Liang Meng’s legs went weak, and she braced her hands on the table behind her.

Yet she still couldn’t bring herself to believe everything Lin Qing had said.

Nor could she accept that Jiang Han’s feelings for her — more than ten years of them — could be reduced to ash by someone Lin Qing had known for less than three months.

“You two are joking with me, right?” Liang Meng forced a thin smile onto her face. “Jiang Han selling the Longquan shares — he already knows he was wrong, doesn’t he? And Lin Qing, you’re covering for Jiang Han, aren’t you?”

Liang Meng tried her best to reassure herself.

Like a teenager going home to tell her parents she had gotten pregnant before marriage and beaten up a classmate — when really she had just failed her maths exam.

Lin Qing gave a cold smile. “And that’s exactly why I say you’re an idealist. Even now, you’re writing fiction in your head.”

Jiang Han walked over with his whisky and said, “Liang Meng, stop deceiving yourself. Dumping Longquan’s shares has already said everything about where I stand.”

“It can’t be, it can’t be.” Liang Meng pressed her hand to her forehead.

Everything a person does must have a motive.

That thought gave Liang Meng something to grasp at — a lifeline. She gripped Lin Qing’s shoulders with both hands and demanded, “Lin Qing, you have no reason to do this!”

“A reason?” Lin Qing met her gaze directly, letting out a cold breath through her nose. “Oh, there are far too many of those!”

With that, she shoved Liang Meng’s hands away forcefully. “My mother is sick — a very serious cancer. Treatment fees, medication fees, surgery fees — it will cost hundreds of thousands. My mother already sold the house back home. Here in this city, we have no choice but for me to rely on peddling my feelings just to live rent-free in Lu Zhou’s apartment — and yet there you were, oblivious, and even though I was kind enough to take you in for a couple of days, you just stayed and wouldn’t leave! And then my mother — do you think she genuinely cared for you? Wasn’t it simply because you were my boss and I needed that job to support the two of us, that she had no choice but to accompany me, put on a smile, and flatter you?”

Liang Meng thought of that blue document bag she had caught a glimpse of by accident, and connected it to Jiang Han’s silence over the past month, and Lin Qing’s disappearance from contact.

Bit by bit, as if dimly lit, everything seemed to begin falling into a traceable pattern.

But even with Lin Qing laying out her reasons so clearly, even invoking her mother’s serious illness, Liang Meng still could not convince herself that these two people — with seemingly nothing in common — could have fallen into something together this quickly.

“Then what about my sister?”

Liang Meng refused to let it go and brought up Liang Xing.

She made no attempt to hide how hurt and confused she was. Even before this absurd situation, her first instinct was still to stand up for her sister.

“Things have a way of working out.”

Jiang Han’s nonchalant attitude made him seem like a seasoned scoundrel.

“But if Liang Xing doesn’t mind, and Lin Qing goes along with it — does that mean everyone else should keep their opinions to themselves?”

“Shameless.”

Liang Meng couldn’t stand to hear any more of it. She had no energy left to drag this out. So, as the saying goes — of the thirty-six stratagems, retreating is the best. She fled the scene and slammed the door shut behind her!

Despicable pair.

If it was all true — Liang Meng raged inside, a roiling storm of fury.

She needed to get a breath of clear, calm air first!

Then figure out what to do.

Everything in there was suffocating her!

After Liang Meng burst out the door, Lin Qing calmly walked over and closed the study door, locking it from inside.

She walked back and collapsed limply onto the sofa before Jiang Han.

Jiang Han steadied her, letting out a breath of relief as well. “Finally got rid of the troublemaker.”

After the performance, Lin Qing felt somewhat drained. Jiang Han helped her to the sitting area sofa and reassured her: “Needs must — I had no choice either. The matter of Wang Xiancheng can’t be made known to Liang Meng before we’ve sorted things out. Besides, I suspect Wang Xiancheng will make his next move very soon. Startling the snake by rustling the grass would be a bad idea.”

Lin Qing wiped the sweat from her brow and nodded. “He was able to swallow Longquan this quickly — he really is formidable. For now, Liang Meng is no match for him. And then there’s President Liang Xing’s side of things…”

Jiang Han looked up. “For now I can’t figure that out either — which is exactly why I need you to act this out with me.”

