Lin Yao had sensibly shut his mouth, not wanting to intervene in a situation that clearly looked wrong.
Shi Jingyan closed his eyes and spoke, trying his best to keep his voice calm: “I am going to make a phone call.”
Yu Yanzhuo jerked his chin, signaling that he could go out.
The door closed and opened again. The soundproofing was good, so nothing could be heard from outside. Half a minute later, Shi Jingyan returned. Yu Yanzhuo even thoughtfully pulled the chair toward him and gave the visibly upset Shi Jingyan a smile.
“Sit, baby.”
“Then you go fix it.”
Yu Yanzhuo suddenly spoke, placing the phone on the coffee table and giving it a gentle push. The phone slid across the surface, stopping right at the edge.
“If you cannot fix it, you do not need to come back.”
Yu Yanzhuo stared at him. His tone was casual, but the words were chilling.
Shi Jingyan froze. He picked up the phone from the table, gave a slight nod, and then, without even eating, turned and hurried out the door.
The System’s voice rang in his ear.
Yu Yanzhuo stared at the door, but his expression did not relax; instead, his brow furrowed deeper.
He did not answer the System’s question but suddenly asked:
“Did the hatred points not increase just now?”
The System answered him mechanically, sensing nothing wrong.
Yu Yanzhuo’s face suddenly darkened, the warmth in his eyes vanishing instantly.
For the rest of the time, Shi Jingyan had almost no appetite. Yu Yanzhuo did not care; in fact, he proactively served Shi Jingyan some food and watched him finish it with a smile.
Lin Yao could not figure out what Yu Yanzhuo was thinking and did not dare to make a scene like before. The meal ended in an atmosphere where only Yu Yanzhuo did not feel the awkwardness.
Yu Yanzhuo glanced at the time on his phone screen and nodded slightly: “Yeah, let us go.”
Hearing this, Shi Jingyan stood up, his tone cold: “Goodbye.”
He turned to leave, his hand already reaching into his pocket to contact the supplier.
Yu Yanzhuo looked at him: “Wait.”
The figure froze in place. Yu Yanzhuo could even see his shoulders heaving slightly, as if he were about to lose control of his emotions.
Yu Yanzhuo curled his lips, walked to his side, and put an arm around his shoulder: “I will give you a ride.”
He believed he knew Shi Jingyan well; according to the boy’s temperament, those few words should have been enough to increase the hatred points by several levels.
Yu Yanzhuo’s finger tapped unconsciously on the table, a sense of unfamiliarity rising in his heart.
It seemed something had spun out of control.
The cold reprimand from earlier echoed in his ears again, and the hand Shi Jingyan used to hold the phone began to tremble slightly.
He knew it, Yu Yanzhuo would not speak to others like that.
Whether it was that woman or Shen Wenyu, Yu Yanzhuo often showed a gentle attitude when facing them.
It was only different with him.
This unusual sense of specialness made Shi Jingyan want to smile in spite of himself.
Shi Jingyan walked along the road to school, turned a corner, passed a few more traffic lights, and arrived at a shop not far from the school gate.
He looked up at the shop sign, cheap advertising paper with three simple words printed in bold.
The crimson sports car was exceptionally eye-catching on the street, causing pedestrians to turn their heads.
Yu Yanzhuo’s fingers rested lazily on the steering wheel as he listened to Shi Jingyan, sitting in the passenger seat, making one phone call after another.
He did not use the speakerphone, but given the distance between them and Yu Yanzhuo’s hearing, it was enough for him to hear the situation clearly.
The supplier on the other end was respectful but firm, and they even declined Shi Jingyan’s request for premium-priced emergency capacity.
The subsequent responses from several alternative suppliers were equally evasive.
Shi Jingyan hung up and pressed his throbbing temple.
Yu Yanzhuo glanced at the expression of the person beside him. Despite the dire situation, he remained expressionless, showing almost no signs of irritation.
“Being targeted?”
