A sly smile curled at the corner of Ye Yunchen's lips. He held his phone with an air of calm composure, completely unfazed by Ke Yaru's words. Whatever she said, he brushed off with a laugh, and after running out of things to say, he hung up.
A few days had passed since the incident in England, and Lu Zhengting and Xia Yan remained in a cold war. Every time Xia Yan tried to leave the apartment, the people Lu Zhengting had assigned to protect her would block her way, insisting on getting his explicit permission.
Furious, Xia Yan called Lu Zhengting and demanded he call off these people, but he flatly refused. Not only that, he sternly told her to stay in the apartment and reflect on herself.
Reflect? Reflect on what? What did she have to reflect on?
She couldn't see Lu Zhengting in person, and the people at the door were incredibly stubborn, wearing poker faces all day, cold and detached, which only made her blood boil. They were just as infuriating as Lu Zhengting himself.
Xia Yan angrily threw her phone onto the sofa, which landed with a dull thud. Hands on her hips, she paced back and forth in the living room, unable to contain her frustration. Finally, she picked up the phone again and dialed Lu Zhengting's number.
At that very moment, Ning Nan had set aside work to accompany Xu Su from Beicheng back to Jiangcheng. They were meeting with Lu Zhengting in his office.
"There seems to be a lot of undercurrents stirring in Jiangcheng lately," Xu Su said flatly, his expression unreadable as he looked at Lu Zhengting. After a pause, he added, "And it seems Beicheng hasn't been quiet either."
"Just clowns jumping around, nothing to fear." Lu Zhengting narrowed his eyes, his tone dripping with arrogance.
Hearing this, Ning Nan, who had been silent until now, finally looked up from the magazine he was reading to glance at Lu Zhengting. He nodded in agreement.
Xu Su noticed that Lu Zhengting had received Ning Nan's approval, and a flicker of emotion crossed his face. Lu Zhengting, sharp-eyed as ever, caught this and immediately felt a chill run down his spine.
His first reaction was disgust, his second was irritation.
He couldn't help but think of his current relationship with Xia Yan, and his brow furrowed. In Lu Zhengting's eyes, women had always been simple and easy to satisfy, but ever since he met Xia Yan, he found them utterly incomprehensible.
Take this time, for instance—no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't figure out why Xia Yan had suddenly brought up breaking up.
Ning Nan shot Xu Su a flirtatious glance, which disgusted Lu Zhengting, though Xu Su's expression quickly returned to normal, as if the cold tension in the air had been a figment of their imagination.
"Xu Su, let's take it easy. After all, we're in front of Lu Zhengting right now," Ning Nan said with a grin, then turned his gaze to Lu Zhengting and shifted the topic. "I heard you and Xia Yan had a fight?"
The heavy scent of gossip made Lu Zhengting's expression darken. His eyes narrowed, and a cold glare shot toward Ning Nan. "Looking for trouble?"
"Xu Su."
If he were alone, Ning Nan wouldn't dare provoke Lu Zhengting at the risk of getting beaten. But with Xu Su by his side, it was a different story. Alcohol gives cowards courage, and Xu Su gave Ning Nan courage. He calmly closed his magazine and called out Xu Su's name.
Xu Su played along, returning Lu Zhengting's glare with a provocative look of his own. The two men, with their equally commanding auras, locked eyes, and Ning Nan felt the air around them grow icy.
"Boring," Lu Zhengting said coldly.
It was unclear whether he was referring to Xu Su's pointless support of Ning Nan or Ning Nan's meddling. The three of them stayed in the office, and the conversation eventually circled back to their earlier topic—until Ning Xi showed up, and Ning Nan immediately lost his composure.
Under Ning Xi's left eye was a prominent bruise, clearly the result of a punch. His gloomy expression made it obvious that he knew his appearance would draw attention. He thought bitterly that this was all thanks to that idiot woman, Zhan Meng.
He had told Zhan Meng to stop investigating, but instead of listening, she had thrown herself into it even more fervently, as if deliberately going against him. Frustrated, he had gone to her place to confront her, but Zhan Meng, unpredictable as always, had thrown a punch and left him like this.
Ning Nan never had any sympathy for his younger brother, especially when he saw him beaten. If it weren't for their shared last name, no one would believe they were brothers.
"My poor little brother, who did this to you?" Ning Nan asked with a smirk.
"Get lost." Ning Xi blinked, feeling the pain radiate from his eye socket with even the slightest movement. Zhan Meng hadn't held back at all. He couldn't help but lament that ever since he met Zhan Meng, he always seemed to end up on the receiving end of her punches.
The thought only made his expression darker.
"Third brother, don't tell me you got beaten by a woman?"
Ning Xi stayed silent, shooting Ning Nan a sidelong glance. "No."
"Your weak denial is making me laugh. But don't worry, as your brother, I definitely won't tell them you got beaten by a woman."
