Uncle Zhao took the injured Yan Chi to the hospital.
Jiang Yun did not leave immediately. He walked around Xianglanhai, going upstairs and downstairs, observing the surrounding furnishings and the sparse customers layer by layer.
“Brother Chen, please keep an eye on Xianglanhai for me in the future. See what kind of customers frequent this place.”
“Sure, Yun, Xiaoyun…”
Xu Chen wasn’t quite used to calling Jiang Yun that, but he liked it in his heart. “Do you think there’s something wrong with Xianglanhai?”
Jiang Yun nodded.
Xu Chen said in a low voice, “Actually, we people in property management have also discussed it privately. Xianglanhai’s business isn’t good, and it feels like the monthly revenue might not even cover the rent. We’re all afraid the boss might run away one day and cause Dingjiang to lose a major tenant.”
Jiang Yun actually hoped the boss would run away sooner so that he could take over Xianglanhai and prevent the vicious murder case that would happen two years later.
“You should also have your people step up patrol management around Xianglanhai, and let me know in time if you notice anything unusual.”
“Rest assured, leave it to me. Xiaoyun, is Yan Hang… treating you well?”
Jiang Yun was slightly startled. “It’s alright, I suppose.”
Blushing honestly, Xu Chen said, “That’s good, then. You like him so much, so I’ll rest easy as long as he treats you well.”
Everyone around him knew that he liked Yan Hang.
If he hadn’t been reborn, he would still be living inside the beautiful dream he had woven for himself, fantasizing that one day Yan Hang would accept him and love him.
“Oh, right, Xiaoyun.”
Xu Chen said proudly, “Uncle Jiang said my work performance is good and is planning to promote me to General Manager of Dingjiang Property Management. From now on, whenever you want to investigate anyone here in Dingjiang, just leave it to me.”
“Then can you take on one more job?”
“What job?”
Jiang Yun said, “Help me do things, and I’ll pay you an extra salary.”
“Psh, helping you out is only right, why would I want any pay.”
“Then I’ll go look for someone else…”
“Don’t, I’ll do it! How could I feel at ease leaving your matters to someone else?”
Jiang Yun hooked his arm over Xu Chen’s tall and strong shoulders, smiling endlessly.
A flurry of footsteps came from the direction of Xianglanhai, and Jiang Yun looked back to see Sheng Yan leading his people out.
The man wore a dark leisure shirt with a somewhat loose, unbothered air, yet he walked right in the middle of his cold-aurad bodyguards and assistants like the moon surrounded by stars. His expression was casual and seemingly smiling, yet it inexplicably gave people an intangible sense of intimidation.
The moment Jiang Yun looked over, he caught the man’s sideways glance. Those deep eyes still swept across his body as if they possessed tentacles, making him flush with discomfort all over.
Jiang Yun turned his head away, though the corner of his vision kept following Sheng Yan until he completely departed.
Worriedly, Xu Chen asked in a low voice, “Xiaoyun, after what happened today, do you think Sheng Yan might target us?”
Jiang Yun replied, “The Jiang family has no conflicting interests with Sheng Yan. Even if he targets someone, it will be the Yan family.”
Xu Chen asked, “The Yan family? Then what about you?”
That wouldn’t be any of his concern anymore.
Jiang Yun suddenly thought of something that didn’t quite add up. Xianglanhai was not the most high-end entertainment club, and someone like Sheng Yan should go to much more private and exclusive places if he were handling personal matters.
Why would he come to Xianglanhai?
Did the murder case at Xianglanhai in his past life have any direct or indirect connection to Sheng Yan?
“Brother Chen, you can pull up the surveillance footage of Dingjiang Building, right? Help me check if Sheng Yan frequently visits Xianglanhai, when he comes, and who he brings with him. Also, check in private and don’t let anyone find out.”
Yan Chi’s incident alarmed his mother, Shen Yueling. She hurried back from the recuperation villa, and as soon as she arrived home, she saw her youngest son with his head wrapped in thick layers of gauze, leaving only a pair of eyes exposed.
