TGSS - Chapter 35

Chapter 35: I Like Her

Mother Liang wore a very thin white coat, her long black hair tied messily behind her head with a thin elastic band. She seemed completely unable to hear Liang Zhouyi's voice, her eyes fixed only on Wen Xiaoying whom she gripped tightly. Her thin hand, veins prominent, looked somewhat red and swollen from the cold as she stared vacantly and dragged Wen Xiaoying outward by her hair.

Wen Xiaoying gritted her teeth against the pain, stumbling helplessly along with her steps. Her princess half updo had completely lost its shape and its former elegance.

Seeing Mother Liang already shove open the glass door with her body, the wind chimes jingling, Liang Zhouyi hurried after her. As soon as she opened the door she saw Wen Xiaoying thrown to the ground by Mother Liang. Fortunately she landed on her backside. Wen Xiaoying, unable to react for a moment, instinctively tried to fix her hair, then glared at Liang Zhouyi with a furious laugh, "Liang Zhouyi! Is this your mother? Is she sick? If she's sick she should get treatment!"

Although Wen Xiaoying's voice was full of anger, she kept it low. After all, although this coffee shop was relatively secluded, it was still near an office building, and with people passing by right at quitting time, she was very unwilling to make a scene. But someone held the opposite attitude.

Mother Liang had her arm twisted behind her back and pulled away from Wen Xiaoying by Liang Zhouyi who had rushed out quickly. She kicked and struggled with all her might, not forgetting to curse, "Is it her! Liang Zhouyi, are you sick again? Did this woman seduce you? You were supposed to be cured, how could you do such a bastard thing again?"

Wen Xiaoying looked at the two in some surprise, her fair and delicate palm braced on the ground scraped and bleeding. Seeing that Mother Liang was clearly mentally unstable, she stood up and instinctively took a small half step back, but the movement made Liang Zhouyi's fingers slip and she almost lost her grip on the woman. Mother Liang shook her head, her strands of hair whipping across Liang Zhouyi's face and causing a sting. She stared hatefully at Wen Xiaoying, the skin of her face trembling with her fierce gaze, as if she wished she could eat her flesh and drink her blood.

"Mom, what fit are you throwing now?" The blue veins on the back of Liang Zhouyi's hand stood out starkly from the effort. Half coaxing, half admonishing, she said, "Stop making a scene, okay? She and I are just colleagues. You acting like this will really affect my work. If I lose my job, how will I send you money?"

Words that could once threaten Mother Liang now had the opposite effect. Gao Mingchen's remark that Chu He and Liang Zhouyi were actually on very good terms looped in Mother Liang's mind. She seemed persuaded by Liang Zhouyi and stopped struggling so hard. Seeing this, Liang Zhouyi instinctively loosened her grip a little, but in that instant she lunged at Wen Xiaoying again and shoved her to the ground, a cold smile at the corner of her mouth, murmuring, "I know you and your boss are close. Last time she even sent us to the police station. I should have realized it then. No wonder Zhou Yi hasn't been willing to listen to me lately. So she's sick again..."

Her soft, eerie tone made Liang Zhouyi's heart jolt. She frowned and looked down at Mother Liang from where she stood, saying calmly and seriously, "Mom, she is not Chu He, not the boss you are talking about. You have the wrong person. She is just an ordinary colleague of mine."

Wen Xiaoying, sitting on the ground, finally realized she had suffered undeserved misfortune. She quickly glanced around, and seeing that not too many people had gathered yet, she reached up to take off her mask, revealing her delicate and pretty face, and said with great politeness, "Auntie, you have misunderstood. This is the first time I have met you. You must have mistaken me for someone else."

Mother Liang immediately turned her head to look at Wen Xiaoying, gradually realizing this person indeed did not look like the woman from that day. That person had been sharper and more strikingly beautiful, and taller too. It really seemed she had mistaken her... But Wen Xiaoying's face came fully into view, and her hunched body began to tremble violently. Her reason evaporated in an instant. Gritting her teeth with a sob in her voice, she shouted, "It's you! You murderer!"

Along with the cry, a solid slap landed on Wen Xiaoying's face. Her head buzzed, her wrist gave way, and she fell to the ground again. Her long hair brushed her swollen cheek with a painful itch. In all these years Wen Xiaoying had never suffered such humiliation. Her fury surged overwhelmingly. Her slender fingers clenched into fists on the ground, she stood up and shoved Mother Liang hard on the shoulders, and the situation spiraled out of control as the two grappled and fell to the ground together.

More and more people were gradually drawn by the commotion. Liang Zhouyi was still in shock that Mother Liang had recognized Wen Xiaoying. So her mother had been hung up on what had happened between her and Wen Xiaoying ever since.

She stood in place and squeezed her eyes shut hard, barely suppressing the irritability in her chest, crouched down to pull the two apart, and was scratched by Wen Xiaoying's long, almond-shaped nails from her jaw to her neck, leaving several long bloody marks.

Mother Liang kicked hard, leaving several footprints on Liang Zhouyi's beige trousers. Liang Zhouyi's head throbbed dully from the back of her skull to her temples. She gripped her mother's arm tightly, threading it under her armpit to drag her away, and said coldly to Wen Xiaoying, whose clothes were disheveled and who had somewhat lost her reason in anger, "More and more people are coming. Why aren't you leaving?"

Liang Zhouyi's emotionless voice reached Wen Xiaoying's ears. She instinctively reached to cover her face, only then remembering she had already taken off her mask. Shielding her face, she scrambled up from the ground in a panic and ran.

