Chapter 61: Estrangement

"What?" Ruan Yunyun looked at him.

Gu Hansheng pointed near his temple with his finger, his gaze cold. "Have a broader vision, Miss Ruan?"

...

Gu Hansheng returned to the office. Liang Shu stood up from the sofa, somewhat surprised. "Mr. Gu, you're incredibly punctual, just ten minutes."

He approached, loosening the collar of his shirt with a raised hand. "Are you awake now?"

Liang Shu nodded. "Yes, and hungry too."

"Let's go eat."

"Okay."

In the car, Gu Hansheng turned to her as he drove. "What do you want to eat?"

Liang Shu stared ahead, somewhat absent-minded. "Whatever you decide is fine."

A minute later, the car stopped by the roadside.

Then a large hand reached out and pinched her chin, followed by cool lips pressing against hers. "Then I'll have you first."

Liang Shu resisted, biting his lip, causing Gu Hansheng to withdraw in pain.

Seeming to realize that she had exerted too much force, Liang Shu glanced at his lips, then shrunk back. "I'm really fine with anything, I'm not trying to brush you off."

Gu Hansheng kept a stern face. "So when I said 'have you', do you have any suggestions?"

Liang Shu pouted. "It's not that it's not possible," she paused, glancing at the bustling traffic outside, "but we're on the main road... surrounded by cars. It's quite embarrassing. If the traffic police come to issue a ticket later, it would be quite awkward."

Gu Hansheng couldn't help but chuckle. He restarted the car and asked her, "Chinese or Western cuisine?"

"Chinese, please."

On this point, Liang Shu and Gu Hansheng were quite similar.

She didn't like Western food, and in fact, she was allergic to it.

Qinfang Pavilion.

The manager escorted them to a private room. On the way, he glanced at Liang Shu a couple of times and said, "Mr. Gu hasn't been here for quite some time."

Gu Hansheng didn't say anything but tightened his grip on Liang Shu's hand as they exited the elevator.

A highly private room.

The manager handed the menu to Gu Hansheng, who didn't ask Liang Shu what she liked to eat and simply ordered.

Liang Shu tugged at his clothes and asked, "It's just the two of us, we can't eat so much."

The man glanced down at the small hand on his waist and smiled. "Let's try a bit of everything."

Midway through the meal, Gu Hansheng received a work-related call, which seemed endless. Since there was no restroom in the private room, she greeted Gu Hansheng and went out.

The food here was delicious, and Liang Shu accidentally ate a bit too much, feeling uncomfortable now.

In the restroom, she splashed water on her face, looking at her reflection in the mirror.

It seemed like her originally slender face had become slightly rounder, probably due to being pampered by Gu Hansheng after marriage.

She retraced her steps back along the corridor.

Qinfang Pavilion was decorated in an antique style, with vintage furnishings in the corridors. The walls were adorned with old-style palace lanterns, and the dim lighting cast long, blurry shadows on the floor. As Liang Shu approached, she realized a man was blocking her path.

She was startled but only took a step back in panic, not making a sound, frowning as she looked at the man who seemed to have suddenly appeared in front of her.

Lu Jinsheng.

Today, he was wearing a long black coat, his tall figure leaning against the wall at an angle. The dim light dragged his shadow on the ground into a long, blurry shape.

Liang Shu tightly gripped her phone, looking at him.

The man's narrow gaze swept over her hand hanging by her side, a clear trace of disdain on his lips. "So, after I tossed you a phone not long ago and saw how upset you were, now you've already upgraded to such an expensive gadget?"

His words were hurtful.

The phone Liang Shu had now cost thousands, which was expensive for her.

But to Lu Jinsheng, it was just a plaything.

Liang Shu maintained her composure, pursing her lips. "Well, that's thanks to you, Mr. Lu, for throwing away my belongings."

With that, she straightened her back, intending to walk past him.

