ACMS 60

Chapter 60 – Taking Initiative

This single “Sister-in-law” nearly gave Chen Li a stress reaction.

She hadn’t expected to see Liang Shuling at her doorstep during the New Year. Ever since Liang Shuling left for Shen City three years ago, they hadn’t seen each other once.

“What are you doing here?” Chen Li asked when she saw Liang Shuling. “Back in glory?”

Liang Shuling frowned slightly, turned back to tell the driver to leave first, and only spoke after the car drove off. “Where’s my brother?”

“Your brother?” Chen Li said, “He was here this morning. Probably went off somewhere to work, doesn’t even bother with the kids.”

Her barbed words made Liang Shuling deeply uncomfortable, but since she was the one asking for a favor, she held her temper. “Sister-in-law, I’m not here today to argue with you. There’s no need to speak in such a sarcastic tone.”

Chen Li was usually a good-tempered person and rarely got angry with others, but something about Liang Shuling lit a fire in her heart.

“Sarcastic?” Chen Li chuckled. “If you dare to do something, what’s there to be afraid of being called out for? I have things to do and no time to entertain you. Please leave.”

She turned and went back into the courtyard, but Liang Shuling followed her in, looking around as she said, “The house is still the same as before—hasn’t changed much.”

Chen Li replied, “Of course not. It hasn’t changed nearly as much as you have.”

Liang Shuling was clearly a different person now—adorned in fine jewelry, dressed in designer brands from head to toe, looking every bit the wealthy woman.

Looking at the glittering figure in front of her, Chen Li couldn’t help but think of Qiao Le.

She thought of how Qiao Le dropped out of school to work at a construction site, his hands covered in cracked wounds when he came back.

She thought of last Spring Festival, when Qiao Le didn’t even get to eat a bite of New Year’s Eve dinner because he was too busy trying to earn money.

The more she thought, the angrier she got. Looking at Liang Shuling only made her more frustrated. “What exactly are you here for?”

“I came to ask about Lele and Xiao Man—”

“What is there to ask?” Chen Li cut her off. “You didn’t ask when you should have, and now you want to ask when it’s none of your business?”

They both knew exactly what time she “should have asked.”

Liang Shuling said, “I know you blame me for leaving without a word, but I had my reasons.”

“What kind of reason lets you abandon two children and never look back? You and Qiao Yong divorced, fine—but when Qiao Yong died, Lele was only eighteen, and Xiao Man was four! How could you just leave them like that?”

Chen Li genuinely couldn’t understand how a mother could be so heartless.

Liang Shuling fell silent, then said after a pause, “You’re not me—you don’t know what I went through.”

“No, I don’t, and I don’t want to.” Chen Li said sharply, “I only know Qiao Yong was a bad father, and you were just as bad a mother.”

“I’m not here to argue with you.” Liang Shuling said. “I came today to ask about Lele.”

She recounted meeting Qiao Le at the charity gala a few days ago. As soon as Chen Li heard that she’d seen him, she asked, “And? You saw him in person. Why didn’t you just ask him? What’s the point of coming to me?”

Liang Shuling had wanted to, but there simply hadn’t been a chance.

These past few days she had been busy accompanying Liu Feng on visits, and only today managed to free up time to come back.

She asked Chen Li for Qiao Le’s contact information, but Chen Li flatly refused: “I don’t have it. If you want it, call directory services and look it up.”

“Chen Li!” Liang Shuling finally lost her patience and her expression dropped. “What’s wrong with me asking for my own son’s contact info? You’re just his aunt—I’m his mother!”

“Oh? Now you remember you’re his mother?” Chen Li shot back. “Where were you when Lele had people at his door demanding debt repayments? When he dropped out of school and worked to pay those debts, did you ever stop to think you were his mother?”

“Dropped out?” Liang Shuling froze. “Lele dropped out? How could that be—didn’t he get into Yunjng University? How—”

Her words stopped cold, and the look on Chen Li’s face made the truth hit her hard.

