Chapter 142: Suffer a Setback

Liang Jinshang was not expecting Chao Jingyu to pull her like that, and her entire body crashed heavily into his arms.

She experienced the truth of the fact that "Chao Jingyu has a great physique" firsthand!

Her teeth collided with his pectoral muscles, cutting her own lip and causing it to bleed.

Liang Jinshang lifted her gaze and said softly, "...I wasn't trying to commit suicide."

Chao Jingyu had genuinely been startled for a split second just then.

To cover up his composure, he instead joked, "I'm not afraid of you committing suicide, I'm just worried that if you fell down, I wouldn't be able to clear myself of suspicion."

Liang Jinshang chuckled a few times.

Amidst their conversation, they naturally distanced themselves from one another.

The night breeze lifted Liang Jinshang's long hair, the ends brushing against Chao Jingyu's chest.

Leaving behind the very last shred of intangible warmth.

Chao Jingyu turned around, looking at the distant lights, "Do you feel a bit better now?"

Liang Jinshang let out an "mm," not wanting him to worry.

She did not regret holding Nan Wenqian accountable to the end.

Yet she was also troubled by the fact that the knot between her and Nan Yi was becoming increasingly difficult to untie.

Chao Jingyu seemed to guess the thoughts in her mind and proactively brought up the topic of Nan Yi, "Actually, your blind and unconditional compromise like this might not necessarily melt away the grudges she has harbored in her heart for years."

Shang Yucheng had said something similar.

Only he had been much more blunt: "Liang Jinshang, one of these days you are going to be dragged to death by these two people."

Upon hearing Shang Yucheng's words, Liang Jinshang had certainly dismissed them.

Yet when Chao Jingyu voiced it in a much more peaceful tone, she very much wanted to ask him how he truly viewed the situation.

Could it be that all these years, her wholehearted attempts to make amends to Liang Xizhou and Nan Yi had been entirely wrong?

"Although it looks like you are very good to her, when dealing with long-standing obsessions, blocking is worse than dredging—you have to give her the opportunity to vent them out. To use an inappropriate analogy, this time Nan Yi taking action against Xueyuan was, for her, not necessarily a bad thing."

At this point, Chao Jingyu likely realized this was inappropriate as well, and changed his tune, "Of course, compared to Gong Xueyuan, the harm you caused her is different."

Stripping away the outer layer of comfort, these words were actually quite pale.

Because from Chao Jingyu's perspective, she was likely considered one of the primary culprits who had harmed Nan Yi.

Perhaps even more vicious than Gong Xueyuan, seeing as she had sacrificed her best friend for her own selfish desires.

Suddenly, Liang Jinshang no longer wished to be continually misunderstood by Chao Jingyu.

In an environment like this, facing someone so deeply considerate, it was very easy to open one's heart.

Liang Jinshang explained to him that the events of back then were not a deliberate plot by her to frame Nan Yi and Liang Xizhou.

Back then, she had said these exact words to Shang Yucheng as well.

But what had Shang Yucheng replied? —

He had said he didn't believe a single word of it.

"I had a friend who was extremely skilled in martial arts. At the time, a dozen or so thugs were chasing after me, but my friend beat them all down. He was the one who saved me."

Chao Jingyu immediately accepted this explanation, pondering for a moment, "Then why has Liang Xizhou misunderstood you for so many years? Or was he deliberately using you as a target to vent his resentment?"

"No." Liang Jinshang shook her head, offering a bitter smile, "Because that friend denied it."

Chao Jingyu felt that logically, this made no sense. "Would it be convenient to talk about that friend of yours? What was his character, personality, and style of doing things?"

Liang Jinshang briefly summarized He Xiaoque's persona.

After listening, Chao Jingyu remained silent for a moment before saying, "Although this might sound cruel to you, I have studied basic psychological human analysis. If your friend is truly the kind of person you described, no matter what complicated relationship the two of you had at the time, as long as he truly saved you, he would not deny it."

What did that mean?

