Volume One, Chapter 65: He pinned her directly against the wall.

Those words were simply too sharp.

Xu Heping's face darkened at once. "Do you understand what manners are? Apologize to Mu Zhi!"

Xu Zhi retorted, "Manners are mutual. Compared to what he said in the hospital yesterday, I think I've been quite polite."

Xu Heping's temper was already flaring. Not being able to discipline his own daughter in front of outsiders was a loss of face for him, and now Xu Zhi even dared to talk back.

He barked, "Enough! Not another word!"

Xu Zhi shot him an indifferent glance, said nothing, and turned to go upstairs.

Xu Heping strode over, hand raised, "Stop right there!"

Seeing that Xu Heping was about to hit Xu Zhi again, Liang Muzhi could no longer sit still. He quickly stood up to intervene. "Uncle, let it go... If she doesn't want to go out, just let her be."

Xu Zhi paid no attention to the two men behind her and was already stepping upstairs.

Liang Muzhi turned his head to watch her retreating figure, feeling a flicker of irritation himself.

She could certainly walk fast enough.

Xu Heping clenched his fist. "She needs a lesson. She's been getting more and more unruly lately..."

Liang Muzhi rather agreed. Watching Xu Zhi disappear at the top of the stairs, he let go of Xu Heping's arm and said, "It's fine. I just wanted to have a few words with her. I'll go up and talk to her."

Xu Heping sighed. "Mu Zhi, don't be angry either. Zhi might still be holding on to something. About you and Chen Jing... When she told me about it that day, she was in tears. You having a girlfriend was honestly a big blow to her."

Liang Muzhi had always been resistant to the idea of marrying Xu Zhi, and if this young master started making a fuss out of anger at her, the engagement would be even more precarious. Thinking this, Xu Heping went all in to cast Xu Zhi as an infatuated woman. "She's always had you in her heart, but she's probably too shy to say so. I didn't expect... Well, you two should talk. As her father, I just hope she gets what she wishes for. If the person is you, I feel reassured."

Liang Muzhi was still in a daze as he climbed the stairs.

Xu Heping's words had indeed shaken him.

Xu Zhi... likes him?

He hadn't noticed. She had always been nice to everyone, and for years she often followed him around, but he thought that was just childhood friends.

Still...

He suddenly recalled the look in her eyes when they parted at the hospital yesterday—dark and unreadable.

That unfamiliar look was because, for a long time, when Xu Zhi saw him, her eyes always shone.

Could it be that she really did like him?

He didn't know why, but the thought made his heart race a little, though soon after, another realization dawned—if she really liked him, what happened at the ski resort would make sense.

She was jealous of Chen Jing.

After he got together with Chen Jing, the things he made Xu Zhi do were actually quite unreasonable, more than he could count: he got into a fight for Chen Jing, called Xu Zhi out on a snowy night to bail him out, even made her take the blame for Chen Jing. Oh, and that time in the car, she looked so disgusted with Chen Jing—was it because of this? He even left her on the side of the road...

At the ski resort, he first called her a boring goody-two-shoes, then got carried away with Chen Jing in the hotel...

By the time he was standing before Xu Zhi’s bedroom door, Liang Muzhi's expression had grown grave.

He finally remembered: before he got together with Chen Jing, Xu Zhi had still been that obedient little Zhi, but after he told her about his relationship with Chen Jing, she changed.

After a long while, he raised his hand and knocked.

There was no response.

He simply turned the handle and entered.

After all, this was his own home. Xu Zhi was caught completely off guard, sitting on the small sofa by the window, scrolling through last night's chat with Liang Jinmo on her phone.

When she saw Liang Muzhi come in, she immediately frowned. "I didn't say you could come in."

Liang Muzhi looked at her, his gaze obscure and difficult to read.

He'd been in this room countless times before, but this might have been the first time its owner had looked at him with such wariness, as if he were an intruder.

He closed the door and stood there without moving closer. "I came to talk to you."

Xu Zhi had no interest in listening. Her face was cold as she stood from the little sofa by the window. "I don't want to hear it."

"You actually want to marry me, don't you?" he suddenly asked.

Xu Zhi was stunned. For a long moment, she asked in disbelief, "Are you out of your mind? What makes you think I want to marry you?"

"Your dad said so. He said you cried really hard when you mentioned me and Chen Jing."

Xu Zhi almost rolled her eyes. "I've told you before—my dad wants to use a marriage between us for financing and loans. And you actually believe him?"

Liang Muzhi was silent for two seconds. "Then how do you explain your hostility toward Chen Jing? You're nice to everyone, but you've rejected her from the start."

Xu Zhi took a deep breath, barely restraining the urge to call him an idiot. "Young Master Liang, I think you really ought to reflect on yourself. Back when I barely knew Chen Jing, you made me take the blame for her. How could you expect me to like her?"

She paused, then added, "And besides, everything that happened at the ski resort proved I was right about her. She really is awful."

Liang Muzhi was about to speak, but she cut him off, "I know you don't believe me—you think I pushed her. If that's what you want to think, I can't help it."

She realized that, despite how shameless these lines sounded, they were incredibly satisfying to say.

Sure enough, Liang Muzhi's face darkened with fury, clearly provoked by her indifference.

Just moments ago, standing at the door, he'd had so much he wanted to say, hoping for a real conversation. Even looking back on the past days, he'd felt a twinge of guilt for his actions. But now, just a few sentences from her had infuriated him.

He said coldly, "Fine. Since you claim you have no intention of marrying me, then show some sincerity—go tell your dad, tell my parents, and my grandfather, and ask them to stop forcing me."

Xu Zhi sneered, "Do you think I have as much say in this as you do? My father never even asked what I thought. He just told your parents I was willing. Your parents never asked me directly, either."

Liang Muzhi fell silent.

No one had asked him, either...

This absurd engagement—neither of the people involved actually wanted it.

Xu Zhi said, "It'd be more useful for you to talk to my dad than to me. As long as he doesn't push things, the engagement can be called off."

Liang Muzhi's face was dark, his feelings complicated. He realized his own double standard—he didn't want to marry her, but now that she'd made it clear she didn't want to marry him, he was annoyed.

He could reject others, but how could others reject him?

Xu Zhi delivered her ultimatum: "My dad's downstairs. Go talk to him."

Liang Muzhi's hand, hanging at his side, slowly clenched.

Xu Zhi had never tried to send him away before.

He really had nowhere else to go. At the hospital, he couldn't face his grandfather. At home, Fu Wanwen scolded him. Downstairs, the man in black on the sofa was a bodyguard—Liang Zhengguo had specifically hired someone to keep him from seeing Chen Jing.

In the past, when everything else was unbearable, Xu Zhi's place was his last refuge.

But now everything had changed, and she seemed eager to drive him out.

Xu Zhi had no idea what he was thinking. Seeing he didn't move, she got up, walked over, opened the door, and reached for his sleeve to pull him out with considerable force.

Liang Muzhi's brow twitched. He grabbed her wrist, spun around, and pressed her directly against the wall.