Chapter 27#

Dr. Tan loved his husband very much, and he also loved his studies very much.

The day after he had clarified everything with Zhang Xingchuan, he was already thinking about his graduation plans again. He absolutely had to go back to school to revise his “conditionally passed” thesis.

The difference was that when he came, he rode his beloved aerodynamic bicycle, but to return to school, Zhang Xingchuan had to drive him.

If you ask why, of course, it’s because… Tan Xiao simply loved riding in Zhang Xingchuan’s car.

“When you have a day off, I’ll take you to my place to play,” Tan Xiao said, rubbing his eyes in the passenger seat, not having slept well. “I should also go back and tidy up my home. I’ll have to move out of the dorm after graduation.”

He could now completely drop all pretense in front of Zhang Xingchuan and openly reveal everything about himself.

First of all, he also had a house, and it was very close to Zhang Xingchuan’s home, just two streets away, with Olympic Forest Park sandwiched in between. They could visit each other on a run any day.

Regarding this situation, Zhang Xingchuan didn’t want to say anything, not a single word.

Tan Xiao glanced at his expression and deliberately said, “Are you unhappy? How about the young master gives you the house?”

Zhang Xingchuan wasn’t unhappy; he was just resigned to reality. He took up the young master’s joke, “Okay, give it to me. Remember to pay the deed tax for me too.”

Tan Xiao laughed and said, “You’ll take it if I give it to you?”

“Why wouldn’t I take it?” Zhang Xingchuan said. “What else? Give it all to me. I want to thoroughly fleece the old money.”

Tan Xiao was completely indifferent to this and said, “Alright, I’ll give you everything I have. It was originally something I fleeced, so I’ll give it to you, and then I’ll just go fleece some more.”

He had lived and studied independently in China since he was underage. His family trust provided him with a monthly living allowance, and if he needed to purchase essential real estate, he could apply for additional funds.

No matter how intelligent and independent he was, he was still a child then. His family sent two housekeepers for him: one to manage his daily life, and one to manage his money. They were also responsible for escorting him back to Europe during winter and summer holidays to ensure he received a proper aristocratic re-education.

Upon reaching adulthood, “Julian Doria” was officially listed on the list of heirs. Although he didn’t have shares or voting rights in the shipping company, he received annual dividends.

Tan Xiao also sent those two housekeepers back to Europe. They had crossed oceans to work for him alone and must have missed home very much.

Besides the reason of his increasing age, a large part of it relied on the halo of Tsinghua University. By getting into a prestigious university on his own, he regained his freedom.

Zhang Xingchuan listened to him recount these things with melancholy last night, and his reaction was very genuine.

“Young master,” the CEO said, even more melancholic than the young master, “you have offended me.”

Who didn’t get into Tsinghua by their own efforts?

Zhang Xingchuan, Computer Science Class of ‘08, had been working for so many years after graduation, and even now he was so busy that he barely had time for a relationship. What was the result? His liquid assets weren’t even as much as the young master’s annual dividend.

The CEO sincerely hoped that the young master would mention money less often in the future, so they could be a pair of pure lovers untainted by the smell of money.

The young master, on the other hand, thought, “Isn’t this when you were constantly transferring money to me? What a hypocritical husband.”

At the school gate, Tan Xiao still wanted to tease the CEO, saying, “Don’t be unhappy. I’ll get you a supplementary card later.”

This line was originally Zhang Xingchuan’s. He hadn’t said it yet, thinking he would say it coolly sooner or later. Now, he had missed the opportunity.

He unfastened his seatbelt and got out of the car, walked around the front to the passenger side, opened the car door, and made a gentlemanly gesture for the young master to get out. His words, however, were quite venomous: “Hurry up and go. Do you see that streetlamp? If you don’t leave now, I’m going to hang you on it.”

Tan Xiao burst out laughing, leaped out of the car, and gave Zhang Xingchuan a bear hug. Mindful that they were at the school gate, he only hugged him briefly before letting go.

The two stood by the car, looking at each other.

Both really wanted to kiss.

Couldn’t the passing students just close their eyes at the same time? They were all studying at Tsinghua; how could they be so unobservant?

