Ji Hanxing had just gotten into the car when his phone rang. Seeing the caller ID, his hand nearly trembled.
It was Old Master Ji!
Ji Hanxing asked, "Assistant Xue, did you tell my grandfather?"
Xue Hui quickly shook his head. "President Ji, I'm innocent."
"What happened to you at the banquet just now caused quite a stir. Everyone there was someone influential in City A. Word has already spread."
"Presumably, someone from one of those families went home and told their relatives, and they informed the chairman."
Ji Hanxing knew it was impossible to hide this from Old Master Ji, but he hadn't expected him to find out so quickly.
He gritted his teeth and answered the call anyway.
"Grandpa..."
"So you've finally answered this old man's call?"
Old Master Ji's vigorous scolding came through the receiver, so loud it hurt his ears. Ji Hanxing had to hold the phone farther away.
He also glanced at Xue Hui, who immediately understood, turned around, and asked the driver to raise the partition.
"I see you've grown too big for your boots, hiding everything from this old man!"
"If you ask me, you might as well never come home again! I won't bother with you anymore. I can't control you anyway!"
Old Master Ji's words sounded like one rebuke after another, but to Ji Hanxing, each was an expression of concern. Warmth welled up inside him, and the corners of his eyes curved without him realizing it.
Only after Old Master Ji had scolded to his heart's content did Ji Hanxing bring the phone closer again.
Old Master Ji asked, "Where are you now?"
Ji Hanxing looked at the hospital outside the car window and deliberately made himself sound a little pitiful. "I'm at the hospital."
Old Master Ji was clearly a little nervous at this answer. "At the hospital? Are you getting examined? How are you, exactly?"
"Didn't they say it wasn't anything serious?"
A trace of amusement flashed in Ji Hanxing's eyes. "I've just finished the examination. It's nothing serious."
Still uneasy, Old Master Ji asked again, "Really?"
Ji Hanxing said, "Yes, I'm really fine. Sorry for worrying you, Grandpa."
Only then did Old Master Ji clear his throat lightly. "Ahem, it's not as though I care about you, you little brat."
"What did the Sun Family say?"
There was a slight chill in Old Master Ji's voice.
"I've already signed a settlement agreement with the Sun Family."
Ji Hanxing told Old Master Ji the terms he and Sun Yuqiong had agreed upon. The Sun Family had compensated him with an entire street of shops. He'd made a killing!
Who would have thought that, the moment he finished, the sound of a hand slamming onto a table would come through the receiver?
Bang!
"The Sun Family has gone too far!"
"They actually dared to humiliate us like this? After hurting you that badly, they think they can just fob us off with money?"
Ji Hanxing thought, Hard to say. They compensated me with an entire street of shops. I'm willing to accept this kind of lavish humiliation!
"You're just too accommodating! Who does the Sun Family think they are? I've kept to myself these past few years, and they really think I'm dead!"
Ji Hanxing rubbed his nose. If Old Master Ji learned what Sun Yushan had said at the end, wouldn't he take a knife straight to the Sun Family's door?
"Grandpa, harmony brings prosperity. The Sun Family paid dearly this time, and Sun Yushan was sent to South Africa. He got what he deserved."
"If we really had him put behind bars, with the Sun Family's resources, they'd get him out before long. We'd also make enemies of his family. It wouldn't be worth it."
"This way, the Sun Family paid compensation and still has to be grateful to me."
Old Master Ji listened quietly. Once Ji Hanxing finished, he suddenly burst out laughing. "Hahahahaha, good!"
"You really have grown up. Good, very good..."
As Old Master Ji spoke, his voice gradually softened, his tone filled with emotion.
"You're better than that bastard. I can rest easy now."
"Grandpa, you..."
Ji Hanxing's feelings were complicated. He knew who the bastard Old Master Ji had just mentioned was: his only son, the original owner's scumbag father.
He was just about to comfort the old man when Old Master Ji abruptly changed tack, swiftly switching the subject. "When did you get so close to that boy from the Yan Family?"
"We met at that business conference earlier." Ji Hanxing paused as memories of his time with Yan Jinyue over the past few days surfaced in his mind. Without realizing it, he said, "We hit it off right away and had a great time talking."
Old Master Ji said, "Oh?"
He knew his grandson better than anyone. He didn't readily praise people. It seemed that this boy from the Yan Family really was as outstanding as the rumors said, to have even Ji Hanxing praising him.
"Mm, I won't interfere in you youngsters' affairs."
"When you went today, did you run into... anyone from the Luo Family?"
Old Master Ji's question startled Ji Hanxing. The Luo Family?
The Luo Family was this body's mother's family. By now, it should consist only of Ji Hanxing's uncle and his uncle's son and daughter, Ji Hanxing's older male and female cousins.
There had been so many people at the banquet that day that Ji Hanxing hadn't noticed. In the original owner's memories, he had gotten along quite well with the Luo siblings when he was little.
After Ms. Luo Fei divorced and moved abroad, Ji Hanxing had initially been very close to the Luo siblings. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they had grown up together. Only later had the two families gradually stopped seeing each other.
"There were a lot of people today. I didn't notice."
Ji Hanxing answered honestly. At his words, Old Master Ji fell silent for a long time, then merely sighed softly.
"When are you coming home?"
Ji Hanxing rubbed his neck. It seemed Old Master Ji wouldn't feel reassured unless he saw him tonight.
"I'll be back in a little while."
After hanging up, Ji Hanxing knocked on the partition in front of him. "Back to the old residence."
Ji Hanxing recuperated at home for a few days, and the wound on his neck healed completely. During that time, he also received the unfinished purple jadeite piece sent by the Tomorrow Charitable Foundation.
Even after thinking about it for a long time, he couldn't figure out what to do with this piece of jadeite worth five hundred million, so he had no choice but to put it in a safe.
Ji Hanxing sat at the dining table, staring miserably at the fat-loss fitness meal he'd copied from the system.
Eating leafy greens and boiled beef every day left his mouth tasting so bland he could barely stand it. When would it ever end?
These past few days, he had been recovering at home while working out according to the tasks assigned by the system. His wound had healed, but as for the exercise...
Ji Hanxing reached out and felt his abdomen again. It was completely flat, even a little sunken.
Never mind developing an eight-pack; Ji Hanxing suspected he'd lost quite a few pounds. Abs were out of the question.
I can't do this. I can't do this.
"System! Eating this stuff every day doesn't even fill me up. How am I supposed to have the energy to work out?"
[Based on the fitness training tasks and dietary plan the system has arranged for the host, developing abdominal muscles requires fat loss. Therefore, the system has arranged fat-loss meals for you. You may choose to eat boiled beef or boiled chicken breast until you are full.]
Ji Hanxing choked on his words. Looking at the bland, watery, utterly unappetizing meat before him, he simply couldn't eat it. Besides, to Ji Hanxing, a former cook, preparing premium air-freighted beef this way was a downright waste!
If he couldn't even eat what he wanted, what pleasure was there left?
So Ji Hanxing decided to find some pleasure for himself.