Chapter 25: I Have No Objection to Any Man She Chooses

Shang Yucheng grasped Liang Jinshang's ankle, raising it to a convenient height for applying medicine, the corners of his lips curling in mockery. Did he have guts? Had she not just experienced that herself?

As they confronted each other, Liang Jinshang’s phone rang. She glanced at the screen—it was her advisor calling. She looked at Shang Yucheng, who rolled up his sleeves and silently tended her wound.

She answered the call. Her advisor spoke, saying he was willing to hand the original manuscript to the department, thereby restoring her reputation. Liang Jinshang knew that Gong Xueyuan would never actively help her out of her predicament, so the advisor must have changed his mind on his own.

She asked, “Professor, why?”

“My dear Liang, it’s not that I’ve yielded to power or fame,” her advisor sighed, “but the Gong family offered a condition: if I agree to cooperate, I can join the design team for ‘City Rooftop.’ For those of us who draw up designs, who wouldn’t want an opportunity like this in their lifetime?”

Liang Jinshang fell silent, recalling her father’s ambitious days leading the “Shanshui Concert Hall” project. Who could have foreseen the disaster that followed?

Yet she understood—whether it was her father or her advisor.

The advisor finally said, “But you have a bright future ahead. I can’t let my selfishness ruin yours!”

Liang Jinshang thanked him. Although she could blaze her own trail through Gong Xueyuan’s obstacles, the advisor’s willingness to withdraw the knife he’d once aimed at her—ultimately fulfilled her deep reverence for her mentor.

After hanging up, Liang Jinshang remained silent. Even as Shang Yucheng drove her back to Jin University, neither spoke a word.

Her green sleeveless dress was ruined. On the road, she wore Shang Yucheng’s jacket. Before she got out, he found a gift box in the back seat, its extravagant G-brand logo unmistakably declaring its worth.

“For me to wear?” she asked.

Shang Yucheng was forthright. “It was custom-made for Xueyuan. If you don’t mind…”

“Why would I mind? I don’t even mind the man she’s used,” Liang Jinshang replied with a smile.

“Mm, you can go now,” Shang Yucheng said coolly. “Ao’er’s tutoring is officially over. You’ll get an extra month’s pay. If there’s nothing else, let’s not meet again.”

Liang Jinshang paused as she changed clothes.

He meant not to see Shang Ao’er, but also not to see him.

She slipped into the white mermaid-style, asymmetric gown.

Her makeup, already half gone from their earlier antics, hardly mattered—her natural beauty paired perfectly with the dress.

Even now, with no bargaining power left, Liang Jinshang refused to swallow her pride. Her smile deepened. “I certainly earned that extra month teaching Shang Ao’er. But even so, it’s nothing compared to how much I’ve given you—earnestly and… thoroughly. Now that it’s all over, how do you plan to settle things between us?”

Shang Yucheng, well-mannered, kept the disdain off his face. Women who could be settled with money were always less trouble than those who wouldn’t take any. After all, what happened today was forced upon her.

“How much do you want?”

Liang Jinshang named her price numbly. “One million.”

She used to be foolish, believing in mutual affection, refusing any material compensation. This million—selling her once sincere heart—was still undervaluing herself.

Shang Yucheng was calculating only what this time cost. He sneered. “Not cheap.”

But he agreed. Whether she was worth it or not, at least he, Shang Yucheng, didn’t need to haggle over “payment.”

After getting out, Liang Jinshang stood beneath the dormitory building for a long time, so long that Le Quan returned from her midnight snack.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Le Quan pressed her cold milk tea against Liang Jinshang’s face, then handed it to her. “Dressed this pretty, are you working the street?”

Liang Jinshang withdrew from her turbulent thoughts, looking at Le Quan helplessly. “Why do I feel that, since you’ve seen my true colors, you’re even more unrestrained?”

Le Quan wasn’t really unrestrained—she simply felt that after Liang Jinshang showed her real self, she was a bit more alive than before.

Liang Jinshang took a sip of iced milk tea, feeling herself return to reality.

She asked Le Quan if she knew about the “City Rooftop” project. With even her advisor, an industry heavyweight, moved by it, Liang Jinshang was naturally curious.

Le Quan said, “Of course I know! There won’t be another super-sized project like this for twenty years in either direction. All the top and first-class construction companies in Province A are eyeing it.”

She added that the marriage alliance between the Shang and Gong families was closely tied to this project—the Gong family held the key environmental materials.

“Why are you so well-informed?”

Le Quan blinked. “Because the Le family is one of the three most competitive companies, obviously.”

Le Quan had never flaunted her background in the dorm. Though her lifestyle was upscale, neither Liang Jinshang nor He Huan, both poor girls, paid much attention to such things, and so hadn’t noticed the “living” heiress beside them.

Le Quan, hearing herself called that, quickly protested, “No, I don’t deserve it. My mother raised me alone.”

Liang Jinshang was momentarily awkward.

Le Quan herself seemed unconcerned. She examined the dress Liang Jinshang was wearing. “This is definitely G’s craftsmanship. But yours must be haute couture, right? It doesn’t fit—too loose at the waist.”

Liang Jinshang mimicked her tone, “No, I can’t afford it—I traded myself for it.”

Le Quan didn’t take her seriously. She hugged Liang Jinshang’s shoulders, laughing for a long time, then asked how the thesis issue was resolved.

“Almost done.”

…

Two days later, Shang Ao’er invited Liang Jinshang to her eighteenth birthday party.

Shang Ao’er, orphaned since childhood, was doted on by her elders and started school a year late, so she was coming of age before finishing high school.

On the phone, Liang Jinshang said, “Happy birthday. I’ve prepared your gift. It’s the thought that counts—I won’t be coming.”

Shang Ao’er wouldn’t accept that. Liang Jinshang repeated what Shang Yucheng had told her that night.

The “almost adult” Miss Shang wanted to assert her independence. “You sold yourself to my uncle? But he’s not paying you anymore, so why listen to him? It’s my birthday, I invited you! You must come, and dress nicely!”

She hung up before Liang Jinshang could reply.

The next day, Liang Jinshang sent her gift by courier—a 1:50 scale model of Gou Shan Cottage she made for a semester project. The pavilion, waterside, lush greenery—more thoughtful than any other gift.

Shang Ao’er had loved it at first sight, and Liang Jinshang had been reluctant to part with it.

Unexpectedly, the courier delivered the gift, but also returned with a dress—Shang Ao’er’s determination on display.

But the bright blue dress was too conspicuous; if Liang Jinshang wore it, Shang Yucheng would spot her instantly.