But soon, a leg blocked her path. Liang Shu looked down at the man's shiny shoes, her body trembling slightly.

Lu Jinsheng stared at her face. "How did you come here?"

Getting closer, Liang Shu finally smelled the strong scent of smoke emanating from him, almost choking her and making her feel nauseous.

She leaned against the wall, feeling nauseated, and this action completely angered Lu Jinsheng.

The man took two steps closer, pressing her against the wall, a sinister smile playing on his lips.

Only now did Liang Shu see the cigarette butt in his hand, and wisps of smoke rising in front of her eyes, stinging them.

Behind her was the wall, and next to her was a freestanding decorative vase.

"Lu Jinsheng, I warn you, don't come near me."

Lu Jinsheng lowered his gaze, his eyes glancing over the jade bracelet on her fair wrist, darkening. He reached out to grasp her wrist, the hard jade bracelet pressing against his palm, surprisingly warm.

He coldly hummed, staring down at her face from a higher vantage point. "How have you been recently?"

Liang Shu glared up at him, her voice gritted. "Fine."

"Well, that's good."

She tentatively tried to pull her hand back but couldn't succeed.

Lu Jinsheng looked at the faint traces hidden under her high-necked sweater, and suddenly a nameless anger surged within him. He released her wrist, his fingers pulling down her sweater collar.

This was a corridor, and there was no guarantee that people wouldn't pass by, not to mention...

Liang Shu became anxious and tried to push his hand away. "What are you doing..."

Lu Jinsheng's eyes turned red, clutching her collar. "You've gotten smart, learned to find men? Huh?"

His force almost made Liang Shu unable to breathe, and her nails left marks on the back of his hand. "Let go of me, or I'll call for help!"

However, the man paid no attention at all, his gaze filled with sarcasm.

In the silent corridor, Liang Shu's phone suddenly rang.

Lu Jinsheng glanced down at it, then indifferently placed the cigarette butt he had bitten into Liang Shu's mouth, then snatched her phone, not bothering to see who was calling her, and simply threw it in a direction.

That direction was the staircase.

Liang Shu didn't care about the current situation. She spat out the cigarette in her mouth and turned towards the direction where the phone was thrown—

The freestanding vase was just a decoration, with no water or flowers inside. When she bumped into it like this, it immediately fell to the ground.

Although there was a layer of carpet on the ground, the vase still shattered into pieces.

Lu Jinsheng ruthlessly crushed the cigarette butt with his shoe, expressionless as he stared at the fallen figure ahead, then turned and entered the private room.

Soon, a tall figure walked out of the opposite private room.

...

On the landing between the first and second floors of Qinfang Pavilion, Liang Shu squatted on the ground, clutching her phone.

A service staff passed by her, quietly asking what was wrong. Liang Shu shook her head, ignoring them.

Soon, a pair of exquisite leather shoes appeared in her line of sight. Liang Shu looked up, and Gu Hansheng's face unexpectedly entered her sight.

Her heart ached, tears welled up in her eyes.

Gu Hansheng pursed his lips, looking at her. "You went to the restroom and made yourself look like this?"

Liang Shu leaned on his arm and stood up, whispering, "I lost my balance in the restroom and accidentally broke a vase." She glanced up, "That vase looked expensive, I'm afraid it will cost you, Mr. Gu."

"Owe me so much? You care about a vase?"

Liang Shu shook her head.

Gu Hansheng took her into the private room. The incident just now was not small. The lobby manager had already rushed over to apologize.

As for the broken vase, they were lucky it didn't injure Liang Shu.

Liang Shu, still recovering from the shock, was sniffed by Gu Hansheng, who wrinkled his brows. "Why do you smell like smoke?"

She lowered her head and casually said, "Maybe the restroom had a heavy smell of smoke."

After this episode, Gu Hansheng took Liang Shu and left.

But when passing by the spot where the vase had been, the man keenly noticed the crushed cigarette butt on the ground.

