The apartment on the thirty-second floor of Berman Apartments was a duplex.
Most of the interior was decorated in dark gray, black, and white. The open-plan living and dining area was combined into one space, and the floor-to-ceiling windows took up almost an entire wall, overlooking the layers of the skyline in the center of Fanzhou City. There wasn’t much furniture, but every piece had been carefully selected for its quality and texture. The place was so spotless that it could have been put on the market as a show apartment at any moment.
When Ji Yang was wheeled through the door, he even hesitated for a moment over whether he should change his shoes, despite the fact that his shoes didn’t need to touch the floor at all.
Nie Xu walked around him from behind and tossed his car keys into the tray on the entryway cabinet, producing a crisp clink.
“The bedroom on the first floor is yours, so you won’t have to go up and down the stairs. Lin Yue can use the guest room on the left side of the second floor. A cleaner will come every day to tidy up and prepare three meals.”
Ji Yang looked around and noticed the thin blanket draped over the armrest of the sofa. It was obvious that someone had used it before.
“Have you been staying here these past few days?” Ji Yang asked.
Nie Xu stood in front of the kitchen island in the open-plan kitchen and took a bottle of water for each of them. He gave a quiet acknowledgment. “It’s closer to Haicheng from here.”
Lin Yue stood silently in the middle of the living room, holding his bottle of water. He hesitated before speaking. “Um, I-I think I’ll head out, then.” He looked at Ji Yang. “President Xiao Yang, if you have any problems, just give me a call. I’ll come over immediately.”
Ji Yang knew he felt uncomfortable.
He didn’t force him to stay.
“All right,” he said with a nod.
Nie Xu frowned. “Can you manage on your own?”
“Don’t I still have you?” Ji Yang maneuvered his wheelchair over to the sofa, braced himself with his hands, and flopped into the soft leather cushions. He pulled a throw pillow toward himself and let out a comfortable sigh. “You’ll probably be staying at Haicheng until the old man comes back, right? You can’t just leave the moment I arrive. That would make me look like I’m taking over someone else’s home.”
Nie Xu leaned against the kitchen island, unscrewed the bottle, and took a sip. Then he screwed the cap back on and set it on the counter.
“Got it.”
That answer made Ji Yang glance at him.
Got it?
That probably meant Nie Xu wouldn’t be going out at all after Lin Yue left.
He spent the entire afternoon upstairs taking care of work.
Ji Yang unpacked the belongings he’d brought with him.
The bedroom on the first floor was fully furnished, and the sheets and duvet cover looked as though the housekeeper had just changed them. Ji Yang hadn’t brought much with him from the Ji family. Adding the things Auntie Mo had packed for him and the items he’d purchased during his recent hotel stay, he had only one suitcase and a backpack in total.
He had no plans to stay for long, so he simply took out a few clothes he wore frequently and put them into the wardrobe.
After dealing with a few minor work-related matters, night had fallen before he knew it.
He wanted to take a shower.
The bathroom was very close to the bedroom, although the design wasn’t particularly practical.
A large bathtub stood beside the floor-to-ceiling window, right on the raised platform separating the wet and dry areas. Directly opposite was Yunshu Tower, Fanzhou’s most famous landmark.
Ji Yang had been there before. It was one of the most popular check-in spots for tourists from other cities. At night, its dazzling lights illuminated the surroundings, creating a sea of stars.
This was the first time he’d seen Yunshu Tower from this particular angle. If he hadn’t been standing in the bathroom, he would certainly have praised the dazzling night view.
At that very moment, on the second floor—
If Ji Yang had been standing in Nie Xu’s study, he would have discovered that their views were almost identical.
On the computer screen behind Nie Xu was the video conference that had been running throughout the afternoon.
His camera was turned off. The senior management at Jian Yuan had long since grown accustomed to this. Aside from a handful of people, no one knew what the company’s boss, Nathan, actually looked like.
After the meeting ended, everyone else had left of their own accord.
Only Qi Songqing remained.
Qi Songqing complained, “We agreed from the beginning that as long as the plan went smoothly, the two of you would come back together. And look at things now! Jiang Lei is tied up in Building Four and can’t get away, leaving me to work myself to death every single day. And you—you were supposed to represent Haicheng at the signing ceremony this afternoon, but you didn’t even show your face. What’s going on?”
Nie Xu looked out the window. “The outcome would have been the same whether I showed up or not.”
