Liang Xinhe was stunned, then sighed, "I forgot about that."
“Instead of investigating the scandals of the artists under Zuoye Culture, you should investigate whether she has any secret collusion with people from Zuoye Culture,” Liang Xinzhou said. “This is very similar to a pig butchering scam.”
Liang Xinhe: "?"
"A pig butchering scam?" Liang Xinhe exclaimed in surprise. "What does that mean?"
"It means that two or more parties collude to commit fraud," Liang Xinzhou said.
"No way?" Liang Xinhe was still a little incredulous. "She's just a country girl who grew up in the countryside. She didn't even know our family was so rich that we would meet with her at this time."
"So is it possible that they didn't originally intend to lie to us, but we just happened to run into trouble?" Liang Xinzhou adjusted his glasses and suddenly gasped in pain.
Liang Shi then noticed a red scab on his lower right eyelid.
It looks like a fresh scratch.
"What's wrong?" Liang Shi asked.
“By Mom…” Liang Xinhe was about to speak when Liang Xinzhou interrupted her sharply, “Liang Xinhe.”
Liang Xinhe awkwardly shut his mouth.
Liang Xinzhou explained, "It was an accidental scratch."
Liang Shi overheard Liang Xinhe's words, looked at Liang Xinzhou, and said helplessly, "You'd have to be really careful to row there."
She stood up as she spoke, "You guys chat first, I'll come up in a bit."
After she left, Liang Xinzhou and Liang Xinhe began to discuss the situation they would face that night.
There is no doubt that if Liang's parents wanted to bring their long-lost younger sister back, the whole family would be in an awkward situation.
The embarrassment is secondary; the main problem is not knowing what to do next.
As children, we really can't stop our parents from doing what they insist on doing.
However, Liang Xinhe first discussed what had just happened, "Brother, I think you're overthinking it. How much ability can someone from the countryside have? What kind of trouble can they possibly cause? You're being too cautious."
"Then you should think about it even more." Liang Xinzhou put away his tablet. "How can someone from the countryside build a successful self-media platform in less than half a year, and become a master at manipulating public opinion? Your parents are now blinded by their daughter's image, and you're being captivated too?"
"No," Liang Xinhe denied. "I was just trying to smooth things over. Otherwise, my younger sister hasn't even come back yet, and this family will already be in complete disarray."
“There’s no way to resolve this.” Liang Xinzhou sighed. “When you saw Mom and Liang Shi arguing, you should have known that there was no way to resolve this.”
There is no option to have both.
It will only create distance between the two.
“But that younger sister is also quite pitiful.” Liang Xinhe said, “She has no relatives over there. Did you see what she wrote on Weibo? Her mother died first, then her father died, and she was raised by her grandmother. Her grandmother only told her before she died that she was not her biological daughter.”
As she finished speaking, Liang Xinhe's tone became somewhat melancholic, "She has always been called a jinx, a bringer of misfortune, and no one dares to pursue her even at her age. It's just a cruel twist of fate."
"So?" Liang Xinzhou asked.
Liang Xinhe was taken aback, looking at Liang Xinzhou in surprise, "Brother, aren't you being too cold-hearted? You don't even pity her a little, she's still your own sister..."
Liang Xinzhou's stern gaze was fixed on Liang Xinhe, causing Liang Xinhe's voice to grow softer and softer until he could no longer speak.
Liang Xinzhou shook his head. "She's pitiful, but... I'm skeptical about it."
"What do you mean?" Liang Xinhe asked, "She couldn't have made these up, could she? Someone in her village must have come out to refute her. This kind of thing can be easily investigated."
“I didn’t say she made it up,” Liang Xinzhou said. “But there’s definitely some exaggeration involved. I’m skeptical just by looking at her pinned Weibo post. The way she phrases things doesn’t sound like someone who hasn’t been to college.”
Liang Xinhe: "..."
