Chapter 31

In the end, Ji Yang still got up and washed up before going to bed.

He’d thought he wouldn’t be able to sleep, but once he lay down again, he quickly drifted off. He slept deeply and didn’t dream at all.

When he opened his eyes again, daylight was streaming through the window.

Sunlight slanted through the glass, casting a bright band across the army-green blanket. Ji Yang stared at the strip of light for a long time before his awareness gradually returned and he remembered that this was Nie Xu’s bed. The air carried the faint, crisp scent of soap that belonged uniquely to one particular person.

The entire dormitory was quiet. The beds looked so neat that it was almost as if nobody had slept in them at all.

Ji Yang took out his phone to check the time.

To his surprise, he discovered that Ji Zhonglin had sent him messages.

Quite a few of them.

The first had arrived the previous night.

Where did you go?

Five minutes later, another message followed.

Don’t be so willful in the middle of the night. Get back here immediately.

Then, at six that morning:

…

You’re unbelievable. Call me when you wake up.

Ji Yang had no intention of doing that. He threw back the blanket and prepared to get up and wash his face.

But before he could, Ji Zhonglin’s call came through.

Ji Yang frowned at the phone for two seconds before finally picking it up.

“Hello?”

“Where are you?” Ji Zhonglin asked.

Ji Yang replied, “Don’t you already know?”

Ji Zhonglin sounded as though he were trying to rein in his emotions. His voice was low and stern. “You’ve got some nerve, don’t you? You told me before that you liked Nie Xu. I thought it was just a passing whim, but now you’ve really lost your mind?”

Ji Yang was subjected to a thorough scolding out of nowhere, and he honestly couldn’t understand it.

If he were Ji Chengyi, Ji Zhonglin’s anger would have been understandable. But he wasn’t.

“Listen, Big Brother.” Ji Yang climbed down from the bed and bent over to look for his shoes as he spoke. “I’m just staying here temporarily. First, I haven’t even managed to win him over. Second, we haven’t slept in the same bed. Even if I wanted to lose my mind over him, I haven’t exactly managed to do that, have I?”

The moment Ji Yang finished speaking, he heard a sharp intake of breath from the other end.

He managed to get one shoe on and continued, “If you think I’m bringing shame on the family, you can simply pretend there’s no such person as me in the Ji family.”

He sighed and added in complaint, “Though I’ll have to take my wheelchair with me. My prosthetic leg is so heavy, and putting it on and taking it off is such a hassle.”

Ji Zhonglin: “…Nobody’s kicking you out.”

His eldest brother’s sense of responsibility was honestly a little excessive.

Ji Yang said, “It’s fine. I don’t have to live at the Ji residence.”

He’d already asked Peng Jiaying to help him look for a place, anyway. Moving out was only a matter of time.

Ji Zhonglin seemed to consider something before speaking again. “If you really want to move, there’s a property over by Qingyu Lake. You can stay there until your father…” He seemed reluctant to bring up that uncle of his, so he moved on, his tone turning more serious. “But Nie Xu is absolutely not as simple as he appears. There’s too much going on with the Ji family lately. It’s better for you not to get involved.”

For a moment, Ji Yang felt complicated emotions stirring inside him.

He asked Ji Zhonglin, “What exactly matters most to you, Big Brother?”

“We’re talking about you. Don’t change the subject.”

Ji Yang replied, “I’m not moving to that lake or whatever. I have my own plans.”

You couldn’t say Ji Zhonglin didn’t care about family. He seemed to care, at least to some extent.

And you couldn’t say he didn’t care about the group’s reputation, either. He was willing to argue with the old master over it.

But if you said he cared, then later in the story, because of a forbidden relationship, he could completely fall apart and become utterly useless.

At the end of the day…

You couldn’t rely on a man with a romance-addled brain.

Ji Yang hung up and walked out of the dormitory.

At the corner of the second floor, he ran into Deng Jiao, who was carrying a stack of documents.

“Sis Jiao,” Ji Yang greeted her.

Deng Jiao stopped and looked him up and down, smiling meaningfully.

“Only waking up now?”

Ji Yang knew exactly what she was thinking. “Don’t look at me like that. I know I made quite a commotion coming over last night, but this is a shared dormitory. I didn’t even manage to touch the corner of your boss’s clothes, okay?”

