Jiang Chiyan kept feeling that something was off.
He looked at his phone screen, then at Xiao Cheng, who was holding back a laugh.
It was not until Xiao Cheng went to shoot a commercial that afternoon and Jiang Chiyan searched for yyds on Baidu that he learned what it meant.
Later that night, at a little past three in the morning, Jiang Chiyan drove Xiao Cheng to the airport himself to catch a flight to Hengdian.
After seeing Xiao Cheng through the boarding gate, Jiang Chiyan returned to his car and sent Su Jing a string of messages, asking her about work.
Su Jing was a night owl, and so was Jiang Chiyan. The two siblings never paid much attention to the time when they chatted.
But this time...
Just after he sent the messages, Jiang Chiyan's phone rang.
It was a call from Lu Ting.
Surprised, Jiang Chiyan tapped the answer button. "Hello? Agent Lu, you haven't called the wrong number, have you?"
Lu Ting's voice was cool. "No, Lawyer Jiang. You're the one I'm looking for."
Jiang Chiyan put the call on speaker and set his phone on the passenger seat. As he reversed, he asked, "Is something the matter this late?"
Lu Ting said, "Could I trouble you not to message or call Su Jing between eleven at night and seven the next morning?"
Jiang Chiyan: ???
Holding the steering wheel, he curled his lips into a faint smile. "Agent Lu, you don't strike me as someone who meddles."
Su Jing was only an intern at Xiao Cheng Studio.
Lu Ting was an agent, but not Su Jing's boss.
Even a boss would not meddle in something like this.
Lu Ting enunciated each word. "She needs her rest."
Jiang Chiyan frowned. He felt Lu Ting was overstepping. "Su Jing is my younger sister."
Lu Ting fell silent on the other end of the line, then told Jiang Chiyan, "She's my girlfriend."
Jiang Chiyan stiffened at those words and slammed the brake pedal all the way down.
A loud screech rang out.
The high-performance sports car stopped abruptly by the roadside.
Jiang Chiyan froze, slowly narrowing his eyes. "What???"
Before he could finish asking, Lu Ting had already hung up.
Jiang Chiyan wanted to call Su Jing right away and ask that girl what was going on.
He was not against Su Jing dating.
He just had this strange feeling, as though the girl his family had raised, the cabbage his family had grown, had been...
Still muttering about it, Jiang Chiyan returned to the villa. By the time he had showered and lain down, it was already past five in the morning.
When Jiang Chiyan woke again, it was past eight.
Jiang Chiyan pushed himself up against the covers and was startled to see a man standing before the floor-to-ceiling windows.
"...Dad." Jiang Chiyan rubbed between his brows, his head aching a little. "Unlawfully entering someone's home is a crime. You can get a prison sentence for that."
Jiang Chiyan's father was a powerful man in a high position, the head of the Jiang Family.
His father turned to look at him.
His back was ramrod straight, and his hawklike, scrutinizing gaze settled on Jiang Chiyan. His few casually spoken words revealed all the severity of a man in power. "You've been spoiled."
Jiang Chiyan threw back the covers, got out of bed, and went to make two cups of coffee.
His father frowned almost imperceptibly, his words carrying a double meaning. "You won't drink the special-supply Da Hong Pao tea at my place. Is coffee really that good?"
Was running wild outside really so much fun that he would refuse to be the Jiang Family's heir?
Jiang Chiyan took a sip of coffee and deliberately played dumb. "Dad, did you need something?"
His father stared steadily at him for a long moment. "If you were willing to go into politics, with your brains, your rank would be no lower than mine by the time you reached my age. The family's resources and factions would all be at your disposal."
Jiang Chiyan said nothing.
His father thought he was tempted and continued, "What man has no ambition? What man doesn't like power?"
"No." Jiang Chiyan smiled. "Dad, I'm not like you."
He did not love dominion; he loved only his beauty.
Power, ambition, and status were all less important than Xiao Cheng alone.
A political career placed too many restrictions on conduct and private life.
He and Xiao Cheng would no longer be able to stay together.
Six years ago, Jiang Chiyan had already chosen Xiao Cheng without hesitation.
Six years later, he would still make the same choice.
But what Jiang Chiyan did not know was this.
It was not until one day, when he accidentally uncovered one of Xiao Cheng's hidden identities.
That he discovered.
Behind Xiao Cheng's humble origins, which people had always looked down on, there was actually a staggering secret...
But that was a story for later.
The sight of Jiang Chiyan looking slightly distracted made his father's gaze darken.
His father asked icily, "It's for that little male celebrity in the entertainment industry, isn't it?"
His father had heard plenty of the online rumors and gossip.
Jiang Chiyan raised his eyes. His gaze, which bore some resemblance to his father's, was filled with wariness. "What are you planning to do?"
His father was ruthless in his methods and decisive in dealing with others.
Jiang Chiyan could not help being wary.
His father smiled, leaning back in his chair and narrowing his eyes. "What are you so nervous about? I taught you not to let your emotions show. Did you learn nothing?"
Jiang Chiyan said evenly, "Four years ago, my eldest sister refused the political marriage you arranged and wanted to be with a businessman. How did that businessman die afterward... A car accident. The impact spilled his internal organs out."
Even recounting these things sent a chill down Jiang Chiyan's spine.
That was why he did not want Xiao Cheng involved in these circles.
Jiang Chiyan looked at his father and spoke each word distinctly. "In the end, my would-be brother-in-law's death was ruled... an accident. Do you remember?"
"Was it?" His father raised his brows and said indifferently, "Then are you going to obediently get your ass back here and be the heir, or would you like that Xiao Cheng to have an... accident too?"
His father's words fell.
The smile vanished from Jiang Chiyan's face.
He slowly rose to his feet and looked down at his father. "I don't much like making threats, but..."
"If anything happens to Xiao Cheng, I guarantee that your political career, your power, and your ambitions will also have a very exciting... accident."
Jiang Chiyan's voice carried a sinister chill.
If the man before him had not been his biological father...
Jiang Chiyan would never have let him walk out of there alive.
Father and son stared at each other, both unleashing the full force of their presence as they faced off in silence.
A long time passed...
His father withdrew his gaze, his presence still oppressive.
He turned and left without a word.
Outside Jiang Chiyan's villa, his father's secretary and guard waited respectfully for him.
His father instructed the secretary, "Go investigate that Xiao Cheng."
The secretary acknowledged the order, then asked, "As for the fifth young master..."
Jiang Chiyan... Jiang Yuan... was Madman Jiang, whom no one dared offend.
His father turned his head and gave the secretary a cool glance. The secretary abruptly lowered his head, cold sweat beading on his forehead. "Yes. I'll investigate right away."
Meanwhile.
Inside the villa, Jiang Chiyan received a call.
It was from Shen Yunxing. "Lawyer Jiang... save me... help!!"