Chapter 34#
That evening, Ji Yang never got around to saying goodbye, because Nie Xu walked him back one more time.
The small courtyard was quiet at night.
The You family and his colleagues had all gone to sleep. His footsteps echoed faintly in the stairwell.
Ji Yang walked slowly. When he reached the second floor, it suddenly occurred to him. He leaned over the railing and glanced downstairs, only to find that Nie Xu hadn’t left yet.
He was leaning against the persimmon tree below, a faint ember glowing at his fingertips.
Like a silent shadow, he raised his head and met Ji Yang’s gaze.
Ji Yang’s throat tightened. He asked softly, “How come I never knew you smoke?”
Nie Xu replied, “To pass the time.”
Ji Yang: “I’m going to sleep. This is Zhouling. I’m not your assignment right now. If someone else sees this, they’ll think I’m exploiting you.”
“Get down,” Nie Xu suddenly said, frowning.
Ji Yang blinked, confused. “What?”
Nie Xu pushed off the tree and tilted his chin toward the railing under Ji Yang’s body. “I told you to get down. Stop hanging over it.”
Ji Yang assessed his posture—half his body leaning over the railing—and quietly said “oh,” pulling back from the edge.
A few seconds later, when he looked down again, Nie Xu had indeed gotten up and left.
Ji Yang scratched his hair, turned and headed back to his room. From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the silhouette of an old woman standing by a nearby doorway. He was so startled he nearly screamed on the spot.
He patted his chest in the next instant. “Grandma? You’re still awake? You scared me half to death.”
“I came to check on the pickled vegetables from before, and to pour some water into the jars.” The old woman was well past seventy but still looked quite robust. Standing there, she asked in return, “Who were you talking to just now?”
Ji Yang subconsciously covered it up. “No one.”
“No one?” The old woman’s eyes were perfectly clear as she pressed on. “Then why do you look so guilty?”
Ji Yang gave a couple of awkward laughs.
He didn’t even know why he’d reflexively lied, making it seem like he’d been doing something shameful.
Ji Yang: “I’m not guilty. What would I be guilty about?” As he spoke, he stepped forward to offer his arm. “Let me walk you back to your room. It’s too late. Be careful you don’t fall.”
“I’m perfectly fine.” The old woman said this but didn’t shake off his hand.
After a few steps, she spoke again. “I heard from You Li that your own leg isn’t good either. I know what kind of family the Ji’s are. Coming to a small place like ours from a family like that—you must feel wronged, eh?”
Ji Yang didn’t need to guess. You Li had absolutely been talking trash about him at home beforehand.
Ji Yang shook his head. “I don’t feel wronged. I’m not some rich young master.”
The old woman glanced at him.
She seemed to sigh.
“Eldest young master… how is Ah Xu doing at the Ji family?” the old woman said. “He never talks about anything going on outside. After all these years, I still don’t know how he’s really doing.”
Ji Yang didn’t dare mention that he’d previously had the man whipped until his skin was torn open. And the situation at the Ji family—that was even less something he could talk about.
He could only offer a string of praise and reassurance: “He’s doing great. Really great. He’s kind-hearted, honest, hardworking, takes his work seriously, and his superiors really value him. His future is bright—you can rest completely assured.”
The old woman stopped walking. She swept a silent glance over him.
Then she changed the subject, her tone calm. “He’s just an ordinary person. A bodyguard. Do you really think he’s that good?”
“What’s wrong with being a bodyguard?” Ji Yang said without thinking. “Someone as skilled as him? You couldn’t hire a second one no matter how much money you spent.”
Just ask—what ordinary bodyguard could have plunged the Ji family into such chaos as they were in today.
They’d reached the stairs by now. The old woman suddenly remarked, “You don’t quite carry yourself like some haughty young master.”
Ji Yang sensed a subtle shift in her attitude toward him. Where exactly the change was, he couldn’t quite pin down.
The old woman wouldn’t let him walk her any farther. “Go back and rest. No more escorting.”
Ji Yang: “Are you really sure you’re all right?”
