The raid on Qi Yiming’s bachelor party was like boiling oil poured into a pot of water. It caused an uproar throughout Fanzhou’s already turbulent social circles.
When Officer Wu personally escorted Ji Yang out of the pier, the hot, humid night breeze blowing in from the river carried a salty smell and slipped beneath the hem of his T-shirt, making him shiver.
He had probably kicked too hard just now, because he was feeling a slight discomfort in his leg. Combined with the dizziness, it made him want to lean against the pier railing and squat down for a rest.
“Never squat down when you have low blood sugar!” Officer Wu reacted quickly and caught him before he could lower himself. Looking at his face, he asked, “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” Ji Yang watched as a long line of men and women were escorted off the deck by the police. Then he turned around, leaned against the railing, and smiled. “Go take care of your work, Officer Wu. You don’t need to worry about me.”
“That won’t do,” Officer Wu disagreed. “If anything happens to you, how am I supposed to explain it to Mr. Nie?”
Ji Yang felt a slight toothache coming on at those words.
“Relax. I’m the boss here. You don’t need to explain anything to him.”
Officer Wu didn’t take his words seriously.
The last time they’d met at the police station, he’d even told Mr. Nie that this young master had become more well-behaved. But although the young master had stopped breaking the law himself, he’d switched to catching lawbreakers instead.
As for explaining himself, Officer Wu simply didn’t want to put Mr. Nie in a difficult position.
After all, Mr. Nie had specifically mentioned that Fourth Young Master’s health wasn’t good at the moment. It was clear that looking after a young master like him wasn’t easy.
Just then, Ji Mingyue hurried over.
“Why are you standing here?” she asked as she approached.
Ji Yang asked her, “Aren’t you going with them to give a statement?”
“Miss Ji doesn’t need to go,” Officer Wu immediately explained. “Although she’s Qi Yiming’s fiancée, she was also the one who led us onto the ship. That’s why the arrest went so smoothly.”
Ji Yang nodded, then said at just the right moment, “Now that someone’s here, Officer Wu, I won’t keep you from your work.”
This time, Officer Wu didn’t refuse. He nodded. “All right. I’ll arrange for someone to take you home.”
Ji Mingyue declined. “No need. Someone from the family is coming to pick us up.”
As soon as Officer Wu heard that someone from the Ji family was coming, he didn’t insist.
After telling them to call if they needed anything, he turned and left.
“Who’s coming?” Ji Yang asked.
Ji Mingyue looked at him. “No one. I just said that because you didn’t want to trouble the police.”
Ji Yang felt the night breeze coming off the sea.
“Being shown special treatment by the police could easily give Qi Yiming something to use against us.”
Ji Mingyue nodded. “True. I once heard Second Aunt boasting to someone that their branch of the family spends a considerable amount every year greasing palms and maintaining connections. Now that Eldest Brother is under investigation, even more backroom dealing won’t help much. But that police officer seemed pretty nice to you just now.”
Ji Yang was speechless.
That’s not because I’ve been treated well. It’s because I did a good deed by reporting them—and because I happen to have a bodyguard with connections everywhere.
After resting for about ten minutes, Ji Yang and Ji Mingyue left the waterfront.
As soon as they reached the parking area, they saw a large group of reporters rushing toward them.
Qi Yiming’s party had been quite ostentatious. Word had spread from one person to another, and quite a few moderately famous internet influencers had joined in, along with some barely known entertainers.
Now that something had happened, the reporters had caught wind of it and descended like bloodhounds.
Ji Yang remained relatively calm. He’d expected this. Ji Mingyue, however, was in trouble.
“What’s going on?” she asked, her expression darkening.
“Don’t ask.”
Without another word, Ji Yang stuffed her into the car. Once the convertible roof was up, he leaned against the car door and quietly instructed her, “If you want to gain some leverage in this marriage alliance, don’t say anything or come out later. Just cry.”
“Cry?” Ji Mingyue looked at him as though she’d just heard something utterly absurd.
