Chapter 20#

There are no direct flights from Beijing to Shangri-La; one needs to transfer in Kunming.

Former intern Tan Xiao, leveraging his connection with the CEO, joined Wen Cheng’s luxurious team-building trip.

Wen Cheng’s middle and senior management, participating in the event, departed from various locations, arranging their own itineraries, and were to gather at the Shangri-La activity site on time.

Zhang Xingchuan brought Tan Xiao, accompanied by his special assistant Jiaxin and administrative secretary Xiao Feng, forming the CEO & CEO’s office team.

During the latter half of their journey, transferring in Kunming, they encountered other Wen Cheng personnel on the same flight to Shangri-La: an executive Tan Xiao didn’t know, and his two accompanying assistants.

The two groups met in the VIP lounge of Kunming Changshui Airport.

Tan Xiao was telling Zhang Xingchuan and Jiaxin a collection of funny stories about his past blunders while rushing for flights. Zhang Xingchuan and Jiaxin both found them highly amusing.

Secretary Feng, sitting nearby, looked puzzled, not understanding what was so funny. If those things happened to him, he would only feel embarrassed and would wear a mask the next time he went to that airport, lest he be recognized by the staff. But since the CEO was laughing, he could only force a smile. No, why was the CEO’s sense of humor so low? He laughed at everything Tan Xiao said. Secretary Feng’s fake smile made his apple cheeks ache.

Zhang Xingchuan saw an acquaintance enter from outside, composed his expression, and stood up to greet him. The person came over, they shook hands, and automatically moved to a booth to converse.

The accompanying staff consciously found other seats nearby.

“That’s CEO Fu,” Jiaxin quietly introduced to Tan Xiao, “He’s also a co-founder of Wen Cheng.”

With that, Tan Xiao knew who it was. He had learned about the corporate culture and Wen Cheng’s journey when he interned there.

Wen Cheng had three co-founders; one had left early due to personal philosophy. Now, only Zhang Xingchuan and CEO Fu remained at Wen Cheng. CEO Fu had been based in Hong Kong and Guangdong for several years, so Tan Xiao had never met him.

Tan Xiao looked towards the booth several times, a bit curious about this CFO Fu of Wen Cheng.

Soon, Zhang Xingchuan noticed his peeking, cast an inquiring glance, and even thought about getting up to ask what was wrong.

Tan Xiao quickly waved his hand, indicating that everything was fine, urging him to talk business with CEO Fu.

During the first half of the flight from Beijing, Jiaxin fell asleep and missed the in-flight meal. Now, waiting for the second half of the journey, and with the CEO talking business with someone else, she actively started eating the lounge’s buffet.

Secretary Feng sat on the other side, opening his laptop, far away from Tan Xiao, not giving the talkative young man another chance to strike up a conversation.

However, Secretary Feng was very sensitive to people’s auras. Today at Daxing Airport, as soon as he saw Tan Xiao and the CEO appear together, also heading to Yunnan, he vaguely sensed that their relationship had taken a step closer than before.

Now, he observed the eye contact between Tan Xiao and the CEO—could it be?

Could it be that Tan Xiao would directly join the CEO’s office after graduating with his doctorate, rising quickly to become the CEO’s trusted aide?

The announcement reminded them to board. All Wen Cheng personnel on board were in business class, but it was a narrow-body aircraft.

When Jiaxin checked in and selected seats, she had anticipated the CEO’s wishes and arranged for Tan Xiao and Zhang Xingchuan to sit in the first row, in adjacent seats. She and Secretary Feng sat separately in the back rows, just as they had for the first leg of the journey.

After boarding, Tan Xiao quietly asked Zhang Xingchuan beside him, “Should I ask CEO Fu to switch seats?”

He saw that Zhang Xingchuan and CEO Fu hadn’t finished their conversation at the airport, so perhaps they could continue talking in the air.

Zhang Xingchuan was taken aback and said, “Why do you want to play with Secretary Feng again? Give him a break.”

“?” Tan Xiao leaned over the seat to look, and indeed, next to CEO Fu was a nervous-looking Secretary Feng.

CEO Fu and Tan Xiao made eye contact. Tan Xiao smiled politely, and CEO Fu merely nodded his chin at him.

In the end, no seats were exchanged.

They had departed Beijing very early, and Tan Xiao was sleepy then, sleeping for most of the flight. Now, in the latter half of the journey, it was already afternoon. He had even tried local small-bean coffee at Kunming Airport and was now wide awake, full of energy. He really wanted to talk to Zhang Xingchuan but felt awkward breaking the heavy silence in the cabin, so he held back. Fortunately, the flight was only an hour and a half.

He rarely traveled domestically and seldom flew on narrow-body planes. Now bored, he looked around with a bit of curiosity, observing the small, old, and narrow so-called business class. He adjusted his seat, found it uncomfortable, and adjusted it back. Finally, he picked up the advertising book from the seat pocket to flip through.