"Then it can't be because she's good at Chinese?" Liang Xinhe said awkwardly.
Liang Xinzhou stared at him, speechless.
A few seconds later, she said with exasperation, "You'll understand if you read her Weibo post a few more times."
Liang Xinhe touched the tip of his nose, too embarrassed to speak further.
Liang Shi only knocked on the door after the argument between the two had stopped. She went downstairs to get iodine and bandages, and handed them to Liang Xinzhou. Liang Xinzhou waved his hand, saying, "It's just a minor injury, no need."
“Even a minor injury is on your face,” Liang Shi said. “How could you be so careless? It won’t be good if it leaves a scar.”
Liang Xinzhou remained stubborn and refused to comply, but Liang Shi said helplessly, "Just listen to me this once."
Liang Xinzhou: "..."
Liang Shi disinfected the wound on his nose, then used office scissors to cut the bandage into small pieces and put it on him, trying to make sure no one could see that there was a bandage there.
After throwing all the pieces into the trash can, she asked, "Where are you two going?"
"Let's go home," they both said in unison.
Liang Shi nodded: "Okay, I'm going home too. Be careful on your way home."
He didn't ask a single question about the real daughter.
Before leaving, Liang Shi said to Liang Xinhe, "By the way, Second Brother, I'll come to work tomorrow, but not next week."
Liang Xinhe nodded: "Understood."
The two brothers watched Liang Shi's departing figure.
Liang Xinhe sighed, "Liang Shi has really changed."
“Growing up happens in the blink of an eye,” Liang Xinzhou said. “She’s over her rebellious phase, so she’ll be fine naturally. Don’t you think she looks a lot like she did when she was a child?”
Liang Xinhe: "...Really?"
Liang Xinzhou nodded: "You haven't spent much time with her, so you didn't notice."
"By the way, what did you say Mom did to Liang Shi when you were in the study last time?" Liang Xinhe suddenly said, "Isn't Liang Shi the one Mom always doted on the most? I'm not even as good as A-Shi in front of her."
“Spoiling.” Liang Xinzhou said in a low voice, “Spoiling without limits, and Mom once gave Liang Shi to Qin Lishuang.”
"Qin Lishuang?" Liang Xinhe frowned. "That painter who likes to play with nude art? She's the youngest daughter of the Qin family, right? She's over forty and still unmarried."
“Yes.” Liang Xinzhou breathed a sigh of relief. “I knew I would bring Liang Shi out later, but Liang Shi spent the night with her… When I asked her what happened, she wouldn’t say.”
"What the hell?" Liang Xinhe exclaimed irritably. "What kind of mess is this? Why did Mom give Liang Shi to her? Our family isn't in a position where we need to ask for favors."
“It wasn’t about asking for a favor,” Liang Xinzhou explained. “Mom said she didn’t know. Qin Lishuang only told her she wanted to borrow Liang Shi as a model. She thought it would be good for him and cultivate his character, so she didn’t suspect anything. To be precise, it wasn’t a gift, but rather asking Liang Shi to help her model. But Qin Lishuang’s character…”
Liang Xinzhou's voice turned serious. "I don't think it's believable."
“Of course it’s unbelievable.” Liang Xinhe lowered his voice and said, “I have a friend’s younger sister who was taken away by Qin Lishuang under the guise of being a model, and in the end she was… ruined.”
"What?"
“It’s…” Liang Xinhe paused, then said in a low voice, “The kind that will prevent them from having children in the future.”
"Damn it." Even the usually composed Liang Xinzhou couldn't help but swear.
He still remembered the scene when he went to find Liang Shi and led his men into Qin Lishuang's villa.
Rumors circulate that Qin Lishuang is a mad artist who has sex with many people and observes their bodies in search of inspiration. She provides them with ample money because the Qin family is a well-known family in Haizhou City and has a marriage alliance with the Lu family, a prominent family in Beijing. As a result, no one says anything, and the rumors only circulate within the industry.
