Chapter 96: Coming to Nothing

This conversation was doomed to end without resolution because of the rift between Shang Yucheng and Liang Jinshang.

Nan Yi suggested going home first.

It was rare for her to take the initiative and come looking for them today, and Liang Jinshang did not want to miss the chance to talk.

Especially since she could clearly feel Shang Yucheng’s dislike for Nan Yi.

“Shang Yucheng, why don’t you head back first?” Liang Jinshang said. “I’ll take Nan Yi home.”

Shang Yucheng gave her a look. He had turned down an engagement tonight and specially come to pick her up from work, only for her to send him off like this.

“I’ll take you there,” he said, rising first and walking out.

Liang Jinshang pressed her lips together and asked Nan Yi, “Nan Yi, is that all right?”

Nan Yi looked at Shang Yucheng’s receding back and gave a small nod.

Nan Yi rented a place in the old part of town. Once night fell, even the streetlamps seemed dimmer than elsewhere.

The narrow alley was dark, with puddles of filth that had not been cleared away.

The car stopped by the roadside. After Nan Yi got out, Liang Jinshang looked at the man who had driven in silence all the way and decided to speak to him about Nan Yi.

“Shang Yucheng, as for what happened this time, I won’t interfere in how you deal with Shang Yiming, but Nan Yi…” She glanced at the conditions of her home and continued, “You’ve seen her situation. She really needs work. The warehouse job before was exhausting and left no room for advancement, so it’s probably better that you helped her resign. I think she could learn to work in document management. I happen to have some connections with construction firms.”

A construction document clerk could also work from home, as long as there were clients.

And for that kind of client source, she did not even need Shang Yucheng. Liang Jinshang could bring her business herself.

Even so, Shang Yucheng’s expression remained faintly displeased, and his tone cooled as he delivered his verdict. “So in the end, you’re just determined to go against me.”

He was not the one involved. He did not share Liang Jinshang’s guilt toward Liang Xizhou and Nan Yi; she could understand that.

But he also seemed to lack even the most basic sympathy for the weak.

Whether it was Liang Xizhou or Nan Yi.

Liang Jinshang was about to say more when, all at once, she heard a woman’s sobbing and the sound of someone running in panic.

She turned in alarm and saw Nan Yi, who had only just gone home, being chased back out by a middle-aged man wielding a stick.

Liang Jinshang had no time to think. She immediately got out of the car and rushed over.

At a glance, she recognized the middle-aged man as Nan Yi’s father.

Because of years of heavy drinking, he looked far older than his actual age, with cloudy eyes and a vicious face.

He was still cursing as he came on. “Other girls your age already know how to earn money and be filial to their parents, and you useless thing are still at home eating your father out of house and home! It was hard enough finding you a man, and I even took his betrothal money. Now they think you’re bad luck and say you ruined the man’s job, and they want the money back! And you got yourself fired too! Useless!”

Only then did Liang Jinshang understand where the bruises on Nan Yi’s face and body had come from.

Just as the stick was about to come down on Nan Yi, Liang Jinshang hurried forward. “Uncle Nan, please don’t hit her yet. Let me explain!”

“Who are you? Move aside!”

“I, I’m Fang—” Liang Jinshang had barely gotten out a word when Nan Yi immediately covered her mouth, stopping her from saying that name.

Nan Yi did not even know why she had acted on instinct like that.

But if Nan Hai-sheng found out she was that girl from back then, he would really beat her to death.

Nan Yi’s voice trembled. “Dad, Dad… can we go home first?”

“Go home? What home? We’re so poor we can barely afford the roof over our heads!” Nan Hai-sheng lifted the stick and was about to bring it down without another word.

In a panic, Liang Jinshang pulled Nan Yi sharply out of the way, and in that instant the stick was about to crash down on her head.

Fortunately, Shang Yucheng arrived in time. With one hand he yanked Liang Jinshang aside, and with the other he snatched the stick away.

He flung it to the ground with a sharp clang.

