His Addiction - Chapter 5

Night fell, and Xu Zhi couldn’t sleep, thinking about some old memories.

About a year ago, around this time, Liang Muzhi had just started racing and got into a car accident.

That time, Xu Zhi was almost scared to death. When Liang Muzhi was pulled out of the car, his head was covered in blood.

Not only did she think Liang Muzhi was going to die, but Liang Muzhi himself also thought he was going to die. For a brief moment when he opened his eyes in the ambulance, he called out to her, “Xiao Zhi.”

Xu Zhi quickly leaned in, and his hand was cold, so she held it with both hands, rubbing it as tears fell, begging him not to speak.

But he still kept calling out to “Xiao Zhi.”

Xu Zhi wasn’t sure if he was fully conscious, so she whispered near his ear, “I’m here.”

He looked at her, seemed relieved, and then slipped back into unconsciousness. But his hand still tightly gripped hers, and he mumbled her name again.

Fortunately, Liang Muzhi had a strong constitution. The injuries looked serious, but they weren’t as bad as they seemed. The surgery wasn’t difficult, and he stayed in the hospital for nearly a month before returning home to recover. The follow-up checkups three months and six months later showed good progress.

Liang’s parents, angry about the accident, ordered him not to race again, but Xu Zhi knew he was still secretly racing. He just couldn’t openly participate in competitions anymore.

No one could control Liang Muzhi. She had tried to talk him out of it, but he always deflected the conversation with jokes.

However, this car accident meant more to Xu Zhi than just a shadow of fear. When Liang Muzhi was unconscious, calling her name and holding her hand, even his racing teammates heard it. They all thought she and Liang Muzhi were a couple.

At that time, Xu Zhi thought, maybe in Liang Muzhi’s heart, there was still a place for her.

But in the end, it was all a misunderstanding. A man, unconscious and calling out her name while holding her hand—who would have thought that he actually didn’t like her at all?

She had never crossed his mind that way.

Xu Zhi lay awake in the dark, thinking about this, feeling a slow and dull pain spread from her chest through her limbs. Tears quietly slid down the corners of her eyes.

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

The next morning, she still couldn’t focus during her self-study session.

In the past, even if there were small disagreements between her and Liang Muzhi, they never lasted overnight. Either he would take the initiative to talk, or sometimes she would lower her head and apologize.

But this time, by noon, she still hadn’t received any messages from Liang Muzhi.

At lunch, Xu Zhi received a call from her mother, Zhao Nianqiao.

“Do you know about Muzhi’s fight?” Zhao Nianqiao asked. “The Liang family caused a huge scene last night. Old Mr. Liang almost had a health scare because of it. Muzhi spent the night locked in the ancestral hall, and I heard he was even beaten.”

Xu Zhi’s heart sank.

Liang Muzhi was the precious son of the Liang family. She had never seen Liang’s parents punish him physically before. Sometimes, they would have him kneel in the ancestral hall for a couple of hours as a punishment, but that was about it. For someone like him, a punishment like this was quite severe.

“I can see his parents are really upset. Especially his mother, who originally expected him to take over the family business. Now, he’s still fooling around and getting into fights… at this rate, it’s hard to say who will inherit the company. I hear that the illegitimate son, Liang Jinmo, is actually doing well. He studied abroad and worked part-time. Now, he’s back with work experience and a team he brought with him. It looks like the Liang family might fall into his hands after all.”

Zhao Nianqiao went on and on, gossiping about the Liang family, but Xu Zhi didn’t listen closely. She had already started packing her things, preparing to head out.

After hanging up, she grabbed her bag and went downstairs to take a cab home.

However, when she arrived at the gate of her own villa, she didn’t stop. She walked around and rang the doorbell to the Liang family’s house instead.

The housekeeper answered the door, and seeing her, smiled brightly. “Xiao Zhi, you’re here. You should talk to Madam. Muzhi has been kneeling in the ancestral hall all night. They still haven’t let him go. If it goes on like this, how will he hold up?”

It seemed that this time, Liang Muzhi had really angered his parents. Xu Zhi didn’t dare waste any time and hurried toward the main house.

Liang Muzhi had a good constitution, but he had only recovered from the accident a little over a year ago. Kneeling all night… just hearing about it made Xu Zhi anxious.

It looked like Liang’s father had gone to work, and at this moment, only Liang’s mother was in the living room.

Xu Zhi walked over respectfully and greeted her. “Auntie Liang.”

“Xiao Zhi,” Liang’s mother, Fu Wanwen, saw her and sighed. “You need to keep an eye on Muzhi. Look at him—he’s always causing trouble. I’ve told him, but he never listens…”

Fu Wanwen went on and on, complaining about her son, how he was useless, not as capable as the illegitimate son, and how it made her lose face. “By the way, I heard this fight was about a woman. Do you know what happened? I asked that kid over and over, but he refuses to tell me anything.”

Xu Zhi lowered her head, her hands clenching into fists. After a long silence, she softly said, “I’m sorry, Auntie Liang. It’s because of me.”

Fu Wanwen furrowed her brows even tighter.

“A man was bothering me…” Xu Zhi couldn’t lift her head, her voice weak. “Muzhi just stepped in to help me, and somehow, the fight broke out…”

She didn’t even know exactly what had happened, so she spoke vaguely. “Please don’t punish Muzhi anymore… he didn’t mean to cause trouble. He was just trying to help me.”

Fu Wanwen stared at her for a long time, and Xu Zhi felt like she was being examined.

Her cheeks burned with shame.

Liang’s parents had always treated her well, but for Liang Muzhi, she had lied to them more than once.

After a long silence, Fu Wanwen sighed, “Xiao Zhi, it was a bar… You used to be so well-behaved. How could you go to that kind of place with Muzhi?”

Xu Zhi’s head lowered even further, feeling even more embarrassed. “I’m sorry.”

“Muzhi is reckless, and as his mother, I can’t control him. I’m counting on you to help keep an eye on him, but now… this is too disappointing,” Fu Wanwen shook her head. “I never thought you’d end up like this.”

Xu Zhi bit her lip and tried to comfort herself: It doesn’t matter, after all, I’m not the one who will become the Liang family’s daughter-in-law. What does it matter how Auntie Liang sees me?

Fu Wanwen stood up and walked toward the ancestral hall. Xu Zhi didn’t follow. She knew Fu Wanwen was going to let Liang Muzhi off this time.

Fu Wanwen really treasured Liang Muzhi. If she weren’t truly angry, she wouldn’t have made things difficult for him.

Liang Muzhi hobbled over from the direction of the ancestral hall, massaging his stiff legs. He noticed Xu Zhi and walked over to sit next to her.

Xu Zhi glanced at him but said nothing.

His legs hurt. Even though he had tried to act like he was fine, standing and kneeling as he faked it, after kneeling all night, his legs felt completely unrecognizable.

Xu Zhi noticed his cheek was swollen with a clear five-finger mark, probably from either Mr. Liang or Grandpa Liang. She didn’t ask about it and instead asked about Fu Wanwen, “Where’s Auntie Liang?”

“She went upstairs. Said she didn’t want to see the two of us and told us to reflect on ourselves—and stay out of bars in the future.” Liang Muzhi didn’t seem to care. “My mom’s just too controlling. There are only so many places for young people to hang out, and by her standards, we shouldn’t go anywhere.”

Xu Zhi stood up. “Then I’ll head home.”

“Wait,” Liang Muzhi grabbed her wrist, looked up at her, then lowered his voice, a hint of gentleness in his tone. “Did my mom say something to you?”