Gu Hansheng narrowed his eyes. It seemed like his little wife was hiding quite a few secrets.

On the way back, Liang Shu was very silent, her cherry lips tightly pursed as she stared out the window.

Gu Hansheng was also silent. When they arrived home, Qu An took their coats. Liang Shu didn't say anything and went straight upstairs.

Qu An felt awkward and looked at Gu Hansheng. "What's wrong with Madam?"

"She was scared during dinner, but it's nothing," Gu Hansheng replied as he walked upstairs. He instructed Qu An, "Bring up a cup of hot milk."

"Yes."

In the bathroom, Liang Shu was brushing her teeth.

She looked down at the foam in the basin, brushing vigorously. Two minutes were not enough for her; she brushed for five, even ten minutes.

After brushing once wasn't enough, she brushed twice, three times.

Until finally, her mouth was bleeding from her efforts, and the water in the basin turned slightly red. Only then did she stop for a while.

Then she looked at her sweater in the mirror, recalling the scene. She closed her eyes, took off her sweater, and leaned over the toilet, retching.

When Gu Hansheng came in, he saw the sweater that Liang Shu had been wearing lying in the trash can, while she was wearing only a black bra on her upper body, leaning over the toilet, vomiting. Most of what they had eaten for dinner tonight had been vomited out by her.

Sensing someone behind her, Liang Shu quickly flushed the toilet, put down the toilet lid, and turned around to look at Gu Hansheng.

The man's deep gaze fell quietly on her lips.

Liang Shu lowered her head. "I want to take a bath, okay?"

In her line of sight, Gu Hansheng's footsteps gradually moved away.

...

Liang Shu was awakened by a nightmare in the middle of the night.

She sat up, the room pitch black, no breathing sounds beside her.

Reaching out, the other side was cold.

Liang Shu lay back down, staring at the faintly lit ceiling in the dark, wiping away the tears rolling down from her eyes. Her heart felt empty, as if it had been pierced by a hole.

What kind of dream did she have again?

Liang Shu didn't sleep for the rest of the night, and Gu Hansheng didn't come back either.

On the third day, Liang Shu received a call from the watch repair shop. The voice on the other end sounded apologetic. "Miss, I'm sorry to bring you some bad news. Please bear with me."

Liang Shu remained calm. "It can't be repaired, right?"

"Well..." The man's voice trembled, "Your watch, it's lost."

With that sentence, Liang Shu's world collapsed instantly.

She grabbed her coat and was about to leave when Qu An stopped her. "Madam, it's almost dinner time. If you have something urgent, you can wait until after dinner."

Liang Shu couldn't bother to reply. With long strides, she walked towards the door, wrapping her scarf around her neck as she went.

Her face was icy.

But just as her fingers touched the door handle, a cold but oppressive voice came from behind her. "Mrs. Gu, where are you going?"

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then turned to calmly face the man standing in the bright light of the living room. "I have an urgent matter to attend to and must go out."

Gu Hansheng stood still, staring at her with an arrogant expression. "We'll talk after dinner."

Before Liang Shu could speak, he turned to Qu An and said, "Remind the kitchen to hurry up."

"Okay."

Qu An left.

Liang Shu tightened the strap of her shoulder bag, determined. "I'm not hungry."

"Even if you're not hungry, you need to eat. Your body can't handle being starved; you need three meals a day."

She gritted her teeth, not wanting to argue with Gu Hansheng. So she said, "I'll eat on the way."

The man who had been standing by the sofa, elegant and pale, suddenly changed his expression. The corners of his lips curled indifferently as he looked at her, "With your current condition, even in bed, you wouldn't last long enough for me to enjoy. And yet, you're being disobedient. Do you think I can trust you to eat on the way?"

Liang Shu closed her eyes, silent, her fingers on the door handle exerting pressure.

But before she could open the door, the man walked up to her and grabbed her arm. "Liang Shu, I've been too indulgent with you. You've picked up all these bad habits and stubbornness."

