Chapter 115

Chapter 115

Jiang Yiting's recent days hadn't been as glorious as he'd imagined. The new product he'd pushed hard completely failed to meet expectations. After more than half a year, all that was left were cold, hard loss numbers. Even his own mother couldn't find any reason to keep protecting him. The project he'd been running was about to get scrapped—the company would no longer approve any funds for him, and the production lines had been completely swapped out.

Hadn't Nanyuan been really bullish on his project back then? Hadn't he thought their lab's products and production lines were first-rate? Why was the result so poor!

No, this couldn't be blamed on him. If anyone was to blame, it was those two, Jiang Yicen and Nan Shuyi. If not for their meddling, Nanyuan wouldn't have pulled the funding, and his project wouldn't have been short on capital. It was those two who were at fault.

Yes, it all started with that matchmaking banquet between Jiang Yicen and Nan Shuyi.

He must still be holding a grudge over that time he clocked him with that thing.

The old Jiang Yicen would always look at him with fear in his eyes. If not for Jiang Yicen fighting back that day, calling him a hypocrite and a slick-talking scumbag, he wouldn't have swung at him in the heat of the moment.

Jiang Yicen knew that it was he who'd suggested the marriage alliance with Nanyuan to his father, that he'd invested in the project, and that he'd even orchestrated the matchmaking banquet. What did sacrificing a half-brother mean to him? He just wanted to get a solid foothold in Jiangda and take over the company.

He knew Jiang Yicen had returned to the country to lay low, likely to avoid those genuine rich playboys abroad.

He'd kept a close eye on Jiang Yicen since they were kids. He was also the one who'd arranged for him to study in the US, and he'd had people monitoring him the whole time. What he hadn't counted on was Jiang Yicen actually behaving, studying for a few years, and getting his degree, which turned out to be a big help in the whole Nanyuan marriage deal. Too bad he'd let a wolf into the henhouse—he hadn't anticipated that Nan Shuyi would take a liking to him, and even He Nuanqing had hidden Jiang Yicen's background from them.

Now, Jiang Yicen had found his own family and become the owner of Yongjiang Restaurant. Everyone called him "Boss Jiang." What a damn show-off.

Meanwhile, he looked like a kicked dog.

How could Jiang Yiting just swallow this? He spun his phone in his hand and called up one of his contacts.

"Is this Master Tong? I'm Jiang Yiting from Jiangda."

"Oh? I don't remember us having any ties. What can I do for you, Master Jiang?"

"My little brother accidentally offended your buddy Master Lin last year over some random girl. I'd like to invite you all to Lincheng for a little trip, to make it up to you."

At that, the guy on the other end remembered.

"So he's your brother. Whether he comes back or not is up to Master Lin. I'll have to ask him."

...

After that call ended, Jiang Yiting suddenly saw that Jiang Yicen was calling him.

"Wow, you're actually calling me."

"I didn't want to call—your precious little brother is throwing a fit over here. So I need you, the great big brother, to come get him."

Before he could refuse, Jiang Yiting heard Jiang Yifeng's voice on the other end.

"What do you mean?"

"Your precious little brother is trying to dine and dash."

"How much does he owe? I'll wire it to you." Now wasn't the time to pick a fight with Jiang Yicen; he'd bite his tongue for now.

"It's not about the money. He wrecked a bunch of stuff here, and he's drunk, throwing a tantrum, and flat-out refusing to leave. If you don't come get him, I'll have no choice but to call Ms. Lu to come take him home."

The moment she mentioned Ms. Lu, Jiang Yiting's hand gave a slight tremble.

Since childhood, his mother had always told him: If you can't handle Yifeng's messes, you're a worthless big brother, and you won't be worthy of being Jiangda's heir!

He ground his teeth and said, "Fine, I'm coming over."

Jiang Yicen, you forced my hand. Whatever happens next, don't come crying to me—you asked for this.

·

Jiang Yicen and Nan Shuyi had guys posted at the private room's door. The friends who'd come with Jiang Yifeng had already left.

By the time Jiang Yiting got there, all he saw was Jiang Yifeng tied up hand and foot.

Jiang Yicen sat off to the side, sipping a can of cola, looking totally relaxed.

"Jiang Yicen, you bastard, let me go!"

Jiang Yifeng had zero sense of when to back down, even on someone else's turf. Which earned him a kick from Nan Shuyi.

"You've got a filthy mouth. No manners at all."

Jiang Yiting happened to walk in at that moment. Did he really dote on his little brother? Not exactly. Jiang Yifeng had caused endless trouble that he'd had to clean up after. He was long sick of this brother who gave him nothing but dragged him down. If it weren't for his mother's threats and his ambition to inherit Jiangda, he couldn't have cared less if Jiang Yifeng lived or died.

