Disabled Young Master on Danmei AI Translations

Chapter 1

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 13:23:33 +0000

Chapter 1#

Ji Yang heard the dripping water again.#

Drip, drip.

Like a slow drawn-out execution.

A red-hot iron wire spiraled into the marrow of his phantom right calf from nothing, then exploded apart all at once.

In that instant, Ji Yang’s instincts had him rolling over and hugging his knees, teeth clamped so hard he barely swallowed the whimper pushing up from his throat. Cold sweat crept up layer by layer, soaking through his spine, dampening his hair, which he then dragged and rubbed carelessly into the silk bedsheet beneath him—its intricate patterns crushed into a crumpled ball in his grip.

Chapter 2

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 13:23:33 +0000

Chapter 2#

Half an hour later, Ji Yang sat back down in the hall.#

He was curled up in a sofa chair, wrapped in a large white towel, looking like a bedraggled cat that had been caught in the rain and balled itself up.

A servant brought him medicine.

“Look at this sorry state. Did someone rob your prosthetic leg?”

A voice full of suspicion suddenly spoke up.

It was none other than Ji Mingyue—the only girl of the third branch among the younger Ji generation. Right now she was wearing a blue gauze dress, arms crossed beside the sofa, her expression one of utter disgust toward him.

Chapter 3

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 13:23:33 +0000

Chapter 3#

The Ji family’s bayfront manor sat in the most bustling core of Fanzhou’s mid-ring district. Owing to its prime geographical location, its vast and gently sloping grounds offered sweeping views of both the eastern and western shores. The property group’s top-tier service and annual fees eye-watering enough to stun even the most jaded — not to mention the surrounding high-end villas and estates in the exclusive wealthy district — made the semi-cradled manor appear all the more secluded and mysterious.

Chapter 4

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 13:23:33 +0000

Chapter 4#

Ji Zhonglin was the younger version of Ji Yansong.#

Yet not quite as ruthless as Ji Yansong. He was the successor nurtured across two generations, hoisted aloft by countless hands, carrying a gravity that had no business on a face his age.

He was undeniably good-looking.

No wonder his CP with Ji Chengyi was just as perpetually popular.

“Still unrequited?” A flicker of absurdity passed through Ji Zhonglin’s eyes, followed by a baffled look. “I’m talking to you. Why are you staring at me like that?”

Chapter 5

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 13:23:33 +0000

Chapter 5#

Running into Qi Yiming first thing in the morning was truly appetite-ruining. Ji Yang took two bites of breakfast and put down his chopsticks.#

Ji Mingyue had lent him her car.

According to her description, after the original host’s car accident, he had smashed every sports car in his entire garage, and on top of that, smashed two of Ji Chengyi’s as well. Back then he went around every day shouting that Ji Chengyi was trying to kill him, which led the original host’s dear father to suspect he had paranoia, having nurses inject him with sedatives daily.

Chapter 6

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 13:23:33 +0000

Chapter 6#

Ji Zhonglin strode out from inside, his brow deeply furrowed.#

Flanking him were his assistant, the foreign trade business partners, and others.

At least a third of Ji Corporation’s business had already been handed over to him, but the group’s core shipbuilding and offshore oil and gas industries still remained firmly in the hands of several uncles. The old master was intent on testing him, and the overseas company they were meeting with this time was especially critical to second-half performance. It would also secure him a more favorable position at the year-end shareholders’ meeting.

Chapter 7

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 13:23:33 +0000

Chapter 7#

The fluorescent lights in the police station hall made the floor gleam with reflected light.#

The duty officer watched the tall, handsome man walk through the door and rose to greet him. “Mr. Nie? It’s you again.”

“Officer Wu.” Nie Xu nodded at the man — they were on familiar terms by now, having crossed paths more than once.

Nie Xu’s gaze swept across the entire hall. Aside from a couple arguing and a young pickpocket who kept going in and out while being scolded, he didn’t see the person he was looking for.

Chapter 8

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 13:23:33 +0000

Chapter 8#

The car Nie Xu was driving looked understated, but the rear seat space was enormous.#

It rode so smoothly on the road that bumps were virtually imperceptible.

Ji Yang sat in the back seat. By the neon lights flashing past the window, he could see the driver put on a pair of sunglasses again, his sharp half-profile silhouetted in the dark.

He had no concept of social hierarchy, let alone any sense of superiority that would make him demand someone who controlled his life and death serve as his driver.

Chapter 9

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 13:23:33 +0000

Chapter 9#

That evening, Ji Yang naturally didn’t catch sight of the cat.#

He had assumed Nie Xu was just brushing him off with empty words, never expecting there to actually be one.

A pure white long-haired Ragdoll, with one blue eye and one gold eye — extremely beautiful and very aloof, refusing to be held by just anyone. It took Ji Yang three days and a multitude of cat treats before he could barely win it over.

Chapter 10

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 13:23:33 +0000

Chapter 10#

Ji Yang took his medication before bed that night.#

The next morning, he woke to find the clock on the wall pointing at 10:08 AM. The alarm either hadn’t gone off or he’d slept through it.

The sun blazed high outside.

Being late was now a certainty.

After a long staredown with Little Bai, who’d slept at the foot of his bed, Ji Yang scratched his hair and fumbled for his phone.

Chapter 11

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 13:23:33 +0000

Chapter 11#

Ji Yang suspected that in Nie Xu’s eyes, he didn’t even qualify as a person at this moment—he was at best a wound that needed debridement, or a breathing object.#

The cotton swab wiped across the wound with surgical precision, clearing away the dust and debris one by one, giving Ji Yang a flawless experience of what “efficiency first, experience never” truly meant.

Jiang Lei walked in with the supplies and instinctively stepped back upon seeing the scene inside—then remembered that this young master had rolled up his pant leg in public, which was clearly no longer the same demeanor as when he used to be so self-conscious about being seen.

Chapter 12

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 13:23:33 +0000

Chapter 12#

Ji Yang got into the passenger seat of the black modified Hummer downstairs.#

Nie Xu had hoisted him into it.

The wide body, the six-slot intake grille forming an intimidating front fascia, the astonishing ground clearance—all gave the vehicle a commanding road presence with an excellent Land Cruiser-like vantage point.

The style suited a certain someone perfectly.

Ji Yang felt the car accelerating. He grabbed the seatbelt across his chest and counted in the rearview mirror—there were three cars following them.

Chapter 13 - 1

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 13:23:33 +0000

Chapter 13 - 1#

That evening at the Ji residence, Ji Yang saw more members of the Ji family than ever before.#

Ji Yang had always assumed that the entire estate, aside from the so-called mainline branch’s third generation children, consisted only of the security center, servants, gardeners, and drivers. It wasn’t until he walked through the door and saw several people sitting below Ji Yansong—equally advanced in age and equally stern-faced, in addition to the third branch’s people—that he realized the grandfather’s generation’s collateral bloodline relationships were actually also included within the Ji estate’s domain. Ji Yang belatedly understood: the Ji family as he had conceived of it all came from the one-sided descriptions in the book. He had never truly known a family like this.

