Xingzhou City (3)
“There’s still one more person, Hong’er. How come you’re not going to ask about him?”
Old Master Liang looked over with a teasing glint in his eyes.
Tan Guhong sighed inwardly. Well, if even Huo Sixuan already knew, she could hardly expect to keep it from Old Master Liang. But admitting it was out of the question, so she only acted as though nothing was wrong:
“Mm, if there’s only one left, then there’s no need to ask, is there?”
Old Master Liang gave her a half-smile, as though he had seen right through her thoughts, but did not expose her. Instead, following her words, he said unhurriedly:
“A-Ming is the most outstanding of the younger generation. When it comes to ability, he has it. When it comes to a pure and devoted heart, he lacks nothing there either. Although he’s still young in terms of experience and lacks practical experience, those things can be cultivated slowly. But there’s one thing I’ve never been able to stop worrying about.”
“Because his surname isn’t Liang?”
“That’s not it...” Old Master Liang shook his head. “A surname was never important to begin with. You should know that I wasn’t originally surnamed Liang either. I should have been surnamed Huo, just like Sixuan and Sirui. Other people may care about family and bloodlines, but those aren’t what I care about.”
“Then what do you care about?”
“I care about whether the path he wants to take is truly the right one.” Old Master Liang smiled. “Hong’er, you should understand what I mean.”
Tan Guhong paused. “I understand, but...”
Old Master Liang raised a hand to stop her. “I know what you want to say. No matter the reason, no matter what banner they march under, if something was done, then it was done. A wrong path is a wrong path. There’s no arguing with that. That’s also why, back then, no matter what, I refused to agree to Peishan marrying that boy.”
At the mention of his late daughter, a look of grief crossed Old Master Liang’s face, and he slowly sighed. “I regretted what happened back then very much, so I’m willing to give Peishan’s son another chance. But it hasn’t been long enough yet. Nothing has been decided.”
Was ten years enough to see a person clearly? Was it? Wasn’t it?
Tan Guhong did not know the answer, especially when that person was Luo Jingming.
Huo Sixuan had actually been right about one thing. His mind was too deep, and he was too good at reading people’s hearts. When he wanted to put on an act, no one could tell what was real and what was false.
“Then when do you plan to make your decision?” she asked softly.
“Actually, there’s no need to insist on reaching a final judgment. If I can find someone who can keep him in check, perhaps I can set some of my worries aside.” Old Master Liang looked at her meaningfully.
Tan Guhong suddenly understood what he meant and could not help laughing.
“Grandpa Liang, don’t even think about making me that person!”
How was she supposed to keep him in check? By being a virtuous wife and mother at home, or his right-hand woman in his career? Sorry, she had no interest in either.
“Hong’er, you can stop pretending. I already know about the two of you. It was somewhat beyond my expectations, but I suppose it worked out for the best. You should know that your family and ours have a marriage arrangement made by our ancestors!”
At that, Tan Guhong frowned. “I was just going to ask you about that. Monica mentioned it in passing that day. What exactly is the story?”
“It’s a long story. Many years ago, the Huo and Liao families were old family friends. By the generation of my parents and your great-grandfather, they were even the closest of friends. Unfortunately, because our political positions were different, they couldn’t fight side by side. Later, when your great-grandfather died in battle, my mother arrived a step too late and couldn’t save him. That became a lifelong regret for her. In short, the Huo family owes the Liao family.”
This was the first time Tan Guhong had ever heard about it, and she was somewhat surprised. Old Master Liang continued:
“As for the marriage arrangement, it was originally just something the elders casually decided, promising the children to each other before they were even born. Later, because both families had boys, and because the two families were separated by oceans, nothing ever came of it. But perhaps some kind of fate was tied to it. The two of our families have been entangled generation after generation, and perhaps when it comes to you and A-Ming, everything can finally be brought to an end.”
“It doesn’t necessarily have to be the two of us, does it?”
Old Master Liang smiled broadly. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be A-Ming, but it does have to be you. Grandpa Liang has wanted you to marry into our family for a long time. You should know that the matchmaker meeting back then was meant to bring Huo Qiaodong and you together, not your cousin.”
