His Addiction - Chapter 30
Liang Mushi couldn’t help but say, “Aunt, I’m worried about her…”
“She’ll be fine,” Zhao Nianqiao insisted. “She’s an adult. She needs to learn to be strong. Being so sensitive won’t help her in this world. Your family gave her a good lesson today, taught her what she should and shouldn’t do.”
Liang Mushi wasn’t stupid. He knew Zhao Nianqiao was also subtly reprimanding him.
After all, Xu Zhi had suffered because of him.
He felt a pang of guilt, a tightness in his chest, but he couldn’t argue.
“Go back,” Zhao Nianqiao dismissed him. “Since you don’t intend to be with Zhi Zi, stop enabling her. She needs to figure things out for herself.”
Liang Mushi returned home, feeling a sense of helplessness he couldn’t explain.
Perhaps it was because he had never been rejected like this before.
That night, Liang Mushi tossed and turned, unable to sleep. When he finally drifted off, his dreams were filled with Xu Zhi’s tear-stained face.
He woke up in the middle of the night from a nightmare in which Xu Zhi once again pulled her hand away from his.
His heart raced, a hollow ache in his chest.
He felt like he was losing something, a feeling of helplessness that filled him with panic.
The next day, Xu Zhi stayed in bed until past 10 a.m.
She was finally woken by the sound of arguing downstairs.
The house, empty of servants, felt vast. Zhao Nianqiao and Xu He Ping’s arguments seemed to echo through the large space.
Xu Zhi felt groggy. After a while, she slowly got out of bed, barefoot, and opened her door, walking towards the staircase but stopping short.
From this position, she could hear the conversation downstairs clearly.
“Why did you stop Mu Zhi from seeing Zhi Zi?” Xu He Ping roared. “They need to cultivate their relationship! You’re her mother, and you’re not even helping, just interfering!”
Zhao Nianqiao scoffed. “You’re still dreaming of marrying her into the Liang family? Thinking you can secure investment and loans by selling your daughter? Mu Zhi made it clear last night. He doesn’t like Zhi Zi. That boy is too wild. You think he would ever settle down with her?”
“Then what good is she?!” Xu He Ping pointed at Zhao Nianqiao. “What good is this thing you gave birth to?! I’ve raised her all these years, never asked anything of her, and now she can’t even please the Liang family. She’s useless!”
Xu Zhi couldn’t listen anymore. She turned and hurried back to her room.
Closing the door, she threw herself onto the bed, burying herself under the covers, covering her ears.
Tears welled up again.
Their words were like knives piercing her heart. The pain was unbearable.
— He doesn’t like Zhi Zi.
— You think he would ever settle down with her?
— What good is this thing you gave birth to?
— She’s useless!
She bit her lip, her body trembling.
Xu He Ping, Liang Mushi… they all made her feel worthless, unlovable.
She suddenly thought, I should just die. Then she wouldn’t have to face any of this, wouldn’t have to think anymore.
As she indulged in morbid fantasies of death, the extreme thoughts pulled her back into a memory.
Liang Jinmo was also an unloved child. His mother didn’t love him, pushing him onto the Liang family. His father didn’t love him, never cared about him. He had been abused by Fu Wanwen and bullied by Liang Mushi. He had also broken down before.
But his breakdowns were always silent.
Xu Zhi was in her third year of junior high, and Liang Jinmo was about to take the college entrance exam.
Although Liang Zhengguo had given him the passcode to the house again, he rarely went back. However, having nowhere else to go during the winter break, he returned to the Liang house before the Lunar New Year.
That year, the Liang family decided to travel for the holidays.
But their travel plans didn’t include Liang Jinmo.
The housekeepers were also on holiday, leaving Liang Jinmo alone in the house.
On New Year’s Eve, Xu Zhi stood at her window, looking at the dark Liang residence.
She optimistically thought that perhaps Liang Jinmo wasn’t there, that he had gone to his mother’s place. But as midnight approached and fireworks lit up the sky, she saw him.
He was standing at the window of a second-floor room, like a ghost in the night. He watched the brilliant fireworks outside but didn’t turn on the lights in his own room.
Xu Zhi couldn’t sleep well that night. She couldn’t imagine how Liang Jinmo was spending the New Year alone.
The next day was the first day of the Lunar New Year. Early in the morning, Zhao Nianqiao and Xu He Ping had their first argument of the year. Annoyed, Xu Zhi secretly packed some of the dumplings the housekeeper had made into a lunchbox and decided to take them to Liang Jinmo.
However, when she arrived, Liang Jinmo was just leaving.
He saw her and simply looked away.
Acting like a thief, Xu Zhi ran over and shoved the lunchbox into his hands. “These are dumplings. Just boil them when you get back.”
Liang Jinmo glanced at her, his eyes dark and still like stagnant water.
He ignored her, didn’t take the lunchbox. He turned and walked towards the side gate of the complex.
Xu Zhi stamped her foot in frustration and turned to go home. But after a few steps, she looked back.
Liang Jinmo’s figure was receding into the distance. He was all alone, looking so lonely.
She hesitated for a few seconds. Thinking that Xu He Ping and Zhao Nianqiao were probably still arguing, she decided to turn back and follow him at a distance.
It was New Year’s Day. She didn’t know where he was going. She hoped he was meeting friends, so she wouldn’t have to worry.
Liang Jinmo didn’t take any transportation, just kept walking, seemingly aimlessly.
Xu Zhi was getting tired. They had reached the open park in the center of the neighborhood, and Liang Jinmo walked onto the zig-zag bridge.
Did he want to stroll in the park? She wondered if he was just bored. The park was deserted at this time on New Year’s Day.
She followed him onto the bridge, thinking she would try offering him the dumplings one more time. If he still refused, she would just throw them in the trash. By now, Xu He Ping and Zhao Nianqiao should have finished arguing.
However, the unexpected happened suddenly.
A rockery obscured the middle section of the bridge. As Xu Zhi rounded the bend, she saw Liang Jinmo standing on the railing of the bridge.
Without a moment’s hesitation, he jumped.
Xu Zhi heard the splash, her eyes widening in horror, the lunchbox falling from her hands.
She couldn’t quite process what she had just seen. She looked towards the lake, her eyes landing on a sign nearby: Water Depth: 3 Meters. No Swimming Allowed.
“Liang Jinmo!” she screamed.
A thin layer of ice had formed on the surface of the lake, now broken into large chunks. Xu Zhi saw bubbles rising to the surface.
She wasn’t foolish enough to think Liang Jinmo had jumped in for a swim. She leaned over the railing, panicked, calling out his name again, then shouting for help.
There was no response. She didn’t hesitate any longer. Climbing over the railing, she jumped into the lake.