Chapter 33#

The melancholy that came with graduation season rose intensely in Tan Xiao’s heart but left fairly quickly. Every stage of life brings new companions. He sincerely blessed the friends he’d traveled alongside, hoping they’d all have bright futures ahead.

The neighboring postdoctoral program didn’t require applications until September. His advisor had already discussed it, and recommenders were arranged. Since Tan Xiao had worked exceptionally hard over the past few years with substantial academic achievements, he had no qualms about starting his summer vacation, casually revising his research proposal for the postdoctoral project in his spare time.

Meanwhile, he was waiting for the Doria family to send someone to tear the lovers apart. But he waited and waited, and there was no movement from Europe whatsoever.

He actually didn’t know what method his family would use if they wanted him to break up. In his imagination, probably someone would suddenly appear and write Zhang Xingchuan a hundred-billion-yuan check, ordering him to leave their young master—a rustic method to deal with his rustic husband.

There hadn’t been similar incidents in recent family history. The young people had obediently handed over their marriage autonomy. Some remained single for years without suitable marriage alliances, yet couldn’t just get married and have children carelessly.

Tan Xiao’s biological father, Tan Minhong, and his first wife—Tan Yun’s biological mother—was the only daughter of a luxury cruise ship builder from Italy. Supposedly, they’d only met once before the wedding. After that lady unfortunately passed away, Tan Minhong thought he’d completed his marital duty and started acting recklessly.

Tan Xiao had already decided he’d be willing to have a falling out with his family for Zhang Xingchuan. But he truly had no precedent to reference.

His sister, Tan Yun, rarely initiated contact with him. The last time they communicated was when he’d sent Easter wishes. Tan Yun had simply replied: Thanks.

Zhou Ruofei must have gone and reported everything to Tan Yun after returning. There’s no way he could have kept quiet about it.

But Tan Yun showed no reaction whatsoever. This confused Tan Xiao somewhat. He knew it wouldn’t just disappear, only that he didn’t know how it would end. Since nothing had happened yet, he just needed to wait and improvise when the time came.

Mid-June arrived. Zhang Xingchuan had to go on a business trip to Shenzhen for a few days and asked if Tan Xiao wanted to come along.

Tan Xiao didn’t need to attend school anymore and hadn’t sought internships. He’d been getting bored staying in Beijing and didn’t want to be separated from Zhang Xingchuan for several days. He eagerly agreed to be the CEO’s temporary assistant.

The accompanying personnel on this trip was Secretary Feng. Jiaxin had recently transferred away from the President’s Office and taken on a position as deputy director of the corporate travel affairs department. A lateral move naturally meant a promotion.

Tan Xiao would occasionally come to the company after work to wait for Zhang Xingchuan to finish and then they’d have dinner together.

As a result, Secretary Feng had seen him several times and the two young people had become quite familiar. Secretary Feng no longer hid whenever he saw Tan Xiao, though he usually wouldn’t seek him out either.

On the day of departure, the CEO brought his temporary assistant plus the administrative secretary—three people together waiting at Capital Airport.

Zhang Xingchuan was replying to work messages while Secretary Feng handled electronic documents needed for the trip. Tan Xiao was a bit bored. He took out some mint candies, popped one in his own mouth, and wanted to share with Zhang Xingchuan. Since Zhang Xingchuan’s hands were typing, he tilted his face and opened his mouth. Tan Xiao fed the candy right into it.

Secretary Feng’s heart seized in panic. It was too late to play dumb now.

Tan Xiao turned around and wanted to give Secretary Feng a mint candy too. Secretary Feng resignedly took one. Was this a mint candy? No, this was a reward from the assistant.

Now that true summer had arrived, Secretary Feng also needed to see clients. He’d dressed up slightly, even wearing a brand-new crisp business shirt.

Tan Xiao unexpectedly discovered that this seemingly tech-savvy introvert had an extremely nice physique.

“Secretary Feng, do you usually lift weights?” Tan Xiao looked at Secretary Feng’s baby face, then his eyes traveled downward. He gasped in astonishment. “I mean… I mean…”

What was this? Little Feng had a baby face but an impressive body.

