LWDC Chapter 84

Chapter 84 – Dependence

Chapter 84 – Dependence

Chapter 84 – Dependence

It was the second day of the Lunar New Year, and Ning Fei and Duan Yunhong were still in the large flat apartment. Tang Huilan had taken Ji Yuechi and Ji Xingzhe back to her parents’ home.

Ning Fei was initially surprised that Ji Yuechi was included, but that very night, Ji Yuechi couldn’t help but call Duan Yunhong to report (and complain). Duan Yunhong didn’t even bother to paraphrase this time, directly putting the call on speakerphone. Ning Fei was right beside him, sitting on the fluffy carpet, leaning against the sofa, resting against his leg, gently swirling a glass of red wine in his hand.

Duan Yunhong’s hand was behind Ning Fei’s shoulder, his fingers occasionally lightly playing with the ends of Ning Fei’s hair, as he calmly replied to the call: “…So, the Tang family is taking this opportunity to set conditions, wanting to get involved in my personal business?”

“It’s said to be ‘taking the opportunity,’ but the Tang family didn’t mention my father. It was my maternal grandfather who talked to me about business matters,” Ji Yuechi replied. “He did start by talking about the Ji family’s businesses in Shenzhen, but it was to understand my development. I didn’t go into too much detail, just mentioned some conventional or ambiguous things. Seeing that I wasn’t very interested, and that I always said the recent investments were large and uncertain when the returns would be seen, he gradually changed the subject. As we chatted, we moved on to the information and internet industries, and then he mentioned your company, Uncle Duan.”

“At first, Grandfather thought it was a business that I was doing with you, but he didn’t realize it was yours alone. After I told him, he said that he also saw the potential in this blue ocean and could buy shares in your company, Uncle Duan, at the original stock valuation. He also said that the Tang family wouldn’t interfere with your management and would just be a dividend shareholder.”

“Do you think that’s possible?” Duan Yunhong’s attitude was cold. “If he wants to be a major shareholder, he wants to see my company’s annual reports and see what I’m really doing. This is my personal matter and has nothing to do with the Ji family. He can forget about it.”

“Yeah, I guessed you’d say that, so even though Grandfather told me to talk to you about it, I gave him a heads-up first,” Ji Yuechi said, agreeing. “My father also told me that he strongly supports your ventures, Uncle Duan, and if there’s any investment to be made, it should be from within the Ji family first.”

“Pfft.”

Ning Fei chuckled softly beside him. Duan Yunhong glanced down at him and lightly tugged at the hair on the back of his head. Ning Fei, caught off guard, was pulled back for a second and glared at him.

Duan Yunhong wanted to laugh in his heart, but he held it back. He pretended not to understand Ji Yuechi’s implication. “Oh, the Ji family doesn’t need to either. I want to make a name for myself. Don’t worry, I won’t be polite if I need to use the Ji family’s money.”

Ji Yuechi was a little unwilling to give up. “It’s not entirely my father’s idea. I’m actually quite interested in the business you’re involved in, Uncle Duan. And some of my classmates and friends are majoring in computer science and finance, and they’re all very optimistic about this industry…”

“These are things for you young people to do. I won’t get involved,” Duan Yunhong said. “If you have something you want to do, you can discuss it with your parents.”

“Uh, actually, I also want to learn more from you, Uncle Duan,” Ji Yuechi said, still unwilling. “If I and my friends could do something in the internet industry with you, Uncle Duan, they could also invest some money. If necessary, we could set up our own company to run errands and act as a bridge for you, Uncle Duan. The main thing is that my friends’ families are also in good condition, and they all said they’d like to meet you to see the world and get a deeper understanding…”

“No need, I have enough here myself. Too many people are inconvenient,” Duan Yunhong said. “You young people have your own ideas. Develop freely. There’s no need to follow my ideas.”

After being rejected so bluntly twice in a row, Ji Yuechi was finally too embarrassed to continue. He said a few words, wanting to hang up. Under Ning Fei’s whispered reminder, Duan Yunhong added a sentence at the last moment: “By the way, if your mother was really just using it as an excuse, are you still investigating that Lin Shengjia?”

