Liang Shi: Are you in Haizhou City? Let's meet.
Chen Mian: [I'm in Country Y.]
This sentence completely shut down Liang Shi's words.
She wanted to see Chen Mian and ask him if he knew Qi Jiao's state of mind before she jumped off the building.
...
Liang Shi was eager to know what Qi Jiao had experienced in the days leading up to her suicide, as her diary entries from that period were all rather vague.
Chen Mian's tone was distant, but Liang Shi didn't press the matter and sent her a message: 【Sorry to bother you.】
This was an attempt to end the conversation.
Chen Mian replied, "I'm going back to China next week. See you then."
Liang Shi replied immediately: 【Okay.】
Chen Mian never deleted Liang Shi's WeChat, and she always replied to her messages very quickly.
It must be related to Qi Jiao.
Thinking about the recording he had heard, Liang Shi felt more and more that there was something between Qi Jiao and Chen Mian.
It's not quite like what's portrayed in the diary.
Liang Shi carefully put away Qi Jiao's diary, then drove to the kindergarten. On the way, the crew of "Yu Guang" called her to inform her that her scenes would be filmed on Wednesday and that she must arrive at the set at seven o'clock on Wednesday morning to start her makeup and hair.
Liang adapted to the sound.
While lamenting that she hadn't had a single day off since arriving here, spinning like a clockwork toy, she also wondered how many days were left until her mission ended.
She felt these tasks were endless.
Liang Shi waited at the kindergarten gate for a while, and soon it was time for the kindergarten to let out.
She saw Su Yao who had come to pick up Sheng Yu, greeted her, and politely inquired about her recent situation.
Su Yao answered them one by one.
Rainbow was still not picked up. Zhou Li was busy with work and would leave Rainbow at the kindergarten, where the teacher on duty would look after him.
Seeing that Rainbow was all alone, Liang Shi picked her up as well.
When Lingdang saw that it was Liang Shi who came to pick her up, she asked curiously, "Auntie, where's my mom?"
"I don't know." Liang Shi picked her up and said, "My uncle asked me to take you back to the old house."
Upon hearing the words "old house," Lingdang flinched, somewhat resistant, "No... please."
Chapter 114
In young Lingdang's mind, the old house had already become a frightening place.
Lingdang didn't want to go back to the old house, didn't want to see her new aunt, and didn't want to see her grandparents.
She was afraid of being scolded, and also afraid of...
"Auntie, did my mother go back too?" Lingdang asked.
Liang Shi shook his head: "I don't know. My uncle only told me to take you back to the old house. We're going to seek justice for Lingdang today."
Liang Shi held the bell in one hand and Rabow in the other.
Her voice was gentle as she softly comforted Lingdang, who was afraid. Lingdang lowered her head and thought for a moment before cautiously asking, "Will my uncle get scolded because of me?"
Liang Shi was taken aback: "Huh?"
"I don't want Uncle to get scolded," Lingdang said, shaking her head. "Let's just forget about it."
It's hard to believe these words came from a five-year-old girl.
But Lingdang's words were sincere and her expression earnest; she was genuinely worried about Liang Xinzhou.
“And Mom.” Lingdang scratched Liang Shi’s palm. “Auntie, if we don’t go back to the old house, we won’t get scolded, right? When Grandma scolds Mom, Mom cries.”
Liang Shi stood there for a few seconds, then said, "Then you can play with Rabow in the car, and Auntie can go back to the old house to visit, okay? If everyone is there, Grandma won't be so fierce."
Bell hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded.
Because they were going back to the old house, Lingdang frowned and looked sullen the whole way.
Liang Shi tried to cheer her up on the way, saying that everything was alright.
Besides, it's just about going back to talk about what happened that day and getting the truth back to Lingdang, not about making a big fuss.
With Liang Xinzhou around, Liang Shi felt he had a pillar of support.
Liang Xinzhou and Liang Xinhe are very adept at "undermining the enemy's strength." Yesterday, I heard from Liang Wanwan that Dongheng Group is extremely busy because of the loss of its two main leaders. In particular, Liang's father has not been home for several days. Liang Wanwan didn't even see him when she went back home that day.
Qiu Zimin was upset by her two sons' behavior and lay listlessly in bed, showing no signs of life.
Liang Shi went there today to demand an explanation for what happened with the bell that day; she had witnessed firsthand the depravity of that family.
Bringing the bell was just to see how Qiu Zimin would handle it.
There's no need to force Lingdang to go in if she doesn't want to.
It's nothing serious.
Liang Shi drove the car to the old house and told Rabow and Lingdang not to fight. They could read books in the car or watch cartoons on their spare tablets. If needed, Liang Shi would come to pick them up.
