Chapter 52#
The apartment on the thirty-second floor of the Berman was a duplex.
The décor mostly used dark grey, black, and white tones. The living and dining area was an open-plan space, and the floor-to-ceiling windows took up almost an entire wall, beyond which lay the layered skyline of downtown Fanzhou. There wasn’t much furniture, but every piece had a carefully curated quality, so spotless it could have been listed as a model unit at any moment.
When Ji Yang was wheeled through the door, he even hesitated about whether to take off his shoes — though, of course, his shoes never touched the floor anyway.
Nie Xu came around from behind him, tossing the car keys into the tray on the entryway console. They landed with a crisp clink. “The first-floor bedroom is yours — no need to go up and down the stairs. Lin Yue can take the guest room on the left side of the second floor. Housekeeping comes daily to clean and prepare three meals.”
Ji Yang glanced around and noticed the thin blanket draped over the arm of the sofa — clearly showing signs of having been used.
“Are you staying here these past few days?” Ji Yang asked.
Nie Xu stood at the kitchen island, handing Ji Yang and Lin Yue each a bottle of water. He grunted. “It’s closer to Haicheng from here.”
Lin Yue held his water, standing silently in the center of the living room. He spoke up hesitantly: “Um, I — I probably shouldn’t stay, right?” He looked at Ji Yang. “Boss Ji, if you need anything, just call me anytime. I’ll come right over.”
Ji Yang knew he was uncomfortable.
He didn’t push it.
He nodded. “Alright.”
Nie Xu frowned. “You’ll be okay alone?”
“You’re here, aren’t you?” Ji Yang steered his wheelchair over to the sofa, braced his arms, and let himself sink into the soft leather cushions. He pulled a throw pillow to his chest and let out a contented sigh. “You’ll probably be at Haicheng all the time until the old man comes back, right? I can’t just show up and you leave right away — that’d make me look like a cuckoo bird squatting in someone else’s nest.”
Nie Xu leaned against the island, twisted open the bottle and took a sip, then capped it and set it back on the counter. “Got it.”
The answer made Ji Yang glance at him.
Got it?
“Got it” probably meant that since Lin Yue had left, Nie Xu hadn’t gone out at all.
He’d been upstairs all afternoon handling work.
Ji Yang sorted through the luggage he’d brought.
The first-floor bedroom had all the necessary furniture, and the bedsheets and duvet cover looked freshly changed by the housekeeper. Ji Yang hadn’t brought much from the Ji household — combining what Aunt Mo had packed for him with what he’d bought during his hotel stay, it amounted to one suitcase and a backpack.
He had no plans to stay long, so he only pulled out a few frequently worn items from the suitcase and casually tossed them into the closet.
He dealt with a few work-related odds and ends, and before he knew it, the sky had gone dark.
He wanted to take a shower.
The bathroom was close to the bedroom, though the design wasn’t exactly practical.
A large bathtub paired with floor-to-ceiling windows, positioned right on the waterproof ledge of the wet-dry separation area. Directly opposite stood Yunshu Tower, Fanzhou’s most iconic landmark. Ji Yang had been there before — it was the top check-in destination for out-of-town tourists. At night, the lights were magnificent and dazzling, a sea of stars.
This was the first time he’d seen Yunshu Tower from this vantage point. If it weren’t in a bathroom, he would have lavishly praised this dazzling nightscape.
Meanwhile, on the second floor.
Had Ji Yang been standing in Nie Xu’s study, he would have discovered that their views were almost identical.
On the computer screen behind Nie Xu was a video conference that had been running all afternoon.
His camera was off. This was something the entire leadership of Jianyuan had long grown accustomed to — aside from a handful of people, no one knew what the company’s boss, Nathan, actually looked like.
After the meeting ended, everyone else left on their own.
Only Qi Songqing remained.
Qi Songqing complained: “The original deal was that if the plan went smoothly, you’d all come back together. Now look — Jiang Lei is tied up at Building Four, and I’m the only one working myself to death day in and day out. And you — you were supposed to be Haicheng’s representative at the signing ceremony this afternoon, and you didn’t even show your face. What’s up with that?”