Chapter 13 - 2

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 13:23:33 +0000

Chapter 13 - 2#

At first, Ji Yang didn’t quite understand why he had brought up that first sentence.

It wasn’t until he finished speaking that Ji Yansong narrowed those slightly clouded-looking eyes. “Assistant? You agreed?”

“Mm.” Nie Xu responded.

Ji Yansong’s expression betrayed nothing, but he nodded and then said, “Very well. You don’t need to worry about the matter of that shipment at the docks. You’ve been in the Ji family for fifteen years—you know what kind of grandson I have.” Here, he suddenly said, “He likes you, Ah Xu. What do you think?”

Chapter 14

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 11:10:12 +0000

Chapter 14#

Ji Yang actually felt it was a bit strange.

Strange that Ji Chengyi was taking the initiative.

His concern for Nie Xu had exceeded the level of mere favorable impressions at this stage of the book.

At least it shouldn’t have been this pronounced yet.

And yet, after failing to win Nie Xu over to the Bayshore project last time, he had arranged a private meeting so quickly—late at night, no less—right after the old man had just made it clear he wanted Nie Xu to be his personal assistant. He’d even taken the initiative to reminisce about the past, which made it very hard for Ji Yang to believe he wasn’t invested.

Chapter 15

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 11:10:12 +0000

Chapter 15#

Everyone thought he was just clout-chasing to ride the trending topic. Ji Yang couldn’t have cared less — if it was free traffic, might as well take it.

He hadn’t originally planned on using the account for anything in particular, but when he saw his follower count skyrocketing — mostly from idle onlookers hoping to watch the circus — Ji Yang immediately turned around and ran an ad for Ji Mingyue’s café.

Chapter 16

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 11:10:12 +0000

Chapter 16#

Ji Yang went to report at the group headquarters on time for two consecutive days.

That was practically unheard of.

The main reason was that the Ji family was busy preparing for the upcoming banquet, and Ji Yang couldn’t stand the chaos at home.

That trivial department business in the New Media Department was like nothing in Nie Xu’s hands. Ji Yang would nap for two hours at the office during lunch, then spend the rest of the time holed up there playing games. Nie Xu was sometimes there, sometimes not, completely unaffected by him. Ji Yang wouldn’t bother asking about his schedule either.

Chapter 17

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 11:10:12 +0000

Chapter 17#

After taking on the promotion work for the Lanwan Bay project, when Ji Yang returned to the twelfth floor, the department had already caught wind of it — though most didn’t quite dare to believe it.

When they sought confirmation from Peng Jiaying, all she said was that everything was following orders.

Following whose orders?

“Assistant Nie’s arrangements.” Ji Yang stopped at the door of the manager’s office and said to the person who was last to walk in: “Follow him, and I guarantee you’ll save yourselves at least ten years’ worth of mortgage payments.”

Chapter 18 - 1

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 08:22:19 +0000

Chapter 18 - 1#

The moment Ji Yang walked into the banquet hall, he could clearly feel gazes converging on him from all directions.

It wasn’t officially starting yet.

The murmurs were pressed very low, like fine spiderwebs tangled in the air.

Zhao Yuan appeared silently at his side once again, speaking flatly with a command: “Fourth Young Master, the old master wants you to go over first and greet the elders.”

Chapter 18 - 2

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 08:22:19 +0000

Chapter 18 - 2#

He smiled at Ji Yang with an air of knowing him well: “Fourth Young Master, we know you’re not feeling great tonight.”

The person beside him echoed the sentiment.

“If you have any grievances, just say it. Everyone can understand.”

“Yeah, the one standing beside Old Master Ji today should have been you…”

The livestream viewer count had already surged past twenty thousand.

The platform apparently saw him as a new account, and since his traffic kept climbing, it gave him a homepage recommendation directly. More and more people were flooding in.

Chapter 19

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 11:10:12 +0000

Chapter 19#

Ji Yang actually had a premonition about the phantom limb pain episode.

He was mentally prepared for it too.

Unlike the lingering ache from the previous night, phantom limb pain tended to arrive more suddenly—swift, fierce, and unbearable. The painkillers he’d taken before the banquet felt like they had done absolutely nothing at all.

In the second-to-last guest room on the second-floor corridor, Ji Yang was laid down by the bedside. He stripped off his jacket, rolled onto the bed, and quickly curled up, hugging his knees.

Chapter 20

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 11:10:12 +0000

Chapter 20#

In the end, Ji Yang removed his pants while hiding under the blanket, rustling quietly.

He hadn’t slept well for most of the night. After getting through the most painful stage, just as Qi Songqing had said, the painkillers did almost nothing. The pain was bearable, but the phantom stabbing sensation from his nonexistent limb would jolt him awake at the most unexpected moments.

After going through it over and over, Ji Yang suspected he was going to develop heart disease.

Chapter 21

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 11:10:12 +0000

Chapter 21#

The plane touched down in Huizhou at around five in the afternoon.

They say every city has a distinctive atmosphere all its own, and compared to Fanzhou, Huizhou actually gave Ji Yang a more familiar feeling—the humid, muggy climate was strikingly similar to Jinzhou, where he had lived in his previous life.

Stepping out of the terminal, they were greeted by a black commercial vehicle sent to receive them.

Chapter 22

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 11:10:12 +0000

Chapter 22#

By nine in the evening, both sides had eaten and drunk their fill. They waved goodbye outside the door, then each got into their cars and left.

Qian Yitian had followed along and knocked back a few cups, so he was thoroughly drunk, clinging to Nie Xu and refusing to let go. He mumbled about how impressive Assistant Nie was and begged him to give him more guidance in the future, then proceeded to recount every experience from his entire life — nearly falling into a pond at three to feed the fish, raiding bird nests at five, playing truant at ten — he was practically one step away from reciting his bank card password.

Chapter 23

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 11:10:12 +0000

Chapter 23#

Of all the people Ji Yang had met, Lu Li was the most arrogant and the most fickle.

He had a face that leaned slightly toward the sinister, yet he was inexplicably fond of smiling.

That kind of smile—the kind you could tell at a glance wasn’t because he was genuinely in a good mood. It was a habit, a mask he showed the world. One moment he could respectfully escort Ji Yang into a car; the next, at the airport, he’d kick one of his subordinates who’d messed up so hard they couldn’t climb back off the ground.

Chapter 24

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 11:10:12 +0000

Chapter 24#

At the same time, in Jian Yuan’s top-floor office.

The face of the decision-maker, Qi Songqing, was holding an emergency video conference on his computer.

The backup phone sitting beside him had been resting quietly, but after a burst of static hiss, a voice came through—one that wasn’t unfamiliar.

A few brief exchanges.

Everyone in the office froze.