Liang Jinshang barely managed to steady herself, but Nan Yi could not withstand the force and was about to topple over.

Shang Yucheng reached out and caught her, preventing her from falling into his arms.

Nan Yi braced herself against the strength of his arm and managed to stand upright, swaying.

“Who are you people? Why are you meddling in other people’s business?” Nan Hai-sheng slurred angrily.

Now that Shang Yucheng had shown up, even the little bit of ferocity he had was gone; he was only holding on by the numbness of drink.

Liang Jinshang said quickly, “Uncle Nan, I’ll introduce Nan Yi to a job tomorrow, and I guarantee it’ll be better than the last one!”

Nan Hai-sheng looked at her as though she were nothing but a young girl who knew nothing, his face full of disbelief. He was about to flare up again.

Liang Jinshang had no choice but to bring up Shang Yucheng’s name. “This Mr. Shang is the owner of a major company, Azure Sky Construction. He’s the one who had dinner with Nan Yi today, so you can rest assured about the job!”

Shang Yucheng gave her a cool, unreadable look.

Liang Jinshang met his gaze with pleading eyes, pitiful and helpless.

Shang Yucheng said nothing else. He simply and quietly pushed Nan Yi’s hand off his arm, since she had been clutching him tightly the whole time.

Then he spoke indifferently to Nan Hai-sheng. “Have your daughter report to Azure Sky tomorrow.”

Liang Jinshang’s words might not have been enough to convince Nan Hai-sheng, but when Shang Yucheng stood there, even a drunk could tell he was no ordinary man.

Nan Hai-sheng’s expression changed at once, as if he had flipped a mask. “Boss! Boss, what is your relationship with my Yi Yi? Why are you looking after her so much?”

Shang Yucheng did not want to stay even one second longer. He turned and went back to the car first.

When Nan Hai-sheng saw that luxurious car of his, his cloudy eyes actually brightened.

Liang Jinshang was in a hurry to explain things to Shang Yucheng, so she put an arm around Nan Yi’s shoulder in a gesture of reassurance.

She also repeatedly stressed to Nan Hai-sheng that he could not hit Nan Yi again. A company as big as Azure Sky would not let someone show up for work covered in injuries.

Nan Hai-sheng glanced at the luxury car, then at his daughter’s lovely face, and mumbled a hasty agreement. “No, no hitting. Definitely no hitting!”

Liang Jinshang hurried into the front passenger seat.

“Shang Yucheng…” She leaned on the center console and half-turned toward him. “This won’t cause you too much trouble, will it?”

Shang Yucheng naturally did not think much of it. “You can save someone in an emergency, but not their poverty. You’ll regret this one day.”

Liang Jinshang did not take it seriously.

This time, Shang Yucheng’s handling of Shang Yiming and Nan Yi had, by a strange twist of fate, pushed matters in a better direction instead.

If Nan Yi could break things off with Shang Yiming because of this, and then take a better job, perhaps she could eventually get away from that family.

And privately, Liang Jinshang had an even greedier hope…

If Nan Yi could untie the knot in her heart and be willing to comfort Liang Xizhou, then maybe he would agree to go abroad for treatment, or even… perhaps they could take up where they had left off?

She was imagining a beautiful future in her mind, but all of it rested on one premise: that Shang Yucheng would be willing to offer Nan Yi a suitable job.

“Mr. Shang? Mr. Shang?” Liang Jinshang smiled ingratiatingly. “If Nan Yi comes to work at your company, you’ll look after her, won’t you?”

Shang Yucheng asked lazily, “On what grounds?”

On what grounds? It would be a trivial favor for him!

But that would amount to emotional blackmail, and rather shamelessly so.

Liang Jinshang’s mind turned again, and she remembered something he had said before.

“You said yourself that, in order to protect yourself, you could push someone else out to take the hit, and no matter what happened, you could handle the consequences. Now Nan Yi’s troubles are partly because of me… aren’t you going to help clean up after it?”