Chapter 7: How Could You Bear Not to Come Home So Late
“Money! Liang Yin and I are going to spend the rest of our lives together. We can’t keep living in this old, rundown place forever, can we?”
Cheng Jiashu dropped his act. He looked around in disgust, then brought his gaze back to Liang Sheng:
“You are Liang Yin’s older brother. Even though you were adopted, Auntie Liang treated you well, right? Shouldn’t you contribute some money to sponsor our business and buy a house?”
Liang Sheng felt lost. He lowered his eyelashes, gripped his cup tighter, and probed carefully:
“How much money do… you guys want?”
Cheng Jiashu smiled, held up five fingers, and waved them in front of Liang Sheng, his eyes full of greed: “Fifty million.”
Hearing this, Liang Sheng was shocked. The hand holding the cup trembled as he stuttered: “F-Fifty million?”
Where would he get that kind of money!
He couldn’t even pull out five thousand!
Over the years of their marriage, his husband had made him quit his job as a kindergarten teacher and had him stay at home as a house husband, but had never given him a single cent. He didn’t dare ask his husband for money either. All his food, necessities, and various other things were handled by the old butler. Right now, he couldn’t even afford a steamed bun…
“That’s right, Brother. This must be a piece of cake for you, right? President Shen must have given you plenty of money!”
Cheng Jiashu smiled until his eyes formed crescents, practically drooling. It was as if he could already see the grand villa and countless banknotes waving at him.
Liang Yin also rubbed his hands together excitedly, showing no trace of the person who had been humiliating his brother just moments ago.
Liang Sheng felt completely uncomfortable under those two staring gazes. He didn’t dare look at them and bit his lip in distress. Under their immensely expectant gazes, Liang Sheng sighed, his voice as soft as a mosquito’s:
“I don’t have any money…”
“What?! No money? How is that possible?!”
Liang Yin’s shrill question interrupted him.
Liang Sheng nodded dejectedly, his eyes filled with disappointment and pain.
“I don’t believe you!”
Liang Yin stepped forward and grabbed his brother’s hands, rummaging through his pockets. Finding no bank cards, he snatched his phone and checked every app that could hold money. Unsurprisingly, the balances were indeed all zero.
“What are you doing!”
Liang Sheng anxiously took his phone back. Checking that it wasn’t damaged, he clutched it tightly to his chest.
This was the phone his mother had bought him by scrimping and saving during his college years. He had used it for many years.
“Does he have money?”
Cheng Jiashu asked eagerly.
Liang Yin shook his head: “This guy is a total pauper! He’s been married into the Shen family for so many years and hasn’t snagged a single dime. What a useless thing! No wonder he got kicked out!”
Liang Sheng looked at him tearfully. Word by word, he choked out: “That’s not my money…”
Hearing that his fifty million had fallen through, Cheng Jiashu’s face changed instantly, revealing his true harsh and mean nature. He yanked Liang Sheng up from the chair and shoved him toward the door, muttering curses: “If you have no money, then get out! I was so warmly calling you Brother just now, but you’re completely useless! I’m so mad! My fifty million!”
Liang Sheng stumbled on his feet, feeling like his bones were falling apart. He was in so much pain he couldn’t speak, so he could only let Cheng Jiashu pull and shove him out the door.
“X-Xiao…”
Trembling, he still wanted to call out to his younger brother, but that heartless brother slammed the door shut heavily before he could speak.
For a moment, he actually thought he could come back.
Ever since he married Shen Xingyu, this house where he had grown up naturally went to his younger brother. Now returning to the place he once lived, he was shut out like a stranger.
Perhaps, worse than a stranger.
Liang Sheng turned around in disappointment, not daring to look back even once, afraid he wouldn’t be able to bear leaving it.
But his legs had long reached their limit. Where would he find the strength to walk? He hadn’t taken two steps before he wobbled, his vision turned black and white, and he fell to the ground.
