Chapter 64#
The rain was heavier than the weather forecast had predicted.
The moment he stepped out of the Borman apartment building, a violent gust of wind drove the curtain of rain down upon him without mercy. Raindrops struck the asphalt, kicking up a white mist, and the streetlights’ glow was shattered by the rain into flecks of gold. He could barely see across the road.
The umbrella the auntie had pressed into his hand was of very little use at this point.
Jiang Lei’s people noticed immediately, as expected. Ten minutes later, a car pulled up in front of Ji Yang.
“Fourth Young Master, where to?” the driver asked.
Ji Yang folded the umbrella, confirmed the documents in his hand weren’t damp, and said, “The Ji family estate.”
The driver’s hands paused on the steering wheel. He confirmed, “The Ji family?”
“Yes.” Ji Yang said, “Don’t worry about it, just drive. If Jiang Lei has any questions, have him call me.”
The driver was silent for two seconds, probably recalling that his surname was Ji after all. Going back seemed perfectly reasonable.
He nodded and started the car.
The vehicle the other party was driving appeared to be one from the system. Over half an hour later, as they entered the main gate of the Ji estate, there was no obstruction.
Ji Yang hadn’t been back in a long time.
Looking through the rain curtain at the long stone path beyond the iron gates, he recalled the scene from when he wasn’t yet accustomed to using a wheelchair, walking along this road with Nie Xu.
Looking back, the reason Nie Xu had been so close to him back then was probably because he had nearly lost control and launched himself out of the wheelchair. For someone like Nie Xu—who had undergone years of training and whose coordination and control had reached a certain level—that must have been somewhat unbearable.
Now, as he re-entered, whether it was due to the rain or some other reason, he felt that the light in the Ji estate had taken on a gray, dull quality.
The castle-like villa of the main building in the distance was equally ablaze with lights.
Standing tall there, yet at this moment Ji Yang only felt that those pitch-black windows looked like a monster baring its fangs.
He thought of Mo Yi. He thought of Ji Mingyue.
Including Ji Zhonglin.
He’d heard that before Hai Cheng’s liquidation, Ji Zhonglin had already moved out of the Ji estate. He didn’t know whether the man was currently living in that apartment he’d once mentioned lending to him.
Ji Yang’s mind churned with random, jumbled thoughts.
He noticed the car turning right and quickly said, “Not the main building. Building Number Four.”
“We can’t get in, Fourth Young Master.” The driver kept driving. “Building Number Four is currently guarded entirely by people from the Chamber of Commerce. Those of us who were originally posted here can only operate around the perimeter. Without unified orders from both the inside and outside, we can’t enter or exit freely.”
Ji Yang waved the documents in his hand. “It’s fine. We’ll get in.”
At this moment, at the entrance checkpoint of Building Number Four, Chamber of Commerce personnel were still standing guard.
The two on tonight’s shift were full of complaints.
“When is this duty ever going to end?” One of them stood beneath the guardhouse at the checkpoint, clutching his stomach and muttering. He looked up at the sky. “This terrible weather—it just starts raining whenever it feels like it.”
The other responded, “There are still a few days left at least. I heard from the brothers on the third floor yesterday that Building Number Four is sealed tight as a drum. They’ve searched up to now and haven’t found a single hair.”
The one who had complained first looked back, keeping his voice low. “Chairman Chu synced all the progress here with the Ji family’s main building. In my opinion, the Ji family definitely still has something hidden. Otherwise why would Chairman Chu be in cahoots with Old Master Ji?”
“Keep it down.” The other said, “The relationship between the Ji family and the Chamber of Commerce isn’t something that developed overnight. They’ve been sharing fortune and misfortune for ages. As for now…” He pointed behind him. “It all depends on what comes of this internal earthquake within the Ji family.”
The other also glanced back.
“To be honest,” the man murmured, “the quieter it gets, the more uneasy I feel. On the surface, Building Number Four and Jianyuan are just engaging in normal talent exchanges. But the fact that we can’t find even the slightest irregularity—that in itself is the biggest irregularity. If you ask me, the wolf the Ji family has been raising might well be the real culprit that ends up destroying them. Otherwise, why would Old Master Ji be so wary of him? And that Lu Li, bringing his people to loiter around here every few days—it’s driving me crazy.”
Just at that moment, a pair of headlights illuminated the guardhouse.
“Who’s there?” the man shouted harshly.
