Chapter 12#
Ji Yang got into the passenger seat of the black modified Hummer downstairs.#
Nie Xu had hoisted him into it.
The wide body, the six-slot intake grille forming an intimidating front fascia, the astonishing ground clearance—all gave the vehicle a commanding road presence with an excellent Land Cruiser-like vantage point.
The style suited a certain someone perfectly.
Ji Yang felt the car accelerating. He grabbed the seatbelt across his chest and counted in the rearview mirror—there were three cars following them.
The situation seemed worse than he’d anticipated.
Ji Yang hadn’t been going to the company recently and had been waking up late, so he hadn’t crossed paths with Ji Chengyi. According to Peng Jiaying, after that incident at the gate, Ji Zhonglin had punished his people but, in turn, had provided substantial compensation and assistance. The Lanhai Bay project was progressing steadily.
Ji Yang always felt that because of his interference, Nie Xu had given up on exploiting Ji Chengyi. So when his dear Third Brother reappeared to reclaim the spotlight, it should have been at some brilliant milestone furthering his career.
Who knew it would be because of Wei Qiming.
A communication request came from beside him. Ji Yang watched Nie Xu tap his earpiece. Whatever the person on the other end said, he responded: “Rule out the possibility of the suspect being armed or having premeditated kidnapping intent. Expand the search radius. Focus on restrooms, stairwells, and surveillance blind spots. Also, have someone contact property management and get the floor plans.”
This was the first time Ji Yang truly grasped what their line of work actually entailed.
Ji Yang: “Should I try calling Wei Qiming again?”
“No need. His phone’s off.” Nie Xu’s eyes were fixed ahead. “Direct threat to personal safety—classified as the highest level of emergency. Continuous tracking is standard protocol.”
Ji Yang said “oh.”
No wonder everyone seemed so serious.
Ji Yang knew in his heart that Wei Qiming was the protagonist in the book—nothing truly catastrophic could happen to him. But why did Wei Qiming have to have a screw loose, dragging Ji Yang, the former villain, into all of this, making it seem like he had some inescapable connection to the situation?
Ji Yang asked: “There should have been plenty of people at the auction. Did no one notice?”
Nie Xu glanced at his face, then looked back ahead: “You could think about it—when you mentioned the auction to Wei Qiming before, did you share any other key details?”
Ji Yang: … I’m more wronged than Dou E.*
“I forgot,” Ji Yang said.
Nie Xu nodded, repeating: “Forgot.”
Ji Yang knew this sounded utterly absurd, but he certainly couldn’t say he’d transmigrated into a book.
“I really did forget,” Ji Yang insisted. Something sparked in his mind, and he immediately added: “It’s because the medication I was taking before had so many side effects. I switched medications, and my mood improved a lot as a result. It’s just that my previous memories come and go.”
At the mention of this, Nie Xu nodded again: “So you knew Jiang Lei would have an accident on the boat, and you knew about Jian Yuan—also because of the medication.”
This was clearly saying: Go ahead, keep making things up.
Ji Yang knew that the further this went on, the bigger the holes in his story would become.
In the short term, he could explain it by saying he’d accidentally overheard things at the Ji household. But who was Nie Xu? Ji Yang felt that once suspicion had taken root in that man’s mind, he wouldn’t easily buy any excuse.
So Ji Yang didn’t plan to argue.
Instead, he took an unexpected turn: “I suspect my medication was swapped.”
Nie Xu turned his head to look at him, frowning: “What?”
“I’ve suspected this for a while.” Ji Yang leaned back in his seat, gazing absentmindedly at the car ceiling, sorrowful, dead inside, self-mocking: “No one in the Ji family truly wants me to get better.” He turned his head. “And you—don’t you just want my identity as the Ji family’s rightful heir?”
First, ride the emotion. Once it landed, immediately counterattack.
Ji Yang strove for the most realistic micro-expressions possible while thinking to himself: I really do need to find time to test the original owner’s medication at some point.
The book had said the original owner had long been dependent on powerful painkillers, had developed a violent temperament and deteriorating health. Ji Yang always felt this was very much like the scheming methods found in certain melodramatic novels about wealthy family power struggles. Going through everyone in the Ji family who could have done this to the original owner—there were far too many suspects. The Second Madam, Ji Chengyi’s mother who had knowingly been a homewrecker, the Old Master who solely wanted to use him, Zhao Yuan, even the original owner’s own biological father—all were possibilities.
If there was a problem with the medication, it would further cement his motivation for seeking refuge with Nie Xu.
If there was no problem, it could serve to clear the original owner’s name a bit.
Either way, it all came back to the medication.
His drastic personality change—because of the medication.
Knowing things others didn’t know—also because he’d long suspected something was wrong with the medication. Cruel, stupid, crazy—all just surface appearances.
The more he thought about it, the more reasonable the excuse seemed.
The car drove on—it seemed like only a short while, yet also like a long time.
Screech—
They stopped in front of the largest antique auction house building in Fanzhou.