Secretary Feng’s forehead began to sweat from embarrassment. Could you extroverts please stop having episodes at random times?

Besides, Secretary Feng wasn’t completely unresponsive to things; he was just slow on certain matters. By now, if he still couldn’t tell that Tan Xiao was the CEO’s other half, he’d truly be an idiot.

He’d been scanned by the CEO’s wife’s gaze and absolutely didn’t dare chime in.

Zhang Xingchuan had just finished his call and joined in the game, staring expressionlessly at Secretary Feng.

“I,” Secretary Feng said nervously, standing up, “I’m going to the bathroom.”

When he returned from the bathroom, Secretary Feng had added a loose sun-protective jacket over his clothes, hiding most of his nice physique.

Tan Xiao: “…”

Zhang Xingchuan: “…”

Zhang Xingchuan said, “Look how scared you made little Feng.”

Tan Xiao said, “You’re the one who scared little Feng.”

Little Feng thought to himself: You two just shut up. A pair of evil gay men.

Landing in Shenzhen, June in Shenzhen wasn’t much hotter than Beijing, but the humidity was high and ultraviolet radiation was intense.

Secretary Feng, as administrative secretary, was the CEO’s capable assistant in handling business matters.

Tan Xiao played the role of a small assistant on this trip.

He interned at enterprises every year—positions related to his major, mostly financial risk control internships, though he’d also done basic operations. He’d just never been a traveling assistant for a CEO before, and it was genuinely quite a unique experience.

Zhang Xingchuan didn’t differ much between home and work. He was naturally warm and stable, consistent in his character. He treated clients and his own people about the same.

On this trip, he maintained his sociable style that made everyone feel like spring breezes.

He was just excessively indulgent to his temporary small assistant. When there was work, the assistant did it. When there wasn’t work… everyone should understand what that meant.

A few days later, after work was finished, Zhang Xingchuan arranged a private dinner with President Fu. President Fu was in Hong Kong and would bring his wife over.

The hotel where Zhang Xingchuan’s group was staying had a Michelin-starred restaurant on the upper floor with excellent ratings and reviews. They’d tried it these past few days—the view of the bay from the floor-to-ceiling windows was absolutely spectacular, and the food and service were both excellent.

Tan Xiao naturally had to go. He also asked Secretary Feng if he wanted to join them for a free meal.

Secretary Feng repeatedly refused. Now that work was done, he could lie in his room playing on his phone, or hit the hotel gym to exercise—either option was a million times more comfortable than accompanying two CEOs for dinner. Besides, this was a private meeting between two CEOs with their spouses. He had enough sense to know better.

Since their parting in Yunnan, this was Tan Xiao and President Fu’s first meeting. Fu’s wife was a gracious and elegant noblewoman. Since they were dining in the evening and the couple planned to stay in Shenzhen for their private time, they hadn’t brought their two children.

The moment Fu’s wife saw Tan Xiao, she warmly came over and tried to take his hand.

This startled Tan Xiao quite a bit. It was impolite to dodge, but even more impolite to actually be held. “Sister, no, no, please don’t,” he said repeatedly.

“Sister-in-law,” Zhang Xingchuan also raised his hand to block, saying, “He’s not that style. Don’t do that.”

President Fu whispered an explanation to his wife—Tan Xiao wasn’t the type of young gay man she’d imagined.

His wife felt a bit embarrassed. She’d only heard him describe a beautiful student, and had imagined Tan Xiao as a “sister.”

President Fu had already been given spoilers by Zhang Xingchuan about Tan Xiao’s family background and felt somewhat embarrassed about his previous rudeness.

Given that he and Zhang Xingchuan were good friends, Tan Xiao didn’t take it seriously. Besides, under those circumstances, without knowing the inside story, having such assumptions wasn’t completely unreasonable.

In any case, the meal went pleasantly, except for Fu’s wife constantly trying to chat with Tan Xiao. “How do you take care of your skin? Your hair quality is so good. You’re such a fashionable kid. I wish my children would turn out like you—good grades, tall, and handsome.”

Tan Xiao smiled and answered gracefully to everything, internally screaming: Help! I’ll never tease Secretary Feng again!