Distressed and furious, she said, “Sheng Yan is too arrogant and despotic! Even knowing we are from the Yan family, he dared to strike like this. Is he not afraid of offending everyone in high society completely?”
Yan Hang had also rushed back from the company. Standing to the side, he sneered, “Mom, you know what Yan Chi’s temper is like. Actually, I think it’s a good thing. Let him learn a lesson and realize that not everyone will tolerate and indulge him just because he’s a Yan.”
Yan Chi glared angrily at his eldest brother.
Shen Yueling asked Uncle Zhao, “You said Xiaoyun brought people over and settled it? How did he deal with Sheng Yan? Did he compromise the Yan family’s dignity?”
“Not at all.”
Uncle Zhao recounted the situation at the time: “Young Master Jiang called over a dozen people in advance. Seeing that Sheng Yan wouldn’t let him go, they almost got into a fight. Sheng Yan probably feared things would blow up and become hard to clean up, which is why he let our young master go.”
Daring to go toe-to-toe with Sheng Yan.
Shen Yueling showed a look of satisfaction. “This child looks scholarly and refined, but I didn’t expect him to have such grit. Not bad.”
Sheng Yan’s reputation and temper in recent years made ordinary people feel a few points of fear upon seeing him.
If Jiang Yun had panicked and cowered at that kind of scene, begging for mercy in a low voice, that truly would have lost the Yan family’s face.
Jiang Yun had handled it extremely well, using youthful camaraderie to go head-to-head with Sheng Yan and striking just the right balance.
If she, an elder, had to handle this matter, she might not have managed it as well as Jiang Yun did.
As for whether they had offended Sheng Yan, there were never permanent enemies in the business world.
The Yan family could also take this opportunity to build a connection with Sheng Yan.
Shen Yueling formed a new plan in her heart and reprimanded Yan Chi, “You should stay home and reflect properly as well, and rein in your temper from now on. Once your injuries heal, I’ll take you to apologize to Sheng Yan.”
“No! I’ve already apologized.”
Feeling aggrieved and wronged, Yan Chi protested, “If Jiang Yun hadn’t hit me, why would I have run off to Xianglanhai, and how could I have run into this kind of trouble!”
Frowning in confusion, Shen Yueling asked, “Xiaoyun hit you? Why did he hit you?”
Jiang Yun had actually raised a hand against Yan Chi on his very first day in the Yan family?
Yan Hang said, “You should first ask what he did to Jiang Yun.”
“I, I wasn’t just… just…”
Yan Chi suddenly found it a bit difficult to speak.
Seeing her younger son’s guilty look, Shen Yueling roughly guessed that Yan Chi must have been in the wrong first.
Still, she felt sorry for her son. “Even so, you can’t just throw hands. I think Xiaoyun has a pretty gentle personality, so why would he just hit someone out of nowhere?”
“Mom!”
Yan Hang’s temper flared up for no apparent reason. “It was Yan Chi who was in the wrong from the start. It’s because you spoil him like this that he keeps getting into trouble outside over and over again. Being arrogant and disrespectful to his older brother is this the Yan family upbringing?”
“Besides, if it weren’t for Jiang Yun today, you’d still be detained by Sheng Yan right now. Have you thanked Jiang Yun?”
“But… even Dad and Mom have never hit me. The moment he steps into this house, he hits me. Who does he think he is?”
Hearing these words, the resentment buried deep in Yan Hang’s heart for years surged forth.
His parents held him to extremely strict standards while indulging and favoring Yan Chi.
Ever since he was a child, if he made a mistake, he would be punished by standing, kneeling, or even getting beaten, and he wasn’t even allowed to stay with the person he truly loved. He was forced to separate from Lin Yi and forced into a marriage of so-called equal social standing with Jiang Yun.
Yet when Yan Chi skipped classes, puppy-love dated, drank, and fought, in his parents’ eyes it was just a simple: He’s still young and doesn’t know any better.