Could it be that Chao Jingyu also firmly believed Liang Xizhou's version of events and thought He Xiaoque had not saved her?

Liang Jinshang retorted, "I'm not making excuses for myself, but when He Xiaoque carried me out, there was a whole group of people lying on the ground. That day, even though Nan Yi and I ran in different directions, our situations were equally dangerous. He Xiaoque's martial arts skills were the only thing that made me luckier than Nan Yi."

Chao Jingyu tried to hypothesize, "Could someone else have saved you?"

"Impossible." Liang Jinshang flatly denied it.

During those isolated and helpless years, the only two people who might possibly have saved her were Liang Xizhou and He Xiaoque.

It couldn't possibly be a stranger passing by who decided to uphold justice by beating the thugs to a pulp before He Xiaoque arrived, could it?

Besides, why would a stranger leave immediately after saving someone?

The train of thought provided by Chao Jingyu was even more bizarre than her own steadfast belief that He Xiaoque had saved her.

"Forget it. It has no meaning." Liang Jinshang thought of He Xiaoque, whom she had brushed past in Xingcheng.

No, perhaps he had deliberately avoided her.

He would never step forward to clear her name, and as for her, if she simply gave up and resigned herself to fate, the worst she could do was bear this infamy.

How is one supposed to live through a lifetime anyway?!

The night breeze grew even colder, and Chao Jingyu lent her his trench coat to drape over her shoulders.

Time spent alone is always fleeting, and Chao Jingyu considerately said, "It's getting late. You just got back from a business trip, shouldn't you go back and get some rest?"

The cleaning service he had hired had just called to report that the apartment had already been cleaned.

Thus, they headed down the mountain and returned home.

Once inside Chao Jingyu's car, she picked up her phone, which she had left behind.

It was completely filled with missed calls.

Chao Jingyu caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of his eye and casually asked, "Who is it, looking for you so urgently?"

Before she could answer, he laughed softly to himself, "It's Yucheng, isn't it?"

Liang Jinshang blanked her phone screen, "Mm."

Chao Jingyu noticed that Liang Jinshang's mood had been quite good just moments ago, only for her face to instantly darken upon getting back into the car.

Naturally, it was because of the person calling.

Back when Gong Xueyuan and Shang Yucheng were together, Chao Jingyu's dynamic with the two of them had remained unchanged.

Even when Gong Xueyuan threw tantrums, he would still put in a good word or two for Shang Yucheng.

Men were men, after all; feelings were just feelings, merely a part of life.

It wasn't a matter of life and death.

Yet for some reason, when it came to Liang Jinshang, seeing Shang Yucheng getting thwarted and outmaneuvered by her...

Chao Jingyu touched the bridge of his nose, and undeniably, he found it rather gleeful.

...

Liang Jinshang returned to Guanlan Courtyard.

She just raised her hand, wanting to turn on the lights, but the moment she recalled the scene she had walked in on that afternoon.

She suddenly decided she didn't want to turn on the lights after all.

The moment she turned them on, the images from that afternoon would flood back into her mind.

Even though she knew the house had been cleaned anew, and she had instructed the cleaners to take the sofa away.

Her worldview wasn't so easily reconstructed.

What kind of mess was this!

Liang Jinshang groped her way across the living room in the dark, intending to turn on the light once she reached her bedroom.

Unexpectedly, after taking a few steps, the coffee table must have been shifted by the cleaners without her realizing it, and she tripped over it.

Her whole body lurched forward, and where the sofa used to be, there was now only the hard wooden floor.

"Bang! ...Mph!"

Liang Jinshang sat on the floor, clutching her bruised knee.

When would this string of bad luck finally come to an end?!

Filled with vexation, she just wanted to curse the heavens, "I'll fuck your—Ah!!!"

A tall figure strode in from the balcony, and Liang Jinshang's foul language instantly choked in her throat.

Overwhelmed with shock, her heart beat erratically like crazy!

She scrambled backward using both hands and feet!

"Who are you going to fuck, huh?"