He assumed it was someone from Lu Li’s side again and quickly said to the other, “Alert the inside—someone’s forcing their way in.”
The other didn’t even think twice. He grabbed the walkie-talkie clipped to his waist and immediately notified the people inside.
At the same time.
Meeting room, fourth floor, Building Number Four.
On a rainy night like this, the atmosphere in the meeting room was not as cold and rigid as those on the outside assumed. In fact, after several days, both sides had reached a state of very tacit cooperation.
At least, on the surface.
Mid-level personnel from Building Number Four, including Han Biao and Deng Jiao, were in the meeting room organizing documents, occasionally explaining and clarifying things to the supervisory group members beside them.
Look closely, and you’d notice that the faces of the supervisory group members were all somewhat tense—an unmistakable undercurrent of agitation from poor rest faintly showing on their faces.
Nie Xu sat at the head of the long table, flipping through a report summary.
To his left sat the middle-aged man who was this round’s head of the supervisory group.
The middle-aged man’s agitation was even more obvious. Several times he opened his mouth as if to speak to Nie Xu but stopped himself, a gloomy look of wanting to say something but not knowing where to start knotting his brow.
The overhead fluorescent lights blazed white.
They’d been working consecutive all-nighters for several days running.
Just then, the landline in the meeting room rang.
Everyone’s hands paused. After all, every single phone call that could reach them here now was a matter of importance.
Han Biao suppressed the mockery in his eyes, shoved his chair back with force, stood, and walked over to answer.
Two seconds later, he looked at Nie Xu. “Boss, the guards at the entrance say someone’s trying to force their way in.”
Nie Xu looked up, jerked his chin toward the large screen on the wall directly opposite, signaling Han Biao to sync the feed.
Han Biao nodded.
The moment the feed opened, Han Biao said, “Fuck.”
Han Biao’s fiery temper was something the supervisory group members had witnessed over the past few days. His shock was entirely genuine, which caused everyone to instinctively look up.
The screen showed an overhead view.
In the back seat of the stopped black vehicle, someone was holding an umbrella and just getting out.
The right foot came down first, the movement slow.
He was dressed very casually—the cotton lining underneath was clearly indoor wear, and the white cardigan over it looked like something he’d thrown on temporarily before heading out, making him stand out remarkably against the night outside the gates.
The hand gripping the umbrella handle had long, slender, pale fingers. Once out of the car, the umbrella tilted back slightly, revealing a face far more striking than his outfit or his hands.
The guards outside were completely stunned.
The moment the person stepped out of the car, they realized he had no intention of forcing his way in.
“You… what are you here for?” one of the guards on duty asked. “This is a restricted area. No entry.”
“I know,” the umbrella holder said with a light chuckle. “I’m here on official business.”
Ji Yang held out the documents. “This is the final day of the deadline for three-party countersignatures. Nie Xu, as the last coordinator before Hai Cheng’s liquidation, I need his signature. These are the documents—traceable, publicly verifiable. Would you like to confirm?”
The two guards exchanged a glance.
One reached out to take them, but the other stopped him with a raised hand.
He reminded, “This is the Ji family’s Fourth Young Master.”
“Fourth Young Master?” The other thought for a moment, apparently unfamiliar with online gossip and knowing limited things about the younger generation of the Ji family. “Are you sure? Didn’t they say the Ji family’s Fourth Young Master was some good-for-nothing? He doesn’t look like it.”
“That was ages ago,” the other said, keeping his voice low. “He’s one of the bosses of Yi Yuan—the one affiliated with Jianyuan. Letting him in would let us see who he meets with and through what channels he operates. Could be a breakthrough…”
Upstairs in the meeting room.
Once the head of the supervisory group recognized who it was, he also smiled.
“Fancy it being the Ji family’s Fourth Young Master.” The middle-aged man looked at Nie Xu and said, “I’ve heard this Fourth Young Master has cut ties entirely with his own father. I wonder how important this document must be that it has to be signed today.”
Nie Xu’s expression didn’t change as he looked at the screen. He said flatly, “It’s a standard compliance procedure. Yi Yuan’s bid concerns the next five years of career development. The supervisory group shouldn’t make things difficult over this.”
“Naturally not,” the middle-aged man immediately pulled out his walkie-talkie. “Tell the guards at the entrance to let him in. And have them be polite about it.”
Han Biao and Deng Jiao exchanged a glance, both showing a flicker of concern.
No one had expected the person who came to be Ji Yang.
