The return journey went quickly.
They left Zhouleng, passed through the town and its winding mountain roads, and eventually merged onto the expressway leading to Fanzhou.
Along the way, Ji Chengyi and Nie Xu each received phone calls about the Zhu family.
Ji Yang wasn’t traveling with them anymore.
He got out of the car once they reached the urban area of Fanzhou.
Peng Jiaying had driven over to pick him up.
Ji Chengyi was displeased. “Didn’t we already discuss this? Grandpa said you have to come back with us too.”
“Third Brother, I was only catching a ride with you. I never agreed to anything else, from beginning to end.” Supported by Peng Jiaying, Ji Yang stood beside the car door. “Besides, have you forgotten that before I went to Zhouleng, Ji Changshou had already kicked me out of the house? The First Branch has you, the young boss of the Ji Corporation. There’s no place for an incompetent good-for-nothing like me.”
Ji Chengyi replied, “Dad was just angry when he said that. Do you really have to take it seriously?”
“If he only said it in anger, that doesn’t mean I’m obligated to put up with it, does it?” Ji Yang said with a smile. “As for who’s right and wrong in the Zhu Guangsheng matter, Third Brother should know better than I do, so I’ll leave the explanation to you. If Second Aunt wants to make an issue of her brother’s injuries, she can get a lawyer to sue me. After all, I’m a victim too. If Brother Xu hadn’t been there, I’d be the one lying in the hospital right now.”
Since Nie Xu had been brought into the conversation, Ji Chengyi glanced toward the front of the car.
Frowning, he said, “Nie Xu, since Grandpa ordered him to return with us, are you really just going to let him leave like this?”
The front passenger window rolled down. Through his sunglasses, Nie Xu met Ji Yang’s gaze from outside the car.
“The order didn’t specify that he had to be forcibly taken back.”
Cars came and went along the road.
Despite the wide streets on either side, there were few pedestrians around.
Ji Yang leaned heavily against Old Peng for support. For a moment, he almost felt that the slight difference he had noticed in Nie Xu during those two days in Zhouleng had been nothing more than an illusion.
Now that Nie Xu was back in Fanzhou, his usual cold, rigid boundaries had returned.
He was like that with Ji Yang, and even with Ji Chengyi, the novel’s main love interest.
Since Nie Xu wasn’t listening to Ji Chengyi, Ji Yang saw no reason he couldn’t interfere either.
Ji Yang said to Ji Chengyi, “Third Brother, you heard him. The Ji family is going through a turbulent time right now. Since Grandpa hasn’t revoked his status as my bodyguard and assistant, regardless of whose orders he’s currently following, at least in name, he still works for me. If you want him to arrest someone, you need to have the authority to do so.”
The dark clouds in Ji Chengyi’s eyes settled lower.
Ji Yang ignored him completely. After all, things had already come out into the open in Zhouleng. There was no point pretending otherwise.
Just because someone wanted to frame him, did that mean he had to stand there and cooperate?
Even if that person was the one Nie Xu would eventually fall in love with, it made no difference. Besides, Ji Yang hadn’t seen the slightest sign of that love developing.
Ji Yang reminded Peng Jiaying, “Let’s go. Didn’t you say Mr. Huang was already waiting?”
“Right, right. Let’s go.”
Old Peng helped him into his own car, chattering all the while. “What happened to your leg? You were only in Zhouleng for two days. How did you end up like this?”
Ji Yang replied, “It wasn’t intentional. Things just happened to work out that way.”
He happened to arrive when Ji Yansong was determined to deal with the Zhu family. He happened to arrive when Zhouleng was struggling. And, by such a coincidence, the You family happened to be there too.
If You Li hadn’t called Nie Xu over because Ji Yang was seasick, if Ji Yang hadn’t stayed with the You family and met Uncle Mai through You Li’s father—or, even more so, if someone had been pressuring him to get results quickly and forcing him to do all this—the agricultural livestream that helped Zhouleng’s farmers might never have happened.
