Early in the morning, amidst the relentless ringing of the alarm clock, Tao Fengche finally groggily woke up from his sleep.

He reached out to turn off the alarm but found he couldn’t extend his arm—he had lost sensation in his right hand.

Realizing this, he almost instantly became fully awake. He used his left hand to turn off the alarm and then tentatively retrieved his phone from his right hand, using his left hand to rub the palm of his right hand.

His stiff right hand was continuously aching and tingling, causing Tao Fengche to frown involuntarily.

After maintaining the same position for a long time, his fingers had become completely unresponsive.

But it was nobody’s fault but his own—He had brought this upon himself.

Last night, he had fallen asleep while looking at Sui Yuesheng’s moments on social media.

As he had expected, Sui Yuesheng wasn’t the type to frequently update his moments. There were so few posts that he could count them on two hands, and it didn’t take long to scroll to the bottom.

While scrolling, Tao Fengche even came across a graduation photo of Sui Yuesheng from university.

In the photo, Sui Yuesheng had cut his long curls that used to reach his chest. The length was about the same as now, but his face was caught between adolescence and young adulthood, appearing somewhat naive. He wore a graduation robe with a smile on his face, looking quite happy.

Tao Fengche reached out and touched Sui Yuesheng’s face in the photo.

The most recent post was from the evening of May 25th, with no caption, just a solitary photo of a crescent moon taken from an airplane window.

… So his brother returned to the country on that day, Tao Fengche thought.

After that, there were no new updates. Whether it was taking over the Tao family business, managing the Tao family, or reuniting with Tao Fengche… Sui Yuesheng hadn’t posted anything, not even a song.

With just a few posts, Tao Fengche reached the end in under three minutes, but he stared blankly for a long time, eventually losing consciousness and slipping into a dark dream.

Another inexplicable thing had been added to his list.

Using his left hand, Tao Fengche slowly massaged his right hand, easing the blocked blood vessels. Once the sensation returned, he got out of bed and went to wash up in the bathroom.

The Tao family’s production bases were spread across Kyushu. In Jingpu City alone, there were three factories. Starting from the Tao family’s ancestral home, the closest one could be reached in an hour and a half by car, while the farthest required a plane ride.

The researcher Jing Ning sent to accompany Tao Fengche was a middle-aged alpha in his forties. He added Tao Fengche on social media yesterday afternoon, introduced himself as Wang, the director of the Synthetic Drugs Research Lab at the institute.

He addressed Tao Fengche as “Young Master Tao” and told him to call him by his first name.

When Tao Fengche first saw this message, his hairs stood on end.

According to the Tao family’s tradition, there was a deep respect for knowledgeable individuals. If he had really followed Director Wang’s instructions, his old man would have surely appeared in a dream to scold him.

Tao Fengche quickly refused, saying that since he was now studying at the institute, he was just an ordinary researcher, and suggested calling him “Xiao Tao” while addressing Wang as Director Wang. Unable to argue, Director Wang agreed.

He discussed with Tao Fengche that they should visit the production bases from the nearest to the farthest, and Tao Fengche was happy with this arrangement. They agreed to depart from their respective homes and meet in front of the base.

In Tao Fengche’s imagination, inspecting the production base meant observing the specific operational processes on the production line and checking a few types of drugs. However, when he followed Director Wang into the factory, he found things were quite different from what he had imagined.

Accompanied by the base manager, Director Wang took Tao Fengche around, from the production process to the equipment operation, and then to the storage locations for raw materials and semi-finished products, and even visited the laboratory to see the spectrometer.

Tao Fengche was impressed and developed a new respect for this unfamiliar alpha.

Director Wang worked efficiently. Even though he was so thorough, by the end of the day, they had nearly finished inspecting one production base.

On Tuesday evening, as they were about to part ways, Director Wang asked Tao Fengche for his ID number, saying he needed to book a flight for the next morning to the other end of Jingpu. Tao Fengche nodded and promptly sent it over.

He didn’t think much of it, noting it in his memo to remind Xu Song to reimburse Director Wang for the ticket money by the end of the month, and then forgot about it.

On Wednesday morning, Tao Fengche got up early and, after freshening up, went downstairs for breakfast. He felt a bit excited—since the Tao family had their own private planes, and not just one, he rarely had the chance to fly on a commercial airline.

When Xu Song saw Tao Fengche in the dining room, he was a bit surprised. “Young Master, why are you up so early? You could have waited to have breakfast on the plane.”

Tao Fengche was confused. “Because… airplane food doesn’t taste good?”

He had flown commercially only a few times, and even in first class, the food was just average and couldn’t compare to what the family’s chefs made. Since this ticket was booked by Director Wang, he hadn’t asked what class it was in. It was only a bit over an hour of flying time; he figured he could endure it.

