Volume One, Chapter 67: Kissed Again...
Liang Jinmo was somewhat surprised. With his eyes lowered, he couldn’t see Xu Zhi’s expression from this angle, but he could keenly sense how low her spirits were at that moment. The reason wasn’t hard to guess. He asked, “Is your father still forcing you to get engaged to Liang Muzhi?”
Xu Zhi answered with a muffled, “Mm.”
He wrapped his arm around her and used his room card to open the door. “Let’s talk inside.”
Once inside, Xu Zhi belatedly felt a little embarrassed. She tried to step out of his embrace, but he pulled her back in one swift motion.
“Where are you running off to?” He closed the door with one hand, then used both arms to hold her close. “Weren’t you just throwing yourself into my arms a moment ago?”
Her face flushed. “That was before…”
Earlier, the sight of him had made her emotions spiral out of control.
Liang Jinmo didn’t argue. He simply replied, “That was then. This is now. Now, I’m the one taking the initiative.”
As he finished speaking, he looked down at the paper bag she was clutching against her chest, the only thing separating them. “What’s this?”
“Your shirt,” Xu Zhi replied. “The one I borrowed before.”
Liang Jinmo took the bag from her and placed it on the side cabinet. As he withdrew his hand, he paused, gazing at her intently.
The look puzzled Xu Zhi. “What’s wrong…?”
He turned his hand, lifted her chin, and kissed her.
The kiss came so suddenly that Xu Zhi froze, only realizing what was happening after a few seconds.
He’s kissing me… again…
Yet this kiss felt different. He was patient, gently sucking on her lips, not going too deep but lingering, coaxing her to part her lips for him to enter. Her body didn’t resist; she was even drawn in, gradually melting in this slow, lingering kiss.
By the time he pulled away, her breath was ragged, her lips glistening and swollen, and her hands had unconsciously wrinkled his coat.
She leaned into his arms, catching her breath. When she came back to herself, her heart was still racing. She spoke in a tiny voice, “Why did you suddenly…”
He seemed utterly at ease with the act of kissing her.
Holding her, his hand gently stroked her back. “I wanted to, so I did.”
He sounded perfectly justified.
He bent down again, his thin lips brushing her ear. As she shivered, he asked, “Didn’t you want to as well?”
When he’d seen her at the door, her eyes full of forlorn vulnerability, all he’d wanted was to gather her into his arms and comfort her.
Xu Zhi was still shy, burying her face in his chest. “Don’t ask!”
He seemed to chuckle, and she felt the faint rumble in his chest. Gradually, her previously tumultuous heart began to settle.
Liang Jinmo spoke again. “What do you plan to do about the engagement?”
The question brought her back to reality, as if she’d fallen from the clouds to the ground.
She let go of his coat and stepped back, putting some distance between them. Her expression grew crestfallen. “I don’t know. I talked with my mother last night and learned things are even worse at home than I thought. Even the house is mortgaged. This isn’t something a casual loan can fix. My father wants to use a marriage alliance with the Liang family to open up channels. He can’t think of any other way, and I…”
She hesitated. “I can’t think of anything either.”
Her field wasn’t business; she lacked her father’s experience and was completely at a loss.
Liang Jinmo also stepped back, leaning against the wall, regarding her coolly. “So, you’re planning to get engaged to Liang Muzhi?”
“I’m not!” she blurted out, anxious and a bit aggrieved. “If I’d decided to go through with it, I wouldn’t have come to you, or let you… do what you just did…”
She trailed off, her voice even softer. “Do you think I’m that kind of person?”
Liang Jinmo said nothing, simply watching her.
His gaze made her uneasy, and she looked away. “Why are you staring at me…”
“I was thinking about what you said,” Liang Jinmo crossed his arms. “Does it mean you’ve accepted me, or just that you’re not going to marry him?”
Xu Zhi bit her lip, her thoughts in a tangle.
She hadn’t figured it out yet. Her current situation left her lost and uncertain.
After a moment, she spoke honestly. “Even if you ask, I don’t know. I want to just do as I please, but… my parents, even if they haven’t treated me well, raised me all these years. I can’t just stand by when they’re in trouble.”
Liang Jinmo lowered his gaze, thinking for a long while before asking, “What if I could find a way to solve your family’s business troubles?”
“Don’t joke…”
“You don’t believe me.”
Xu Zhi was helpless. “I said, this isn’t something a bit of money can fix. We’re talking about hundreds of millions in financing; you can’t secure that just by having some connections and saying a few words.”
“I made some inquiries last night,” Liang Jinmo said. “Your family company has been losing money for years. But the real issue is the projects. Your father is stuck in a traditional business mindset and hasn’t changed his approach, so one project after another fails. What’s needed is a change in direction and type of project. Otherwise, no amount of money will help. Investors are more interested in the new channels created by the Internet of Things, which will also make financing easier.”
Xu Zhi was startled. “Why did you look into all this?”
Liang Jinmo replied, “Because I don’t want to just stand by and watch while your father makes things hard for you.”
Xu Zhi pressed her lips together, her heart stumbling yet somehow buoyed by a steady force.
But…
Xu Heping looked down on Liang Jinmo for being an illegitimate child. She could never bring him to see her father and subject him to Xu Heping’s scorn.
After a moment’s thought, she said, “Then why don’t you teach me? Give me an overview and I’ll go home and see if my dad is interested.”
Liang Jinmo didn’t refuse. “Alright.”
Xu Zhi hadn’t expected that the first time she’d ever sought out a man at a hotel, she’d end up listening to a lecture in his room.
From the development of traditional industries to the rise of the Internet and the Internet of Things, to new mobile terminals opening up new channels, and the application of artificial intelligence in emerging business models still in development…
This was probably the most Liang Jinmo had ever spoken to her since they’d met. But—
She was falling asleep.
He was talking about virtual reality when Xu Zhi couldn’t help but yawn. Even though she covered her mouth, he noticed.
He paused mid-sentence, looking at her.
Xu Zhi felt like a student caught dozing off in class. She pouted, “I—I think the cold medicine is making me drowsy…”
Liang Jinmo knew this was all a bit much for her. In truth, the best solution would be for him to meet Xu Heping directly.
Whether he could persuade Xu Heping was another matter, but at least he could present his ideas directly and concretely.
She didn’t say it, but he understood why she insisted on playing the go-between.
When he was in junior high, Xu Heping often used to visit Liang Zhenguo for drinks. Every time he saw Liang Jinmo, he would frown.
He never said a word, just frowned, his eyes full of disdain and contempt, as if looking at something filthy.
Liang Jinmo had grown used to such looks—he was indifferent to them.
But things were different now. Xu Heping’s prejudice had become an obstacle he had to face.
On the way to take Xu Zhi home, this thought preoccupied him.
Xu Zhi, noticing his silence, assumed he was angry. After much deliberation, she said hesitantly, “I really didn’t mean to… How about this, I’ll come back tomorrow for another lesson. I’ll bring coffee, I promise I won’t fall asleep. I’ll even bring a notebook to take notes.”
At a red light, he glanced at her without speaking.
“Don’t be mad…” She reached out, gently tugging his sleeve. “Please?”
Her cautious expression showed she truly feared his anger.
His heart softened without warning. He reached over and ruffled her hair. “With me, you don’t have to be so careful.”
Xu Zhi was about to reply when he spoke again.
“I think I’m already used to it—the way you’re timid with everyone else, but fierce only with me.”