Chapter 21: Sign, Then Strip Now
The black Rolls-Royce Phantom soon stopped in front of a lonely telephone booth near the hospital. The rear window slowly lowered, revealing Ji Hanmo’s cold, sculpture-like profile. He looked at the wretched figure at the booth entrance with a heavy gaze, his thin lips opening slightly to spit out two words:
“Get in.”
Fu Yue took two steps forward, his finger resting on the door handle, but he hesitated. He looked down at his condition. Not only was he soaked, but there were also bloodstains on his pants, and his shoes were covered in mud. The person in the car seemed to see through his hesitation.
“Hurry up.” Ji Hanmo’s voice of urging rang out, his gaze full of pressure.
The moment the door closed, warm and dry air enveloped him. Fu Yue sat on the leather seat somewhat stiffly. It wasn’t that he hadn’t seen the world, but he had no money now. He was afraid of getting the car dirty and that Ji Hanmo would take the opportunity to extort and manipulate him. However, he was overthinking it. Ji Hanmo didn’t need to use such things to manipulate him.
The black privacy partition slowly rose, dividing the back into a sealed space. Ji Hanmo adjusted the air conditioning to the highest temperature before turning his head, his gaze sweeping over Fu Yue’s entire body inch by inch. He looked at Fu Yue’s back, which he didn’t dare lean against the seat, and then fixed on his torn trouser leg.
“How did you get injured?”
“Hit by my family.” Fu Yue chose to tell the truth, no longer making up stories about a fight. He knew that with Ji Hanmo’s abilities, finding out the actual situation was as easy as flipping a hand; lying was pointless.
“Take it off. Let me see.”
Fu Yue’s body stiffened, his eyes showing defensiveness.
“Afraid I’ll eat you?” Ji Hanmo looked at his wary appearance, his tone serious and upright. “Don’t worry, I’m not that desperate yet.”
Fu Yue’s face turned a bit pale. He hesitated for a few seconds before his fingers finally began to undo the buttons of his shirt. The drenched shirt was taken off, revealing a back covered in hideous scars. Ji Hanmo’s gaze lingered on the intersecting red welts for a while, his eyes darkening. He pointed at the torn, bloodstained pants.
“Take off the pants too.”
Fu Yue’s movements froze, his eyes full of resistance. “Ji Hanmo, don’t go too far!”
“Too far?” Ji Hanmo leaned back against the seat, distancing himself slightly. He looked at Fu Yue like a king inspecting his property. “Fu Yue, aren’t you going to work for me?”
“Yes,” Fu Yue answered in a low voice.
“Then let me tell you,” Ji Hanmo said heartlessly, “this is an unequal contract.”
The following words hammered against Fu Yue’s self-esteem: “Sign, and you strip now. If not, you can get out of the car immediately.”
Fu Yue looked at the rain outside, which was starting to get heavier again, and then at the cold man before him, feeling completely speechless.
A silence ensued. Fu Yue lowered his eyelids, hiding the emotions in his eyes. He reached out his stiff fingertips and unbuckled the belt of his trousers. The zipper was slowly pulled down, making a slight sound that was exceptionally ambiguous in the sealed cabin.
He didn’t look at Ji Hanmo again, just mechanically pulled the soaked pants down to his knees, revealing the wound. The wound wasn’t deep; it was on the outside of his thigh, far from the joint. However, because of the blood and rain, it looked a bit startling.
Ji Hanmo didn’t touch him; he just looked quietly for a few seconds before instructing the driver: “U-turn. To the hospital.”
“The wound is very shallow; there’s no need to go to the hospital!” Fu Yue spoke up. He had checked it himself at Mary Hospital just now; it wasn’t at the point where it needed stitches.
A few seconds later, a wool blanket was draped over Fu Yue’s body.
“Don’t put those wet clothes and pants back on; wear this.” Then, Ji Hanmo instructed the driver again: “Home.”
The Rolls-Royce stopped steadily in the underground garage. Fu Yue didn’t put his dirty clothes back on; he just stepped out of the car wrapped in the blanket. Fu Yue felt that since he had already been seen, there was no need to be coy. Anyway, he was still wearing a pair of boxer briefs, and they were dark-colored; he could just pretend he had just come out of the pool. Furthermore, Ji Hanmo had said he wasn’t desperate, and he indeed didn’t look at him much more.
The sound of splashing water echoed in the spacious bathroom. Because of the injuries on his back, Fu Yue didn’t dare use water that was too hot. Thus, the glass before him didn’t fog up, and he could see himself clearly. He strongly suspected he had some affinity with Ji Hanmo’s bathroom. Every time they met, it began with a shower. Then, inevitably, he had to wear Ji Hanmo’s bathrobe. It was a truly absurd sense of fate.
The winter bathrobe was brand new, made of thick velvet. It was large and thick, enveloping Fu Yue inside. He walked out of the bathroom. This place was the penthouse of Yushuiwan, a sky-high luxury residential project developed by the Ji family. The entire space had a great sense of design. Whether it was the paintings on the wall or the ornaments on the shelves, they all displayed Ji Hanmo’s extraordinary taste.
Stepping on the warm solid wood floor, Fu Yue returned to the living room. On the coffee table was steaming ginger tea. Besides Ji Hanmo, a refined, white-haired man sat on the sofa.
“Young Master Fu, I am the Ji family’s private doctor.” The white-haired man introduced himself.
