Chapter 105#

Ji Yang drove the man out of the room with a pillow.

In the end, it still took him half an hour of dawdling before he finally got out of bed. Apart from the mottled marks of varying depths scattered across his body, his pajamas had been changed. Ji Yang looked down at the faint red impressions on his wrists, shaking his head to dislodge the indecent images lodged in his brain.

He cursed under his breath as he walked into the walk-in closet.

The moment he stepped inside, he froze.

During the ten-odd days Nie Xu had been away, Ji Yang had had the entire closet to himself. He was in the habit of tossing things around haphazardly and wouldn’t even let the housekeeper tidy up after him. But now, every single thing inside was immaculately arranged. Each cabinet had been divided into left and right sections, creating a stark contrast. The left side held nothing but black and white, with styles that were virtually identical. The right side was full of hoodies, jeans, T-shirts, dress shirts and the like, with the occasional light blue or khaki among the color palette.

Ji Yang stepped forward, flipped open a tag to examine it, and found every piece was brand new — and the fabric quality was extraordinary.

“Did you have someone order these?” Ji Yang picked out a simple top to put on. When he came back out, Nie Xu was at the dining table working on his laptop.

Nie Xu glanced up at the clothes on Ji Yang’s body, then nodded. “Someone will deliver fresh ones on a regular basis from now on. If there’s anything else you like, just let me know.”

“I’m not picky. I could wear a burlap sack and still look good.” Ji Yang walked over and dropped into the chair opposite Nie Xu.

The instant he sat down, his whole body went rigid. Then, with practiced nonchalance, he picked up a cup on the table and took a sip of water.

Nie Xu caught every bit of his little act, smiled silently to himself, then lowered his head back to his laptop.

The housekeeper came out carrying a soup tureen and set it on the table. Picking up Ji Yang’s earlier thread, she laughed, “Little Yang really is right — you’d look good even in a burlap sack.” She added, “Drink it while it’s hot. I put sea cucumber and squab in it. Very nourishing.”

Ji Yang: “Auntie, I’m not the one who’s injured.”

The housekeeper replied very naturally, “Oh, it’s Mr. Nie’s? That’s a different one. Yours is for the kidneys.”

Ji Yang: “……”

He stared blankly at the soup tureen, his eyes darting back and forth between the container and the housekeeper in disbelief.

The housekeeper didn’t notice anything wrong with what she’d said at all. She even smiled apologetically at Ji Yang. “I’m sorry for not being more attentive before. I didn’t realize the nature of your relationship with Mr. Nie. But Mr. Nie has told me everything. I even specifically asked Sister Qiu what you used to like eating. If there’s anything you want, just tell me.” Probably because Ji Yang’s look of surprise hadn’t diminished, she continued, “Young people shouldn’t be shy about these things. Auntie isn’t one of those old-fashioned people. I can understand.”

Ji Yang thought: What exactly do you think you understand?

She’d even gone and asked Mo Yi. The last time, Mo Yi still thought Ji Yang was some kind of legless, parasitic vine kept by Nie Xu, a former bodyguard.

Ji Yang tugged at the corner of his mouth and looked at the housekeeper. “Thank you for your understanding. Same-sex relationships — people come and go, it’s all normal. He likes me today, likes someone else tomorrow. That’s perfectly normal too.”

The housekeeper hurriedly comforted him, “You’re overthinking it. Mr. Nie is nothing like that.” Then she said, “Look at everything in this household — every single detail about you has been personally arranged by Mr. Nie. I’ve worked here so long, and I’ve never seen him care about anyone the way he cares about you.”

Ji Yang lifted the lid off the soup tureen, waving away the rising steam. His tone grew even more downcast. “I know. I understand everything. I won’t keep worrying about gains and losses, won’t let my imagination run wild. I won’t want Mr. Nie’s money on one hand while extravagant desire he only loves me on the other.”

The housekeeper clearly couldn’t hold her ground.

She quickly found the excuse that the oil in the pot was hot and hurried away from the scene.

From the moment Ji Yang said the words “same-sex relationships,” Nie Xu had already stopped working, arms crossed, leaning back in his chair and watching him.

Ji Yang picked up the spoon unhurriedly, scooped a spoonful, blew on it for a long while, then sipped it slowly.

Only after finishing did he raise his eyes. “What are you looking at me for?”

“Is this a protest?” Nie Xu raised an eyebrow.

