Chapter 19

The next day at noon, Qi Xu got up and washed up. He took the elevator downstairs, planning to head to the main hall for lunch. When he arrived, the dining table was already set, and Old Master Shen sat in the main seat.

Uncle Li saw Qi Xu come down and quickly went to support him. “Young master, you’re hurt, don’t tire yourself out coming down. I’ll have them bring the meal up to your room later.”

Qi Xu’s back hurt worse after a night of rest, but his spirits were high. Determined and strong-willed, he came downstairs looking for food.

“No trouble needed, my leg’s fine.” Qi Xu was helped to the table, unable to bend over but able to sit up straight.

Old Master Shen snorted coldly, his eyes scanning the wound on Qi Xu’s lip. His face was stern. “You looked so tough when you were fighting. Now look how pathetic you are.”

Qi Xu poured himself a glass of water. “At least I didn’t lose. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be seeing me today.”

Old Master Shen leaned on his cane. “What good does winning do? Those were just small fry. If you don’t put an end to it, there’ll be a third time, a fourth time. What can you do about the people behind them?”

He looked at Qi Xu. “Have you thought it through?”

Qi Xu nodded. “I still want to handle it myself.”

The night before, the grandfather and grandson had a long heart-to-heart. Old Master Shen somehow learned that the mastermind was Song Ruoming from the Song family. Considering past incidents of framing, he proposed giving Qi Xu some of his own men to follow his orders.

In the previous life, Old Master Shen’s men had been lent out by Shen Fengkai because of a manpower shortage and never recalled. They had been used by Shen Fengkai, and that team once severely damaged both him and Li Kaixing.

In this new life, Qi Xu never intended to borrow the old master’s influence. That wasn’t in his plans. He came to the old house just to make up for past regrets and spend more time with the elders.

Old Master Shen, disappointed but determined, slammed the table. “What can you do? The Shen family descendants aren’t going to take this lying down. Repay evil with evil—that’s my family rule.”

Qi Xu was calm but resolute. “I’ll make him leave the capital.”

Old Master Shen looked at him, eyes narrowed thoughtfully. He didn’t scold, but said, “Their Song family can’t compare to ours.”

Qi Xu caught the implied meaning—no matter what he did, the Shen family would always back him. At least the old master was on his side.

Qi Xu recalled the last time he saw Old Master Shen in the ICU in his previous life, tightly holding his and Shen Fengkai’s hands, lips moving but no words coming out.

But Qi Xu knew what he wanted to say: the old master hoped he and Shen Fengkai would stop fighting.

Old Master Shen didn’t ask for details about what Qi Xu wanted to do. Meanwhile, although the herbal medicine was late, Uncle Li knew Qi Xu couldn’t open his mouth fully because of the lip wound, so he prepared a straw.

Qi Xu’s vision darkened—more terrifying than fighting six people at once.

Qi Xu was the kind of person who never let grievances go unavenged. In his last life, at Fang Qian’s coming-of-age ceremony, he was too weak to find those who framed him. Ten years later, when Fang Qian told him the truth, he took revenge on Song Ruoming.

The Song family’s decline was caused by incompetent heirs. At that time, Song Ruoming had just returned from studying abroad and was the family’s only hope—to pull the Song family back from the brink.

Qi Xu and Shen Fengkai fought fiercely, pushing the Shen family several levels higher. As the deputy CEO of Shen Corporation, Qi Xu was more than capable of dealing with Song Ruoming.

A scandal could be the final straw for a business or even a family. No matter how much the Song family spent to cover it up, Qi Xu would dig until he found it.

Song Ruoming didn’t pull the faltering Song family back from the cliff; he dragged them down into a bottomless abyss.

Among the incidents, there was a school bullying case that led to an innocent student’s suicide by jumping, just six months ago. The Song family used money to suppress the matter, so no rumors leaked out.

When Qi Xu was 18, he had no power. Luckily, the 28-year-old Qi Xu from the present life stepped in. To uncover the decade-old school bullying case, he used mysterious forces across the ocean—a little-known hacker group established years ago. As long as the money was right, they operated constantly in the gray areas.

Last night, Qi Xu tried contacting them by email and actually got through. But they were extremely cautious, asking many questions. Fortunately, Qi Xu knew their style. Now, once the payment hits their account, they’d get to work.

Still, someone had to visit the victims’ families in person. Qi Xu’s current condition made it hard even to walk, let alone run errands.

Just as Qi Xu planned to find Li Kaixing, a servant informed him that Xu Yichen had arrived.

The two met in the living room. Xu Yichen got straight to the point: “Fang Qian is my friend. Hurting her is hurting me. What’s your plan?”

The person they needed had come.

Qi Xu didn’t question why Xu Yichen wanted to defend Fang Qian. In his understanding, the Xie, Xu, and Fang families were a collective.

Xu Yichen’s involvement made sense.

Qi Xu told him part of the plan. Xu Yichen was stunned when he heard Song Ruoming had a murder on his hands.

“How come I never heard of this?”

Song Ruoming didn’t attend the same school as them, but in their circle, no one had any news.

Qi Xu chose not to explain and handed him an address. “Have your people visit the victim’s family. Tell them we’ll seek justice for their son and promise their safety, on the condition they provide detailed accounts of what happened.”