All he could say was that the timing of everything had been just right.
As Old Peng helped him into the car, he said, “Good thing you did that livestream. You have no idea how anxious Mr. Huang was. He called me more than ten times a day to hurry things along.”
“That exaggerated?” Ji Yang asked.
Peng Jiaying pushed up his glasses. “You haven’t been following what happened afterward, so you don’t know. Your name is still on the real-time trending list today. Mr. Huang sees your personal value and is afraid you’ll get too big for your boots and change your mind at the last minute.”
It wasn’t as though Ji Yang hadn’t been following the aftermath.
“There must be plenty of people criticizing me, too. They’re saying the whole thing was scripted publicity, or that I saw the Ji family going downhill and used the agricultural livestream to whitewash its image.” Even Ji Yang found that last accusation ridiculous. “Am I blind? Why would I help the Ji family whitewash its reputation?”
Peng Jiaying laughed at that, then continued, “I’m still looking for a place for you. If you want to buy one, it’ll take a while to get everything settled. Since you’re not returning to the Ji family, how about we look at some hotels after you sign the contract with Mr. Huang?”
Ji Yang nodded. “Sure.”
Peng Jiaying didn’t offer any words of comfort. He already understood a little about Ji Yang’s current predicament.
It wasn’t necessarily that the Ji family absolutely couldn’t tolerate him. Rather, Peng Jiaying had realized that Ji Yang no longer wanted to stay with them.
The Ji family’s problems were gradually coming to light, and Ji Yang had happened to be away on a business trip in Zhouleng when trouble broke out over shipping and local affairs in that important hub. With the matter attracting so much attention, it was entirely possible that the Ji family would try to use him as a scapegoat.
Peng Jiaying thought of the people in the car they had just left and said to Ji Yang, “I heard Qiao Qiao and the others say that Assistant Nie helped arrange accommodation for everyone in Zhouleng. Should we invite him to dinner sometime?”
Ji Yang: “Invite him to dinner?”
The very idea had never crossed his mind.
Peng Jiaying nodded. “Yes. Their profession might be a little special, but surely inviting him to a meal is fine? It’s not as if we’d be asking about classified information.”
He continued, “Actually, ever since I got President Qi’s business card, I’ve been looking for an opportunity to meet some of the senior executives at Jian Yuan. But then I realized how mysterious that group is. To this day, I don’t even know the surname of its boss.”
Ji Yang silently replied, “…Nie.”
“Which Nie?” Peng Jiaying asked.
Ji Yang thought that Nie wasn’t exactly an ordinary surname. As a discarded young master from a wealthy family with no social connections of his own, how many people named Nie could he possibly know?
Yet he had already let the truth slip, and no one had even thought to connect the dots.
“I heard it from someone else, too. I’m not sure.” Ji Yang changed the subject. “We can see when it’s convenient to invite him. He’s probably very busy.”
“True.” Peng Jiaying didn’t insist. “The old master of the Ji family has been appearing in public frequently lately. A bodyguard at Assistant Nie’s level probably has to accompany important members of the family around the clock.”
Meanwhile, the Ji family’s convoy was heading in the opposite direction from Ji Yang and the others.
Ji Chengyi brought up the events in Zhouleng of his own accord.
He said to Nie Xu, “When you see Grandpa, you can tell him exactly what happened last night.”
Nie Xu rested his hand against the car window. “Such as?”
“Such as how I worked with Zhu Guangsheng to frame Ji Yang. And how my own incompetence allowed the situation to escalate until it became impossible to control.”
Nie Xu didn’t turn around. He merely replied in an even tone, “The old master will make his own judgment. It isn’t my place to comment.”
“Is it that you shouldn’t comment, or that you don’t want to?” Ji Chengyi asked. He then leaned forward, as if trying to confirm something. “I hope it’s that you don’t want to. I hope you’re still willing to leave me some room. Although I know perfectly well that you, Lu Li, and I can never go back to how things were.”
