Ye Yang was dazed for a moment, then suddenly realized: “Wait a minute—what does this have to do with you not going home?”
“You’re a big internet celebrity now. You’re so conspicuous. YCG is going to come after you any minute.”
Little Thirteen pouted. “I haven’t done anything wrong. And besides, you’re here to get me, aren’t you?”
“Also, even though the new home is more suitable for survival, I still don’t really want to leave our original habitat.”
Granted, the northern slope of Gaotu Mountain was covered in toxic yushi and gaoba plants, but it was still the place where he had lived for centuries. Plus, the Shusi birds there were delicious.
Ye Yang didn’t want to banter with him. “Alright. Now that your crisis is over, YCG won’t keep turning a blind eye to you staying here anymore. Go back if you don’t have any reason to stay.”
“…If I leave, what about my owner? Where am I supposed to find her another ordinary otter as smart as me?” Little Thirteen finally told the truth.
He spilled all his inner conflicts in one breath. “Ye Ye, you don’t understand how important this account is to my owner. She may seem rich and carefree, but she’s having a really hard time too.”
President Chen was the child of wealthy parents, an only daughter. Plenty of people had their eyes on her, hoping to take everything her family had—men looking to marry into wealth, vultures circling a lone heir… President Chen didn’t want to pin all her hopes on a man. She had to prove she could run the company on her own. That was why she had invited Fu Ye to her home in the first place.
“She’s under a lot of pressure managing the company now. A lot of the old-timers use their seniority to bully her and hold her back, just to make her cave and marry some younger male relative of theirs. That way, they can take over the company legitimately!”
Ye Yang was shocked. “You understand all this?” This was a far cry from the Little Thirteen he remembered.
“Sigh, my owner doesn’t have any real friends. There are a lot of things she can only tell me… Wait, I’m not finished. Ye Ye, you’ll never guess—the only reason my owner was able to contact a CEO on Fu Ye’s level was because of me!”
“Fu Ye actually enjoys watching my videos. So I absolutely can’t leave. Otherwise, what would happen to my owner? She signed some kind of agreement with the other executives—I don’t really understand it. All I know is that Yangxie Group’s big contract can’t fall through, or my owner will have no choice but to step down from the company.”
There was more to it than Ye Yang had realized. He rubbed his chin, unsure what to advise.
Seeing Ye Yang lost in thought, Little Thirteen climbed onto his shoulder and patted his hair. “Alright, Ye Ye, don’t worry about it. It’s already great that you think of me and want to help. I’ll figure something out myself. Don’t worry—you trust my abilities, don’t you?”
Ye Yang sighed helplessly. Little Thirteen might often seem unreliable, but that was only on the surface. In reality, he was very dependable. When his clan faced a crisis this time, he had stepped up to shoulder the burden.
“Alright. If you need anything from me, just ask anytime.”
·
One day after school, Ye Yang was suddenly stopped on his way back to the dorm.
He looked at the middle-aged man who introduced himself as Fu Ye’s secretary, finding it hard to believe. “President Fu Ye is inviting me?”
“That’s right, Mr. Ye. President Fu—who is also the Lord of Siyang City—invites you to come for a chat. It’s mainly about your friend Little Thirteen.”
Ye Yang exclaimed, “Lord of Siyang City?!” In an instant, the things he hadn’t been able to piece together clicked into place. But immediately after, even more questions surfaced.
Although this sudden invitation was rather impolite, the other party was Fu Ye, whom everyone spoke highly of. It was probably safe, right?
Driven by strong curiosity, Ye Yang got into the car with the middle-aged man.
…
At the top-floor garden of Yangxie Group’s Dongzhou branch in the city center, soft lights glowed. A small table was set in the middle of the garden, accompanied by two comfortable single-seater sofas.
Fu Ye was sitting on one of them.
Everyone who met Fu Ye for the first time found it hard to believe that this young man with a few streaks of red-dyed hair, looking like he belonged in a boy band, was actually the CEO of Yangxie Group.
Ye Yang had met him before, but he still couldn’t help but marvel—Fu Ye was really handsome!
He had an intensely striking kind of good looks. The incredibly expensive suit, his long legs casually crossed, his sharply defined features, the slightly contemptuous look in his eyes—yet it never came across as rude. It only felt like he was meant to be that way, that he had every right to look down on everyone else.
Seeing Ye Yang, Fu Ye didn’t stand up. He just smiled slightly. “You’re here. Have a seat.”
It was Ye Yang’s first time in such an upscale place. The delicate tableware, napkins, and wine glasses, along with several waitstaff standing at attention with their eyes straight ahead—all of it made him a little uneasy.
Hesitantly sitting down on the sofa, he asked directly, “President Fu, what do you want to see me about?”
Fu Ye didn’t care for empty formalities either. He was very pleased that Ye Yang got straight to the point. Smiling, he said, “You probably already know—I’m the Lord of Siyang City.”
Ye Yang nodded.
Fu Ye smiled again but didn’t continue that topic. Instead, he said, “The reason I asked you to come today is mainly that I feel a connection with you. I’d like to be friends.”
He raised his wine glass. Even such a simple gesture carried an undeniable pressure.