“That’s true, I suppose,” Qi Songqing said. “Thanks to your young master, we acquired the core shipping assets at the lowest possible price. Things went much more smoothly than we’d expected. Then he added fuel to the fire by severing his father-son relationship, and now Third Young Master Ji has gotten back in touch with Jin Husheng.”
Nie Xu’s eyes gradually turned cold. “Have someone keep an eye on him.”
“Got it.” Qi Songqing continued, “By the way, the results of the investigation into Ji Yang that you requested earlier are out.”
Nie Xu paused. “And?”
“Nothing particularly suspicious.” Qi Songqing sounded as though he was flipping through the documents. “That young master’s entire life has practically been under public scrutiny. You can even find his exact birth time and the name of his elementary school homeroom teacher online.”
Nie Xu pondered for a moment. “What about his interactions with Wei Qiming and that group earlier this year? Nothing unusual?”
“Does sending Wei Qiming to prison count?” Qi Songqing chuckled. “Weren’t you the one who went to bail him out afterward? Come to think of it, that young master really did undergo a complete change in temperament after that. These days, whenever I see him, I feel like thanking the Ji family. If they hadn’t treated him so terribly, he wouldn’t have ended up in our hands.”
Nie Xu paid no attention to Qi Songqing’s joking remarks.
A seemingly flawless life history and a flimsy excuse about memory loss caused by medication were nowhere near enough to explain all the unusual things about Ji Yang.
Seeing that he remained silent, Qi Songqing grew puzzled. “What is it? You still think something’s wrong? What exactly are you trying to find out?”
What was he trying to find out?
Why Ji Yang had lost his former spoiled, entitled temperament.
What had caused the drastic, inexplicable changes in him.
And who had taught him to act with such complete disregard for the consequences.
“Leave that aside for now.” Nie Xu changed the subject. “Have someone bring over the supplementary contract for the investment agreement tomorrow. Send it here to Berman Apartments.”
Qi Songqing was speechless. “The Party A shall have the right to exercise a veto over Party B’s major business decisions. I honestly don’t know whether to say you’re bullying him or that your damn controlling nature is acting up again. This really isn’t like you.”
Nie Xu didn’t react much. He merely said, “I know my limits.”
Qi Songqing sighed and earnestly tried to reason with him. “We’re brothers, so I should be advising you that getting emotionally involved at such a critical moment is the last thing you should do. But you went straight to using underhanded tactics against him. He’s not one of your subordinates whom you can train and discipline however you please. You can’t just take advantage of him because he’s easy to bully, right? Even a rabbit will bite when it’s pushed too far.”
Nie Xu let out a faint, derisive laugh. “Easy to bully?”
If Ji Yang were really easy to bully, there would have been no need for that contract in the first place.
Just then, a strange noise came from downstairs.
“We’ll talk about the rest later. That’s it for now.” Nie Xu frowned.
Qi Songqing said, “No, wait. When we talk about bullying, we’re clearly not talking about the same thing—”
Nie Xu ended the call and strode straight out of the study.
He hurried downstairs as quickly as possible, sweeping his gaze across the living room before finally fixing it on the closed bathroom door.
The memory of Ji Yang fainting in the bathroom from low blood sugar flashed through Nie Xu’s mind.
His temple suddenly began to throb.
He stepped forward and knocked on the door. “Ji Yang.”
There was no response from inside. Nie Xu didn’t wait to knock a second time. He simply pressed down on the handle and pushed the door open.
A wave of warm, steamy air billowed out of the bathroom.
Ji Yang was leaning over the edge of the bathtub to retrieve the wine tray when he saw a figure suddenly appear in the doorway. His eyes widened in surprise.
“What happened?”
Nie Xu closed his eyes briefly and unconsciously let out a breath of relief.
His gaze swept over Ji Yang’s face and neck, reddened by the heat, before quickly moving away.
“What happened just now?” he asked.
“Oh.” Ji Yang pointed at the fallen clothes rack on the floor. “I was trying to get my clothes, but I accidentally knocked the rack over.”
Nie Xu walked in and casually closed the door behind him.
He righted the rack, then took a fresh bath towel from the cabinet beneath the sink and handed it to Ji Yang without turning around.
“Use this.”
Ji Yang reached out to take it. Noticing how Nie Xu was deliberately avoiding looking at him, he suddenly felt the urge to tease him.
