The two nurses hesitated outside the door for a moment before finally steeling themselves and knocking.
The commotion inside the hospital room had already stopped, but the atmosphere in there could hardly be described as peaceful. The Nie Xu Fourth Young Master had mentioned was a stranger to the nurses. The moment they entered, they felt that the man standing beside the hospital bed was extremely tall, with a stern, imposing face and an intimidatingly heavy presence.
The reason seemed to be that Fourth Young Master’s acute pain episode had lasted too long this time.
The nurses went over to administer the IV as usual. Ji Yang was half-reclining on the bed. He smiled at them, cooperatively held out his hand, then said to Nie Xu, “The doctor said we could consider the latest spinal cord stimulation therapy. It’s a very minor, minimally invasive procedure.”
Nie Xu replied, “You’ve been off your medication for so long, and it took so much effort to finally see some improvement. Now they’re recommending surgery, and you still don’t think there’s something wrong with the way you’re doing things?”
“But the results are good, aren’t they?” Ji Yang frowned as the needle pierced the back of his hand and muttered under his breath.
Nie Xu frowned. “What did you just say?”
“Fine, I was wrong. I’m wrong, all right?”
The young nurse administering the IV had been especially nervous at first. But seeing Ji Yang offer such a halfhearted apology, looking almost annoyed as he did so, she couldn’t help finding it a little funny.
Unable to resist, she chimed in, “Minimally invasive surgery is just a recommendation. Whether you go through with it depends on whether the condition affects your quality of life. However, phantom limb pain really is sensitive to low temperatures and cold exposure, so you must be careful in your daily life.”
At last, the IV was set up.
The nurse stood and was about to leave when her gaze swept over the person beside the hospital bed.
After hesitating for two seconds, she continued, “The acute phase has passed. If there aren’t any other major issues, you can be discharged after finishing today’s IV. However, the patient will probably still experience discomfort over the next few days. His family should keep an eye on him, and someone should stay by his side at all times.”
Ji Yang said, “He’s not family.”
Nie Xu nodded. “Understood. Thank you, nurse.”
The two of them had given completely different answers. The nurses exchanged glances, secretly smiled, and then turned to leave the room.
Nie Xu walked a couple of steps closer and checked the medication in the IV. Then, without saying anything, he retreated to the sofa and sat down. He took a laptop and some documents out of the bag he had brought with him, looking as though he intended to work right there.
Ji Yang: “…Aren’t you busy?”
Nie Xu didn’t even look up. “I am.”
Ji Yang continued, “Then go take care of your work. Why are you being so dedicated at a time like this? The Old Master should have received the news by now. He probably doesn’t have time to send someone to keep tabs on you.”
Nie Xu said, “Be quiet.”
Ji Yang: “…”
He was complaining that Ji Yang talked too much again.
Ji Yang couldn’t be bothered with him anymore. He lay back down and played on his phone.
In the meantime, Peng Jiaying sent him a message informing him that the Ji Corporation’s bidding process was still underway, but their submitted qualification documents had passed the review. The father of Ji Mingyue and Ji Zhonglin had both signed the joint recommendation letter for them.
Ji Yang wasn’t surprised. He had discussed this with Ji Zhonglin in advance.
It was part of their bargain.
What surprised Ji Yang was that Ji Zhonglin had shown absolutely no mercy toward Ji Chengyi this time. According to Peng Jiaying, he hadn’t even left Ji Chengyi a way out. As a result, Ji Chengyi was under investigation, his accounts had been frozen, and his cash flow was strained. On top of that, with his original cash-out plan scaled back, he now had no choice but to sell some of the Ji Corporation shipping shares he’d held since the early days to plug the financial hole.
This had been Ji Chengyi’s first decision after taking over the position. Now he was surrounded by enemies on all sides and was undoubtedly overwhelmed.
Ji Yang simply didn’t know whether he regretted targeting him at the cold-chain factory.
Ji Yang hoped he didn’t.
That way, if he eventually won the operating rights for the shipping route from Zhouling to South Island, it would mean they’d each won through their own abilities, rather than through underhanded tactics and retaliation.
Ji Yang’s mind was full of all sorts of scattered thoughts, while the sound of Nie Xu typing on his keyboard filled his ears.
The sweltering summer heat seemed to be slowly fading. Sunlight fell on his eyelids, bringing a warm sensation.
Without realizing it, Ji Yang fell asleep.
He seemed to have slept particularly well during this nap. When he opened his eyes, his mind was clear and he felt refreshed. Then he noticed that someone had drawn the curtains at some point. Nie Xu hadn’t left at all. He was pressing a cotton swab against the needle mark on Ji Yang’s hand while talking on the phone about something involving debt-to-equity conversion.
The IV had already finished, too.
Ji Yang looked at the hand pressing the cotton swab against the back of his hand. The moment he moved, Nie Xu noticed. He said to the person on the other end, “Let’s leave it here for now.”
After hanging up, he said, “Awake? Get up.”
“What time is it?” Ji Yang sat up and took over pressing the cotton swab himself.
