Chapter 53#

In the living room, Han Biao and Deng Jiao sat on the sofa, leaning forward as they explained the details of the documents to Nie Xu.

It basically came down to a few matters—“the pledge withdrawal of the shell company,” “Sun Lao’s share buyback,” “the flight route for the old man’s early return”… When it came to things related to the Ji family, Han Biao had some reservations. After all, there was someone surnamed Ji present, and even though he had just severed ties with his biological father, one couldn’t deny his origins.

But that little hesitation had barely surfaced before it was interrupted by a loud slurping sound.

Han Biao stared speechlessly at the person sitting cross-legged on the sofa, hunched over a takeout bowl, burying his head in his noodles: “…”

Perhaps the sudden quiet finally pricked Ji Yang’s conscience.

He looked up at Han Biao, whose expression was difficult to read. “Want a couple bites?”

“No need.” Han Biao waved his hand off, genuinely amazed. “You actually have the stomach for this stuff?”

Ji Yang: “Who doesn’t have the stomach for this stuff?”

Han Biao silently pointed at the man sitting on the other side, head down, reading through documents.

Deng Jiao chimed in quietly, “He can’t even stand the smell.” He whispered to Han Biao: “You still remember, right? The year before last, someone in Lei Ge’s group brought in a box of stinky tofu or something early in the morning to the Fourth Building office for a meeting. What happened again?”

Han Biao recalled it too. “Fifty kilometers of load-bearing cross-country running.”

At the mention of fifty kilometers of load-bearing running, Ji Yang bit through the noodles in his mouth, looking speechlessly at the person who hadn’t said a word the whole time.

Nie Xu finally looked up, meeting Ji Yang’s eyes.

“Eat yours.” After saying that, he lowered his head again.

Han Biao was immediately indignant. “Boss, you’re way too selective about who you treat differently.”

In Han Biao’s mind, when this young master had been throwing his weight around, he had done god knew how many outrageous things. Now, in this period when he was detached from the Ji family and could no longer put on the airs of a young master—even if he had a cooperative arrangement with the boss, shouldn’t this be the perfect opportunity to suppress and take revenge?

And yet? He was still throwing his weight around.

The key point was, the boss didn’t even care.

He even let him eat something so stinky in his house!

In the end, Han Biao only dared to complain a couple of times in his head. They didn’t stay long. Ji Yang was only halfway done eating before they left.

Ji Yang watched Nie Xu putting on his jacket and asked, “Going out?”

“The old man’s flight is today,” Nie Xu said.

Ji Yansong is coming back today?

Ji Yang thought about it and figured that made sense. The heir he had handpicked and endorsed to take the position hadn’t even settled in before the scandal of transferring Ji family assets broke. Whether Ji Yansong truly knew about it beforehand or had even authorized it, on the surface he should be returning.

Nie Xu took out the contract in his hand and slid it over to him. “Take a look when you’re free. If there are no issues, sign it. Jianyuan’s funds will arrive no later than next week.”

Ji Yang picked up the contract without flipping through it and asked, “Will you be coming back today?”

“What’s up?” Nie Xu asked.

Ji Yang held up the box in his hand. “If you’re not coming back, just take the trash down with you. It stinks sitting here.”

Nie Xu glanced at him. “I thought you couldn’t smell it.”

“Smelling it and eating it are two different things,” Ji Yang said. “If it bothers you, you should’ve said something earlier. I won’t eat it next time.”

Nie Xu walked over, took the box from him, tied it up in a bag. “It’s fine. Treat it like your own home. Do whatever you want. I’ll probably be back pretty late today. Call me if anything comes up.”

Ji Yang gave an “mm.”

Nie Xu carried the bag to the doorway and looked back at the person still sitting obediently on the sofa.

He paused for a second. “I’ll try to come back early. If your legs feel uncomfortable, tell me right away.”

“It’s fine.” Ji Yang waved his hand indifferently. “Don’t worry about me. I can manage on my own.”