Just as Shi Jingyan was preparing to contact the last remaining supplier, Yu Yanzhuo spoke flatly.
It looked like something the shop owner had written while sleepwalking. The inside of the shop was also a mess, stained glass counters and an owner sleeping soundly in a recliner. It looked unreliable in every way.
But this was the place Zhuo Ying had recommended to him.
The timeline went back to yesterday.
Shi Jingyan, who usually never forgot to do problems even after class, was uncharacteristically staring out the window in a daze, his chin propped on his hand. He tilted his head slightly, his gaze following the birds soaring across the sky.
This was the scene Zhuo Ying saw when she returned to the classroom.
“Not studying after class today? Finally feeling tired?”
She sat down in her seat boisterously and followed Shi Jingyan’s gaze out the window, but the birds had already flown far away, leaving only the empty sky.
Zhuo Ying looked for a long time but could not understand: “What are you looking at? There is nothing there.”
Shi Jingyan did not answer but turned his head to look at her: “By the way, do you know where there is a good place to fix phones around here?”
Zhuo Ying opened her mouth in surprise: “What? Your phone is broken?”
His movements stilled as if he were weighing whether to speak the truth. After a moment, he finally spoke.
“Yes. There is no clear evidence yet, but it should be him.”
Yu Yanzhuo’s gaze remained on the traffic ahead. He let out a sleepy yawn. “Shi Yuanyang?”
Shi Jingyan’s body stiffened. He looked at him with a flash of surprise.
Sensing his gaze, Yu Yanzhuo turned and winked at him with a smile. “I guessed right, did I not?”
If their last meeting at Yunding had not been obvious enough, Shi Yuanyang’s subsequent subtle inquiries and hints were more than enough for Yu Yanzhuo to figure it out.
Shi Yuanyang truly harbored a great deal of hostility toward this nominal older brother of his.
Seeing that Yu Yanzhuo had already guessed it, Shi Jingyan lowered his gaze, his expression calm. “Yes.”
“Yes,” Shi Jingyan nodded, his eyes dark and unreadable. “It should be… water damage.”
“Water damage is water damage; what do you mean by ‘should be’?” Zhuo Ying rolled her eyes and rested her chin on her hand, thinking for a moment. “Right, there is a shop right at the school gate. If you go out and turn right for about one or two hundred meters, you will find it. The owner there is amazing; he can fix anything. Someone in our class had a phone that was basically trashed, and he managed to fix it.”
“Really?”
Seeing that Shi Jingyan did not seem to believe her, Zhuo Ying slapped the table.
“Look at you. If you do not believe others, at least believe me. I have the owner’s WeChat. I have been there to fix my phone a few times before. Never mind water damage; he can even open a phone without a password. I bet he used to be a hacker!”
“Oh?”
Shi Jingyan raised an eyebrow and stared at Zhuo Ying. Seeing that she sounded certain and was not joking, he nodded.
“Then, thank you.”
“Oh, no need to be so polite. We are good seatmates, after all.”
The green light at the intersection turned red. Yu Yanzhuo stepped on the brake, and the sports car slowly stopped before the crosswalk. He turned to look at Shi Jingyan.
“So, what do you plan to do?”
Being targeted for a monopoly by a larger enterprise was no small matter.
Shi Jingyan stared ahead, his tone steady.
“The warehouse stock is enough to last for a month or so. I will have the person in charge contact other backup suppliers to purchase alternative raw materials at a premium. We will also arrange for specialized personnel to send notarized letters to the defaulting suppliers.”
He paused. “The company’s research and development has always been ongoing specifically to handle situations like this. Although the current alternatives cannot perfectly replicate the effect of the original raw materials, they are more than sufficient as emergency backups.”
Yu Yanzhuo’s eyes flickered slightly, his smile remaining. “It sounds very tedious.”
Shi Jingyan’s expression was flat. “It is not the first time.”
From the moment he left the Shi family and Shi Yuanyang began to grasp real power, such targeted attacks, both large and small, occurred frequently. This time was simply more severe, meaning the battle lines would naturally be drawn longer.