Nie Xu raised his wrist to check his watch. “Eleven. Perfect time to go out for lunch, then return to the hotel and move your things.”
Ji Yang was confused. “Move what things?”
Nie Xu looked at him. “Didn’t the one-month booking for the hotel room you reserved already expire? The two properties Peng Jiaying showed you aren’t suitable for buying right now, and you don’t have much liquid cash on hand, do you?”
Ji Yang: “…How do you even know that?”
Nie Xu didn’t answer his question. He simply said, “Go stay on the thirty-second floor of Berman Apartments in the city center for now. I rarely stay there. You can have Lin Yue look after you for the next few days. If he can’t manage, I’ll bring You Li over.”
Ever since moving out of the Ji family home, Ji Yang had been keeping an eye on property prices in the center of Fanzhou. The moment he heard the name Berman Apartments, he really wanted to complain, even knowing that Nie Xu was wealthy. Buying a place in such an expensive location and then leaving it empty all this time was quite extravagant.
Still, Ji Yang said, “Isn’t that inappropriate? Putting on an act in public is one thing, but moving into your place is a completely different matter.”
Nie Xu’s hand, which had been gathering Ji Yang’s belongings, paused.
He turned his head. “How is it different?”
“Think about it.” Ji Yang sat in the middle of the bed. “If I live in your apartment, you can at least explain it to the Old Master by saying that you need to fulfill your bodyguard duties and look after me. But one day, you won’t need to hide anything anymore, and you won’t need to arrange everything according to the outcome the Old Master wants. By then, I won’t be some embarrassing chapter from your past that you can simply erase whenever you feel like it. I don’t want things to reach that point.”
Nie Xu paused, then tossed the clothes he’d just picked up back onto the hospital bed.
He suddenly bent down, bracing both hands on either side of the bed, and looked at Ji Yang at eye level.
The pressure of his presence came straight at him, forcing Ji Yang to lean back and create some distance.
“What are you doing?”
“You were pretty bold when you kept saying you liked me.” Nie Xu paid no attention to his little retreat. “What? Now you’re making all these high-minded arguments. Are you scared?”
“Who’s scared?” Ji Yang refused to admit it. He curled his lips and argued through gritted teeth, “I’m just leaving you a way out.”
Ji Yang admitted that ever since discovering that Ji Chengyi had most likely orchestrated the car accident and switched his medication, his decision to get closer to Nie Xu had involved a deliberate element of revenge against Ji Chengyi. He had thought that, given how differently Ji Chengyi treated Nie Xu, if he and Nie Xu really got involved, Ji Chengyi would probably be driven mad with anger.
Ji Yang had even felt that he could overlook whether Nie Xu ignored him or merely indulged him out of their business partnership.
But now that Nie Xu was asking him to move in, he found himself hesitating.
He had experienced countless acts of malice.
So when he clearly sensed that Nie Xu had never harbored that kind of malice toward him, that when Nie Xu used him, it was simply business, and when he protected him, it was simply because he wanted to protect him—
Now, Nie Xu was even willing to let him move into his private residence. To Ji Yang, that meant something special.
He didn’t want there to come a day when one of them decided to unilaterally end their partnership, and when they looked back on the relationship they’d shared, all they could remember was false affection and humiliation.
At least with Nie Xu, Ji Yang didn’t want things to end that way.
“That’s not necessary.” Nie Xu kept looking at him. “That’s not something you need to worry about.”
Ji Yang was a little confused. “Then what am I supposed to worry about?”
Nie Xu gave him a smile devoid of any warmth. “From the moment you move into Berman Apartments, you must follow instructions in everything you do. All of Yiyuan’s decisions must be reviewed by Jianyuan first. I don’t want what happened at the cold-chain factory to happen a second time.”
Ji Yang wasn’t pleased. “Yiyuan is only affiliated with Jianyuan. It hasn’t been acquired by Jianyuan. Isn’t that a little too dictatorial?”
“You don’t have to follow the rules,” Nie Xu said.
Ji Yang looked at him warily.
Nie Xu added, “Then forget about getting any investment.”
Ji Yang clenched his fists.
Just then, someone suddenly pushed open the hospital room door. Lin Yue came in and said, “Boss Ji Yang, Assistant Nie, the discharge paperwork is… done.”
The last two words, “done,” came out as faintly as a mosquito’s buzz.
Seeing the way the two men were positioned, along with Boss Ji Yang’s beautiful eyes glaring furiously, he couldn’t help feeling that something was off.
“I’ll come back later!” Lin Yue said, turning to run.
Ji Yang called out, “Get back here! What are you running for?!”
“I… I…” Lin Yue glanced nervously at Assistant Nie.
Nie Xu withdrew his hands and stood up, returning to his usual composure. “Pack up Boss Ji Yang’s things and take them to the car downstairs first.”
“Okay, okay.” Lin Yue hurriedly agreed.
When he was discharged, Ji Yang once again found himself in a wheelchair.
He had a lot going on these days, so unless absolutely necessary, he generally avoided using the thing. But when they ran into a huge crowd of reporters blocking the way upstairs, he suddenly felt that a wheelchair really was useful in situations like this.
