Chapter 42 Iris Flower She was upset.
Liang Yizhi returned home.
She was upset.
She hated the feeling of keeping her worries bottled up inside; she was never one to let problems fester and go unresolved.
She didn't know why she was avoiding Gu Yinyan; it was just an instinctive, subconscious feeling of resistance towards him. It was also the first time she wanted to keep her distance from him and have her own private space.
She needs time to calm down and convince herself before she knows how to face him.
I received Lin You's call two days later.
On the phone, she sounded flustered and said she wanted to meet Liang Yizhi.
They arranged to meet at a coffee shop near Liang Yizhi's home.
Liang Yizhi arrived early and chose a less crowded spot by the window to sit down. She wondered to herself what Lin You wanted to see her about.
Her seat faced the entrance of the coffee shop.
Perhaps because she was there to see Liang Yizhi, Lin You wasn't carrying the designer bag that Shang En had mentioned, nor did she wear any flashy accessories.
But as she sat down and leaned forward slightly, Liang Yizhi noticed the necklace hanging around her neck.
The pendant was hidden under the collar of Lin You's coat, but Liang Yizhi noticed it just because she moved slightly.
Just as Sean said.
Liang Yizhi had ordered her a hot latte in advance, and the waiter brought it over just then.
She pushed the latte towards her and said, "What's wrong? Tell me."
Lin You stammered, unable to speak for a long time.
She glanced up at the person opposite her. Liang Yizhi was unusually quiet today, looking out the window without saying a word.
Her heart skipped a beat.
Lin You swallowed hard, and after a few seconds of hesitation, finally said, "It's like this, Yizhi."
"...This request may be unreasonable, but I really can't find anyone else, so I have no choice but to ask you."
"Could you... lend me another 100,000?"
Liang Yizhi looked at her.
She asked quietly, "Did something happen to your father? Did his condition worsen?"
“…Yes,” Lin You said weakly, twitching her facial muscles. After a moment of silence, she finally spoke.
"I really had no other choice but to come to you. I still remember the 300,000 I owed you before, don't worry. I will definitely pay you back all of it later, it won't take long! I will pay it back very soon."
"It won't take long?" Liang Yizhi repeated. "Do you have a way to raise the money?"
"...Anyway, I will definitely pay it back." Lin You kept her head down, not daring to look Liang Yizhi in the eye.
Liang Yizhi nodded: "Then let's go to the hospital together now to see your father."
She grabbed her bag and stood up, startling Lin You: "Wait!"
Lin You: "He's unconscious right now, there's no use you going."
"Really?" Liang Yizhi sat down and took out her phone again. "In that case, let's do as we agreed before and transfer him to a hospital in City A. The medical resources in City A are better. I'll call Gu Yinyan now."
She took out her phone and dialed a number, not by opening the contacts directly, but by pressing the numbers one by one on the number keypad.
She didn't actually call Gu Yinyan; she just wanted to force Lin You to tell the truth.
Seeing her decisive action as she pressed the call button, Lin You immediately felt all her strength drain away. She lowered her eyes and said, "No need! No need to call..."
Liang Yizhi put down her phone.
Lin You continued, "It wasn't my father, it was me... I had some problems with cash flow."
"What's the problem?"
Lin You hesitated and stammered for a long time, and Liang Yizhi was about to lose patience with her dawdling.
She said, "If you don't know how to say it, answer two questions for me first."
"Where did you get all those necklaces and bags lately? Sean can't possibly pay you that much, can he?"
"They're... gifts from others, or secondhand items, so they're not worth that much..."
"Who sent it? That man who likes to wear suits and glasses?"
Lin You was terrified by her words: "How could you..."
"I saw you two outside the restaurant." She said sternly, "Is he your boyfriend?"
"No...no." Lin You lowered her head almost under the table, and Liang Yizhi could only see the top of her head.
Deception is her bottom line, and Lin You still doesn't want to tell her the truth.
Lin You took a long time to say, "Some of the money... I earned myself."
"Earn? Where did you earn that?"
Lin You whispered, "I... bought some stocks."
"Stocks?" Liang Yizhi was shocked. "You're going to trade stocks?"
She asked incredulously, "Lin You, do you even know what situation you're in right now? Where do you get the confidence to speculate in stocks?"
She never expected this, no matter how much she planned.
She had even had some unpleasant speculations, thinking that Lin You might have found a wealthy and powerful family who would be willing to buy her expensive luxury goods and even cover her father's surgery costs.
But she never expected that Lin You was actually investing in stocks.
Liang Yizhi has many friends who play the stock market, and her parents also have some small investments, but they are definitely not in the same situation as Lin You.
Lin You hurriedly explained, "Yizhi, listen to me. I met someone, it's... the man you met."
"He used to be a manager at a small private equity fund. He had a keen eye and a lot of insider information about the market. He was definitely a professional in this field. He only mentored me for a short time, and I made a lot of money, just like you see now."
