Lin Yue was eventually dragged back to the hotel room by Ji Yang.
Ji Yang ordered takeout, which Nie Xu went downstairs to pick up.
Besides dinner, the delivery also included a tube of ointment for reducing swelling.
Lin Yue clutched the ointment in a daze, his head lowered as tears dripped onto the carpet, leaving little dark circles on it.
Ji Yang opened the takeout containers. “Stop crying. Come over and eat.”
Lin Yue was still wiping away his tears.
Ji Yang looked up. “If you keep crying, I’ll throw you out.”
Lin Yue immediately held back his tears. His shoulders were still trembling as he hesitantly glanced at the man who had just come out of the bathroom after washing his hands.
Only after seeing Nie Xu sit down beside Ji Yang on the sofa did he cautiously shuffle forward and sit on the carpet across from the coffee table.
His voice was as faint as a mosquito’s. “Thank you, Fourth Young Master.” Then he looked to the side. “Thank you too… Brother Nie.”
Ji Yang found it rather strange. “Why are you so afraid of him? He’s just a bodyguard. If you’re going to be afraid of someone, shouldn’t you be afraid of me instead?”
As he spoke, Ji Yang’s right knee accidentally bumped against the knee beside him.
Remembering Nie Xu’s earlier remark that he directed all his temper at him, Ji Yang not only didn’t move away but deliberately bumped him again.
The black metal made a rather unusual sound.
Nie Xu silently glanced at him.
Ji Yang nodded toward the person in front of them. “Can’t you see he’s practically scared to death? Reassure him a little.”
“I remember you used to be quite afraid of me too.” Nie Xu didn’t even bat an eye.
As he watched Ji Yang, Nie Xu thought about how his fear had been entirely different from Lin Yue’s.
When had it started?
Probably after that beating with the whip.
Ji Yang’s fear had been buried deep in his eyes. It wasn’t simply the fear of a bodyguard seeking revenge. It was more like the fear of someone who already knew what the consequences would be.
From the moment he had decided to investigate certain matters, there had been loopholes everywhere that couldn’t be explained away.
Yet Ji Yang was exceptionally good at making everything make sense.
“That’s in the past.” Ji Yang said, “I used to say that the highest form of love was letting go. Now I think it’s possession. Nothing wrong with that, right?”
Without waiting for Nie Xu to respond, Ji Yang continued, “You were perfectly willing to keep coming and going from the hotel just because the old man told you to cultivate a relationship with me. Now that someone’s harmed me like this, what’s wrong with me borrowing your help to put on an act? Why would I be afraid of you? Don’t talk nonsense. My feelings are completely genuine.”
Ji Yang had managed to convince himself.
He picked up a spare rib from the takeout Nie Xu had opened, placed it in the latter’s bowl, and smiled with deep affection.
Nie Xu picked up the rib and met Ji Yang’s smiling eyes. “Should I thank you?”
“That won’t be necessary.” Ji Yang said, “Even if outsiders think you’ve climbed the ladder from bodyguard to lover, whether we’re talking about height, looks, or ability… well, I’m the one who’s marrying up.”
Nie Xu replied, “I wouldn’t dare.”
Lin Yue, sitting across from them: “…”
He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
Ji Yang turned his head and immediately met Lin Yue’s horrified eyes.
“See? He’s very easy to get along with.”
Lin Yue seemed unwilling to comment on Ji Yang’s assessment. Instead, he cautiously answered Ji Yang’s original question about why he was afraid of Nie Xu.
“People like us consider Master Jin to be the highest authority. He has absolute control over several major clubs.”
Yet Master Jin had acted like a grandson in front of a mere bodyguard.
Lin Yue didn’t really know what kind of family the Ji family was. He had only heard things from other people and read about them online. He had always thought that young masters from wealthy families like Fourth Young Master were the ones who truly stood above the rules and could do whatever they pleased.
But after actually meeting them, he realized that this bodyguard was even more frightening to him on a fundamental level.
Was he really just a bodyguard?
Lin Yue secretly stole another glance at him.
With his limited understanding of the world, he at least knew that a young master wouldn’t normally interact with a bodyguard like this.
They were sitting side by side on the sofa.
