Chapter 55#

Ji Yang could feel Nie Xu’s hand brushing over the back of his neck, carrying a faint and subtle touch of comfort.

The effect was immediate.

Ji Yang’s senses returned. He realized he was pressed entirely against Nie Xu’s chest, heartbeat audible through the thin fabric—steady and strong, like an anchor that Ji Yang could latch onto precisely, allowing everything from the dream to gradually fade away.

Ji Yang shifted, wanting to sit up, but found his limbs were weak and limp.

He simply stopped trying, just tilted his head. His voice still carried the rasp of someone who had just woken. “When did you get back?”

“Just walked in.” Nie Xu’s voice came from above. “What did you dream about?”

Ji Yang shook his head and raised a hand to rest on his forehead.

He didn’t know how to describe that absurd scene.

His perspective had been very low. By all logic, with the moon hanging high, there shouldn’t have been such violent waves and torrential rain. He could only attribute it to a reflection of his state of mind—influenced by the painting and the Ji family’s current situation—so it had appeared particularly surreal and distorted.

Ji Yang simply said, “Maybe I just slept in the wrong position.”

“Go sleep on the bed.” Nie Xu asked, “Should I carry you?”

“In a bit. I probably can’t fall asleep now anyway.” Ji Yang’s body had gone completely slack. The haze of nighttime had likely dulled his awareness; he didn’t even notice anything wrong with their current posture. He turned around, nuzzled in, and his forehead happened to rest against Nie Xu’s Adam’s apple, his voice sounding soft and lazy. “There’s midnight snack the auntie left in the kitchen. If you want it, you’ll have to heat it up yourself.”

“I already ate.” Nie Xu’s voice was a little hoarse. He called his name: “Ji Yang.”

Ji Yang half-closed his eyes. “What is it?”

Nie Xu: “Shift a little.”

“Mm?” Ji Yang made a sound through his nose, not quite understanding. “What?”

Nie Xu: “Where you’re sitting. Shift a little.”

Ji Yang’s brain felt as though an arrow had pierced through it, and he suddenly reacted, his mind snapping to instant clarity. He realized that earlier, he had only been focused on getting comfortable, completely oblivious to the fact that he was sitting in the space between Nie Xu’s legs.

Since they had just discussed this topic during the day, Ji Yang reflexively looked down.

Before he could fully lower his gaze, his chin was caught and stopped.

“I told you to shift, not to look.” Nie Xu’s voice was very close.

Ji Yang: “……” He feigned composure to cover his embarrassment, though with his chin held, his words came out slightly slurred. “What’s wrong with a quick look? We’re both men. It’s not like I don’t understand.”

Nie Xu stared at his eyes for two seconds, then let his gaze land on his sweat-dampened forehead, as if he had no intention of continuing this topic.

At the same time, his hand slid under Ji Yang’s legs and lifted him, moving him to the side.

Before Ji Yang could even react, his position had been changed. He watched Nie Xu rise from the sofa and head toward the kitchen.

Ji Yang watched his back as he poured water, the dense patter of rain against the window filling his ears.

Ji Yang pulled the thin throw blanket from the sofa over his legs.

Nie Xu emerged from the kitchen shortly after, carrying a glass of water that he held out to him. “Drink some. You sweated a lot.”

“Thanks.” Ji Yang reached out and took the glass.

He sipped the water in small mouthfuls, watching Nie Xu walk to the entryway again and bring over a black waterproof bag. He set it down in front of the sofa, crouched, and opened it—first pulling out something resembling an instrument and placing it on the coffee table, then tangled cables, a power plug, and other components.

Ji Yang asked, “What are these?”

“Brought them from the Knox laboratory. A heat-conduction device he recently developed. It can effectively alleviate the discomfort caused by weather changes.” Nie Xu spoke while deftly assembling the device per the instruction manual, never once looking up.

Ji Yang was slightly dazed.

The Nie Xu before him had shed his formal jacket from the day, his shirt sleeves casually rolled to the elbows, his other hand resting on the knee that was planted on the ground. When he turned the device over to examine its back, the muscular contour along the line from his forearm to his broad shoulders stood out clearly under the light.

