Chapter 70#

Ji Yang’s easygoing demeanor incensed the man who had been kicked flat on the ground by Jiang Lei for the second time.

At a time like this, he still hadn’t forgotten to shout and incite: “Don’t be fooled by this young master! He talks a pretty game, but he’s a businessman—how could he possibly know what’s in our best interest!”

The villagers weren’t swayed. Mostly because they could see the man had taken a miserable fall—his lip was even split open.

Seeing that no one was going to act, the man immediately pointed at the phone in Lin Yue’s hands: “Look—he’s still live-streaming! He does one stream and casually picks up a sponsorship deal, and that’s enough for all of us to eat for years. He’s just putting on airs here because he wants to monetize his traffic!”

“Impressive knowledge.” Ji Yang’s gaze swept over him.

He looked him up and down, then glanced at Zhao Changgen, who hadn’t said a word, before turning back with a light laugh: “I just wonder how much Mr. Zhao has been paying you to do this?”

The man in black’s eyes flickered.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Ji Yang: “Then it’s strange. I’ve already said I’ll pay the money, the contract’s right here in my hands, yet you keep bringing up my identity and the live-stream. Don’t you think that’s a bit guilty?” Ji Yang turned to Zhao Changgen. “Tell me, am I right, Mr. Zhao?”

Zhao Changgen paused for a few seconds.

He seemed to have not expected Ji Yang to come so well-prepared, then said: “I need time to consider the matter of the contract. There’s an excavation operation going on at the east end of Lanjiao Village—it won’t finish until eight o’clock. Let me treat Fourth Young Master to a cup of tea.”

Ji Yang: “Eight o’clock? It has to be at this time? I usually keep a very healthy schedule. Besides, wouldn’t this time fall outside normal operational hours?”

At this point, a villager spoke up on Zhao Changgen’s behalf.

“Boss Zhao’s been rushing the dock expansion lately—all of it is for the community’s benefit. None of us mind.”

“Yeah, Boss Zhao’s been working hard. I can still hear the crane running in the early hours these past two days. Not easy.”

Zhao Changgen waved his hands quickly with an “Ah,” saying, “Thanks to everyone’s understanding, otherwise I wouldn’t be where I am today. Anyway, rest assured—once I’ve discussed this matter thoroughly with Fourth Young Master, I’ll definitely give everyone a satisfactory answer.”

The villagers: “We still trust you, Boss Zhao.”

“Yeah, we can wait.”

“I firmly believe in Boss Zhao’s character!”

With one or two leading the way, the others looked at each other and ultimately chose to chime in.

It was as if those few threads of doubt from moments ago had simply vanished.

Lin Yue and the others frowned slightly.

Zhao Changgen turned to Ji Yang: “Eight thirty? That okay with you, Fourth Young Master?”

“Why make it so troublesome?” Ji Yang surveyed the area, fixing his gaze on Zhao Changgen, his expression unchanged from beginning to end: “Since it’s not far from the village, I’ll just go find Mr. Zhao when the time comes.”

Zhao Changgen seemed to instinctively want to refuse.

The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he glanced at the people around them and finally said with hesitation: “Alright then, Fourth Young Master can come a bit later. The excavation site is a mess—I’m worried about safety.”

Ji Yang nodded: “That works.”

Once the arrangement was settled, Zhao Changgen left with the same casual air as when he’d arrived, with several strings of keys hanging from his waist.

The moment he was gone, the man in black climbed up from the ground, waving and calling over a few people from the village who looked like they were on good terms with him. They left as well. Those people were the same ones who had just led the charge in saying they trusted Zhao Changgen. Before leaving, they didn’t forget to shoot Ji Yang several venomous glares.

The crowd gradually dispersed, though some people stayed nearby out of curiosity toward Ji Yang, seemingly chatting but actually sizing him up the whole time.

Ji Yang wasn’t in a rush to leave either.

He took the phone back from Lin Yue, fixing his hair in front of the camera as he said: “Next time you stream, at least give me a heads-up so I can manage my image a little!”

Lin Yue was already used to it, saying: “I didn’t think that much about it. I just figured it was better to be cautious in a situation like that.”

Netizens.

[Hahaha, learned that from your assistant, huh? I remember your first stream was at a banquet—I was there the whole time for that spectacle.]

[Baby, you look gorgeous already, stop messing with your hair!]

[Baby, gotta say—the assistant is actually pretty smart.]

[For real, where exactly are you? Is this for live-selling? What’s this one—seafood?]

[Be careful. Some of those remote villages can be genuinely scary. The darkness inside them is beyond your imagination.]

[Exactly. Just now, even I could tell someone was deliberately stoking things in the middle, but the villagers were still willing to trust that guy surnamed Zhao. Real MLM energy.]

[Baby, be safe!]

Ji Yang: “Why are you calling me Baby? It sounds so weird to me.”

[You said you liked it yourself.]

[Then what should we call you? Baby! (Zhong Kui edition)?]