Jiang Yifeng looked up and caught a flicker of disgust in his brother's eyes—but it was gone in a flash, and he figured he must've imagined it.

"Brother, save me!"

Jiang Yiting gave Jiang Yifeng a cold glance, then turned to Jiang Yicen. "Jiang Yicen, what do you want?"

Nan Shuyi pulled out his phone and played the security footage they'd gotten earlier.

Jiang Yiting's face darkened. "Bringing up old grudges? What's your angle?"

It wasn't easy to get anything on Jiang Yiting within Jiangda. His mother would never let him end up in jail. As things stood, Jiang Yifeng wasn't his weak spot. Jiang Yiting had done plenty of shady stuff, but he always covered his tracks.

Jiang Yicen pointed at the broken porcelain dishes and vases scattered on the floor. "First, pay up for the damages. Everything on the floor, plus tonight's tab—they cracked open four bottles of wine at eight hundred grand a pop. Total: five million."

Jiang Yiting dragged over a chair and sat down. "Why don't you just go rob a bank? What if I don't pay?"

Jiang Yicen: "Then you'll be visiting your brother down at the police station."

Jiang Yifeng, feeling bold now that his brother was here, forgot the lesson Nan Shuyi had just taught him.

"Brother, five million—just pay him!"

Jiang Yiting: "Are you threatening me?"

Jiang Yicen let out a light chuckle. "Is that a threat? He treated people to dinner, didn't pay, and tried to bolt."

Jiang Yiting: "Fine, I'll pay."

Jiang Yicen knew Jiang Yiting was running low on cash these days. If he'd told him over the phone how much Jiang Yifeng had blown, he wouldn't have given a damn. But now that he was here and had seen the video, he knew if he didn't pay, Jiang Yicen would definitely call the cops and have Jiang Yifeng thrown in jail.

Jiang Yicen held out a QR code. "Or you can swipe a card if you'd rather."

Jiang Yiting's card was already maxed out—he couldn't swipe it, so he had to do a transfer.

Jiang Yifeng: "Brother, you're really going to pay him? He's been eating from the Jiang family and living off the Jiang family for all these years!"

Jiang Yiting wished his dumbass brother would just shut the hell up. Did he have any clue how much Nanyuan's first investment had been?

Forget it. Jiang Yifeng never worried about stuff like that, because he knew his brother and mom would always bail him out. What a fool—still not knowing when to pull back.

Jiang Yiting ignored Jiang Yifeng: "I've paid. Can we go now?"

Nan Shuyi didn't want to let him go. He was actually thinking of calling the police to have them hauled off, but Jiang Yicen shot him a look.

He stood in front of Jiang Yifeng: "Yongjiang Restaurant will always welcome honest and trustworthy customers. Next time you come, don't pull that dine-and-dash stunt again, Jiang Yifeng. This isn't the Jiang family home, and I'm not the Jiang Yicen you used to push around."

Jiang Yiting untied Jiang Yifeng, catching the strong smell of alcohol on him, and felt nothing but disgust.

Jiang Yicen made no move to stop them.

Once they were far enough away, Nan Shuyi asked Jiang Yicen, "Why didn't you let me call the police?"

Jiang Yicen shared his observation instead: "Did you notice how calm Jiang Yiting was? The way he looked at me when he walked in was off."

Nan Shuyi: "You mean, he wasn't afraid of the police at all?"

Jiang Yicen: "He doesn't give a damn about Jiang Yifeng. Also, I think he might be plotting something."

Nan Shuyi: "He's targeting you!"

Jiang Yicen: "Not sure. I just get the feeling he came prepared. Better to let him go and catch him red-handed."

Nan Shuyi: "He's so sneaky. He's in the shadows and we're in the open—hard to defend against."

Jiang Yicen: "We'll deal with it as it comes."

Nan Shuyi looked at him seriously: "Starting tomorrow, you need to bring two extra bodyguards when you go out. Otherwise, I won't be able to relax."

Jiang Yicen: "Mm, I will."

A wise man doesn't put himself in harm's way. He cherished this hard-earned second chance at life.

·

The next few days were quiet.

However, the person Nan Shuyi had been watching finally made a move. He passed the news along to Jiang Yicen.

Lin Shanmao was back.

Lin Shanmao was the scumbag rich kid who bullied girls in America. He had wanted to find "Jiang Yicen" and off him back then, but "Jiang Yicen" had bought a plane ticket and hightailed it back to China first. Later, he sent two guys to kidnap "Jiang Yicen," but those two didn't know Jiang Yicen had been replaced by someone else—someone with serious fighting skills. Before they could even make a move, they got thrown in prison.