Qi Songqing ended the meeting decisively in a sentence or two, leaned back in his chair, blanked out for a beat, then burst into a snickering laugh. When he’d had his fill, he couldn’t help commenting.

Chapter 25

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 11:10:12 +0000

Chapter 25#

Ji Yang was pushed all the way back to the main building by Nie Xu.

The main building was brightly lit at this hour.

Mo Qiu was the first to come out to greet them. The moment she saw the wound on his forehead, her eyes turned red. “Who hit you? How did you get hurt this badly? All these days, and those people couldn’t even bother to have someone treat the young master’s wound — in this kind of weather, one careless moment and it’ll get infected!”

Chapter 26

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 11:10:12 +0000

Chapter 26#

When Ji Chengyi and the doctor came in for the second time, Ji Yang had already been settled at the head of the bed, his hair half-dry.

The belt of his bathrobe had been tied tight again, just barely presentable enough to be seen.

The doctor didn’t look around when he entered. He took Ji Yang’s blood pressure, checked his temperature, and ran through a set of basic examinations. Ji Yang cooperated throughout.

Chapter 27

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 11:10:12 +0000

Chapter 27#

The raid on Ji Yiming’s bachelor party hit Fanzhou’s already turbulent circles like boiling oil splashed into scorching water — it exploded.

When Officer Wu personally saw Ji Yang off the dock, the muggy night wind off the riverbank, laced with the briny tang of salt, swept under the hem of his T-shirt, sending a shiver through him. He must have kicked a little too hard earlier; his leg tingled with mild discomfort. Dizzy besides, Ji Yang leaned against the dock railing and wanted to squat down to rest a moment.

Chapter 28

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 11:10:12 +0000

Chapter 28#

As soon as the report broke about the Ji family’s eldest daughter crying bitterly in a sports car late at night, the public collectively condemned the Qi family for failing to discipline their child properly.

Ji Yang once again made an appearance in the public eye, following Huizhou.

Because of the injury on his forehead, it was quite thought-provoking.

In netizens’ words, the brother and sister looked like they’d both hit rock bottom together.

Chapter 29

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 11:10:12 +0000

Chapter 29#

For the evening dinner treat, Ji Yang picked a Japanese restaurant that cost four figures per head.

The atmosphere was comfortable and the food was excellent.

Thick-cut foie gras, salmon, enormous lobster sashimi, mushroom truffle dishes, grilled bluefish—each dish had its own character. Rather than a team-building dinner, it was more like a pure feast for the senses.

“Aren’t we going too expensive?” Peng Jiaying asked at one point, having inquired about the cost, and it made his heart ache.

Chapter 30

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 11:10:12 +0000

Chapter 30#

Halfway through the car ride, Ji Yang truly fell asleep. Perhaps it was the alcohol, but he had inexplicably started breaking out in a cold sweat.

Half-dreaming, half-awake, he felt his palms growing damp and beads of sweat sliding down his back.

It was as if he had been pulled back into that dreamscape of the marsh forest once more.

Only this time, it wasn’t the urgency of being chased. Instead, he was being scolded.

Chapter 31

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 11:10:12 +0000

Chapter 31#

In the end, Ji Yang still got up and washed up briefly.

He had thought he wouldn’t be able to sleep, but after lying down again, he fell asleep quickly. It was a deep sleep, and he didn’t dream at all.

When he opened his eyes again, it was broad daylight outside the window.

Sunlight slanted in through the window, casting a bright band of light across the army-green quilt. Ji Yang stared at it for a long while before his awareness slowly returned, and he remembered this was Nie Xu’s bed. The air carried the faint, cool scent of soap unique to a certain person.

Chapter 32

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 09:59:21 +0000

Chapter 32#

Zhouling’s summer was stickier than Fanzhou’s. The sea breeze pressed against the face with a briny stench, like a wet towel that hadn’t been wrung out properly.

This typical coastal town, with its crisscrossing waterways, served as one of the most important trading ports in the Fanzhou subdistrict. The thriving tourism and marine fishing industries were the local specialties, and more importantly, the primary source of income for the residents.

Chapter 33

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 09:59:21 +0000

Chapter 33#

That slightly mocking term—“be good”—set Ji Yang’s teeth on edge.

Jiang Lei, injured, sat in the back seat of the pickup truck. The last spot was left for Ji Chengyi.

The pickup cut through the night across Zhouling Town. The voices of several people in the truck bed were torn apart by the wind, with only You Li’s incessant chatter occasionally carrying a word or two inside.

The front was extraordinarily quiet.

Chapter 34

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 09:59:21 +0000

Chapter 34#

That evening, Ji Yang never got around to saying goodbye, because Nie Xu walked him back one more time.

The small courtyard was quiet at night.

The You family and his colleagues had all gone to sleep. His footsteps echoed faintly in the stairwell.

Ji Yang walked slowly. When he reached the second floor, it suddenly occurred to him. He leaned over the railing and glanced downstairs, only to find that Nie Xu hadn’t left yet.

Chapter 35

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 09:59:21 +0000

Chapter 35#

The terrain of Zhouling was relatively flat, the road stretching ahead into what seemed like an endless distance.

The sun had set.

Quite a few locals who were slow to catch on had only now strolled over to join the commotion.

The roadside was packed with vehicles — three-wheeled carts and electric scooters among them. Some people were already shouting toward the orchard from a distance away. They were all acquaintances, asking questions, marveling, expressing relief. Quite a few people spontaneously went to help out — after all, while livestream sales had gone up, there was still quality control, picking, packing, and shipping to handle. What they needed now was manpower.

Chapter 36

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 09:59:21 +0000

Chapter 36#

Ji Yang was placed on the long counter table by the window that he had seen the night before—the table’s height was just right for his legs to dangle off the edge.

Thankfully, his pants were loose enough.

Seeing Nie Xu walk away, Ji Yang simply rolled up his pant leg and looked down, hesitating about where to start.

Before long, the man returned and reached over to brush his hand aside.

Chapter 37

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 09:59:21 +0000

Chapter 37#

The return journey went quickly.

They left Zhouling, passed through the small town and winding mountain roads, and finally merged onto the highway heading to Fanzhou.

On the road, Ji Chengyi and Nie Xu each received phone calls, both concerning the Zhu family.

Ji Yang was not on the same path as them.

When they reached downtown Fanzhou, he got out of the car.

Peng Jiaying had driven over to pick him up.

Chapter 38

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 09:59:21 +0000

Chapter 38#

After hanging up the phone, Ji Yang washed up quickly.

When he came out, the evening financial news was playing on the TV.

The host’s clear, enunciated voice echoed through the empty suite: “The Ji Hai Cheng Group issued a statement today, confirming that Zhu Guangsheng, Deputy General Manager of the Hangyuan Division, has been dismissed from all his positions for seriously violating the Group’s regulations and local laws and regulations. Meanwhile, the Ji Group will announce the establishment of a special task force, stationed in the Zhouleng region, to comprehensively investigate and address the previous issues of arbitrary shipping fees and the compensation for fishermen…”

Chapter 39

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 09:59:21 +0000

Chapter 39#

That hand gave Ji Yang the impression of being dry and rough, covered in thin calluses worn smooth from years of gripping blades and guns.