“This is my own home. What could possibly be wrong?” The old woman waved her hand. “Hurry back. Chattering away in the dead of night—no wonder you got scolded.”
Ji Yang: Who got scolded? Me?
The next morning, it was still blazing outside.
By seven-thirty, the sun was already hanging high, baking the You family’s small courtyard and the seaside road outside.
Fortunately, the temperature wasn’t too high yet. Young people went jogging on the road from time to time, and early-rising residents took their morning strolls.
Old Mai, whom Uncle You had introduced, was about the same age as You Li’s father—early fifties, with dark, weather-beaten skin and a hearty smile.
The vehicle he’d brought turned out to be a tourist sightseeing bus.
You Li was the first to hop on. “Everyone get on! I was planning to use my dad’s pickup, but my brother had someone drive it away first thing this morning. So I had Uncle Mai bring the one he’s contracted.”
The people from “Yiyuan” all boarded looking as excited as if they’d come on a proper vacation.
The seat left for Ji Yang was in the very front.
Ji Yang felt the morning breeze of Zhouling and struck up a conversation with Uncle Mai. “Do you also ferry tourists around normally?”
“Making a little extra money.” Uncle Mai was very warm. “I heard you’re here evaluating a cultural tourism project, right? That’s a wonderful thing for the people. Leave today’s itinerary to me—no charge.”
Ji Yang: “How can we do that? You’re already busy, and now you’re taking time out for us. We should pay what we owe.”
Uncle Mai shook his head. “Don’t be so polite. Zhouling’s tourist numbers have really dropped these past few years. This bus doesn’t carry many people a day.”
“That shouldn’t be the case,” one of the colleagues chimed in from the back. “I actually quite like this place. Beautiful scenery, friendly people, and most importantly, the water quality hasn’t been ruined. I was thinking about going for a walk on the beach tonight.”
You Li was slouched in his seat with no decorum whatsoever.
He yawned and joined in. “With the tourist flow gone, naturally there’s nothing to destroy.”
Uncue Mai smiled ruefully. “Little Li’s right. Especially for us local fruit farmers—not only are we not making money this year, we’re actually losing out. There are also restrictions on the shipping in and out at the dock. That’s one of the main reasons.”
Their group visited two historical sites, one cultural industry park, and one natural scenic spot over the course of the morning.
You Li was a local young man, and Uncle Mai was a longtime resident. They each emphasized different things, which made the experience more comprehensive.
After a full morning of running around, everyone was exhausted.
For lunch, they randomly found a small roadside restaurant.
It was during the meal that one of the colleagues suddenly said, “Quick, look at the Zhouling local trending topics.”
Ji Yang had been expecting this. He pulled out his phone and looked—sure enough.
The conflict from the day before had escalated once again.
Someone had learned that the Ji family’s third young master had come to the area. Early that morning, he was blocked at the dock, and a fairly large-scale joint protest broke out.
The sound of countless people arguing, shoving, and hurling insults could be heard in the video.
Ji Chengyi, representing the Ji family, stood in front of the crowd behind layers of bodyguards and announced that the Ji family had already initiated an internal investigation and would definitely give everyone a satisfactory answer.
Those words did nothing to comfort the impoverished ordinary people.
Right at the critical moment, someone in the crowd fainted from emotional distress, their breathing stopping.
Both ambulances and police arrived.
This only further inflamed public anger.
Voices also rose online.
【The Ji family really has no humanity. My uncle-in-law is a veteran fisherman here in Zhouling, and he says the Zhouling Shipping Association has been rotten to the core for ages! Especially over the past six months, they’ve practically left ordinary people no way to survive.】
【It looks terrifying at the scene. But if this third young master of the Ji family really didn’t want to resolve things, why bother coming all the way here? Why not just stay in Fanzhou and play the rich young master?】
【That’s true. Nothing to criticize there.】
【They’re all surnamed Ji. Does anyone actually believe this so-called internal investigation will yield results?】
【Does the person above not know? The Ji family is in chaos right now. The first and second branches are fighting for power, open and covert struggles alike. Whether this is a show or not, for ordinary people, what matters is getting the problem solved.】
…
Ji Yang sat outside the small fly restaurant, a bowl of the local specialty lamb noodles in front of him.