Through all this back and forth, Lin Shanmao remembered Jiang Yicen and learned he was from the Jiang family. Later, other interesting things came up, and the whole thing was dropped.

But Lin Shanmao was the type to hold a grudge. Two days ago, one of his buddies mentioned that Jiang Yicen's older brother wanted to apologize to him and invited them back to China for a few days of fun.

Lin Shanmao was no saint. He started bullying classmates in middle school, even pushing one off a building, leaving that kid permanently disabled. Because his family pulled strings, he was sent abroad, changed his name, and got away with it.

Jiang Yicen wasn't scared of Lin Shanmao. Both he and Nan Shuyi were wondering how the guy had managed to come back so openly.

What was even more interesting was that he came to Lincheng. Clearly, he was gunning for Jiang Yicen.

On the evening of the third day after they got the heads-up, Jiang Yicen had just arrived at the restaurant to check the monthly numbers when the manager downstairs told him a guest was demanding to see him—by name, Boss Jiang. If he didn't come have a couple of drinks with them, they'd cause trouble.

The bodyguard who'd been tailing him said, "Boss, want me to have someone check who it is first?"

Jiang Yicen nodded: "Fine."

Troublemakers always have an excuse.

Nan Shuyi had already sent Lin Shanmao's photo to all their bodyguards—the moment they saw this guy, they had to be on high alert.

Soon, the bodyguard reported back.

"Boss, it's Lin Shanmao."

Jiang Yicen thought to himself: a year had passed since the incident between Lin Shanmao and "Jiang Yicen," and the guy hadn't come back. Suddenly coming back to Lincheng now—someone must have egged him on.

It was Jiang Yiting. That man truly had a poisonous heart.

Jiang Yicen didn't give Lin Shanmao the time of day. This wasn't Lin Shanmao's turf; no matter how tough he thought he was, he couldn't throw his weight around at Yongjiang Restaurant.

An hour later, Lin Shanmao left with his crew.

Nan Shuyi found out about it quickly. That very night, he personally came to the restaurant to pick up Jiang Yicen, only breathing easy after confirming he was safe.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I didn't go see him. The boss of Yongjiang Restaurant isn't someone you can just demand to see." Jiang Yicen even joked around.

Nan Shuyi's expression darkened as he looked at him: "Don't take this lightly."

Jiang Yicen: "I know. Those people are used to doing bad things—they need to be severely punished. Right now, they've only been riled up by me."

Nan Shuyi's face was grim, and he was in total agreement: "You want to put yourself in danger?"

Jiang Yicen: "Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Don't worry, the bodyguards are always with me. It's no big deal. And I want to play the long game."

Unfortunately, this was a law-abiding society, and they couldn't carry guns.

Nan Shuyi just squeezed his hand tightly: "Stay safe."

Even if they'd caught Lin back then, he wouldn't have gotten much time—he was a minor at the time.

He naturally wanted to solve this once and for all, but he didn't want Jiang Yicen to put himself at risk. He couldn't bear to see anything happen to Jiang Yicen—even a single lost hair would break his heart.

·

Lin Shanmao had come to Yongjiang Restaurant to stir up trouble, but Jiang Yicen hadn't shown his face. That had already pissed him off.

He set up a meeting with Jiang Yiting at a private club.

Lin Shanmao said, "Master Jiang, didn't you say your brother was going to apologize to me? I went to Yongjiang Restaurant in person and he didn't even show his face. That's really a slap in the face."

Lin Shanmao was a young guy with dyed yellow hair, but he'd indulged in wine and women, draining his body. His skin was sallow, his dark circles were heavy, and he was so thin he looked like skin and bones—clearly not healthy.

Jiang Yiting poured Lin Shanmao a drink: "Don't rush, Master Lin. I'll set it up. This brother of mine—ever since he took over Yongjiang Restaurant, he's gotten too big for his britches."

Lin Shanmao knew a thing or two about the bad blood between Jiang Yiting and Jiang Yicen. Clearly, Jiang Yiting hated Jiang Yicen to the core—why else would he want to hand him over to Lin Shanmao?

"Then I'll be waiting to hear from you. Though, your brother isn't half bad-looking." Lin Shanmao played for both teams and wasn't picky. "How come I never noticed he was so much my type before?"

He'd had someone take a few photos of Jiang Yicen after coming back.

Jiang Yiting: "Tomorrow, I can get him to show up."

·

The next day, Jiang Yiting made good on his word. He called Jiang Yicen and set up a meeting at a café near their home.

On the phone, Jiang Yicen sounded relaxed and agreed to meet him without hesitation.

When Jiang Yiting saw him walk into the café, he thought to himself: I thought he was smart. There's no way he can outsmart me.