Ye Yang hesitated for a moment. Thinking of Little Thirteen and the homeland he missed, he still raised his glass and took a sip of the red wine.
But immediately after, he pressed on: “The gentleman earlier said you called me here because of my friend. Can you be more specific?”
“So impatient, little one.” Fu Ye looked amused. “Alright.”
He waved his hand. The others gave slight bows and filed out, leaving only Ye Yang and Fu Ye in the garden.
Seeing Ye Yang’s body tense up again, Fu Ye truly looked helpless. “You’re so nervous, you’re making me sound like some kind of villain. Don’t worry. The situation with the otter clan really was just a misunderstanding.”
“I sent people to negotiate, but it seems the otters didn’t quite understand what we meant. As for what the raccoon and marten clans did—I genuinely didn’t know. The moment I found out, I took care of it.”
“Siyang City has always been reasonable. We don’t have some sinister plot. We simply saw the value of the resources on Gaotu Mountain and wanted to develop them to make money.”
Fu Ye smiled self-deprecatingly. “Everything I do is legal—whether in the demon realm or the human world. I’m just a businessman, after all. You can see that, can’t you?”
Ye Yang was a little skeptical. “Really? Then why specifically call me here?”
“Didn’t I just say? I want to be friends with you.” Fu Ye suddenly stood up and ran his hand through his hair in frustration. “Pretending to be mature and steady all the time is driving me crazy.”
He took a deep breath and spoke rapidly: “The first time I saw you, I wanted to get to know you as soon as I sensed your power. But then something urgent came up and I had to leave. The next time I ran into you, you happened to be friends with that little otter—isn’t that fate? But that day wasn’t a good time either. The Dongzhou branch had just been established and I was swamped with work. So I’ve put this off until now.”
Ye Yang was stunned by his sudden outburst of talkativeness. Was this really the powerful, arrogant Lord Fu Ye that Shen Xiuyun and everyone else had described?
As if reading Ye Yang’s mind, Fu Ye looked a little self-conscious. He coughed and said, “I’m a businessman. I can’t be like I was in the demon realm, just fighting and killing all the time. I can’t say whatever comes to mind. After so long, I’ve almost forgotten what I’m really like.”
That made much more sense. So this was typical demon behavior—acting on instinct, making friends on a whim, not overthinking things. This was how demons should be.
Ye Yang suddenly understood. Everything clicked.
After his cathartic outburst, Fu Ye completely abandoned his usual composure. He turned around, planted both hands on the armrests of Ye Yang’s sofa, and stared intently at him. “So? Will you be my friend or not?”
Ye Yang instinctively leaned back, creating some distance. “I… I suppose so.”
“You don’t sound enthusiastic. Forget it if you’re not willing. I, Fu Ye, never force anyone!”
So Lord Fu Ye’s true personality was like this? He was just like Little Thirteen!
It felt so familiar and so warm that Ye Yang completely relaxed. “It’s not that I’m unwilling. I’d be more than happy to be friends with you.”
“Don’t be so formal. I’ll call you Ye Ye. How about you call me Brother Fu?”
“…Brother Fu.” Something about the title felt off in terms of seniority, but whatever—demons didn’t stand on ceremony.
Once they’d broken the ice, Fu Ye had food and dessert brought out and chatted with Ye Yang about many things. Fu Ye bragged about his rise to success, and Ye Yang listened in awe.
He also talked about how, the higher he climbed, the more isolated he became. He’d never had many friends or family to begin with, and now there were even fewer people he could truly talk to.
“The day I first saw you, I felt a strange sense of familiarity. But when I tried to focus on it, it was gone.”
Ye Yang’s eyes widened in shock. “So you felt it too? I did as well!” He had always thought it was just his imagination, but it turned out he wasn’t the only one who felt that way!
Fu Ye admitted honestly, “To be frank, that’s part of why I want to be friends with you. I feel like I can’t afford to miss out on you.”
That sounded a bit ambiguous. But since it was Ye Yang, he just remarked that they truly were fated. Having let go of most of his wariness toward Fu Ye, and knowing that Fu Ye had no family and had been alone since childhood, Ye Yang found himself sharing his own experiences of coming to Dongzhou alone.
He talked about all the silly mistakes he’d made, and how lucky he was to have met so many kind people and received so much help, allowing him to grow.
As they grew more animated, they even sparred a few times.
Fu Ye praised Ye Yang’s talent highly, saying his future was limitless. When he heard that Ye Yang planned to formally join YCG after graduation, Fu Ye scoffed. “You’d be better off working for me. Siyang City in the demon realm, Yangxie Group in the human world—you could go anywhere you want.”
Ye Yang looked a little embarrassed. “I still owe YCG a lot of money.”
“How much could it be? I’ll pay it off for you!”
Ye Yang quickly waved his hands. No way. If he were willing to let others pay off his debts, Shen Ming would have done it long ago. Ye Yang had always believed that as long as he was capable of repaying it himself, he shouldn’t bother his friends. That was his principle.
Fu Ye patted him on the shoulder. “Alright, since you insist. But I’ll always have a place for you.”
After seeing Ye Yang off, Fu Ye’s broad smile gradually faded.
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