Lin You nervously rubbed her hands together: "I'm not lying to you... My father is indeed receiving treatment in the hospital, and this is what sustained us in the early stages of his medical expenses."
Liang Yizhi had completely lost faith in her words: "Lin You, in your current state, investing in stocks is no different from gambling."
"Yizhi, I've thought about it! I've truly invested and seen returns, which is why I want to continue."
Liang Yizhi: "Since you're so good at making money, why are you asking me for a loan now?"
"I..." Lin Youyu choked up, "I really have no other choice. After I added to my position last time, I thought it would rise again. But I didn't expect it to start plummeting as soon as I bought in. I borrowed some more money to invest, and now... I've lost it all."
"I know I was greedy and impulsively bet too much. But you have to believe me!" Lin You leaned forward and grabbed Liang Yizhi's hand with considerable force.
"Yizhi, this is the last time. He said the market is just fluctuating right now and will stabilize later! Once I make money this time, I'll definitely stop!"
"Let go of me!" Liang Yizhi pulled away from the aching hand, her tone no longer as restrained as before. "Do you know this is a pig butchering scam? Do you still want to invest more and lose everything?"
"I--"
She stood up coldly: "I won't lend you the money, figure it out yourself. As for Sean, I'll explain the situation to her, and you don't need to go to the gallery anymore."
Lin You's eyes were filled with tears as she shook her head urgently.
"I still have the IOU for the money I gave you before, and you must pay it back to me within this year." Liang Yizhi took a deep breath to keep calm and prevent her voice from trembling too much.
"Otherwise I will call the police."
Lin You knew how soft-hearted Liang Yizhi was.
She initially took advantage of her soft heart and generosity to gain so many benefits from her.
Seeing Liang Yizhi's resolute attitude, Lin You tried to grab her hand and plead with her, but Liang Yizhi shook her off again.
She left the coffee shop with a cold expression and strode away.
Liang Yizhi was walking on the street.
She wasn't wearing a scarf, and she hadn't even buttoned up her coat.
The cold wind, sharp as swords, whipped against her cheekbones, almost piercing her skin. She felt utterly ridiculous for having once run around tirelessly for Lin You.
Because of this, Liang Yizhi felt very sorry for Shang En.
She called Sean.
She sincerely apologized to her over the phone, and Sean just said it was okay, that Lin You didn't have much work to do at the gallery, and told her not to worry about it. He then quickly fired Lin You.
Liang Yizhi was able to be so honest and quick to admit her oversight to Shang En, but she couldn't do so with another person.
On the opening day of Shang En's art exhibition, Liang Yizhi rushed to support her.
Sean's art exhibition is themed "Destruction and Reconstruction". The oil paintings are displayed in order from front to back, each representing the concept of falling into the abyss and emerging from the mire, and being reborn from the ashes.
Liang Yizhi commissioned several exquisite large flower baskets, which were delivered on the opening day.
After meeting with Shang En and wishing her a successful art exhibition, Liang Yizhi began to browse the exhibition alone.
Sean has a certain level of brand recognition in the country, so the exhibition hall saw a high volume of visitors on opening day.
Liang Yizhi returned to the entrance of the exhibition hall, preparing to walk forward in the order of the exhibition hall and carefully appreciate each painting.
As soon as she started watching, she heard security guards and audience members arguing at the entrance behind her.
Regardless, it was a friend's art exhibition, and Liang Yizhi was still worried, so she waited quietly for two minutes. Seeing that they hadn't stopped arguing, she went over.
Liang Yizhi stepped forward and asked, "What's wrong?"
The security guard had seen her with Sean and knew she was Sean's friend, so he replied:
“This person keeps making a fuss about looking for someone. We asked Teacher Shang, and there was no such person among the staff of the art exhibition. But he still insisted on going in and said he wanted to see Teacher Shang.”
“I’m Sean’s friend. You can tell me what’s wrong.” Liang Yizhi turned to the man and asked, “Who are you looking for?”
She glanced at him a few times.
The man was of average appearance, not very tall, and thin and frail. Because he was too thin, his cheeks were sunken, his chin was very pointed, and it was covered with a full beard.
The man said, "Me? I'm looking for Lin You."
The man, with his sharp eyes, noticed the subtle change in Liang Yizhi's expression after he finished speaking. He suddenly smiled:
"What? Judging from your expression, you know her too?"
“I don’t know her.” Liang Yizhi said coldly. “If you have anything to say, talk to her privately. This is a public place.”
"She owes me a lot of money, and I can't get in touch with her. I heard she works here, so I came looking for her, and you tell me there's no such person here." The man scoffed, "Are you kidding me?"
Liang Yizhi's temples throbbed twice.
He glanced around the huge and impressive exhibition hall, then moved closer to Liang Yizhi:
"With so many paintings here, her boss must be very rich. What Lin You owes is just a small amount to her. Could you ask her for me if she'd be willing to do her employee a small favor and help pay off her debts?"
His effeminate tone made her extremely uncomfortable.