Tan Xiao said, “Then will you pick me up tonight? I still want to talk to you today.”

Zhang Xingchuan said, “Just talk?”

Tan Xiao thought for a moment and said, “After we finish talking, you can ‘favor’ me again.”

“Then I’m not coming,” Zhang Xingchuan suppressed a laugh and said, “I need to work hard overtime. Don’t try to corrupt me with your bourgeois extravagance.”

“Really not coming?” Tan Xiao said. “Then I’ll just drive my ‘Phoenix-Dragon Spring Grace’ car to pick you up.”

In the afternoon, Tan Xiao went back to his own home and contacted the 4S shop to request maintenance for his “Phoenix-Dragon”… no, his Bentley, which had been gathering dust in the garage for two months.

While waiting for someone to come and drive the car away, he received a call from Zhou Ruofei.

Tan Xiao and Zhou Ruofei didn’t contact each other very often, and they met even less frequently.

Since meeting once last winter, Zhou Ruofei hadn’t been to China again for half a year. He was now helping with family business, which counted as having a job. With the time difference between China and the US, and Tan Xiao having a healthy routine and rarely staying up late, busy with serious matters during the day, it was difficult for their schedules to align.

Of course, their years of emotional foundation were still there; it hadn’t grown distant due to less contact.

Zhou Ruofei was very angry on the phone and said, “What’s wrong with you? I commented on your Moments, and it’s been over ten hours. Why haven’t you replied to me?”

Tan Xiao immediately reacted: “What? I didn’t reply to you? I thought I had replied!”

Sometimes, replying mentally is mistaken for actually replying, which is a common occurrence.

But Tan Xiao wasn’t like that this time; he was genuinely too busy and forgot. Yesterday’s Moments post was something he casually posted while waiting for Zhang Xingchuan at his house, sharing the good news of his successful defense with friends. Not long after posting, he fell asleep while waiting.

In the evening, he saw Zhou Ruofei’s comment, which said: “Well done, I’ll buy you an island right away.”

He had just glanced at it when Zhang Xingchuan took his phone and threw it aside. The two were engrossed in each other endlessly, having showered several times. He even wanted to tell Zhang Xingchuan stories from his childhood, trying to gain sympathy by “selling his misery,” but of course, he didn’t get much, and repeatedly made Zhang Xingchuan, this lower-middle-class man, retreat into himself in anger.

In other words, he was too busy with his husband to bother replying to this idle older brother from the Zhou family.

“Things were a bit hectic yesterday,” Tan Xiao, who was good at sweet-talking, said, “Brother, don’t be so hard on me.”

Zhou Ruofei had a delicate, neutral appearance but a very straightforward personality. He was quick to anger and quick to forgive. He was annoyed that his comment hadn’t been replied to, but now that he was being placated, he wasn’t angry anymore.

“It’s fine, I called to talk about the island,” he said. “There’s an island in Panama that’s quite suitable, though a bit small, only about two hundred acres. The advantage is that it hasn’t been developed before, so you can do whatever you want with it. There’s also a slightly larger one in New Zealand, with better scenery and environment than the Panama one. The previous owner left a resort hotel on it. Which one do you like? Or we can buy both, one for you and one for me. You pick first.”

He had said he would give Tan Xiao an island as a graduation gift, and he genuinely meant it. He had already done market research, and everything was ready, just waiting for Tan Xiao to pass his defense.

During the selection process, he also took a liking to one and wanted to buy an island to play with.

Tan Xiao was somewhat touched. He listened carefully, thought cautiously, and then said, “If I had to choose between these two, Panama’s is better. If you want to buy it, buy that one. New Zealand has very strict regulations on foreign investment, so they might only give you usage rights to the island’s resources.”

At the end, he changed his tone: “But don’t give me whichever one you buy. Keep it for yourself to play with. I don’t want it. I really don’t have the time to manage an island.”

“You’re about to graduate with your doctorate,” Zhou Ruofei said. “What else do you have to be busy with? Aren’t you coming to help your sister? Your sister’s biggest hope is for you to come to North America. She’s based in Europe, and you can help her handle things over here. Siblings working together can cut through anything.”