President Fu and Zhang Xingchuan chatted about power struggles among the company’s upper management and discussed some business developments. Tan Xiao was familiar with Wenjing’s structure and understood what he heard, but he only listened without interjecting.

Fu’s wife got drowsy listening to the business talk and asked if Tan Xiao wanted to accompany her for some shopping. Since Tan Xiao had great fashion sense, he could help her pick out clothes and bags.

There was no way Tan Xiao wanted to go. Zhang Xingchuan quickly dissuaded Mrs. Fu: “He never goes shopping.”

Tan Xiao quickly nodded in agreement. “Actually, if I need anything, the brands send me clothes to choose from. I really don’t go shopping.”

President Fu and his wife: “…”

“Exactly,” Zhang Xingchuan, actually hearing this for the first time, had to pretend he was well-informed. “That’s just how it is—he never shops.”

President Fu told his wife, “Go find some girlfriends to play with instead.”

Fu’s wife said goodbye and went off to have fun.

But Zhang Xingchuan thought about it and told Tan Xiao, “Why don’t you go play for a bit? We need to chat some more, and you’ve been listening this whole time—it must be boring.”

Tan Xiao guessed that President Fu probably didn’t want to discuss matters involving the company’s core business in front of him.

The young master thought to himself: Who cares about your Wenjing’s trivial matters?

But he’d always been good about listening to Zhang Xingchuan in public. “Then I’ll go find Secretary Feng to play with,” he said, standing up to leave.

Zhang Xingchuan was still worried and called after him, “Watch your behavior.”

As for what kind of behavior to watch out for, both the CEO and the young master had their own understanding.

Secretary Feng was exercising at the hotel gym. Tan Xiao watched for a while with his hands clasped behind his back, then tried using some nearby equipment himself. He rarely used machines and found them boring—he much preferred more interesting sports like running, playing ball, and swimming.

Quite a few Wenjing employees were fitness enthusiasts. The company building had a floor of employee gym space, over four hundred square meters. The workplace cattle and horses would work out their muscles after tiring themselves moving bricks, then return to moving bricks again once their muscles were pumped.

Top-tier workhorse Zhang Xingchuan normally went about three to four times a week.

Tan Xiao was unfamiliar with the machines. Secretary Feng rarely saw him so clumsy and took the initiative to speak. “The CEO never taught you? He’s actually a butterfly machine expert. Every time he works out, right after warming up, he does a cool round of it.”

The butterfly machine was the main weapon for chest training. Tan Xiao thought to himself: Wow, my husband really works hard to keep me attracted.

Thinking about it that way, he had even less desire to use the machines. Zhang Xingchuan loved his current state of lean muscle, and if he actually developed muscle definition, it might not be as aesthetically pleasing to Zhang Xingchuan.

He sat nearby sipping a drink, watching Secretary Feng exercise.

Secretary Feng couldn’t continue working out being watched like that. He wordlessly stopped and also grabbed some water. He seemed to remember something and looked at Tan Xiao.

Tan Xiao made a gesture: “Go ahead.”

Secretary Feng had to admit that Assistant Tan was truly excellent at reading people.

“When you’re back,” Secretary Feng said, “would you want to work at the company for a few months? Since Jiaxin left, the President’s Office has been headless. I can only handle my own matters and don’t know how to coordinate interpersonal relationships.”

Tan Xiao hadn’t expected such a formal request. “But I’m applying for a postdoctoral position.”

Secretary Feng clearly had done his research beforehand. “Qingda, right? Applications in September, earliest entry by late October. It’s only June now.”

Tan Xiao thought about it. He’d done nothing these past two weeks—just played during the day and waited for Zhang Xingchuan to pick him up in the evening, playing more. It had gotten boring even though he couldn’t bear to be separated from Zhang Xingchuan since they were in the honeymoon stage. Normally, he should have found an internship at a big tech company, or used this large block of free time to travel to polar regions—something he’d wanted to do for ages.

Interning at Wenjing again was actually a good arrangement.

“But,” Tan Xiao said, “wouldn’t you all think it’s weird with the two of us having an office romance?”