Fu Yue had refused to go to the hospital in the car, and Ji Hanmo hadn’t insisted. Now it seemed it was because he could call a doctor to the house at any time. The Ji family doctor checked Fu Yue’s injuries. He disinfected the wounds, gave him an injection, prescribed medication, and even drew blood—all very efficient. Finally, he scheduled a follow-up visit for two days later.
“The wound on the leg isn’t a big problem, but you must apply medication to the back regularly,” the doctor instructed.
“I know.” Ji Hanmo nodded, answering for Fu Yue, before seeing the doctor to the door. “Let Uncle Chen see you out.”
Once the doctor was gone, only the two of them remained in the vast living room. The rain outside had stopped. It was quiet enough inside to hear each other’s breathing.
“It’s past two. Drink the ginger tea and rest early. Use any guest room on the first floor.” Ji Hanmo pointed to a door on the first floor.
Fu Yue looked at the teacup on the table but refused the instruction to rest.
“Chairman Ji, I want to clarify the contract with you first.”
Ji Hanmo listened and gave a slow nod. Fu Yue’s urgent posture for negotiation seemed to be completely within his expectations. Ji Hanmo sat on a single sofa, legs crossed.
“Speak.” A single word, concise and to the point.
Fu Yue had already drafted his thoughts at the bus stop in the rain. Now, he cleared his throat and spoke clearly: “I can complete the system architecture optimization we talked about last time for you.” Fu Yue went straight to the point. “In exchange, I ask Chairman Ji to do two things for me: first, suppress the scandal between me and Chen Bai; second, help me investigate something.”
Hearing this, Ji Hanmo’s brow moved slightly. “Investigate what?”
“The Fu family’s core system crashed today.” Fu Yue stated, “Not long ago, I had just optimized the underlying code. But I can guarantee it wasn’t an issue with my code.”
Ji Hanmo’s gaze swept over the medical dressing faintly visible under Fu Yue’s bathrobe. “You’re covered in injuries because of this?”
“Most likely.” Fu Yue said.
“Most likely?” Ji Hanmo captured this subtle word.
“The family didn’t give me a chance to explain, nor did they detail the reason for hitting me; it was just a beating.” Fu Yue said helplessly. “I’m penniless now and have no ability to find out the truth.”
Ji Hanmo understood the meaning. When Fu Yue said “most likely,” it was because he knew the system crash and the scandal were the direct reasons his father hit him. But he knew even better that someone must have been fueling the fire behind the scenes. Who this person was, he didn’t know.
“Your price is too high.” Ji Hanmo leaned back. “Suppressing the scandal and using my resources to find the mole in the Fu family. Fu Yue, do you think you’re that valuable?”
“Am I not?” Fu Yue was a bit angry at the question. An architect who could design and optimize top-level systems was worth more than gold. In the real world, hiring an expert of this level from outside would cost thousands of dollars per hour.
However, being under someone else’s roof, one had to bow one’s head. Fu Yue suppressed his emotions and was about to haggle when Ji Hanmo picked up a tablet from the side table and pushed it toward him. On the screen was a simple work agreement. Ji Hanmo must have drafted it while he was showering.
Fu Yue scrolled through it quickly. His brow furrowed more and more. The terms on the screen were extremely harsh, with almost only “obligations” and no “rights.” The only thing he could be thankful for was that it was indeed a pure work agreement, not some messy “selling-himself” agreement. It seemed this domineering CEO hadn’t read those dog-blood contract-lover novels.
The agreement didn’t set any hard requirements for Fu Yue to perfect the system architecture; he just had to be “on call” in the name of “Ji Hanmo’s personal consultant.” The terms were vague and domineering. After reading it, Fu Yue’s face was calm, without even any anger. He pushed the tablet back to Ji Hanmo and pointed at one of the clauses:
“The term is too long.”
Ji Hanmo gave a faint laugh. “You still want a term?”
“I’ll only sign for seven days.” Fu Yue threw out his trump card. “I’ll guarantee the quality of the optimization for your system framework. Seven days, on-time delivery.” He met Ji Hanmo’s scrutiny. “Furthermore, you must guarantee me a certain amount of free time.”
Fu Yue’s calculation was that he wasn’t being asked to deliver the full set of code and follow it all the way to testing. He was just building an excellent framework. Once it was built, the matters of arguing with various departments could be left to Ji Hanmo himself; seven days was more than enough. As for why he needed free time, it was naturally so he could keep an eye on that troublesome CP—Ji Linyue and Chen Bai.
A brief silence fell over the living room. Fu Yue was prepared for a battle of words, his mind already constructing several negotiation strategies. However, Ji Hanmo just looked at him deeply for a few seconds, his gaze seemingly wanting to see through him inside and out. Then, his thin lips opened, and he spit out one word.
“Okay.”
All the arguments Fu Yue had prepared seemed to have gone to waste. He… actually agreed just like that? Looking at Ji Hanmo’s composed appearance, Fu Yue was a bit surprised.
“It’s very late; go and rest.” Ji Hanmo said. After saying this, he stood up, prepared to go upstairs.
“Wait.” Fu Yue suddenly called out to him.
Ji Hanmo stopped his footsteps and stared at Fu Yue. The living room lights cast deep shadows on his face. The corners of his mouth curled slightly, and his voice was low and ambiguous: “What? Want me to go to your place?”
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