Chapter 36#
Ji Yang was placed on the long counter table by the window that he had seen the night before—the table’s height was just right for his legs to dangle off the edge.
Thankfully, his pants were loose enough.
Seeing Nie Xu walk away, Ji Yang simply rolled up his pant leg and looked down, hesitating about where to start.
Before long, the man returned and reached over to brush his hand aside.
His hand was swatted away so firmly that it braced against the surface behind him. Ji Yang looked up at him, bewildered.
“You haven’t washed your hands—don’t touch,” Nie Xu said, standing at the table.
Only then did Ji Yang realize he had gone to wash his hands.
“Oh,” Ji Yang said. “I was just going to take off my prosthetic leg.”
The next second, Ji Yang felt a broad hand press against the inside of his right leg. Having just been in contact with cold water, it sent a chill through him that made him flinch. Nie Xu lifted his leg half an inch and, with practiced efficiency, unfastened the buckle securing the prosthesis.
The moment the prosthetic leg was slowly slipped off, Ji Yang watched the furrow deepen sharply between Nie Xu’s brows.
“Is it that bad?” Ji Yang leaned down to look.
“The area of abrasion is quite extensive.” After saying this, Nie Xu glanced up at him. “It got this bad and you didn’t feel any pain?”
“I did feel pain,” Ji Yang said. “It’s just that when I’m busy I don’t notice it much. So many people were waiting on me—I couldn’t exactly sit in the field and broadcast, could I? It wasn’t until I woke up after a nap in the car that it became unbearable.”
The residual limb was swollen at this point, especially where it had been rubbing against the socket—large patches of purple-red, dotted all over with spots of seeped blood. Ji Yang didn’t understand it either. The original host wore it twenty-four hours a day; by all rights it shouldn’t have been this severe.
Ji Yang muttered under his breath: “It never used to be like this.”
Nie Xu glanced at him. “Before, you were picked up and dropped off by car. You never went to fields with that kind of uneven terrain.”
Ji Yang shut his mouth.
By the time You Li came thundering down the stairs carrying the first-aid kit, Nie Xu was already flushing the abraded wound with saline solution stored on the first floor.
You Li screeched to a halt right at the foot of the staircase.
In his limited knowledge, his brother was formidable, but still just a bodyguard for the wealthy Ji family—even if he’d reached the pinnacle of the profession, it was only more dangerous and covert than ordinary work.
As for Ji Yang, he was even less of a concern: a domineering young master from a powerful family who beat and scolded the servants on a whim. He had even whipped his brother at one point.
Although his impression had improved since then, You Li still remembered how this young master had gone around declaring that he liked his brother.
He had assumed Ji Yang was just flexing the privileges of his wealthy family, indulging in his own willfulness.
But the scene before him was honestly a bit of a shock.
From his vantage point, he could only see his brother’s back.
Ji Yang was mostly hidden behind him, balanced on one leg beside his brother, the rest of his body propped up and retreating toward the window behind.
All while retreating, he kept saying: “Is that enough? That’s enough—just about done, right?”
Nie Xu’s voice was stern and steady: “Hold still. Saline solution already has the least irritating effect.”
Ji Yang couldn’t believe it: “You’re kidding me, right? I feel like you’re rubbing salt in my wound.”
“I’d love to,” You Li heard his brother reply sarcastically. “With your pain tolerance, if it were real salt it’d all go toward screaming.”
Ji Yang: “No way—that would completely destroy my image.”
You Li: ……
This didn’t look like a young master at all. As for his brother, he had always assumed that his brother disciplined people primarily through extra drills—or just by using his fists. But this utterly ordinary scene unfolding before him made him unexpectedly hesitant to approach.
While You Li was still dithering—
Nie Xu turned his head and frowned at him. “Bring it over—what are you still standing there spacing out for?”
“Oh, oh.” You Li finally snapped out of it and hurried over with the first-aid kit.
Once he stood beside them, that strange feeling vanished entirely. He hadn’t expected Ji Yang’s leg to look this bad.
Thinking about what it was all for, You Li felt ashamed of his past prejudice for the first time.
“Why are you always getting hurt?” You Li said from the side.
Ji Yang sighed: “Beautiful, broken things have always been fragile.”
You Li: ……
He was speechless.