The young master ate ordinary takeout as naturally as could be. Halfway through the meal, he complained that it was too hot, sat cross-legged on the sofa, and tapped the bodyguard’s knee to make him turn on the air conditioner.
Then he leaned across the person beside him to reach for the wood ear mushroom and scrambled egg dish, nearly falling off the sofa in the process.
As expected of a professional bodyguard, he immediately planted one foot against the table to steady him.
“Sit properly.”
It was only three simple words, yet Lin Yue somehow heard the unmistakable tone of a reprimand in them.
The young master didn’t even seem to think there was anything unusual about it. He simply answered, “Oh,” and put his legs back down.
By the time the meal was over, Lin Yue had not only forgotten about the pain in his wounds but also didn’t dare ask what Ji Yang intended to do with him after taking him in. Or whether he had some other arrangement in mind.
Ji Yang had no idea what was going through Lin Yue’s head.
Since he had already agreed to let the boy stay, there was no reason to send him away again.
Besides, Lin Yue wasn’t very old. According to him, both his parents had been low-level workers in that sort of establishment, and they had died when he was very young. He had been passed around between several so-called buyers before finally catching Jin Hu Sheng’s attention.
If it hadn’t been for Huang Kai, he might never have had the chance to get close to Ji Yang.
But it was precisely this opportunity that he was desperately trying to seize.
When Ji Yang listened to his story, he showed no particular reaction. However, he didn’t immediately sign Lin Yue on with Yiyuan either. Instead, he gave him the password to his own account.
“Start by being my assistant,” Ji Yang said. “You’ll learn how to manage an account first.”
Lin Yue was overjoyed, but then began to doubt himself. “Can I really do it?”
“If you can’t, I have another assistant.” Ji Yang pointed at the person who was already preparing to leave and threatened Lin Yue. “That’s my senior assistant. I even have another backup candidate named You Li. If you don’t do a good job, I’ll replace you in a heartbeat.”
Lin Yue’s expression immediately paled, but then he seemed to summon all his courage.
With a serious expression, he declared, “I’ll definitely do my best.”
“Good boy.” Ji Yang said with a smile.
At that moment, the person holding the takeout trash was about to leave. He crooked a finger at Lin Yue.
“Come on.”
“Huh?” Lin Yue instinctively took a step back. “Where are we going?”
“I’m taking you downstairs to get a room.” Nie Xu glanced at the person sprawled across the sofa and continued, “Or do you want to share a room with your boss?”
Ji Yang was the first to object. He raised his hand. “Absolutely not! I want to enjoy this spacious suite all by myself.”
Lin Yue timidly said, “Th-then I’ll go get another room.”
“Put it on my tab,” Ji Yang said.
From that day onward, Ji Yang began enjoying a life in which every little detail was taken care of for him.
Who would have thought that Lin Yue was actually incredibly perceptive? From something as minor as bringing an umbrella when going out to something as important as arranging his schedule, he made Ji Yang so comfortable that Ji Yang almost began to think of himself as some truly remarkable big boss.
Even the two latest updates on his social media account had been posted by Lin Yue on his behalf.
The first was a picture of him petting a stray cat by the roadside, with the caption: Missing a certain little limping cat.
The other was a picture of his back as he stood behind a refrigerated transport truck.
Ji Yang had no idea how Lin Yue had managed to take that picture of him.
At the time, Peng Jiaying had told him that the company had its eye on a refrigerated shipping route between Zhouling and South Island.
The profit from each individual trip along this route wasn’t particularly high, but it had frequent runs and offered considerable stability. More importantly, it happened to meet the supporting logistics needs of Huang Kai’s cultural tourism project.
If Yiyuan could secure the operating rights, it would cross the threshold from being merely a content marketing company into the realm of supporting real-world industries.
This was quite in line with Ji Yang’s own vision, as well as the company’s intended direction of industrial upgrading to attract investment from Jianyuan.
The problem was that there was no way to compete for that shipping route without involving the Ji family.
After Ji Chengyi took over the shipping business, he publicly announced that he would “reform old practices and open up operations.” In reality, however, he had reorganized the qualifications for shipping routes.
Several routes that were currently generating fairly substantial profits had been bundled together as “concessionary operating rights” and opened to outside bidders through a competitive tendering process.