Ji Yang pressed down on her head. “Fake crying. If you can’t manage that, just lie face-down on the steering wheel. Don’t lift your head.”
Ji Mingyue obediently bent forward and kept her head down. Only her hands gripping the steering wheel tightly betrayed her bewilderment and wordless disbelief.
Ji Yang had barely finished speaking when he turned around and nearly found himself shoved flat against the car by the reporters.
At the very last moment before the convertible roof closed, a crowd of reporters surrounded him.
“Fourth Young Master, did you also attend Young Master Qi’s bachelor party?”
“As the Qi family heir’s future brother-in-law, did you know what was happening on the cruise ship tonight? Could you tell us more?”
“We’ve heard that Young Master Qi has been arrested. With the Ji family facing a critical situation, both the Qi and Ji families have now run into trouble. Will this affect the marriage alliance?”
Someone was also pounding hard on the car window.
“Is Miss Ji inside? Could you come out and respond?”
“Miss Ji!”
Ji Yang caught the hand of the reporter who was pounding on the window and smiled as he spoke.
“She’s in a particularly bad state of mind right now. Could you give her some privacy?”
The reporter he’d grabbed turned around and met his smiling eyes, momentarily stunned.
Perhaps because Ji Yang was being so polite, the reporter suddenly grew excited, as if he could get some explosive news out of him. Microphones immediately crowded around Ji Yang’s chin.
Through their camera lenses, everyone saw the Ji family’s Fourth Young Master, dressed as neatly as a college student, with a pale face and a fresh scab on his forehead.
He spoke slowly.
“We didn’t come here to attend the party.”
“We only found out what was happening on the cruise ship after we arrived.” Ji Yang’s voice wasn’t loud, but when he stood there, slender and frail-looking, everyone unconsciously quieted down to listen.
“When Qi Yiming was pursuing my younger sister, he made all sorts of beautiful promises. My sister was foolish, too. Everyone in Fanzhou knows how much he likes to fool around, but she refused to believe it. She was determined to marry him.”
Someone among the reporters murmured, “Miss Ji is so unlucky to have met such a scumbag.”
“I thought this was a loveless business marriage. Turns out it was true love.”
“She’s the only girl among the younger generation of the Ji family. How can they let the Qi family bully her?”
“Why not just break off the engagement? What’s the point of keeping it?”
“Exactly.”
At that moment, a black car had been parked across the road for some time.
Jiang Lei was puzzled. “Is he trying to make the Ji heiress look pitiful?”
The person in the passenger seat kept his gaze fixed on the scene.
“The Qi family’s oil extraction license expires before the end of the year. To renew it, they need the Ji Corporation’s shipping routes as a guarantee. Ji Yansong won’t give up that bargaining chip easily. But the more critical the situation, the less he can afford to be branded as someone who ‘sells his daughter for glory.’ Ji Yang is buying him as much time as possible.”
Jiang Lei suddenly understood.
In this marriage alliance, being the weaker party in the present circumstances could actually become an advantage.
A pampered heiress from a wealthy family who’d been unlucky in love could stir up far more public sympathy than a sacrificial pawn in a cold-blooded business marriage.
Jiang Lei clicked his tongue twice. “This young master really knows how to manipulate public opinion.” Then he sighed. “Who would’ve expected him to be the one to step forward at a time like this? And he’s the only one in the Ji family who did.”
Nie Xu watched through the window.
“He has too much empathy.”
Jiang Lei glanced at him. “You think he was better the way he used to be?”
Nie Xu withdrew his gaze and didn’t answer the question.
He checked the time. “Lu Li will be here soon.”
“We’re leaving just like that?” Jiang Lei said with a smile. “Speaking of this young master, he just had to end up so close to us. Lu Li is still running around in circles looking for the warehouse where we used to store the goods. He’s already furious, and then he got word halfway through that he was supposed to go arrest this young master. He’s probably about to explode.”
Nie Xu remained hidden in the shadows.
“We can stop collecting scattered shares on the market once we’ve gathered enough. Let’s start with logistics and transportation. Jian Yuan should be making his move soon, too.”