The next second, he heard Ji Yang hiss through his teeth.
He glanced over. Ji Yang’s leg was being wrapped in gauze in his brother’s hand, and between the bandage and the rolled-up pant leg, that stretch of skin was porcelain pale.
Ji Yang was still asking him: “What are you looking at? Never seen it before? Shocked?”
“Yours isn’t scary at all, okay?” You Li grumbled.
He didn’t even have the nerve to say it out loud.
Forget about being scary—You Li thought Ji Yang’s self-praise wasn’t even an exaggeration.
But watching him so completely powerless to resist in his brother’s hands, You Li worried: when he had said he liked his brother back then, he wasn’t serious, was he?
His brother didn’t seem like the type to be attracted to this kind of young master.
Ji Yang had no idea what awkward thoughts were swirling through You Li’s head. So when Nie Xu finished treating the wound and stepped away from the table, the abrupt comment that came from You Li left him speechless.
“You might want to fall for someone else.”
Ji Yang suspected he was losing his mind. “What made you say something so out of the blue?”
You Li: “I’m being kind enough to warn you because I saw you genuinely helping the people of Zhouling. Otherwise, when the time comes and you’re crying and throwing a fit, it’ll be ugly.”
Ji Yang glanced in the direction Nie Xu had walked off to, suddenly remembering the original reason he had partnered with Nie Xu in the first place.
Looking back at You Li, he smiled brightly. “Oh, you mean this?” Ji Yang shifted back on the table. “But I’m actually a very devoted person—I only like him.”
You Li: …… “The gap between your two backgrounds is too big.”
“I don’t mind,” Ji Yang said. “I’d be willing to eat nothing but chaff and drink cold water with him for the rest of my life.”
You Li’s eyes widened slightly.
“What if my brother doesn’t want that?”
Ji Yang: “That’s fine—I’ve long come to terms with it. What you can’t have is always the best.”
You Li sucked in a sharp breath.
Ji Yang held onto the window ledge, laughing so hard he nearly toppled off the table.
Only then did You Li realize he’d been played. He glared at him.
Nie Xu came back over. “What are you talking about?”
“Nothing.” Ji Yang waved his hand. “You Li just loves me too much.”
You Li was so startled he scrambled to face his brother: “I don’t! He’s making it up!”
Nie Xu looked at You Li. “Still not leaving?”
“Going!” You Li turned and headed out. Only after stepping outside did he remember to ask—wasn’t Ji Yang leaving?
Ji Yang couldn’t leave.
His leg wouldn’t be able to wear the prosthesis again any time soon, and Nie Xu hadn’t suggested he go back either. So he stayed overnight directly at the wooden house.
The fact that he was staying over caught the attention of You Li’s grandmother.
The old lady even made a special trip over late that evening.
At the time, Ji Yang was sitting on the bed in the second-floor room. The second floor was more like a loft, with a sloping roof pressing down that gave the whole room a cozy, enclosed feeling.
One side featured a fully transparent skylight roof design, a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf, a wardrobe—not much in the way of belongings. Unlike the dormitory in Building Four, it wasn’t rigid and orderly. Nie Xu didn’t have much of a lived-in feel about him, but his personal traces were unmistakable.
In the left corner sat a large floor bed, the dark-colored comforter bearing slight wrinkles from having been slept in the night before.
It wasn’t even folded.
The old lady seemed to observe some old custom—she didn’t step into the room, merely glanced inside from the doorway, then murmured a couple of quiet words to Nie Xu standing across from her before leaving again.
When Nie Xu came inside, Ji Yang noticed that with his height, he actually had to duck his head in the low-ceilinged space.
“Your grandmother came over—does she think I’m disturbing you?” Ji Yang asked cautiously.
Nie Xu glanced at him. “No. She never interferes with that sort of thing.”
Ji Yang touched his face, suspicious. “Really? But the look she gave me just now was weird.”
Nie Xu selected a book from the bookshelf and sat down on the beanbag chair by the skylight. “Don’t mind it—she’s old and likes to worry.”
“Worry about what?” Ji Yang asked, puzzled.
The book Nie Xu had just opened snapped shut again. He looked at her: “Do you really have to ask?”
“I’m curious.”
Nie Xu reopened the book and said casually: “She thinks there’s something between us. She told me to practice physical safety if I’m staying with you. That’s because You Li went back and told her your leg was pretty seriously injured. Satisfied?”
