Chapter 94:
It seemed to confirm what Chen Qianqiong had said. Over the next few days, Grandma Ji’s phone attacks became even more fierce. Eventually, Ji Ran even blocked the calls from the Ji family’s drivers.
Unable to restrain herself, Grandma Ji finally came to the door. However, she didn’t come in person this time, probably still upset from last time.
After a period of recuperation, Ji Wei had returned to his usual spirited self, no longer looking as listless as he did in the hospital. He appeared at Ji Ran’s house in a grey suit, holding a bag.
“Longjing tea from Hangzhou, specially delivered by someone else. Instead of drinking alcohol and soft drinks all day, drinking tea is better for your health.”
Ji Ran didn’t even glance at the bag. “Just say what you came here to say. I don’t have time to waste on idle chatter.”
Ji Wei was used to his attitude. “Since you don’t want others bothering you at home, you should answer the phone properly.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to answer,” Ji Ran scoffed. “She’s old now. I’m afraid I might accidentally make her collapse again.”
Ji Wei sighed. “I’m here to inform you that Dad will be discharged the day after tomorrow. It’s best if you come.”
Ji Ran paused, looking at him with interest, then asked, “Ji Wei, are you playing the dutiful son role now, staying by his bedside, enduring the old lady’s nagging in your ear, all just to fight over a bit of inheritance?”
Even when Ji Ran and the Ji family were most estranged, Ji Ran was always respectful to Grandma Ji. Hearing the words ‘old lady’, Ji Wei glanced at him knowingly. “My mom has been looking for you.”
Ji Ran didn’t respond, continuing, “Actually, you don’t have to do this. Ji Guozheng now only has you to rely on. Those two won’t allow the family property to fall into the hands of an outsider. If you really want to fight over that petty thing… why not just let Ji Guozheng die sooner? It would save time and effort.”
“This kind of talk, don’t bring it up again,” Ji Wei interrupted, his face stern.
“Oops, sorry, I forgot about your filial piety. You just want his estate, not his death,” Ji Ran remarked.
“I’m not interested in his estate. I just want to help my mom get what she deserves.”
Ji Ran waved his hand, indicating he wasn’t interested in this topic. For the past six months, he probably didn’t want to hear anything related to the Ji family. “Okay, you can go now.”
Ji Wei frowned and glanced around instinctively. “I have something else to say.”
“Fine, no one’s here anyway,” Ji Ran said lazily. “Spit it out.”
“It’s about Qin Man. I heard about you two, and I heard you… gave him a lot of money.”
Ji Ran looked back at him coldly.
“I just wanted to say, Qin Man doesn’t actually need money,” Ji Wei hesitated for a moment. “Grandma said you two are cohabitating… Your relationship with him wasn’t good before. He’s a deep thinker. Be careful not to be deceived by him.”
Ji Ran chuckled dismissively.
Damn it, even Ji Wei knows about this. Only he was kept in the dark. His face felt utterly embarrassed.
In fact, upon careful recollection, he could see many signs that Qin Man’s bankruptcy was fishy, but he chose to ignore them all, which was quite foolish.
Ji Wei thought he didn’t believe him. “He’s currently registering a company. You can have someone check it with the relevant departments.”
“Enough,” Ji Ran interrupted him. “This has nothing to do with you. You don’t need to worry about it. Since you’ve said your piece, you can leave now. I don’t have the time to entertain you.”
Having grown up with a silver spoon in his mouth, Ji Wei naturally couldn’t withstand such cold treatment. He left the tea leaves behind and departed.
Ji Ran hesitated for a moment, debating whether to throw away or keep the can of tea leaves. In the end, he picked it up and placed it on a high shelf in the kitchen.
When he returned, his phone buzzed. It was a message from Qin Man, with several unread messages above it.
Q: It’s dinner time.
After living together with Ji Ran for so many days, Qin Man’s strongest impression was that he didn’t like to eat on time.
Despite being able to cook and having easy access to food delivery, Ji Ran always procrastinated. He wouldn’t eat until he was hungry, often having breakfast at lunchtime, lunch at two or three in the afternoon, dinner at nine at night, and occasionally ordering takeout late at night.
He ate enough, but irregular meal times were still bad for his stomach.
So Qin Man pretended to be hungry every day, to the point where Ji Ran used to call him a starving ghost.
Actually, Qin Man used to have this problem too, especially around year-end. He would only eat twice a day, causing his employees to complain incessantly, but no one dared to say anything.
Now that Qin Man had corrected this bad habit, he started to correct his ex-boyfriend’s bad habits.
Dad Ji: What business is it of yours?
Dad Ji: If you order takeout again, I will throw it all in your yard.
Qin Man laughed and responded with a pitiful expression.
Outside the door, Liu Chen was already waiting in the car. There was a birthday banquet today, and the banquet host had a close relationship with him, so he had to go.
After wearing casual clothes for a long time, changing back into a suit always made him feel restricted.
Before getting on the car, Qin Man looked across the street. The host seemed worried about being spied on by the lunatic across the street, and the curtains were tightly closed.