On the surface, everything appeared fair and transparent. In reality, however, the entry requirements were so high that only a handful of companies controlled by the Ji family’s direct descendants could qualify.
Most importantly, one of the tendering rules stated that the actual controlling party of each bidding company had to provide an individual certificate proving five consecutive years without any major disciplinary violations. In addition, they needed joint recommendations from at least two members of the Ji family.
The moment Ji Yang saw this requirement, he knew.
This so-called competitive bidding process was specifically designed to shut him out.
Ji Chengyi was baiting him into playing the game.
Considering Ji Yang’s position, Peng Jiaying had asked whether he wanted to simply give up.
Why should he?
Now, when Ji Yang faced such blatant targeting from Ji Chengyi, his mindset was no longer what it had been before.
He simply wanted to ask: Why should he?
They had already drawn their knives against each other. A fight was inevitable.
And that was how the second photograph Lin Yue had taken of him came about.
It showed the source of the refrigerated supply chain.
Ji Yang had been spending the past few days here.
Standing behind a massive loading truck, Ji Yang was unusually dressed in formal attire. His white shirt was tucked neatly into his suit trousers. In the enlarged background behind him stood an enormous refrigerated processing plant, with workers in ordinary uniforms coming and going around him.
The tone of the comments section had changed considerably compared with the flood of criticism he used to receive.
[Young Master has gone down to the grassroots? Though he’s a little too conspicuous.]
[Can’t we get a proper front-facing picture?]
[I’ve been meaning to say this since the previous update. Something’s not quite right with this account lately. “A Little Yang” has stopped cursing people, and even when he occasionally replies to comments, his tone is so cautious. Has he been put under control?]
[Looks like he’s handed the account over to someone around him. But daily updates are fine too. I like seeing them.]
[Exactly. Those of you who don’t follow the financial world wouldn’t know, but this young master has practically cut ties with the Ji family now. Apparently, he’s started his own business or something. At first, the second-generation rich crowd was pretty amused by him. Everyone thought he’d lose money. Who would’ve expected that one livestream of his would boost Zhouling’s local economic performance targets? Even if the small projects attracted by the livestream aren’t particularly profitable, they’re still enough to let him sit back and live comfortably for half a year.]
Ji Yang was standing in the open space in front of the processing plant, talking with the person in charge.
After finally finding an opening, Lin Yue hurried over. He no longer called him Fourth Young Master, having adopted the same form of address as everyone else at Yiyuan: Boss Xiao Yang.
He anxiously said, “These netizens have all figured out that I’m not you. What should I do?”
Ji Yang glanced at his phone screen. “Just admit that you’re my assistant.”
“Is that okay?” Lin Yue asked.
“Just don’t post any ugly pictures of me. If you mess up my image, I’ll hold you responsible.”
Having followed Ji Yang around for several days, Lin Yue had grown a little bolder. He felt that Ji Yang was sometimes just deliberately trying to scare people.
He muttered under his breath, “With a face like yours, how badly could your image possibly suffer?”
At that moment, Ji Yang looked up toward the several cars that had stopped outside the processing plant’s iron gate.
“Just don’t post anything crazy, either.”
Lin Yue also noticed the cars outside.
He asked quietly, “Who are they?”
“The people from the bidding party.”
Seven or eight people who looked like senior Ji Corporation executives got out of the three cars one after another.
Compared with the old shareholders he’d encountered previously, the average age of this group was probably under fifty. They could be considered the new generation of the company’s core leadership.
Ji Chengyi was walking at the front. Barely in his twenties, he was truly the picture of a promising young heir to a prestigious family.
Two seconds later, Lin Yue exclaimed in shock, “Why is Brother Nie there too? Has he become one of the people on the bidding side?”
Ji Yang watched the man walking alongside Ji Chengyi. The two were so nearly indistinguishable in their positions that it was difficult to tell which one was actually leading the group. As they walked, he was quietly discussing something with another person.
“Yeah. He always has been.”
“Th-then what about you two?” Lin Yue asked hesitantly.
Ji Yang slowly replied, “Secretly carrying on an affair behind everyone’s backs, having an illicit relationship without a matchmaker. What do you think?”
Lin Yue: “…”
At such a critical moment in the bidding process, it might sound like they were playing dirty, but… but it was actually pretty exciting, wasn’t it?