Jiang Lei acknowledged the instruction, but for a moment, he wasn’t sure whether he should start driving.
While he hesitated, he noticed that the person in the passenger seat had already gotten out. The car door slammed shut with a bang.
Jiang Lei was stunned. “Wait, what are you—”
Ji Yang was being squeezed from all sides by the crowd. He had no idea which inconsiderate idiot had stepped on his right foot, nearly making him lose his balance.
At the critical moment, someone grabbed him firmly by the arm.
All the reporters looked at the tall man who had suddenly appeared and silently took a step backward. The man was wearing a suit and sunglasses, and his expressionless face gave him an intimidating presence.
Ji Yang stared at the newcomer in surprise.
“When did you get here?”
Nie Xu tapped on the car window and reminded Ji Mingyue, “Go.”
Ji Mingyue, who had been struggling to keep up the pretense of crying, was almost at her limit. When she saw Nie Xu appear out of nowhere, she felt as though she’d been granted a pardon. She stepped on the accelerator and drove straight out of the encirclement.
The reporters didn’t react in time. Two seconds later, they refocused their attention on Ji Yang.
Before they could ask another question, they discovered that the young master had also been whisked away by someone. He was hurriedly escorted across the road and placed in a car.
One reporter pointed his camera at the man who had just appeared.
As the man walked around the front of the car and prepared to get into the passenger seat, he braced one hand against the roof and glanced in their direction.
Even from that distance, his gaze was so intimidating that the reporter involuntarily lowered his camera.
That’s the bodyguard, right?
Terrifying.
Jiang Lei had already driven ten meters before he remembered to ask the person in the back seat, “I thought you were handling the reporters pretty well just now. How did things get so chaotic afterward?”
“Couldn’t be helped.” Ji Yang rested his chin on the back of the passenger seat, trying to ease the throbbing in his temples from all the camera flashes. He sighed. “They insisted on asking how I got the wound on my forehead. Then they accused me of falsifying data and nearly bringing the entire Ji family down with me. They said I’d caused trouble and then hidden away because I didn’t dare face my million followers. I couldn’t exactly tell them I’d been locked up as punishment, could I? That would be challenging the family’s authority. I’m a timid person, you know. I wouldn’t dare.”
Jiang Lei’s mouth twitched.
“You made such a huge public spectacle out of Miss Ji’s situation. Wasn’t that challenging the family’s authority, too?”
Ji Yang rested his cheek against the back of his hand.
“How is that the same? If you were standing in a pit of fire, I’d pull you out, too.”
Jiang Lei paused.
“I still haven’t had the chance to thank you in person for what happened before.”
“It’s nothing.” Ji Yang smiled, his eyes curving as he looked at the back of Jiang Lei’s head just inches away.
He was absolutely certain of one thing.
If something had happened to Jiang Lei back then, there was no way the three of them would be sitting in the same car now, chatting in such a relaxed atmosphere.
Since Ji Yang had gotten into the car, Nie Xu hadn’t said a word.
The hair at the back of his neck was cut very short, and the collar of his black shirt left a slight impression against his skin. As he lowered his head to review some documents, his vertebra protruded beneath the skin, the lines of his neck tightening where it met his shoulders. His tendons shifted silently in the shadows.
Ji Yang only needed to move his hand slightly to touch the back of Nie Xu’s collar.
He also noticed a tiny black mole at the base of Nie Xu’s neck, just below the collar. It was so small that he might not have noticed it if he hadn’t been looking carefully.
“What were you doing at the pier? Surely you didn’t come all this way just to pick me up?” Ji Yang asked, his eyes fixed on that little mole.
Jiang Lei replied, “Someone else was supposed to pick you up. The pier is part of the Ji family’s port operations. For the past few years, the old master has entrusted the day-to-day operations to Nie Xu. We happened to be working at a nearby pier when we received the notification about this incident.”
Ji Yang nodded. “Such a busy man.”
