Liang Shi thought for a moment, "Have you thought about what to do next?"
Liang Wanwan bit her lip, "If I go back to school, Mom can't possibly cause a scene at our school, right? Besides, we're going to another province next week. If she can't find me, she won't do anything, will she..."
Liang Wanwan ultimately softened, and after a moment's pause, she said, "I don't know if what I did was right or wrong. Mom felt especially guilty towards her, and she seemed to mean well. It's like she was afraid after driving away my eldest and second brothers, so she was trying to please me, but..."
Liang Shi listened quietly to her.
Liang Wanwan held the still steaming cup of ginger tea, warming her hands against it, and murmured softly, "I just can't bring myself to like her."
Liang Shi asked, "Why?"
Liang Wanwan took a sip of water. The hot water flowed from her mouth through her throat and down to her stomach, making her feel warm all over.
After a long silence, she slowly said, "I felt she was constantly playing the victim, but her weakness hurt many people. When I got home, I found out that my second brother had also moved away, and that my mother was bedridden and looked very tired. It seems like what I did..."
“It doesn’t seem like anything,” Liang Shi said. “Your feeling is probably right.”
Liang Shi didn't say much, just told her to follow Liang Xinran's Weibo account herself.
The original ID was Guo Xinran, the girl searching for her family, but it has now been changed to @Liang Xinran.
The summary reads: Thank you everyone, I have returned to my biological parents.
Her pinned post has also been changed, now containing a bunch of thank-you messages.
It's probably for the sake of traffic; she didn't delete any of her original Weibo posts, and you can still see the content if you click on them.
After reading it, Liang Wanwan wondered, "With so many fans, how could she not have money? Judging from how well she monetizes her fans, she must earn at least tens of thousands a month."
“Yes,” Liang Shi said. “Moreover, the content of her Weibo posts is so meticulous that it doesn’t seem like she wrote them herself.”
Liang Wanwan swiped her fingers across the screen a few times. "I don't know her background, and I wanted to get along with her normally."
For Liang Wanwan, normal interactions were limited to having a few meals together occasionally, because she was preparing for her postgraduate application and would likely be spending the next few years abroad. She didn't really care who came to her house.
Anyway, she was practically invisible in that house.
Unexpectedly, this person had already turned the house upside down in just one week.
Liang Wanwan looked at the Weibo post that she had previously pinned, and the more she looked at it, the more familiar the writing style seemed.
She switched the app to WeChat and searched for a public account.
This was recommended to her by her roommate, who called it "million-dollar copywriting" and "rhythm master." Her roommates are all people who love to follow gossip and are always at the forefront of online surfing, while she is always a step behind them.
For a period of time, she really liked Yang Shuyan, so with her roommate's guidance, she followed this public account, since it had published several articles related to Yang Shuyan.
After opening the app, Liang Wanwan randomly clicked on an article about a certain celebrity in the entertainment industry.
This person has a habit of using commas in their layout, and they also like to use "的" and "了".
These two words appear very frequently in her articles, often in places where they shouldn't be. They may seem abrupt, but they don't affect the reading experience. After reading them many times, you might even find them fluent and coherent.
Liang Wanwan handed the article to Liang Shi and asked, "Sister, do you think this was written by the same person?"
Liang Shi quickly scanned the text and handed it to Xu Qingzhu.
Xu Qingzhu quickly discovered the same word usage habits and incorrect punctuation.
“This person is not simple,” Xu Qingzhu said.
“He’s very expensive,” Liang Wanwan said. “I wrote a report about Yang Shuyan before, which got over a million views and earned me more than 300,000 yuan from that one report.”
So the question is, why was Liang Xinran able to invite this person?
Are they really poor?
Or did they spend all their money on marketing?
Would someone who understands marketing so well appear as weak as she does in the Liang family?
Of course not.
Even if Liang Wanwan was slow-witted, she understood by now.
"Is she faking it?" Liang Wanwan asked. "Why would she do this? What good would it do her to squeeze us all out of the Liang family?"
"Family business," Xu Qingzhu reminded the naive little sister from the side.
Liang Wanwan paused, "My parents are even planning to make a will in advance because of her, afraid that we will take away her share."
Therefore, she didn't quite understand why Liang Xinran was acting this way.
“Perhaps it’s not about getting what she deserves, but about wanting to keep it all for herself?” Xu Qingzhu said. “Sometimes you can’t judge a book by its cover.”
Liang Wanwan: "..."
She asked in surprise, "Really?"
Liang Shi also leaned towards this answer, echoing, "Nothing is impossible."
“She doesn’t understand business operations. It doesn’t matter if she pushes me out, but if she pushes out my eldest and second eldest brothers, who will manage the company?” Liang Wanwan said, “Dad is also extremely busy now.”
