Chapter 12: I Didn’t Push Him…
Liang Sheng turned around, his soul seemingly having left his body, as Shen Xingyu’s words repeated constantly in his mind. Was it possible that the one he loved from the very beginning had never been him…
So, the Shen Xingyu after the car accident was his true self? Was all his goodness toward him before losing his memory fake…
“Hey, wait.”
Su Nian’s voice calling for him to stop sounded from behind.
Liang Sheng halted and looked back at him. His vision was already blurred by tears. He wiped them away with his hand and said tiredly, “What is it?”
Su Nian smiled, his eyes forming crescents, generously looking straight into his eyes: “President Shen and I really have nothing going on. It’s just a boss-employee relationship. We see each other day in and day out; if we were going to be together, we would have been together long ago. Don’t misunderstand~”
“Whatever is going on between you two, don’t tell me.”
Liang Sheng held back his emotions and said. If he didn’t listen and didn’t look, his heart wouldn’t hurt, and he wouldn’t want to cry.
With one glance, Su Nian saw right through his feigned strength to his underlying fragility. The corners of his mouth rose smugly. Then, he pushed his suitcase in front of him, blinked his innocent large eyes, and requested:
“Inside are my everyday clothes. The fabric is very expensive; they can’t be thrown directly into a washing machine, they have to be hand-washed. I’ll have to trouble the Young Madam to wash them for me~ I don’t feel comfortable having the servants wash them, and since the Young Madam has surely worn all kinds of luxury brands, you must know a lot about clothes and know the best way to maintain them~”
Liang Sheng knew he was blatantly mocking him with this sentence. In all their years of marriage, he had never worn a single piece of designer clothing.
“I’m sorry. Since the clothes are so precious, I’m afraid I won’t wash them well. Mr. Su should find someone else.”
He politely refused, not wanting to entangle himself too much with this person. He turned to leave, but Su Nian beat him to it and blocked his path.
“What do you want?”
Liang Sheng’s heart tightened, and he went on alert.
“Oh dear, but President Shen specifically mentioned my name and said I could come to you for anything~ The Young Madam wouldn’t be this stingy, right? Not even helping someone wash their clothes. If President Shen finds out, he’ll think you’re ignoring his orders. If he gets angry, I’m afraid it’ll be very difficult for me to put in a good word for the Young Madam~”
Su Nian weakly lowered his eyelids, looking somewhat wronged.
Using Shen Xingyu to threaten him was undoubtedly effective. Even though Liang Sheng was ten thousand times unwilling in his heart, in order not to stir up trouble, he had to helplessly compromise: “I understand…”
“Then thank you~ Thanks for your hard work~”
Su Nian puffed out his cheeks looking completely sincere, waved at Liang Sheng, and went upstairs triumphantly.
Looking at the suitcase in front of him, Liang Sheng couldn’t take it, nor could he throw it away. He stood rooted to the spot for a long time until his bitten lips turned white. Only then did he silently turn around and pull the suitcase along.
Although it was early spring, the weather hadn’t truly warmed up yet. Moreover, the temperature in the north right now was still a few degrees below zero.
His hands were soaked in the biting, icy water, and his slender, pale fingers quickly became stiff, red, and swollen from the cold.
Every year, around the transition between winter and spring, he would develop chilblains of various sizes on his hands and feet.
They were itchy and painful.
Ordinary medicine couldn’t cure them. When his mother was alive, she often gathered herbs and brewed an ointment for him. Applying it for a week or two would heal them. Now that his mother was gone, no one would care about his chilblains anymore.
Suddenly, two icy drops crashed into the water, sending out ripples. The reflection in the water was already streaming with tears.
“Young Madam, please get up! In such cold weather, let me wash them!”
Auntie Chen’s worried voice came from behind.
Liang Sheng hastily wiped his face with the back of his hand, then turned his head and smiled: “It’s fine, Auntie Chen. I’ll wash them myself.”
“Young Madam, you’re working too hard.”
Auntie Chen couldn’t bear it. She rolled up her sleeves and crouched down to grab the clothes. “It’s alright, I’ll help you wash them. I mean, on such a cold day, how could the Young Master bear to let you soak in cold water? Look how red your hands have gotten.”