After getting into the back seat, Liu Chen took out a gift box from the passenger seat. “Boss, I’ve bought all the gifts. Take a look…”
“No need,” Liu Chen always did things he was comfortable with. Qin Man pulled down the car window, looked to the side, and suddenly said, “Wait a moment, don’t leave in a hurry. Honk the horn a couple of times.”
Liu Chen was puzzled, “What?”
“Sound the horn.”
“Boss, it’s a no-honking zone…” And there are no other cars nearby either. Why honk on an empty street?!
“Just do it.”
A short honk echoed through the street.
Seeing the curtains unmoving, Qin Man said, “Give a few more honks, a bit longer this time, it’s fine.”
Liu Chen gritted his teeth and honked two more times forcefully.
The neighboring curtain was fiercely pulled aside, and upon seeing him, Ji Ran unhesitatingly flipped him off.
Qin Man smiled and said to him, “I’m heading out.”
Ji Ran didn’t hear clearly, but he understood from reading his lips. He opened the window, “Get lost! If you honk again, I’ll call the cops and have you arrested!”
It wasn’t until Ji Ran closed the curtain that Qin Man smiled and looked away, “Let’s go.”
Liu Chen: “…”
After more than half a year off, his boss seemed to have lowered his personal standards?
Qin Man hadn’t appeared in such a situation for a long time, which led him to be served quite a few drinks shortly after arriving at the banquet hall.
There were some people who came to test him, and some who had some understanding of Qin Man’s background. He handled them all with ease.
The host of this birthday banquet was nearing seventy, with immense authority in the city. Therefore, although there weren’t many guests, those invited were all prominent figures in the city.
“You’re really something. After all that happened, why didn’t you come find me?” The old man scolded Qin Man gently while sitting in his wheelchair. Though elderly, he still looked vigorous and was today’s birthday star.
The old man was close to Qin Man’s grandfather, so he was very protective of Qin Man.
“It’s not a big deal,” Qin Man smiled.
“The court issued a notification, and you say it’s not a big deal?”
Qin Man chuckled without replying.
In fact, it wasn’t difficult for him to save the company, but it was his father who had built it from scratch. Father Qin married up, and although he and Mother Qin had always been in love, he had endured decades of gossip. Naturally, some of it got to him. So even when the company went bankrupt, he didn’t want to burden his wife and son with his troubles.
The old man was one of the main opponents of Mother Qin marrying someone lower than her. Especially after his friend passed away, he became even more critical of Father Qin, often mocking him whenever they met. This was why Mother Qin didn’t attend today’s banquet.
The old man immediately understood, his face darkening, “The company is on the brink of collapse, and he’s still worried about saving face!”
Qin Man said, “They’re getting old; it’s time they rest and let me take care of them.”
The old man looked up at him and suddenly said, “So you think I don’t have many years left either?”
Qin Man laughed, “You’re still going strong, don’t worry.”
“What’s there to worry about?” the old man said, “Can you at least let me have a grandchild?”
“You have three biological grandsons,” Qin Man reminded him.
“That’s different. I have to think about your grandfather! At your age, your grandfather and I already had two kids!” The old man suddenly thought of something and waved to someone nearby, “Qing Qing, come over.”
A woman in a high-end designer dress walked over gracefully, “Grandpa, yes?”
The old man didn’t respond to her, instead, he looked at Qin Man and said, “Xiao Man, this is my granddaughter. You’ve met her before, her name is Qing Qing. You two should get to know each other, exchange phone numbers.”
The woman was taken aback, sneaking a glance at Qin Man, her face instantly turning red.
Qin Man immediately understood the old man’s intentions. He smiled, “Grandpa, getting acquainted is fine, but exchanging numbers is unnecessary. My partner would get jealous.”
“Partner?” The old man was furious. “Why didn’t you bring them here today for me to see?!”
Qin Man politely replied, “We’ve been having some disagreements lately.”
“You having disagreements with someone?” The old man found it curious and waved his hand dismissively, “Oh, it’s always like this. They make unreasonable demands, and you just go along with it. Why argue? Just apologize and it’ll be over.”
“You’re right,” Qin Man smiled.
Midway through the banquet, the old man’s family organized a photo session.
After waves of people had their photos taken with the old man, it was time for a family portrait.
As the family posed, just as the photographer was about to take the picture, the old man raised his hand, “Wait.”
He beckoned to Qin Man, “Xiao Man, come here, stand behind me and join the photo.”
Qin Man raised an eyebrow, “Grandpa, it’s not appropriate.”
“You already call me Grandpa, what’s not appropriate?” the old man insisted, “If you don’t come, I won’t take the photo!”
The old man was known for his unpredictable nature. Qin Man had no choice but to step forward.
In the latter part of the banquet, the old man, tired, retired early, leaving the businessmen to their socializing and networking.
Qin Man, shrouded in mystery and favored by the old man, became the center of attention wherever he went.
While discussing potential collaborations, Qin Man’s eyes caught a somewhat familiar face in the crowd.