Nie Xu looked out the window. “Whether I show up or not, the result is the same.”
“Easy for you to say.” Qi Songqing continued: “Thanks to your precious young master, we acquired the shipping company’s core assets at the lowest possible price — way smoother than expected. But then he poured gasoline on the fire by cutting ties with the Ji family, and now the Ji family’s third young master has reconnected with Jin Husheng.”
Nie Xu’s gaze gradually turned cold: “Get someone to keep an eye on him.”
“Understood.” Then Qi Songqing added: “Oh right — the results of that investigation you had us run on Ji Yang just came in.”
Nie Xu paused. “And?”
“Nothing suspicious.” Qi Songqing seemed to be flipping through files. “This young master’s life trajectory has been almost entirely under public scrutiny since birth — even his exact time of birth and his elementary school homeroom teacher’s name can be found online.”
Nie Xu mused in a low voice: “And this year’s contact with Wei Qiming’s group — no anomalies?”
“Does sending Wei Qiming to prison count?” Qi Songqing laughed. “Didn’t you go bail him out yourself? Speaking of which, it’s true — this young master really did a complete 180 after that. Whenever I see him now, I want to thank the Ji family. If they hadn’t been so inhumane, this young master never would have ended up in our hands.”
Nie Xu didn’t take Qi Songqing’s joking to heart.
A growth record that seemed perfectly flawless, a flimsy excuse of drug-induced amnesia — neither was enough to account for everything that was unusual.
Qi Songqing saw he wasn’t speaking and grew puzzled. “What’s up? You still think something’s off? What exactly are you trying to dig up?”
Dig up what?
Dig up why the young master’s temper had vanished.
Dig up the earth-shattering anomalies about him.
Dig up who taught him to act so recklessly, with no regard for consequences.
“Leave that for now.” Nie Xu changed the subject. “Have someone bring over the supplementary agreement contract for the investment terms tomorrow. Deliver it here to Berman.”
Qi Songqing was speechless. “Party A holds veto power over Party B’s major operational decisions. I can’t decide whether to call this bullying or your damn controlling tendencies acting up again. This is so unlike you.”
Nie Xu didn’t react strongly. He only said: “I know what I’m doing.”
Qi Songqing sighed earnestly: “We’re brothers. I should be advising you that getting emotional at a critical moment like this is the last thing you should do, but you came in hot with hardball tactics from the start. People aren’t those subordinates you drill day and night. You can’t just take advantage of someone because they’re easy to push around, right? Even a cornered rabbit bites.”
Nie Xu gave a soft scoff. “Easy to push around?”
If he were truly that easy to push around, the contract wouldn’t have been necessary.
Just then, an odd noise came from downstairs.
“We’ll talk about this later. That’s all for now.” Nie Xu frowned.
Qi Songqing: “Wait — the ‘bullying’ I’m talking about isn’t the same kind as—”
Nie Xu hung up and strode straight out of the study.
He went downstairs as fast as possible, sweeping his gaze across the living room before it settled on the closed bathroom door.
A memory flashed through Nie Xu’s mind — the time Ji Yang had fainted in the bathroom from low blood sugar.
A vein at his temple throbbed hard.
He knocked on the door. “Ji Yang.”
No answer came from inside. Nie Xu didn’t bother knocking a second time. He pressed down on the door handle and pushed it open.
Steam billowed out from the bathroom.
Ji Yang was leaning over, retrieving a wine tray from the edge of the tub. He looked at the person who had materialized at the door and blinked in surprise. “What happened?”
Nie Xu closed his eyes and let out an involuntary breath.
His gaze swept over Ji Yang’s face and neck, flushed red from the steam, then looked away. He asked: “What just happened?”
“Oh.” Ji Yang pointed at the toppled clothes rack. “I was trying to grab something to wear, and I knocked the whole rack over.”
Nie Xu walked in and casually closed the door behind him.
He righted the rack, then took a fresh bath towel from the cabinet under the washstand and handed it over without looking. “Use this.”