In a daze, he felt someone pick him up. His ears buzzed, unable to hear what the person was saying, and his eyelids were too heavy to lift.
…
The midnight bell chimed.
The night wind howled, blowing the curtains wildly.
Shen Xingyu still sat on the living room chair, but the door remained completely shut. Throughout these hours of waiting, his patience had been worn away bit by bit.
The lights in the house weren’t turned on, and in the darkness, only his cold eyes could be seen.
The frigid moonlight spilled in from the window, adding another layer of chill to the already detached man.
“Meow~”
The white cat in his arms stretched lazily, then affectionately nuzzled the back of his hand, its pretty paws kneading on the man’s thigh.
Shen Xingyu unhurriedly stroked the cat’s fur. His face was composed, and his voice was deep, carrying a faint touch of madness: “Xiao Man, tell me, is he not coming back?”
“Meow meow~”
Xiao Man tilted its head, blinking its round eyes at him.
“I think that idiot must have gotten lost.”
Shen Xingyu spoke to himself. His usual gentle and refined appearance had now been replaced by a cruel sneer.
He picked up his phone, opened his contacts, and easily found the pinned number.
There was no note attached, but he had memorized it backward and forward.
His desire for control was extremely strong. Over the years, he not only made his little wife live under his watch, but even pinned his phone number and all forms of contact where he could see them at first glance.
Then, Shen Xingyu pressed the call button.
It rang for a while, but no one answered.
No matter how busy he was, Liang Sheng, who would always answer his calls immediately, didn’t do so this time.
An icy female voice came from the phone: “Sorry, the number you have dialed is currently unanswered, please try again later. Sorry, the number…”
Shen Xingyu hung up in irritation and dialed again.
But still, no one answered.
He refused to believe Liang Sheng wouldn’t even answer his calls. He kept dialing back, repeating this over a dozen times, but the result was still the same—no answer.
“Liang Sheng, oh Liang Sheng, alright then. Your courage has grown, you won’t even answer my calls now, is that right?”
Shen Xingyu enunciated each word heavily. His knuckles turned white from gripping the phone, and anger surged in his eyes.
The next second, he smashed the phone fiercely against the opposite wall. With a loud smack, the screen instantly shattered into pieces. The little cat in his arms was also startled by the commotion, jumping to the floor and running out of the living room.
The veins on the back of Shen Xingyu’s hand bulged, his eyes crimson. He lowered his head and rubbed his fingers. Even though the anger in his heart was surging, he still pulled at the corners of his mouth in a half-smile, whispering softly:
“Liang Sheng, how could you bear not to come home so late? You weren’t like this before…”
On the other side, Liang Sheng developed a high fever again.
He lay on the bed, covered in a cold sweat, sleeping very restlessly. He kept crying out for his mom, then suddenly jolted awake, sitting up and gasping for air.
Still shaken, he looked around at his surroundings—a fresh and lively layout, but the corners of the books were messy.
Where… was he?
His mind was completely blank from the moment his younger brother threw him out.
Liang Sheng only felt a splitting headache. He raised his hand to touch his forehead and found a fever-cooling patch stuck there.
It was icy cool, alleviating much of his discomfort.
“You’re awake?!”
Before he could regain his senses, a clean, clear male voice sounded at the door, inexplicably bringing a sense of calm to Liang Sheng’s troubled heart.
He turned his head and saw a man walking over briskly with immense joy. The other party was wearing casual clothes, his features bright and spirited. Although he was no longer a youth, he had an overwhelming youthful aura that made Liang Sheng feel both familiar and unfamiliar.
The man sat on the edge of the bed.
Liang Sheng subconsciously shrank back, evaluating the other party with timid eyes, and asked warily, “W-who are you?”
Xie Zhengran generously took his hand: “Sheng-sheng, don’t you remember me? Xie Zhengran! You used to call me Brother Ran a lot. We haven’t seen each other for just a few years, and you’ve already forgotten me?”