Jiang Lei felt as though he were sitting on pins and needles in the driver’s seat.
He kept glancing at Nie Xu.
He knew the general outline of what had happened back then.
The first mission Nie Xu and Lu Li undertook after being selected by the Ji family was to bring back the illegitimate son of the Ji family’s First Branch, who had been kidnapped, and ensure his safe return.
At that time, the Xilemen organization in Fanzhou wielded enormous influence.
Its methods were brutal, too.
A ransom of thirty million yuan. A journey across an entire vast rainforest.
Tracking, coordination, and support—the mission nearly cost Lu Li his life halfway through. In the end, Nie Xu safely brought both of them out.
Even now, very few people in the Ji family knew about the incident.
For a time, Jiang Lei had also believed that Nie Xu regarded Third Young Master Ji differently, at least to some extent. After all, Nie Xu had personally rescued him. Given Ji Chengyi’s background, he had indeed been a victim of circumstances beyond his control.
But looking back now, Jiang Lei realized there had never been anything different about the way Nie Xu treated him.
Even with Third Young Master making such a direct approach now, Nie Xu merely said, “Bringing Third Young Master out safely was just one of the requirements for formally entering the Ji family. As for leaving you room, Lu Li won’t let Zhu Guangsheng drag you into this. He has acted this way all these years because you once did him a favor. None of it has anything to do with me, from beginning to end.”
Ji Chengyi lowered his eyelids and fell silent.
But the hand silently tightening around the edge of his seat betrayed how turbulent his emotions were.
“Things really have changed,” he murmured, almost in a daze. “I should have understood that a long time ago.”
Yet this muttered, incomplete remark received no response at all.
The seating arrangement inside the car clearly separated those in the front from those in the back. In a family like the Ji family, the hierarchy between those of higher and lower status was always delineated as sharply as the Chu and Han territories on a chessboard.
Meanwhile, Ji Yang and the others had arranged to meet Mr. Huang in a private room at a rather upscale restaurant.
When Ji Yang and Peng Jiaying arrived, there were more people inside than they had expected.
Mr. Huang, whose name was Huang Kai, was extremely enthusiastic. He immediately rose from his seat and came to greet them at the door.
“President Yang, President Peng, you’re finally here! Come on in and take your seats.”
When he noticed Ji Yang in a wheelchair, he let out an astonished “Oh!”
“What happened?”
Ji Yang launched straight into his answer without missing a beat. “It’s nothing. If it means securing a partnership with you, Mr. Huang, then even if I have to stand livestreaming until I can no longer stand—or even if I lose this leg—it would all be worth it.”
Standing behind him, Peng Jiaying coughed awkwardly and muttered, “You really know how to make people uncomfortable.”
Mr. Huang froze for a moment before hurriedly saying, “You’ve worked hard. This trip must have been exhausting. Come, come! Everyone seated here is a new livestream host trained by our own company, Xianshi. This dinner is all about having a good time, so please don’t stand on ceremony.”
The moment Mr. Huang said this, all seven or eight people seated around the large round table gradually stood up.
Mr. Huang called out, “Come on, everyone, be proactive! Learn from Fourth Young Master Ji!”
Ji Yang took one look around and immediately understood.
This wasn’t a gathering to exchange professional knowledge. These people had been brought in to provide drinking companionship.
And every single one of them was a man.
From pretty little charmers to muscular hunks, Huang Kai had somehow managed to assemble every possible type.
Seeing the situation unfold, Ji Yang hurriedly said, “Mr. Huang, we’re here to have a meal. We can skip this whole routine.”
Peng Jiaying chimed in at the right moment. “Fourth Young Master’s leg hasn’t healed yet.”
Huang Kai looked embarrassed.
He glanced around the private room, then waved for everyone to sit back down.
