Chapter 97: What Gift?
Of course, what Shang Yucheng had said was meant for her ears alone. There was no doubt about that.
Liang Jinshang had fallen silent for a long time then.
If there were someone like her, someone who had ruined two lives by making one terrible mistake and had spent years burdened by a demon she could never exorcise, unable to atone to herself—
and then, out of nowhere, a man appeared and told her, Although you have done something irreparable, you protected yourself well. To me, that is the right thing.
Yes, so what if her values were warped? At last, someone felt sorry for her.
If that person had not been Shang Yucheng, the one who had hurt her again and again, perhaps she would have long ago thrown all caution to the wind and fallen into his arms.
Back at Cloudwater Manor, the original plan was that after picking her up from work, Shang Yucheng would take her out to dinner.
But because of the unexpected interruption with Nan Yi, nothing was eaten in the end.
The moment Shang Yucheng got home, he received a call from the vice president. Today he had even declined a social engagement just to come and get her.
While taking the call, he casually instructed Liang Jinshang, “Go make something to eat.”
Liang Jinshang looked around, then pointed at her own nose and mouthed, “Me?”
Shang Yucheng raised an eyebrow. There were only the two of them here. Was he speaking to the air?
On the way back in the car, Liang Jinshang had finished the mousse cake she had packed from the cafe, so she was no longer hungry.
“I’m not eating,” she said softly, mindful that he was still on the phone. “And I don’t cook.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she turned to run, but Shang Yucheng caught her by the collar.
“Shang Yucheng, what are you doing?!”
The subordinate on the other end was still reporting, and Shang Yucheng was not the sort of man who liked to expose his private life to his employees.
So he said nothing, only silently catching her around the waist and trapping her between his long legs.
To keep her from escaping.
He was seated, she was standing, and from that angle, when Liang Jinshang struggled too hard, she bumped straight into the bridge of his nose.
His nose was tall and straight; with a collision like that, it was like an egg striking a rock. The one who hurt more was Liang Jinshang.
A muffled gasp escaped her throat. “Mm!”
The voice of the subordinate on the other end of the line suddenly paused, and Shang Yucheng glanced up at her as well.
Why did she sound so sweet and spoiled? It made one’s heart itch.
Liang Jinshang was so flustered by the deep look in his eyes that her face burned. She wanted to flee.
Finding her restless movement hard to control, Shang Yucheng simply pulled her onto his lap, then put the phone into her hand and lifted her hand to his ear.
That freed both of his hands, allowing him to hold her firmly by the waist.
He even settled his head in the most comfortable place, against the spot where she had just hit his nose and made it ache.
Liang Jinshang was baffled. She had only wanted to avoid cooking, so how had she suddenly become both a phone stand and a human cushion?
Fortunately, the call ended very quickly. Liang Jinshang, annoyed, said she was going to rest.
Shang Yucheng had no reason to let himself go hungry. “Go make me a meal. That’ll count as one month’s rent.”
“Rent?” Liang Jinshang was stunned. “Why should I pay rent?”
Wasn’t it he who had forcibly made her live here?
Shang Yucheng said, “What are you to me, that you can live in my house so naturally without paying rent?”
Lately he had been bringing up questions like that all the time, nothing more than an attempt to force her to admit his position.
Yet Liang Jinshang only said, “I won’t be living here for a month. I’ll find a place soon and move out.”
“Why move out?”
Liang Jinshang caught his words and shot back, “What am I to you, that I should keep living in your house?”
Seeing the faint sparkle of amusement in Shang Yucheng’s eyes, she suddenly realized she had practically walked into a trap and offered herself up for his pleasure.
“I’m not—”
Shang Yucheng did not give her the chance to finish. He bounced his leg slightly. “Sitting on my knee. What else could you be?”
If this didn’t stop soon, the conversation was about to gallop off at full speed in a decidedly flirtatious direction.
Liang Jinshang did not have such a thick skin. Being under his roof, she went and made him a meal after all.
When it was done, she returned to her room to shower.
Just as she had rinsed the shampoo from her hair and lathered on the bath foam, there was a knock at the bathroom door.
Liang Jinshang’s heart tightened. She had only been living here for three days, and Shang Yucheng was already unable to hide the beastly side of him?
She quickly grabbed a bath towel to cover herself. “What are you doing?”
Shang Yucheng said, “I want to ask you something.”
“What’s so urgent that it can’t wait until I’m out?”
“It can’t.”
“...Then ask.”
In a calm voice, Shang Yucheng asked, “Next week is your birthday. What gift do you want?”
That was all. Why couldn’t he wait until she came out to ask?
Liang Jinshang said irritably, “No gift needed. I don’t celebrate birthdays.”
That was not politeness. Ever since Lu Rou had jumped from the building, no one had ever celebrated Liang Jinshang’s birthday again.
The Liang family did not mistreat her, but with so many suffocating things happening, who would still remember Liang Jinshang’s birthday?
Through the frosted bathroom door, Shang Yucheng’s tall figure did not leave. “Tell me what you want.”
“I really don’t want anything!” Liang Jinshang still had foam on her body and just wanted to rinse off.
“You can tell me yourself, or I can come in and ask you.” Shang Yucheng’s hand moved to the doorknob. “If I come in and see that you’re not wearing clothes, I’ll take that as you seducing me.”
Who takes a shower wearing clothes?
Liang Jinshang deeply suspected that this was merely the excuse he had come up with.
She did not have time to think. “Then buy me a house!”
“Hm?”
“Buy me a house,” Liang Jinshang said, grabbing a handful of foam and squeezing it. Then she turned on the shower and let the rush of water cover the end of her sentence. “I want a home.”
After that night, Shang Yucheng went on a business trip and still had not returned by the time Liang Jinshang’s birthday arrived.
But to her surprise, Liang’s mother called her and said she wanted to celebrate her birthday.
Liang Jinshang could not bear to refuse her kindness, so she went back.
There was a table full of dishes, along with a bowl of longevity noodles.
In truth, Liang Jinshang loved cake very much, but people of the older generation still seemed to prefer longevity noodles for birthdays. Perhaps there were also financial reasons behind it.
Still, having someone celebrate your birthday for you was a deeply happy thing.
Yet during the meal, Liang’s mother kept glancing at her as though she had something to say.
“Um, Jinjin...”
“Yes, godmother?”
Liang’s mother looked at her husband. Liang Yuanhan seemed not to know what she wanted, and he looked at her with equal seriousness.
Liang’s mother said, “The houses in our Mian’an Alley are going to be demolished. There’s already word from above.”
“Really?” Liang Jinshang was quite happy. “Will they give out apartments or money?”
Either way, it could improve the Liang family’s living conditions.
“Both. They’ll distribute both.” The wrinkles at the corners of Liang’s mother’s eyes briefly relaxed, then drew back in. “But... the money is divided by headcount. If there’s one more person registered in the household, we can get five hundred thousand more.”
“Ah...” Liang Jinshang’s heart gave a jolt. “Do you mean...”
Of course she understood that Liang’s mother was hinting at adding one more person to the household register so they could get a larger share of the money.
Although Liang Jinshang was the Liang family’s adopted daughter, back then, when her biological father was still alive, Liang Yuanhan had not transferred her household registration.
And now that she was an adult, if she wanted to move her registration, it seemed there was only that one way...