Bo Lin caught the name on the phone out of the corner of his eye and glanced up at Hua Jian.
He thought Hua Jian wouldn't answer.
At least not after his mother had just humiliated him and things had turned so ugly.
Hua Jian shouldn't answer.
But Hua Jian didn't even hesitate. He immediately stood up and said, "I'm going out to take a call. Excuse me."
Hua Jian strode to the restroom before tapping to answer.
"Hello?"
"Come to the Xie Family's house and take all your things. Don't ever come back."
Hua Jian's steps faltered.
He lifted his eyes to look down the long corridor, feeling that the departed "Hua Jian" had deserved better.
"Do you mean you want to cut ties with me, Madam Hua?"
"Cut ties? In your dreams! If I hadn't raised you all these years and spent a fortune on your art lessons, do you think that stupid brain of yours could have gotten you into Imperial University?"
"Yes, that's why I originally planned to look after you in your old age and see you through to the end."
On the other end, Madam Hua seemed taken aback for a moment before sneering. "You? Look after me in my old age? Hah."
Hua Jian exhaled heavily. "Nothing in the Xie Family's house belongs to me, so I don't want any of it. You should save up some money while you're there..."
The beeping from the receiver cut him short.
Only after a long while did he begin talking to himself.
"Speaking of spending a fortune on art lessons, I seem to remember a publicly listed training company's stock rebounding after hitting rock bottom."
Hua Jian frowned in thought. "What was that company called again?"
Just then, two men entered the restroom together.
"Have you heard? Jia Naide is coming back to hold an art exhibition!"
"Seriously?"
When they saw Hua Jian beside the sinks, their eyes immediately lit up with admiration.
"Ahem, of course it's true, but it'll be at least another two weeks."
The man speaking was clearly distracted. He was only halfway through undoing his belt when the breathtakingly handsome man left.
Only then did he relieve himself, feeling disappointed.
Meanwhile, the name Jia Naide had given Hua Jian a spark of inspiration.
Sure enough, he found Jia Naide online.
This rising star on the international scene had made his name with a prizewinning work created a year earlier.
It was this very prizewinning work that a group called Good Times, which organized art exhibitions, would publicly expose when he returned to hold his exhibition.
And Good Times would win.
"They really know how to hand me money."
At its current price, Good Times stock was practically free money!
When he returned to the private dining room, Lu Zexi and Bo Lin had both put down their chopsticks.
Hua Jian stood in the doorway and asked, "Everyone finished? Shall we go?"
As Bo Lin came out, Hua Jian called to him. "Bo Lin, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."
"Go ahead."
Looking at Bo Lin's earnest face, Hua Jian swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue.
"I just wanted to ask if you could give me a ride."
Bo Lin watched him intently with his dark eyes. "Are you sure nothing's wrong?"
"Nothing, nothing."
"I already said I'd drive you when we got here. Come on."
"Okay."
Back at his apartment, Hua Jian began taking stock of his assets. Really, all he had was the money in his account meant for buying a watch and what he'd recently earned from part-time work.
As for his most valuable possession...
It was this apartment.
When he and Xie Zhiyan turned eighteen, Xie Father had given each of them a villa.
But Madam Hua had refused to let "Hua Jian" accept it, no matter what.
She said it was already generous of the Xie Family to raise him, and he absolutely couldn't accept such an expensive gift as well.
Later, after he got into university, Xie Father had taken matters into his own hands again and bought him this apartment near campus.
The following afternoon, Hua Jian received a five-million loan from the bank against the apartment.
He then put every bit of cash he had into Good Times stock.
Ring!
Hua Jian answered. "Hello, Xue Pan. Surely you've got good news for me today?"
"Really? I'll be right there!"
Xue Pan had found what Hua Jian wanted in one of Cui Zhao's houses in an extremely remote location.
"It took everything I had to get into his place!"
"Didn't I give you his fingerprint? Don't worry, I'll pay you."
Hua Jian immediately plugged the black USB drive into his computer. Despite its enormous storage capacity, it held only one video.
It was surveillance footage dated five years earlier.
In the pitch-black night, a young Zhao Kai-Wei Qianlin-was racing along the Mountain Road in Qing Province.
He clipped a young boy coming toward him, knocking the boy to the ground.
Wei Qianlin's car braked briefly, then sped away.
The boy got up and even chased Wei Qianlin's car for quite a distance, only to be brutally run over by a car coming from behind.
Hua Jian narrowed his eyes slightly and immediately made a copy of the video before unplugging the drive.
"Cui Zhao won't be showing up for a while, and he won't discover that someone entered his apartment. But you need to lie low for now. Have you seen Cui Chengming again since then?"
Xue Pan gave a wry smile. Hua Jian kept telling him that Cui Chengming was his biological father.
Even someone like him, who had never believed in windfalls since childhood, wanted to claim a good father as soon as possible and escape this life at the bottom of the heap.
The bright cafe, the soft music and cheerful chatter around them, and the rich aroma of coffee all suited the refined young man sitting across from him perfectly.
Xue Pan studied Hua Jian discreetly, unable to understand how he could have changed so much in just a month or two.
If he really was Cui Chengming's son, then he and Hua Jian...
"Hey, what are you thinking about? I'm talking to you!"
The casual male voice interrupted Xue Pan's daydream, making him start.
Xue Pan shifted and averted his eyes. "Nothing. What did you just say?"
"I said stick with me for the next couple of days. You might get to see Cui Chengming again."
With Cui Zhao in custody, he would definitely do everything he could to hide it from Cui Chengming and try to handle it himself.
Hua Jian suddenly smiled. He still needed to get Qin Ci involved.
Admiration flashed through Xue Pan's eyes again. He clenched his back teeth to suppress the restless urge, then tipped his head back and took a large gulp of coffee.
The bitterness washed away the wild thoughts in his mind.
"Call Jiang Yueming now. Tell him you heard someone filed a complaint against Cui Zhao for intentionally injuring them, and he's being held at the North District Police Station."
Startled, Xue Pan immediately asked, "Really?"
Hua Jian lowered his head to put away his computer. "Of course. I called the police. Hurry up and call."
"Okay!"
Meanwhile, Jiang Yueming was riding at the newly built racetrack on the outskirts of the city.
"Hahaha, fuck, what a glorious day! Qin Ci, Young Master Qin, Cui Zhao's been arrested!"
"Cui Zhao's been arrested?" Qin Ci's eyelid twitched. "What happened? Tell me everything. What for? Did someone report his underground operation and get it raided? But they wouldn't be able to trace it back to him."
"Intentional injury. You know Fragrant Flavor House? He beat someone up there and the police caught him on the spot. Tsk, tsk, we can really mess with him this time."
"Fragrant Flavor House?"
That was where he and Xie Zhitan had arranged to have dinner last time.
Qin Ci found it strange. Why did things keep happening there?
He immediately stood up. "Come on, let's take a look. Who did he beat up? Who had the nerve to call the police on him?"
Jiang Yueming said uncertainly, "Xue Pan didn't explain it very clearly. He just said the older brother got beaten up, and the younger brother called the police."
Qin Ci's face immediately darkened. "That motherfucking Cui Zhao! Don't tell me he beat up Xie Zhitan! That goddamn bastard. Fuck, I'm going to kill him!"
"Hey, Young Master Qin, aren't we just going to enjoy the show?"
Qin Ci strode outside, calling Xie Zhitan as he walked.
Unfortunately, all he heard was: the person you are calling is currently unavailable.
After being blocked on WeChat, his phone number had enjoyed the same welcome.
Before you continue