Tan Guhong stared at him in disbelief. “Grandpa Liang, I was only eighteen back then.”
She had just graduated from high school. She hadn’t even started university yet.
“Exactly. We needed to settle it quickly before you joined the army, otherwise history would repeat itself.” Old Master Liang sighed. “When Peishan was seventeen, she once returned to China with her mother. Your uncle Liao Ai fell in love with her, but Peishan had no feelings for him, and the two of them were different in status as well, so it ended without ever going anywhere. It was only many years later that I found out that even to the very end, that child Liao Ai still had Peishan in his heart.”
A few brief sentences sketched out a long-ago story, finally resolving the question that had puzzled Tan Guhong for so long.
But she felt that the unfinished regrets of the previous generation did not need to be made whole through her.
So when Old Master Liang calmly asked her how she intended to resolve this marriage arrangement, she met his eyes without yielding and said, each word deliberate:
“I thought my grandfather and great-grandfather, their generation, had risked their lives and shed their blood, fought with all their heart and soul, and built the new China. At least part of the reason they did all that was so that every girl could go to school if she wanted to, work if she wanted to, and choose not to marry if she didn’t want to, without having to listen to the commands of her parents or the arrangements of a matchmaker, or be bound by a marriage arrangement that is completely unrecognized by the Marriage Law of the People’s Republic of China!”
Marriage arrangement this, marriage arrangement that. She might as well have gone back to the old society. She could like traditional culture all she wanted, but no one was going to sneak the dregs of feudalism back to life along with it.
Old Master Liang froze at her words. He stared at her for a long while, then finally burst into laughter.
“You, you really are worthy of being Liao Rongguang’s granddaughter. Your answer is almost exactly the same as the answer your grandfather gave me back then!”
She had guessed it. This whole thing was absolutely Old Master Liang’s one-sided wish. Her grandfather had never been bothered to entertain him, which was why he had never mentioned it to her all these years.
“Grandpa Liang, if you really like me that much, I can come visit you often. But as for becoming your granddaughter-in-law or daughter-in-law, let’s just forget about that.”
As for this whole family, she preferred to keep her distance.
She was used to being free and easy, and did not like being constrained by others.
“Aren’t you and A-Ming... You two aren’t planning to get married?”
See, this was exactly why she did not want to make their relationship known. Everyone would want an explanation, and where was she supposed to even begin explaining? She could only toss out three words as casually as possible:
“Not planning to.”
“He doesn’t want to get married?”
“I don’t know. Anyway, I don’t.”
Old Master Liang frowned. “I’m finding it harder and harder to understand you young people’s way of thinking.”
“Can’t be helped. Every generation has its own way of thinking.”
“You’re right. I’m old. How could an old fellow nearly eighty not be old?” Old Master Liang shook his head with a laugh and sigh.
“You’re not old...” Tan Guhong said with a smile. “Look at your health, your energy and spirit. In what way do you look old? And if you can’t figure out the question of a successor, don’t give yourself a headache over it. I think you should just continue steering the Liang Group yourself and keep things as they are.”
That would guarantee he could stay on duty for another twenty or thirty years. Then what was there for those sons, grandsons, and grandsons-in-law with their own agendas to fight over anyway?!
...
They talked with Old Master Liang for a long time. By the time she left, the sun was already setting in the west. Tan Guhong politely declined Old Master Liang’s offer to have her stay the night and left alone.
But she had not expected that someone had already been waiting for her at the island’s pier for a long time.
“Why haven’t you left yet?” Tan Guhong asked, somewhat surprised.
“Of course I was waiting for you.”
Liang Jiaxing, who should have left long ago, was wearing sunglasses and standing aboard a champagne-colored Azimut yacht, smiling at her as he said:
“The helicopter went to pick someone up. The speedboat is too bumpy, so I thought I’d give you a ride while I’m at it. You’re going back to Marina Bay, right?”
Since that was the case, Tan Guhong had no reason to refuse. She readily boarded the yacht and thanked him. “Thank you, Jiaxing... Uncle.”