After he finished licking it, Ji Yang immediately regretted it.

How stupid.

Why would he do something like that?

In the end, Ji Yang concluded that over all this time, Nie Xu had used him, acknowledged him, and helped him. Upon closer inspection, Nie Xu had never employed any truly harmful methods against him. On the contrary, Ji Yang occasionally had the illusion that Nie Xu was actually quite tolerant of him.

Chapter 40

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 09:59:21 +0000

Chapter 40#

With Nie Xu sitting on the sofa inside the room and Fang Qi stationed outside the door, Ji Yang had the bizarre illusion that he was some kind of high-profile felon.

Letting Nie Xu sleep in his bed was, of course, a lie.

But Ji Yang was kind enough to lend him a pillow.

He woke up the next morning to find the pillow had been placed back beside his head. Ji Yang stared at it in a drowsy haze for a long while, until a voice cut through: “Still not up?”

Chapter 41

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 09:59:21 +0000

Chapter 41#

When Ji Yang returned to the Ji family estate, the sun had already risen high.

Security at the gate was more than double the usual number, all in matching black uniforms with earpieces, waistbands bulging with gear. They didn’t even stop Nie Xu’s car—they let it through immediately. Ji Yang thought to himself that this was the grand show of the so-called “core asset voting,” looking more like a military control zone.

Chapter 42

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 09:59:21 +0000

Chapter 42#

The draft that Nie Xu finally gave him contained only twelve words in total.

Grateful for your trust, young and inexperienced, not up to the task.

Even the officials were left speechless alongside Ji Yang.

He picked up the A4 sheet of paper where the characters were scrawled with bold, sweeping strokes, tucked it away, and said with a smile, “I know I’m still too outstanding to receive such widespread recognition from the family.” The moment those words left his mouth, the expressions on these people’s faces became extraordinarily colorful.

Chapter 43

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 09:59:21 +0000

Chapter 43#

The rain fell like a heavy curtain, sealing the Ji family estate shut against the world.

Nie Xu’s words hung suspended in the air. Ji Yang released his grip, rising from the stone pillar. His right foot paused slightly when it touched the ground, then quickly returned to normal.

However, this motion of rising was interpreted as a signal of insistence on a fight. Wang Weitao behind Ji Chengyi reacted at the first moment, stepping in front of Ji Chengyi and raising his hand to block.

Chapter 44

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 09:59:21 +0000

Chapter 44#

When Nie Xu arrived at the treatment room, Ji Yang was still defending his pants with his life.

His hair was drenched in sweat, gripping the waistband of his pants, struggling. “Let go… I’m not nervous, I’m very relaxed — but that still doesn’t mean you can strip someone! I can do it myself, okay?! …I understood what you said. It’s you who can’t understand me! Damn it!”

Chapter 45

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 09:59:21 +0000

Chapter 45#

The smoky, lively atmosphere of the barbecue stall gradually dissipated along the street.

Peng Jiaying had drunk until he was sprawled face-down on the table, completely out cold. Every now and then, he mumbled a couple of sleep-talk fragments—all work-related.

In the end, Nie Xu settled the bill.

“I told you I’d pay. Old Peng will definitely give me grief when he wakes up,” Ji Yang said, watching Nie Xu walk back.

Chapter 46

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 09:59:21 +0000

Chapter 46#

On one hand, Ji Yang was feeling defiant because he’d been looked down upon; on the other, he was confused by Nie Xu’s easy compliance. He’d said he seduced him, and the feedback he got back was about technique rather than the act itself.

But for Ji Yang, that couldn’t have been more convenient.

Stepping out of the airport, the midday sun was so blinding he could barely keep his eyes open.

Chapter 47

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 09:59:21 +0000

Chapter 47#

Being called out by name out of nowhere, the person on the other end of the phone was stunned.

His bullying-the-weak-and-fearing-the-strong nature was fully on display. He Ask tentatively : “Who are you?”

Nie Xu: “Your brother Jin Hucheng was nothing more than a former manager of a branch hall. He was expelled from the core three years ago due to internal strife. You’ve been lingering on the periphery for three years—have you forgotten how your brother got in?”

Chapter 48

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 09:59:21 +0000

Chapter 48#

In the end, Lin Yue was dragged back to the hotel room by Ji Yang.

Ji Yang had ordered takeout, and Nie Xu went downstairs to pick it up.

Along with dinner, there was also a tube of anti-swelling ointment.

Lin Yue clutched the ointment in a daze, head bowed, tears dripping down onto the carpet, soaking into small dark circles.

Ji Yang opened the takeout and said, “Stop crying. Come eat.”

Chapter 49

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 09:59:21 +0000

Chapter 49#

The head of the processing plant was a seasoned veteran in his fifties. One look at the scene at the entrance and anyone with half a brain would know the visitors weren’t ordinary. He immediately lowered himself three notches and hurried over to greet them.

Ji Yang stood still where he was.

He noticed his attention kept drifting unconsciously toward Nie Xu, watching him in a dark suit, carrying himself with an unhurried composure. Behind him were seven or eight executives holding document folders — from all appearances, a perfectly routine on-site inspection by the group’s leadership.

Chapter 50

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 09:59:21 +0000

Chapter 50#

Through the thick metal door of the cryogenic chamber, the chaotic sounds from outside filtered in faintly through the transparent window.

It started with the person in charge shouting in a panic, “What happened? Why won’t it open?! Quick, quick, quick—go get the warehouse manager!”

Then there was Lin Yue’s voice, faintly tinged with a sobbing edge: “What do we do, what do we do? Our young master Yang can’t even handle a bit of dampness on rainy days—being at such a low temperature for too long could cause serious problems!”

Chapter 51

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 09:59:21 +0000

Chapter 51#

The two nurses hesitated at the door for a moment before steeling themselves and knocking.

The commotion inside the ward had already ceased, but the atmosphere within was anything but relaxed. Nie Xu was a stranger to the nurses, as Four Young Master always called him. The moment they entered, they only registered that the man standing by the hospital bed was tall, his face cold and severe, his presence so heavy it was almost suffocating.

Chapter 52

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

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.

Chapter 53

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

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.

Chapter 54

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

Chapter 54#

Ji Yansong had gone abroad in secret, and his return was equally low-key.

But it was a critical period, and every single movement related to the Ji family was the focal point of outside attention.

Ji Yang broke free from the lingering humiliation and speechlessness of Nie Xu’s remark about “not dirtying the sofa,” and quickly came to realize that some tranquility was only relative.

It was the top-tier security management of the Boman apartment that made everything here seem so private and immune to prying; it was Jian Yuan’s massive investment that gave him enough confidence to not be swayed; and it was Nie Xu’s dialogue that suddenly broke past preconceived impressions, which left him still in the mood to analyze the limitations of his own perspective and explore the space for male instinctive desires.