Xu Yichen asked, “You want Song Ruoming jailed?”

Qi Xu thought for a moment. “Currently, no clear law specifically addresses school bullying. Song Ruoming isn’t the legal culprit—there was no physical violence. The Song family will do whatever it takes to protect him. He likely won’t be sentenced.”

If this was true, Xu Yichen had to think carefully. “How do you guarantee the victims’ families will tell you everything and come out safely? Once this breaks, the Song family won’t let them go.”

Leaning on a soft pillow, twirling a walnut he snatched back from Old Master Shen, Qi Xu looked casual but calmly revealed a fatal secret about a family.

“In recent years, not a single medical accident has happened at the capital hospital. Do you think it’s the doctors’ skill or Director Song’s deep pockets?”

His words were like light rain but cut sharply, straight to the enemy’s heart.

Xu Yichen was playful but not naive. As heirs raised carefully by their families, they had seen and heard much and understood every family’s tangled paths.

They weren’t surprised by the facts, but why did Qi Xu know?

“How do you know all this?”

Qi Xu smiled, joking, “Consider me a shaman who knows these things.”

Xu Yichen assumed Old Master Shen used his people to uncover it all. After all, he had been an unchallengeable head of the family back then.

“All right, we’ll go with your plan.” Xu Yichen pointed to the items on the table. “Fang Qian gave you this. She said you like playing games. Since you’re not mobile right now, you can use it to pass the time.”

Qi Xu raised an eyebrow at the latest gaming console. Remembering the single-player snake game he played in the car yesterday, he casually said he liked games.

“Tell her thanks for me.”

Then he remembered something. “By the way, whose phone number ends with 8876?”

Xu Yichen answered, “That’s Ah Huai’s. Why?”

Qi Xu was momentarily stunned—this person hadn’t added him as a contact yesterday, but he had his number.

“Nothing, just asking.”

After chatting a bit more, Xu Yichen took his leave and went next door to the Xie family.

As soon as Xu Yichen arrived, he excitedly told Xie Huai everything. Afterwards, he couldn’t help but say, “Ah Huai, I found another you in this world. His style and methods are exactly like yours—tough and strong. No wonder you fell for him at first sight. Turns out, you saw yourself.”

Xie Huai looked up at him. “Your Chinese is top-notch. Is that how you use ‘falling in love at first sight’?”

Xu Yichen shot back, “Then why do you keep helping him?”

Xie Huai closed his book. “Why do you need a reason to play the good Samaritan?”

Xu Yichen rolled his eyes and shared his worry: “What if one day Qi Xu becomes our enemy? What will happen then?”

“That ‘if’ won’t happen.” Xie Huai was confident. “He won’t be our enemy.”

Xu Yichen asked, “Why? Just because the elders of our families are friends? That can’t last forever. No one knows what will happen next.”

“Because he looks down on us as enemies, and also looks down on us as friends.” Xie Huai said calmly. “Don’t you notice he’s different from everyone else we know? He keeps people at a distance, can walk away anytime, and is used to being alone.”

After hearing that, Xu Yichen actually felt it was true. Qi Xu treated them with neither inferiority nor arrogance, never acting like they were high-and-mighty heirs. No matter how powerful the forces behind them, he always kept his interactions casual and detached.

It was just like a moment ago—his tone when giving orders was like that of a boss to a subordinate, completely blunt and without any courtesy.

Xu Yichen was about to say something when he heard Fang Qian’s voice from upstairs: “Xu Yichen, where’s my afternoon tea?”

Xu Yichen stiffened, hurriedly taking the small cake from the servant and bringing it upstairs.

Xie Huai watched Xu Yichen’s pitiful look and found it amusing, silently twitching the corner of his mouth.

His phone buzzed. He took it out to check the message and noticed a red dot on his contact list.

The WeChat profile picture was all black, the name “Living off the fat of the land,” and the friend request message said: “How much was the medical bill last night? I’ll transfer it to you.”

It was the debtor.

After accepting the friend request, Xie Huai sent an electronic invoice.

Xie Huai: [5200. You don’t have medical insurance in the capital.]

“Living off the fat of the land”: [……]

Qi Xu really needed money now—he still had to support his newly established company. It was about time to consider selling his sapphire to cash out.

“Living off the fat of the land”: [Will you accept goods in lieu of cash?]

Xie Huai: [Let me see what goods.]

“Living off the fat of the land”: [I’ll give you the incense burner first. You know its price. For the extra money, you just have to light one incense stick every day.]

Xie Huai knew the price of the incense burner—his purchase price was only 5,000, so technically, he’d be at a loss.

Xie Huai: [You just want a free daily incense lighter for your burner.]

“Living off the fat of the land”: [I’m not refusing to pay.]

Xie Huai: [Is that all you’re worth?]

“Living off the fat of the land”: [Then what do you want?]

Xie Huai: [Nothing. Just keep the debt. I’m not interested in your incense burner.]

Qi Xu didn’t like owing money but still asked:

“Living off the fat of the land”: [Then what are you interested in?]

Qi Xu never got a reply from Xie Huai. So, he took some money from his financial investments to repay the debt.

One second after transferring, the other side accepted the money.

No reply to his question, but they were quick to accept payment.