Deng Jiao couldn’t suppress the smile tugging at her lips. She hummed in acknowledgment.

“The boss gave orders that nobody is to spread the word about you staying in Building Four last night. He also told the logistics team to ask whether you intend to stay. If you do, they’ll arrange a separate dormitory for you. If you don’t, they’ll have you go to the cafeteria for breakfast and assign you a new bodyguard.”

Ji Yang walked alongside Deng Jiao and asked, “Where’s Nie Xu?”

Deng Jiao looked puzzled. “The boss didn’t tell you?”

“Why would he tell me?” Ji Yang sighed. “Unrequited love is destined to be a lonely journey.”

Deng Jiao was at a loss for words, but she went along with him. “Well, I suppose he has no obligation to report his whereabouts to you. Your eldest brother has returned to take charge of the group, and to cut costs, the Ji family has imposed a shipping-route blockade. I heard that this decision caused trouble down the line, so the boss was sent to Zhouleng, an important town under Fanzhou’s jurisdiction, to deal with the situation. He won’t be back for at least ten days to half a month.”

Zhouleng?

Wasn’t that a major plot point later in the novel?

Jianyuan had been steadily eating away at the Ji family’s logistics business. The Ji family’s shareholders had unanimously approved this decision, which would become another major strategic blunder following the company’s delisting.

And Zhouleng was where Ji Chengyi would begin to notice the clues and fall into emotional turmoil.

The bitter, heart-wrenching romance was about to take a dramatic turn toward angst.

“What are you thinking about?” Deng Jiao waved a hand in front of Ji Yang’s eyes.

Ji Yang shook his head. “Nothing. Did my Third Brother go, too?”

“He did.”

As she spoke, she leaned closer to Ji Yang’s ear and whispered, “People are saying that your Third Brother is planning to kick your eldest brother out and usurp his power.”

Ji Yang’s eyes widened slightly.

He had the absurd feeling that he’d somehow missed a huge chunk of the story.

If he remembered correctly, Ji Chengyi had only just told Ji Zhonglin the previous night that he had no interest in the Ji family business. So he’d deliberately brought it up because rumors to that effect were already circulating outside?

Ji Yang wasn’t surprised that Ji Chengyi had ambitions. What puzzled him was that he hadn’t noticed even the slightest sign that Nie Xu and Ji Chengyi had already formed an alliance.

But if Nie Xu hadn’t been “helping” him, someone as cautious as Ji Chengyi probably wouldn’t have let such rumors spread.

Still, no matter what happened, this had little to do with him.

As long as he wasn’t dragged into it, everything was negotiable.

As it turned out, that very afternoon—

“You’re telling me Mr. Huang’s small-town cultural tourism project is in Zhouleng?!” When Ji Yang received Peng Jiaying’s call, he couldn’t help marveling at this damn coincidence.

Peng Jiaying was confused. “Why are you reacting so strongly? Mr. Huang and the Ji family have always worked closely together. As long as you act in your capacity as the Ji family’s Fourth Young Master, you’re bound to have dealings with the Ji family.”

Ji Yang shook his head. “No, that’s not it.”

“What isn’t?” Peng Jiaying asked.

“It’s because I’m evil.”

“Huh?”

The villainous Ji Yang was the catalyst for this particularly angsty turning point in the original novel.

In the original story, “Ji Yang” had followed Ji Chengyi to Zhouleng.

Because of the Ji family’s business decision, the local marine fishing industry had been severely restricted. The original Ji Yang, using his status as the Ji family’s Fourth Young Master, had nearly caused a fatal incident. Ji Chengyi had then swooped in to save the day, giving himself yet another glorious moment.

It was during this incident that Ji Chengyi began to suspect that Nie Xu might be the mastermind behind everything. Realizing that he’d been used, he became torn between love and hatred, unable to reconcile his conflicting feelings.

Peng Jiaying continued, “Mr. Huang says the contract is fine and can be signed directly, but they have one condition.”

Ji Yang replied, “I’m not going.”

“…Mr. Huang values your personal brand. He said that as long as you can prove your commercial value, he’ll give you an additional thirty percent in concessions. On top of that, he’ll pay you a separate share of the profits.”

Ji Yang thought about his wallet. If he was going to move out…

“How much money are we talking about?”