Forced to look at the cold, imposing face in front of her, she gritted her teeth and said, "Gu Hansheng, don't push me."

The atmosphere turned icy.

Gu Hansheng approached her, his large hand enveloping hers on the door handle as he leaned down slightly. "Do you need me to demonstrate what it means to push you?"

She didn't say anything, turning her face away.

It could be seen that her long eyelashes were trembling slightly with anger.

Ignoring her, Gu Hansheng took her hand off the door handle and indifferently uttered a few words, "Go eat."

The servants had already set up dinner.

Liang Shu looked at the man sitting at the table waiting for her. Qu An approached with a smile. "Madam, please sit down and eat. These are all your favorite dishes."

Gu Hansheng preferred light flavors, but Liang Shu liked her food spicy and rich. Recently, her appetite hadn't been good, so she was relieved that she could eat a little more now. Most of the dishes on the table were made according to her taste.

After a meal, Gu Hansheng would always drink a full glass of water.

Now Liang Shu looked at the table full of dishes, picked up her chopsticks, and didn't feel like eating at all.

"Clap—"

Suddenly, the sound of chopsticks hitting the table echoed in the quiet dining room. Liang Shu looked up to see Gu Hansheng staring coldly at her.

Deciding not to hold back anymore, Liang Shu put down her chopsticks. "I'm full. Can I leave now?"

Across from her, the man wiped his mouth with a napkin, his expression slightly cold. "What do you think?"

Then there was the sound of someone getting up and moving their chair. Without another word, Liang Shu walked towards the living room.

Behind her, Gu Hansheng's gaze turned cold as an arrow. "If you walk out that door tonight, think carefully about the consequences."

Liang Shu clenched her fists, slowly closing her eyes.

Her heart felt as desolate as a wild wind blowing over dry grass.

She turned around, meeting his deep gaze, her tone carrying a hint of pleading. "I just need to go out for a while, is that okay?"

Gu Hansheng looked at the door, then shifted his gaze back to her, his lips curling with mockery. What could be so urgent? Look, even the buttons on her coat were done up wrong.

...

On a cold night.

Liang Shu rushed into the watch repair shop with her beautiful face cold. The shopkeeper recognized her and moved aside, but it was too late—she had spotted him.

The man looked embarrassed and guilty. "Miss, it's all my fault."

The man was not tall, barely reaching five feet seven inches. Liang Shu, still wearing her black deer leather high heels, grabbed his shirt front with her fingers, appearing as if she could devour him alive. "What's going on? Why was it lost?"

The man lowered his head, looking at the hand clutching his collar. He wanted to touch it but didn't dare, so he frowned and said, "After you left that day, I did intend to find the parts to repair it properly because you said money was not an issue. But then..."

"Later, I don't know how it disappeared. I was worried here, so I immediately called you."

Liang Shu let go of his clothes, her expression hollow. "I trusted you so much, why did you manage to lose it for me? Even if you couldn't fix it, you could have returned it to me. Why did you have to lose it?"

She pounded her chest, tears shimmering in her eyes.

There were still other people in the shop looking at watches. From the moment Liang Shu rushed in until now, they had been watching the scene unfold.

The man, feeling guilty, said, "Miss, it's our shop's fault. Can you please choose another watch from our store?"

Liang Shu slammed her bag on the counter. "You're bullying me too much. I want my original watch back, and I don't want anything else!"

"But it's truly lost. Before you came, I searched for it countless times, but there was no way. That's why I called to inform you."

"You—" Liang Shu suppressed her anger, closed her eyes, and grabbed a watch from the counter that had just been looked at by someone and hadn't been put back yet, and smashed it to the ground—

The crowd gasped.

Someone whispered, "Is this woman crazy?"

"It seems like this store lost the watch she wanted to repair, and then it caused a scene..."

"I heard the staff say that her watch was already in a bad condition when it was brought in. It's an old model discontinued many years ago, so it couldn't be repaired."