The small crowd that had gathered saw there was nothing more to watch and gradually dispersed. The corner of Mother Liang's mouth held an unnatural smile, a wheezing sound coming from her throat. Her eyes were red and swollen, several buttons on her coat had fallen off in the struggle, and her pink sweater had been pulled out from her pants in a large bunch. She stared blankly as she straightened her clothes, mechanically turning her head toward Liang Zhouyi, "How could you be with this murderer?"

Liang Zhouyi stood to one side and asked, "Be together? What kind of together do you mean?"

Mother Liang glared at her coldly, "You have been refusing to go on blind dates recently because of this murderer?"

"Stop calling her a murderer with every breath. It makes me unable to tell whether you are talking about me or her." Liang Zhouyi did not want to meet her gaze and stepped forward. "I don't want to keep going on blind dates simply because I don't like men. You know that."

Mother Liang clutched Liang Zhouyi's arm, her five fingers nearly digging in. Her pale lips trembled as she said firmly, "That's impossible, Zhou Yi. You are just sick. Let Mom take you to see a doctor, okay? It can't be. Why don't you like men again? You were clearly cured before!"

Seeing her repeat the same few phrases over and over, Liang Zhouyi felt a sorrow that was almost laughable. Her gaze fell on her mother's lined and weathered face, and her chest tightened.

"Mom, stop deceiving yourself. I have never liked men. If we go by your logic, then my illness has never been cured." Liang Zhouyi said helplessly.

Mother Liang lowered her eyes and shook her head to herself, looking like a soulless wooden puppet. Supported by Liang Zhouyi, she still muttered to herself, "Is it because of your bastard father when you were little, or because of me... How could my daughter be like this? Isn't this a kind of perversion... Is there no cure..."

Liang Zhouyi sighed heavily. Seeing her neurotic appearance, she thought of the delicate little white flower Wen Xiaoying who had just been brawling with her, and thought inappropriately that those two looked more like mother and daughter.

"Where are you taking me? You are not coming with me?" When Liang Zhouyi forcibly pushed Mother Liang into a taxi, she suddenly seemed to remember something, clinging to the window and leaning out to say forcefully, "No, I want to go to your place."

Liang Zhouyi could not help clicking her tongue, "Mom, just go home properly. How could my rented room fit the two of us?"

"I want to go to the place you rent." Liang Zhouyi saying this only made her more suspicious. Mother Liang stared at her with those almond eyes, as if the moment Liang Zhouyi refused she would immediately suspect she was hiding someone.

"Suit yourself." Liang Zhouyi pulled open the car door and got in. Suddenly she felt like smoking. The suffocating atmosphere inside the car pressed until she could hardly breathe, familiar and cramped.

She curled her fingers, recalling Wen Xiaoying's expression as she left, thinking that this feud was now truly sealed, and wondering what Chu He would do.

Chu He... She silently repeated the name twice as if trying to draw some strength from it. Mother Liang's frenzied appearance still left her shaken. Liang Zhouyi really could not imagine how Chu He would see her if she met such a mother. With Chu He's explosive temper, would she get into a fight with her mother?

Thinking of this, Liang Zhouyi seemed to want to smile, but the corners of her mouth felt as heavy as a thousand pounds and would not lift at all. Yes, she, Liang Zhouyi, could not even sort out her own mess. What right did she have to get close to someone else, and how could she drag Chu He down with her?

All the way back to her residence in silence, Liang Zhouyi entered the code to open the apartment door and felt absurd looking at her mother. Never curious about how her daughter was living, this was the first time she had come to her residence, and for such a baffling reason.

"Open the door." Mother Liang said with a stern face, looking at Liang Zhouyi who had paused.

Liang Zhouyi suddenly found it unbearable. She had always been able to accept Chu He stepping into her private space because she liked Chu He. She still could not accept anyone else.

Liang Zhouyi's eyes reddened slightly for an instant. She licked her somewhat dry and cracked lips, turned her face to the side, and asked seriously, "Mom, do you have to go in today?"

"Open the door!" Mother Liang stared coldly at the door, unmoved, "You have always been very opinionated since you were little, and you have never listened to me. You insisted on studying photography and messing around with... all sorts of messy people, and I have never been able to control you. But... what did my indulgence bring in return? I should have forced you even if it killed me, should have controlled you. Then maybe your father would not have died. Zhou Yi, it is not too late now. Mom will help you correct yourself."

Liang Zhouyi drew a sharp breath, forcing back the tears in her eyes. She reached out and pressed the code lock. With a click, the door opened.

She watched helplessly as her mother rummaged from her wardrobe to her bed, turning the room into a complete mess, leaving no place unchecked from the bathroom to the kitchen and every drawer large and small.

"Liang Zhouyi, let me ask you, what exactly is your relationship with that woman boss?" After a long while, Mother Liang sat on the sofa, pale and panting, lifting her face to interrogate her.

"You mean Chu He?" Liang Zhouyi looked at the mess strewn across the floor and even lifted the corners of her lips, her voice somewhat hollow, "I like her."

Liang Zhouyi watched her mother's face twist in an instant. She stared at Liang Zhouyi, as if she had not expected her to say such a thing. She screamed and rushed over to shake Liang Zhouyi's shoulders, tears covering her entire face, hatred and anger intertwined in her eyes.

"Mom, let me go, and let yourself go too." Liang Zhouyi watched her go mad calmly, "You cannot bring him back by torturing me. I am very sorry about what happened back then. But I will no longer consume my guilt in the way you want. What I should give you I will still give you. As for myself, I have decided to look forward. You can say I have no conscience, that I am an ungrateful wretch, I will accept it all. For five years I did as you said. So has your hatred for me lessened at all?"

The answer was clear to both of them. It had not.

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