Nie Xu rested one hand on the steering wheel and turned to look at the person in the passenger seat.
Looking at the person who lately had constantly placed himself in the most vulnerable, disadvantaged position, yet always unconsciously bared his claws at the most unexpected moments.
There was still a medicated patch on his elbow.
It was as if this young master had forgotten—no one here had the authority to demand anything of him forcefully, and yet he had followed them here without a second thought.
“What is it?” Ji Yang asked, confused.
Nie Xu tapped the steering wheel with his index finger: “You don’t need to explain yourself to me.”
Ji Yang smiled and, with great cooperative spirit, made a zipping motion across his lips.
Meaning: Fine, I’ll shut up.
Won’t hold you up from saving whoever.
Nie Xu pushed open the car door and hopped out, walked around the front of the vehicle to the passenger side, and the people from the cars behind quickly came over to assemble.
Ji Yang had been about to push his door open too, but Nie Xu seemed to have eyes on the back of his head—at the exact moment Ji Yang pushed the door, he turned and gave him a pointed stare.
Ji Yang understood.
Sit. Don’t move.
Ji Yang sat back down.
Nie Xu directed the scene while Ji Yang leaned against the open door, surveying the surroundings.
It was already mid-afternoon.
This antique auction house was different from the antique trading market—it was located in the heart of the commercial district, with two large shopping malls not far away. The time of day wasn’t peak foot traffic, but there were still quite a few people around.
Ji Yang could keenly sense that they were drawing quite a bit of attention.
Ji Yang looked again at Nie Xu and his team.
Since this was an emergency that arose during regular hours, they weren’t in uniform. In fact, out of habit, they would instinctively blend into the crowd or even downplay their presence.
The aura was truly something else entirely.
Sharing a venue with ordinary passersby made them stand out conspicuously.
Fortunately, Nie Xu’s orders were issued swiftly, and the group quickly dispersed through different entrances into the building. To Ji Yang’s surprise, Nie Xu didn’t leave—he stood under a tree in a planter just five meters from the car. The tablet in his hands was presumably displaying surveillance feeds. He occasionally spoke into his earpiece, concise and direct.
Those long legs, narrow waist, the veins visible from the back of his hand down to his forearm, the side profile showing a particularly straight nose—basically everything hit Ji Yang’s aesthetic sweet spots.
Ji Yang was just staring intently when he noticed Nie Xu suddenly look up and walk toward him.
“Sensitive to eye contact, huh,” Ji Yang muttered and immediately straightened up from the car window.
But Nie Xu simply stopped by the car door, said nothing, turned his back to block the door, and continued looking down at his tablet.
Ji Yang was baffled, but he quickly figured it out—a few young girls who looked like students were standing some distance away, phones in hand, snapping photos in their direction.
Ji Yang poked his head out and saw one of them waving at him.
In his previous life, his popularity had reached the level of occasionally being recognized on the street. He was used to it.
Instinctively, he raised a hand and waved back, adding a big smile for free.
The person blocking the car door shifted slightly to block him from that side.
Ji Yang tugged at him: “I don’t have that high of a need for privacy. If someone takes a photo, so what? Getting photographed just proves I’m good-looking.”
Nie Xu finally turned to look at him.
“The last time you got photographed was a month ago.” Nie Xu stated the reason flatly. “The fourth young master of Haicheng Group—scandal about bullying a waiter at a KTV—trended as headline news for a week.”
Ji Yang: …
So getting photographed wasn’t because he was good-looking.
It was because he was too infamous?
That kind of fame where the scandals were so numerous you might get beaten up in the street…
Ji Yang slumped.
Nie Xu seemed to have received a message. He put down the tablet and glanced at his wristwatch: “Let’s go.”
“Where?” Ji Yang couldn’t keep up.
Nie Xu opened the car door: “The person has been found. Wei Qiming wants to see you.”
The auction was taking place in the sixth-floor hall of the building. When the bodyguards finally located Wei Qiming and Ji Chengyi, the two were on the twelfth floor.
In a small storage room on the twelfth floor.
Ji Yang had originally wanted to say—since they’d found the person, wasn’t Wei Qiming that idiot probably dragging him over to confront him and deflect blame? But upon arriving, he discovered the man was still being held hostage.
Wei Qiming had harmed many people, so he should have been experienced with this sort of thing.
He just hadn’t expected so many people to show up. Caught off guard, he clutched a shard of broken porcelain in his hand. Gripping it too tightly, blood dripped steadily downward.
Dripping onto the light-colored suit of the person he was holding in front of him.
Ji Chengyi was no better—his meticulously styled hair was disheveled, his clothes somewhat rumpled, the collar of his shirt had two buttons popped open, revealing skin on his chest flushed with large patches of red from the agitation.
The inherent sensual aura that Wei Qiming carried about him, combined with this disheveled state, made Ji Chengyi look like a crumpled sheet of paper.
It was indeed… quite protective-inspiring.
The one playing the protector, however, absolutely did not include himself.
