When Ji Xu walked past the front desk, the young receptionist was there tidying up. She greeted him with a smile when she saw him approaching.
“Lawyer Ji, there’s a package for you.” The young woman smiled as she handed over a paper bag. “It arrived yesterday, but I got busy and forgot about it. I just remembered when I saw you.”
“Sorry for the trouble.” Ji Xu nodded, took the package, and walked out.
As he exited the company building, he furrowed his brows and glanced up at the dark, heavy sky, then undid a few buttons on his collar.
The weather was bad today, and it looked like it might rain soon.
After getting into his car, Ji Xu turned on the air conditioning before tearing open the document bag he had in hand.
A thin sheet of yellowed paper floated out.
As soon as he steadied it and read the first line, his expression changed.
It was a will.
He read through it quickly with a stern face, and his hand gripping the steering wheel began to show prominent veins.
When he reached the final line, which contained almost pleading words of entrustment, he managed to control his emotions slightly, pressed the gas pedal, and drove toward the address given in the letter.
Cheng Yue was standing at the second-floor window, glaring at the ten or so people in the yard below. His face was as dark as if it had just come out of a coal mine, looking quite intimidating, but his hands, hidden behind his back, were trembling incessantly due to the shouting and cursing coming from below.
It wasn’t fear; it was pure anger.
This was his home, and this group of people had no right to seal it up and force him out.
“Kid! Don’t you dawdle with us! This isn’t your home anymore! Don’t be shameless and refuse to leave! If you get hurt, don’t blame us for being impolite!” A man downstairs yelled up impatiently.
“Fuck off!” Cheng Yue’s chest heaved as he looked around the balcony, picked up a pot of flowers, and threw it down.
“Hey!” The man downstairs saw the pot of flowers coming down and his face darkened. He shouted, and the dozen or so men around quickly reached out to catch it.
The pot of orchids was worth at least a hundred thousand, and the higher-ups had instructed that not a single item in the house could be damaged.
“Don’t be ungrateful!” The man, seeing the flowers were caught, became even more aggressive. “You must move out today, otherwise, with your little body and useless self, breaking a leg would be too lenient!”
“You boast so much, but if that thing you brag about wasn’t stuck in your ass, you’d be able to reach the sky! I’ll stand right here—if you have the guts, come and chop me!”
Cheng Yue, with red eyes, also placed his leg on the balcony railing, pointing to the inner thigh. “Come on, right here! Chop right here! If you don’t, you’re my grandson!”
The group of men downstairs was infuriated by these words and began throwing things up, but the kid upstairs quickly dodged and, in the blink of an eye, pulled out an umbrella.
Standing on the balcony with the umbrella, Cheng Yue was quite pleased with himself, thinking he’d throw a few more pots of flowers to drive the people away, but he didn’t notice that someone had brought a ladder to the yard below.
When Ji Xu arrived at the address listed in the letter, he didn’t search around and parked directly outside the iron gate of a house.
This area was filled with standalone villas, and a hailstorm could potentially destroy a whole neighborhood of officials and rich people.
It was quite unusual to see dozens of people crowding around a villa, making noise and threats.
Inside the yard, a dozen or so men were causing a commotion, and two or three were climbing up the ladder to the second-floor balcony.
Seeing this, Ji Xu got out of the car with a serious expression. The iron gate was open, so he walked straight in.
A tall man in a suit suddenly appearing among the group of burly men in black vests was quite eye-catching.
“Hey, who are you?” someone shouted.
“The person standing upstairs is my client. Your actions are now suspected of breaking into a private residence and threatening and intimidating a minor,” Ji Xu said, glancing at the boy on the balcony and then taking out a business card to hand to the clearly leading man.
“Oh, a lawyer?” The leader took the card with disdain. After reading the name on it, his face stiffened a bit. He wondered how this guy could afford someone from Hengyi, but he remained unruffled, “This house is owned by our boss. This kid has been squatting here all day. We’re just doing our job.”
“First, according to Article 293 of the Criminal Law, your actions of gathering, making a commotion, disturbing the peace, and insulting constitute ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble’. If my client pursues it, you could face up to five years in prison, detention, or surveillance,” Ji Xu said expressionlessly, reciting it as if reading a textbook.
“Second, my client is under eighteen and protected by the Minor Protection Law. In simple terms, if it goes to court, I can push for the maximum penalty for all your illegal acts.”
The leader was stunned by this speech. After a moment of thought, he replied somewhat forcefully, “Yes, that’s the principle, but I sealed this house a day ago. This kid broke in overnight and locked the door. I brought people to block him. This is reasonable and legal. Look at the mess he made inside the house, like that pot of orchids worth at least a hundred thousand. Can he afford to compensate for that? I could easily call the police and have him arrested!”
“Yes, that’s right,” Ji Xu nodded in agreement. “You should call the police.”
“……What?” The leader was a bit stunned.
“Call the police and follow legal procedures. We can file a lawsuit for harming a minor, and my client will at least get to stay in this house for another ten days or so. At least that would be some compensation for him.”
After Ji Xu finished speaking, the leader was left completely dumbfounded.
His boss had given him two days to get the kid out, but if a lawsuit dragged on for another ten days, even if he won, he’d probably lose his position.