Ji Yang took the seat beside Huang Kai, who poured him a cup of tea.
“Fourth Young Master, I hope you don’t mind. A proper business partnership is one thing, and this sort of entertainment is another.”
“I don’t mind,” Ji Yang said.
It wasn’t as though he had never encountered such things before. When he had first entered this line of work, he had seen much more chaotic situations.
Huang Kai smiled sheepishly. “Actually, to be honest with you, Fourth Young Master, these fellows used to work at a club owned by my wife’s family. Business hasn’t been doing well lately, so I thought I’d find them a more legitimate way to make a living.”
Ji Yang had just brought his teacup to his lips and nearly choked.
He looked around the group again, thinking to himself, So they really are male escorts.
He then remembered that Ji Chengyi had previously warned him that Mr. Huang had some connection to the local Xilemen organization.
Ji Yang set down his cup and asked slowly, with some hesitation, “Is that line of work struggling these days, too?”
“Don’t misunderstand, Fourth Young Master. Simply providing drinking companionship isn’t illegal,” Huang Kai hastily explained. “I’ve heard about how you got Wei Qiming sent to prison, too. I’m not bringing in any shady characters.”
As he spoke, he pulled the man sitting to his right closer.
“This one here is Xiaoyue. He may be young, but he’s had a hard life.”
Hearing that familiar, standardized explanation, Ji Yang looked at the somewhat shy young man and even wondered whether he was underage.
Ji Yang politely declined any further involvement. Throughout the entire meal, he did little besides eat and ask about the details of the contract.
Fortunately, the people Huang Kai had brought along were reasonably well-mannered and didn’t do anything inappropriate.
By the time dinner was over and the contract had been signed, it was already nine o’clock.
Ji Yang decided to find a hotel nearby.
A five-star hotel was particularly convenient for someone whose mobility was currently limited. The services were excellent in every respect.
Ji Yang checked into Room 2807 on the twenty-eighth floor without any trouble and booked it for an entire month.
After seeing Peng Jiaying into the elevator, Ji Yang suddenly realized something.
He hadn’t returned to the Ji family, yet no one from the family had contacted him all evening to cause trouble.
He took out his phone. At first, he considered making a voice call to Ji Mingyue to ask what was going on. After hesitating for a second, he selected a contact from his list instead: NX.
He hadn’t expected Nie Xu to answer.
But after just two rings, the call was picked up.
Ji Yang didn’t speak for a moment.
The person on the other end waited two seconds before saying, “Speak.”
“Me.” Ji Yang identified himself first, then asked, “Are you busy?”
Nie Xu replied, “Just finished.”
Ji Yang could hear what sounded like him moving from an enclosed space to somewhere outside.
Ji Yang said, “It’s nothing important. I just wanted to ask if there’s been any progress with the Zhu Guangsheng matter tonight.”
At that moment, in the rear garage of the Ji family’s main residence, Nie Xu raised a hand to stop the people standing guard outside. He glanced back at the stairs leading down to the second basement level and replied, “Second Madam found a few people to cause trouble. The old master ordered them dealt with and dumped back at the Zhu family’s doorstep.”
Ji Yang detected a trace of disgust beneath that calm tone.
“Dealt with?”
“Taught them a lesson,” Nie Xu said.
Ji Yang: “…You got physical?”
“Not to that extent. There was no need.”
Ji Yang gave a dry little “Oh.”
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Just then—
“Fourth Young Master.”
The person standing outside the hotel room had his head lowered as he waited. Ji Yang was a little surprised to see him.
“Xiaoyue? Did Mr. Huang send you here?”
“No, no!” The other hurriedly waved his hands and raised his head. “I came on my own initiative. I… I…”
Ji Yang grew impatient watching him struggle to get the words out.
He cut straight to the point. “Coming to me won’t help. We’re in the same line of work. Nothing will come of it.”