Then he added, “Don’t tell me the person the Ji family sent to catch me was that guy Lu Li again?”
Jiang Lei snapped his fingers. “Congratulations. You got it right.”
Ji Yang: “…”
Nie Xu finally spoke, delivering his first words since getting into the car.
“I thought that after pulling a stunt like tonight’s, you’d already prepared yourself for the consequences.”
Ji Yang still looked completely unconcerned. “Well, I was holding on to a little hope. I thought that maybe, just maybe, you’d be the one sent to arrest me. If that happened, I might even willingly go with you.”
Jiang Lei coughed twice from beside them.
Nie Xu turned around and glanced at Ji Yang a couple of times before his gaze settled on the arm Ji Yang had draped over the back of the seat.
“Sit properly.”
“I’m not bothering you,” Ji Yang grumbled.
He didn’t move away. Instead, he suddenly said, “The drug test report is already in my scheduled-send drafts folder. Before I kicked Qi Yiming, I also emailed a copy to the old master’s secretary.”
This was his serious response to Nie Xu’s remark about being prepared for the consequences.
It explained why he’d been so fearless.
Nie Xu stared at him. “You had plenty of better opportunities to do this.”
“I can afford to wait. Ji Mingyue can’t,” Ji Yang replied.
Some desperate situations, once they became irreversible, could ruin a person’s entire life.
Ji Yang simply couldn’t stand by and watch.
He wouldn’t admit that he was kindhearted. It was just that the person in question was Ji Mingyue. If he did nothing, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself.
Nie Xu paused almost imperceptibly for a second but made no comment. However, the moment the car drove into the estate and Fang Qi, one of Lu Li’s men, tried to stop them, Nie Xu showed none of his previous willingness to negotiate.
“Drive in.”
“Seriously, run him over? Who takes responsibility if something happens?” Jiang Lei asked.
Nie Xu replied, “If he’s stupid enough not to get out of the way, that’s his own problem.”
Sitting in the back, Ji Yang listened to this unhinged exchange.
“…”
On impulse, he reached out and poked the little mole on the back of Nie Xu’s neck.
“You’re a little irritable tonight, Brother Xu.”
His patience was terrible.
It wasn’t a question. It was a statement.
The next second, Nie Xu seized his hand. His voice lowered, carrying a warning.
“Don’t cross the personal space boundary of someone whose profession requires them to remain on high alert at all times.”
Ji Yang couldn’t even pull free on his first attempt. He rubbed his wrist and asked, “What would happen?”
Jiang Lei helpfully added, “A few years ago, someone on his team tried it while he was asleep. He threw the guy over his shoulder and broke two of his ribs.”
Ji Yang: “…Wouldn’t you have to pay his medical bills?”
Jiang Lei burst out laughing. “He can afford that much.”
As the car approached the men blocking their way, they naturally didn’t dare stand their ground. They moved aside and cleared a path.
However, Nie Xu’s phone rang shortly afterward.
Lu Li’s voice came through clearly inside the car.
“Fine, I’ll let yesterday’s warehouse incident slide. But what was today about?”
Nie Xu replied, “The old master won’t pursue the matter involving the Qi family. Is that reason enough for you?”
Lu Li was silent for two seconds before suddenly sneering.
“Everyone used to say that Fourth Young Master was the one throwing himself at you, chasing after you relentlessly. Don’t tell me you’ve developed feelings for him too and decided to protect him?”
Nie Xu’s tone remained unchanged from beginning to end.
“Lu Li, excessive personal feelings have made you lose the most basic ability to judge a situation objectively.”
Lu Li laughed twice, then abruptly changed the subject.
“Personal feelings? You make it sound as though you don’t have any. Let’s put the past aside for now. Xiao Yi has gone to his grandfather again and again because of you. Are you telling me you haven’t noticed any of that?”
Lu Li’s questioning voice echoed throughout the car.
Ji Yang took a moment to process it. The person Lu Li called Xiao Yi was Ji Chengyi.
Considering Lu Li’s position, using such an intimate nickname was already inappropriate.