Hearing Ning Nan's unreliable words, Ning Xi knew he would definitely spill the beans to the others, who thrived on chaos. He began to seriously question his life choices—what kind of brothers did he have, finding joy in his misfortune?
The four of them sat in the office. Without Lu Zhengting's orders, the secretary wouldn't dare disturb them. At this point, aside from Ning Xi's beating, the most important matter was the news he had brought.
"Zhengting, from what I've gathered, a new type of drug has been developed. Its effect is to influence a person's emotions, and under extreme agitation, it can even trigger actions..."
"What kind of drug is this?"
"It's still in the experimental stage. Overuse can lead to dependency."
"Is there anything else?"
"That's all the information I have for now. But I did make one significant discovery—your rival, Ye Yunchen, seems to be involved."
Ning Nan paused for a few seconds before suddenly speaking up. "How is this any different from drugs?"
"At a certain level, it can also be used for hypnosis."
"Hypnosis?"
"Yeah, but based on the data collected so far, no one has succeeded yet."
"Then why bring it up?" Ning Nan said, looking at Ning Xi. This guy never finished what he was saying and always avoided the main point, making him tense up for nothing.
Lu Zhengting ignored their bickering, instead reflecting on his own emotions lately. Aside from the two times he had lost control and lashed out at Xia Yan, his temper had been more volatile than usual.
Not that it had ever been good to begin with.
Suddenly remembering something, Ning Xi added, "This drug is tasteless and is usually mixed with water. In the early stages, it causes noticeable fatigue."
He paused, then looked at Lu Zhengting. "Do you have all these symptoms?"
Lu Zhengting grunted in acknowledgment. The other three immediately turned their attention to him. Ning Nan asked incredulously, "You've been hit?"
Xu Su sat on the sofa, arms crossed, glancing briefly at Ning Nan before turning to Lu Zhengting. "Do you know who did it?"
"Not yet, but I have a suspect."
"Ke Yaru?"
Lu Zhengting and Xu Su exchanged a look and nodded without denying it.
Ning Xi frowned, surprised that both Lu Zhengting and Xu Su suspected Ke Yaru. Ning Nan nudged him and asked, "Daydreaming?"
"Daydreaming? Isn't that your thing?"
"Little brat, is that how you talk to your brother?"
"You're only a year older than me!" Ning Xi always regretted not being born earlier. If he had been born before Ning Nan, he could have been the second eldest. Even earlier, and he'd be the eldest.
"Childish. Even if I were only an hour older, you'd still have to call me big brother," Ning Nan said with a dismissive laugh.
Ning Xi was furious, tempted to pick a fight with Ning Nan. After all, Ning Nan couldn't beat him, and it would also help him vent the frustration he'd taken from Zhan Meng.
But before the thought could fully form, he caught a glimpse of Xu Su's threatening glare. He met it reluctantly, and seeing Ning Nan's smug expression only made him more impulsive.
Still, Ning Xi managed to hold himself back. Fighting Xu Su meant dealing with his sister-in-law, Xu Xiao, and Ning Dong. If the couple teamed up, he wouldn't stand a chance and might end up even more beaten.
Such was his good brother—never holding back when it came to beating up his younger siblings, though Ning Xi was no different when it came to Ning Bei.
Ning Bei, as the youngest, often lamented that he had never experienced the warmth of brotherly love. Instead, he was always worrying about them.
Xu Su had a general idea of what was going on between Lu Zhengting and Xia Yan, so he asked expressionlessly, "How are you handling Xia Yan's situation? Xia Minghui might panic and try to turn things around, making it even harder to resolve."
"Forgetting what happened back then is a blessing for Xia Yan."
"So you're still not going to tell her?"
"I'll think about it."
Lu Zhengting's biggest concern was that if he told Xia Yan everything, she might not be able to handle it. Besides, the evidence he had gathered so far was incomplete. All the clues regarding Xia Yan's car accident and miscarriage pointed to Xia Minghui.
After a pause, Lu Zhengting turned to Ning Xi. "This drug..."
"There's no antidote yet, but I'll have someone develop one as quickly as possible."
Meanwhile, Lu Zhengting had no idea that Xia Yan, confined to the apartment, had gone from making a ruckus to falling silent, no longer trying to contact him. He didn't know what she was planning.
Although Ning Nan had withdrawn from his work in Beicheng, he still had to attend a movie premiere. The film's lead actress was the same person he had been rumored to be involved with, and since the director was a friend, he was happy to help.
Ning Nan knew better than to hide this from Xu Su, so he told him the truth. To his surprise, Xu Su strongly opposed it. The reason was simple: the lead actress. It was an obvious point of contention.
Ning Xi was the first to leave, unfortunately missing the sight of Ning Nan trying to appease Xu Su. Lu Zhengting had the chance to watch but couldn't care less.