Teacher?
Ji Yanzhi raised an eyebrow, a teasing glint entering his eyes. "Then tell me, just how important is Teacher Ji's head?"
"He..."
Xu Ren jolted, only then realizing he had let something slip again.
Under Ji Yanzhi's gaze, every brain cell he had sprang into action. "I call him teacher because... because Ji Ting said he wouldn't listen in class unless I called him teacher instead!"
Although the excuse sounded plausible enough, Ji Yanzhi kept studying his face. "Then why are you nervous?"
Xu Ren forced a stiff smile. "He told me not to tell anyone. Besides, we're getting along better now, so I didn't want to complain about him to you."
That certainly sounded like something Ji Ting would do. Ji Yanzhi gave a cold laugh. "Since you're so worried about him, go see him tomorrow."
Xu Ren's eyes lit up. "I'll go first thing in the morning!"
Ji Yanzhi couldn't be bothered to comment on his enthusiasm anymore and turned to business. "Teacher Xu, about Unit One-did Ji Ting say something to you, or did its owner change his mind at the last minute?"
Xu Ren was much more cautious this time. "Its owner just decided he didn't want to sell it."
"Then he must have given you a reason."
Xu Ren opened and closed his mouth several times before squeezing out, "The price. The price wasn't right!"
Ji Yanzhi chuckled. "If I remember correctly, weren't you the one who quoted three million?"
Xu Ren choked up, almost ready to cry. He really wasn't good at lying, and these rounds of questioning were practically a bombardment.
Seeing his pinched expression, Ji Yanzhi decided not to dig any deeper. "Do me a favor and try talking Unit One's owner around again. If possible, arranging a face-to-face meeting would be even better."
Xu Ren curled his fingers and reluctantly said, "I can only promise to ask him again. A face-to-face meeting is definitely out of the question."
"There's no rush. Take your time," Ji Yanzhi said with a faint smile.
He had been so impatient last time that he had lost his head, so this time he decided to proceed steadily. After all, he had already tied Xu Ren to Shili's ship. Sooner or later, he would be useful.
Just as he had said, Xu Ren arrived at the Ji Family home early the next morning.
The moment he entered the room, he found Ji Ting already sitting at his computer, configuring a piece of software he couldn't make sense of.
"Teacher Ji, why are you working when you're injured? You should get some proper rest first," Xu Ren said worriedly.
Ji Ting merely smiled faintly. "The wound barely hurts anymore. It's fine."
He had thought a great deal the night before, considering everything that had happened lately, and had overturned some of his earlier ideas.
He had previously thought that keeping to himself would let him avoid getting caught up in the original story's chaotic, troublesome plot, leaving him free to quietly do his own work.
But Ji Zhenting had sounded a warning for him at Crane Garden yesterday.
He was no longer Ji Ting, the twenty-five-year-old academician at the Huake Academy of Sciences. He was now Ji Ting, the despised, belittled illegitimate son whom anyone with power and influence could push around however they liked.
Circumstances held more power than any individual. Even he couldn't change his established environment or the opinions of those around him in a short time.
So rather than passively avoiding trouble, he might as well use his knowledge of the original plot to equip himself as quickly as possible. Once he stood at a height no one else could reach, as he had before, he would naturally be able to escape this awful family environment.
After trying at length and failing to persuade him, Xu Ren could only look for another solution. "What does this software do? If I know how to use it, I could help you."
Ji Ting gently shook his head. "I only started learning this technology today myself. There are still a lot of aspects I need to study."
"Huh?" Xu Ren was startled. "What technology could possibly require you to study it specifically? D-don't tell me it's nuclear..."
Ji Ting had no idea how his imagination ran so wild. He smiled faintly. "Nuclear materials are expensive. I can't afford them yet, so I'm working hard to earn money."
The mention of money suddenly reminded Xu Ren of what Ji Yanzhi had said yesterday, and he told Ji Ting about it.
After hearing him out, Ji Ting thought for a moment and said, "Add another million and sell it to him."
Since Xu Ren had already claimed it was a matter of money, they might as well follow through with the act. In any case, Ji Yanzhi certainly wasn't short of another million.
"All right. I'll tell him in a couple of days."
"Mm."
Ji Ting spent the entire morning reading materials on VFX (visual effects). He planned to enter this year's World Rendering Competition. Winning an award would add prestige to his technology, allowing him to sell it for a good price.
Xu Ren stared at the screen with his mouth half open and asked haltingly, "Teacher Ji, doesn't scrolling through the pages that fast make you dizzy?"
"No. If I don't do this, I take in too little information at any given moment, and I get sleepy."
Xu Ren: ...
He felt as though he had suddenly gone from a graduate student at an elite university to an idiot pro max.
Five days passed in a flash, and it was time for Ji Ting to have his stitches removed.
Two days earlier, the Public Security Bureau had sent him a notice confirming that a case had been opened. Ji Shilei's intentional assault was now under criminal investigation, and she had already been detained at the Detention Center.
Now his eldest daughter was behind bars too. In another sense, Ji Liping could be said to have both a son and a daughter.
Ji Ting left for Ruihe that morning. When he arrived, the same receptionist from last time was waiting for him.
"Mr. Ji, this way, please."
They reached the examination room door, and Ji Ting said, "I'll leave as soon as my stitches are out. You don't need to wait here for me."
The receptionist opened her mouth as though she had something to say, but quickly nodded instead. "Of course. Please call me anytime if you need anything else."
A little over ten minutes later, Ji Ting came out.
The moment he opened the door, a man in a black down jacket abruptly turned his back in the corridor, then pretended to study a decorative painting on the wall.
After collecting the medicine the doctor had prescribed, Ji Ting entered the elevator. The man rushed into the emergency stairwell and sprinted all the way down to the parking garage on basement level one.
Ji Ting walked over to his car. Its lights flashed twice, but he didn't open the door.
Not far behind him, someone kept panting so loudly that he couldn't ignore it even if he wanted to.
He let out a breath and turned around. "Are you this obvious every time you follow someone?"
The man startled and instinctively tried to hide, nearly slamming headfirst into a pillar.
Watching this sequence of blunders, Ji Ting said evenly, "If you don't have a message from Lu Yanchu, I'm leaving."
"Hey, wait!"
The man hurriedly turned around. He was the very same person who had hidden in the car and played dumb on the first day Ji Ting had "arrived."
He walked toward Ji Ting with his arms and legs moving in sync, looking thoroughly embarrassed. "Um, Lu Yanchu wants to see you. He asked me to find out whether you're free."
Ji Ting was silent for a few seconds before asking, "If I refuse, will he keep sending you to follow me?"
The man rubbed his neck and said uncertainly, "Um... probably not? Lu Yanchu is so handsome, he definitely isn't a creep."
Before you continue