After Nie Xu left, Ji Yang was about halfway through the contract when Peng Jiaying called.

“The cold chain factory situation has been resolved. The surveillance was recovered, and it’s confirmed that someone tampered with the console. The access control system’s backend modification records also traced back to a related party’s IP. The lawyer says the evidence chain is complete.” Peng Jiaying’s tone couldn’t hide its excitement. “We’ve officially sent a formal letter to the bidding committee. If they don’t provide a reasonable explanation within a week, we’ll submit an application to the court demanding the revocation of the entire bidding result and a new open tender.”

Ji Yang leaned against the sofa, twirling a pen in his hand. He responded mildly: “What’s the bidding committee’s reaction?”

“No reaction yet, but I reckon Ji Chengyi’s legal team is already working overtime.”

“No rush.” Ji Yang thought of what Han Biao and the others had said that morning about the share buyback. “Let’s not make ourselves look too aggressive.”

Peng Jiaying laughed a couple of times. “I thought you were the anxious one.”

“I’m not the one who’s anxious right now,” Ji Yang said. Then he asked: “How’s the cold chain storage docking for ‘Yiyuan’ coming along?”

“We’ve already negotiated with two facilities. One has a lower price, but the boss talks too smoothly—I don’t feel like he’s reliable. The other is a cooperative federation local to Zhouchi. The quote is a bit higher, but they’re solidly grounded.”

“Go with the stable one,” Ji Yang said. “Didn’t you say you wanted to build on a solid foundation?”

Peng Jiaying was silent for two seconds, then said: “I’m worried our funds won’t hold up.”

“Don’t worry,” Ji Yang said, looking at that staggering number on the last page of the contract. “We have money. A lot of it.”

“Is the Jianyuan investment finalized?” Peng Jiaying sounded pleasantly surprised.

Ji Yang: “Absolutely. I sold myself for a good price.”

Peng Jiaying asked about the number and said resolutely: “Does Jianyuan still need people? Sell me too.”

Ji Yang sighed. “Sorry about that. It’s a personal debt. I can’t sell anyone. The money isn’t that easy to take.”

At the very least, from here on out, his life and fortune, his freedom in business—everything was tied down completely.

After ending the call with Peng Jiaying, he decisively picked up a pen and signed the contract.

That was a hell of a lot of money.

Given that his current savings weren’t enough to buy someone’s toilet, let alone talk about freedom—signing a little slower would have been a desecration of money.

Once signed, he pulled out his phone, click, took a photo.

He scrolled through his contacts, tapped, and sent it.

Nie Xu was probably driving; he replied with a voice message. “This quick? Aren’t you going to read it carefully?”

“No need,” Ji Yang said. “As long as they’re willing to pay, they’re all my daddy.”

Two seconds later, Nie Xu replied briefly. “What a pity. I don’t have a son this old.”

Ji Yang laughed despite himself. “Even if you wanted one, shouldn’t you find a girlfriend first?”

“I can’t find one.” Nie Xu’s voice came through the phone, a hint of huskiness surfacing.

Ji Yang asked casually: “Why can’t you?”

Nie Xu’s tone was as flat as if he were discussing the weather. “You’ve been unilaterally ‘in love’ for so long—haven’t you bothered to ask around about my sexual orientation?”

So that means he can’t get it up?

That association made the heat of the phone against his ear suddenly scorch Ji Yang’s earlobes.

He suddenly remembered—yes, because of the original book’s CP, he had from the very start assumed Nie Xu would fall for Ji Chengyi, which indirectly proved his orientation. But that didn’t happen.

Now Nie Xu bringing up this topic so abruptly hit Ji Yang like the paper-thin layer he had been deliberately ignoring—the layer between all those seemingly overbearing flirtations, unconscious provocations, and various behaviors.

He suddenly understood, yet had to face a fact head-on.

Oh. This is a man of the same orientation as me. One who has physiological responses.

And a man who checks every single one of Ji Yang’s aesthetic boxes.

