Jinmo hesitated a moment, then unlocked the car as he spoke. “I can wait.”

Xu Zhi hurriedly pushed the door open and got out.

Liang Jinmo got out as well, walked over, and took her suitcase from the trunk.

As Xu Zhi reached for it, she was startled when his hand closed around hers.

She looked up, falling straight into the depths of his eyes.

He said, “But you can’t just keep running away.”

With that, he let go at once.

Xu Zhi turned and walked off quickly, almost fleeing.

His words echoed in her mind, claiming all her attention, so that when she rounded a bend in the road and looked up, she was startled to see Old Master Liang standing ahead.

Her back stiffened and she greeted him respectfully, “Grandpa Liang.”

The old man glanced behind her.

Liang Jinmo’s car had already turned around and was heading for the gates.

“My dear Zhi,” Old Master Liang asked, “That wasn’t Muzhi’s car, was it? Didn’t you say you were going skiing with him?”

Guilt flashed across Xu Zhi’s face. She wasn’t sure how much he’d seen. She stammered, “Something came up, so I came back first.”

The old man watched her closely. “Who drove you home?”

Xu Zhi’s scalp tingled, unable to think of an excuse.

He said, “I think it was Jinmo I saw helping you with your luggage, wasn’t it?”

So he’d seen everything. Xu Zhi could no longer keep up the act. “He had business at the resort, so he just gave me a lift.”

“Is that so?” Old Master Liang didn’t say whether he believed her, but continued, “In the future, you should avoid situations like that. You and Muzhi are betrothed since childhood, you’ll be getting married one day. You know how things are between the brothers…”

At the mention of “childhood betrothal,” Xu Zhi felt a sting of irony, but facing the old man, she didn’t know how to explain.

Really, it should be up to Liang Muzhi to clarify things with his grandfather.

She lowered her head, awkward and subdued. “Grandpa, I think when it comes to marriage, you should hear what Liang Muzhi himself wants.”

The old man was taken aback. Xu Zhi had always called him just “Muzhi,” but now she used his full name—something must have happened. He asked, “Did you two have a fight?”

A fight, indeed—and a worse one than ever before. But with Chen Jing involved, Xu Zhi couldn’t say much. As she pondered a reply, Old Master Liang spoke again.

“That boy needs your patience. You know his temperament, he’s been spoiled rotten,” he sighed. “He’s used to having his way, and he’ll run himself into trouble. Even though you young people don’t take childhood betrothals seriously anymore, you’re still the daughter-in-law recognized by all of us. Muzhi needs someone steady to keep him in line, or we can’t rest easy. Do you understand?”

Xu Zhi lowered her eyes and whispered, “I can’t keep him in line.”

No one could manage Liang Muzhi. She understood that the elders hoped his partner could restrain him a bit, but she simply wasn’t able—and now, she didn’t want to be that person.

But she realized, it seemed no one cared about what she wanted. Xu Heping expected her to marry into the Liang family, and Old Master Liang’s wishes were clear—he hoped she would play the wife’s role and watch over Muzhi.

No one asked if she liked him, or if she was willing.

Old Master Liang fell into step beside her, speaking earnestly. “If there’s anyone in this world who can manage Muzhi, it’s you.”

Xu Zhi pressed her lips together in silence.

“Don’t believe me?” The old man recalled something and smiled. “Remember when Muzhi was at his most rebellious in high school? Always arguing with me and his parents, even ran away from home.”

Xu Zhi remembered. She was the one who’d found Liang Muzhi and brought him back.

“If it hadn’t been for you, honestly, we wouldn’t have known where to look,” the old man said, moved. “After he came back, he even told us he only returned because of you—said he couldn’t bear to see you crying, so he reluctantly agreed to come home.”

Xu Zhi didn’t quite agree with that. “I think he wanted to come home but just needed an excuse. I happened to show up.”

Liang Muzhi was so stubborn; he’d never admit fault or bow his head.

The old man nodded. “True, but with his unyielding nature, he’ll always need a way out in the future. Do you think his mother didn’t call him, begging him in tears to come home? But it didn’t work. Only when you cried did he come back.”

Xu Zhi still didn’t think that proved anything—perhaps she’d just happened to offer him a way to save face.

She was about to say more when the old man’s tone suddenly shifted. “There’s no rush about your marriage to Muzhi—you haven’t even graduated yet. Take your time. But you and Jinmo…”

At the mention of Liang Jinmo, Xu Zhi felt a strange nervousness.

“In the future, it’s best if you don’t see each other anymore. Not only would Muzhi be unhappy, but many people know about your childhood betrothal. You two were always together before, and Jinmo’s special status means that being seen with you would invite gossip. It wouldn’t be good for you, for him, or for Muzhi. Do you understand?”

Xu Zhi felt her heart plummet, heavy and swift. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.