Being touched by another man for the first time, Liang Sheng felt a bit scared. He subconsciously pulled his hand back, then stared at him for a few seconds before suddenly remembering:
“Oh, oh! Brother Ran, it’s you! You went to work in another city after college graduation. You’re back now?”
Xie Zhengran, his childhood friend and neighbor.
“Yeah, I couldn’t find a job in the other city, so I came back to Long City Hospital as a surgeon.”
Xie Zhengran replied with a smile. The smile on his face was very sunny, giving off a warm feeling.
“That’s good… Being a doctor is good…”
Liang Sheng forced a smile and chimed in, but his eyes were a bit dazed.
Once, he had a dream too—to become a teacher. But due to circumstances beyond his control, he could only get certified as a kindergarten teacher, yet ended up being locked in the Shen family.
“How are you feeling? Are you feeling any better?”
Xie Zhengran looked at him with concern, his eyes full of doubt: “Why did you collapse outside your house? I went out for a night run yesterday evening and just happened to see you. Plus, I knocked on your door forever and no one answered, so I had to bring you to my house first.”
Liang Sheng shook his head: “I’m fine now…”
As for the matters at home and his mother’s death, he didn’t want to talk about them, nor was he in the mood to.
Xie Zhengran also saw his shaky condition and tactfully changed the subject: “By the way, how is Auntie doing? I remember she was hospitalized before…”
It would have been better not to mention it. Speaking of his adoptive mother, Liang Sheng wanted to cry. His eyes welled up with tears, and he said sorrowfully:
“M-my mom… she’s gone.”
“What?!”
Xie Zhengran stood up in disbelief. Realizing he had made him sad, he tapped his mouth in frustration and hastily apologized:
“I’m sorry… I didn’t know…”
“It’s okay.”
Liang Sheng sniffled.
“How… did she pass away?”
Xie Zhengran asked tentatively. Mother Liang’s passing truly filled him with sorrow. When he was young, he used to go to the Liang family to freeload food and drinks, and Mother Liang would always entertain him warmly.
“Suicide.”
It took Liang Sheng a long time to heavily utter these two words.
He lowered his head, pinching his fingers, blaming himself immensely:
“Perhaps… my mom lived very tiredly all these years. It was me selfishly keeping her here… I wonder if she resents me for not letting her be free sooner now that she’s over there…”
“How could she? Auntie loved you the most!”
Xie Zhengran quickly denied it. Patting his shoulder, he rarely lowered his voice to comfort him:
“Besides, death is not the end; forgetting is. Look on the bright side, Auntie will always live on. If she saw you this sad, she definitely wouldn’t be able to leave in peace.”
Liang Sheng looked up. Seeing the resolve in the man’s eyes, he hastily wiped away the tears that were about to spill over. “Right. I can’t let Mom worry. I have to look on the bright side…”
Translator’s Note
Hello readers! A few terms and honorifics used in the text to help you understand the context:
- Chasing the Wife to the Crematorium (追妻火葬场): A very popular web novel trope where the Gong (Top) initially mistreats or neglects the Shou (Bottom). Once the Shou gives up and leaves, the Gong deeply regrets it and has to go through extreme, painful efforts (metaphorically walking through a crematorium) to win him back.
- Broken Mirror Rejoined (破镜重圆): A Chinese idiom used to describe a separated or divorced couple reconciling and getting back together.
- Gong and Shou: Common terms in Chinese web novels denoting the top (Gong) and bottom (Shou) in a relationship. Here, Shen Xingyu is the CEO Gong and Liang Sheng is the Shou.
- A-Yu: Adding “A-” (阿) before a name is an affectionate or familiar way to address someone.
- Brother Ran / Ran-ge: Adding “ge” (哥) to a name means “older brother”. It is an honorific used for an older male friend or neighbor to show respect and closeness.
- Young Madam / Wife: In Danmei (BL) novels, the Shou is sometimes referred to by female marital terms (like sister-in-law or wife) depending on the family dynamics, even though they use male pronouns.
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