Chapter 81: Xie Zhengran’s Letter
The Shen Residence.
Su Nian returned from shopping and saw a courier stuffing a package into the mailbox at the gate before leaving.
He originally hadn’t intended to care. He walked forward a few steps, then, for some reason, turned back and took the package out.
Out of pure curiosity, he looked at the sender and recipient.
Sender: Liang Yin.
Recipient: Liang Sheng.
Seeing Liang Sheng’s name, Su Nian’s face turned dark.
The package was wrapped very cleanly and beautifully.
It happened to be Liang Sheng’s birthday yesterday.
Su Nian immediately guessed there was a gift inside.
Why does everyone revolve around that bitch!
While I am clearly the most excellent, yet I have nothing!
The more Su Nian thought about it, the angrier he became. He violently tore open the package. Seeing a pile of miscellaneous, inexpensive trinkets inside, he curled his lips in mockery.
What was all this?
Was Liang Yin really this stingy toward his brother?
True, he remembered Liang Yin had never liked this adopted brother; the two often didn’t get along.
He probably saw that Liang Sheng had married into a good family and wanted to send a gift to flatter him? He didn’t even know how to send a proper gift!
Thinking this, Su Nian was about to put the things back when a letter suddenly fell out of the box.
He hesitated for a moment. If it were someone else’s thing, he wouldn’t bother looking, but since this was Liang Sheng’s, he really had to see what was written inside!
Su Nian let out a snort. Crouching on the ground, he opened the envelope and began to read with ill intent.
After reading the contents and the signature at the end, he was shocked. This wasn’t Liang Yin at all?!
He hadn’t expected it would be…
Liang Sheng was too bold!
Acting like a thief, Su Nian quickly looked around to see if anyone had noticed him. Fortunately, there was no one.
He hid in a corner, pondering over the letter. Suddenly, the corners of his mouth curled up as a wicked idea was born.
Liang Sheng, you forced my hand…
He took out a pen and imitated the handwriting on the letter, secretly adding some non-existent things.
On the other side, the oblivious Liang Sheng finished his shower and returned to the bedroom, his mood having calmed slightly.
The gift the man gave him last night was on the desk.
For some reason, he had brought it back this morning.
To be honest, after all these years, this was the first time Shen Xingyu had given him a gift. He wanted to see what it was like.
Wiping the droplets of water from the tips of his hair, Liang Sheng draped the towel over his head and leaned down to unwrap the gift.
The lid opened to reveal a wooden antique music box with a walnut exterior and metal musical plates.
On top of the music box was a Little Prince figurine.
And a rose encased in a glass dome.
A silver safety lock was wound around the Little Prince.
Shen Xingyu said he had made this music box with his own hands.
Last night, he had been too busy arguing with the man to notice, but Shen Xingyu’s hands were covered with more or less numerous scratches and tied with adhesive bandages.
Could he have cut himself while carving this music box?
Liang Sheng’s delicate brows furrowed slightly. He didn’t exactly feel moved; instead, he felt a sense of being morally kidnapped.
Shen Xingyu couldn’t possibly think that giving this would make me as devoted as before, could he…
Liang Sheng curled his lips bitterly. He wound the music box, and a crisp, pleasant melody began to play.
The music box was beautiful, but unfortunately, it wasn’t what he liked.
He was tone-deaf and had no feeling for music.
Especially music confined within a music box.
It always felt as if the music were being locked up.
The safety lock, however, was quite pretty.
Why would Shen Xingyu think to send him a safety lock?
Now that he had a terminal illness, he had long since stopped believing in the ethereal prayers for safety.
It was useless.
Liang Sheng let out a sigh. He leaned on the desk, poking at the Little Prince as it spun with the music, feeling bored.
The image of Shen Xingyu weeping uncontrollably suddenly burst into his mind without warning.
His heart felt a strange sensation.
He couldn’t describe what it was.
It felt like back in the beginning, when Shen Xingyu hadn’t lost his memory and cared about him—that joy of first love.
The man’s wronged appearance, his sobbing tears, his reddened eyes, and his humble pleading were nothing like the eldest young master of the Shen family who discarded him like trash.
Had Shen Xingyu truly had a change of heart?
Liang Sheng immediately shook his head.
Impossible!
How could Shen Xingyu change just like that?
How much of that suddenly spoken love was true, and how much was false?
Liang Sheng felt truly conflicted now.
One side wanted to escape, while the other side was bound because of his adoptive mother.
His nose felt sour. He patted his cheeks, telling himself not to think about it anymore. He would take it one step at a time.
If he could use the remainder of his life to make amends to the Shen family and Shen Xingyu, it could be considered a way to repay his mother’s upbringing! At least he wouldn’t leave behind a regret for not being able to show filial piety to his mother.
Thinking this way made him feel a bit better.
At that moment, there was a knock on the door.
Liang Sheng’s heart jumped. Thinking the man had returned, he quickly wiped the corners of his eyes, stood up, and said awkwardly:
“Come… come in!”
Had Shen Xingyu finally learned to knock?
But the voice that rang out was not Shen Xingyu’s; it was the maid, Xiao Ling. “Young Madam, there’s a package for you!”
A package?
Liang Sheng was puzzled. He hadn’t bought anything…
He went out and opened the door. Xiao Ling handed him the package.
“Is this mine?”
“Yes, Young Madam! Your name is written on the recipient line. Who else could it be!”
Xiao Ling was sharp-tongued as she pointed to the name on the delivery slip.
“Thank you.”
Liang Sheng was habitually polite to the servants.
His eyes, however, kept studying the package.
The exterior of the package had obvious damage.
