Giving You Dawn And Dusk - Chapter 16

Liang Shi drove back to the hospital.

The moment she returned, Qiu Zimin called.

“Ah Shi.” Qiu Zimin sounded somewhat serious, but because she was calling her by her nickname, there was still a sense of closeness. “Did you meet Zhou Yi’an?”

Liang Shi leaned against the wall, feeling the cold press against her back.

The lights in the ward were off, and the room was dim.

She lightly pressed her lips together. Her voice was also very soft, carrying a faint hoarseness. “I met her.”

“How did she seem?” Qiu Zimin asked, but before Liang Shi could answer, she continued, “It’s about time you divorced that one from the Xu family. She’s nothing but a sickly invalid, and she isn’t even the Xu family’s biological daughter. For her sake, our family has already poured seventy to eighty million into the Xu family. That isn’t a small amount of money. But your father and I dote on you. You liked her before, so we didn’t say anything and let you do as you wished.”

“But looking at it now, the Xu family is just a bottomless pit. Xu Guangyao simply isn’t cut out for business. Their company will go bankrupt sooner or later, so it’s better to pull out early. What Zhou Yi’an can give you is far more than you imagine. If we can’t get that piece of land in the south of the city, you…”

“What will happen?” Liang Shi interrupted her and asked coldly.

Qiu Zimin suddenly stopped.

She had never heard Liang Shi speak in such a tone before.

Usually, although this daughter of hers had a bad temper, she had always been obedient in front of her and had never said a single harsh word.

Qiu Zimin frowned. “What kind of attitude is that?”

Liang Shi exhaled softly. “What kind of attitude do you think I should have?”

“Liang Shi, is there anything you can’t say directly? Do you have to be so sarcastic with your mother?” Qiu Zimin also grew angry and said sharply, “You were the one who asked me to arrange this meeting, weren’t you? So I arranged it for you. Even if you met Zhou Yi’an now and aren’t satisfied, there’s no need to use this attitude with me, is there? I’ve done everything I can to help you. Back then, when you wanted to marry Xu Qingzhu, I was the first one to agree. You’re my daughter. How could I harm you?”

Liang Shi pinched the space between her brows. “Yes, you wouldn’t harm me.”

She sounded very calm, but there was a faint trace of mockery in her voice.

Qiu Zimin answered firmly, “Of course. You’re flesh that fell from my own body. I’m the person who loves you most in this world. How could I harm you?”

“Is that so?” Liang Shi asked with a curl of her lips.

In the darkness, every emotion was magnified infinitely.

The complicated emotions from the private room earlier extended into this moment, all turning into anger.

“You don’t believe me?” Qiu Zimin sneered. “Liang Shi, what’s wrong with you? Why don’t you even believe your mother’s words anymore? I raised you for so many years. What did I do wrong to deserve being treated like this by you?”

“Then do you know Zhou Yi’an is an Alpha?” Liang Shi asked coldly.

There were a few seconds of dead air on the other end of the call.

Qiu Zimin even seemed to hold her breath.

“I didn’t know,” Qiu Zimin said.

There was a hint of awkwardness in her tone.

“Then do you know that when an Alpha and another Alpha are together, one of them will get sick?” Liang Shi asked.

Qiu Zimin fell silent again.

After a while, she said, “Of course I know, but what does that have to do with you?”

“What did you mean by introducing Zhou Yi’an to me?” Liang Shi said. “You knew she liked me, so you wanted to use me in exchange for that piece of land in the south of the city? I really never would’ve imagined that I was worth this much.”

Qiu Zimin grew anxious. “Ah Shi, Mom didn’t mean that. Alphas can be together too. Yi’an doesn’t mind that you’ve had a marriage before, and you can become her lover. What matters most between two people is that they love each other. Mom knows a doctor. There’s already technology now that can turn an Alpha into a Beta or an Omega, and it doesn’t harm the body.”

“So you did know.” Liang Shi said, “So your advice for me is to divorce Xu Qingzhu, undergo a differentiation surgery, become a Beta or Omega, and marry Zhou Yi’an. That way, the Liang family can get the land in the south of the city, right?”

Qiu Zimin was silent on the other end.

A few seconds later, she hung up.

Sometimes, silence could represent many things.

In that endless silence, Liang Shi emptied herself, letting her thoughts drift wherever they wanted.

After a while, she received a text from Qiu Zimin.

[Ah Shi, if I weren’t forced into a corner, Mom wouldn’t do this either. You know that among all four children, Mom loves you the most. No matter what you do, Mom has always supported you the most. The Liang family’s current financial problems are far more difficult than you can imagine. No matter what, you’ve lived in this family for more than twenty years. You’re part of this family. Xinzhou and Xinhe have been running around and working themselves to exhaustion for the company. Wanwan is still young. Right now, you’re the only one who can help the Liang family through this crisis. Treat it as Mom begging you. That piece of land in the south of the city determines the Liang family’s life or death, and right now, you are the key. If you decide not to care, the Liang family may go bankrupt in less than two months. When that happens, our whole family… Forget it. Pretend Mom didn’t say anything.]

[Mom was confused. Rest early. Come home next time, and Mom will apologize to you in person.]

Liang Shi read the two messages expressionlessly, then turned off her phone directly.

Qiu Zimin’s words were actually very clear.

If Liang Shi did not marry Zhou Yi’an and obtain that piece of land in the south of the city, the entire Liang family would have to live on air.

At the end, she even used a tactic of retreating in order to advance.