“Jiang Yun is your older brother too. If you don’t respect him, you’re not taking me, your eldest brother, seriously!”
“Oh, alright, that’s enough.”
Seeing that the two brothers were about to argue, Shen Yueling quickly cut in. “Stop fighting. Ahang, go call Xiaoyun to the tea room. I have a few words to say to him.”
Suppressing his anger, Yan Hang walked out of Yan Chi’s room and headed down the thickly carpeted hallway toward his bedroom.
Habitually, he pushed the door open directly, and stopped in his tracks the instant he saw Jiang Yun inside the bedroom.
Jiang Yun was changing clothes.
The tall boy had his back turned to him as he took off his shirt. The slender, bony contours of his back completely burst into his field of vision. Jiang Yun was young, and his frame hadn’t completely shed its youthful boyish slenderness; his waist was tight and narrow, making his hips look quite curved…
Jiang Yun whipped his head around, quickly pulling his shirt back on, and said coldly, “Your room is on the third floor.”
“Ah?… Sorry, I forgot.”
Yan Hang coughed, rubbed his nose, and said, “Um… you handled today’s matter very well, thanks a lot.”
With his back to him buttoning his shirt, Jiang Yun’s voice was detached: “Remember to knock next time you come in.”
Yan Hang pointed at the wardrobe and said, “My clothes…”
Jiang Yun: “Your things have already been moved to the third floor by Uncle Zhao and the others.”
“Sorry to trouble you.”
Seeing Jiang Yun’s aloof and guest-expelling attitude, Yan Hang turned and left, feeling a bit awkward. Walking down the hallway, he finally realized something was amiss.
He had just warned Jiang Yun last night not to harbor any delusional fantasies about him.
Yet now Jiang Yun’s attitude was even more decisive and clean-cut than his own in drawing a line between them.
But Jiang Yun clearly used to like him before.
He clearly remembered the unhidden joy and affection in Jiang Yun’s eyes every time they met, as well as his devoted and shy gaze during the wedding the day beforeyesterday.
Could it be… he’s angry?
Well, anyone whose husband gave them that kind of warning on their wedding night would feel bad inside. Not to mention that on the second day, not only was he treated rudely by his younger brother, but he also had to clean up his brother-in-law’s mess.
“He must be angry.”
Yan Hang looked back at the closed door, bit the bullet, and walked back to knock twice.
After waiting quite a while, a neatly dressed Jiang Yun finally opened the door, maintaining the same cold and indifferent attitude: “Is there anything else?”
“Mom says we should go sit in the tea room.”
“Understood. I’ll tidy up and come over.”
“…Be mindful of what you say when talking to Mom. Don’t let her know we’re sleeping in separate rooms.”
Jiang Yun: “I won’t say anything, but I can’t guarantee whether Uncle Zhao and the others will. I just arrived at the Yan family, and no one here listens to me.”
He needed to remind Yan Hang so that Yan Hang wouldn’t later suspect him of going to the mother to snitch and come question him like in his past life.
Hearing this, a trace of a protective urge inexplicably rose in Yan Hang’s heart.
Since Jiang Yun had come to this house, he was his person.
If the Yan family members, including the domestic workers, didn’t take Jiang Yun seriously, it meant they weren’t taking him seriously either.
“If Uncle Zhao says anything, let him say it. If Mom asks, I’ll explain. This house… you don’t need to be afraid. No one will bully you. If you find anyone displeasing to the eye, just fire them. If Yan Chi shows you disrespect again, beat him just like you did today.”
At that moment, Yan Hang’s phone chimed with a message notification a ringtone he had specifically set for Lin Yi.
Standing over a meter away from Jiang Yun, he clutched his phone tightly with a guilty conscience, as if afraid Jiang Yun would notice, and said, “I, I’ll go to the tea room and wait for you first.”
Right now, he must absolutely not let Jiang Yun know about Lin Yi’s existence.