Ji Shen · Chat

The early autumn evening breeze slipped through the living room screen window, bringing a faint chill, but it couldn't disperse the heavy silence and suffocation filling the room. I sat on the sofa, while my father stood in front of the French window, his back tense. His eyes held the fatigue worn down by days of hard work and anxiety, and his voice was terribly hoarse. "The family company and all commercial businesses under our name have been ordered to suspend operations for investigation, and their accounts have been frozen for risk control." Our family is a typical, stable middle-class household. My father built his business from scratch over many years, running a steadily sized trade company that supplies supermarkets, handles brand distribution, and conducts compliant channel trading. With a stable customer base and a solid reputation, it was the real economy that supported our family's comfortable and peaceful life. My father has always been a cautious and law-abiding businessman, never touching any gray areas. However, with years of corporate operation, it was inevitable to have minor operational compliance flaws common in the industry: incomplete archiving of channel ledger details for some batches in past years, slight delays in reporting cross-regional transactions, or sporadic updates of compliance documents. These were all minor issues tacitly accepted in the industry that would never be singled out for accountability. They weren't enough to affect the normal operation of the business, let alone meet the standard for illegal closure, and past inspections had never found any flaws. Yet, at this exact moment, someone dug up all these old, minor loopholes. They mobilized regulatory resources, uniting tax, market regulation, and risk control departments to conduct a comprehensive, strict, and maximum-penalty investigation into our family business. Overnight, the trade company suspended operations, projects were frozen, accounts were locked under risk control, and all cooperation was paused. The family business my father spent half his life building came to a sudden, grinding halt. I was lost and bewildered, unable to understand how a legitimately run business could face this. Until my father, suppressing his utter helplessness, muttered: "I pulled some strings to trace it back to the source. It's the doing of the Ji Group. The one who did this is the second young master of the Ji family—Ji Shen." In an instant, the blood in my veins seemed to freeze, and my mind went completely blank. That man with lazy, gentle eyes and a relaxed, casual temperament; the one who had gently caught all my emotions and treated me with sincere passion—whom my father had subjectively dismissed as an idle youth with no decent job, hanging around night markets with no stable foundation—was actually the youngest son of the Ji Group's chairman. I had always thought he was just an ordinary person who loved freedom, the Ji Shen who loved me purely. The eldest son of the Ji family, Ji Jin, is gentle, upright, calm, and steady. He is the publicly groomed and widely recognized legitimate heir of the Ji family, highly reputed and praised by everyone. Meanwhile, the second son, Ji Shen, is someone the Ji family rarely discloses to the public. A chill ran through my chest as absurdity, disappointment, anger, and grievance piled up, choking my throat. Before I could compose myself, my father's heavy voice fell again, each word piercing my heart. "Someone from the Ji Group brought a message. It's Ji Shen's doing." "If we want the company's risk control lifted, the investigation dropped, normal operations restored, and all family assets saved, the only condition is—you must go to the Ji Group in person to talk to him." After my father stopped us from being together, I steeled my heart and broke up with him abruptly. When he couldn't contact me no matter what, he actually resorted to this most paranoid and ruthless method of a powerful ruler. He knew me too well. He knew I grew up in a safe, gentle environment, that I valued family stability above all, cherished my father's life's work, and couldn't bear to see my family ruined or my loved ones suffering. So he precisely grasped my only weakness, using the Ji Group's resources to shut down my family's business and cut off all my peaceful escape routes. He wasn't trying to ruin me; he was just forcing me to bow my head and walk to him on my own initiative. Complex emotions washed through my entire body. I couldn't accept him using my family's business and my family's stability as bargaining chips to coerce my feelings. After a moment of silence, I blinked back the tears in my eyes, suppressed all my emotions, and resolutely changed my clothes to go out. This confrontation was something I had to face in person. I looked up at the towering skyscraper, took a deep breath to calm my racing thoughts, and walked to the front desk. My voice was calm but tense: "Hello, I'm looking for Ji Shen." The receptionist seemed to have known beforehand. Without any questioning, she immediately stood up and bowed, her attitude extremely respectful: "Hello, Miss. Mr. Ji has already given instructions. Please follow me upstairs." He had calculated all along that I would definitely come. The elevator went straight to the top executive floor. The corridor was quiet and luxurious. The staff gently pushed open the door, and a gust of cool, crisp air-conditioning hit my face, carrying the solemnity and oppression unique to a ruler's office. Ji Shen leaned lazily behind a large ebony desk, his posture relaxed and casual, yet carrying a natural, noble oppression. His fluffy, ink-black curly hair fell across his forehead, partially obscuring his eyes. His cold, porcelain-like skin looked even more translucent under the lights, and a long, thin silver chain earring swayed slightly with his breath. A matte black satin suit jacket was casually draped over his shoulders, and his wine-red satin shirt was unbuttoned at the collar, his tie hanging loosely. He had shed his past gentle rogue vibe from the quiet bar, replaced by the cold, ruthless scheming of someone high in power. With his eyes downcast, his long, bony fingers casually flipped through a thick group financial file. His movements were slow and deliberate, and the aura around him was distant and cold—completely the look of a ruler who commands hundreds of billions in finance and makes ruthless decisions. Hearing the movement, he didn't raise his eyes for a long time, only faintly lifting his eyelids. His voice was low and lazy, carrying an unquestionable command. "Close the door and turn on the privacy frosting for the glass." The staff complied. The next second, the entire glass wall slowly turned a snowy white frost, completely blocking all views from outside the office corridor, and the door was shut. Only then did Ji Shen slowly raise his eyes. The outer corners of his narrow eyes curled up slightly, and his eyes glinted with a seductive yet sinister light. Standing up, his tall and straight figure walked over with a leisurely and lazy stride, sitting down on the black leather sofa. He looked up slightly, locking his gaze onto me like a predator looking down at its prey, a cold and playful curve hooking the corner of his lips. "Well?" "Has your father finally recognized me as decent and respectable now? Is he willing to lower himself and let you come talk to me in person?" He laughed softly, his voice magnetic and deep, carrying a hint of mad, obsessive laziness. He leaned forward slightly, the approaching pressure instantly enveloping me. His burning gaze clung to my face inch by inch, refusing to move away even a fraction. Every word was burning hot, every word paranoid, resolute and certain: "How do I want to talk?" "You know very well in your heart." A dark tide surged in his eyes, and an overwhelming possessiveness swept over. "I don't want much. From beginning to end, I only want you."