When the door of the second-floor room was kicked open, every eye inside swung to the two people walking in. The moment they saw Ling Yun, both sides let out an unconscious breath.
Shen Chengze and the others on Ling Yun's side gave him a nod — the look of people who had said everything already and needed no more words.
As for the other side — the red-faced Jiang Jingcheng and his friends — the moment Ling Yun's eyes landed on him, Jiang Jingcheng looked away awkwardly. Too embarrassing. Every time he thought about how well Ling Yun had treated him, he wanted to sink into the floor. How had he ended up saying something bad about Ling Yun?
All Yang Qing's fault.
He shot Yang Qing a silent, furious glare. Raised in the gutter, he thought everything was a gutter trick — everyone's seen through those moves.
"Well — a standoff."
Looking at the two armed camps, Ling Yun didn't look at Jiang Jingcheng. He looked at the room in general and said lightly, in a tone of mild amusement.
"Young Lord Ling is here." Wang Tianyi tried to look at ease and failed. He really did not want to be in the middle of Ling Yun's and Jiang Jingcheng's family drama. They'd all just come for drinks. Then Jiang Jingcheng arrived with the newly returned Yang Qing, and out of social obligation everyone had given the polite greeting — and then somehow this small-time person had, in a few well-chosen words, steered Jiang Jingcheng into saying something against Ling Yun.
Under ordinary circumstances, venting a frustration to friends was not a big thing.
But sometimes the universe was just like that.
Tonight the universe had delivered him straight into the hands of Ling Yun's actual friends.
Looking at Jiang Jingcheng's right eye socket — gone thoroughly black and blue — Wang Tianyi let out a quiet, inward sigh and stepped forward as mediator: "Young Lord Ling — honestly, this was a misunderstanding. Jingcheng was just drinking too much and saying things he didn't mean. You two have been brothers for over a decade — you know what he's actually like. This was nothing, truly — a misunderstanding."
"Right, Young Lord Ling — just a misunderstanding." The rest of Jiang Jingcheng's friends chimed in.
Ling Yun didn't take any of those exits. He looked at Jiang Jingcheng directly, voice measured. "I'd actually like to know — why did you say bad things about me? I don't think I've treated you poorly."
"I… I didn't say anything." Under Ling Yun's clear, direct gaze, Jiang Jingcheng's instinct was to deny it.
The denial made Xie Lesheng and the others bristle. "Oh — Jiang Young Master, are you taking us all for deaf? If no bad words were said about Ling Yun, would we be standing here?"
"Young Master Jiang — real men own their actions. Being spineless only makes people lose respect." Shen Chengze, when he opened his mouth, said things that hit their mark.
Jiang Jingcheng: … … His friends: ……
"Big brother — I just want to understand why you'd say bad things about me." Thinking of the five percent of Tianyun Group shares he'd spent so much effort getting for Jiang Jingcheng, Ling Yun's gaze carried a trace of genuine hurt.
"Ling Yun — I didn't say anything bad about you — really — it wasn't me." Jiang Jingcheng, for reasons he couldn't fully articulate, simply could not bring himself to admit it. To appear credible, he grabbed Yang Qing out from behind him. "It was him. He said the bad things."
"I didn't — I said nothing — Big Brother — how can you pin this on me?" Yang Qing had been beaten by Ling Yun once and knew exactly how much those fists hurt. He sold Jiang Jingcheng out in record time.
And further — this was exactly what he'd wanted: Jiang Jingcheng and Ling Yun at each other's throats.
The entire room: everyone looking at Jiang Jingcheng and Yang Qing's expressions with something deeply complicated.
No one had expected to witness brothers throwing each other under a bus tonight. In elite circles, it happened — constantly, quietly. But the Jiang brothers had done it in front of a full audience, with zero hesitation. That was quite something.
"Yang Qing — say that again. Did I say bad things about Ling Yun or did I not?" Jiang Jingcheng's grip on Yang Qing's arm went white-knuckle. His eyes were pure threat.
"It was… me. I said the bad things about Ling Yun."
Seeing no escape from being used as the scapegoat, Yang Qing — having already achieved his real purpose — buried the contempt in his eyes and admitted before the full room. Whether anyone believed it was their own business. He had gotten what he came for.
Hearing Yang Qing accept the blame, Jiang Jingcheng exhaled quietly.
He didn't know why — but he just couldn't afford to offend Ling Yun. He would rather let his friends think less of him than offend Ling Yun. Subconsciously, the person he was really afraid of offending was probably Jiang Xiuqing.
Jiang Jingcheng let out his breath. Gu Junbao and the others collectively gave him a look of pure contempt.
Jiang Jingcheng's friends, meanwhile, produced a variety of socially excruciating smiles.
Ling Yun looked at both of them — at Jiang Jingcheng and Yang Qing — and then lowered his eyes to hide whatever was really there. "Big brother — I'll believe you one last time. And this is the last time I'll call you that." He met Jiang Jingcheng's eyes. "I won't be calling you big brother after tonight. And you're no longer my big brother."
"Ling Yun!"
Watching the calm on Ling Yun's face, Jiang Jingcheng wanted to say something — and couldn't find a single word. Ling Yun and the Jiang family having no blood connection was the truth. His mother had turned on Ling Yun for Yang Qing's sake. His father had released Ling Yun too. And he himself had just said something bad about Ling Yun. None of them could go back to what they were.
"Come on, Ling Yun — since you're here, let's actually enjoy ourselves tonight."