Liang Yizhi took a half step back, her expression calm: "You should talk to Lin You about Lin You's matter. It has nothing to do with us."
The man chuckled dismissively, completely ignoring her words.
"It's okay, right? No problem, I'll find a way to make you feel like it's okay."
Liang Yizhi stared at him.
After the man finished speaking, he walked around the exhibition hall, but a tall and burly security guard stopped him from behind.
The man was immediately annoyed and raised his voice: "You won't pay back the money, and you won't even let us see the art exhibition?"
His voice was quite loud, drawing the attention of the audience members queuing behind him.
"Fine, so this is how high and mighty an artist is? Not even letting an ordinary tourist in?"
The security guard said sternly, "We need to confirm whether you pose any potential danger."
The man chuckled, spread his arms, and said arrogantly, "Come on, search all you want."
The security guard was fairly reliable; he searched him thoroughly but didn't find anything strange.
With things having come to this point, and many onlookers still outside, Sean was a public figure and they couldn't afford to cause negative public opinion. They had no right to unjustifiably keep him out, so they had no choice but to let him in.
Liang Yizhi said to the security guards, "Do you have any more manpower? Send someone else to follow him, just to be on the safe side."
She instructed the security guards, and then followed the man to browse the art exhibition.
The exhibition hall was spacious, so although there were many people, it wasn't crowded.
The man walked through the crowd with his hands behind his back. He walked unhurriedly, his feet slightly turned outwards, kicking them lightly on the smooth ground.
He would occasionally look up at the paintings, and then turn his head around aimlessly, glancing at the other people in the exhibition.
He was like an invisible time bomb. Liang Yizhi dared not let her guard down, keeping a considerable distance and hiding in the crowd to keep watch.
Even as they neared the end of the exhibition hall, the man made no strange moves. On the contrary, Liang Yizhi seemed much more suspicious.
The security guard who had been following them probably felt that the potential danger had been eliminated, and was called away by the walkie-talkie.
Liang Yizhi breathed a slight sigh of relief.
The last painting in this exhibition is "Irises," which Sean introduced to Liang Yizhi and which she put the most effort into.
On the canvas, clusters of purple irises are tightly packed together, their green leaves stretching out, looking very soft.
In this final painting, Sean wanted to leave a lasting impression on the viewer. Therefore, although the painting depicts static flowers, the use of color is extremely bold.
The man stood in front of the image, his hands in his pockets, gazing up at it intently.
Liang Yizhi frowned.
He was just casually browsing through the paintings; he didn't seem like someone who enjoyed studying art. Why did he suddenly stop and start admiring this picture?
Liang Yizhi took a few steps closer and suddenly noticed that the man's hand, which was in his pocket, kept moving.
He took a bunch of keys out of his pocket.
A crisp metallic clanging sound rang out as the man looked down, selecting something from several bunches of keys.
As the silvery light shone down inside the exhibition hall, Liang Yizhi finally saw that he had taken out a folding knife from a bunch of keys.
She was startled.
The blade gleamed with a cool, silvery light in the distance, forming a dot in the field of vision. The knife was small and hidden among dozens of keys, which is why the security guard hadn't noticed it.
The man opened the knife and held it in his hand.
Without much hesitation, he raised his hand and stabbed the canvas with the knife—
Liang Yizhi reacted almost instantly and rushed towards the other party.
She raised her hand and used all her strength to stop his hand.
The knife tip hovered about two centimeters above the canvas. If it were to pierce the canvas, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Liang Yizhi held the knife firmly against her, her hand gripping the other person's arm trembling slightly from exerting all her strength.
"Get out of my way!" The man's eyes flashed with malice as he swung his arm, trying to break free. But Liang Yizhi held on too tightly, and he couldn't escape at all.
Even though Liang Yizhi was very strong, her opponent still had one more free hand.
He raised his hand to slap her, but suddenly another person appeared behind him and blocked his way.
The man's hand was twisted behind his back, and he cried out in pain. The hand holding the knife loosened, and a bunch of keys crashed to the ground with a clatter, echoing in the empty exhibition hall.
This drew the attention of all the other visitors in the exhibition hall, who all looked over.
Gu Yinyan raised his leg and kicked the bunch of keys far away with a clean and decisive kick.
He tightened his jaw, pinning the man down, and glanced at Liang Yizhi, saying, "Go call security."
"good."
Before she could even investigate why he was there, Liang Yizhi ran off to find the staff without saying a word.
After several security personnel arrived, they finally escorted the man away. He was still shouting something and kept trying to turn back, unwilling to give up.
Liang Yizhi stood there watching, her heart pounding with anxiety, as if she had just survived a near-death experience.
Noticing Gu Yinyan approaching from behind, she glanced at him and asked guiltily:
"When...did you arrive?"
"From the moment you started following that man." His tone was harsh, his words carrying an icy chill.
Gu Yinyan stood beside her, hands in his pockets, and said, "Let's go."
Where to?
"Get in the car. I have something to tell you."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