To Zhang Xingchuan, this looked like Tan Xiao, who usually flew economy class when traveling for fun, was unfamiliar with business class amenities. After all, Tan Xiao was still a poor student.

The CEO was quite wealthy. When Tan Xiao was still his “little brother,” he was happy to “spend money” on him. Now that Tan Xiao was going to be his “wife,” he wanted to “spend even more.”

In this position, the Wen Cheng people in the back rows couldn’t see their little gestures. Zhang Xingchuan reached out and took Tan Xiao’s hand.

Tan Xiao was looking at the in-flight advertisement, turned to him, and asked with his eyes, “What’s wrong?”

Zhang Xingchuan was now a tender-hearted, domineering CEO, thinking, “Just wait, see how I’ll spoil you to the heavens.”

Tan Xiao, of course, couldn’t hear the CEO’s outrageous thoughts. Through his expression, he interpreted that the CEO probably had some boring sweet nothings he wanted to say.

Coincidentally, Tan Xiao also wanted to say something.

He propped his elbow on the armrest between them and leaned close to Zhang Xingchuan’s ear, wanting to whisper something. But Zhang Xingchuan turned and quickly kissed him on the mouth.

Tan Xiao was completely unprepared and quickly looked towards the front curtain, afraid of being seen by the flight attendant. Fortunately, they had reached cruising altitude, and the front curtain was drawn, temporarily separating them from the flight attendant. The other two passengers in the first row were asleep.

Zhang Xingchuan whispered, “What did you want to tell me?”

Tan Xiao had originally intended to say a teasing romantic line, but being teased back, nothing he said could possibly overshadow the sudden kiss. So he had nothing to say. He held Zhang Xingchuan’s hand, and they playfully tickled each other’s palms.

Upon arrival at Diqing Shangri-La Airport, the airport was very close to their destination. Two business vans came to pick up their respective groups.

Wen Cheng’s new brand of wild luxury resort was both the team-building location and the subject of inspection for the middle and senior management.

It was almost dark, and the temperature difference between day and night here was extreme. Tan Xiao was only wearing a thin hoodie when he got off the plane, but he consciously took out his softshell jacket from his backpack and put it on.

There was a period when he loved traveling around. While trekking in the Andes in Peru, he got wet and caught a cold, and also suffered from altitude sickness, almost ending up in the hospital. Therefore, when visiting plateaus again, he was very careful, not running or jumping, paying attention to keeping warm, and not being talkative, quietly staying by Zhang Xingchuan’s side.

Zhang Xingchuan also had to prevent this; altitude sickness would be too disruptive.

He briefly exchanged a few words with the reception staff and then suggested that everyone should return to their rooms to rest. They had left in the morning, and with the transfer time, they had been on the road all day.

This was the first wild luxury resort launched by Wen Cheng. The village was built against the mountains, consisting of two-story detached houses. There were only dozens of guest rooms, not facing each other, each offering different views of snow-capped mountains, meadows, or distant lakes. The配套餐飲 and resort entertainment were very complete, positioning it as a true paradise for middle-class and above tourists.

Tan Xiao was once an intern at Wen Cheng. He had heard about this project during his internship: a high-end wild luxury positioning, with basic rooms averaging over five thousand yuan on weekdays.

His thoughts on this were: “Not bad, it doesn’t exploit ordinary people. This wave is aimed at us, the rich.”

More than twenty middle and senior executives came from various places to participate in Wen Cheng’s empowerment team-building, plus their accompanying staff, almost filling the entire resort. Before the trial operation in the upcoming peak season of May and June, they would experience their own new product ahead of outsiders.

Rooms were tight, and a former intern who came along to “scrounge food and fun” naturally didn’t have a dedicated room assigned to him.

So he could only reluctantly squeeze in with the CEO, who was staying in the most luxurious double-view courtyard suite in the entire resort.

Setting up a high-end resort on a plateau, the rooms were naturally equipped with diffused oxygen supply smart devices, and the underfloor heating was turned on in advance.

Tan Xiao hadn’t experienced altitude sickness yet, but his experience on the Altiplano plateau made him a bit nervous psychologically, leading to physical tension. Entering the scientifically oxygenated room, which was also very warm, he relaxed, and the discomfort immediately disappeared, making him feel comfortable.

After Zhang Xingchuan came in, he received a work call and motioned for Tan Xiao to entertain himself, as he needed to discuss something important first.

Tan Xiao looked around the courtyard and the house by himself. The overall design of the resort was more beautiful than he had expected. The combination of ancient house design and the surrounding wild nature, probably also incorporating cultural elements of local ethnic minorities. Unfortunately, it was dark now, and apart from the resort’s decorative lights, the front and back landscapes were not very clear.

He looked around the courtyard and came back, took off his jacket, and stood in front of Zhang Xingchuan, who was on the phone, playing charades: “Do you want hot water?”

Zhang Xingchuan nodded.

Tan Xiao then went to find the kettle and started boiling water.

While waiting for the water to boil, he received a message from Jiaxin.