Xu Song was confused: “The chef on the private plane hasn’t changed. Didn’t you praise it as delicious before? If you don’t like it, I can arrange for a new batch from the ancestral home.”

Tao Fengche: “…?”

After a moment of misunderstanding, he finally realized they were talking about different things—he was referring to commercial airline meals, while Xu Song was talking about the family’s private plane.

“Uncle Xu, you misunderstood. It has nothing to do with the family’s jet,.” Tao Fengche took a tissue to wipe his mouth. “This time, I’m flying commercially with Director Wang, and the food on those planes is quite bad.”

He stood up, ready to leave, but Xu Song stepped forward and blocked his way, looking troubled.

“But the flight route has already been approved, and the Maybach you usually use has also arrived at the airport on the other side, waiting. Commercial airline is inconvenient for bringing bodyguards or guns. Why don’t you discuss with Director Wang about taking the private plane from home instead? It would be more comfortable than commercial airline.”

Tao Fengche frowned and was about to refuse.

He generally didn’t like having bodyguards so close, and although the situation was tense, it was just a visit to his own production base; there was no need to be overly cautious.

Besides, weren’t the previous two bases just fine?

With that in mind, he couldn’t agree.

Xu Song: “……”

Of course, the previous two bases were fine because there had been undercover bodyguards skilled in surveillance following you all along, though you didn’t know it.

But even if he had ten times the courage, he wouldn’t dare to tell Tao Fengche that. He could only vaguely say, “This time is a bit different…”

“You know the current situation. With Young Master Sui still abroad, if something happens to you now, let alone what the Tao family would say, when I die, how could I face Master Tao?”

“You know, after that incident, the family’s assets are no longer completely secure.”

Xu Song sighed deeply.

Tao Fengche’s mind flickered; he had the refusal on his lips, but suddenly, he just couldn’t say it.

Xu Song was now at an age where he had accepted his fate. After Tao Zhixing passed away, he had noticeably aged. White hair could be dyed, but aging was irreversible. The wrinkles on Xu Song’s face were no longer hidden.

Tao Fengche sighed and muttered softly, “But this is too much…”

He was already prepared to give in.

However, the anxious Xu Song mistakenly took his words as a sign of refusal. His mind raced, and suddenly he had a bright idea: “How about I call Young Master Sui and ask for his opinion?”

Xu Song was confident. If there was anyone more concerned about Tao Fengche’s safety than him, aside from Zhao Jiayang, it would be Sui Yuesheng.

If Sui Yuesheng knew about this, not only would he wholeheartedly support his decision, but he would probably double the number of bodyguards. Besides, Tao Fengche always listened to what Sui Yuesheng said.

With hidden anticipation, he stared at Tao Fengche, waiting for him to nod.

Tao Fengche: “……”

I’m already prepared to agree! Why do you still need to call Sui Yuesheng to report me?!

He inwardly complained and quickly yielded, “……Let’s do it this way then.”

Xu Song, satisfied, went to contact the driver to bring the other car over to pick them up. Although Tao Fengche was reluctant, he gritted his teeth and sent a message to Director Wang, notifying him that they might need to change their travel method.

[Director Wang]: [Do you want to switch to high-speed rail? I’m almost at the airport, and it might be too late to turn back now. How about we meet directly there?]

[Tao Fengche]: [No need to switch to high-speed rail. Director, please wait at the airport. I’ll be there soon.]

[Director Wang]: [Sorry, Xiao Tao, I don’t quite understand what you mean.]

[Tao Fengche]: [Once you arrive at the airport, send me a message, and I’ll arrange someone to pick you up. We’ll take the private plane later.]

Director Wang was silent for a while before finally replying with “Okay.”

The Tao family research institute offered generous treatment, and as a senior engineer, Director Wang had a decent salary and significant savings over the years. Among his peers, he was one of the higher earners, comfortably in the middle class.

But today, Director Wang, who had devoted his life to scientific research, finally experienced the power of wealth.

···

The Tao family’s private plane was different from the small helicopters seen by the public. It was a model commonly used for passenger planes, equipped with beds, a shower, an entertainment room, a massage room, and even a movie screening room—everything one could need, like a mobile palace in the sky.

After boarding the plane, Tao Fengche noticed the shock hidden in Director Wang’s eyes. Concerned that he might feel uncomfortable with him around, he found an excuse to say he needed to rest first and let Director Wang be, then went straight into his room.

The flight attendants had already prepared the bed for the night. After instructing them to cater to all of Director Wang’s needs, Tao Fengche lay down on the bed and sighed deeply.

He had eaten well at home and had no interest in the abundant breakfast on the plane. He lay in bed, closing his eyes to rest. Once the plane was flying smoothly, he finally realized something was off.

—Wait a minute, I didn’t do anything, and I had a legitimate reason. Why did Xu Song’s mention of calling Sui Yuesheng suddenly throw me into a state of confusion and make me follow his lead so easily?