The stubble, a shade lighter than his short hair, took on a soft blurred silhouette under the warm glow, and even the sharp line of his cold jaw softened accordingly. In the end, for Ji Yang, all that remained was the most surface-level visual impact.

Ji Yang’s mind drifted to the image of him driving that pickup truck in Zhouling.

A pure, effortless wildness.

Compared to when he had trailed behind Ji Yansong, where Ji Yang could never see the expression in his eyes, Ji Yang often caught this quality of his in these more domestic, everyday moments.

“What are you looking at?” Nie Xu finished assembling everything, glanced at him, and simultaneously lifted the blanket off his legs.

Ji Yang shook his head, sighing with admiration. “You wouldn’t understand. I was thinking that if appreciating beauty were a crime, I’d probably be sent down to the eighteenth level of hell.”

Hitting on Nie Xu of all people.

Wouldn’t he throw him out the thirty-second-floor window for that?

Nie Xu’s gaze swept briefly over his face. He precisely affixed the adhesive patches of the device to Ji Yang’s right leg, then pulled the blanket back over him. “Half an hour. Sleep after it’s done.”

Ji Yang nodded.

He gave a dry, awkward thanks: “Thank you for still taking such good care of me even when I’m no longer a young master.” Then he added a guarantee: “Your investment definitely won’t go to waste. If we manage to secure the operating rights for the Nandao shipping route, according to projections, I can return your profits by thirty percent within half a year.”

Their positions had been completely reversed.

The young master had lost his former glory, and was now essentially being supported by the bodyguard he used to beat. If word got out, it was quite something else.

Nie Xu stood nearby, coiling the unused cables.

“You’re talking to me about money?”

Ji Yang immediately grinned. “Let’s talk about love then. I don’t feel like working hard anymore.”

The coiled cable in Nie Xu’s hand came down and rapped against Ji Yang’s head.

Ji Yang rubbed the top of his head, his expression collapsing instantly. “I knew it.”

Nie Xu zipped the bag shut and carried it away.

“Talk to me about this again when your brain is clear.”

Ji Yang sighed.

He knew he had spoken too fast. He imagined the possibility.

Indeed, he wouldn’t be able to stay idle.

He knew himself too well.

It wasn’t the kind of occasional relaxation or just letting things go. His sense of crisis was innate, forged by the environment of his childhood. If he were to become completely dependent on a single person or a single enterprise, he would truly lose the sense of security he had painstakingly built up after transmigrating for so long.

He felt that Nie Xu had seen right through him.

During the days at the Borman apartment, the young master’s life had truly been nothing but eat, sleep, eat, sleep.

The discomfort the doctor had mentioned would occur in the days leading up to discharge did indeed appear, but under Nie Xu’s various restrictions and the added physical assistance, there had been nothing particularly unbearable.

A short week later, Ji Yang finally stepped outside.

The only difference was an additional lightweight metal brace on his leg—matte gray, far thinner and lighter than the bulky knee guards he had seen at the factory. The edges were exquisitely finished, and on the inside lay a full sheet of flexible gel padding that maintained a constant temperature layer, able to keep the area above his knee at a stable temperature for three hours.

“This is your first public appearance since cutting ties with Ji Changshou.” Peng Jiaying straightened his own suit, then turned to Ji Yang and asked in a low voice, “You’re bound to run into the Ji family today. Are you sure it’s fine?”

Ji Yang rarely wore stiff, formal suits.

Today was no exception—just a shirt layered under a vest, his freshly cut hair barely covering the tips of his ears, and in a surprisingly leisurely mood, he had even slipped a plain band ring onto the index finger of his right hand.

His demeanor was excellent, his figure graceful, and every detail exuded refinement.

The Ji family’s fourth young master, having left the Ji family, now returning to the Fanzhou Chamber of Commerce banquet looking like this—this should be another headline piece for today’s financial gossip.