Tan Xiao asked strangely, “Did she tell you that?”

Zhou Ruofei said, “No need for her to say it. She just blinks, and I know what flavor of coffee she wants.”

Tan Xiao didn’t believe at all that Tan Yun wanted him to go to North America. He suspected that Zhou Ruofei wanted to trick him into going to North America, using him as a pretext to talk to Tan Yun, which was the real motive.

Tan Xiao said, “Then you’re really amazing.”

Zhou Ruofei, unaware that his schemes had been exposed, continued to talk nonsense: “When you come to North America, you can live at my place, and I’ll take you out to play every day.”

“No,” Tan Xiao said. “I’m definitely staying in China. I’m not going anywhere else.”

Zhou Ruofei could only say, “Alright then. You have branches in Shanghai and Guangzhou, and China’s shipping market is crucial globally. Being there might help your sister even more.”

He was truly devoted to Tan Yun, circling back again and again, ultimately unable to avoid trying to get Tan Xiao to be his sister’s right-hand man.

Tan Xiao had no desire to work for the Doria family. He only wanted to fleece the Doria family, not join them as one of their sheep.

He was also facing a somewhat serious problem now: what should he do after graduation? This was something worth thinking about carefully.

Tan Xiao said, “I might not even go to Shanghai or Guangzhou. I don’t want to work for my family.”

Zhou Ruofei said, “If you’re not helping the family, why are you getting a Ph.D. in finance?”

“I just like to study,” Tan Xiao said.

“Then what are you going to do staying in China?” Zhou Ruofei asked. “You could continue your advanced studies in a developed country.”

Tan Xiao thought for a moment and decided to give him a hint: “I have a partner. I’m staying in China to be in a relationship.”

“…”

Zhou Ruofei shrieked sharply on the other end: “How old are you? You’re in a relationship? Don’t fall in love too early, I’m telling you!”

“I’m twenty-four,” Tan Xiao said with a wry smile. “Big brother, how old did you think I was?”

Zhou Ruofei had genuinely forgotten that Tan Xiao was already twenty-four and about to graduate with his doctorate. Subconsciously, he had always seen Tan Xiao as a child.

“What kind of person is it?” Zhou Ruofei asked worriedly. “A classmate? A Chinese girl? Or a foreigner?”

Tan Xiao said, “A Chinese person. You’ve met him.”

Zhou Ruofei couldn’t think of any girl he had met who could have developed a romantic relationship with Tan Xiao and thought for a long time in great confusion.

“Who is it?” Zhou Ruofei asked. “What does their family do?”

“He runs a travel agency,” Tan Xiao said, barely suppressing a laugh. “It’s that person you once described as not looking like a CEO, but more like a civil servant.”

Zhou Ruofei’s sharp shriek this time turned into a dolphin-like sound.

“Tan Xiao!” Zhou Ruofei roared, “If your sister finds out, you’re finished!”

Tan Xiao held the phone away from his ear. After Zhou Ruofei finished yelling, he said, “I want her to know. You’ll tell her, right?”

He also hoped Tan Yun would find out about this through other channels beforehand.

Tan Yun was very busy and usually didn’t have much time to chat idly with Zhou Ruofei. But if Zhou Ruofei went to tell her that her brother Tan Xiao was dating a man, Tan Yun would probably spare ten minutes to hear about it.

Tan Xiao was confident that Zhou Ruofei wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret for long.

Zhou Ruofei had indeed already decided to tell.

Moreover, he genuinely felt that this matter couldn’t be kept from Tan Yun. If Tan Yun knew earlier, it could be resolved earlier. It was better than Tan Xiao getting deeply entangled and suffering all the emotional wounds, only to regret it later, which would be too unworthy.

“Little brother, before I tell,” Zhou Ruofei said seriously, “think clearly for yourself. You’re not gay, don’t be too playful. If you’ve already played, then let it be over. If your sister gets angry, be careful she doesn’t pack you and that CEO together and throw you into the sea.”

