Who Lost His Cool?

Fang Jie glanced over instinctively, then craned his neck the very next second.

His eyes swept up and down the photo several times. "Wh-what... Who is the Second Young Master holding hands with?"

The other secretary looked equally stunned and said blankly, "Lu Yanchu. Don't tell me you can't even recognize him."

Fang Jie took another look. It really was him. He frowned. "How did those two end up together?"

"The trending searches say the Second Young Master is Lu Yanchu's younger brother."

"Huh??" His whole face scrunched up. Suddenly, the entire world felt surreal. How had the Second Young Master and Lu Yanchu become brothers?

The secretary glanced toward the President's office and asked cautiously, "Hey, do you think we should tell President Ji about this?"

"Wait, don't rush." He raised a hand to stop the other secretary. "Let me think first."

Others might not know, but Fang Jie knew exactly how much the President disliked Lu Yanchu. With his own younger brother getting mixed up with someone he hated, President Ji was bound to be angry.

If he told him, he would offend the Second Young Master. If he didn't, President Ji would find out sooner or later anyway.

Fang Jie pursed his lips, weighing the two sides of the scale, seemingly unable to decide.

Half a minute later, someone knocked on the President's office door.

"Come in."

Fang Jie entered and walked up to the desk. "President Ji, there's something I may need to report to you."

"Go ahead."

"Well, the Second Young Master is on the Entertainment Trending Search."

Ji Yanzhi's hand paused. He looked up with a frown. "What is he trending for?"

Looking a little awkward, Fang Jie held his phone out to him. "You'd better see for yourself."

Ji Yanzhi lowered his eyes. A few seconds later, the corners of his narrow eyes tightened almost imperceptibly.

He picked up the phone with apparent nonchalance and took another look, then let out a cold chuckle whose meaning was impossible to read.

Heh. He'd made all those solemn assurances before, then turned right around and became that man's younger brother.

He withdrew his gaze coldly and handed the phone back to Fang Jie. "Understood. Get back to work."

"Yes." This reaction was completely outside Fang Jie's expectations. President Ji wasn't angry. Had he blown the whole thing out of proportion in his head?

Once Fang Jie had gone out and closed the door, Ji Yanzhi resumed his work, his face expressionless.

Fine. He'd never wanted to be family with that little bastard anyway.

Click. He opened the data for a new project.

Since he wanted to be Lu Yanchu's younger brother, he might as well take the surname Lu. He needn't come back to the Ji Family ever again.

Click, click, click... The mouse clicks came in rapid succession.

Lu Ting was an absolutely hideous name.

Smack. Ji Yanzhi slammed the mouse onto the desk.

He was the one who'd called Lu Yanchu a traitor, and he was also the one getting mixed up with him. Did Ji Ting get restless if he went a single day without causing trouble?

His chest heaved. Gritting his teeth, he snatched his phone off the desk.

Ji Ting could be anyone's younger brother he liked, but he had to get his ass back here and sign the legal documents first. Otherwise, if the authorities uncovered Lu Yanchu's dealings later, Shili might end up getting dragged through the mud too.

Ring, ring...

The call rang for a long time. Every ring only added fuel to Ji Yanzhi's anger.

"Sorry, the number you have dialed is currently unavailable..."

At the other end of the line, inside Lu Yanchu's villa.

Ji Ting hadn't heard the vibration at all. His eyes were moving rapidly across the laptop screen.

"This section basically covers the people in charge of the film's various departments." Lu Yanchu traced a circle with his slender finger, then scrolled down. "This section lists the confirmed production companies and co-producers."

Although his earlier proposal about investing had been a test, Lu Yanchu had told the truth about one thing: the industry was very optimistic about the return on investment for Edge of the Wind. As a result, twenty-one companies in total were involved in producing it.

There were at least three hundred names in this document alone. Analyzing them one by one would undoubtedly be a laborious, time-consuming search for a needle in a haystack.

After memorizing the document's contents, Ji Ting turned to Lu Yanchu. "Have you figured out an excuse to drop out of the film?"

"I have." His lips curved into a smile as he said gently, "I bought the rights to a science fiction novel a while ago. The author was only willing to sell the screen adaptation rights for five years, so they'll expire the year after next. I'll say I want to produce an adaptation myself before the rights expire."

Something stirred in Ji Ting's heart. He knew Lu Yanchu meant And Then There Were None, the novel that would later turn his fortunes around.

"I've mentioned in interviews that I was considering becoming a producer or executive producer, so it won't seem out of the blue."

Ji Ting nodded lightly, then explained his plan. "I have a friend who can make a Trojan Horse Monitoring Program. Once he's finished, he'll hide it in a link. As soon as someone clicks it, it'll install itself automatically."

Although it was only a little program, he had no intention of exposing himself and inviting unnecessary trouble down the line.

"As for the link's visible title and content, come up with something suitable yourself. But you have to make sure everyone on that list will click it when they see it."

"That won't be a problem." Lu Yanchu frowned as another concern occurred to him. "But if this person has ties to foreign forces, they definitely won't contact them using their everyday phone."

Ji Ting murmured in agreement, but gave an ambiguous answer. "My friend should have a way around that. I'll ask him first."

[The monitoring program isn't meant to eavesdrop on calls anyway. It uses the phone as a gateway to lock onto cell towers and networks. The moment an overseas call through unauthorized channels occurs in that area, it'll automatically lock onto it.]

Lu Yanchu felt as if his heart had suddenly been seized. He unconsciously held his breath, hearing nothing but his heartbeat pounding in his ears.

Did that mean this friend...

Was actually Ji Ting himself?

When Ji Ting saw him suddenly staring in silence, he assumed he was still worried. "This isn't difficult for my friend. You don't need to worry."

Lu Yanchu recovered from his shock, drawing on years of acting experience to shift his expression. "All right. Since you say so, I'm reassured."

To keep his story consistent, Ji Ting stood up. "Then I'll go call my friend first."

"Okay."

Ji Ting began looking for his phone on the table, but even after searching for a while, he couldn't find it.

Seeing this, Lu Yanchu looked around too. "Did you leave it in my car?"

That jogged Ji Ting's memory. "Oh, I put it in the bag with the medicine."

Medicine?

The sudden reminder of Ji Ting's illness stirred an indescribable feeling in Lu Yanchu's heart. He silently curled his fingers and said gently, "I'll get it for you."

"No need. Just give me your car keys."

Lu Yanchu pressed his lips together slightly, took out his keys, and handed them over. Ji Ting accepted them and went outside.

Opening the passenger door, he leaned in and retrieved the bag wedged between the seats.

Ji Ting took his phone out of the bag. As soon as he woke the screen, he saw a missed call from Ji Yanzhi.

After a moment's thought, he called him back.

Ring-

It had only rung once before the call was rejected.