“Enough for the down payment on an apartment in the city center.”

Ji Yang: “…I’m going!”

If he really couldn’t avoid it, then he’d just have to accept his fate as the villain.

Compared with being broke, he’d rather be evil.

Still, after all that, he’d somehow ended up a wage slave again. Ji Yang was more than a little speechless.

Two days later, he was aboard a boat heading to Zhouleng with several colleagues.

The journey was only about two hours in a straight line. The boat was a two-deck tourist vessel with a passenger capacity of around forty or fifty people.

Ji Yang sat at the stern on the lower deck, feeling an inexplicable discomfort that he couldn’t quite put into words.

In his previous life, he’d rarely taken boats, either. Given a choice, he would instinctively choose another mode of transportation. This time, the land route to Zhouleng was extremely circuitous and would take more than half again as long, so everyone had unanimously agreed to travel by boat. Ji Yang hadn’t felt comfortable objecting.

Then You Li hopped aboard with a backpack slung over his shoulder.

Ji Yang immediately looked displeased. “Why is it you?”

“You should feel honored that it’s me, okay? Sister Jiao sent me.” You Li took off his backpack and hugged it against his chest. “I heard you got kicked out of the Ji family. If I weren’t on summer vacation and Zhouleng weren’t my hometown, I wouldn’t bother coming along with you.”

Ji Yang looked up. “Zhouleng really is your hometown?”

“As if I’d make that up.” You Li took off his baseball cap, revealing a closely buzzed head.

Ji Yang nearly recoiled at the sight. “You’d better put that hat back on.”

“This is the ultimate test of a man’s looks. You young masters wouldn’t understand us college students,” You Li declared.

Their exchange made the colleagues sitting behind them snicker.

One of them asked, “President Yang, who’s this young fellow?”

“An idiot,” Ji Yang replied. “Ignore him.”

Unconvinced, You Li turned to the female colleague with a smile. “Who’s better-looking, me or him?”

She actually gave them both a good look.

After studying them for a while, she finally shook her head. “There’s no way to compare.”

“Why not?” You Li asked, baffled.

Covering her mouth to hide her laughter, she explained, “You’re obviously a handsome, sunny, athletic type. Young President Yang is different. He’s simply beautiful.”

Since Ji Yang didn’t work regular office hours, he rarely got involved in Yiyuan’s day-to-day affairs.

Everyone had interacted with him enough that, although they addressed him as Young President Yang, they didn’t feel particularly distant from him.

The colleague stole another glance at him.

Sitting by the window, Ji Yang’s hair fluttered gently in the sea breeze. Sunlight reflected off the shimmering ocean and danced across his skin, making it look so clear and smooth that even the fine, downy hairs were visible.

There wasn’t the slightest trace of a rich young master’s arrogance about him. He was simply a pretty young man.

What no one had expected, however, was that Ji Yang would get seasick.

Not even Ji Yang himself had anticipated it.

He’d never suffered from motion sickness before. Perhaps his low blood sugar made the symptoms worse, but less than ten minutes after the boat departed, he already felt as though he was going to throw up. His colleagues hurried to find him something to ease the nausea and some water. Even You Li stopped joking and kept checking the time.

Ji Yang insisted that he was fine, then closed his eyes to rest.

You Li muttered beside him, “We might as well have taken the land route. It would’ve only taken longer.”

“It could be a physical issue. For all I know, I might get carsick, too,” Ji Yang said with his eyes still closed.

“Stop talking,” You Li advised.

Ji Yang could hear him tapping away on his phone, but he had no idea what he was doing.

Ji Yang endured the misery for two whole hours.

By the time they reached Zhouleng, it wasn’t even noon.

The moment he got off the boat, he dumped his luggage on You Li and rushed straight toward the public restroom at the pier.

He couldn’t even wait for a toilet stall to become available. The instant he turned on the sink, his stomach began convulsing uncontrollably.

He hadn’t eaten anything that morning and had drunk only water on the boat. There was nothing to throw up, but the involuntary retching wouldn’t stop. Acid and tears surged out together. The experience was so miserable that Ji Yang decided he would squeeze another hefty sum out of Mr. Huang once this trip was over.