Lin Qing smiled ruefully. “But isn’t this performance a bit too intense? President Jiang, my reputation as an innocent young woman has been completely sacrificed.”

“You don’t have to do it if you’re unwilling.”

Jiang Han never compelled anyone.

Lin Qing thought about it and replied, “If I stay by Liang Meng’s side, I’ll still be nothing more than a low-profile little assistant with no particular standing — apart from fetching and carrying, I won’t be of much use. Since we’ve committed to this performance, let’s keep performing. Standing on the opposite side of her — maybe I’ll be able to see certain things more clearly.”

“Good, as long as you understand.” Jiang Han stood, patted Lin Qing on the shoulder, and went to pour her a glass of water.

“How are the things I assigned you going?” he asked.

Lin Qing gave a small nod. “When he goes long, you go short; when he goes short, you go long. President Jiang, I’ve been following your instructions. I’ve compiled a fairly complete statistical model of Wang Xiancheng’s trading patterns in the futures market. For the time being, a balanced approach will do. He plays big — large principal, and he’s leveraged several times over. The same applies in the stock market.”

“Good. Keep a close eye on him.”

Jiang Han set a glass of warm water on the table in front of Lin Qing.

“But this sudden scene today…” Lin Qing sipped the water and voiced her concern. “I don’t think Liang Meng will necessarily believe all of it.”

Jiang Han agreed, giving a slight nod. “Whether she believes it or not doesn’t matter for now — just get her out of the way first. What comes after…”

Lin Qing’s face was serene as a full moon, her gaze fixed on Jiang Han’s face with eager anticipation, waiting for his next instruction.

She hoped, ideally, that she could shed the identity of an “undercover mole” as soon as possible.

After all, Liang Meng had a point — if this got out, how would she explain herself to Lu Zhou?

“What comes after, we can only keep the act going.” Jiang Han knew Lin Qing felt aggrieved. He sat down and patiently walked her through the reasoning. “First provoke Little Meng, then push Liang Xing. Liang Xing is far harder to read than Liang Meng — from what I know of her, she won’t be rattled so easily. So for now, we can only start by stirring up the waters.”

“Can I trust you, President Jiang?”

Lin Qing gave him a doubtful look.

Jiang Han leaned back into the sofa, gazing up at the ceiling. “Apart from me, who else can you trust right now? Longquan is certainly gone. One can only hope your boss Liang Meng can still be saved — so those 1.4 million of yours might still have a chance.”

“Jiang Han, it’s not entirely about the money for me either…”

Lin Qing said this very quietly.

Over these recent days, through her conversations and time spent with Jiang Han, she had come to understand that his feelings for Liang Meng ran genuinely deep. She had also come to know something of his character.

Jiang Han was righteous, bold, and shrewd. But beneath his cold exterior lay intense, heartfelt depth of feeling — and it had always been that very depth, distorted and constrained, that tormented him.

In order to enlist Lin Qing’s help, Jiang Han had told her many things about the past.

Many of the entanglements and nightmares he could never voice to Liang Xing or Liang Meng — with Lin Qing, a little assistant who had no stake in any of it, Jiang Han found his burden considerably lighter. He spoke without so many misgivings.

And besides, with the medical centre as his trump card, Lin Qing had every reason to stand on his side — both emotionally and practically.

“Alright, enough for today. I’m tired. Don’t bother going back to sleep tonight either. The guest room downstairs — the housekeeper has set it up for you. Go ahead.”

Jiang Han gave the instruction.

Lin Qing gave a small nod, cast a glance at Jiang Han’s exhausted face, and withdrew.

Did she have any choice?

None whatsoever.

Longquan was on the verge of collapse. On her own, she couldn’t even begin to prop it up — not being crushed beneath it would be lucky enough.

She needed a backer. Jiang Han was the closest one available.

No matter what, you had to survive first.

…

Liang Meng turned over everything that had just happened in her mind, replaying the absurd scenes from moments ago, and found herself drifting — without realizing it — to the door of Liang Xing’s bedroom.

On impulse she pushed the door open, hoping Liang Xing could help her make sense of it all.

She found Liang Xing sitting cross-legged on a mat by candlelight, doing moxibustion and meditating.

“Little Meng?”

Liang Xing didn’t need to open her eyes. From the footsteps alone, and the rapid, uneven breathing, she knew it was Liang Meng who had come in.