Secretary Feng said, “What’s weird about it? The CEO isn’t the kind of person lacking in boundaries.”

“…” Tan Xiao said, “You really admire him.”

Secretary Feng said, “I really do. I only stayed at Wenjing because of my admiration for the CEO. Originally, I’d only planned to use Wenjing as a springboard to go to another company.”

That was pretty honest. Tan Xiao said, “Just don’t have designs on him then.”

Secretary Feng’s admiration for the CEO was purely innocent. Hearing this, he immediately changed expression and said, “You…”

Tan Xiao quickly said, “Just checking. I really like you. I don’t want to fight with you.”

As they were about to leave the gym, the corridor outside was quite long. Tan Xiao got bored walking and unconsciously reached out to drape his arm over Secretary Feng’s shoulder.

“Stop,” Secretary Feng sensed the movement and immediately dodged, saying oddly, “Do you want the CEO to put me in his bad books?”

“He’s not even here,” Tan Xiao said, finding his imagination alternating between painfully sparse and incredibly vivid. He got distracted by Feng’s muscles again. “I really didn’t notice at first—how did you get your physique to look so good?”

Secretary Feng was absolutely terrified. Without another word, he fled with a hand knife strike, disappearing in a flash.

Tan Xiao could only put both hands in his pockets and slowly make his way back.

In the restaurant, President Fu said with a grave expression, “You’ve already decided then?”

Zhang Xingchuan said, “Very clear on it. If things really come to that point, I’ll have to hand Wenjing over to you.”

President Fu hesitated.

Zhang Xingchuan was rather relaxed about it. “You’ve been wanting me to hand over power to you for a while now. Don’t pretend otherwise.”

“I’ve thought about it,” President Fu said, “but I’m not really trying to seize control. Your temperament is more suited to being the top executive.”

Zhang Xingchuan was confident about this. “That’s true. I agree with that assessment too. So this is just worst-case scenario planning. As long as we don’t reach that point, Wenjing remains under my control.”

President Fu said, “Are you also considering the possibility that if the young master develops romantic feelings for someone else later, what would you do?”

“That won’t happen,” Zhang Xingchuan said. “I won’t give him the opportunity to develop feelings for anyone else. He can only love me.”

He and President Fu talked for a long time. It was quite late when he returned to the room. Tan Xiao was playing games.

“Done talking?” Tan Xiao had gotten sleepy waiting. “Don’t want to move to the executive lounge and keep chatting? Sounds like an all-nighter type of conversation.”

Zhang Xingchuan found it amusing. “Don’t get jealous for no reason. You saw he brought his wife—they have a great relationship.”

Tan Xiao said, “You also brought your wife, and you have a great relationship with your wife too. So why did you chat alone for three hours with him?”

Zhang Xingchuan explained, “We haven’t seen each other in a while. There’s been too much trivial stuff at the company.”

Tan Xiao said, “I’m going to sleep with Secretary Feng then.”

He said it but didn’t actually leave, waiting for Zhang Xingchuan to come coax him. He wasn’t really angry, just wanted to tease Zhang Xingchuan into coaxing him.

But Zhang Xingchuan simply headed into the bathroom.

Tan Xiao was startled. He wasn’t even going to come coax me? How did my appeal as Assistant Tan drop so dramatically in just one day?

“I really am going to sleep with Secretary Feng,” the assistant reiterated.

“Assistant Tan,” the CEO called from the bathroom, “come here for a moment.”

Tan Xiao thought: Even a dog wouldn’t go. But his disobedient little dog legs carried him right in anyway.

The CEO’s dress pants were tossed to the side, and his shirt was already unbuttoned. Zhang Xingchuan’s way of coaxing really was sincere—he’d first gotten himself into a half-exposed, alluring state.

Tan Xiao found this both wonderful and troublesome. His instinct was to turn and flee first, but it was too late. Zhang Xingchuan caught him and pulled him back, holding him against the sink. While kissing him, Zhang Xingchuan undressed him. Once Tan Xiao was kissed, he lost all strength, sitting on the sink’s edge and kissing Zhang Xingchuan back, his legs dangling down like two delicate jade chopsticks.

The next day, they returned to Beijing.