“It’s still unclear,” Ji Yuechi replied without suspicion. “I asked Xiao Zhe to ask, and he said he’s still afraid to go. I can’t directly ask Grandfather either. I guess in another couple of days, I’ll be able to talk to my mother about it.”

The two then agreed to communicate Tang Huilan’s movements as soon as possible and then hung up.

“Hahahaha!” Ning Fei finally burst out laughing. “What do they think you are, a kindergarten principal? Throwing a few children at you to take care of?”

Duan Yunhong threw away his phone. “They just haven’t seen the meat yet. They’ve only smelled a hint of it and they’re already coming to snatch territory like jackals.”

“The Ji family is trying to grab your personal business again,” Ning Fei said, finishing the red wine in his glass and putting the glass on the coffee table. “The Ji family members are truly greedy and insatiable. Ji Yuechi spoke so naturally about wanting to get involved in your business, without a trace of tact or hesitation, just snatching it outright.”

“I never talk to him about what I’m doing personally, but the people related to the company in Shenzhen will more or less chat with him about these things. Ji Zhenwei sometimes asks me if I’m doing anything, and if it doesn’t affect the overall situation too much, I’m too lazy to hide it and just give him a simple answer,” Duan Yunhong said. “Ji Zhenwei himself may not be very interested in the internet industry, but if Ji Yuechi wants to do it, Ji Zhenwei will naturally want him to have more help.”

“Tch, thinking about outside support before doing anything. That’s the flaw in these so-called ‘families’. It’s as if without these things, the children in these families can’t even take a single step,” Ning Fei said, pouring himself another glass of wine, and also refilling Duan Yunhong’s. “But, you’re rejecting so blatantly and telling Ji Yuechi to do it himself if he wants to get involved. Aren’t you afraid that Ji Zhenwei will give you trouble later?”

“How can he give me trouble? If he uses connections to have people in Shenzhen block me, then the Ji family’s business in Shenzhen can forget about doing business,” Duan Yunhong replied calmly, taking the wine glass. “It’s him who needs me for things in Shenzhen, not me who needs him.”

Ning Fei clinked glasses with him and took another sip. “Then isn’t there still Ji Yuechi? Is he that useless?”

“Ha, he’s just as conceited as Ji Zhenwei, really thinking that all his achievements are due to his outstanding abilities,” Duan Yunhong scoffed, also taking a sip. “But after Lin Shengjia takes over that information company, his level might not be any worse than Ji Zhenwei’s. They might be about the same.”

“The strong have their own ways of fighting, and the weak have their own competition. It won’t be my business in the future. Whatever they want to do,” Ning Fei said, putting his hand on the man’s knee and chuckling. “But if Lin Shengjia’s background is exposed, Ji Zhenwei will definitely see that information company as his own as well. You can withstand Ji Zhenwei’s snatching, but can Lin Shengjia? He wouldn’t think that getting the company’s shares and me leaving is the end, right? That’s just going from easy mode to hard mode, hahaha!”

“I’ve seen many transmigrators who were being chased for debts. After successfully paying off the debt, once the debt collector leaves, the transmigrator goes downhill. A good hand of cards, whether quickly or slowly, mostly ends up a mess,” Duan Yunhong commented. “You debt collectors, you say you’re the transmigrator’s greatest help, but you’re actually doing everything for them, making the transmigrator dependent and unable to walk independently. You say those so-called ‘families’ are always paving the way and helping their own, but aren’t you debt collectors the biggest external support for the transmigrator? You only forcibly pull them up, but you don’t care what’s most suitable for the transmigrator.”

“Because the one who entrusted us is the original owner, the creditor, not the transmigrator, the debtor,” Ning Fei said, looking up at him. “What happens to the transmigrator in the end, what does that have to do with us? He agreed to the original owner’s exchange conditions, so he should achieve that. What happens after that, isn’t that something he should have considered before accepting the conditions?”

