Chapter 87: Selfish and Vicious

After dinner at the Liang household, Chao Jingyu took his leave with polite courtesy.

“Oh, the salted kumquats I made haven’t been taken yet,” Liang’s mother said suddenly.

Earlier, when Liang’s mother had once brought over a meal, she had heard Chao Jingyu cough a few times after finishing a night shift, and had specially gone looking for a folk remedy for him.

“Give them to me. I’ll see him out as well.” Liang Jianshang took the jar and shoved the last bite of cake into her mouth.

Chao Jingyu had bought that cake on the detour after he picked her up from the hospital today, the very flavor she had casually mentioned on the day she was admitted.

Just as she was changing her shoes, Liang Xizhou rolled his wheelchair over, amusement in his tone. “Seeing him off and coming back tonight?”

Liang Jianshang straightened and looked at him in silence.

“So you’re finally looking at me properly...” Liang Xizhou met her gaze just as directly. “I thought that after bringing this man home today and another one tomorrow, your heart had gone wild and you no longer looked down on a cripple like me.”

Liang Xizhou really was sharp.

But Liang Jianshang was avoiding looking at him tonight because she did not want him to notice her emotions.

Ever since she had run into Nan Yi again, she could not help steering clear of Liang Xizhou.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Did I hit the mark?” Liang Xizhou gave a faint, mocking smile. “You do have some skill. If you can latch onto either the one surnamed Shang or the one surnamed Chao, you won’t have to worry for the rest of your life.”

“Shut up,” Liang Jianshang said under her breath.

She glanced toward her parents. Luckily, neither of them had noticed anything. “Liang Xizhou, if you’re angry, take it out on me. Doctor Chao is such a good man, he owes you nothing!”

“He is a good man, which is why I didn’t say a word in front of him... I see you really have learned some tricks. With men from outside backing you up, you think you can just dump me, this cripple? I heard those two get along pretty well. Rich people really are shameless, aren’t they? Three people and they can still make a game of it...”

Her hand on the doorknob, Liang Jianshang trembled all over with fury at that helpless, suffocating feeling.

Suddenly, a force came from outside the door, and Liang Jianshang was pulled out in that direction.

She staggered and was caught by Chao Jingyu.

His face was cold. “If you’re so capable, then say it out loud. Say those words you just used to insult your sister in front of your parents!”

“Sister?” Liang Xizhou laughed coldly. “Chief Chao knew long ago that Liang Jianshang isn’t my sister. You keep calling her your sister—what exactly are you trying to emphasize? Isn’t this just the little scheme in your heart I was talking about?”

Not wanting to disturb Liang’s parents, Chao Jingyu simply shoved Liang Xizhou’s wheelchair and took him outside.

The force was heavy, almost rough.

Liang Jianshang hurried after them. “Doctor Chao, don’t hit him! I’m sorry, I apologize to you on his behalf. He’s always been like this—please don’t take it to heart.”

Chao Jingyu stopped. His usually poised and restrained features turned stern, carrying a formidable presence.

“Jianshang, don’t keep indulging him. Physical disability is indeed worthy of sympathy, but that is no reason for him to keep hurting you.”

All Liang Jianshang could do was keep shaking her head while clutching his sleeve.

She felt deeply guilty. No one knew better than she did how infuriating Liang Xizhou’s sarcastic barbs could be.

Last time when Shang Yucheng was provoked by him, she had not felt much. After all, that man never let himself suffer losses.

Chao Jingyu noticed that fine sweat had already gathered on Liang Jianshang’s forehead, and still he smiled, reassuring her that he was not angry. “Why are you so anxious?”

He took out a tissue and wiped her face for her, brushing away the bit of cream at the corner of her lips as well.

With a soft sigh, he thought that just moments ago, while eating cake, she had been in such good spirits.

Chao Jingyu stepped in front of Liang Jianshang and said with righteous severity, “I have seen many people who have been ill for years. I know very well what such mental states can be like. But I have also seen many numb and indifferent family members. Having relatives who are kind, patient, and devoted to you is a blessing. You should not be letting your temper hurt her.”

“Kind? Patient?” Liang Xizhou looked up at Chao Jingyu.

Jingshan Jade, lofty as a mountain, exemplary in conduct—this man’s very existence made others feel ashamed of themselves.

Especially the way he looked at Liang Jianshang: appreciative, pitying...

Being looked at like that, anyone who did not know better would think Liang Jianshang was some kind of extraordinary person!

“Kind? Ha! Kind?!” Liang Xizhou’s inner demons surged uncontrollably, and he said icily, “Do you know just how selfish and vicious the supposedly kind and pure young lady standing before you is? Back then, when she got into trouble, she pushed an innocent friend out to suffer for her! Even if she had run with her... she was there to save you, and you shoved her out like that, let so many people ruin her... Liang Jianshang, you escaped unscathed, but where was your conscience? Where did you leave it?!”

Liang Xizhou’s voice broke on the last words.

He tipped his head back, Adam’s apple jerking as he swallowed hard, his closed eyes dry and barren, yet anyone could see how agonized he was.

Liang Jianshang clenched her teeth until they hurt, but it was useless; the sound of her teeth grinding together was painfully clear.

“This...” Chao Jingyu struggled to keep his expression from changing too much. That would only wound this pair of “siblings” even more.

But his heart sank again and again.

His gaze darkened as he fixed it on Liang Jianshang.

Denial, just deny it. Even if you explained a little!

But Liang Jianshang only looked at him with misery, opening her mouth, and what came out was nothing but an apology. “I’m sorry... Doctor Chao, tonight was supposed to be my way of thanking you, and instead you had to hear all this... Do you regret saving me now?”

“No, don’t say that, Jianshang.” Chao Jingyu soothed her at once.

But as for anything more, he did not know the truth and could not speak carelessly. “Many things happen without warning. We can only make choices in haste. Perhaps afterward we regret them beyond measure, but once they’ve happened... all you can do is try your best to make amends.”

No amount of comfort could truly help, and if what Liang Xizhou said was true, then the one who ought to be comforted here was not Liang Jianshang.

Under Liang Jianshang’s repeated pleading, Chao Jingyu got into his car and left first.

Only the one seated and the one standing remained. After a few silent seconds, the click of a lighter broke the stillness.

When Liang Xizhou’s bloodshot eyes caught sight of Shang Yucheng under the tree, he finally could not hold back and laughed out loud. “Liang Jianshang, you brought this on yourself today! Just watch—these men who are infatuated with your body, once they see the rotten core inside you, let’s see whether any of them will look at you twice! You’re only fit to rot to death with me!”

Liang Jianshang’s ears rang. She did not even want to hear what he was saying.

Watching Shang Yucheng walk toward them with composed features, she knew immediately that he had heard everything.

Shang Yucheng was different from Chao Jingyu. Even when he disapproved, Chao Jingyu would not wound her with cruel words.

But Shang Yucheng had never hesitated to cut her with the sharpest, most unforgiving language.

The hatred Liang Xizhou and Nan Yi bore toward her had already driven her to the brink of collapse; she could not withstand any more.

In cowardice, she turned and ran home, only for Shang Yucheng to seize her wrist. “Running from what?”

“Shang Yucheng... let go of me, I can’t...”

“I have something to say to you.” Shang Yucheng brushed his thumb over Liang Jianshang’s trembling lips, and, utterly unrestrained before Liang Xizhou, kissed her once. “Come with me.”