"So isn't she deliberately making trouble? Clearly knowing that an old model from many years ago, discontinued and unserviceable, she still insists on making things difficult for the shop, and now that it's lost, she's causing a scene here..."

...

Liang Shu didn't shed a single tear but indeed smashed several watches in the store with a tantrum.

Then she stared at the shopkeeper. "I'll give you a little more time. Find my watch for me, or next time, I'll smash your shop!"

Her words didn't sound like a joke. The shopkeeper felt very uneasy. He had lost tens of thousands of dollars today. If his shop was really smashed next time and he didn't get compensation, it would be a total loss.

The shopkeeper suddenly shivered. How could he be so unlucky to encounter one unreasonable brute after another?

But the other one was someone he couldn't afford to offend.

So he shook his head at Liang Shu with a bitter face. "Your watch really can't be found," he said to her, "and that watch is indeed in such bad shape that there's hardly any room for repair."

But Liang Shu was angry.

She entrusted her things to them with confidence, and now instead of being fixed, they were lost. It seemed like even the last bit of hope had been taken away from her.

She propped her fingers against the counter. "Then there's no other way. I'll report this to the police."

The shopkeeper's face changed, grabbing her hand. "Miss, you don't need to do this. Let's settle this privately..."

"Fine, then give me back my watch." Liang Shu held her phone, her expression cold.

The atmosphere became tense.

It was almost impossible to continue normal business anymore.

Most people were pointing fingers at Liang Shu, but no one stepped forward.

Liang Shu sneered and was about to dial the police, but a fair hand reached out and covered her finger dialing the number—

Following this hand with dark green nail polish, there was a woman over thirty years old with excellent facial features and a great figure, wearing a trendy short fur coat and knee-high boots. She had a cold smile on her lips as she raised her eyebrows and looked at Liang Shu.

The shopkeeper nodded respectfully and called out to the person, "Mrs. Su."

Mrs. Su?

Liang Shu put down her hand, her gaze coldly sweeping over.

Ye Lan subtly smirked, "Miss, what did this shopkeeper do that requires the intervention of the police?"

The shopkeeper, afraid of causing any more trouble, couldn't afford to offend either side, so he spoke up first, "It's our fault. This lady brought in a watch for repair, but we ended up losing it."

At this moment, another woman dressed similarly to Ye Lan approached and raised her chin, looking at Liang Shu. "Lan Lan, I heard they said the watch she wanted to repair is very old and obsolete. It can't be fixed. Isn't she deliberately making trouble?"

Liang Shu pinched her fingers, glancing indifferently at the woman speaking, "So whether I call the police or not, what does it have to do with you? Do you think you're being righteous?"

The woman's gaze sharpened as she stared at Liang Shu. "Are you justified in causing a scene here? If you had any confidence, you would've bought any item from this shop casually. How dare you make a fuss here over a watch from years ago!"

Ye Lan also laughed, her words sharp and biting, "I'm a regular customer here, and the shopkeeper and I have a good relationship. You can pick any item you like and leave. I still have things to do here, don't delay business for others."

Saying this, Ye Lan took off the watch from her left wrist, handed it to a nearby shop assistant, and turned to the shopkeeper, her tone unusually light, "I heard the new styles have arrived. I came to take a look."

The man didn't feel any joy in his heart. Dealing with just Liang Shu was manageable, but he didn't expect Ye Lan to intervene as well.

Liang Shu's clenched fists nearly pierced her palms with her nails.

She reached out and grabbed Ye Lan's wrist, pulling her to face her. Ye Lan was slightly shorter than Liang Shu, but her high heels compensated for the difference in height, so they were temporarily at the same level.

Ye Lan twisted her finely drawn eyebrows as she looked at Liang Shu, saying nothing.

Liang Shu also looked at her, her tone calm, "Are you really going to play the role of a righteous bystander today?"