Yet he was bringing it up right in front of Nie Xu.
Ji Yang quietly asked Jiang Lei, “Were you guys on pretty good terms back then?”
“When we were kids, maybe. We were all too young to know any better.” Jiang Lei smiled faintly. “Now we’ve all grown up.”
The novel had hinted at this in passing.
It seemed that shortly after Ji Chengyi’s identity as the Ji family’s illegitimate son was exposed, but before Ji Changshou brought him home, he had been kidnapped because his identity had leaked.
That was when he first met Nie Xu and Lu Li.
The three of them had gone through an escape together. Later, after returning to the Ji family, Ji Chengyi’s life was no easier than that of Lu Li and the others. He was often targeted and bullied by Ji Yang, too.
The nickname Xiao Yi was a special sign of intimacy born from supporting one another, witnessing each other’s most miserable moments, and growing up together.
Given Ji Chengyi’s role as the universally adored protagonist, there was nothing particularly strange about Lu Li calling him that in private.
Lu Li continued, “How do you manage to let him get close to you without even batting an eye? Have you considered Xiao Yi’s feelings?”
Nie Xu warned him, “Lu Li, don’t start acting crazy.”
Ji Yang was still leaning over the back of the seat. He moved closer to the phone beside Nie Xu’s ear and chimed in at just the right moment.
“I’m right here, you know.”
Lu Li fell silent for a second before gritting his teeth and asking Nie Xu, “You actually let him listen to a conversation like this?”
Nie Xu replied, “If you weren’t always losing your mind, you wouldn’t have asked such a stupid question.”
Compared with the way Lu Li had previously called him “Brother Xu” at every opportunity, the Lu Li on this phone call actually felt closer to his true nature to Ji Yang.
Ji Yang continued speaking near the phone.
“Are you worried I’ll hear you targeting him? Or are you worried people will find out that, on the surface, you’re carrying out my grandfather’s orders, but in reality, you have your own agenda and are waiting for a chance to get revenge on someone?”
Lu Li replied, “This has nothing to do with anyone else.”
“How selfless. I’m truly moved,” Ji Yang remarked.
The car was approaching a fork in the road.
“We’re not going back to the main house,” Ji Yang said.
“Where are we going?” Jiang Lei asked.
Ji Yang thought for a moment. “How about Building Four?”
Even Jiang Lei was stunned. The car came to a stop at the junction.
Ji Yang drawled slowly, his tone ambiguous, but he was actually speaking to the person on the phone.
“Brother Xu, why don’t you just give in to me? Think of it as fulfilling Lu Li’s heartfelt devotion. I know I’m not as outstanding as Xiao Yi, not as considerate, and not nearly as gentle.” Ji Yang deliberately emphasized the two syllables of Xiao Yi. Clinging to the back of the seat, he spoke with utter sincerity. “I don’t ask for much. As long as I can stay by your side, I’ll be completely satisfied.”
Lu Li: “…Nie Xu, how long are you going to let him carry on like this?”
Nie Xu replied, “Lu Li, I’ll say this one last time. Don’t bring your personal emotions into your work.”
Nie Xu shifted slightly to the side, took the phone away, and hung up directly. At the same time, he turned his head.
Ji Yang suddenly met his gaze. Remembering Nie Xu’s warning about personal space, he immediately leaned back.
Jiang Lei interjected, “…So where exactly are we going?”
Nie Xu gave Ji Yang one last look, then withdrew his gaze.
“Take him home.”
Jiang Lei covered his mouth and coughed.
He was beginning to suspect that tonight was some kind of heavenly trial designed specifically to torment him.
He cleared his throat and said, “Well, Fourth Young Master, unless Brother Nie is on leave, he usually stays in the staff dormitory.”
“So?” Ji Yang was still processing his own impulsive idea.
Jiang Lei explained, “So even if you really were gentle and considerate, as pure as a white lotus, he still wouldn’t give in to you.”
Especially since this particular white lotus has claws and is practically radiating black energy…