Chapter 28#
Zhang Xingchuan sent the young master to school in the morning and then returned to the company to perform his duties as a high-level corporate drone.
Everything was as usual today, the only difference being that he would occasionally drift off into a daze.
Zhang Xingchuan was born in 1990, having fully experienced the main economic boom. In his youth, stories of domineering CEOs falling in love with Cinderella filled the entertainment market. Back then, unlike now, stories with the same core had to be wrapped in layers of disguise to conform to new-era values: money couldn’t be worshipped, power couldn’t be admired. Ultimately, both the stories and the protagonists lost their true pursuit and expression.
But the true Cinderella stories of that era had nothing to do with materialism or power worship. A protagonist symbolizing truth, goodness, and beauty should receive the best partner, live the best life, and have the most perfectly happy existence.
This needed no disguise. In a period of vigorous development, this was the most unadorned expectation and truest desire of the public. It wasn’t entirely a Mary Sue-esque fantasy; in essence, it was all a yearning for a beautiful life, a zeitgeist that even ordinary people like you and I could have a brilliant life.
Zhang Xingchuan’s imagination of life and love was always influenced by this spirit.
The grand wave of historical opportunities, coupled with some personal effort, allowed him to grow into a nominal domineering CEO. He also hoped to become another protagonist who could bring happiness to the main character and fulfill their dreams.
He had been waiting for the arrival of his destined protagonist.
Fortunately, even though the general environment had changed a bit, he still, at the best age for a domineering CEO, waited for the person he was meant to wait for.
He thought it should be like the stories he had read and heard in his youth: he would give Tan Xiao the best love, the best life, and help the already perfect Tan Xiao to have an even more perfect life.
How was reality completely different from what he had planned?
His first love was with the young master of a top global wealthy family. For a small entrepreneur whose entire net worth was in the A9 range, it was simply too dreamy.
Fortunately, Zhang Xingchuan confirmed that Tan Xiao and he genuinely loved each other. This was the top priority; everything else was secondary or tertiary.
So, moving to the secondary point, Tan Xiao was about to graduate. Would he be required by his family to take a position at the shipping company? The core operations of this shipping company in mainland China were based in Shanghai, but they also had various branches in important ports like Guangzhou and Ningbo. If Tan Xiao went to these places, it meant they would soon face a long-distance relationship.
Zhang Xingchuan was still very confident because the fact was obvious: the young master was captivated by him, and he had the young master completely smitten.
Neither of them could leave the other now, and Tan Xiao didn’t like working, so the probability of him leaving Zhang Xingchuan for the south was infinitely close to zero.
Thirdly, Zhang Xingchuan still had to adjust his own mindset.
His partner being a poor student versus his partner being a young master from a wealthy family couldn’t possibly have no impact on his mindset. This also forced him to confront a fact that made him feel ashamed: he was, of course, 100% sincere with Tan Xiao, and had always doted on him, wishing he could give him his heart and soul.
But also because of male instinct and ingrained thinking, he had subconsciously begun to regard Tan Xiao as his possession.
Should this be? Of course, it shouldn’t. No vibrant individual belongs to anyone else; Tan Xiao should belong to himself.
He was just Zhang Xingchuan’s lover, not Zhang Xingchuan’s property.
Tan Xiao had a brief encounter with Deputy CEO Sun, then deliberately lingered in the garage for a while, not wanting to run into more colleagues. He came up relatively late, and most of the CEO’s office staff had already left.
Tan Xiao walked with his hands behind his back, in a good mood, and bounced a little. He was tall, like a giant rabbit. Zhang Xingchuan watched through the glass partition as the giant rabbit hopped and hopped to his office door.
“Are you done with work?” Tan Xiao didn’t knock, just pushed the door open and said, “I’m here to pick you up. Let’s go.”
Zhang Xingchuan stood up, only taking his phone, and was led away by the “child.”
Tan Xiao’s beautiful car naturally caught Zhang Xingchuan’s attention. Tan Xiao had a half-smile, and Zhang Xingchuan pretended not to be awkward. The idea of buying his partner a million-yuan “cheap car” was something that had never happened.