Chapter 55

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

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.

Chapter 56

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

Chapter 56#

In the end, Ji Yang never got to drink that glass of wine.

He watched helplessly as Peng Jiaying placed that glass of red wine onto a waiter’s tray, then turned and pressed a glass of fruit juice into his hands.

The result was that whether Peng Jiaying was off schmoozing with people, or others came up to strike up a conversation with him, Ji Yang just stood there holding a glass of fruit juice, looking thoroughly out of place no matter how you looked at it.

Chapter 57

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

Chapter 57#

When the two returned to the banquet hall, the lights were bright, the music gentle, and everything was exactly the same as when they had left.

Nie Xu walked half a step behind Ji Yang, pushing open the side door of the banquet hall for him. His pace was neither hurried nor slow, once again wearing that flawless, indifferent expression.

The moment Ji Yang stepped into the banquet hall, he felt a subtle gaze sweeping over him from several different directions — so fast it might have been an illusion, yet carrying a professional wariness.

Chapter 58

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

Chapter 58#

These words of Ji Yang’s seemed to hit the one point Ji Chengyi found most unbearable.

“What exactly did you do to him?” he asked. “Do you know the ending, just like I do?”

The ending?

Ji Chengyi was still probing him.

Ji Yang assumed the ending in the book could only be some kind of 1v1 happily-ever-after — family feuds resolved, hatred dissolved, one forgiving him for exploiting them from start to finish, the other finally recognizing their own heart and finding fulfillment.

Chapter 59

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

Chapter 59#

The car was parked by the roadside, the engine humming low without being turned off. The light from the dashboard reflected in Nie Xu’s eyes, like a thin layer of darkness pressing down on them.

Ji Yang felt a chill down his spine under that gaze.

Only after a beat did he realize how absurd and impractical that question had been.

He raised his hand. “Alright, treat it as my brain short-circuiting. I know you wouldn’t. You wouldn’t die for Ji Chengyi — the very words ‘die for love’ are a serious insult to your character and beliefs.”

Chapter 60

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

Chapter 60#

After Nie Xu stepped back, he took out his phone.

He scrolled through the internet and said, “Don’t worry about it. There’s not much malice.”

“What do you mean not much malice?” Ji Yang immediately rose from the sofa, kneeling backward on it, craning his neck to glance at the screen, then poking Nie Xu’s phone display. “Look at what this guy says — ‘A young master from a rich family changes men the way he changes clothes.’ This is pure slander against my reputation.”

Chapter 61

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

Chapter 61#

Ji Yang quieted down because of those two words: stop it.

But that didn’t mean he was easy to fool.

Ji Yang: “What you told your aunt was that you were going to settle some old business. It’s dangerous?”

Nie Xu: “It’s not.”

Ji Yang paused for a moment, then said, “Alright then, nothing else. I’m hanging up.”

With that, he hung up the phone.

Nie Xu lowered the phone, glanced at the screen that had gone dark again, then raised his hand and returned the phone to Deng Jiao.

Chapter 62

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

Chapter 62#

The contact Ji Yang had just added was named Wen Yu. His business card read “Heng’an Securities, Senior Investment Consultant.” He wasn’t old, yet his demeanor was remarkably composed.

When Peng Jiaying brought a group of people in, they happened to run into each other.

Both sides nodded in friendly greeting.

“Who was that?” Qian Yitian, the chatterbox, pulled out a chair and was the first to ask, watching the figure walk away. “Pretty handsome.”

Chapter 63

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

Chapter 63#

Ji Yang sat in Jiang Lei’s car and noticed that after cutting off communications, he directly switched to monitoring Building Four’s interior and exterior on several floors.

Several black government vehicles were parked at the entrance, their license plates all bearing the unified numbering of the Fanzhou Chamber of Commerce.

The personnel on duty at the entrance had been replaced with a new batch of unfamiliar faces—a group of men in tailored suits wearing work badges clipped to their chests, going in and out of the rooms along the corridor.

Chapter 64

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

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.

Chapter 65

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

Chapter 65#

Darkness instinctively amplifies a person’s senses.

Their breaths mingled; the warmth on his lips lingered and pressed deep, yet restrained, not driving straight in.

Ji Yang could tell that Nie Xu kissing him was impulsive, because fundamentally he was not an impulsive person. And precisely because Ji Yang’s established impression of him was so deep, Nie Xu’s impulsive behavior seemed to seep, along with his breath, into every pore of Ji Yang’s body.

Chapter 66

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

Chapter 66#

Ji Yang was bounced by that slight recoil and fell silent for two seconds before settling down quietly and obediently.

Nie Xu glanced at him, released him, and rolled back over.

He tugged at the pillow and lay down.

The single bed in the dorm had limited width.

When Ji Yang slept alone, he thought having one more person lying on it was perfectly fine. But now that they were actually sharing it, he found he had to squeeze inward as far as he could just to keep Nie Xu from hanging half off the bed.

Chapter 67

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

Chapter 67#

In the end, Ji Yang stuffed everything in bite by bite.

Nie Xu sat across from him, seemingly chatting with the people beside him, yet his gaze never left Ji Yang’s face, his peripheral vision betraying not a trace. He watched as Ji Yang chewed until his jaw ached, and when Ji Yang finally swallowed the last bite — wearing that unmistakable expression of at last, I’m free — Nie Xu lowered his eyes, concealing the faint glimmer of a smile deep within them.

Chapter 68

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

Chapter 68#

Although South Island sat along the coast, it wasn’t an island city. It was mainly composed of hills and mountains.

The sky was a piercing blue, the clouds hung low.

The wind carried a thick, salty stench along with a vaguely sweet, cloying scent—like over-fermented fruit, or like resin heated by the sun.

Ji Yang stood on the old pier at the edge of the fishing harbor, watching the rust-eaten stern of a distant tugboat. A faded blue flag was planted there, embroidered with a pelican spreading its wings. It was the old trade mark of a long-gone local merchant house of South Island, now nearly extinct.

Chapter 69

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

Chapter 69#

Twenty nautical miles east of South Island.

An old cargo ship with no markings whatsoever was adrift, no different from the countless derelict vessels abandoned on the ocean surface. Only up close could one see an extremely faint wisp of smoke rising from above the exhaust pipe at the stern, indicating that the engines were still running at low power.

Nie Xu stood on the platform on the wing of the bridge, finished replying to a message, heard footsteps approaching from behind, and extinguished his phone as usual.

Chapter 70

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

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.

Chapter 71

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

Chapter 71#

Zhao Changgen couldn’t even articulate the source of his fear.

He simply had an instinctive sense that the man before him was not to be trifled with. Coupled with what Zhao Yuan had ordered him to do, which made him feel guilty, in that moment he didn’t even dare to meet the man’s eyes.

