“He won’t dare harass you for a while. Your mother can move somewhere else too. I’ll arrange it. If necessary, I can find you a bodyguard. For everyday matters, just contact Duan Yan.”
In the lounge, Song Liang poured a generous amount of milk into the hand-ground coffee Yang Zhengwen had specially appropriated from his superior’s office.
He continued speaking to Chen Jiahe across from him.
“He might come looking for you again when he needs money. He could try selling stories to the media, for instance. I’ll handle that when it happens. But you probably won’t be able to enter the civil service.”
“I wasn’t planning to anyway.”
Chen Jiahe smiled shyly, then hesitated.
“Thank you so much, Mr. Song. But I’d like to know why you’re helping me.”
“I like your TV shows.”
“Oh… Really?”
“I think you’re a future best actor in both film and television.”
Having casually delivered that compliment, Song Liang asked, “Do you like men or women?”
Chen Jiahe blinked and answered honestly, “Women.”
Song Liang silently called Xiao Ji a bastard again.
“Good. Stick with that. Stay straight.”
Chen Jiahe: ?
“Right, what’s your agency called again?”
“Planet Culture.”
“How does your manager treat you?”
“…All right.”
“Understood.”
Song Liang tapped a finger on the table thoughtfully.
“I’ll find a way to buy your company.”
Chen Jiahe: !!!
Alarmed, Chen Jiahe hurried to protest.
“Mr. Song, I’m only a minor actor. I’m not that valuable. I’m not worth such a huge investment!”
Song Liang hadn’t been asking his opinion.
After exchanging numbers and adding him on WeChat, he had Duan Yan take him home.
Before leaving, Chen Jiahe thanked him repeatedly and promised to repay him one day.
Song Liang waved it off, privately calculating where he could find the money to buy an agency.
He remembered that the original novel’s main love interest was a gifted actor. His later productions had all been massive hits.
An investment with excellent potential.
Not long after Chen Jiahe left, Chen Changxu woke up.
First, he shouted that he would sue Song Liang. Then he demanded money.
One million yuan, right off the bat.
Song Liang laughed.
Looking at the disheveled middle-aged man slumped in a chair, he planted one foot on the armrest and asked with a faint smile, “How much?”
Chen Changxu was still hurting where he had been kicked.
At that posture, his face went pale. He shrank back and stammered, “W-What are you doing? This is police headquarters! Assault is illegal! Officer!”
Yang Zhengwen coughed lightly and reprimanded him in a low voice.
“Behave yourself. Demand an outrageous sum like that, and he can accuse you of extortion.”
A seasoned troublemaker, Chen Changxu wasn’t frightened by that warning.
But the officer’s attitude told him Song Liang wasn’t merely wealthy. He probably had influence too.
Chen Changxu bullied the weak and feared the strong. Knowing nothing good came of offending powerful people, he immediately softened his tone.
He rambled that he was an old man who had been kicked, and even if he couldn’t get a million, he deserved something.
A hundred or two hundred thousand would do.
Naturally, Song Liang refused.
He was so broke he almost wanted to rob a bank himself. Where was he supposed to find money for someone else?
“You’re not getting a cent. Behave yourself from now on, and stay away from your son. Every time you approach him, I’ll have you put back in custody. If you like, you can stay there until you die.”
The man finally looked frightened.
“Who exactly are you?” he asked cautiously.
“Song Zhicheng of Hengyu Real Estate is my father. Take it up with him if you have a problem.”
【…Such a devoted son.】
Song Liang: 【Making full use of available resources.】
“Song Zhicheng… Hengyu Real Estate…”
Chen Changxu muttered the name, then suddenly stared at Song Liang’s face with wide eyes.
“You’re that illegitimate child from back then?”
Song Liang stopped as he was about to leave.
Slowly, he turned.
“You know me?”
Panic flickered across the man’s face. He avoided Song Liang’s eyes.
“N-No. How would a nobody like me know rich kids like you?”
Song Liang walked back and stood over him.
“Tell me everything you know. Otherwise, I’ll have you sentenced to death right now.”
The man went white.
Yang Zhengwen: “…”
That was taking it a little far.
When Zheng Xin returned, she noticed the black Range Rover with its repeating-number plate parked outside.
She was about to joke about which Linhai big shot had come to get someone released this time when she spotted a bodyguard in a black suit at the entrance.
She had an excellent memory, especially for faces.
She immediately recognized him as one of the guards who had stood outside Xiao Yi’s hospital room.
Assuming Xiao Yi was here, she quickened her pace.
But just inside the entrance, she encountered a handsome young man coming out.
Tall, with languid, self-possessed eyes, he was strikingly attractive.
He also appeared to have a broken arm.
The bodyguard immediately approached him. Her subordinate Yang Zhengwen followed behind him with considerable deference.
“And this is…?”
She was certain she had never met him.
Perhaps one of the younger Xiaos?
