Chapter 138: One Hundred Thousand

Before Shang Yucheng could answer, Yuan Xi spoke first. "Xiao Liang, I'm sorry, this is my..."

Liang Jinshang's gaze, which had been filled with expectation, shifted abruptly to Yuan Xi. She thought Yuan Xi had made a mistake. "Director Yuan, I was referring to this sketchbook."

Yuan Xi nodded with certainty. "That's right, the item is in my possession, and this contract was also meant to be given to..."

She walked up, intending to take the contract from Liang Jinshang’s hands. Liang Jinshang pulled her hand back sharply and looked at Shang Yucheng. Her eyes held both confusion and the helplessness of crushed hope.

"Shang Yucheng, wasn't this meant for me?" Liang Jinshang asked again, her brows furrowed.

Seeing that Yuan Xi was about to speak again, she interjected, "I..."

"Director Yuan, I am speaking with Shang Yucheng," Liang Jinshang said, glancing quietly at her. "You are his Design Department Director, not his spokesperson. Can you let him speak to me himself?"

This was the first time Liang Jinshang had spoken to Yuan Xi in such a blunt tone. Yuan Xi’s beautiful eyebrows arched; she fell silent for a moment and looked at Shang Yucheng again.

Liang Jinshang’s anger ignited at that very look. As a woman, she understood perfectly well that Yuan Xi’s look of seeking support was actually a veiled display of dominance, a provocation intended to show that she and Shang Yucheng were the ones on the same side.

Liang Jinshang’s fingers tightened, causing the contract in her hands to wrinkle. "Shang Yucheng, what did you tell me last night? Why are you with Yuan Xi now?"

Shang Yucheng stepped forward, loosened her grip on the contract, and tossed it onto the coffee table. He pulled her shoulder toward him. "I am not with her. I just had her pick up some things."

"What things?" Liang Jinshang’s eyes reddened. "So, this wasn't bought for me?"

Shang Yucheng pressed his thin lips together; his silence was an answer in itself.

"Xiao Liang, there’s no need to be so jealous," Yuan Xi said, standing to the side and breaking the silence between them. "I paid for it myself."

Liang Jinshang countered, "How much?"

Yuan Xi stroked her long, wavy hair and stated a figure with casual indifference: "One hundred thousand."

One hundred thousand... One hundred thousand...

Liang Jinshang recalled the tone of the curator, who had told her the item wasn't for sale because he assumed she couldn't afford it. While she might not be dripping in gold and silver, she certainly didn't look like someone who couldn't come up with a mere hundred thousand!

Liang Jinshang curled her lips into a mocking smile. "Director Yuan, you were able to buy it for one hundred thousand—could it be that Shang Yucheng didn't pull some strings to pave the way for you?"

"You're very clever; of course, you realize President Shang looked out for me," Yuan Xi replied with a frank smile. "If he hadn't stepped in, it wouldn't have been a matter of money. They wouldn't have sold it to me at all."

A fine "President Shang" looking out for her and stepping in. If it weren't for his intervention, letting Yuan Xi buy the sketchbook ahead of her, Liang Jinshang would have had a chance—or at least, she would have found a way to convince the curator to sell it to her.

"So that's it..." Liang Jinshang said, her voice dropping. "Shang Yucheng, you were the one who held the power to decide the fate of this sketchbook. And instead of giving it to me, you chose to give it to Yuan Xi, right?"

Liang Jinshang didn't want to expose her private affairs in front of Yuan Xi, but Shang Yucheng knew everything. He had once driven her to the Fifth Prison to visit Fang Xinou without asking a single question. He knew her past like the back of his hand and understood her deep sense of filial piety. To Yuan Xi, this sketchbook might just be a manuscript left by an industry predecessor, bought as a curiosity, but to her, it meant something entirely different.

How she longed to hear Shang Yucheng deny it. Or, at the very least, offer an explanation. But Shang Yucheng only stared at her for a moment and said, "Mm."

Not a single word more.

"Ha." Liang Jinshang laughed with biting irony. She stepped back, putting distance between herself and Shang Yucheng.

"Shang Yucheng, it’s normal for men to want to have it all and play multiple sides. But being too cowardly to admit it and resorting to lies makes you look pathetic and spineless. It’s actually quite surprising that a woman like Director Yuan is willing to engage in a clandestine affair with you and be a hidden mistress. Does she know what you look like when you're acting shamelessly behind my back?"

She brought Yuan Xi into this not just because Yuan Xi had snatched what she wanted, but because Yuan Xi's attitude today subtly signaled that she and Shang Yucheng were a team, while Liang Jinshang was the outsider. This hadn't been the case at Qingchi Mountain, but Liang Jinshang suddenly realized that the emotions she could once tolerate were now unbearable. It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go from luxury back to frugality—because she had already grown accustomed to the favor Shang Yucheng had once shown her as if it were natural.

Hearing Liang Jinshang's words, Shang Yucheng’s brow furrowed coldly, and he glared at her with a darkened expression. Yuan Xi, however, changed color instantly upon hearing the word "shameless." She raised her hand, intending to slap her, but Shang Yucheng grabbed her wrist and warned in a low voice, "Yuan Xi!"

Yuan Xi’s chest heaved. "I cannot tolerate her speaking to you like that! You clearly—"

"Shut up," Shang Yucheng said expressionlessly. "Take your things and go back to your room."

Yuan Xi stood still. She prided herself on her beauty and talent; she never displayed such petty, womanly behavior in public—only in front of Shang Yucheng, as if she were protecting her own man.

"Liang Jinshang, don't be ungrateful! You know that if it weren't for him protecting you, you would have been—"

"Ugh!" Yuan Xi’s long-winded tirade was cut short as Shang Yucheng tightened his grip. He squeezed her wrist bone with no sign of gentleness.

Liang Jinshang couldn't hear another word. She turned and slammed the door behind her as she left.

Shang Yucheng released Yuan Xi’s wrist—or more accurately, he shoved it away. Yuan Xi hurried to say, "Yucheng, don't be angry. I was just standing up for you."

This wasn't the first time Yuan Xi had said this, but Shang Yucheng had never been moved by it.

When Yuan Xi realized he wasn't going to respond, she added, "If you're angry, I can go apologize to Miss Liang."

"Apologize?" Shang Yucheng lit a cigarette. "You didn't do anything wrong."

Yuan Xi breathed a sigh of relief, but then heard Shang Yucheng add, "But why did you go out of your way to provoke her today?"

Yuan Xi felt a moment of guilt, but quickly adjusted her expression, offering that same charming, alluring smile. "Why else? I just think she isn't worthy of you and wanted to make her give up on you."

Shang Yucheng let out a cold, ambiguous scoff. "And you think you get to decide who is worthy?"

Yuan Xi curled her red lips and said, daringly, "Then how about I give the sketchbook to her? Let's see if this 'good daughter' can actually clear Teacher Fang's name."

Shang Yucheng flicked a bit of ash from his cigarette, his gaze as dull and listless as the soot as he looked at her. "Yuan Xi, don't forget why I allow you to stay by my side."