The car was indeed very beautiful, and its temperament matched Tan Xiao perfectly—luxurious yet light.
On the way back, Tan Xiao mentioned that Zhou Ruofei would be coming to China in the next two days and introduced Zhou Ruofei’s relationship with him: they had known each other since childhood, a true “big brother next door.”
Zhang Xingchuan had met Zhou Ruofei and already knew that the initial misunderstanding was just that, a misunderstanding. However, he had some doubts about Zhou Ruofei’s sexual orientation; Young Master Zhou looked too “un-straight.”
“Then you misjudged,” Tan Xiao explained. “He’s been in love with my sister for many years.”
Zhou Ruofei was two years younger than Zhang Xingchuan, had never been in a relationship, and had never been engaged. He had been infatuated with Tan Yun since middle school, but unfortunately, Tan Yun had no such feelings for him.
Zhang Xingchuan asked, “What day is his flight? Should we arrange to pick him up?”
Tan Xiao said, “No need to worry about him. He has a private jet. He’ll probably arrive by the day after tomorrow at the latest.”
Zhang Xingchuan sat silently in the passenger seat of the luxury car, like the night itself.
Tan Xiao said, “If you want to criticize, just do it. This decadent capitalist lifestyle should have died out long ago. I don’t mind; I often criticize them myself when I’m bored.”
Zhang Xingchuan thought that their family probably traveled this way normally and asked, “Do you also have a private jet in China?”
Tan Xiao said, “I don’t. When I used to go back to Europe, I would contact them in advance, and they would arrange to pick me up.”
“…” Zhang Xingchuan said, “With so many people in your family, can the planes keep up? You must need several, and are there enough pilots?”
Tan Xiao thought for a moment. He really didn’t know these details and said, “I’m not sure about the last two years, but before, there were probably two medium-sized business jet formations, and they were indeed always very busy.”
Zhang Xingchuan couldn’t criticize at all; this was already beyond his scope of criticism.
That night, the two fooled around again at home. Having done too much the previous night, and adhering to the principle of not “draining the pond to catch all the fish,” they didn’t go all the way today.
Zhang Xingchuan was washing his hands at the sink. Tan Xiao was lying lazily on the bed, at an angle where he could see his husband’s back. He thought that if Zhang Xingchuan were to star in a tokusatsu show, he would look incredibly sexy in a tight suit; the lines from his back to his calves were exquisitely beautiful.
Zhang Xingchuan looked at himself and thought he was just okay; he preferred Tan Xiao’s body more.
Tan Xiao’s bone structure still carried some paternal genes: long limbs, especially his legs. His calves were slender like a beautiful boy from a manga, and he was a thin-muscled university student with fair skin, completely snow-white and smooth. When they were playing, Zhang Xingchuan often felt like he was entangled with a mythical elf. Many times when he wanted to do something, he couldn’t get a grip at first.
Zhang Xingchuan returned from the bathroom and hugged Tan Xiao, ready to sleep.
A minute later, Tan Xiao said, “How about we still do it? Aren’t you uncomfortable?”
Zhang Xingchuan said, “Not doing it again. Don’t want to break you.”
Indeed, Tan Xiao couldn’t even ride a bicycle.
“Has your fake brother-in-law boarded his flight yet?” Zhang Xingchuan asked.
“You’re sleeping with me,” Tan Xiao said, “why are you still thinking about others?”
Zhang Xingchuan said, “Consider it unasked.”
He was indeed thinking about it. The fake brother-in-law and Tan Xiao had a very good relationship. It was unknown how he would break up the “lovebirds” once he arrived; it was a troublesome matter.
Tan Xiao said, “He’s easy to deal with, a very reasonable person, and genuinely good to me. Don’t worry, a few sweet words from me will fix it.”
Zhang Xingchuan thought, “He’s good to you, so he’s easy to coax. When we weren’t dating, he probably coaxed me like that too. And it’s very likely he’s doing it now.”