Yes—how could Qiao Le possibly have stayed in school when his father committed suicide, his mother vanished, and he was left drowning in debt?

Chen Li didn’t want to waste another word. She turned to continue sorting her dried sweet potatoes and said without expression, “Leave. I don’t want to talk to you anymore.”

“Sister-in-law—”

Liang Shuling tried to say more, but just then, a child’s voice came from the gate: “Grandpa, Brother Xiao Man left. Can you light firecrackers with me?”

“Yes, yes, Grandpa will light them with you.”

Liang Shuling turned and saw her older brother, Liang Jiancheng, walking in hand-in-hand with a little girl.

When he saw her, his steps faltered. “Shuling?”

After so long, seeing her elder brother again made Liang Shuling’s eyes sting with tears. “Big Brother, you’re back—”

But the next moment, Liang Jiancheng’s face darkened. “What are you doing here?!”

Liang Shuling walked over. “I came to see you. It’s been years since we saw each other, brother.”

“Don’t call me that,” Liang Jiancheng said coldly. He told his granddaughter to go inside, then turned to Liang Shuling and said, “Why are you back? Didn’t you say you’d never return for the rest of your life?”

Last year, she had sent him a message from an unknown number, saying she had remarried and would be moving to Hong Kong with her new husband—maybe never returning again.

Liang Jiancheng had never told Qiao Le about this. He had tried calling the number back, but it was unreachable. Telling Qiao Le would only have brought more pain.

At first, Liang Shuling truly hadn’t planned to return. It was Liu Feng’s decision to come back to Yunjing City—his business had been doing poorly these past two years, and he wanted to look for new opportunities.

Liu Feng hadn’t even asked her to come; she had insisted because she didn’t feel at ease leaving him alone.

Meeting Qiao Le had been completely unexpected.

“Big Brother.” Liang Shuling wiped her tears, her eyes red. “I know you’re angry, but it hasn’t been easy for me either these past years. I left home, started over in a strange place, suffered through things I can’t even talk about. But you’re my brother—we share blood. If even you can’t understand me, can’t show me a little compassion, then how am I supposed to keep going?”

Her words were full of tears and emotion, and Liang Jiancheng, who was never a cold-hearted man to begin with, couldn’t help but feel a little shaken. “Shuling—”

Chen Li rolled her eyes on the side and said loudly, “Alright, alright. If you two siblings want to pour your hearts out, take it outside. Don’t sit here making my dried sweet potatoes taste sour with your crying. How unlucky.”

“……” This was the first time Liang Shuling realized just how sharp-tongued her sister-in-law could be. She’d been insulted again and again, leaving her humiliated.

Not wanting to make a fool of herself any further in front of Chen Li, she turned to Liang Jiancheng and said, “Big Brother, let’s go outside. Let’s not upset Sister-in-law.”

Although Liang Jiancheng spoke as though he didn’t care, deep down, he still had a soft spot for his younger sister. He nodded and said, “Alright.”

Just as the two were about to leave, Chen Li stopped him. “Liang Jiancheng.”

He paused, and Liang Shuling stepped out of the courtyard first. Chen Li lowered her voice and warned him, “She’s here to ask about Lele. I’m warning you—if you so much as leak a single word, this family is over.”

As she finished, she snapped a piece of dried sweet potato in half with force.

Liang Jiancheng: “……”

Since she got nothing out of Chen Li, Liang Shuling turned to her brother instead. He’d always been soft-hearted and indulgent toward her since they were young.

But to her surprise, when it came to Qiao Le, Liang Jiancheng actually stood on the same side as Chen Li and refused to say anything.

With a look of sorrow on her face and a choked voice, she said, “Big Brother, I’m the mother of Lele and Xiao Man. I rarely get a chance to come back—am I not even allowed the chance to care about them?”

“I’m not the one to decide this.” Liang Jiancheng still refused to tell her anything. “Since you’ve already seen Lele, I’ll let him know what you said. If he wants to see you, he’ll contact you himself.”