We just chat about it as a joke during our leisure time.
When he found Liang Shi, Liang Shi was wearing a black leather jacket, her hair was tied in a ponytail, she was wearing heavy makeup, and she had a very sour expression.
Qin Lishuang laughed and said, "She's just a child, what can we do to her?"
Liang Xinzhou said, "Don't touch my sister from now on."
Qin Lishuang even tried to playfully lift Liang Shi's chin, but Liang Shi shook her off, saying, "Don't touch me."
Qin Lishuang laughed and said, "This kid has quite a temper."
Liang Xinzhou brought Liang Shi out and asked her what had happened, but Liang Shi wouldn't say.
Later, when they got home, Liang Xinzhou and Qiu Zimin had a huge fight, which was even more intense than when they found out their real daughter.
However, Liang Xinzhou was still young at that time and had not yet started a family. When he argued with Qiu Zimin, he was not as forceful as he is now, but he was still willful.
Faced with his harsh criticism, Qiu Zimin patiently explained.
After observing for a while, he realized that Qiu Zimin might genuinely be unaware of Qin Lishuang's character, so he finally let the matter drop at home.
Liang Xinhe has always been carefree and doesn't care much about these things, so he didn't pay attention to them.
Liang Xinzhou had no idea what happened the night Liang Shi stayed at Qin Lishuang's house. Liang Shi didn't say anything, and it was absurd for him to ask Qin Lishuang.
However, Liang Xinzhou has always felt that Liang Shi's rebellious period lasted for so many years and must be related to Qiu Zimin.
It was Qiu Zimin's boundless pampering that led Liang Shi to develop such a personality.
That incident remained like a thorn in Liang Xinzhou's heart, causing him pain from time to time.
Even though it was Qiu Zimin's mistake, it was Liang Shi who bore the consequences of her mistake.
He had tried his best to be strict with Liang Shi, but Liang Shi did not appreciate it, so he could only go along with Liang Shi.
As long as Liang Shiping is safe and sound, that's fine; anyway, her family doesn't expect her to achieve anything significant.
It's wonderful to have something you love now.
"Then Mom said we have to sell the villa..." Liang Xinhe suddenly asked.
Liang Xinzhou frowned: "It's probably just talk. How can such a big villa be sold so easily? Even if she really wants to sell it, it won't sell in a short time. Let's get through tonight first. I have other properties elsewhere. If it doesn't work out, I'll have the two of them move there."
"Okay." Liang Xinhe breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time felt like something was weighing on his heart, making it impossible for him to calm down. So he made conversation by saying, "Is your sister-in-law pregnant? I've noticed she's been sleeping a lot lately."
"Yes." Liang Xinzhou didn't hide anything. "It was found out last week, just over a month ago. I was planning to tell you this Monday, but..."
Parents have vanished without a trace, what's the point of saying anything?
Liang Xinhe patted him on the shoulder, "Let's see how it goes. If she's too spoiled, then you should move out. I support you."
Yu Wan had worked too hard in previous years, which severely damaged her health. She had to take a lot of medicine to conceive, so protecting the pregnancy is definitely the priority.
If anything goes wrong now, his older brother will go crazy.
Liang Xinzhou glanced at him and said, "You'd better be careful."
Liang Xinhe: "?"
“She’s definitely not a spoiled person,” Liang Xinzhou said coldly. “But she’s probably good at using self-inflicted injury tactics. You’ve always been soft-hearted, so don’t fall for her tricks. And your younger siblings, they’ve never grown up around us, so it’s like strangers have entered our home. It’s always good to be wary.”
Liang Xinhe still felt he was being overly nervous, and said to him, "What kind of trouble can a little girl from the countryside cause?"
"Haven't you learned this in the workplace yet?" Liang Xinzhou advised him, "The thing you must be most wary of is pretending to be weak to take advantage of others."