Jiaxin felt a bit bad for not being able to arrange a separate room for Tan Xiao, so she messaged him with a suggestion: “Do you want to squeeze in with Xiao Feng tonight? He has a twin room, and his roommate won’t arrive until tomorrow.”

Although the CEO’s suite was a supreme-grade suite, it only had one 2.2-meter king-size bed.

In Jiaxin’s kind imagination, Tan Xiao would either sleep on the edge of the CEO’s bed or on the sofa.

Tan Xiao replied: “Let’s give Secretary Feng a break. If he had to share a room with me, he’d rather sleep outdoors.”

The first time he met Secretary Feng, Jiaxin happened to be away on a business trip, so she had no idea how the two of them developed their Tom and Jerry-like antagonistic relationship.

Zhang Xingchuan finished his call and asked, “Who are you chatting with?”

Tan Xiao said, “Sister Jiaxin. She told me to sleep with Secretary Feng, saying he has a twin room.”

Zhang Xingchuan laughed, “So, are you going?”

“Brother, stop pretending,” Tan Xiao said, giving him an all-knowing look, “Didn’t you bring me here just to sleep with me?”

Although it was true, Zhang Xingchuan was uncharacteristically embarrassed. Was it really that obvious that he had brought someone to play with ulterior motives?

Tan Xiao also felt awkward saying it out loud, as if it shouldn’t have been said. If he hadn’t said it, there would still be a veil of modesty. He said, “Then I’ll just pretend I don’t know.”

Zhang Xingchuan chuckled, “How are you going to pretend that?”

“Then I’ll pretend to be shocked,” Tan Xiao acted it out on the spot, saying, “How could you? I thought of you as my brother, and you actually want to… want to…”

He couldn’t think of a better word. He rarely swore, didn’t listen to or tell dirty jokes, clearly understood what “that” was, and knew which verbs in English, German, and Spanish to use to describe such an act. But those verbs followed by “himself” felt really strange.

Zhang Xingchuan quickly understood his logic, was driven purely insane by him, and came over to kiss him.

Tan Xiao quickly refused, saying, “No, no, no. No kissing today. Every time you kiss me, I get oxygen deprived. What if I suddenly get altitude sickness with a ’thump,’ then nothing we want to do later will happen.”

Zhang Xingchuan had no choice but to give up, only kissing his cheek.

Tan Xiao felt a little anticipation for what was about to happen. He held back from saying it out loud for now.

He also noticed that Zhang Xingchuan liked his pure college student side. Of course, he didn’t feel particularly pure himself, but if his CEO boyfriend liked it, showing it more to make him happy wasn’t a bad thing.

After resting for a while, they went to dinner. Dinner was the set menu that would be offered during the trial operation, allowing the CEO and others to taste it first.

The food was also much more delicious than Tan Xiao had expected. The ingredients were scientifically paired, incorporating local characteristics, tasting good, and offering a special freshness.

Tan Xiao usually didn’t like red meat, but here the yak meat was made with his favorite curry flavor, so he ate several pieces.

“Don’t overeat, you’ll feel uncomfortable,” Zhang Xingchuan reminded him, then gave him his dessert, saying, “This oat tsampa is delicious. Have two pieces. Carbohydrates can reduce the burden of oxygen deficiency.”

It wasn’t the baked whole grains found in urban bakeries, but an improved version of a traditional Tibetan snack. Roasted oat flour mixed with local sweet butter tea, and the chef probably also used butter, making it very fragrant.

Jiaxin and Secretary Feng hadn’t come to dinner yet; one was resting, the other was mentally preparing to go out.

CEO Fu and his entourage, however, had arrived and were sitting on the other side of the restaurant. Their table was diagonally behind Zhang Xingchuan, so Zhang Xingchuan couldn’t see them, but CEO Fu happened to be facing Tan Xiao from a distance.

CEO Fu was expressionless. Tan Xiao didn’t put on his signature smile either.

CEO Fu didn’t seem to like Tan Xiao much. Tan Xiao had sensed this a little at Kunming Airport.

Originally, Tan Xiao was somewhat interested in CEO Fu, given that he was Zhang Xingchuan’s long-time business partner. But realizing the other party disliked him, he couldn’t be bothered with him anymore.

That kind of dislike was definitely different from Secretary Feng’s “dislike.” Secretary Feng equally disliked all “E” types except for the CEO. Tan Xiao actually quite liked Secretary Feng; if Secretary Feng hadn’t avoided him, he would have really wanted to play with him.

As for why he disliked him after only one meeting? Tan Xiao didn’t know yet. Maybe it was just a pure incompatibility.

He had grown up basically loved by everyone. If he occasionally met one or two people who didn’t like him, he could accept that people have their own special preferences. Anyway, he wouldn’t doubt himself because of it.

Besides, CEO Fu wasn’t his superior, just a colleague of his boyfriend.

He pretended not to see the man and buried his head in his food. Oat tsampa, delicious.