Auntie Chen’s nagging made Liang Sheng zone out for a moment, unable to stop recalling how his mother used to nag him exactly like this. His heart felt even sadder.
“Thank you… Auntie Chen.”
He looked up and smiled, but tears glistened in his eyes.
“Oh my, Young Madam, what’s wrong with your eyes? Why are they so red?”
Auntie Chen was startled and quickly set down the clothes in her hand, feeling his forehead. “Do you have a fever?”
“No, I’m fine. Probably just the wind.”
“How is that possible? Look how awful your complexion is!” Auntie Chen felt both heartache and helplessness. “The Young Master really… he should just let the servants do it. Why make you soak in cold water on such a freezing day?”
Liang Sheng’s eyes dimmed, losing their light.
“Ahem!”
A deliberate cough sounded from behind.
Liang Sheng turned his head and saw Su Nian standing at the bathroom door with his arms crossed, looking somewhat displeased.
“Secretary Su, why are you here?”
Auntie Chen was surprised.
Seeing her helping Liang Sheng wash the clothes made Su Nian extremely unhappy, but he couldn’t very well throw a fit. So, he waved pitifully: “Auntie Chen, could you come here for a moment? There are still so many things in the room, and I can’t organize them all myself. Could you help me, please?”
“This…”
Auntie Chen looked at him, then at the large pile of clothes in the bathtub, saying awkwardly: “I have to help the Young Madam wash clothes. Mr. Su, how about calling Xiaofang to help?”
“No can do, Xiaofang is busy with other things.”
Su Nian didn’t give her a chance to hesitate. He walked straight in, helped Auntie Chen up, and pulled her out while whining softly and coquettishly: “Auntie Chen, I’m begging you~ I can’t move them by myself~”
Auntie Chen couldn’t exactly refuse either; after all, Su Nian was the Young Master’s favorite right now.
Su Nian curled his lips, straightened his back, and deliberately glanced sideways at Liang Sheng behind him, issuing a silent provocation.
No one can help you, Liang Sheng.
Liang Sheng ignored him, turned his head, and continued washing the clothes. His frail wrists still bore injuries that turned pale from soaking in the water. It hurt, but he could only bite down on his grievances and swallow them into his stomach.
He spent a full three hours washing this massive suitcase full of clothes.
Braving the howling northern winds, he carried the clothes up and down the stairs by himself. His frail body was buried under the massive pile of laundry, so exhausted he was on the verge of fainting.
While bending over to catch his breath, Su Nian came to rush him again: “Young Madam, are you done yet? I need to use the study!”
Hearing this ‘Young Madam’, Liang Sheng found it incredibly ironic. Anyone who didn’t know better would think Su Nian was the male master of this house, and he was just a servant.
Panting heavily as he walked back to the study, he saw Su Nian burying his head in throwing away his things.
“Don’t touch! Those… are mine!”
Liang Sheng, his voice hoarse, stumbled inside and anxiously dug through the trash can.
Su Nian rolled his eyes and elegantly and unhurriedly arranged his own things one by one on the desk. Since Shen Xingyu was giving the study to him, he wouldn’t tolerate a single thing of Liang Sheng’s being an eyesore here.
He turned around and wreaked havoc on the items on the bookshelf. Anything that didn’t please his eye went straight into the trash can.
Liang Sheng followed behind him, picking up the things he threw away time and time again, clutching them tightly to his chest.
“Enough! I’ll pack them up myself! These are all very important to me! You can’t throw them away!”
Unable to endure it any longer, he spoke up to stop Su Nian.
Su Nian glanced sideways at him, his face full of disdain, and simply swept the items off the shelf with both hands.
“I need to put documents here, and coffee, and a pot of green bamboo to relieve fatigue…”
He grumbled in irritation, seemingly venting about Liang Sheng taking up the Young Madam position that rightfully belonged to him.
Immediately after, a crisp crack sounded as a glass object smashed onto the floor, shattering into pieces.
Liang Sheng’s heart skipped a beat, watching helplessly as those few bottles of aromatherapy turned into shards.