His wet hand casually brushed against the prominent veins on the back of Nie Xu’s hand. The moment he sensed the other man’s slight pause, Ji Yang burst out laughing.
Nie Xu turned his head. “Are you done laughing?”
“Sorry.” Ji Yang pointed outside. “Seeing how your bathroom is designed, I thought you were the secretly flirtatious type who was just too embarrassed to admit it.”
Nie Xu glanced outside. “The interior design company designed it.”
After saying that, he withdrew his gaze and looked at the bathtub full of bubbles.
“Are you sure you want to discuss the interior design of my house with me in your current state?”
Ji Yang tilted his head. “I thought you’d already seen everything last time. I didn’t think you’d mind that much.”
“Ji. Yang.”
The two words sounded as though Nie Xu had ground them out through clenched teeth.
Ji Yang finally reined himself in and told the truth. “I only used your bathtub because your bathroom is way too clean. There’s nothing I can use to support myself. Besides, I really can’t get out right now.”
Then he muttered, “I should’ve known better than to let Lin Yue leave so soon.”
Nie Xu suddenly went still. Thinking of a certain image, he couldn’t help pressing his fingers against the bridge of his nose.
He took the bathrobe back from Ji Yang and said, “I’ll have someone install some additional fixtures in the bathroom tomorrow. If you need anything, call me. Don’t come in here by yourself.”
Ji Yang said, “There’s no need for that, is there?”
Nie Xu ignored him.
Once again, Ji Yang was wrapped up properly and carried out of the bathroom in Nie Xu’s arms.
As he was being taken out, he spoke in a forlorn voice.
“You’re no longer the assistant of mine who used to obey my every word, nor are you my bodyguard anymore.”
Nie Xu lowered his head to look at him.
Ji Yang blinked as water dripping from his hair fell into his eyes. He rubbed his head against Nie Xu’s clothes and sighed.
“But I suppose I’m just at your mercy now. It’s fine, though. Someone like me doesn’t have even the slightest strength to fight back.”
Nie Xu set him down on the sofa, took a hair dryer out of the coffee table drawer, plugged it in, and tossed it to him.
Then he looked down at the large wet patch on the front of his own shirt, pointed at Ji Yang, and went upstairs to change.
Ji Yang picked up the hair dryer and leisurely began drying his hair.
The corners of his mouth curled upward. He was in an excellent mood.
Watching Nie Xu’s retreating figure, he suddenly felt that all the fear he’d experienced when he first transmigrated into this book—the fear that Nie Xu would surely break his other leg—now seemed like something from a previous lifetime.
Early the next morning—
Han Biao and Deng Jiao knocked on the door of Berman Apartments.
Han Biao was carrying breakfast in one hand. As he looked at the doorframe, he remarked, “Why has Boss been staying here so often lately? I remember he bought this place years ago. The last time we came here must’ve been two years ago.”
Deng Jiao said, “I remember. We came to deliver documents for the Lanhai Bay project.”
She looked disdainfully at the breakfast in Han Biao’s hand.
“Couldn’t you buy something normal this early in the morning? Luosifen? Are you tired of living?”
Han Biao scratched his head. “Boss told me to buy it! He even specified the shop and told us to bring some along when we delivered the documents.”
Deng Jiao wasn’t entirely convinced.
She even suspected that Han Biao had bought it because he wanted to eat it himself. There was a good chance that in a moment, both he and the food would be thrown out together.
Click.
The door opened.
Nie Xu stood in the doorway with a towel draped around his neck, looking as though he’d just finished his morning workout.
Deng Jiao stepped inside. “Boss.”
She was just about to voice her doubts when the door to the first-floor bedroom opened.
The young master emerged in his wheelchair, his hair sticking out in every direction. He smoothly wheeled himself past Nie Xu and took the bag from the dumbfounded Han Biao’s hand, not forgetting to give him a sweet smile.
“Thanks.”
Han Biao pointed at him. “…Why is he here?”
Deng Jiao’s gaze fell on what had once been her boss’s immaculate home, just as she remembered it.
Now, there was a throw pillow carelessly tossed onto the carpet, bags of puffed snacks in the trash can, and an extra little succulent plant on the dining table that looked completely out of place.
Deng Jiao nudged Han Biao’s arm with her elbow and whispered, “Don’t ask.”
The answer is that everything is perfectly normal.