Ji Yang played dumb. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Nie Xu picked up the small empty bowl beside the table and handed it to him, motioning for him to keep drinking. “No matter what you say, there’s no way you’re escaping from here.”

Ji Yang gritted his teeth. “Then don’t have someone make a kidney-nourishing soup for me.”

“It’s for your own good,” Nie Xu said calmly. “It concerns your happiness index going forward.”

Ji Yang felt like he was right back at the beginning when he’d first met Nie Xu — the man used to poison himself without warning all the time. He didn’t poison himself anymore, but he could still say things like this with a straight face as though it were perfectly reasonable.

Ji Yang: “I—”

Nie Xu cut him off. “Also, it’s not extravagant desire . The money is yours. The love is yours too.”

Ji Yang selectively heard the word “money.”

His eyes lit up. “Are you sure?”

Nie Xu nodded. “Sure. I’ll have someone prepare the contract another day.”

Ji Yang scoffed. “I don’t want it.”

Nie Xu smiled and said nothing more. He stood up from the table and walked off to do whatever.

Ji Yang craned his neck to glance at his computer screen. A chat window that Nie Xu had been covering just happened to have a new message pop up. Ji Yang took a quick look.

It was from an unfamiliar avatar that looked a lot like one of those professional managers. The message read: Nathan, per our previous agreement, since you’ve returned, the process of transferring all assets under your name to Mr. Ji Yang has been halted. However, the property in Boman has already been transferred. Does he still need to be informed?

Ji Yang froze. His fingertip accidentally brushed against the hot soup tureen, and he flinched so hard that some of the hot liquid splashed onto his hand. He hissed.

The next second, Nie Xu grabbed his hand and lifted it up.

Brow furrowed: “How can you be so careless?”

Ji Yang was led by him to the bathroom, where they ran his hand under cold water at the sink.

The cold water this time of year was somewhat piercing.

Nie Xu held his hand, positioning only the reddened patch directly under the stream.

Ji Yang looked at their reflection in the mirror — Nie Xu’s short hair from above. At this angle, Ji Yang was almost cradled in front of him. Nie Xu’s lowered brows and eyes looked particularly earnest, his features mature, everything about him so steady and effortlessly composed.

But Ji Yang learned for the first time that before Nie Xu left, he had genuinely made plans to never come back.

Even just now, when he’d casually mentioned having someone prepare a contract — he had never said a single word about any of this to Ji Yang.

Ji Yang watched for a moment, then suddenly spoke. “This house is mine now, right?”

Nie Xu’s eyes met his in the mirror. A moment’s thought, and he understood. “You saw it?”

“Transfer it back.” Ji Yang said only those three words.

Which meant he was angry again.

Nie Xu didn’t budge. He continued lowering his head to rinse Ji Yang’s hand under the water, saying, “I made that arrangement as a precaution, just in case. I knew you were still here. How could I not come back?”

Ji Yang glared at him. “Liar.”

“I didn’t lie to you.” Nie Xu lowered his head and rubbed his chin against Ji Yang’s crown. “The decision to carry out the arrest was the result of deliberation among all parties. First, Ji Chengyi had been pushed into a corner — it was the optimal window to locate the lab. Second, we had a thorough understanding of Sam. We wouldn’t have acted recklessly without confidence.”

Ji Yang struck the heart of it in one blow. “The most important thing is that everyone wanted to know where exactly that data was hidden. If you hadn’t taken action, the one left in a passive position would have been me, right?”

Nie Xu touched Ji Yang’s cheek with the back of his cold-water-soaked hand, his voice low. “It was me. I don’t like it when someone threatens what belongs to me.”

“Who’s a ‘what’?” Ji Yang tilted his head up, displeased.

Nie Xu cupped his chin, then lowered his head and bit down lightly. “What you are doesn’t matter. What matters is that I won’t allow it.”

In the early-morning closeness, the gentle nuzzling and affection, Ji Yang ultimately gave up his complaints.

Fortunately, the soup tureen had cooled for a while already. Apart from a little redness on the back of his hand, no other serious consequences came of it.

Nie Xu still applied a layer of ointment to it.

The property transfer was shelved directly.

Three days later, Ji Yang’s airport altercation hit the trending searches.

That person at the airport had apparently had a sudden change of heart. He had spliced and edited footage of the confrontation, this time clearly revealing Ji Yang’s full face. And he made it out that the assault was merely the tip of the iceberg. A swarm of marketing accounts descended, subtly directing the narrative toward Ji Yang’s background being problematic.

So-called insiders even came forward with their “revelations.”

