Chapter 237 Four words shattered his composure.
Ji Ying ate a sweet pastry and then didn't want to eat anymore.
She slowly raised her head, her face showing neither the anger nor sadness Xie Mingxuan had expected, but only a cold calm and a faint sarcasm.
"Is Mr. Xie so desperate that he's looking for a way to escape?"
Xie Mingxuan's lips twitched.
Ji Ying continued unhurriedly, "First of all, if the Shen family really had such great abilities, finding their daughter would be a piece of cake. Why would they need to raise two adopted daughters to fill their emptiness? I think their search for her is a pretense; they just want to create a facade. Secondly, your elaborate arrangement of this 'chance encounter' only proves that you are despicable and have run out of ideas."
Xie Mingxuan's true intentions were exposed by her, and he stubbornly said, "Ji Ying, I'm giving you face, don't be ungrateful."
Ji Ying stood up and looked down at Xie Mingxuan, whose face had turned ugly, with a deep smile on her face.
"You're so eager to prove my identity because your sister has lost power in the Liang family, and you've failed to serve your master effectively, leaving you with nothing from both sides. Now you're desperate and begging for mercy like a dog, hoping to use me as a pawn to break the deadlock?"
She straightened her sleeves and said dismissively, "Don't even mention cooperating with me, you're not worthy of even groveling before me!"
After saying that, she stopped looking at Xie Mingxuan's ashen face and turned to leave calmly.
Jiang Ran was waiting for her in the parking lot downstairs.
Upon seeing her come out, he immediately drove over.
Jiang Ran wasn't sure if Ji Ying had seen Liang Yizhi, so she strategically asked in the car, "Should we tell Mr. Liang about what happened today?"
Ji Ying's reaction was calm. "I saw him. He left with that woman?"
Jiang Ran sighed silently for Liang Yizhi, "Actually, Mr. Liang has had quite a few female business partners, but he always handles things professionally. Even if he inevitably comes into contact with them in certain social situations, he always knows how to maintain appropriate boundaries. This is his consistent style."
Ji Ying realized that she was being considerate of Liang Yizhi, and chuckled softly, saying, "With such a good subordinate like you, he should give you a bonus."
Jiang Ran was both amused and exasperated, and quickly clarified, "Sister Ying, I am your person."
Ji Ying returned to the apartment and intended to go to her own place, but she stopped when she touched the doorknob.
She thought about it and went next door anyway.
Pushing open the door, Liang Yizhi was standing in front of the window taking off his coat.
The fitted vest and shirt clearly outlined his tall and slender figure with broad shoulders and a narrow waist.
A flicker of joy crossed Ji Ying's heart, but it quickly cooled down.
"Have you eaten yet?" Liang Yizhi asked.
Seeing that Ji Ying did not answer, he casually threw the coat that smelled of someone else on the ground and walked straight towards her.
“Yingying…”
Just as he got close, Ji Ying suddenly reached out and pushed him down onto the sofa.
Caught off guard, Liang Yizhi sat down following her force, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, but he did not resist.
Ji Ying leaned down, one hand resting on the back of the sofa next to his ear, and the other hand unceremoniously grabbed his tie, forcing him to look up at her slightly.
"President Liang, you seem quite pleased with yourself. Tell me, which one do you prefer: the perfume Miss Chen is wearing, or mine?"
Ji Ying smiled, but her eyes were sharp, and her voice was soft and gentle, yet every word was barbed.
Liang Yizhi let her do as she pleased, without the slightest displeasure at being offended. On the contrary, his eyes lit up with delight at her deliberately difficult manner.
He gently covered the back of her hand that was clutching her tie, his fingertips caressing it, his voice low and husky.
"The only flavor I can remember is my wife's. I can't muster even the slightest interest in anyone else, but..."
He paused deliberately.
"It's the way you get jealous of me that touches my heart the most."
Ji Ying's heart skipped a beat, but she didn't show it on her face. She tightened her grip on her tie and suddenly changed the subject.
Stop downplaying the issue! Do you think I don't know what men are like?
“Liang Yizhi, when you were eight, someone offered you a child bride, and you didn’t refuse. The girl from the Shen family was only 12 when she disappeared, and you’re still searching for her. Tell me, how deep can your feelings be for a child who’s only half a child?”
Ji Ying, feeling annoyed, voiced her displeasure at the question posed in feigned anger.
And yet he stared intently into his eyes, not missing a single flicker of emotion.
"You've persevered for over a decade to find her, but after only two months of seeing me, you want to marry me? What's going on here? Is it infidelity, or is it simply because I look like her and happen to be able to stir up trouble in your heart, and you find me interesting and want to play around with me?"
Liang Yizhi's gaze suddenly sharpened at her words, a flash of pain crossing his eyes before settling back into calm.
“I have an inescapable responsibility to her. Regardless of my motivation, finding her is my life’s mission. I love you, cherish you, and marry you, simply because you are you, a living, breathing person who is different from others in my eyes. It has nothing to do with the past or any promises.”
Ji Ying's grip on the tie loosened unconsciously.
The phrase "simply because you are you" dispelled all the feigned anger.
"I hope you're not lying to me."
After saying that, she loosened his tie and stood up straight.
The man pressed her hand to his chest with one hand and grabbed her waist with the other, forcing her to straddle his lap.
It was only then that Ji Ying realized his body temperature was unusually high.
Just as she was about to ask, "What's wrong?", Liang Yizhi placed a tube of ointment in front of her.
When Ji Ying asked with concern, the question that came out was, "What is this?"
“Every time I want to be honest with you under the light, you are concerned about the scars on your body and refuse. Even in the hospital, you don’t want me to help you clean up. This ointment is specially made for you by someone I asked. The ingredients are rare and it took some effort to make. If you keep using it, the scars should fade to the point where they are almost invisible.”
Ji Ying's heart skipped a beat.
She never explicitly expressed her dislike for the scar in front of him, but he noticed it and quietly found medicine for her.
The thorn he had once "abandoned" was still there. Not wanting to reveal her emotions at this moment, she whispered "thank you," took the ointment, and tried to leave him.
However, the arm around her waist suddenly tightened.
Liang Yizhi's controlled breathing became rapid, and he said in a hoarse voice, "Someone put drugs in the tea tonight. I took Chen Ai to the hospital and came back."
Ji Ying frowned. "That must be Xie Mingxuan's doing."
This person would stop at nothing to sow discord among them.
"I want..." Liang Yizhi tried his best to suppress the surging emotions within him, "I don't know if you can handle it, or maybe we should forget it."
He pinched her chin, the glint in his eyes fading, placed her on the other side of the sofa, and got up to go to the bathroom.
"Liang Yizhi!"
The man paused, then suddenly turned around.
Ji Ying slumped lazily into the sofa, a turbulent undercurrent surging beneath her calm eyes.
"Wash it after you're done."
The four words, "light and airy," shattered his carefully maintained composure.
...
Xie Mingxuan returned to the Liang residence from the teahouse, seething with anger.
As soon as he entered the living room, a maid came to report: "Mr. Xie, Madam is going to commit suicide!"
With his own troubles still unresolved, Xie Mingxuan had no time to care about Xie Lingfang.
He immediately retorted sharply, "She's a coward who's afraid of death. If she wanted to die, she would have died long ago. There's no need for her to wait until now. Don't bother me!"
After saying that, he lifted his foot to go upstairs.
The maid, who had received a bribe from Xie Lingfang, quickly slipped her a jade pendant and whispered, "Madam said she left a will. Some things she kept hidden from others during her lifetime will be revealed after her death."
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