Five minutes later, Ji Yang officially stepped into Building Number Four.
The meetings upstairs had been adjourned. Every floor was lit up, each busy with its own work.
But now there were two factions present.
The atmosphere was delicate. Everyone was staring at this nighttime visitor.
The people from Building Number Four were fine—they’d seen Ji Yang appear more than once, and he’d even spent a night there.
The supervisory group members looked at him differently.
Every one of them regarded him as if wearing searchlights, wanting to scan him from head to toe, trying to find some trace on him—some clue that would bring an end to this seemingly endless torture of a joint investigation.
But the members of the supervisory group were human too.
Being human, it was impossible to completely avoid absorbing information from the outside world.
A rich young master falling for his bodyguard—it wasn’t exactly fresh gossip anymore.
It was just that the outside world had never revealed which bodyguard it was.
A few supervisory group members who were organizing materials stood scattered along the corridor, watching the person who came up carrying an umbrella.
His hair was wet, dripping from the tips onto his shoulders, making the tiny silver earring at his ear tip seem to highlight his dampness. He carried a frail, delicate, scholarly air about him.
A very eclectic quality, but it couldn’t mask how good-looking he was.
His voice was soft too. “Excuse me, where is Nie Xu?”
“The meeting upstairs just ended. He should have gone back to the dorm by now,” someone answered.
Ji Yang nodded and smiled. “Thank you.”
Several people watched helplessly as he continued heading upstairs.
Murmuring behind him:
“Don’t you think—the bodyguard from those rumors might have the surname Nie?”
“That would make sense! Who was this young master’s bodyguard in the past two years? It’s not exactly a secret. I heard Chief Nie even served as his assistant once. If there really was something going on, it wouldn’t be surprising.”
“Hasn’t it always been the talk at upper-class banquets that this Young Master Ji likes him one-sidedly?”
“Stop talking. People will be watching.”
The supervisory group members keeping an eye on Ji Yang had been on him since the moment he walked through the door.
But only one followed him all the way to the bodyguard dormitory, and that person was entirely open about it—just walking right behind him.
Ji Yang paid no attention.
He stood at the dormitory door and knocked.
Knock, knock, knock. No response.
Knocked again. Still no response.
The person behind him tried tentatively. “Fourth Young Master, how about I hand over the documents for you?”
The moment those probing words left his mouth, he saw the young master’s shoulders sink slightly.
“Brother Xu.” The young master’s voice went low and dejected, his head pressed against the door, as if aggrieved. “My scar hurts.”
The person behind froze. “…”
So it really is just like the rumors—he came here for the man?
The person behind wasn’t giving up. He was just about to reach out and put a hand on Ji Yang’s shoulder when the dormitory door swung open before his eyes.
The young master, caught off guard, pitched forward and crashed into a wall of solid muscle.
“What’s all this.” Nie Xu lowered his gaze slightly, his voice even and unhurried. “I was just taking a shower.”
When Ji Yang straightened up, Nie Xu stepped aside. “Come in.”
The person behind Ji Yang wanted to come in too. Nie Xu glanced back at him, and the man’s foot stopped dead in its tracks.
The door slammed shut.
Ji Yang had just raised the corner of his mouth. “How was my little act just now—mmph.”
Without any warning, the entire person was seized by the one who had suddenly turned around and pulled forward a step. His back hadn’t even fully left the door before Nie Xu’s shoulder was already pressing in. That movement was so fast there was almost no transition—the force on his wrist shifting from a grip to a pull in a fraction of a second. Ji Yang stumbled forward half a step, off balance, and then that half-step’s momentum was caught completely by Nie Xu’s shoulder and chest.
It wasn’t that he had backed up against the door.
He was pinned there.
“You—” Ji Yang’s words were shoved back down his throat.
No probing, no hovering. Just direct, complete, and utterly without warning, pressing in. The moment their lips met, it was so fast that Ji Yang hadn’t even had time to close his eyes.
Someone knocked on the door from outside, hard. “Fourth Young Master, are you all right? What was that noise just now?”
Ji Yang snapped out of his shock, his scalp tingling in waves.
He remembered this was a dormitory.
One thought filled his mind.
Nie Xu had lost his mind.
He’d lost his mind.
Ji Yang started to struggle.
But it was all in vain. He was pinned there, and everything before his eyes went dark in an instant.
Because not only had Nie Xu not given him a chance to speak, he had also reached out and covered his eyes.