[We’re calling you Baby Baby Baby Baby Baby…]

Ji Yang: “You guys really win. I’m not here to sell anything—I’m here for serious business. I’ll be careful, don’t worry. Alright, I’m off.”

Ji Yang ended the stream without mercy, leaving countless people on the other side of the screen speechless.

On Ji Yang’s personal trending topic, the condemnations piled up.

All complaints about the length of his stream this time.

Lin Yue leaned in, hesitated for a moment, but still asked the question that had been circling in his mind all afternoon: “Little Director Ji, why did you agree to cover that sum yourself in the end? I could see Zhao Changgen never actually intended to sign the agreement. If we’ve put that out there, aren’t we just being the sucker?”

Ji Yang turned his head to look at him, a hint of amusement in his eyes: “Who told you that money was a loss?”

“But—”

Ji Yang: “Whether Zhao Changgen signs or not, that money will end up flowing into Yiyuan’s operating costs one way or another. I fronted it all at once. The payment record on file at the power supply station is under my account. Once the warehouse goods are dispatched, there’s no way around Yiyuan. The reason Zhao Changgen is hesitating is because he’s counting on us not paying, so that when he steps in, both the money and the goods land right in his own pockets.”

Lin Yue had a sudden realization: “So when you said you didn’t have money at the start, that was deliberate?”

Jiang Lei: “You drew him out to test him?”

Ji Yang: “We’re flying completely blind here. We had to first see what kind of person this Mr. Zhao, who’s been so busy pulling strings behind the scenes, really is.”

Lin Yue went completely silent, looking at him as if he might sprout stars from his eyes.

“Don’t look at me like that.” Ji Yang was both exasperated and amused by the staring. “If you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to start believing I’m some unfathomable business prodigy.”

Lin Yue nodded: “You totally are.”

Ji Yang: “…You’re really overthinking this.” Ji Yang looked off into the distance at the village, where wisps of cooking smoke had begun to rise in the early evening, and said plainly: “I’m just good at assuming the worst of people first—and acting on it. In this world, you can eat anything, but you absolutely cannot eat a loss.”

In his world, there was no such thing as “just endure it and it’ll pass” or “a small sacrifice leads to a great plan.”

Not in his past life, and not in this one either.

7:30 PM.

The people of Lanjiao Village went to bed early. By now, every household had its doors shut and windows latched.

Just recently, with Boss Zhao’s project underway, the roar of machinery had shattered the area’s usual silence. The spotlight atop the crane swept across above the village, and occasionally, a few barks of dogs could be heard.

“Coming ahead of schedule—do you think they’ll get suspicious?” Jiang Lei walked on Ji Yang’s right side, making sure he wouldn’t trip on the uneven road.

Ji Yang held a flashlight. “If we showed up exactly when they said, we’d just be walking right into whatever they’ve set up.”

Ji Yang actually had another theory.

The dock expansion seemed like nothing more than a smokescreen. Zhao Yuan and Zhao Changgen. Qiming Navigation. The mooring station on South Island.

Scattered fragments of information were churning through Ji Yang’s mind. Something seemed like it was just about to surface, but something was still missing to piece it together completely.

Especially the eight o’clock time that Zhao Changgen had specifically mentioned.

By all logic, it was just an ordinary end time for operations, yet Ji Yang couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right.

Sure enough, the moment they drew close to the tidal flats, they saw from a distance people leaving the construction site in groups.

Grousing voices drifted over faintly.

“What exactly is Boss Zhao doing? Says time is tight, but I don’t see it at all.”

“Stop complaining. From the look of it, I think they dug something up underground.”

“Did you see those black boxes they hoisted up tonight? All sealed with waterproof black cloth. A worker accidentally opened one—inside were wooden crates nailed shut with nails. Boss Zhao’s face went dark immediately. He berated the guy, said they were leftover materials from the original dock construction. Didn’t look like it to me.”

“They weren’t. Did you see the boat that came tonight? Everyone on board had something holstered at their waist. At a glance, they’re not the type you’d want to mess with.”

…

At that moment, Jiang Lei sensed something.

He grabbed Ji Yang by the arm and said: “Don’t go any further.”

“What’s wrong?” Ji Yang asked.

Jiang Lei’s gaze looked particularly vigilant in the darkness. He stared at the distant horizon line and said: “Call Lin Yue. Have him come pick you up right now. I didn’t bring high-precision equipment this time—I can’t assess the situation properly. I can’t let you go in there recklessly.”

Ji Yang knew Jiang Lei wouldn’t act like this for no reason.

Although he had come with the intent of getting to the bottom of things, he wasn’t stupid enough to lose his head at a moment like this.

He was about to nod when a floodlight from the high ground of the construction site swung down and hit them directly.

Jiang Lei’s expression changed, and he stepped in front of Ji Yang.

Before long, someone came running over from that direction in a hurry, still wearing a hard hat.

Panting heavily, the person asked: “Are you Little Director Ji?”

“Yes.” Ji Yang patted Jiang Lei, signaling him to step aside.