Ji Yang: ……………
Satisfied…
Ji Yang gave a dry laugh: “The old lady is quite progressive.”
Nie Xu looked up at him.
“Go to sleep early.”
Ji Yang nodded. Peng Jiaying had already gotten back to him: President Huang’s side had finalized the cooperation contract as soon as the buzz started, and both parties were just waiting to sign. The planning proposal would be a follow-up matter. He couldn’t exactly keep selling goods here at Zhouling, but he had already arranged with his colleagues to have a few specialized livestream sellers help Zhouling’s fruit farmers, as well as with fresh produce and fish.
With the heat still high, finalizing the deal wouldn’t be difficult.
His task for this trip was essentially complete.
President Huang was pressing him to return quickly. He had already agreed with Peng Jiaying to go back tomorrow.
Lying on the bed, Ji Yang suddenly remembered and asked: “When you clashed with Zhu Guangsheng today, is it really okay?”
Nie Xu: “The old master wants him to have problems. It’s just that the Zhu family has skimmed an untold amount of profit from shipping over the years—they won’t give it up easily.”
Thinking of Zhu Guangsheng’s rolls of fat, Ji Yang remarked: “Not afraid of choking to death, huh.”
His thoughts began to drift.
He felt a drowsy haze creeping in, like he was about to fall asleep at any moment.
He was, after all, occupying someone else’s bed, and this wooden house only had this single bedroom. His conscience stirred awake, and he started up another conversation: “Is this a place you lived in as a child?”
Getting no answer, Ji Yang didn’t mind and felt himself drifting off again.
Just as he closed his eyes, he heard: “No.”
“Mm?” Ji Yang let out a lazy, absent-minded hum of curiosity from his nose.
Nie Xu’s voice was calm and even, without the slightest fluctuation: “The You family replicated the loft I lived in before. Over the years, during my days off, I occasionally come to stay for a day or two.”
Ji Yang was truly relaxed now, completely unguarded, and blurted out: “Aren’t you afraid the Ji family will make trouble for the You family?”
The moment the words left his mouth, he realized what he’d said and flinched.
That was not something to bring up.
His understanding of the novel’s background was patchy at best—speaking more only meant more mistakes.
Ji Yang wrapped the blanket around himself and looked over. Nie Xu hadn’t reacted to his words with any particular emotion, but he did reply: “The You family has been rooted in Zhouling for generations. My only connection to them is from the year the You family was attacked—I was on a mission and passed through Zhouling, where I saved members of their family. That’s all.”
Ji Yang felt this explanation was worse than an interrogation.
Ji Yang tried to backpedal: “Haha, what I meant was—people like Zhu Guangsheng, if they found out you’re close to the You family, it might become leverage someone could use against you.”
As soon as he finished, Ji Yang heard Nie Xu getting up.
He put the book back on the shelf and said: “In those people’s eyes, the You family isn’t valuable enough.”
“Mm?”
Nie Xu turned his head and stood on one side of the bed, looking down at him: “Are you going to sleep or not?”
“Sleeping.” Ji Yang pulled the blanket up to his chin. “Sleeping right now.”
Nie Xu leaned over and switched off the light by the bed. The loft plunged into darkness.
Only the sky full of stars and the moonlight, spilling through the skylight in patches of dappled light. Ji Yang cleared his mind, and this time he truly fell asleep in no time.
Early the next morning, Ji Yang woke to find himself alone in the room.
He was back in the wheelchair.
The wheelchair had been placed on the first floor that morning—no need to guess, it had to be Nie Xu who had someone bring it.
His colleagues had to stay behind to wrap things up. Ji Yang had booked an afternoon return trip.
But the moment the You family and his colleagues saw him and You Li out the door, Ji Yang was blocked by a crowd.
A large group of people were standing outside, holding all manner of fruit baskets and homemade food.
“Young Master Ji, we heard you’re leaving today? In such a rush?”
“Right—we didn’t even have time to prepare anything.”
“All of this was grown at our own homes—don’t turn your nose up at it.”
“You Li, come over here and help carry—take it all for Young Master Ji.”
You Li had been planning to go back together with him anyway.
When his arms were stuffed full of all kinds of things, he stood there completely bewildered.
