Volume One, Chapter 66 She lowered her head and, taking advantage of the moment, nestled into the man's embrace.

Xu Zhi's back slammed against the wall. She cried out in surprise, and just as she looked up to curse whoever it was, she froze.

Liang Muzhi was standing far too close, his presence overwhelming.

He was gripping her wrist, pinning it against the wall, his head lowered as he gazed at her. To tell the truth...

This posture was rather suggestive.

But Xu Zhi didn't even realize it. She suspected Liang Muzhi was about to hit her. Tilting her face up to meet his eyes, she asked, "Are you planning to hit me too?"

Liang Muzhi stared, momentarily stunned, then replied incredulously, "You think I would hit you? That I, Liang Muzhi, would hit a woman?"

Xu Zhi answered, "Hard to say."

Liang Muzhi didn't move. He was feeling stifled. Thinking back, in more than twenty years, he'd never been made to feel so helpless before. He had absolutely no idea how to handle Xu Zhi.

At some point, the way they interacted had completely changed. She always managed to leave him speechless with her retorts.

Xu Zhi spoke again, "If you're not going to hit me, then let me go and keep your distance."

Liang Muzhi was genuinely a little infuriated this time. What was that look on her face—was she disgusted with him?

A sudden urge flickered through his mind: he wanted to silence her with a kiss, to get even closer to her, just to drive her mad.

He even leaned down a bit, but reason returned just in time. His back went stiff, and after a few seconds of silence, he said, "Xu Zhi, the way you are right now, you really are asking for it."

Xu Zhi twisted her wrist, struggling, and he finally let go and took a step back, putting some distance between them.

She frowned, rubbing her reddened wrist with her other hand. "That's right, that's how I am. Chen Jing is so much better than me, you should hurry and go to her."

Liang Muzhi felt a pang of bitterness at her words, though he couldn't be sure if he was just imagining things. Still, none of that mattered now—he had more pressing problems to solve.

Fu Wanwen had already started contacting wedding planners to arrange the engagement ceremony. If he didn't stop this soon, the engagement would be upon him before he knew it.

He turned to leave, not sparing Xu Zhi another glance. On second thought, she truly was an exception for him.

He had never been so tolerant with anyone else.

Downstairs, Xu Heping was still waiting. Seeing Liang Muzhi come down, he greeted him with a smile and asked how the conversation went.

In truth, Liang Muzhi looked down on Xu Heping. What kind of man sells his own daughter?

But that wasn't for him to say. All he said was, "I've asked Xu Zhi. She doesn't want to marry me either. Uncle, it's best if you don't force her."

Xu Heping's smile stiffened. "She's just shy, probably too embarrassed to say it outright..."

"Uncle," Liang Muzhi interrupted, his tone growing impatient, "she's quite averse to me. And honestly, I don't want to get engaged so soon. I know your company needs money, but maybe I can talk to my father and see if there's another way to help you."

Xu Heping's face blanched, then flushed red with humiliation—he could barely maintain his composure.

Xu Zhi had apparently told Liang Muzhi everything.

No matter how much he tried to curry favor with Liang Muzhi, the young man was still his junior. And now, being confronted like this by someone so much younger, he could hardly hold his head up.

Liang Muzhi realized he had spoken too bluntly. Seeing Xu Heping's sour expression, he added, "Just think it over. You're a father, after all... Isn't Xu Zhi's happiness what's most important?"

Liang Muzhi left the Xu residence with his bodyguards, feeling he'd been too quick to speak again.

Xu Heping's preference for sons was nothing new, and besides, this wasn't really his place to interfere.

Especially since Xu Zhi had treated him the way she did—why should he stand up for her?

As dusk approached, Xu Zhi took out Liang Jinmo's white shirt.

She placed it in a tote bag, planning to return it to him at the hotel.

But most of all, she simply wanted to see him.

When she went downstairs, she was surprised to find Xu Heping already home from the office.