“He also said today that he’s giving me a graduation gift,” Tan Xiao said. “He’s been preparing for half a year.”
Zhang Xingchuan asked, “What is he giving you?”
Tan Xiao said, “He’s giving me an island in the Pacific.”
“…” Zhang Xingchuan said, “That’s nothing special. I can build an island for you in Animal Crossing.”
Tan Xiao burrowed into his arms, laughing, and indeed started coaxing him again, saying, “They’re all playing with useless things. I’m really not interested. It’s not as fun as playing with you.”
Zhang Xingchuan asked, “Did you play those things with them when you were little?”
Tan Xiao said, “No. I had to go to class, learn this and that. Occasionally I’d go out and play with them, but I didn’t like them. We weren’t the same kind of people.”
Zhang Xingchuan asked, “Then what kind of people do you like?”
Tan Xiao said, “I like China. Back then, the happiest time of the year was when school was about to start, and I could come back. I really missed my teachers and classmates.”
Zhang Xingchuan hesitated for a moment and said, “Did you never like any female classmates?”
This question required an immediate answer. Tan Xiao quickly said, “No, never.”
Zhang Xingchuan said, “Not a specific person, but no type that made your heart flutter?”
Tan Xiao couldn’t answer this. He had always been vague about such things.
He asked Zhang Xingchuan, “What kind of older sister do you like?”
Zhang Xingchuan wasn’t much clearer than him, otherwise, he wouldn’t have been single until now.
“I’ve thought about what kind of partner I might look for,” Zhang Xingchuan said. “They should be tall, love to laugh, and like to talk to me.”
Tan Xiao said, “You’re describing me.”
Zhang Xingchuan thought about it and said, “No, that’s not it. I like someone who’s a bit clumsy with words, with lower emotional intelligence, who only knows how to say nice things to make people happy. This won’t do.”
Tan Xiao suddenly thought of something and said, laughing, “Then your ideal type… isn’t that… isn’t that Deputy CEO Sun?”
! Zhang Xingchuan almost choked. “Don’t talk nonsense! How am I supposed to work with him after this?”
Tan Xiao rolled around in his arms, teasing him. He held Tan Xiao down, seemingly a forceful kiss, but it was completely mutual affection.
“You really can’t handle this, can you?” Tan Xiao felt he was being overly dramatic now. “Can you even sleep?”
Zhang Xingchuan’s face was flushed; he was close to losing control.
Tan Xiao made a suggestion. Zhang Xingchuan was a bit shocked.
Tan Xiao pushed him to the headboard, making him sit up, and then put his suggestion into practice.
Without exaggeration, Zhang Xingchuan couldn’t describe how good it felt.
He had tried it with Tan Xiao once before, and Tan Xiao had reacted intensely, almost ending before it began, and he had half-fainted, taking a long time to recover. Later, Zhang Xingchuan hadn’t dared to stimulate him like that again.
It was indeed very stimulating.
Tan Xiao went to the restroom. When he returned, Zhang Xingchuan was still in a daze, his chest rising and falling slightly, incredibly sexy.
Tan Xiao, having made his husband like this, felt a great sense of accomplishment. He happily leaped onto the bed and hugged Zhang Xingchuan, asking, “Do you like it? Do you like it, do you like it?”
Zhang Xingchuan didn’t speak. Tan Xiao leaned in to kiss him again. His mouth, freshly rinsed, was cool, but Zhang Xingchuan’s lips and tongue were hot. They kissed very intensely, and Tan Xiao felt like his mouth was being [bleeped] again.
Two days later, at the gate of Tsinghua University.
Zhou Ruofei was an incredibly beautiful man, standing out prominently at the school gate. The crowd thought he was a popular internet celebrity who came to take photos, but this celebrity hadn’t made an appointment and insisted on entering the campus, drawing even more attention from students and tourists.
Tan Xiao could finally ride his bike. He sped to the school gate on his beloved bike, apologizing profusely to the people around him, and took the “uncultured beauty” away.