Liang Shi didn't know the answer to this question either, so he turned his attention to Xu Qingzhu, who knew about these things.
Xu Qingzhu said in a deep voice, "We can entrust these things to someone who knows them, but isn't she worried about being sidelined?"
Xu Qingzhu also didn't quite understand her.
After chatting for a while, they finally managed to pull Liang Wanwan out of her bad mood.
Then Liang Shi received a call from Liang Xinzhou, asking if she had seen Liang Wanwan. Liang Shi made a video call, and Liang Wanwan timidly greeted Liang Xinzhou.
Liang Xinzhou wanted to say something, but seeing her eyes red from crying, he swallowed all his accusations and said, "Rest well at your sister's house and don't run around."
Liang Wanwan nodded: "I understand."
Liang Xinzhou then turned to Liang Shi and asked, "Could you investigate Xu Tong's father?"
Liang Shi: "Huh? What's wrong?"
Liang Xinzhou said, "His previous company was Haiwei Jewelry. He was fired for allegedly leaking company secrets. Then he worked at his previous company for a month before being laid off. You should ask Xu Qingzhu to ask Haiwei Jewelry what exactly was leaked. I feel that she and Liang Xinran are in cahoots."
Liang Shi was shocked. "That man? Doesn't his wife know about him?"
Liang Xinzhou said, "It should be."
Liang Shi didn't know what clues Liang Xinzhou had found. She glanced at Xu Qingzhu, who nodded in agreement before she finally agreed.
After hanging up the phone, she discussed the matter with Xu Qingzhu, and they both felt it was outrageous.
However, Xu Qingzhu concluded in the end: People who bite never bark.
Liang Shi: "..."
//
That night, Liang Wanwan slept in the second bedroom, while Xu Qingzhu and Liang Shi shared a room again.
The day was full of ups and downs, and Liang Shi felt exhausted. He was getting used to sleeping in the same bed with Xu Qingzhu.
The bed sheets were just changed at noon today. The old sheets are still in the laundry basket and haven't been washed yet. The washing machine was occupied because it was used to wash their clothes, and it was already late after they hung up their clothes. The two of them rushed out, so they didn't have time to wash the bed sheets.
When Liang Shi finished washing up and entered the room, he felt as if the enchanting atmosphere of the morning had not yet dissipated.
She got into bed and sat on one side of the bed, while Xu Qingzhu was reading a book on the other side.
Xu Qingzhu is reading a collection of poems, which is still entirely in English.
Liang Shi lay down and stared at her sideways; the dim light made Xu Qingzhu look exceptionally dazzling.
The scene was warm and cozy, perfect for a magazine photoshoot, and Liang Shi was mesmerized by it.
A moment later, Xu Qingzhu turned a page, the sound of pages turning echoing in the room. Liang Shi's hand was under his head; his sleeves were a little wet from washing up, but it didn't matter much.
Xu Qingzhu unconsciously murmured an English phrase, which was fairly clear in the quiet room.
Her English pronunciation is very pleasant, like the pronunciation often seen in foreign films.
Liang Shi had a sudden thought and said, "Xu Qingzhu, recite a poem for me."
She rarely made demands of Xu Qingzhu, and when she did, they were always so direct.
Because Xu Qingzhu told her today, "Liang Shi, you should be yourself."
So that evening, Liang Shi tried to take the first step.
Xu Qingzhu paused as she was about to turn the page, then lowered her eyes to look at Liang Shi.
Liang Shi looked on with anticipation, his light brown eyes filled with warmth, while Xu Qingzhu's fingertips traced the bottom of the book.
A cold voice rang out in the room: "Teacher Liang, are you using me to meet your KPIs again?"
Liang Shi: "..."
Chapter 109
Achieve KPIs...
Liang Shi, who hadn't worked in a workplace for a long time, was stunned for a second before realizing it was a performance review.
Xu Qingzhu is too smart.
Simply by working backward from what has happened, a logical line can be drawn out, and then one can use this line of reasoning and guessing to make a clear conclusion. Then one can use this line of reasoning to blackmail or test the other party, judging whether the matter is true based on their expression.
Liang Shi, who was used to being honest, was indeed no match for her.
But Liang Shi wasn't doing this to complete a task; he simply felt that the scene was too beautiful and really wanted to hear Xu Qingzhu read poetry.
Her cool, clear voice must sound wonderful when she reads English poetry.
Moreover, when Liang Shi looked at her, he already had a hazy, idealized view of her, but as soon as she opened her mouth...
*Splat*
The filter is broken.
Suddenly brought back to reality, Liang Shi propped himself up on his side and said helplessly, "Xu Qingzhu, you can try not to think so much sometimes."
Xu Qingzhu raised an eyebrow at her, a hint of provocation in her smile, "For example?"
Liang Shi: "..."
She paused for a moment: "For example, I just wanted to hear you read poetry."