“Mr. Song, this is my superior, Team Leader Zheng Xin.”
Yang Zhengwen then introduced him.
“This is Mr. Song Liang, Hengyu Real Estate’s second young master. He’s also Young Master Xiao Ji’s… ahem, close friend.”
“Boyfriend,” Song Liang corrected, offering his hand. “Hello, Team Leader Zheng.”
Zheng Xin shook it, instinctively studying him before glancing at his arm.
“Your arm, Mr. Song?”
“A car accident.”
Song Liang examined her face for a moment, then took out his phone.
“Team Leader Zheng, could I add you on WeChat?”
Yang Zhengwen: “?”
The bodyguard: “!”
Zheng Xin paused. “Sure.”
They exchanged contact details.
Before leaving, Song Liang casually asked, “Are you usually busy? If I message or call, will you see it?”
“Usually not, unless something urgent comes up.”
“Good.”
Good, his foot!
Once Song Liang was gone, Yang Zhengwen hurried to speak.
“He’s gay, Sis! Xiao Ji’s boyfriend. Apparently, they’re getting engaged! You added him on WeChat—what if Xiao Ji finds out?”
“Then he finds out. Adding someone on WeChat isn’t having an affair.”
Zheng Xin seemed distracted.
“I feel like I’ve heard the name Song Liang somewhere.”
“Weibo, probably. Remember the big story at the Xiao Group’s annual gala? That was him.”
Then Yang Zhengwen remembered his superior came from a wealthy family too.
“Wasn’t Xiao Ji going to marry the Qiao heiress? Why switch to the Songs all of a sudden—and change genders too? Do you know what happened?”
“No idea. Some exchange of interests, as usual.”
Zheng Xin asked, “What was he here for?”
Yang Zhengwen explained the matter with Chen Changxu.
Her gaze shifted slightly.
“Where is the man now?”
“In the holding room.”
She acknowledged that, then added, “This crackdown has angered the Liang family. Liang Ziyu is looking for somewhere to vent. Keep your body cameras practically strapped to your faces. Don’t give anyone an opening to retaliate. Understood?”
“Understood.”
Zheng Xin turned toward the holding room.
Meanwhile, Song Liang had just gotten into the car.
“Xinchuan Department Store,” he told the bodyguard.
“…Sir called to ask whether you’ll be home for dinner.”
“Yes.”
“Understood.”
【How can you afford department-store shopping?】
Song Liang: 【Mind your business.】
Riding in a top-spec Range Rover with a prestigious repeating-number plate, while his bank balance hovered near zero, Song Liang toured Linhai’s busiest shopping and entertainment district.
Then he emerged carrying a bag of snacks.
…Rather pitiful.
He took his two-digit snack purchase into the seven-digit car.
Up front, the bodyguard earning a six-digit annual salary dutifully drove while remembering to update his actual employer.
Song Liang opened his phone too.
A string of unread messages filled his conversation with Xiao Ji.
[Xiao Ji: Who are you meeting?]
[Xiao Ji: How do you know each other? How old is he?]
[Xiao Ji: Why aren’t you replying?]
[Xiao Ji: Song Liang!]
[Xiao Ji: Answer me!]
Pretending not to see them, Song Liang opened Zheng Xin’s Moments.
It was an uninterrupted collection of public-awareness videos: very patriotic, very dull.
They made an outlaw like Song Liang distinctly uncomfortable.
He quickly closed the page.
Having received no reply, Xiao Ji called him directly.
Song Liang hadn’t intended to answer, but the car suddenly swayed, and his finger landed on the accept button.
Xiao Ji’s voice came through, tight with anger.
“Like it or not, you represent the Xiao family. Don’t go embarrassing us outside—”
The bodyguard chose that moment to apologize.
“Sorry, Young Master Song. I think someone’s following us.”
The voice on the phone stopped.
When Xiao Ji spoke again, he sounded tense.
“What happened? Someone’s following you? Where are you?”
“It’s nothing. On the way back to the villa.”
Song Liang glanced at the black car reflected in the rearview mirror.
“Talk later. Hanging up—”
Before he finished, a piercing screech of tires rang out.
A silver-gray sedan suddenly shot out of a junction ahead on the right.
The bodyguard immediately slowed and turned the wheel.
The next instant, the black car behind accelerated straight into them.
The black Range Rover’s nose swung sideways, sending it veering forward and to the right.
The silver-gray sedan braked and struck its side.
The Range Rover spun violently and crashed down the roadside slope.
“Song Liang! Song Liang!”
Xiao Ji’s voice kept shouting from the phone.
The rear airbags deployed with tremendous force.
Just before he lost consciousness, Song Liang thought: At least I got to ride in the new car.
Meanwhile, Yang Xuan was preparing to leave work. He was about to ask whether his boss would once again be skipping dinner at the villa when he saw Xiao Yi’s expression change sharply as he held his phone.
Xiao Yi shot to his feet and strode out of the office.
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