“What could be wrong.” Ji Yang led the way forward. “The one who should feel guilty isn’t me.”

Peng Jiaying handed over the invitation at the entrance while saying, “The Fanzhou enterprises that used to have the closest ties with the Ji family—like the Qi family and the Lu family before—they’re all taking a wait-and-see approach now. The organizer of this banquet supposedly has very deep official backing. The entire Fanzhou situation is delicate right now; before the bidding results come out, we should keep a low profile.”

“Old Peng.” Ji Yang slung an arm around his neck. “Do you know you’re really nagging? From the moment we got in the car to now, you’ve repeated the same old speech at least eight times.”

Peng Jiaying stumbled forward a couple of steps, clumsily pushing his glasses back up.

“We only got these invitations through Jian Yuan. I just wanted to take the chance to see the place. I don’t want to cause trouble.”

Ji Yang: “Are you saying I cause trouble?”

“Fourth Young Master.” Peng Jiaying pulled his arm away, inhaling sharply. “I just know full well that even if you don’t want to cause trouble, it won’t matter.”

Ji Yang was practically a trouble magnet.

As long as he was around, there was never a shortage of topics.

Sure enough, the moment they stepped into the main hall, Peng Jiaying could distinctly feel that the previously lively atmosphere turned eerily quiet for several seconds the instant Ji Yang appeared.

Ji Yang seemed completely unbothered, helping himself to a glass of red wine from the long table beside them.

“Don’t take that one.” Peng Jiaying reached over and took it right out of his hand.

Ji Yang stared at him silently.

Peng Jiaying’s head throbbed. “Didn’t you say you’re staying at Assistant Nie’s place? He’s very strict with rules. If he sees you come back reeking of alcohol, won’t he be angry?”

Ji Yang didn’t want to reveal that the invitations had come from Nie Xu himself.

Nie Xu’s reasoning was that Yiyuan was expanding its business, and the Fanzhou Chamber of Commerce was currently in a period of transition—more opportunities were never a bad thing.

He was afraid that telling Peng Jiaying would scare him.

So he said, “It’s fine. He doesn’t care.”

Peng Jiaying still shrank back. “I’m still not giving it to you. We came together, and I have to keep an eye on you.”

Ji Yang reached for it. “I’m just holding it for show.”

Peng Jiaying suddenly noticed something far behind Ji Yang and exclaimed in surprise: “Assistant Nie is here too?”

“You think that’s going to scare me?” Ji Yang was speechless.

Peng Jiaying tapped him. “I’m serious.”

Ji Yang instinctively turned his head.

Through the grand banquet hall, past so many people raising glasses and mingling, Ji Yang did indeed spot Nie Xu.

He was still following Ji Yansong, but unlike any of his previous accompaniments.

This time he was seated in the seat to Ji Yansong’s left, in full business attire, surrounded by a ring of people in their forties and fifties, all of whom appeared to hold rather distinguished positions.

Peng Jiaying, still surprised, remarked, “Assistant Nie’s standing beside Old Master Ji is pretty high now, isn’t it? The one to his left, speaking with him, is the president of the Fanzhou Chamber of Commerce—surname Chu. The one diagonally across is the vice chairman of the Federation of Industry and Commerce, and there’s also…”

Peng Jiaying was nothing if not befitting of his background as a new media director.

When it came to these prominent figures in Fanzhou, he spoke with impeccable knowledge and clarity.

But Ji Yang understood. It wasn’t that Nie Xu’s status had risen; it was that his position as Chief Security Officer was no longer sufficient. Appearing beside Ji Yansong in a different capacity only today was most likely the result of Ji Yansong’s careful calculations amidst some fierce undercurrent of maneuvering.

Ji Yang listened to Peng Jiaying’s words, thinking that when Nie Xu had handed him the invitation, he hadn’t mentioned he would be here as well.

Distracted for just a moment, the wine he had just retrieved was snatched away again.

Peng Jiaying: “Assistant Nie looked at you just now. I saw it.”

Ji Yang: “……Are you out of your mind?”

From that far away?