Nie Xu descended the steps at a measured pace, the soles of his boots striking the iron plates with a heavy, resonant thud.

Chapter 72

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

Chapter 72#

Nie Xu gave him a long, deep look, but said nothing.

The operation was drawing to a close.

The entire East Coast had settled into the wind-down period that followed chaos. A police officer came over and cuffed Zhao Yuan. The officer in charge walked over to them and extended a hand to Nie Xu. “Mr. Nie, the case has made tremendous progress today, and that’s all thanks to you.”

Chapter 73

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

Chapter 73#

That murmur, dreamy like a sleep-talker’s whisper, fell beside Nie Xu’s neck, causing his steps to pause briefly.

Nie Xu lowered his gaze to the child in his arms, carefully tracing over his features, searching for any resemblance to the child in his memory.

The child he remembered had been filthy from the explosion, looking like a little tabby cat, except for a pair of big round eyes—black and white, clear as day—with baby fat still lingering on his chin.

Chapter 74

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

Chapter 74#

Nie Xu carried the person through the wrecked dock, locating Jiang Lei’s car parked by the side of the road amid the chaos.

Jiang Lei pulled open the car door. Nie Xu placed Ji Yang into the back seat, climbed in after him, and drew the man against his shoulder. The moment the door shut, most of the noise outside seemed to be severed by an invisible barrier, leaving only the distant wail of police sirens and the residual mechanical hum of cranes powering down, muffled as they passed through the car body.

Chapter 75

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

Chapter 75#

Ji Yang was pressed deep into the soft hotel mattress, the back of his head sinking into the pillow.

Nie Xu’s words pulled a thread of rationality out of his hazy state.

Wait—help me?

Since when is he helping me all of a sudden?

The question barely spun once through Ji Yang’s mind, let alone had time to make sense of it, before he suddenly grabbed the pillow and let out a muffled groan.

Chapter 76

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

Chapter 76#

Panic was Ji Yang’s first reaction.

He instinctively held his breath, his palms faintly sweating.

Nie Xu noticed this but said nothing. Instead, he set the laptop aside, pulled Ji Yang into his arms, and leaned him back against the headboard.

It was a very firm gesture. Ji Yang could feel it—Nie Xu was comforting the sudden tension he’d shown.

He didn’t even wait for Ji Yang to respond. Instead, he picked up the thread himself, giving Ji Yang an out. “You made that up?”

Chapter 77

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

Chapter 77#

This shocking case of stolen cultural relics and gold, both domestically and internationally, had started as nothing more than vague rumors online.

Because it involved too many things on too wide a scale, opinions were wildly divided.

Ji Yang was also implicated.

【This thing happened over ten, twenty years ago. Young people today probably haven’t even heard of it, so how come suddenly someone says they found it? Must be a rumor, right?】【It’s real. The official attitude about this is also very strange. If it were fake, it’s been a night and half a morning already—they would have come out and debunked it by now.】【I can testify, it’s real. The items were found at a dock in a place called Lanjiao Village on Nan Island. There are still police officers there right now.】【Lanjiao Village? Why does that sound familiar to me?】【Above, I guess you’re watching the same livestream as me. I’ve figured it out—he’s a walking topic generator. Wherever he goes, things get trending.】

Chapter 78

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

Chapter 78#

Zhao Changgen was dead.

Just as the arrest had concluded and everyone thought they could wrap up and head back to the city, he fell from the sixth floor and died on impact.

Ji Yang’s view was blocked. He could hear the chaotic sound of boots crunching on gravel, the team leader shouting, “What happened?! How did he fall?!” Others were yelling, “Cordon off the scene!”

When Nie Xu released him, the only things left in Ji Yang’s field of vision were the floodlights illuminating the crime scene and the backs of several police officers. The spot where Zhao Changgen had landed was ringed off with police tape. Ji Yang caught a glimpse of a corner of the white sheet and immediately looked away.

Chapter 79

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

Chapter 79#

That year in the forest, the mist rose slowly from beneath the roots of the trees.

Nie Xu led his men through more than half the night before finding Lu Li half-dead in a rock crevice at the bottom of a slope. He had broken free from those people mid-way; half his face was caked in blood, his left eye swollen almost shut, clinging to his last breath.

Chapter 80

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

Chapter 80#

Ji Yang regained consciousness in a haze of strange noises, barely managing to drag himself back to awareness.

The phone he’d used to open emergency communications was no longer in his hand.

He blinked his eyelids open and found that both his hands and feet were bound, not to mention limp and devoid of strength. From the moment he’d gotten into the car on high alert to being injected and losing consciousness, no more than half a minute had passed.

Chapter 81

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:38:29 +0000

Chapter 81#

The moment that syringe was clenched in Ji Yang’s palm, the cold metal casing pressed against his skin. The excuse of “let me do it myself” only bought him a few seconds—both the dark-skinned man and the driver were staring right at him. There was no room for any other maneuver.

“What’s the hold-up?” The dark-skinned man frowned and reached out to snatch it.

Ji Yang dodged that rough hand, gritted his teeth, and jabbed the needle into the outer side of his upper arm. A sharp sting shot through him. He controlled his breathing, furrowed his brow, and showed nothing.

Chapter 82

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 04:45:51 +0000

Chapter 82#

Outside had already devolved into absolute chaos.

The deafening crash of vehicles colliding, the piercing shriek of shattering glass, and the cursing in local dialect woven through the confusion—all of it poured in through every crack and seam in the prefab building like a pot of boiling oil.

Footsteps clattered heavy and erratic. Someone outside bellowed: “Shit! What the hell happened?! Which direction did they crash in from?!”

Chapter 83

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 04:45:51 +0000

Chapter 83#

Ji Yang hadn’t expected that his next visit to Zhouling would turn out like this.

The You family showed no fuss at all about someone showing up injured. As a temporary place to rest and regroup, Ji Yang had to admit — he really liked it here.

Lu Li was arranged to stay in the You family’s courtyard.

The small house only had Nie Xu and Ji Yang.

Chapter 84

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 04:45:51 +0000

Chapter 84#

Ji Yang had completely forgotten that he was actually capable of resisting.

But he didn’t.

It was as if even this kind of boundary-crossing, tinged with a slight sting, the closeness and the sensations—because he knew who this person was, he could accept it all without reservation. That was a subconscious sense of security, a willingness to offer trust.

For Ji Yang, this was actually quite a hard thing to do.

Chapter 85

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 04:45:51 +0000

Chapter 85#

Second floor of the small wooden cabin, at night.

Ji Yang had just finished showering and blow-drying his hair. He stood before the bathroom sink, looking at himself in the mirror.

He tried to find traces of the resemblance Nie Xu had spoken of, in the person reflected back at him. Whether it was due to viewing himself through his own perspective, he couldn’t sense much of a resemblance at all. Instead, the longer he looked, the more it felt like an illusion — as if he were seeing the version of himself from before he’d transmigrated into the book.