Ji Yang was amazed that he was only realizing this now. Not the revenge machine from the book, not the taciturn bodyguard he had imagined along the way, not the boss of Jianyuan either. Ji Yang was more inclined to think the one who was occasionally sharp-tongued, who showed rare tenderness in Zhouchi, and who had reminded him before leaving today—that Nie Xu, who was closer to the real him.

A pure man, one who could talk about such topics so naturally, so matter-of-factly.

Ji Yang didn’t want to seem like he was slow to catch on, so he shot back: “Doesn’t work for the opposite sex, but for the same sex? Have you ever tried?”

“I have,” Nie Xu said evenly.

Ji Yang couldn’t believe it: “You’ve actually tried?!”

“Young master,” Nie Xu’s voice was unhurried. “Isn’t your voice a bit too loud? Having tried doesn’t mean having slept with someone. Can’t you tell yourself whether you have physiological responses to a person?”

Ji Yang: “I have plenty of those.”

His sexual awakening came from a male model in a magazine.

Zero practical experience—but that didn’t stop him from being a theorist rich in experience.

Nie Xu’s voice dropped a little, meaning unclear. “Plenty?”

“Y-yeah.” Ji Yang didn’t know why he stuttered. “If watching videos counts.”

There was a pause on the other end.

“That’s great,” Nie Xu said. “Restrain yourself at home. Don’t dirty the sofa.”

Ji Yang: “…I’m hanging up.”

What kind of nonsense was that!

Ji Yang couldn’t even remember how they had ended up on this topic in the first place. It made him unable to even sit still on the sofa.

At Fanzhou Airport that day.

The order to come pick up the flight had gone to two groups.

Lu Li arrived a little late. Seeing the person leaning against a Hummer in the parking lot, smoking, he couldn’t help walking over.

“Borrow a light?” Lu Li said.

Nie Xu glanced at him and tossed over his lighter.

Lu Li lit his cigarette without ceremony and said to Fang Qi and the others behind him: “Alright, everyone, disperse. Brother Xu came solo. Why are you all so on guard? Makes us look like cowards.”

Nie Xu looked at him. “Has the old man finished wrapping up his overseas business?”

“You’re asking me?” Lu Li swept his gaze over the cigarette between Nie Xu’s fingers, stepped closer, and whispered with a smile: “I know you planted a landmine for the old man. But Brother Xu, for the sake of all these years of friendship, let me remind you—don’t relax too early.”

Nie Xu tapped the ash off his cigarette. “I’m more curious—where did you come up with that conclusion?”

Lu Li pointed at his own eyes.

“I’m not blind.”

Lu Li said: “Xiao Yi is drowning in troubles, and it’s all because of you. I don’t mind at all what you’ve done—I’m actually quite glad. I don’t want him stuck in the Ji family’s quagmire.”

Nie Xu’s voice carried no emotion. “That’s just your wishful thinking.”

“I don’t care,” Lu Li said. “So I even hope you don’t lose. You’ve brought Ji Yang back, haven’t you? Because of the old man’s own wishful thinking—I know you’ve endured long enough.”

As Lu Li spoke, he tilted his chin toward the cigarette in Nie Xu’s hand. “You’re this annoyed already—why not hand the person over to me?”

Nie Xu ground the cigarette out under his foot.

He stood up and patted Lu Li on the shoulder.

“Thanks,” Nie Xu said. “You’ve got the time—go sign up at the hospital next door. Get your delusions treated.”

Nie Xu left.

Fang Qi sidled up to Lu Li. “What’s going on?”

“That state of his—anyone can see he’s reached his limit,” Lu Li said with a cold laugh. “Just you wait. Once the Haicheng business is wrapped up, the first person he goes after will absolutely be Ji the Fourth.”

Fang Qi thought about it. They had at least eaten street food with that young master once.

He figured the Fourth Young Master was pretty pitiful.

Of all people to fall for, he fell for the King of Hell.

With the way Nie Xu kept everything so perfectly contained, who knew what would become of that young master when the time came.