“Big Brother—”

“Enough,” Liang Jiancheng interrupted. “You should’ve thought about this when you left. Actions have consequences—you can’t blame anyone else.”

Liang Shuling said bitterly, “You really won’t help me at all?”

Liang Jiancheng replied, “I can’t help you.”

They stood in a standoff for a while. Finally, Liang Shuling wiped away her tears and took a step back. She gave her phone number to Liang Jiancheng and asked him to pass it on to Qiao Le.

He noted it down and asked if she wanted to stay for dinner.

Liang Shuling had come with a purpose, but she’d failed and been met with sarcasm from Chen Li. She was in no mood to stay and eat with them.

“I have other things to do, so I’ll be going.”

Before she left, she repeatedly asked Liang Jiancheng to be sure to tell Qiao Le that she had come to see him—and that she missed him very much.

After she left, Liang Jiancheng told Chen Li about the number she left. Chen Li sighed and said, “Wait until Lele gets home. Let him decide for himself.”

Liang Jiancheng nodded. That night, he called Qiao Le and told him that Liang Shuling had come looking for him.

Qiao Le was a bit surprised. He had thought Liang Shuling would avoid him, especially now that she had a new family.

When Shen Hechuan came out from the shower, he saw Qiao Le sitting on the bed with the phone in his hand, lost in thought. He walked over and asked, “What are you thinking about?”

“Hmm?” Qiao Le looked up and saw Shen Hechuan’s bare upper body, his gaze falling on the well-defined abs with two droplets of water clinging to them.

Firm, sexy, beautiful.

Very tempting.

Ever since the pregnancy, the two of them had been abstinent. It had been a long time since they’d been intimate.

Suddenly seeing that enticing body, Qiao Le couldn’t take his eyes off him. “Why aren’t you wearing any clothes?”

While drying his hair, Shen Hechuan said, “I forgot to grab them. There’s no one else at home—it’s fine.”

They had returned to Linjiang Complex. Qiao Man was still at Pengshan No. 1, and Aunt Yang hadn’t come back yet.

There really was no one else at home.

There was nothing wrong with what he said, but when Qiao Le heard it, there was just a hint of something else.

No one else at home… meant they could do other things.

His eyes stayed fixed on Shen Hechuan’s abs, and he wanted to touch them.

So he did—he reached out and pressed his hand against Shen Hechuan’s abs, giving them a couple of squeezes.

Shen Hechuan’s hand paused mid-motion as he dried his hair. He looked down. “Feel good?”

“Yeah,” Qiao Le said, his hand still on those abs, savoring the sensation. The more he touched, the stronger his desire grew, and the more restless he felt.

Recalling their past nights tangled together, Qiao Le’s back started to feel warm. He looked up at Shen Hechuan. “Shen Hechuan, should we… do something?”

The longing in his eyes betrayed his desire, though Shen Hechuan played dumb. “Do what?”

Qiao Le reached out and pulled him down slightly, whispering, “Something naughty.”

Shen Hechuan froze and reminded him, “You’re pregnant.”

Qiao Le held up five fingers, his face blushing. “…Use this.”

He couldn’t take it inside, but he was past the first trimester. Using a hand should be fine, right?

It was the first time Qiao Le had ever taken the initiative so clearly while sober. After speaking, he felt shy and flopped back onto the bed, pulling the blanket over his face. “Come on!”

But the next second, Shen Hechuan refused firmly, “No.”

Qiao Le: “??”

He lowered the blanket a little and saw that Shen Hechuan wasn’t joking.

Was he afraid of hurting him?

Since he got pregnant, Shen Hechuan had been overly careful with him. Plus, Qiao Le had always been the one on the receiving end in bed.

So he sat up and reached for Shen Hechuan’s towel. “Then I’ll help you.”

Shen Hechuan caught his hand. “No need.”

Qiao Le: “???”

Won’t do this, don’t need that?

Could it be…

Qiao Le’s eyes dropped to his lower abdomen, and a wild thought popped into his head. He blurted out, “Are you pregnant too?!”

Shen Hechuan: “……”

Absurd.