Tan Xiao thought, “This is China. The only things that can be casually thrown into the sea are shared bicycles.”

“I’m not playing; I’m truly in love,” Tan Xiao said. “I love my CEO, just like you love my sister.”

Zhou Ruofei said, “Like a yo-yo! My love for Sister Yun is pure. Don’t be fooled by some old ‘glass’ (slang for gay man).”

Who? Zhang Xingchuan?

Tan Xiao almost laughed out loud at this description, but then felt awkward and immediately corrected him for the CEO: “No one is ‘glass.’ He’s also straight, and I was the one who fell for him first.”

Actually, Tan Xiao wasn’t sure who fell for whom first. He unilaterally believed that he was the one who first developed feelings and subtly released some pheromones towards Zhang Xingchuan, thus “hooking” the CEO.

Zhou Ruofei didn’t believe him and said, “He’s either after your youth and beauty, or your family’s money. You look so smart, how can you be such a foolish child?”

“Well, I am young and beautiful, and I have a very graceful figure. Anyone who gets together with me would be after that,” Tan Xiao said.

Zhou Ruofei hated that he wasn’t on a video call but a phone call. Tan Xiao couldn’t see his eye-roll, which had already rolled all the way to the islands of Panama.

Tan Xiao added, “When we got together, he still thought I was a poor student. He doesn’t love money; he’s a very pure person.”

Zhou Ruofei had never met anyone who didn’t love money in his life, not a single one. He was born the only son of a semiconductor foundry giant, and he loved money very much. How could anyone not love money?

He also hadn’t expected his academic younger brother, whom he had watched grow up, to turn into such an easily deceived love-struck person.

It was all the Tan family’s genes. How come Tan Yun wasn’t so easily fooled?

“I’m applying for a flight route right now,” Zhou Ruofei said. “I’ll be in Beijing soon to slap you silly. You just wait. If I don’t slap you awake, I don’t deserve to be your sister’s simp.”

In the evening, Tan Xiao drove his well-maintained car to Wen Cheng to pick up his husband.

While looking for a parking spot, he encountered Deputy CEO Sun.

Deputy CEO Sun had just arrived at the parking lot and was walking along the side to get to his car when he suddenly saw an unfamiliar, beautiful Bentley slowly driving by. He couldn’t help but stop to admire it, wondering which company in the industrial park and which executive owned this car. Its beautiful color, sleek lines, and heavenly engine sound were truly magnificent.

The car stopped beside him.

Deputy CEO Sun thought expectantly, “Could it be an executive I know who just got a new car?”

The car window rolled down, revealing Tan Xiao’s face in the driver’s seat.

Deputy CEO Sun’s face instantly fell.

Tan Xiao said, “Hello, CEO Sun.”

Deputy CEO Sun said, “Hello.”

“Are you about to leave?” Tan Xiao asked. “I can’t find an empty parking space.”

Deputy CEO Sun turned to go to his car, then stopped, walked over, and asked Tan Xiao through the car window, “Did the CEO lend you this car too?”

Tan Xiao said, “This is my own car.”

“The CEO actually bought you this car?” Deputy CEO Sun asked in astonishment.

He couldn’t believe it; Zhang Xingchuan’s own car wasn’t this luxurious. His gaze at Tan Xiao was also filled with disappointment, as if Tan Xiao was a promising iron that had failed to become steel.

When Tan Xiao worked under him, he also liked Tan Xiao very much and was very optimistic about Tan Xiao’s future development. Such a talented young man, why did he have to take this shortcut? Driving a Bentley at such a young age, what price did he pay behind the scenes? Was it really worth it? It was heartbreaking, truly heartbreaking.

Tan Xiao: “…”

He suddenly understood. How Zhou Ruofei and the Dorias viewed his relationship with Zhang Xingchuan was exactly how Deputy CEO Sun and most people at Wen Cheng viewed Zhang Xingchuan’s relationship with him.

“CEO Sun,” Tan Xiao said, “this is really my own car. I bought it myself.”

Deputy CEO Sun asked, “Where did you get the money?”

Tan Xiao was a bit embarrassed and said, “Born with it.”