He sat alone on the living room sofa, an open bottle of baijiu on the table before him, knocking back glass after glass.

It was unusual. Xu Heping typically only drank in the company of friends, never alone like this, and not without even a dish to accompany the liquor. It was clear he was drowning his sorrows.

Xu Zhi didn't want to provoke him and planned to slip out quietly, but Xu Heping spotted her and called out, "Zhi!"

She stopped and looked back at him.

Xu Heping wiped his face, his gaze vacant. "Am I a terrible father?"

Xu Zhi was taken aback, not sure what to make of this.

"Today, Muzhi said... he could help me." Xu Heping managed a bitter smile. At his age, he thought to himself, who are you to lecture me? But in the end, he said nothing.

He couldn't afford to offend Liang Muzhi now.

Liang Muzhi was being naive. The Xu family business had been struggling for years. Back then, he had indeed borrowed money from the Liang family, but for reasons he couldn't fathom, every subsequent project failed worse than the last.

By now, he was too ashamed to ask the Liang family for more. That was why he'd set his sights on this arranged marriage. In Beicheng, who would dare refuse the Liang family any request? He wasn't borrowing money from his in-laws, but their influence.

Xu Zhi shifted her feet slightly but didn't move closer. She hesitated and asked, "Isn't that a good thing? Maybe he really can help you."

Xu Heping shook his head and sighed. "He doesn't have real money or power in his hands. We're talking about hundreds of millions in funding... What I need is his status. It's not that I want to force you, but I just can't think of another way. If I could, I wouldn't be reduced to this, letting some rich kid lecture me like a failure."

At this moment, Xu Heping was no longer overbearing. Instead, he seemed fragile.

Xu Zhi felt a pang in her chest, an ache she couldn't suppress.

"Dad..." she murmured, "Is there really no other way?"

Xu Heping wiped his face again, looking deeply ashamed. "No. If I can't get the money, the company will go bankrupt, the bank will take this house, and we'll have nothing left. I'm too old for that—I really couldn't take it..."

The vast living room fell utterly silent, so still you could hear a pin drop.

In that silence, Xu Zhi’s heart slowly sank.

What could she do? Her mind was a swirl of confusion. Xu Heping could scold or hit her—she could handle that. But like this, she had no idea what to do.

It was a harsh reality. However awful he might be, she had lived in comfort the past twenty years because of him.

After a long pause, Xu Heping asked, "Are you going out?"

"Yeah..." Xu Zhi lied. "I'm meeting Yang Xue."

"Go ahead, but don't stay out too late," he told her.

Their conversation, unexpectedly calm, was nevertheless steeped in despair and resignation.

After leaving the house, Xu Zhi took a cab to the hotel. The further she went, the more lost she felt.

The path of studying abroad had been blocked. Originally, she planned to find a job and move out, but now—could she really just abandon her parents and walk away? Could she truly repay the debt of raising her with indifference?

She went upstairs and arrived at the familiar suite, knocking on the door, but there was no answer.

Liang Jinmo hadn’t returned yet. She’d forgotten to call him ahead of time.

She took out her phone, found his profile picture on WeChat, but after staring at it for a long while, she put her phone back in her bag.

When he finally returned, it was well past eight.

Liang Jinmo stepped out of the elevator and turned the corner, but after a few paces, he stopped short.

Xu Zhi was crouched unceremoniously outside his suite, huddled up with a paper bag in her arms.

"Xu Zhi?"

She turned at the sound of his voice.

Her eyes were lost and helpless, like a child who had lost her way. She scrambled to her feet, but after squatting for so long, she felt dizzy and numb, her legs barely supporting her.

Liang Jinmo strode over, slipped an arm around her slender waist, and steadied her. His voice was low and gentle. "Careful."

Once again, Xu Zhi caught the scent of that woody cologne.

Once, she had found that scent cold and distant. Now, it was the fragrance that made her feel safe.

Her nose stung, and all the grievances she had been holding back surged up within her. Lowering her head, she burrowed into his embrace.