Looking at her sister’s expression — smooth as still water, utterly untroubled — Liang Meng’s heart, filled to the brim with grievances and confusion, didn’t dare pour out just yet.

“Sister, are things okay between you and Jiang Han lately?”

Liang Meng asked tentatively.

“Same as always.”

Liang Xing kept her eyes closed, perfectly at ease.

“Jiang Han…” Liang Meng hesitated again and again, then finally worked up the courage to ask. “Sister, has Jiang Han spent the night in your room recently?”

Liang Xing opened her eyes just slightly, gazed at her through a haze for a moment, then languidly closed them again.

“What are you trying to ask.”

Liang Xing’s voice was calm and practised.

“It’s really nothing…” Liang Meng suddenly didn’t want to say it anymore, and began to cover her tracks. “I was just asking randomly.”

Perhaps sometimes in matters of the heart, not knowing something means not suffering over it.

Her sister had said she wanted to enjoy life — and she was clearly doing just that.

Liang Meng looked around at the flickering candles all about her, breathed in the permeating fragrance of the moxa herb, and felt she shouldn’t shatter this tranquillity.

Still, there was one question she couldn’t let go — why had her sister sold her shares to Wang Xiancheng as well?

“Because he has money, and he was willing to pay the price.”

That was how Liang Xing answered.

Liang Meng didn’t understand. “But sister, haven’t you always said Longquan is our Liang family’s ancestral business — that ancestral businesses can never be sold? You also said we two sisters must make Longquan great — that Longquan is our Longquan…”

Liang Xing gave an indifferent little smile and rose from her cross-legged position.

She didn’t answer Liang Meng’s question directly. Instead, she circled back to the previous one.

“Little Meng, didn’t you just ask whether Jiang Han… has been staying in my room lately?”

“Yes — yes, I did.”

Liang Meng found her sister’s jumping, unpredictable way of talking unsettling.

It felt mystical and strange.

“That little assistant of yours — what’s her name again?”

“Lin Qing.”

“She’s been coming to the villa frequently this past month, staying until the dead of night on a regular basis.” Liang Xing told Liang Meng this.

Liang Meng’s jaw dropped.

Not because of Lin Qing — but because of the tone in which Liang Xing described it.

As if she were discussing people who had nothing to do with her.

So she had known all along.

But Jiang Han was her husband!

Her husband in name!

The man Liang Meng had seen with her own eyes sharing a bed with her sister!

Liang Xing’s placid, cold composure was chilling to the bone. Her serene detachment was heartbreaking.

“Sister, aren’t you angry?” Liang Meng asked.

Liang Xing settled back onto the cushion and turned the question back on Liang Meng, saying it was naive.

“Why would I be angry?” Liang Xing said, with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile. “Men — playing along in the moment is a basic skill. Let alone someone like Jiang Han with so much to offer. The day I married him, I already knew it would come to this.”

“Sister! You…”

Before Liang Meng could finish.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t even thought that far?” Liang Xing shot her a sidelong glance again. “Lin Qing hasn’t been trying to take my place. Everyone’s just having a bit of fun — why should I let it bother me?”

Liang Meng found this absolutely incomprehensible!

She had only been on her own for a few days, and the world had already become something she completely failed to recognize.

“There are many women who like Jiang Han — some I know about, some I don’t; some I can see and name, some I can see but can’t name. But so what? I will always be the wife of Jiang Han, the mistress of Sansheng.”

Liang Xing murmured these words with her eyes closed. One couldn’t be sure who exactly she was directing them at.

At this point, Liang Meng’s head had been scrambled into a pot of congee.

“Men — as long as they’re useful, and as long as they come home, that’s enough. Everything else is unimportant. Just like shares — whoever you sell to, you’re still selling. Why should I concern myself with whether the buyer is one person or another? As long as I get what I want — as for everything else… focus on the big picture, let go of the small. It doesn’t matter!”

A few light words from Liang Xing answered a whole string of questions Liang Meng had been carrying.

Liang Meng left the villa, her heart utterly bewildered, her steps unsteady.

This whole room full of lunatics!

It was turning her, the only sane one, into the odd one out!

Liang Meng thought of Lu Zhou’s apartment and let out a rueful smile. That was not home.

In the vast, dark night, all that remained was her rootless, homeless situation, and a shattered version of herself.