On the surface, she had backed down, but in reality, she was forcing Liang Shi to lower her head.

A tactic like this did not look like it was being used for the first time.

The original owner had probably always done as she asked before.

Because a memory had appeared in Liang Shi’s mind, transmitted to her just now while she was on the phone.

In a dark room, the original owner was wearing a sheer outfit and tied to a bed. The fabric was nearly transparent, while the person standing beside the bed wore black leather and held a whip. In the darkness, that person’s face could not be seen clearly, but the sound of the leather whip striking flesh was piercing.

The original owner had endured it without making a single sound.

Liang Shi’s hearing was tormented unbearably by that memory.

Fortunately, there were not many fragments.

In that memory, Qiu Zimin’s voice was there too. She praised the original owner, “Ah Shi did very well.”

At the same time, Liang Shi also thought about what had happened earlier. Zhou Yi’an had said “long time no see” to her.

So before this, the original owner and Zhou Yi’an had known each other.

But Liang Shi had no way of knowing exactly how much contact they had.

Furthermore, Liang Shi suspected that Qiu Zimin should know the original owner was not her biological child.

That was why she would use such despicable methods to torment the original owner.

Liang Shi could not help sighing again at what kind of mess the system had thrown at her.

And Qiu Zimin had said on the phone earlier that Xu Qingzhu was not the Xu family’s biological daughter either.

Did Xu Qingzhu know?

Since arriving here, Liang Shi had not met Xu Qingzhu’s parents, but judging from the information she had found online, Xu Qingzhu’s parents treated her extremely well.

Just based on the fact that Xu Qingzhu had been willing to marry the original owner to save the family business, her parents probably did not treat her badly.

Liang Shi had mild mysophobia. She went into the bathroom attached to the ward and carefully washed her hands, even cleaning the wrist Zhou Yi’an had touched.

Only when a faint orange fragrance drifted from her wrist did she finally stop.

She turned off the bathroom light. By the faint moonlight, she took off her coat and hung it by the door, let down the hair she had casually tied up while driving, and, without turning on the lights, went straight to the bed and lay down.

She was a little tired.

Liang Shi had finally managed to turn her life from difficult mode into ordinary mode, only to be thrown straight into hell difficulty now.

Anyone else would have had their mentality collapse too.

She lay there, but her mind remained clear.

Her phone kept turning in her hand, occasionally tapping lightly against the bedsheet.

A moment later, she turned over, and inspiration suddenly struck.

If the way to obtain luck points was to pursue Xu Qingzhu, then all she had to do was satisfy all of Xu Qingzhu’s requests.

And right now, what Xu Qingzhu wanted most was divorce, wasn’t it?

Then it would be fine if she agreed to divorce.

If she could not say it aloud, then she could send it by message.

Liang Shi felt that she had fallen into a mistaken line of thinking before. Now that she had figured it out, she immediately picked up her phone and sent Xu Qingzhu a message.

[I agree to your request. Let’s get divorced.]

She tapped send.

A few seconds later, a little red dot appeared in front of the message.

It showed that sending had failed.

Liang Shi: “……?”

No signal?

She tried sending another one.

[If divorce is what you want, then we’ll divorce. From now on, let’s continue getting along as friends.]

The latter half of that sentence was basically empty talk.

Xu Qingzhu might not want to see her ever again in this lifetime.

But it still showed that sending had failed.

Liang Shi carefully checked her phone. All apps that required internet worked.

Only messages to Xu Qingzhu would not send.

She tried again and sent:

[Are you asleep?]

A moment later, her phone vibrated inside the ward. A light lit up on the bedside cabinet, reflecting against the white ceiling.

Liang Shi was startled. Before she could sit up and check, a cool voice sounded beside her.

“Are you looking for me?”

It was Xu Qingzhu.

Liang Shi reached out to turn on the light, but Xu Qingzhu said, “Don’t turn it on. Let’s talk for a while.”

Liang Shi: “……”

She pressed her lips together, sitting on the bed, unable to settle.

But Xu Qingzhu patted the space beside her. “Want to lie down?”

There was not the slightest ambiguity in her question.

Yet to Liang Shi’s ears, it sounded especially like, “Want to sleep?”

Her ears itched, and so did her heart.

After hesitating for a moment, Liang Shi still lay down.

There was no helping it. She was too tired.

“What did you want to talk to me about?” Liang Shi asked.

Xu Qingzhu did not answer. She only asked, “Was this your first time meeting Zhou Yi’an?”

The room suddenly fell into a strange silence.

“Liang Shi.” Xu Qingzhu spoke clearly and coldly. “Perhaps you need a shoulder?”

Liang Shi, who had already been drifting off to sleep, instantly woke up. She looked over and could only see Xu Qingzhu’s side profile through the faint light.

For a moment, she could not figure out what Xu Qingzhu wanted to do.

Xu Qingzhu’s attitude toward her had undergone earth-shaking changes in half a day.

Liang Shi had always firmly believed that when something was abnormal, there had to be something strange behind it.

But she truly did want to draw a little warmth from someone.

While she was hesitating over how to answer, Xu Qingzhu suddenly turned onto her side and rolled straight over to her.

“You…” The moment Liang Shi started to speak, Xu Qingzhu’s finger landed on her lips. Xu Qingzhu said softly, “Don’t talk.”

Liang Shi: “……”

There was also a faint orange fragrance on her finger, very pleasant.

The scent made one’s heart ripple.

Xu Qingzhu rested her head on Liang Shi’s shoulder, her voice muffled and low.

“Then lend me your shoulder.”