“So, transmigrators are just your work props,” Duan Yunhong leaned slightly, making eye contact with Ning Fei. “If you like them, you play with them more, occasionally giving them a treat. If you don’t like them, you just keep pushing them to pay off their debts, cold and ruthless, right?”

“No,” Ning Fei looked into his eyes, his expression unchanged, and replied calmly, “Regardless of whether I like them or not, I will only collect debts.”

“You would like a transmigrator?”

“I would, I like obedient people,” Ning Fei smiled lightly. “But at the same time, regardless of whether I like them or not, I will give them a little treat when appropriate. After all, a combination of carrots and sticks is needed to motivate those who originally wanted to renege on their debts.”

“Liking obedient people,” this was both cruel and scummy, but Ning Fei said it so naturally.

Duan Yunhong commented: “Your ‘like’ is very different from that of Chonglin.”

“Comparing me to him?” Ning Fei turned back to continue drinking his wine. “Then should I compare you to Xie Baolin?”

Duan Yunhong didn’t even bother to answer that question.

Ning Fei swallowed the red wine in his mouth and turned his head to look at him again. “What, are you planning to adopt ‘loving support’ for the transmigrator in the next world, to win them over and keep them away from me?”

Duan Yunhong didn’t answer and asked, “What do you think?”

“I don’t guess,” Ning Fei raised his eyebrows slightly. “You think the ‘like’ I said is fake. You bandits are the ones who really don’t care about the transmigrator. You’re all fooling the transmigrator around, we at least leave a good situation for the transmigrator, but what you leave behind is a hellish abyss. You say you’re giving the transmigrator a more suitable choice, but no matter what beautiful dreams you create for them, in the end, you’re still going to extract most of their luck, aren’t you?”

“So, the better you treat someone, the more vigilant they should be. ‘Luck bandits’ are honey-tongued and dagger-hearted guys. Once you start to trust and rely on them, it’s the first step into a trap.”

“Such big words. Is this the education from your management bureau? So rigid?” Duan Yunhong reached out and took Ning Fei’s wine glass. “Then, since you’re a top student with consistently good performance, you should lead by example and not be too dependent on Wanderers. I told someone to cancel the wine you said you wanted to order yesterday.”

“…” Ning Fei was silent for two seconds, then suddenly stood up, supporting himself on the sofa.

Duan Yunhong watched his movements, thinking that he was going to say threats like “You promised to assist me, so give me back the location marker.” But Ning Fei looked down at him, looming over him, and said quietly, “I’m going to poke a hole in the water bed right now.”

The water bed, a gift that Ning Fei asked for on New Year’s Eve, was something that Duan Yunhong got delivered on the first day of the Lunar New Year by using his “money power”. It was now filled with water and properly set up in one of the apartment’s bedrooms. It could be seen that Duan Yunhong was quite fond of those little gimmicks.

But after all, it was a water bed. If a hole was really poked in it, “flooding the large flat” during the New Year would be a major disaster. Ning Fei’s threat was, undeniably, quite clever.

The argumentative spirit Duan Yunhong had been preparing immediately relaxed. He didn’t know why, but he suddenly wanted to laugh, so he laughed. He also reached out and wrapped his arms around Ning Fei’s waist, burying his face in Ning Fei’s waist. Ning Fei tugged at his hair. “President Duan, is it necessary? Just laugh if you want to, are you afraid of being seen? Or are you so afraid that your water bed will leak?”

Duan Yunhong still didn’t answer. Ning Fei stood quietly for a while, then suddenly felt that the man’s mouth and hands were being dishonest, so the hand that was tugging at the man’s hair pulled harder, with a teasing tone: “Duan Yunhong, let go. You go cancel your red wine, I’m going to poke the water bed.”

Duan Yunhong blurted out: “Poke something else.”

Ning Fei was amused. “‘Poke something else’… You want to poke me!”

Duan Yunhong finally released him slightly and stood up as well. He then threw the person over his shoulder.

“Yeah, I want to protect your red wine, and also change something else to ‘leak’.”