His colleagues were all discussing the incident. You Li kept scrolling through the videos, muttering, “Damn, there are so many people. My dad didn’t go too, did he?” Then a moment later: “What’s wrong with these people? The third young master is here to solve the problem. If scolding him were useful, what do we need the police for?”
He even clasped his fists and made a wish: “If this matter really gets resolved, Third Young Master Ji will be the most extraordinary rich young master in my heart—not just one of the most, the absolute most. I’ll never resent the rich again.”
Ji Yang tapped on his phone, not forgetting to be sarcastic. “Can the ranking in your heart be exchanged for money?”
“You love money so much—can’t you have some grander love?” You Li said.
Ji Yang: “If this matter really gets resolved, thank your brother.”
You Li frowned. “What do you mean?”
Ji Yang was too busy to answer.
Less than two minutes later, You Li stared at his phone and shot up from his seat, pointing at Ji Yang with disbelief. “Why are you messing around again?!”
All the colleagues turned to look at him at once.
Ji Yang slapped his hand onto You Li’s. “What do you mean, messing around?” What baffled him even more was: “I literally just posted this and you already knew—am I on your special follow list or something?”
You Li’s face turned completely red.
“I’m monitoring you at all times!”
The colleagues had been clueless, but before long, they all knew too.
Because Ji Yang had posted a new update carrying a trending topic.
By all rights, he wasn’t the type who frequently posted about his personal life. But ever since he’d joined the internet, his popularity had been consistently high—truly one of a kind among Fanzhou’s elite circles.
He hadn’t really posted anything special.
He simply posted it together with the hot tags from the conflict that had erupted last night and this morning.
The caption read: Missed last night, didn’t make it today either. Listed as one of the ten great regrets of my life.
The speed at which it gained traction was astonishing.
Anyone paying attention would notice that there was someone behind the scenes fueling the fire.
It was “Yiyuan.”
This was something Ji Yang had arranged with Peng Jiaying in advance. To achieve the effect he wanted, he needed professionals. And “Yiyuan” just happened to be well-versed in this. The company’s primary job was boosting traffic and carrying topics, hyping up the local Zhouling incident—not Ji Yang himself.
Under Ji Yang’s post, the initial comments were still:
【Jealous of your third brother handling core family business?】
【The contrast. One is growing to become indispensable to the family, while the other can only post sour remarks online.】
【Caused trouble for the family before—haven’t you learned your lesson yet?】
Comments like these. But as the incident gained momentum, many more people surged in, and the comments were quickly buried.
They were all talking about the incident itself.
【What exactly is going on in Zhouling? I keep seeing people saying the situation there runs really deep.】
【Don’t tell me you’re in Zhouling too.】
【The Ji family has made a move! They just released a statement saying not to believe online opinions that stir things up. They wouldn’t be talking about you, would they? Hahahaha.】
【History always repeats itself in the most uncanny ways…】
【Making the Ji family the enemy like this—every time there’s a problem, you jump right in, as if you’re afraid the netizens won’t let your family off the hook.】
…
At this moment, at the Zhouling Shipping Association office building.
No one yet knew that online momentum was steadily building.
Zhu Guangsheng was barely in his thirties, with the greasy look of a man stuffed full of fat and flattery.
His green jade ring dug such deep grooves into the flesh of his finger that it looked squeezed to the bursting point. He was kicked into a luxurious office chair, which let out an unbearable creak.
“You… what are you doing?!” Zhu Guangsheng clutched his chest, staring at the doorway in pain and terror.
Nie Xu had brought only three or four men, yet they’d scared the dozen or so thugs Zhu Guangsheng had called in so badly that the men kept stumbling backward.
Nie Xu stepped inside and gave a smile. “Not doing anything. Just came to make a deal with Chairman Zhu. Who knew Chairman Zhu had prepared a surprise.”
“What deal?” Zhu Guangsheng swallowed hard, looking around, unable to believe that despite his thorough preparations, someone had so easily backed him into a corner.