If recognizing the face was challenging, a glance at the top of the person’s head clarified it immediately.
It was his high school classmate, whose name he had forgotten, but he remembered Ji Ran calling him “Little Baldy.”
Baldy had pestered his boss for a long time before finally getting permission to attend this banquet as an assistant—specifically to hand out business cards and shield his boss from drinks.
He never expected to see Qin Man here…
Moreover, Qin Man was mingling and conversing with these business tycoons as if he belonged here.
Wasn’t he supposed to be bankrupt?
Baldy watched in horror as his boss approached Qin Man with a smile, humbly making conversation. Following his boss, Little Baldy broke into a cold sweat.
Hopefully, Qin Man hadn’t noticed him.
“Looking forward to future cooperation opportunities,” the boss smiled. “May I have the honor of exchanging business cards with you?”
Baldy, breathing heavily, fumbled to take out his business card, keeping his head down as he handed it over with both hands.
“Ah,” Qin Man’s eyes flickered towards the shiny bald head, “Little Baldy?”
Baldy froze.
“You know each other?” The boss was pleasantly surprised.
Baldy hurriedly nodded, “Yes… Qin, President Qin, and I were high school classmates.”
He was recognized.
No problem, Baldy reassured himself. Knowing Qin Man’s temperament, he likely wouldn’t hold a grudge…
The boss smiled, raising his business card, “That’s perfect then…”
“What a pity,” Qin Man also smiled, but his tone suddenly turned cold, “We had some unpleasant encounters before. If he represents your company at such events, perhaps it indicates some fundamental differences in our working philosophies.”
He nodded, “Well, I have some other matters to attend to. Goodbye.”
With that, he ignored Baldy’s desperate and resentful expression and walked away.
Normally, Qin Man wouldn’t hold a grudge—frankly, very few people could genuinely get under his skin. Nor would he let personal matters affect his work.
But this guy had gossiped about Ji Ran multiple times.
That was a different story.
—
Ji Ran didn’t expect that a late-night scroll through his WeChat Moments would lead him to Qin Man.
The post was from a female racer named Qing Qing, whom Ji Ran knew through the repair shop owner. She had recently posted about complaining about the high-end dress her family had sent her.
“【Qingbaby: Family portrait. Happy birthday to Grandpa, may you live long and prosper.】”
In the photo, Qin Man stood behind the old man, side by side with Qing Qing. The old man held a hand on each side, making them look like a perfect couple, harmonious and fitting.
Family portrait?
You’re something else.
Ji Ran sneered and gave the photo a like.
Just as he was contemplating which nostril to stuff Qin Man’s ring into, the doorbell rang.
Outside, Liu Chen was on the verge of a breakdown.
His boss was drunk.
This wasn’t something unusual; social engagements often led to drinking too much. However, unlike before when Qin Man would quietly go home once drunk, this time he was particularly difficult.
The boss, being tall and sturdy, had to be practically carried to the doorstep. Just as Liu Chen was about to use the key, Qin Man suddenly opened his eyes and started struggling.
He insisted that this wasn’t his home!
That wasn’t enough; he even grabbed Liu Chen’s neck, forcefully turned around, and pointed at the house across the street, saying that was his home.
They struggled at the doorstep for more than ten minutes. Liu Chen had no choice but to ring the doorbell of the house across the street.
Ji Ran opened the iron gate, looking at them with a blank expression.
Qin Man lifted his head, saw him, smiled slightly, and called out hoarsely, “Little junior.”
Liu Chen: “…”
Seeing Ji Ran’s face darken visibly, Liu Chen braced himself and said, “Sorry, my boss is drunk and insists that this is his home.”
Ji Ran: “…”
Qin Man seemed oblivious to the tension between them.
He raised his hand, freeing himself from Liu Chen’s support, and leaned forward, resting his head directly on Ji Ran’s shoulder.
Ji Ran felt the hot breath on his neck as Qin Man whispered in his ear, “…Little junior, my head hurts.”
Liu Chen’s scalp tingled.
Seeing the increasingly terrifying expression on Ji Ran’s face, Liu Chen took a step forward, “Maybe I should take him back home, sorry for disturbing you…”
Ji Ran raised his hand and pressed it on Qin Man’s lower back.
“No need, you go back. Thanks for dealing with this madman,” Ji Ran said.
Liu Chen felt like he had been granted a reprieve and quickly withdrew his hand. “Not a problem, not a problem! Please take care of him, I’ll come early tomorrow to take him away since we have a meeting. If you need me to bring breakfast, just let me know.”
“No need for breakfast,” Ji Ran said coldly. “Just bring a coffin. Thanks.”
Liu Chen was stunned, and before he could react, the iron gate slammed shut.
He watched as his boss, like a pig awaiting slaughter, was dragged inside by Ji Ran.
Huge shoutout to @_nyanmaru_ on Discord for commissioning this! The chapter will be posted regularly, show your support for Ciacia at Kofi.
Welp, QM, we will remember you dearly.