“Uncles, aunties—” You Li couldn’t push them away. “Ji Yang isn’t going on a trip—he’s going home. What doesn’t Fanzhou have? You really don’t need all this.”
Because of that, everyone hesitated for a moment.
After all, while they had no real concept of the wealthy elite, they did know that the handsome young man in front of them came from a different world. No matter how warm-hearted he was, he might not actually care for these ordinary things.
But that hesitation didn’t last two seconds before the young master, eyes curved into a smile, said: “I want them! These are natural, pollution-free, green products. Thank you, uncles and aunties—I won’t turn them down.”
Everyone grew even more enthusiastic.
The warmth was mixed with concern and solicitousness—after all, someone who was perfectly fine yesterday was sitting in a wheelchair today.
Only You Li, conscripted as a porter, shouted: “Can you even eat all this?”
“Can’t I eat it slowly?” Ji Yang said.
The commotion at the You family’s gate attracted quite a few people, including scattered tourists.
Some asked whether they’d be taking a boat or a car for the trip back.
Ji Yang: “By car—already contacted a driver.”
Less than two minutes after those words left his mouth, several understated, uniform black cars pulled up to the You family’s gate.
Ji Yang: These aren’t the drivers I called, are they??
Then all the car doors opened in unison.
Ji Chengyi was sitting in the back seat of the middle car. Jiang Lei and the others had already changed back into their bodyguard attire, standing by the car doors in a waiting stance. Only one person took off his sunglasses and walked over to greet the You family.
The residents stood in shock, murmuring to themselves.
“Isn’t that the Ji family’s third young master in the car? The one who just made the news yesterday?”
“Is this a show of force to pick up Young Master Ji?”
Ji Yang was sitting beside Nie Xu, tilting his head up to whisper: “Didn’t Sister Jiao say you’d be staying in Zhouling for half a month?”
Nie Xu: “Zhu Guangsheng rushed to Fanzhou overnight. He’s already before the old master, accusing you of fabricating facts and spreading false information, demanding justice for the Zhu family.”
Ji Yang clicked his tongue. “That’s a quick reversal.”
He didn’t think Ji Yansong would side with the second branch this time.
Ji Yang looked toward Ji Chengyi.
Ji Chengyi was looking right at him too. He then glanced at the pile of things in You Li’s arms behind him and frowned.
“You’ve been staying here these two days?” Ji Chengyi said. “Let’s go—Grandfather is urging us to come back.”
You Li leaned over and whispered into Ji Yang’s ear: “Look at the third young master, then look at you. What kind of young master carries around a pile of local specialties?”
“Fair point.” This third brother—said to have rejoined the Ji family midway through life—carried himself with the bearing of a proper gentleman from old money. It had seeped into his bones.
Ji Yang got into the car.
The people still gathered at the gate of the You family all pressed forward.
Uncle You specifically said to him:
“Come visit again.” Then, glancing subtly to the side: “If Brother Xu isn’t free, bring You Li along—treat this place like your own home.”
Ji Yang leaned slightly out the car window and smiled: “I will.”
His gaze drifted involuntarily toward the wooden house, and he remembered how one corner of the comforter seemed to have fallen on the floor that morning.
You Li’s grandmother would come clean it up, wouldn’t she?
Ji Yang collected his thoughts: “For my next vacation, Zhouling will definitely be the first choice.”
You Li finally managed to stuff everything into the back seat and came back, grumbling: “Young Master, you’re looking more like a local than I am—and you’re calling it a ‘vacation.’”
Ji Yang: “Uncle You invited me. What’s it to you?”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a hand pressed down on top of his head.
Nie Xu pushed him back into the car and slipped his sunglasses back on.
He turned to look at You Li’s father: “Uncle You, we’re off.”
You Li’s father said a couple of “ah, ah"s and nodded: “Take care on the road.”
Those voices were carried away by the wind behind them.
“Lao You—wasn’t that the one called Xu who came to your house before? The distant relative?”
“He hasn’t come back in years. Looked like all those people listened to him—like one of those gangster TV shows. What kind of job does he do? Quite something, really.”
You Li’s father smiled with his simple, honest face.
“Just works for rich folks.”
Ji Yang: ……
Not bad. Working for the rich—then turning around and beating up the rich.