His own sister was the wife of the Ji family’s second branch. The Zhu family had been in shipping for who knows how many years. Even if the name “Nie Xu” wasn’t intimately familiar to him, he certainly knew to be wary of it.
The Ji family had been in shipping in its early days, and he had witnessed this man’s methods firsthand.
But his sister had told him before that Nie Xu had drawn the old master’s suspicion and been dispatched to serve as a personal bodyguard to that useless Ji Fourth Young Master. Who would have thought the old master, intending to investigate the Zhu family, would quietly send this man to Zhouling?
He had everything planned out.
He’d placed his own people at the dock, and he’d paid a handsome sum to the family of someone with an acute heart condition. As long as someone died, the Ji family naturally wouldn’t have the energy to investigate further, and incidentally, he could drag down that most threatening third young master of the first branch—Ji Chengyi—for his sister.
Who would have thought Nie Xu would be this difficult to deal with.
Nie Xu walked over to the desk, pulled out a chair, and sat down. “Naturally, a business deal that benefits Chairman Zhu.” So saying, he took a stack of documents from the person behind him, placed them on the desk, and pushed them forward. “These are the detailed records of every sum transferred from the Ji family’s accounts by the Zhu family over all these years—money scraped from Zhouling, bribes taken, all of it. This evidence is more than enough to put you in prison for ten years.”
Zhu Guangsheng’s face changed drastically.
He shot up from his chair and slammed both hands on the desk.
Through gritted teeth: “Is the old master planning to go back on his word? How much has my Zhu family done for the Ji family year after year, and how much money has filled their coffers? Put all that out there, and I don’t believe the Ji family won’t be afraid.”
Nie Xu looked up. “Do you think the Zhu family still has a tomorrow?”
“Nie Xu! Don’t push it!”
Nie Xu: “I said, I’m here today to discuss business with Chairman Zhu.”
Nie Xu rose from his chair.
He walked to the window and looked toward the dock, then delivered his terms: “I can guarantee to the old master that the Zhu family won’t be implicated in this matter. There are two conditions. First: relinquish all authority in your hands, and transfer all of the Zhu family’s shares in the Ji family’s shipping business. Second: withdraw from the Association. By this evening, I need to see an updated report on the resumption of shipping traffic.”
Zhu Guangsheng’s face darkened. He fancied he’d figured everything out, his tone sinister: “You’re from the first branch, aren’t you? You’re targeting my Zhu family to put Ji Chengyi in power?”
“Why would Chairman Zhu think that?” Nie Xu said calmly. “The Ji family is at a critical juncture. The thing they most want to avoid is anyone taking sides.”
With that, he walked back and pushed the documents a little further forward. “Prison or self-preservation—Chairman Zhu still has time to consider.”
Nie Xu finished speaking and turned to leave the office.
They hadn’t gone far before the sound of a chair being smashed came from inside.
Along with that furious roar.
“What the hell is going on on the internet?!!!”
The corner of Nie Xu’s eyebrow twitched upward.
He pulled out his phone and kept walking without breaking stride.
As they passed through the office building, everyone hurriedly made way. Most of them understood that this was someone sent down by the Ji family. They were cowed by the man’s own oppressive aura, and further surprised by what was clearly the sound of a livestream coming from his phone.
The male voice on the phone was clean, tinged with a casual nonchalance.
As if answering the livestream comments: “Yeah, I’m in Zhouling… Not at the scene, not sure what happened… Saw the video—my third brother didn’t even touch anyone’s clothes. Saying he killed someone? Isn’t that absurd? And I’m not after the Ji family—I’m here on a business trip… Believe it or not… Riding the trend? Yeah, I took on a cultural tourism project. What I’m missing is exactly exposure. Want me to show you the beautiful scenery of great Zhouling?”
Then the person on the phone seemed to address someone beside him: “Uncle Mai, this is your own orchard?… You want to see it? You want to see everything—everything costs money.”
Quite a few people in the office were piqued with curiosity. The elevator arrived, and once the man left with his group, everyone pulled out their phones.
Finding Ji Yang’s account was easy.