Ji Yang read the entire piece carefully.

The author, writing in the tone of an insider, described it as follows: “This is a story from years past. Let’s just call the male and female leads A and B. The male lead, A, was once Fanzhou’s number one socialite — a man who passed through a thousand flowers without a single petal clinging to him. Everyone assumed he’d never marry early, until the female lead, B, appeared. B was a young lady from a scholarly family. The two fell in love at first sight and soon fell into a passionate romance. Reading this far, most people probably think this is about to turn into another clichéd tale of a wealthy playboy breaking a good woman’s heart, right?”

“Wrong. Not long after, the two married. Shortly after the wedding, A discovered he’d been deceived. B didn’t love him at all — what she loved was power.”

“A was the type in his family who had good looks but was useless no good. His wife, however, was a formidable one. Through the marriage she infiltrated the family business and quickly seized power. A naturally couldn’t stand it. Before long, he rekindled things with his first love.”

“The two basically lived separate lives. B frequently traveled and would be gone for ten days or half a month. A was even worse — the son he had out of wedlock was actually two months older than the one he had with B.”

“This kind of thing isn’t unusual among the wealthy. What’s truly outrageous is this: back then, A suspected B’s child wasn’t biologically his, and the two divorced. Less than a year after the divorce, B came back with the child — and the wealthy family actually welcomed them. Years later, when that child grew up, he tore the entire family apart. Pity the wealthy family who raised a white-eyed wolf. But until the end, no one ever knew who B’s lover had been. Utterly played for a fool.”

……

As soon as such an unsubstantiated and pointed exposé was published, it ignited an explosion of online discussion.

“Do you even need to guess? The wealthy family is obviously the Ji family.”

“Is there any shortage of dirty laundry about the Ji family’s eldest branch online? But that ex-wife really has always had no news. Hasn’t there always been a rumor that her death was suspicious? Ever since she died, the third branch’s wife has been chanting sutras and eating vegetarian.”

“That’s all baseless talk. I actually think this so-called exposé has ulterior motives. A and B’s child is the current co-founder of Yiyuan, the owner of the famous online account ‘One Yang,’ right? Who did the young master offend?”

“I don’t necessarily agree. What if it’s actually true? Whether it’s the first love or the illegitimate son being two months older, all these details match up.”

“I’d advise some of you to use your brains when you’re online. Is the Ji family any good? ‘Utterly played for a fool’ — don’t get manipulated by people with hidden agendas without even realizing it.”

The internet was in an uproar.

Ji Yang simply squeezed his eyes shut hard as he stared at the vague, ambiguous exposé on his phone.

Those outside didn’t know, but Ji Yang did.

He knew the not-loving was real, but loving power was false.

He knew Ji Changshou’s affair with his first love was real, but living separate lives was false.

For someone who had approached Ji Changshou with the sole aim of reaching the source — the countless tangled threads of a dark web — she had of course never fallen in love with the beneficiary of sin. But the marriage was real. The child she gave birth to was real. And the hundred percent love she invested in her child was also real.

And precisely because it was all real, Ji Yang could not accept that after all these years, someone would still throw such dirty water at her.

Whether aimed at himself, or directed at someone who had already passed away.

Ji Yang understood: the remnants of the Graveminder’s forces, now that the lab had been destroyed, had begun their final struggle.

They still wanted to get their hands on it.

And use it.

Like a malignant tumor that had lain dormant for twenty years, catching a whiff of blood and immediately trying to claw its way back. Their despicable methods were nauseating.

“Young Master Ji.” Lin Yue poked his head in at the office door. “Are you alright?”

Ji Yang raised his eyes, saw him, and silently released his white-knuckled grip on the phone. “I’m fine.”

Lin Yue hesitated, wanting to speak but holding back.

Ji Yang frowned slightly. “Is there something else?”

Lin Yue looked worried. “Boss Jian Yuan just showed up for a surprise inspection with his people. Could it be related to the public sentiment online today?”

Ji Yang frowned. “Is Qi Songqing that free?”

Lin Yue pressed his lips together and said nothing.

Ji Yang stood and walked to the window, looking down through the floor-to-ceiling glass.

Several all-black sedans had just parked in formation at the base of the office building. A pair of long legs in leather shoes stepped out first.

Ji Yang was about to get a better look.

Lin Yue said, “They say it’s Nathan, the big boss of Jian Yuan, coming in person. President Peng is anxious and urging you to go down with him to greet them.”

Ji Yang: “……”

Who?