There weren’t many people at the doorway—all had taken concealed positions in their respective spots. Ji Yang sat in his wheelchair at the door of the storage room, tilted his head slightly in confusion: “Why call me?”
As he spoke, he caught a glimpse of someone in the corridor making hand signals—they were presumably coordinating a rescue strategy.
Wei Qiming had clearly been pressured beyond measure by this group of men. He spoke: “Today was just a coincidence.” He seemed to be savoring Ji Chengyi’s disheveled state: “I didn’t actually plan to do anything to him.”
Ji Yang genuinely advised: “Move that hand away from his neck a little.”
His mood was indescribable, but he still planned to cooperate and resolve the immediate problem first. He opened his mouth to draw attention: “I’m guessing you really didn’t plan on taking it this far. You’ve coveted him for so long, and suddenly running into him—you couldn’t resist acting on impulse. You just didn’t expect it would attract this many people, right? Seeing the situation spiraling out of control, you thought why not go all the way—” Ji Yang spoke softly, “—just kill him and be done with it?”
Wei Qiming pressed the porcelain shard tighter against the neck, then looked at Ji Yang and suddenly laughed twice: “Why don’t you come do it? The reason I called you today was originally so you could see with your own eyes how I’d help you punish your precious Third Brother… Xiao Yang, I’ve always remembered our old bond. Who’d have thought you’d push me like this? You haven’t forgotten how much you used to hate this person, have you?”
Ji Yang noticed a half-visible figure behind the storage room.
From the build, it looked like Han Biao.
Han Biao saw him too and gave a nod.
Ji Yang turned back to Wei Qiming and said, “Sure. Haven’t forgotten.”
He maneuvered his wheelchair, making a motion to move forward, trusting that Han Biao could pin the man down.
But just as he’d pushed about a meter, a rapid succession of footsteps sounded from behind.
Ji Zhonglin came out of the elevator with a group of people, striding over at great speed.
His brow was deeply furrowed. Upon seeing the patch of blood on Ji Chengyi’s clothing, his expression changed drastically.
“What the hell are you all good for!” He looked around and roared.
Ji Chengyi finally spoke his first sentence, forcing composure: “Big Brother, how did you get here?”
“Don’t do anything rash,” Ji Zhonglin signaled to Wei Qiming. “I checked into you before coming. Those dirty dealings you’ve got going on behind the scenes—I can smooth things over with the police for you. Just let him go.”
The rescue process was interrupted. Ji Yang rolled his eyes emphatically to the side.
But it seemed Ji Zhonglin noticed.
Fury flaring, the older man turned to him: “Look at the kind of people you associate with!”
“Frame your own flesh and blood—is this what the Ji family taught you?!”
Ji Yang asked with sincerity: “Do you really have time right now to lecture me?”
The vein at Ji Zhonglin’s temple bulged.
Watching all of this, Wei Qiming suddenly said to Ji Zhonglin: “I can let him go.”
He pointed at Ji Yang: “Trade him.”
Blood drama falling from the sky.
The classic tawny-two-choices.
He actually qualified to compete alongside Ji Chengyi in this selection?
Ji Yang was stunned speechless.
He blinked and made eye contact with Ji Ji Zhonglin, who was looking his way as well.
Ji Yang immediately wrapped his arms around himself: “Don’t you even think about throwing me out there. Are you even human?”
Ji Zhonglin’s face turned black as the bottom of a pot.
At this moment, Ji Chengyi demonstrated the absolute personal magnetism of his role as the protagonist shou, giving Wei Qiming a cold sneer: “Mr. Wei, you went through all this trouble just to stage a ‘dead-end corner’ scene in front of my big brother?”
He then looked at Ji Yang: “I used to think you were willful. Now trying to use a piece of trash like this to destroy me—so that’s your level.”
Ji Yang was perfunctory: “Right, right, right. I’m sitting in a wheelchair. How high could my level possibly be?”
At this critical moment, Ji Yang watched in wide-eyed helplessness as something flew out from the window where Han Biao was positioned, striking Wei Qiming’s elbow. At the same time, someone rappelled down from the floor above and kicked the glass with both feet.
A tremendous crash.
In the blink of an eye, Wei Qiming was flat on the ground with his arm dislocated and his wrists seized.
The clean, crisp crack of it made everyone’s bones feel sour just hearing it.
“Nie Xu.” Ji Zhonglin’s expression shifted. “You’re here?”
Nie Xu tossed the man to Han Biao, stepped over him, and walked to the door: “Received the news half an hour before Director Ji did, so I came. This is all thanks to the Fourth Young Master, actually.”
So this one also wants to settle accounts after the fact.
Ji Yang didn’t even think—turned around and headed off.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Ji Zhonglin’s face showed displeasure.
Ji Yang slowly turned back, sweeping a glance over Nie Xu, then over Ji Chengyi, who was gazing at Nie Xu with a dazed expression. He said to Ji Zhonglin: “Watching the person I love risk everything to save someone else—give me a moment to go cry?”