But there would always be a way.
There were also small red words printed beneath it.
Zhuo Ying’s voice gradually softened as she stared blankly at Shi Jingyan.
Shi Jingyan met her gaze. A tiny curve suddenly rose at the corner of his mouth. The depths of his eyes were as dark as ink, and a trace of cold light flashed through them.
He looked like a venomous snake lurking in the jungle, waiting for the perfect moment to strike after locking onto its prey.
Something was wrong.
Zhuo Ying realized it a moment too late.
Yu Yanzhuo raised his eyebrows. He wondered what the purpose of a message sent at this time could be.
A message popped up from the other side almost immediately.
A part-time job?
Yu Yanzhuo was stunned.
He remembered that Shen Wenyu’s family was quite well-off. At his high school age, he should not have reached the point of needing a part-time job.
“Oh?”
Yu Yanzhuo’s voice rose at the end, appearing somewhat curious.
“Intercepting financing, creating public outcry, or offering high salaries to poach my research staff—he always enjoys doing things like that.”
Shi Jingyan’s tone was indifferent, as if he were merely stating facts that had nothing to do with him.
Yu Yanzhuo stared at him. “And you solved all of them.”
It was a statement of fact.
Shi Jingyan’s expression remained unchanged. “Perhaps he thinks I am a useless waste who cannot live independently without the power of the Shi family. I am afraid I must disappoint him in that regard.”
Yu Yanzhuo stared at Shi Jingyan’s expressionless face for a few seconds, feeling a slight stir in his heart.
By any logic, this was a struggle between different enterprises.
And as Hua Yuntang was a partner who would soon move into the business district under Huanya, the profits that a monopoly could bring him would also indirectly benefit Huanya.
In fact, this could be considered a good thing for Yu Yanzhuo.
Shi Jingyan immediately turned and brought a rag from the kitchen. He carefully wiped away the soup stains from the table, then brought a mop to clean the liquid that had spilled onto the floor. He took the empty soup bowl back to the kitchen and placed it in the sink. Only after finishing all of this did he slowly and cautiously return to Yu Yanzhuo’s side.
Yu Yanzhuo had already used a tissue to wipe the stains off his phone. However, after several attempts to turn it on and off, the phone remained black and unresponsive.
It seemed he would have to get it fixed.
He was thinking this while staring at the phone when a very soft voice suddenly came from beside him.
“I will go fix it.”
Yu Yanzhuo looked up to see Shi Jingyan staring at the phone in his hand. His voice carried a slightly timid, probing tone. As if to show his sincerity in admitting his mistake, he raised his voice slightly.
“I will use the money left over from buying groceries to fix it. I will not cause you any extra expense.”
Sensing Yu Yanzhuo’s gaze, his voice grew lower and lower until the end of the sentence was almost inaudible.
He was afraid of being punished again, so he wanted to make amends.
Yu Yanzhuo did not speak; he only watched him quietly. Shi Jingyan grew increasingly uneasy under such a gaze. He pursed his lips tightly but did not dare to say anything more.
He had no reason to intervene in this matter.
“The brand owned by Shi Yuanyang’s family is moving into the Huanya business district. That will be happening soon.”
Yu Yanzhuo suddenly spoke, as if mentioning it in casual conversation.
Shi Jingyan was slightly stunned.
He had heard similar rumors before, but it was the first time he had heard it directly from Yu Yanzhuo.
Recalling the original plot, it seemed Shi Yuanyang had taken this opportunity to connect with Yu Yanzhuo.
Shi Jingyan pursed his lips and looked away. “Yes. I have heard of it.”
By mentioning this now, was this man providing a reluctant disclaimer for being a bystander?
But Shi Jingyan never expected Yu Yanzhuo to help him with anything anyway. There was no relationship between them besides those things initiated unilaterally by Yu Yanzhuo.