Because this time, it wasn’t trending on the gossip charts—it was right at the front of the hard news hot list.
In the camera, a young man stood in the sunlight, holding a banana leaf over his head for shade. His face beneath the shadow was natural and filter-free—almost startlingly real, and equally eye-catching and striking.
He was complaining about the heat and even tugged at the shirt on his chest.
Behind him stretched vast orchards as far as the eye could see, the ground littered with overripe fruit that had fallen and found no buyers.
Someone else was holding the livestreaming phone.
Up ahead, he reached out, grabbed a branch, plucked a peach, and took a bite. “Ptoo, ptoo. Overripe.”
A voice behind the phone said: “They all say they want to buy.”
“Put up the link,” the person said, already scanning for his next target, his tone offhand.
In the orchard, You Li was speechless, looking at the 500,000-plus viewers in the livestream room and the screen full of:
【???】
【When the livestream just started, I heard them—the trip to the orchard was totally unplanned hahahaha.】
【I can vouch for Zhouling’s situation. It’s absolutely real. The fruit farmers are all losing a fortune this year.】
【If you can put them up, I’ll buy—no questions asked.】
【Seriously, if you can actually sell today, I swear I won’t insult you as a shameless merchant.】
【So put them up already!】
You Li was numb. He relayed for the netizens: “They say if you put them up, they’ll absolutely buy.”
Ji Yang heard this, turned around and walked back. He glanced at the viewer count in the upper right corner, then looked back at the orchard.
Facing the camera, he said slowly: “Uncle Mai is a great person, and Zhouling is a fine place. I’m doing this livestream to promote the project—I have my own selfish motives too. But if you’re serious, then I’ll take it seriously too.”
【Absolutely serious—more serious than pearls.】
【For the sake of my hometown, I’ve got to place at least a couple of orders.】
There were skeptics too.
【This is all a tactic, right?】
【Young master selflessly helping the fruit farmers through their crisis. Not a bad script.】
【I don’t believe you’re not taking a cut.】
But these were the minority. With the Ji family and Zhouling news occupying the front pages, most simply believed he’d reached some kind of cooperation with the fruit farmers, and didn’t question the authenticity of the livestream.
Ji Yang made a phone call to Peng Jiaying.
Then, with the tens of thousands of viewers watching, he demonstrated maximum initiative by assembling an impromptu operation on the spot. When he said he’d sell, he sold.
From two in the afternoon until six in the evening.
The netizens seemed just as intoxicated by it. Orders surged. Uncle Mai’s own orchard was nowhere near enough—Uncle Mai called in every fruit farmer he knew, nearby fruit farmers rushed over one after another, and when phones ran out of battery, power banks kept them alive.
Even people passing by on the road were puzzled—why were there so many people at the Zhouling orchards today?
Around six-thirty.
The sun hadn’t quite set yet.
A black car pulled up by the side of the road.
Jiang Lei, hand on his lower back, gazed toward the orchard and sighed with emotion: “This young master is always so unexpected. Even his showboating is one of a kind.”
Nie Xu leaned on the car window, also looking in that direction. “It’s not a show.”
The livestream had ended.
The young master sat on the edge of the field ridge without a shred of dignity, while several colleagues busied themselves nearby.
Fruit farmers came and went, carrying bamboo baskets, their faces lit up with smiles they hadn’t worn all year long.
Someone called out: “Little Boss Ji.”
They tossed him an apple. “Eat something first to hold you over.”
The young master caught it, half-laughing, half-groaning: “Sister Wang, couldn’t you give me something else? I’m about to throw up from eating.”
“Come to my house tonight—I’ll make you something good.”
“Come to mine.”
“Don’t anyone fight over it—let Little Boss Ji decide himself. His legs can barely hold him up anymore.”
Facing all this goodwill, the man who’d said he was about to throw up just moments ago now said with a smile: “These legs are worth seven figures and up. ‘Can’t stand up’—you can’t say things like that.”
The evening glow fell on the face of the man propped on his elbows behind him, hands pressed into the ground.
The sky stretched far, and the wind swayed gently.