Chapter 86

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 04:45:51 +0000

Chapter 86#

Ji Yang processed this fact alone for a long time.

First, he had forgotten part of what happened in his previous life. After all, he knew himself—if he had discovered at fifteen that there was something wrong with his identity, he couldn’t possibly have spent the entire subsequent years completely ignoring it. So there must be something he hadn’t remembered during the process of becoming a streamer.

And if Jinzhou in his past life was the same as Huizhou now, and Nie Xu and the Ji family both existed, then what became of Nie Xu, who had been adopted as a godson by Ji Yansong?

Chapter 87

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 04:45:51 +0000

Chapter 87#

This time, their departure from Zhouling was in the afternoon.

Nie Xu drove himself, heading north along the coastal highway. The sky shifted from blue to orange-pink, then gradually darkened.

Ji Yang sat in the back seat, window rolled down, the wind making him squint his eyes.

Up front, Jiang Lei asked Nie Xu: “You’re just leaving Lu Li here? Aren’t you afraid he’ll run?”

Nie Xu: “He won’t run. Besides, he’s a key witness. If he can voluntarily disclose the network of contacts around Zhouling’s South Island, when we get back to his registered jurisdiction, the sentencing will take that into consideration.”

Chapter 88

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 04:45:51 +0000

Chapter 88#

That evening, Ji Yang went straight to bed without tidying up much.

Only when he woke up the next day did he find the apartment completely transformed. Everything piled up at the entrance had been put back in its proper place. The windows were spotless and bright, and the empty vase on the coffee table even held a few sprigs of eucalyptus leaves.

Ji Yang was slightly dazed.

Chapter 89

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 04:45:51 +0000

Chapter 89#

Ji Yang always felt like Nie Xu was hunting him step by step, with traps on all sides.

But he had genuinely helped review the documents — truly reviewed, not just going through the motions.

This time, the Yiyuan team headed to South Island. Setting aside the situation Ji Yang himself had encountered, the “consolidated shipping for small scattered orders” model he’d proposed was just an initial concept. When it came to implementation, there were still many details to finalize.

Chapter 90

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 04:45:51 +0000

Chapter 90#

In the end, Ji Yang still didn’t tell Ji Mingyue what he had gone to the hospital for.

He opened the report Lin Yue had sent again and looked at the photo of himself with Nie Xu’s hand blocking his face. Nie Xu wore a black baseball cap, and because he had lowered his head, only the lower half of his face, cast in shadow, could be seen.

Chapter 91

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 04:45:51 +0000

Chapter 91#

The moment Ji Yang’s words fell, the person who had been speaking with veiled barbs just moments ago stiffened for half a second.

The other party’s original intent had been to mock him — the Ji family was gone, and yet he could still sit here so at ease. Who would have thought that not only did Ji Yang not get angry, but he even followed up by saying he was here precisely to kick people when they were down.

Chapter 92

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 04:45:51 +0000

Chapter 92#

The sweetness of the Hami melon spread between his lips and teeth.

Ji Yang chewed slowly and gave up trying to contribute.

For the next half hour, he stayed curled up in the spot beside Nie Xu, leaning against the sofa and scrolling on his phone. Listening to these people discuss things he only half understood.

Nie Xu had said their identities were sensitive, and Ji Yang believed it now. From the conversation, he could tell they all had some political background to varying degrees.

Chapter 93

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 04:45:51 +0000

Chapter 93#

By the time they left the convention center, it was nearly dark outside.

They took the side entrance on the way out, dodging the bulk of the reporters.

The “ironclad evidence” of Ji Yang’s acquaintance with Nathan—that had been resting around his neck—would naturally never see the light of day.

But along the way, they still spotted reporters tailing them.

It was right then that Aunt Mo called to say a water pipe had burst in the building where Ji Yang lived, and the whole building would be out of water for the night.

Chapter 94

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 04:45:51 +0000

Chapter 94#

Ji Yang rarely ever saw Nie Xu smoke.

Hearing him say that, he instead felt a surge of defiance. “I won’t take yours. I’ll go buy some myself — that’s fine, right?”

“Do you not want your legs anymore?” Nie Xu asked.

Ji Yang: “…Fine, you’re ruthless. You’ve threatened me.”

Ji Yang sat back down heavily. His cigarette-stealing attempt had failed. When he saw Nie Xu get back in the car, he changed the subject. “Who were you just on the phone with?”

Chapter 95

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 04:45:51 +0000

Chapter 95#

Ji Yang neither livestreamed nor gave any interviews.

He simply took the paper test report that You Li had sent for testing—the one he should have been taking the medication for—compared it, photographed it, and posted it to his own account.

His caption read: At the time, I really wanted to stuff this piece of paper down your son’s mouth. How is that not being sick?

Since the water was already muddied, Ji Yang didn’t mind making it muddier.

Chapter 96

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 04:45:51 +0000

Chapter 96#

There wasn’t much wind tonight; even on the mountaintop, the stars flickered overhead.

Nie Xu gave him an affirmative look, then went back to fiddling with the equipment in the trunk.

Ji Yang walked up along the slope.

He had still been hesitating, unsure how to greet Yu Qin, but Yu Qin had already come down to meet him first. He seemed very mindful of his leg and wanted to support him, asking, “Can you walk?”

Chapter 97

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 04:45:51 +0000

Chapter 97#

Ji Yang felt that he was very angry.

But in truth, when he sat in the car Han Biao had driven over, watching the morning mist and mountain shadows sweeping past the window, that surge of rage dissipated as if blown away by the wind, leaving behind only a heavy, indescribable emotion pressing against his chest.

Han Biao glanced at him several times through the rearview mirror, opening his mouth but holding back.

Chapter 98

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 04:45:51 +0000

Chapter 98#

It was precisely because he had accurately anticipated Ji Yang’s reaction that this time, everyone following Nie Xu noticed he was calmer than ever before. That calmness wasn’t the kind that came from having nothing on his mind, nor was it born of years of survival environment and training—it was the inevitability of the belief that things could be shaped by human effort.

1:00 AM. Less than an hour remained until everyone’s original scheduled time to land on the island.

Chapter 99

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 04:45:51 +0000

Chapter 99#

Ji Chengyi completely dropped the slightly forced expression he had been wearing. Shock and sudden realization surfaced on his face, genuine and unguarded.

He braced himself upright. “How did you know it was a book? Did Ji Yang tell you? I knew it — I knew it.” He murmured, hatred suddenly igniting in his eyes. “He’s the same as me. He came back — it’s him, isn’t it?!”

Chapter 100

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 04:45:51 +0000

Chapter 100#

The afternoon of the ninth day after Nie Xu left Fanzhou.

The latest news that the Blue Sea Engineering Laboratory had been discovered spread to every official organization center.

Around that uninhabited border island, border patrol speedboats converged on the center from all directions like arrows, yet with tacit understanding they stopped a hundred meters short of the island, forming an encirclement. Waiting for their superiors to issue the latest orders.