His naturally disadvantaged image was something he didn’t even need to deliberately cultivate.
The bodyguards were blocking the reporters only to keep them from crowding him. They had no intention of driving anyone away.
Ji Yang sat on the steps with a thin blanket draped over his legs. He was still wearing sunglasses, as though deliberately trying to hide his haggard appearance.
Reporter: “Fourth Young Master, is your hospitalization related to the rumors circulating online? Was it caused by a family dispute?”
Ji Yang spoke slowly. “I’ve already drawn a clear line between myself and the Ji family’s business. This time, our paths happened to cross unexpectedly because of career planning. Naturally, it has nothing to do with a family dispute.”
Reporter: “So, Fourth Young Master, you’re not denying that this incident is related to Third Young Master Ji?”
Ji Yang replied awkwardly, “We’ll have to wait for the official investigation results.”
…
Just then—
“You unfilial brat! Shut your mouth!”
A middle-aged couple suddenly got out of a car by the roadside.
It was Ji Changshou and Yao Zhaoling.
Ji Changshou pointed at him from a distance. “What nonsense are you spouting to the reporters?!”
After scolding him, he turned to the reporters and smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry, everyone. My son is immature and doesn’t know any better.”
Yao Zhaoling’s eyes brimmed with tears. “Xiao Yang, your father and I came all the way to the hospital specifically to see you. I know you have resentment in your heart. If there’s anything you’re unhappy about, why don’t you take it out on Auntie instead? Chengyi has already been working so hard to fulfill his grandfather’s wishes. It’s really not a good look for things between brothers to become public knowledge like this.”
Ji Changshou added, “Hurry up! Explain everything clearly in front of the reporters. We’ll let bygones be bygones, and you can still return to the Ji family and continue being the Fourth Young Master of the Ji family.”
The reporters began buzzing among themselves, pushing their cameras even closer as they watched this farce of a confrontation between father and son.
But then, to everyone’s surprise, Ji Yang said nothing. He simply took out his phone.
He turned on the speakerphone.
“Third Brother.” Ji Yang’s voice carried a hint of amusement.
Ji Chengyi’s voice rang out through the reporters’ recording devices as well. “What is it?”
Ji Yang glanced toward the live-streaming cameras at the scene. “Why did you let your parents come here? And in front of so many reporters, too. They’re only embarrassing you.”
Ji Chengyi’s voice turned slightly cold. “I wasn’t the one who sent them.”
“I know.” Ji Yang sighed. “Having parents like these is probably just one of the trials you were destined to face in life, Third Brother.”
Ji Chengyi replied, “He’s your father too.”
“Sorry about that,” Ji Yang said. “I don’t have a father.”
After informing Ji Chengyi about the situation, Ji Yang hung up directly.
Ji Changshou jumped up and pointed at him furiously. “Say that again! You don’t have a father?!”
Ji Yang couldn’t even be bothered to waste a single word on him.
“Everyone, you’ve seen it for yourselves.” Ji Yang swept his gaze across every camera at the scene. “There really are fathers in this world who wait until their sons have been hospitalized for three days and are about to be discharged before finally showing up. And he isn’t here out of concern for me. He’s here to clear his mistress’s son of suspicion.”
Yao Zhaoling clenched her hands tightly and retreated a few steps behind Ji Changshou.
The reporters began talking over one another, shooting disapproving looks at the couple.
Ji Yang spoke each word clearly. “Originally, there was nothing more to say about this matter. But since you’ve come here, I’ll make a formal announcement today, in front of all these reporters. I, Ji Yang, am officially severing my father-son relationship with Ji Changshou, effective today. From now on, he goes his way, and I’ll go mine.”
The entire scene erupted in an uproar.
Although rumors that Fourth Young Master Ji was establishing an independent household had been circulating for some time, publicly severing ties in front of reporters was an entirely different matter.
For a time, the old rumors about Yao Zhaoling rising from mistress to legitimate wife, as well as the unsavory circumstances surrounding Ji Chengyi’s birth, once again spread like wildfire.
Ji Yang got into the car and watched the middle-aged couple in the rearview mirror. They were surrounded by reporters and couldn’t escape the encirclement.
Lin Yue glanced at him cautiously. “President Xiao Yang, don’t be sad.”
“What makes you think I’m sad?” Ji Yang chuckled. “I just think they came at the perfect time today. We’ve gained another bargaining chip. I’d say our chances of securing the project are almost guaranteed now.”
Lin Yue glanced at the man behind the wheel.
From the moment the reporters appeared until the couple arrived, Nie Xu had remained silent throughout.
Lin Yue wanted to ask Assistant Nie to say a few words of comfort, but he didn’t know how to bring it up.
Finally, Assistant Nie spoke.
“Ji Yang.”
“Hmm?” Ji Yang turned to look at him.
Nie Xu said, “That’s already the second pair. Give me back my sunglasses.”
Lin Yue: “…”
Brother Nie, how about thinking a little harder before you say something like that?