Rabow nodded obediently.
Lingdang asked with some concern, "Auntie, are you all really alright?"
Liang Shi answered confidently, "It's nothing."
After a moment, she hesitated again, "Then... if you get scolded, let's leave. I'm fine."
Her small eyes sparkled with a captivating light.
Liang Shi patted her head and said, "I know, we're adults, nothing will happen."
“But last time… Grandma hit Uncle,” Lingdang said dejectedly.
“It’s really nothing,” Liang Shi said. “Last time it was your uncle who wasn’t on guard, but this kind of thing won’t happen again.”
Bell clearly didn't believe it.
Although she is still a child, she already knows who is more powerful in the family and who holds the power.
Before going in, Liang Shi told Lingdang that she could come back in whenever she wanted to go home, it was no problem.
The bell nodded in agreement.
There is a flower garden in front of the old house. In late autumn, when most flowers should be withering, the flowers in the garden are in full bloom, displaying a riot of colors.
The reason is that Qiu Zimin likes to appreciate flowers, which has a spring-like feel to it.
Therefore, the flowers in the Liang family's flower nursery are always airlifted from all over the country.
It was then planted in the flowerbed.
As Liang Shi walked across the flowerbed, some petals were blown by the autumn wind and landed directly on her. She lowered her eyes and reached out to brush them off.
Without sending Liang Xinzhou a message to confirm again, she went straight into the old house.
If there are any special circumstances, Liang Xinzhou will definitely notify her.
When she entered the old house, the servants all looked at her with disbelief, as if wondering why she would come back.
Because of her previous poor image, the servants greeted her with trepidation, calling her "Third Miss".
The way he called her "Third Miss" was indeed a bit hesitant, since there was already a new Third Miss in the family.
Liang Shi gave a perfunctory reply in a low voice, then walked over to Liang Xinzhou's side.
Liang Xinzhou and Liang Xinhe were both standing in the living room, but Sun Meirou and Yu Wan were not there; they were nowhere to be found.
Qiu Zimin sat on the sofa, her face full of illness, her posture also sickly, her eyes lightly closed, looking like a seriously ill patient.
When Liang Shi came in, he didn't know what was going on and didn't dare to speak rashly.
But soon Qiu Zimin calmly opened her eyes, and upon seeing her, her eyes flashed with intense hatred. She gritted her teeth and said, "Why did you come back?"
"Just browsing," Liang Shi said casually.
The more composed she was, the angrier Qiu Zimin became. Soon, her expression changed, and she said, "Get out of here."
"I'll leave soon," Liang Shi said. "As long as you apologize to Lingdang, I definitely won't stay here any longer."
"Who do you think you are?!" Qiu Zimin said angrily, "Lingdang is my granddaughter! What gives you the right to say that? Liang Shi, get out of here! I never want to see you again!"
She cursed as she grabbed a cushion and threw it at Liang Shi.
It just so happened to fall into Liang Shi's arms.
Liang Shi's expression remained unchanged, his demeanor indifferent. He placed the cushion on the other side of the sofa and said, "I don't really want to see you either."
There's no point in pretending anymore now that things have gotten this bad.
Moreover, Liang Shi never intended to pretend with her from the very beginning.
Qiu Zimin's health is indeed not as good as before. Recently, she has had one accident after another. She thought that finding her biological daughter would be a great joy, so she was so happy that she didn't sleep all night. However, Liang Xinzhou strongly opposed it and never gave her a good look from the beginning. Her second son also moved out directly.
Well then, they've all settled down and started their own families, so let's move out.
As a result, the two of them stopped going to the company altogether.
Mr. Liang has been extremely busy at his company lately. He had delegated his work a long time ago, and as he gets older, he is no longer able to handle it all. But with his two sons away, he has no choice but to grit his teeth and do it himself.
After returning home, I couldn't even manage a smile, let alone a pleasant expression.
Later on, I was so busy that I didn't have time to go home.
Meetings one after another, documents that are impossible to read.
Mr. Liang was exhausted, both physically and mentally. He had thought he could enjoy the happiness of having his children around him, but this whole mess turned out to be what happened.
When Liang's father heard last night that Liang Wanwan and Liang Xinran had quarreled and that Liang Wanwan had even slapped Liang Xinran, he hesitated for a long time before discussing with Qiu Zimin, "How about we give Xinran some money and send her away?"
Upon hearing this, Qiu Zimin burst into tears. Already frail, she coughed up blood. Leaning against the headboard, she said to Liang's father, "Grandfather Liang, you were the one who lost our daughter. How could you say such a thing? We've been searching for our daughter for twenty-five years, and now that we've found her, you want to abandon her? Are you even human?!"