With their business concluded, the solemn atmosphere had just begun to ease when Fang Youcheng seemed to remember something else important. A flicker of hesitation crossed his face, but it quickly gave way to the resolve to lay everything out now that he had already come clean.
He looked at Ji Yunhuai, his voice hesitant but earnest:
"Mr. Ji... there's one more thing I think... I should tell you." He pressed his lips together, seemingly searching for the right words. "Back during... the bidding for the Riverside project... my dad... Ji Cheng wanted me to... secretly swap out the key documents you'd prepared. But my conscience wouldn't let me, so I didn't do it in the end."
After he finished, he nervously watched Ji Yunhuai's reaction, as though awaiting judgment.
Yet Ji Yunhuai was unexpectedly calm. He did not even look surprised. He merely gave a quiet "Mm," regarding Fang Youcheng evenly as he spoke in a tone as casual as if they were discussing the weather:
"I know. Why else do you think I was willing to let you come close and talk to me today?"
"What?" Fang Youcheng froze, his eyes widening in disbelief. "You... you knew?!"
"Yes." Ji Yunhuai's tone remained level, as though he were stating the simplest of facts. "I wasn't asleep that night. And before he approached you, I'd already received word that he had arranged for you to do it."
He paused, gave Fang Youcheng a meaningful look, and added something that shone like a beam of light into Fang Youcheng's confused mind:
"I wanted to see what you would do. And the outcome... was better than I expected."
Fang Youcheng was utterly stunned, astonishment written all over his face. First came a belated wave of fear that swept through him and broke