Had it been crushed during transit?
He didn’t think much of it and took it back into the room.
Liang Yin had actually sent him something?!
Liang Sheng found it a bit unbelievable.
Ever since he was kicked out of the Liang family that time, he hadn’t been in contact with this brother who shared no blood relation. Thinking of the man’s heartless appearance made him a bit sad.
Perhaps in Liang Yin’s heart, he never considered him an older brother… After all, they weren’t blood-related, so it was only natural not to acknowledge him.
Liang Sheng didn’t blame him.
He was, however, quite curious about the contents of the package.
He placed it on the desk and opened it impatiently.
When he saw the exquisite and beautiful little trinkets inside, his suspicions grew. Liang Yin would never send him these things.
Instead, it looked like Xie Zhengran’s style.
Sure enough, when he opened the envelope, the two words “Sheng-sheng” confirmed that Xie Zhengran had sent it.
Why would Xie Zhengran use Liang Yin’s name to send it?
In the letter, Xie Zhengran still sounded as cheerful as ever.
[Wishing our cute little friend Sheng-sheng another year older! In the new year, continue to be carefree and double your happiness!]
[Have you been eating and sleeping well? How have you been lately? I don’t know if you’re happy…]
[Are you taking your medicine on time? You must take it no matter how bitter it is! I’ve always been worried about your condition, but you’re just too stubborn.]
Liang Sheng’s heart felt sour.
He continued reading.
[I couldn’t get through to your phone, so I could only write to you. It was presumptuous of me to use your brother’s name as the sender. That suspicious husband of yours… if he knew I sent it, he would surely make things difficult for you. I didn’t want you to be misunderstood.]
[By the way, I took a long leave of absence these past few months and went traveling. These little things I sent you are all souvenirs I bought during my trip. I hope you like them.]
Liang Sheng turned back to the gifts on the desk.
Shells and conchs, paper-folded stars, expensive souvenirs, and photos Xie Zhengran had taken.
Blue skies and oceans, green mountains and rivers, the lights of ten thousand homes, old streets and alleys—everything was so free and happy.
His eyes finally couldn’t help but turn red.
Liang Sheng covered his mouth, on the verge of tears.
A wave of bitterness surged from the depths of his heart.
Usually, no matter how Shen Xingyu and Su Nian humiliated or tortured him, he could endure any amount of grievance. Now, just being shown a bit of concern, he actually couldn’t control himself…
Xie Zhengran was his older brother, his best friend. Seeing the other living well made him genuinely happy.
He had been trapped in a cage for so long that he had forgotten what the outside world looked like. He feared he would never be able to leave in this lifetime.
Thinking of that unreachable freedom and his current situation, Liang Sheng finally broke into heart-wrenching wails. Tears pitter-pattered down, landing on the letter and blurring the ink.
On the other side, Shen Xingyu hurried back. As soon as he entered, he asked the maid, “Where is the Young Madam?!”
The maid was startled by his anxious appearance and quickly answered, “He… he’s upstairs!”
Shen Xingyu strode toward the upper floor.
Su Nian saw him return and went to meet him with a bright smile. “President Shen, you’re back! The Chairman and Wan-wan went out; I’m the only one at home…”
Unexpectedly, the man didn’t listen to a word he said, acting as if he didn’t even exist, and just kept walking.
Su Nian’s heart was full of joy only to have a bucket of cold water poured over it. His smile froze. Looking at the man who didn’t even turn his head, his mood turned sour.
“President Shen! I have something to tell you!”
He shouted, chasing after him.
“Not interested.”
Shen Xingyu spoke coldly, not even glancing at him.
Being able to tolerate him in the Shen residence was his absolute limit.
“What if I said it was about the Young Madam?”
Su Nian continued to entangle him with perseverance.
He didn’t believe Shen Xingyu wouldn’t care.
It was exactly as he expected.
Shen Xingyu’s footsteps paused. He turned to look at him, his gaze as sharp as a knife and his voice cold: “What happened to him?”
Su Nian felt a bit nervous under that stare, but he still forced himself to speak: “It seems… someone sent the Young Madam a package. The sender’s name was Liang Yin, but the Young Madam’s brother knows I’m with the Young Madam. Usually, when he sends a package, he notifies me to make sure the Young Madam receives it. This time he didn’t, so I went to ask Liang Yin, and he said he didn’t send any package…”
Shen Xingyu narrowed his eyes slightly, seemingly trying to see through whether or not he was lying, but he couldn’t find any flaws.
Su Nian was extremely nervous in his heart, yet he could only force himself to remain calm. When it came to acting, lying was innate to him; even an Oscar winner would pale in comparison.
“And then?”
Shen Xingyu asked after a long pause.
Su Nian answered weakly, “I was afraid it was someone with ill intentions trying to scam the Young Madam, so I hurried to tell President Shen!”
Shen Xingyu’s face instantly darkened.
Without saying a word, he turned the corner of the stairs.
In the shadows, Su Nian’s lips curled into a wicked arc.
The show was about to begin.
Shen Xingyu walked to the door of the master bedroom but didn’t immediately push it open to question Liang Sheng. Instead, he remained silent.
Through the crack in the door, he saw Liang Sheng lying on the desk, his shoulders shaking. He was clearly crying.
Many beautiful little gifts were also arranged nearby.
Who sent them?!
Liang Sheng was even crying…
Was he moved?
Shen Xingyu couldn’t help but let his thoughts run wild.
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to be calm, and then gently pushed the door open and walked in. “Sheng-sheng, what are you doing?”
Hearing the movement behind him, Liang Sheng quickly wiped his tears and gathered his emotions.
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