Volume One, Chapter 53 Seeing Liang Muzhi so agitated, she actually felt a trace of delight.

Liang Muzhi had not intended for his family to know about his early return to Beicheng; his plan was to stay at the hospital and look after Chen Jing for a few days. But as luck would have it, that afternoon he ran into one of Fu Wanwen’s friends at the hospital.

Rather than wait for the news to reach his parents, he decided it was better to confess himself. Yet, when he got home, his parents were out. He stayed only a short while before, almost without thinking, wandering out and finding himself at the gate of the Xu family home.

He didn’t know if Xu Zhi had returned yet, or if she had, what she would say to her parents. In the past, he could always coordinate stories with her, making it possible to keep Chen Jing hidden. But this time was clearly different.

He paced back and forth, unable to settle on a plan, when Xu Zhi suddenly emerged from her house, head down, moving quickly.

Xu Zhi had been struck.

The stark imprint of a hand stood out on her face, and his mind went blank. He reached out to touch her, but she immediately avoided his hand.

Liang Muzhi froze. Then he remembered their recent quarrel: Xu Zhi had deleted all his contact information, acting as if she intended to sever ties with him forever.

He felt a little embarrassed, his hand hanging awkwardly in the air for a few seconds before he began to withdraw it. Xu Zhi was already about to step around him and leave.

In a panic, he grabbed her wrist. “I’m asking you—who did this?”

He couldn’t imagine anyone laying a hand on Xu Zhi. She was gentle by nature, and had never offended anyone since childhood.

Xu Zhi paused, pulled free from his grasp, and snapped, “What does it matter to you?”

Liang Muzhi frowned, his temper flaring. “Are you done yet? You really mean to cut me off? I’m asking because I care about you!”

He thought her words were just spoken in anger. After all, he’d said plenty of harsh things himself in the heat of the moment. But when he calmed down, given the close relationship between their families, at worst they would just maintain appearances.

Yet a whole day had passed and Xu Zhi showed no sign of calming down. He thought she was being childish.

But Xu Zhi only found the situation ridiculous. “Liang Muzhi, there’s nothing between us now. Your concern is a bit much, don’t you think? Does Chen Jing know how much you care?”

Her voice was loud. Liang Muzhi frowned, glancing around nervously. “What are you trying to do? If you want to argue, fine, but don’t drag Chen Jing into it. What if someone overhears…”

Seeing the anxiety in his eyes, Xu Zhi suddenly found the whole scene absurd, almost comical.

She actually laughed.

Liang Muzhi thought she was losing her mind. “Are you sick or something? You really should see a doctor!”

He couldn’t understand how, in less than a month, she had changed so much. The girl who used to trail behind him, obedient and gentle, had disappeared.

Xu Zhi stopped smiling. “You want to know who hit me? It was my father.”

Liang Muzhi was stunned. “Why would he…”

He stopped, suddenly realizing what might have happened.

Xu Zhi’s next words confirmed his suspicions.

“I told you before, my father wants me to marry you, to use your family’s connections to secure investment and loans. I just told him it’s impossible, because I’ve completely fallen out with you, and you’re with Chen Jing now and very much in love.” Xu Zhi smiled. “He was furious, thought I was useless, so he hit me.”

Liang Muzhi’s eyes widened in disbelief, his attention shifting at once. “You told him about me and Chen Jing?”

Xu Zhi replied, “Yes.”

She offered no excuses, admitting it openly, as if it were nothing at all.

But Liang Muzhi knew he was in trouble now.

If Xu Heping knew, there was no way he wouldn’t tell Liang Zhenguo and Fu Wanwen. And then Grandpa—Grandpa would know too…

He couldn’t understand how Xu Zhi could remain so calm. He frowned and fixed her with a stare. “I told you not to say anything!”

“Why should I listen to you?”

Liang Muzhi stared at her in disbelief. “Xu Zhi, have you really lost your mind? After all these years of friendship… If someone else had hurt Chen Jing, I’d have broken their hand. It’s only because it was you that I didn’t know how to handle it and let you go. What did I do to offend you? Tell me!”

Seeing how agitated he was, Xu Zhi perversely felt a flicker of satisfaction.

So revenge really is sweet.

“Do you understand that because of what you said, it could be over between me and Chen Jing? My parents don’t know much about her yet, only that she’s the daughter of a disgraced official. They’ll definitely make me break up with her…” Liang Muzhi seemed to glimpse the end of his future with Chen Jing, and all because of Xu Zhi.

He demanded, “Is that your goal, to break us up? Is this your revenge? Just because I called you boring and told you to leave? Are you really that petty?”

Xu Zhi’s mind flickered with a thousand fragments of memory. Of course, things hadn’t come to this just because of what happened at the ski resort—there was much, much more. But she had no desire to explain.

Her feelings for Liang Muzhi had long since changed. He would probably never know she had once loved him.

After a moment’s thought, she replied with a line straight out of a scoundrel’s playbook: “If that’s what you want to believe, there’s nothing I can do.”

Liang Muzhi was truly infuriated.

Because of who he was, he’d rarely suffered setbacks since childhood. Anyone who crossed him got it back double. But faced with Xu Zhi, he found himself utterly powerless.

Then a thought struck him, and he laughed bitterly, “I see. Liang Jinmo put you up to this, didn’t he? What kind of poison did he fill your head with to make you listen to him?”

Before Xu Zhi could respond, he went on, “Of course, you’ve never had much of an opinion of your own. I’ve told you before, you’re easily taken in…”

Xu Zhi cut him off. “This has nothing to do with him!”

Liang Muzhi didn’t believe her. “Tell Liang Jinmo not to get too pleased with himself. I’ll settle things with him sooner or later.”

With that, he strode past her without looking back, heading toward his own home.

Xu Zhi stood frozen where she was, still wearing her indoor cardigan. The cold wind brought her fully back to herself.

Liang Muzhi really seemed determined to blame all this on Liang Jinmo.

She had no idea what he might do, but she knew very well: within the Liang family, going up against Liang Muzhi would be an almost impossible task for Liang Jinmo.