Only friends could sense the low mood underneath Ling Yun's composure. Gu Junbao, seeing the confrontation resolved, slung his arm around Ling Yun's shoulder and steered him toward the next room.
As for the beaten Yang Qing — he had it coming. Admitted he said the bad things about Ling Yun, then shouldered the blame alone anyway. That was perfectly fair.
"Young Lord Ling."
Just as Ling Yun and his group were leaving the private room, the door was pushed open from outside and Qin Yunfeng appeared in the frame — with a carefully contained smile on his face — blocking Ling Yun's path.
"Boss Qin?" Ling Yun was surprised.
"Young Lord Ling — someone wanted me to show you something." Saying this, Qin Yunfeng offered Ling Yun a brief look of apology, then plugged a USB drive into the nearby player. Immediately, the wide screen in the private room lit up — and figures appeared on it.
As the figures appeared, voices filled the whole room.
"Heh — Ling Yun just got lucky because Little Uncle likes him. Without that, when Yangyang came home he'd have been sent straight back to his birth family. Without Little Uncle, he'd have nothing. Little Uncle's just biased — treating an outsider better than his own family."
"And — do you know why our mom and dad ever bothered being good to Ling Yun? Wasn't it all because of Little Uncle? Little Uncle is the family patriarch. As long as he's happy, a little generosity from him gives us a head start over every other Jiang branch… Urp…" A clearly audible burp.
"You want to know why they gave Ling Yun up? Because he doesn't carry the Jiang name anymore. He has no value. Hahaha…"
Perhaps the alcohol. Perhaps the goading of a listening ear. Or perhaps this had been packed down inside for years and finally had an audience. The speaker had completely lost their filter.
Gu Junbao and Wang Tianyi — having been present when it was recorded — looked at each other in stunned disbelief. Their eyes snapped together to Qin Yunfeng.
This, played at a time like this — was going to draw blood.
Feeling the gazes of both groups pressing into him, Qin Yunfeng shrugged, helpless. He was innocent. He was just doing what he was told.
On the screen, Ling Yun looked with an expressionless face:
So Jiang Xiuqing's care for him had long been a thorn in others' sides. The love he'd been shown had been performed for Jiang Xiuqing's benefit. He had been a tool for access to Jiang Xiuqing's favor. He had never received real family love — not once.
How thin family love was when placed against interest.
"No — it's not like that — Ling Yun — you have to let me explain, I—" Watching the version of himself still talking on screen, Jiang Jingcheng let out a kick. The screen cracked. It kept functioning — bravely, diligently — showing the speaker in dozens of fractured reflections.
"You resent how much Little Uncle cares about me."
Ling Yun looked at Jiang Jingcheng with eyes that were clear and very still.
Unable to lie, unable to admit it, Jiang Jingcheng's mouth moved and nothing came out. The truth was the truth. His mother had turned against Ling Yun. His father had let Ling Yun go. He himself had just said something bad about Ling Yun. There was no going back.
"And everything my mom and dad ever did for me — it was all because of Little Uncle."
Jiang Jingcheng: How was he supposed to answer that?
The expression on Jiang Jingcheng's face was answer enough.
Ling Yun lowered his eyes. He walked out the door.
The room full of people who had been ready for a full confrontation all froze.
"Ling Yun — Ling Yun, where are you going — wait for us." The first to recover was always Gu Junbao. He and the others pointed at Jiang Jingcheng — one look that said we're watching — and went after Ling Yun.
Jiang Jingcheng stood there with nothing in his head.
"Cough — Jingcheng — I've got something on — gotta go." Wang Tianyi, sensing that Ling Yun was genuinely angry, made his exit.
Wang Tianyi left. Lin Juexin and Chen Ziming looked at each other and also slipped away.
In moments, the room went from full and loud to hollow and quiet, leaving only a dazed Jiang Jingcheng and a quietly satisfied Yang Qing.
"Weren't you the one who hated getting involved? Young Lord Ling is probably not easy to deal with." Behind the bar counter, Tang Ye slid a freshly mixed cocktail to Qin Yunfeng.
Qin Yunfeng cast a careful look around before leaning in and pointing one finger upward, dropping his voice to almost nothing. "The arrangements came from the person up there. You think I could say no?"
Jiang Xiuqing. Fourth Master Jiang.
Tang Ye's eyes went actually wide. "Why?" Wasn't that man supposed to be devoted to Ling Yun? How could he have had Ling Yun watch something like that? How could he have put Ling Yun through that pain?
"Who knows." A shrug. Qin Yunfeng said nothing more.
Boom.
A screech of brakes. Thirty seconds later — the Jiang family's front door was kicked in.
In the living room, Jiang Xiusu and Wu Meiyun — who had been speaking quietly — looked up in shock at the ice-faced figure of Ling Yun.
"What do you think you're doing?" Wu Meiyun gathered herself and went on the offensive.
Ling Yun didn't answer her. Didn't look at her. He simply walked upstairs.
Before, he'd walked out with nothing because he thought he owed the Jiang family something. Now he didn't think that anymore. He had been their child too. He had given them eighteen years. He was taking what was his. Every last bit of it. He was not leaving a single thing behind for Yang Qing.
It was all bought by Jiang Xiuqing for him, anyway.
"Xiusu — is he being a little too — is he…" Wu Meiyun was seething. This was her house. Who gave Ling Yun the right to be arrogant here?
Just as Jiang Xiusu was drawing a cold breath to say something, the second set of arrivals silenced them both.