He froze, then slowly crouched down. His eyes reddened, the corners of his mouth twitching as he choked out:
“This was my mother’s… favorite aromatherapy…”
During those years his mother was hospitalized, when her mental state was poor, she often relied on his aromatherapy to calm down.
Now… nothing was left.
He couldn’t even keep a single token of remembrance.
Liang Sheng gritted his teeth, his chest aching terribly. He shakily reached out his hand, trying to pick up the candle still in half of the glass, but a sharp shard pierced his fingertip.
Dark red beads of blood welled up, flowing down between his fingers.
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Su Nian sneered contemptuously: “Your mom? Who knows where your mom died, and still…”
Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly heard the servants outside the door calling ‘President Shen’. He was terrified, deathly afraid of being caught by the man bullying Liang Sheng.
The footsteps outside were getting closer. In a moment of desperation, he immediately crouched down, grabbed Liang Sheng’s hand, and put on a frail appearance, staging a fake argument with Liang Sheng:
“I’m sorry, Young Madam! I know you don’t welcome me moving in. I’ll leave, that’s all. But I’m still President Shen’s secretary, why must you treat me like this? Ah!”
The sudden change of events left Liang Sheng astounded. His body was violently yanked around by the other party, leaving him at a complete loss for what to do.
“What are you two doing?”
Once the man’s voice came from the doorway, Su Nian grabbed Liang Sheng’s hand and pushed it toward himself. Taking advantage of the momentum, he threw his entire body onto the pile of broken glass. His palm was cut open by the shards, and blood flowed out.
Shen Xingyu’s face showed alarm. He rushed over in a panic, carefully supporting the fallen Su Nian up from the broken glass.
“Nian-nian, how are you? Where are you hurt?”
He anxiously inspected Su Nian’s injuries.
Crying, Su Nian rested his bleeding palm against the man’s sturdy forearm. He shook his head, his voice delicate and carrying just the right amount of grievance:
“President Shen, please don’t blame the Young Madam. He probably felt that I took over his room and study as soon as I arrived. It’s normal for him to hate me. He didn’t mean to hurt me just now, it was just a slip of the hand…”
Hearing this, Liang Sheng’s almond eyes widened, filled with sheer disbelief. His originally pale cheeks flushed with anger, his lips trembling as he hastily tried to defend himself: “A-Yu, I didn’t push him! You have to believe me! It-it was him pulling my hand himself…”
“Enough!”
Shen Xingyu cut him off sharply, his eyes ablaze with fury: “You two are the only ones in the room. If not you, then who else? Would someone be stupid enough to throw themselves onto broken glass?!”
His words were like a bolt from the blue. Liang Sheng froze entirely, his legs turning to jelly, unable to stand firm. He could only collapse onto the floor, an empty, hollow pain spreading through his heart.
Su Nian leaned against the man’s chest and sobbed quietly, but the gaze he secretly cast toward Liang Sheng was full of the exhilaration of success.
“Don’t cry, I’ll take you to get bandaged up.”
Shen Xingyu comforted him, his eyes filled with heartache. He then picked the little secretary up horizontally and turned to walk out. As he passed by Liang Sheng, he paused and ordered coldly:
“Kneel on the broken glass by yourself and reflect on your mistakes facing the wall.”
Translator’s Note
- Sheng-sheng / A-Yu / Wan-wan / Xiao Nian: These are common affectionate ways of addressing people in Chinese, usually employing doubled syllables of their name, or prefixes like “A-” or “Xiao-” to denote closeness and endearment.
- Brother Ran (Ran-ge): Adding “ge” (哥) after a name is an honorific used for an older male friend, neighbor, or relative, demonstrating respect and a close relationship.
- Young Madam (少夫人): Even though Liang Sheng is male, in certain Danmei (BL) novels and specific wealthy family settings, the ‘bottom’ (Shou) is sometimes respectfully addressed by servants or subordinates as “Young Madam” to clarify their status and identity as the legal spouse of the family’s male master.
- Mistress / Third Party (小三): This is a Chinese slang term used to refer to a third party who interferes in someone else’s marriage or romantic relationship. Su Nian’s role here is the typical “mistress” or homewrecker.
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