The tungsten light tubes overhead cast a bright light. The classroom was very quiet, with only the sound of pen nibs scratching against paper. Occasionally, the sound of students coughing softly or talking could be heard, but it quickly returned to silence.
He flipped from the problem page to the answer page, then back again. After repeating this motion several times and causing the thin paper to rustle loudly enough that nearby people turned to look, Zhuo Ying let out a long sigh and threw both the red and black pens she was holding onto the desk.
She bent her elbows and lay her head on the desk, turning toward Shi Jingyan. She saw that he still had his head down, focused on the paper and calculating something with his pen.
After watching him for five minutes and seeing that Shi Jingyan still had no intention of turning around, Zhuo Ying finally could not help but reach out a hand and poke his arm.
The movement of his hand stopped. Shi Jingyan glanced at her but did not speak.
Zhuo Ying was long accustomed to his perpetually mute attitude. She made a pained face and pointed at the physics workbook she had spread out on the table.
“Shi Jingyan, how many multiple-choice questions did you get wrong in this unit?”
Hearing this, Shi Jingyan held his pen between his index and middle fingers. The black pen barrel made his well-defined, pale knuckles stand out even more. He flipped back a page and scanned the paper.
“None. Why?”
“Ah! I knew I should not have asked you!” Zhuo Ying lowered her voice, but the desperate roar was still audible in her breathy tone. “I got every single multiple-choice question wrong! Every single one!”
The red light turned green, and Yu Yanzhuo stepped on the gas.
Shi Jingyan glanced at the intersection ahead. “Please turn right up ahead. I need to go back to the company.”
Yu Yanzhuo remained noncommittal, yet at the next intersection, he showed no intention of turning the steering wheel and drove straight through.
Shi Jingyan was startled and turned to look at Yu Yanzhuo. “What do you mean?”
Yu Yanzhuo rested one hand on the steering wheel, his index finger tapping it lightly as the corners of his mouth curled up.
“The plan you mentioned is indeed very useful, but it would take a long time and be very troublesome.”
Shi Jingyan’s expression was flat. “That is the situation for small enterprises. I am not afraid of trouble.”
“But I hate trouble.”
Yu Yanzhuo spoke lazily, his golden eyes showing a hint of regret. “If you are busy with things like that, you will have to work overtime until midnight every day. Am I supposed to go to the company to find you?”
What…?
Before Shen Wenyu could figure out what that meant, his gaze on Shi Jingyan’s face moved downward as he fell.
It finally settled on the lower half of Shi Jingyan’s face.
Standing indifferently at the top of the stairs, Shi Jingyan’s lips twitched slightly.
Then, slowly, very slowly, they curled into an arc.
It was eerie, sinister, and filled with a massive, terrifying malice far beyond anything Shen Wenyu could have predicted.
A single glance was enough to make one’s entire body turn cold.
Shen Wenyu’s mind suddenly went blank. He could only hear the sound of the wind rushing past his ears as he fell.
Directly in front of him as he fell backward was a steep, deep flight of stairs extending downward.
Realizing what Yu Yanzhuo was referring to, Shi Jingyan’s calm, almost cold expression suddenly faltered. His earlobes turned slightly red, and even his voice rose a few notches. “You cannot go there.”
“I do not want to go there either. Your office does not even have a bed.”
Yu Yanzhuo’s tone carried a hint of distaste.
“Therefore, I can help you.”
Shi Jingyan was stunned.
Yu Yanzhuo was smiling brightly. “However, I will have to inherit my father’s mantle eventually, so I am technically a businessman.”
The moment the sports car turned the corner, Yu Yanzhuo looked over. His gilded eyes shone brilliantly in the sunlight, and his long eyelashes were as distinct as crow feathers, making those phoenix-like eyes even more enchanting.
“You have to give me something in exchange.”
Thump.
Shi Jingyan’s eyes widened slightly. The dull thud traveled along his heart, through his blood vessels and nerves, all the way up through his eardrums and into his ears.
He clearly heard the sound of his own heartbeat.