Liang Jiaxing could not help laughing. “You don’t have to call me Uncle. We’re not actually related. The old man cares about these formalities, but I don’t really mind. I’m only a few years older than you. Just call me by my name.”
Tan Guhong was more than happy with that and nodded with a smile. “No problem.”
Liang Jiaxing’s yacht had good performance and high-end equipment, and riding in it was indeed much more comfortable than the speedboat.
Tan Guhong sat by the railing along the side of the boat, gazing out at the vast, boundless sea as it rose and fell. Suddenly, she found herself missing the Queen Anne.
Just like missing an old friend she had known for a long time, she suddenly wanted to know where it was now and whether it was doing well.
No wonder there were so many people in this world who made ships their homes. The pianist in the movie had been unwilling to set foot on land until the day he died.
After all, the world on land was so complicated, so full of turmoil.
“Do you get seasick? Why have you been so quiet? Should I tell them to slow down?”
Liang Jiaxing carried a wine glass and sat down in front of her with a smile.
“Or you could try some raw Arctic surf clam with Prosecco sparkling wine. It tastes very good.”
“No need, thank you.”
Tan Guhong came back to herself and politely declined with a smile.
“You don’t have to be so formal with me. Although we’ve never met before, I’ve wanted to meet you for a long time.”
“What is there to see about me?”
“I often heard Dad talk about you before. Whenever he mentioned you, he sounded as proud as if he were talking about his own children or grandchildren. Even just now, when he was talking with you, he was much more warm and affectionate toward you than he is toward the rest of us grandchildren. I’ve never seen him take to a younger member of the family like this.”
Tan Guhong joked half-seriously, “After all, distant relatives are dearer than close enemies. No matter what, I’m still an outsider. ‘Uncle Jiaxing,’ you’re not jealous, are you?”
“How could I be?” Liang Jiaxing laughed. “I’m of course happy that someone can come keep Dad company regularly. By the way, I heard you’ve been staying in Xingzhou City lately. Monica is planning Dad’s birthday banquet these days, so she should be rather busy. I’m fairly free. I can show you around these next few days.”
“No need to trouble yourself. I’m used to staying abroad. I should be able to manage on my own.”
Tan Guhong politely declined again, somewhat uncertain in her heart about what Liang Jiaxing was after with all these inexplicable gestures of goodwill.
Perhaps because of her first impression, she had not forgotten that his full sister, Liang Peiyue, had been doing everything she could not long ago in San Francisco to trip Luo Jingming up. Wasn’t it all to clear the obstacles out of her brother’s way?
She had heard that when Old Master Liang divorced his second wife, Xu Wanting, the two of them had made a terrible mess of things over the division of their assets, which had also affected Xu’s three children. Liang Jiaxing had been sent to boarding school from a young age. In his early years, he had been greatly neglected by Old Master Liang, and it was only in recent years that he had gradually turned things around against the odds, weathered it out, and secured himself a place in the Liang Group.
Although this man appeared refined and cultivated on the surface, his scheming and depth of mind were presumably no less than a certain someone’s.
But she had never been involved in the Liang family’s internal struggle, and on the surface she was not on Luo Jingming’s side either. There was no need for her to draw a clear line between herself and Liang Jiaxing. Keeping things courteous and polite was enough.
Along the way, the two of them chatted idly, now and then. Liang Jiaxing had an excellent sense of propriety, always managing to bring up some interesting but inconsequential topic, so that the two people who were not familiar with each other could travel together without it becoming awkward.
Just as they were nearing the pier, Tan Guhong suddenly received a message from Huo Sixuan.
“What’s wrong?”
Seeing her frown slightly, Liang Jiaxing could not help asking.
“It’s Monica. She wants me to go to the Jade Hall at the casino after I get back.”
With Old Master Liang’s return to Singapore, relatives and friends of the Liang family from all over, as well as their business partners, had also gradually arrived. Old Master Liang was recuperating on the island and keeping a low profile, rarely receiving guests. Tonight, Huo Sixuan had reserved the casino’s Jade Hall and, on behalf of her eldest brother, was playing host to everyone.
She had never been willing to socialize at gatherings like this, but since Huo Sixuan had given the word, there was no escaping it even if she wanted to.
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