Chapter 101

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 04:45:51 +0000

Chapter 101#

Two kilometers away from the island was the temporary base camp for this operation’s command.

Military tents dotted the grassy valley floor.

Medical teams came and went, their feet never touching the ground.

The explosion had still injured quite a few people. The most critically injured were hovering between life and death — the base camp didn’t have the capacity for highly complex surgeries. As soon as they were rescued, they were airlifted by helicopter to the nearest tertiary hospital.

Chapter 102

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 04:45:51 +0000

Chapter 102#

Ji Yang meant it this time.

As a result, over the following two days, whether people knew him or not, they kept seeing him coming and going from Nie Xu’s tent. He was there when the dressings were changed, delivering food when it was mealtime, and when too many people came looking for Nie Xu, he would even deflect the trivial matters for him.

But he never gave anyone a friendly face.

Chapter 103

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 04:45:51 +0000

Chapter 103#

The next day’s return to Fanzhou was carried out with extreme subtlety.

The bandages around Nie Xu’s waist hadn’t been removed yet, and the doctor had warned against prolonged movement. In the first-class cabin of the plane, Ji Yang sat in the aisle seat, asked a flight attendant for a cushion, and insisted on stuffing it behind Nie Xu’s lower back.

“It’s fine, I’m just waiting for the stitches to come out,” Nie Xu said, eyeing the pink lumbar cushion and refusing it.

Chapter 104

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 08:18:55 +0000

Chapter 104#

Ji Yang was literally packed up in his pajamas and carried straight back to Boman.

Here at the private underground parking lot, Ji Yang sat in the passenger seat, side-eyeing the man beside him. “You really don’t want your son anymore?”

“Rather than letting you agonize over custody rights,” Nie Xu unbuckled his seatbelt, turned sideways, “I’d prefer to establish a stable, harmonious relationship between the caregivers. The problem then naturally ceases to exist.”

Chapter 105

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 08:18:55 +0000

Chapter 105#

Ji Yang drove the man out of the room with a pillow.

In the end, it still took him half an hour of dawdling before he finally got out of bed. Apart from the mottled marks of varying depths scattered across his body, his pajamas had been changed. Ji Yang looked down at the faint red impressions on his wrists, shaking his head to dislodge the indecent images lodged in his brain.

Chapter 106

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 08:18:56 +0000

Chapter 106#

When Ji Yang descended to the first-floor lobby, he ran smack into Old Peng coming out of the other elevator.

“Dear God, you—” Old Peng skidded to a stop, rushed forward and threw an arm around him, whispering, “Be on your best behavior in a bit, okay? Own up to your mistakes, make your stand. He’s the big boss of Jianyuan after all. We have to make it clear that this public relations crisis will be dealt with quickly and won’t affect our partnership.”

Chapter 107

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 08:18:56 +0000

Chapter 107#

As soon as Jianyuan’s announcement went up, people quickly noticed that this was no longer just another case of public internet trial.

【Did anyone else notice? This isn’t a simple corporate statement at all. The announcement says it was jointly initiated by Jianyuan’s behind-the-scenes boss in their personal capacity, alongside the group.】

【Who exactly IS this behind-the-scenes boss of Jianyuan?】

【I agree this doesn’t add up. Remember, Jianyuan has been kicking up massive waves in Fanzhou this past year, yet they’ve kept their operations as low-profile as possible. Why would they suddenly go all-out over something like this?】

Chapter 108

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 08:18:56 +0000

Chapter 108#

Late at night in a suburban cemetery.

This was Ji Yang’s second time here.

The feeling was different from when he’d come with Nie Xu last time. The cemetery in the dead of night was especially eerie and terrifying — the daytime tranquility and desolation were gone, replaced by nothing but endless darkness and the rustling of wind.

“In such a hurry? Are you sure you don’t want to call the police first?” Yu Qin asked.

Chapter 109

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 08:18:56 +0000

Chapter 109#

The moment the police cast their net, the first lead came in that very afternoon.

It came from among the batch of servants the Ji family had let go in earlier years — one that Nie Xu had mentioned — specifically an old gardener surnamed Zhou.

The reason he was flagged as suspicious was because the police discovered the man had a son who had previously worked for the Ji family’s shipping fleet. The year Yu Fei passed away from illness coincided with the Qiming disaster, and his son had “coincidentally” been aboard one of the Ji family’s ships when the incident occurred. After the Ji family paid the Zhou family compensation, the gardener left their employ.

Chapter 110

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 08:18:56 +0000

Chapter 110#

The roar of heavy machinery ground in from beyond the estate walls. Treads crushed over the rain-soaked flagstones, churning standing water into murky waves of mud. The rain showed no sign of stopping—it only poured harder, the sky hanging so low it seemed to be pressing the entire estate into the earth.

Ji Yang stood at the foot of the steps. Rainwater trickled down the back of his neck; his shirt clung to his back, tracing the thin outline of his shoulder blades. Ji Mingyue’s umbrella had long since been blown inside out by the wind. She simply put it away and stood half a step from him, getting drenched alongside him.

Chapter 111

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 08:18:56 +0000

Chapter 111#

When Ji Yang regained a sliver of superficial consciousness, the first thing his nose registered was the scent of disinfectant.

That distinctly hospital smell—cold, antiseptic cleanliness—mingled with a faint, barely-there trace of something familiar. He didn’t need to open his eyes to know where he was. His right hand was being held. The palm gripping his was dry and warm, the thin callus on the web of the thumb resting against the inside of his wristbone, very light, bringing a steadiness.

Chapter 112

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 08:18:56 +0000

Chapter 112#

Ji Yang found himself completely idle with his hospitalization.

As deep winter arrived, it was as if he’d entered a state of hibernation.

The duration of this hospital stay was even longer than the last time, when the cold storage unit had triggered his acute phantom pain.

Except for the first day after he woke up, there hadn’t been a single quiet moment in his ward.

“Is it really that dramatic?” You Li, while peeling an apple, poked fun at him clutching the hot water bag. “Just turn on the AC and be done with it.”

Chapter 113

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 08:18:56 +0000

Chapter 113#

In early spring, some of the verdicts came down.

Ji Yansong, Zhao Yuan, and the others who were already paralyzed were sentenced to immediate execution; Ji Changshou received life imprisonment. All the remaining criminals were captured. Because the cross-border case was complex and involved many people, the trial schedule was pushed all the way to the middle of the following year.

Just after the New Year, families in Fanzhou like the Qi family and the Lu family disappeared quietly.

Chapter 114

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 08:18:56 +0000

Chapter 114#

Main story complete.

The day construction began on the research institute building at the old Ji family estate site, Ji Yang was preparing to set off abroad.

Yiyuan’s newly relocated office was in the industrial park east of Jianyuan.

Two rows of ginkgo trees were planted at the entrance, just sprouting clusters of fresh green leaves this time of year.

The team walked out the gate together with him.