The man immediately said: “Sorry about that—Boss Zhao didn’t know you were coming early. He’s in the middle of something right now and can’t get away. How about this: Boss Zhao asked me to bring you to his usual rest area to wait. He’ll come over as soon as he’s done.”

Too normal.

From the moment they were spotted to the worker coming to lead the way—it was as if they really were here to discuss the agreement, and the other party had graciously hosted them despite being swamped.

Refusing now would clearly be inappropriate.

Getting Jiang Lei’s signal to go along with it for now, Ji Yang nodded: “Alright. We’ll trouble you then.”

“No trouble at all.” The young man led the way while saying: “Watch your step—the road isn’t easy to walk on.”

They crossed the tidal flats and drew into the construction zone, where the lighting suddenly became much clearer.

Old tracked heavy machinery sat at the end of the berth, its treads sunk into freshly laid gravel. Several workers in hard hats crouched on the ground, welding iron frames. Sparks from the welding torch splashed into the water with a brief hissing sound. The smell of rust and burnt metal drifted in the wind in all directions.

The entrance they entered was separated from the construction area, with a sign painted in red on the roadside reading “Do Not Approach.”

Upon noticing them, the workers paused what they were doing and looked over, watching them quietly.

The young man leading them called out to the workers: “Masters, once you’re done with your work, head back early. We’re not continuing today.”

“Got it, understood.” One of the workers picked up his welding shield again.

Ji Yang and Jiang Lei exchanged a glance.

Following the guide, they made their way to what was supposedly Zhao Changgen’s rest area.

Calling it a rest area was generous—it was more like a ship’s cabin at a dock. Not much inside: a table and a simple single iron-frame cot.

The space carried a stale, musty dampness.

“Little Director Ji, I’m really sorry—conditions here are a bit rough.” The young man leading them said. “You’ll have to make do waiting here for a bit. Boss Zhao will be over soon.”

Ji Yang stood inside, looking at the man: “I ran into some people on the way here who said there’s a boat docking tonight. I thought the dock was closed for expansion?”

The man blinked, then quickly smiled: “That’s Boss Zhao’s own boat—transporting building materials.” With that, he backed out, saying: “Things are a mess out there. Try not to go out if you don’t have to. Safety first.”

He even considerably closed the door for them.

Ji Yang had no intention of opening it.

He simply looked around the space and said: “Does anything about this feel off to you?”

Jiang Lei went to the small window and lifted the curtain to look out. “The normal workers should have all left by now. The ones who were welding just now—clearly rookies, just putting on a show. And the one who brought us here? Probably similar to those who made a ruckus at the village entrance this afternoon—just a bit sharper and smarter.”

Ji Yang dragged over a plastic stool and sat down. “So Zhao Changgen’s intention all along was for us to come and never leave?”

Jiang Lei shook his head. “He probably doesn’t have the guts for that. It’s more likely related to the boat docking tonight.”

…

Meanwhile, at the place where the boat had docked.

The cargo crate hoisted by the crane hung suspended in mid-air. The din of the machinery made the conversation beneath the lights and shadows feel even more tense.

“You’re saying Ji Yang is here?” The old man’s voice was hoarse, laced with disbelief. “How could you dare bring him here tonight?”

Zhao Changgen stood beside him, his expression pained: “I didn’t want to, but he’s just too difficult to deal with. That agreement of his has cut off practically every path I have. And he proposed coming here himself—even moved up the timeline.”

The old man was none other than Zhao Yuan.

His eyes were hidden beneath the brim of his cap, nearly impossible to see clearly in the dark. He was quiet for two seconds, then said: “He might already know something. He’s a major problem—we have to find a way to deal with him.”

A flicker of shock crossed Zhao Changgen’s face. He lowered his voice: “But he’s the Fourth Young Master of the Ji family.”

“The Fourth Young Master.” Zhao Yuan let out a cold snort without good humor: “What young master? Besides, that old man never had this grandson in his eyes to begin with. Even if he does, it’s purely for leverage. But if he leaks word of this, I won’t even be able to answer for it.”

Zhao Changgen thought of the other party’s posture with the phone earlier in the afternoon.

He nodded.

He wanted to say they should lock the man up first.

Before he could speak, someone bent down and emerged from the cabin door behind the old man.

His height was too great, so he kept one hand resting on the upper frame of the door.

Dressed entirely in black, his casual bearing concealed something out of the ordinary in every detail.

The man stood outside the cabin door, with no intention of stepping down. His gaze swept across the other two: “Mr. Zhao, if you want to catch up on old times, you can do it tomorrow. Don’t waste my time.”

“And this is?” Zhao Changgen asked.

Zhao Yuan’s eyebrow twitched hard.

Because he suddenly recalled that certain young master had been seen at Building Four just a few days ago, sharing the same room as Nie Xu.

Zhao Yuan had no interest in explaining the details to Zhao Changgen.

He simply introduced: “Nie Xu.”

Then added: “Hurry up and hoist the cargo onto the boat. Then go clean up any loose ends.”

Zhao Changgen looked over at the man again.

Involuntarily, his fingertips trembled. In that moment, his mind was in complete turmoil.