Ji Yang reached for it, noticed the man’s averted posture, and suddenly felt the urge to tease.
His wet hand grazed the veins on the back of Nie Xu’s hand, seemingly by accident. Sensing the slight pause, he burst into laughter.
Nie Xu turned around. “Had your fun?”
“Sorry.” Ji Yang pointed outside. “Seeing your bathroom decorated like this, I assumed you were the repressed-but-wanting type who just wouldn’t admit it.”
Nie Xu glanced out. “Designed by the renovation company.” He looked back and swept his gaze over the tub full of bubbles, then asked: “Are you sure you want to be discussing my apartment’s interior design with me in this state?”
Ji Yang tilted his head. “I thought you’d already gotten an eyeful last time. You shouldn’t mind, right?”
“Ji. Yang.” The two words were practically growled through clenched teeth.
Ji Yang finally reined it in and spoke honestly: “The only reason I used your tub is because your bathroom is so spotless there’s nothing to hold onto, and honestly, I can’t get out right now.” He muttered: “I shouldn’t have let Lin Yue leave so early.”
Nie Xu froze abruptly, a certain image flashing through his mind. He couldn’t help but press his fingers to the bridge of his nose.
He took the bathrobe back from Ji Yang’s hands and said: “Tomorrow I’ll have someone install some fixtures in the bathroom. If you need anything, call me. Don’t come in here alone.”
Ji Yang: “Isn’t that overkill?”
Nie Xu ignored him.
Ji Yang was once again wrapped up and carried in his arms. As he was carried out of the bathroom, he murmured with a hint of melancholy: “The you of now is no longer the assistant who obeyed my every word, and no longer my bodyguard either.”
Nie Xu looked down at him.
Ji Yang blinked the water dripping from his hair out of his eyes, nuzzled his head against the man’s chest, and sighed: “I’m just a lamb to the slaughter. That’s alright — someone like me doesn’t have even a shred of strength to fight back.”
Nie Xu set him down on the sofa, pulled a hairdryer from the coffee table drawer, plugged it in, and tossed it to him.
He glanced down at the large wet patch on his own chest, pointed at Ji Yang, and headed upstairs to change.
Ji Yang picked up the hairdryer and slowly dried his own hair.
The corners of his lips were upturned. He was in a very good mood.
Watching the figure disappear up the stairs, he suddenly felt that all the fear he’d harbored when he first transmigrated into this book — that Nie Xu would definitely break his other leg — now seemed like something from a past life.
The next morning, early.
Han Biao and Deng Jiao knocked on the door of the Berman apartment.
Han Biao was carrying breakfast in one hand, looking at the door frame, still chattering: “Why has the boss been staying here so much lately? I remember this place has been bought for years now. Last time we came was like two years ago.”
Deng Jiao: “I remember. It was for the Lanhai Bay project — we came to drop off documents.”
Deng Jiao eyed the breakfast in Han Biao’s hand with disdain: “Could you at least buy something normal this early in the morning? Luosifen? Are you trying to shorten your life?”
Han Biao scratched his head: “The boss told us to buy it. He even specified the shop and said to bring it along when we dropped off the documents.”
Deng Jiao didn’t quite believe that.
She even suspected Han Biao wanted to eat it himself. There was a good chance they’d both be thrown out — person and food alike.
Click. The door opened.
Nie Xu stood in the doorway with a towel draped over his neck, freshly back from his morning workout.
Deng Jiao stepped inside. “Boss.”
She was just about to voice her question when she saw the first-floor bedroom door open.
The young master, sporting a head of messy bedhead, glided smoothly past Nie Xu in his wheelchair and took the bag from Han Biao’s stunned hands, not forgetting to flash a sweet smile. “Thanks.”
Han Biao pointed at him: “…What’s he doing here?”
Deng Jiao’s gaze drifted over her boss’s home — once pristine and spotless in her memory, now showing throw pillows casually strewn across the carpet, empty snack bags in the trash, and a small, out-of-place succulent pot sitting on the dining table.
Deng Jiao nudged Han Biao’s arm and whispered: “Don’t ask.”
If you ask, everything’s normal.