His vision was going dark, and a burning sensation rose through his throat, accompanied by a metallic sweetness of blood. Even that couldn’t suppress the overwhelming nausea.

He wanted to rinse his mouth, but he was reluctant to use tap water from a public restroom. At the same time, he desperately needed relief from his miserable state. His hand fumbled for the faucet, his fingertips trembling slightly.

Just as his legs threatened to give way beneath him, an arm suddenly wrapped around his waist and lifted him upright, steadying him.

A man’s voice, deep and steady, sounded beside him. The man pressed his thumb against Ji Yang’s stomach.

“All right. Close your eyes and breathe first. Take a deep breath. That’s it. Take it slowly.”

Ji Yang recognized the voice. He grabbed the forearm around his waist, then heard the man say, “You can rinse your mouth now. Use this.”

Through his blurred vision, Ji Yang made out a bottle of mineral water with the cap already unscrewed. He took it.

After drinking and rinsing with about half the bottle, Ji Yang’s nausea finally began to ease. The hand supporting his waist loosened slightly. The heel of the palm no longer pressed against his stomach, but the arm didn’t move away either, staying there to keep him from losing his balance.

Nie Xu leaned over, took two sheets of paper from beside the hand dryer, and handed them to him.

“Are you very dizzy?”

Ji Yang took the tissues and shook his head. His voice was hoarse. “I threw up too much. I’m feeling better now.”

Nie Xu hummed in acknowledgment.

Ji Yang asked, “What are you doing here?”

At that moment, someone poked his head around the restroom entrance.

“I called him,” You Li announced, raising his hand. “Sister Jiao told me to contact my brother if anything came up that I couldn’t handle. You’ve got phantom-limb pain and low blood sugar. I didn’t dare take any chances, so I called him over.”

As he spoke, You Li asked cautiously, “Brother, I didn’t interrupt anything important, did I?”

“It’s fine,” Nie Xu replied.

His gaze swept over the person in front of him before he asked, “What are you doing in Zhouleng?”

Ji Yang looked up. “A business trip.”

Their eyes met in the mirror.

Nie Xu was dressed in formal attire, as though he’d just come from some serious official engagement. Ji Yang couldn’t tell whether he believed him. He only heard Nie Xu say slowly, “If you’re feeling better, come outside. Zhouleng has been chaotic lately. Don’t wander around.”

Ji Yang had a general idea of what was going on, so he nodded.

He turned on the faucet again, splashed water over his face twice, shook the water out of his damp hair, and was the last to leave the restroom.

The pier was bustling at this time of day, with fish vendors and plenty of itinerant merchants selling their wares.

A closer look would reveal that many people wore expressions of anxiety beneath the scorching sun. Ordinary people with sun-darkened skin sat or crouched on the steps, fanning themselves with bamboo fans. The baskets and crates beside them were completely empty.

His colleagues gathered around him.

“Are you okay?”

“Young President Yang, your seasickness is really intense. Are you feeling better?”

Ji Yang replied, “I’m fine. It’s been so long since I last took a boat that I probably just haven’t gotten used to it.”

One colleague teased him, “The young master of a shipping family gets seasick? I don’t think anyone would believe that if we told them.”

Ji Yang wagged a finger in denial. “We’re all miserable wage slaves.”

Everyone laughed.

At that moment, Nie Xu walked over.

The surrounding area fell quiet for an instant.

He casually snapped open the item in his hand and held it out to Ji Yang.

“Drink this. It’s glucose.”

“Where did you get it?” Ji Yang asked in surprise.

“There’s a pharmacy right next to us.”

While Ji Yang drank it, Nie Xu took his luggage and promptly handed it back to You Li. He swept his gaze across each person’s face before speaking.

“You’ll all be staying at You Li’s house for the next few days. Since the project is connected to county-level cultural tourism, have him arrange for locals to show you around.”

“Huh? Is that okay?” one colleague asked excitedly.

“Won’t that be too much trouble?”

“Yeah, there are quite a few of us.”

Everyone turned to look at You Li.

He had clearly been informed in advance. Smiling warmly, he said, “My house is pretty big. Don’t worry about being a burden.”

Having a local guide them around would certainly be better. Ji Yang had been considering the same arrangement himself. Even so, he checked with everyone individually to make sure nobody objected. Once they’d all agreed, the plan was settled.