“Let’s compromise,” Ji Xu suggested with narrowed eyes, “You and your people leave now, and I’ll discuss it with my client. Tomorrow, you can come back to collect the house, and I’ll ensure everything is returned to you in the same condition.”
The sudden quieting of the scene downstairs made Cheng Yue, who had been lounging with his leg over the balcony railing and tossing flower pots, somewhat dazed. He paused for a moment before reluctantly pulling his leg down from the railing.
About three minutes later, the man with the briefcase, looking grim, pointed at him and said, “I’ll let you stay for today, but if you’re still here tomorrow, don’t blame me for being rough!”
“Go screw yourself, don’t talk to me like that,” Cheng Yue muttered under his breath as he watched the man’s arrogant back.
Within two minutes, the previously noisy group in the yard had all left.
Even the yard’s iron gate was shut.
Only then did Ji Xu carefully look at the boy on the balcony with his dyed yellow hair.
The boy was wearing an oversized T-shirt that exposed his shoulders and black work pants with several rips. His ears, neck, and fingers were adorned with exaggerated chains and rings, which made Ji Xu visibly impatient.
He reread the letter that had been sent and then looked at a photograph included in the document.
In the photo, the boy had black hair against fair skin and a pair of smiling eyes that looked gentle and obedient.
“Who are you?” Cheng Yue, feeling uncomfortable under the gaze of the tall man from downstairs, felt uneasy. He didn’t know why, but he had a strong feeling that this man was no pushover, so his tone weakened.
Ji Xu glanced at the photo again, furrowed his brow, and then looked back at the boy on the balcony. After confirming the face, he said, “Cheng Yue?”
“You know me?” Cheng Yue was surprised that his name was mentioned.
Ji Xu stuffed the letter and the photo back into the document bag, squinted, and said, “Open the door.”
Cheng Yue, startled by his commanding tone, pulled back his neck but quickly recovered, stiffly replying, “Why should I? This is my home.”
“Open the door now,” Ji Xu said, genuinely impatient. The weather seemed to cooperate with him; as soon as he finished speaking, a bolt of lightning struck.
“Damn!” Cheng Yue, frightened by the lightning, immediately crouched and covered his head.
Ji Xu looked up at the dark, stormy sky and the rain starting to fall, feeling annoyed.
He was the boy’s uncle.
The letter in his document bag was sent by Ke Miu, who was his sister, not a biological sibling, but adopted by his family.
Later… Ke Miu ran off with a man.
And then, the boy appeared before him like a monkey jumping out of a rock.
“Open the door…” Ji Xu began to speak but was interrupted by Cheng Yue, who had curled up into a ball.
“Alright… I get it. Stop shouting, you’re just showing off how loud you are…” Cheng Yue, almost lying on the floor, pale-faced, threatened while struggling to move away from the balcony, “If you dare…”
Ji Xu couldn’t hear the rest of his words due to the continuous thunder and rain, and he sighed deeply.
What a mess.
He carefully held the document bag close to his chest with his clothes and walked to the door, waiting for the boy to open it.
Five minutes later, with no response from the door, Ji Xu felt he had been tricked.
Cheng Yue wasn’t deliberately tricking him, but at that moment, his legs were trembling so badly that he couldn’t move from the second-floor stairs, his whole body shaking uncontrollably.
His phobia of thunder made him weak all over and embarrassed him greatly.
When the thunder gradually stopped, he finally calmed down, supporting himself on the stairs as he slowly descended.
Cheng Yue composed himself, adopting an expression of defiance as if daring anyone to challenge him, before finally opening the door.
As Ji Xu was about to enter, he turned his head to look when he heard the door open.
Seeing Ji Xu staring at him, Cheng Yue, uncomfortable, cleared his throat and said in a fierce tone, “If you’re with them, don’t even bother. This is my home, and no one is going to make me leave.”
Ji Xu, not wanting to argue with his dyed hair, frowned and entered the room.
Cheng Yue watched him enter the living room as if he was familiar with the place, and after a moment of being stunned, he said, “Hey, did I invite you in? Stop wandering around.”
“This house, at best, you can stay in for today.” Ji Xu turned and looked down at him. “This house has been mortgaged due to your family’s bankruptcy and debts.”
“None of your business. If I say it’s mine, it’s mine!” Cheng Yue’s knuckles on the door handle were turning white.
“Who exactly are you?”
“Cheng Yue, 17 years old, just returned from the U.S.,” Ji Xu recited the information from the paper.
“This is who you are.”
“Do scammers nowadays look so decent? I really don’t have anything for you to scam,” Cheng Yue said with a self-deprecating smile, sitting down on the sofa.
“I’m your… uncle.”
Ji Xu casually threw the document bag onto the coffee table and said, “This was sent to me by your mother. After you read it, pack up your things and come with me.”
“Nonsense.” Cheng Yue glared at him, “Do you really think I’m stupid? My mom was an orphan. You come here pretending to be my uncle without even checking?”
“I really am your uncle…” Ji Xu said, stepping towards him.
Cheng Yue, frightened by Ji Xu’s imposing height, shrank back.
“You… you… I’m a minor! Don’t break the law!”
“Your guardianship has been transferred to me. Starting today, until you turn eighteen, I am your guardian…”
Ji Xu said, grabbing him firmly and looking down at him, “Not only am I not breaking the law, but I’m also doing it legally.”