The young man called Xiaoyue looked up in shock, his face turning red from his ears all the way down to his neck.
“That’s not why I came,” he said.
Ji Yang sat in his wheelchair and tilted his head, studying him.
Then he suddenly asked, “Xiaoyue is your stage name, right?”
The other nodded. “My name is Lin Yue.”
“Looking to get out of that line of work?” Ji Yang rested his chin on his hand and asked another question.
The disappointment in Lin Yue’s eyes suddenly gave way to a flash of hope.
“Fourth Young Master, from the very first moment I saw you, I felt you were different from those rich young masters who just flaunt their wealth. I really want to seize this opportunity. Would you consider signing me under One Yuan?”
Ji Yang asked, “Did Mr. Huang force you into this?”
Lin Yue shook his head. Then, as though remembering something frightening, he said, “Someone wants to keep me as their personal companion. I don’t want to, but I…”
Sitting in the hotel corridor, Ji Yang suddenly felt that the saying about fortunes changing hands really did hold some truth.
He even suspected that Lin Yue thought he was different because Ji Yang himself had once nearly ended up in the same line of work.
All because someone had set him up.
Unfortunately, although Ji Yang admired anyone who fought desperately to take control of their own fate, he wasn’t a savior.
He shook his head. “I don’t know who you’ve offended. Mr. Huang might have brought you along because he thought the Ji family could protect you through me, but I’m afraid I have to disappoint you. I can’t help with this. You should leave. I’m sorry.”
As he spoke, Ji Yang moved past Lin Yue to swipe his room key.
Lin Yue panicked.
He hurried forward and blocked the door.
“Fourth Young Master,” he pleaded.
Just as Ji Yang stopped moving, several hotel security guards rushed over from the other end of the corridor.
“What are you doing? We received a report that someone here is harassing a guest!” The guards looked fierce as they pointed at Lin Yue. “Was it you? How did you even get up here?!”
Lin Yue’s face turned completely pale.
Ji Yang intervened. “It’s fine. Just escort him out.”
Lin Yue looked at him. There was still a final glimmer of hope in his eyes, but he didn’t struggle anymore. He followed the security guards away, turning back to look at Ji Yang every few steps.
As Ji Yang swiped his key card and opened the room, he realized the phone call was still connected.
“Did you report him?” Ji Yang asked.
Nie Xu’s voice came through calmly. “The old master isn’t pursuing the matter of you refusing to return because he was already planning to deal with the Zhu family. But his tolerance has limits. It certainly doesn’t extend to the Fourth Young Master of the Ji family openly hiring male escorts at a hotel.”
Ji Yang replied, “How was that public? Weren’t you the only one who knew?”
Nie Xu said, “I thought you would help him.”
“Am I some great philanthropist? Forcing someone into prostitution or persuading a sex worker to go straight—neither is my hobby,” Ji Yang said.
He was willing to cooperate with Mr. Huang, but he had no intention of getting entangled with any of the forces or complicated relationships behind him.
“I don’t want to make trouble for myself, either. One Yuan has only just started. What if someone crushes it before it even gets off the ground?”
Nie Xu replied, “You have permission to operate under our umbrella. If someone really manages to crush it, that would be Jian Yuan’s responsibility.”
Those words were an enormous relief to Ji Yang.
Now that was a solid backer.
“I’ll remember you said that.” Ji Yang smiled.
He walked into the room and switched on the lights.
Warm yellow light spread throughout the hotel suite.
Suddenly, Ji Yang thought again about the topic of male escorts. Back when he had first transmigrated into the novel and was struggling just to get by, he had actually considered that line of work as a possible option.
Ji Yang spoke softly into his phone.
“Big Brother, if one day I have no choice but to enter that line of work, would you be responsible for that, too?”
The other end fell silent for several seconds.
Nie Xu replied, “That would mean you’d given up on living.”
Ji Yang: “…”
What a jerk.