[Four years ago…]
This was a famous trendy bar in the capital. Today, the first floor had been booked out to celebrate the birthday of Mr. Liu, the CEO of Kexin Venture Capital.
A dozen young, beautiful girls had just finished a hot dance performance. They blew kisses to the audience, stepping down from the stage gracefully in their ten-centimeter heels.
Then, a young man holding a guitar stepped onto the stage.
In a private room on the second floor, Assistant Fang specifically pointed out to Chu Tingyun:
“The one playing the guitar on stage is Miss Jingshu’s boyfriend, his name is Yan Xun.”
The distance was too far, and the lighting in the bar was dim and ambiguous, making it impossible to see the man’s face clearly. All that could be seen was his simple white twill shirt and light-washed jeans, giving off a clean look that seemed out of place here.
“He’s only twenty-one, a third-year computer science student, and was the top scorer in the city for the college entrance exams. He recently created a small program that sold for tens of thousands.”
“Last month, he visited the headquarters of Kexin Venture Capital several times, but he was rejected each time. Today, he’s probably trying to take a different approach, playing one of Mr. Liu’s favorite folk songs from his younger days when he dabbled in music.”
It was clear that Assistant Fang had done his homework on the man.
“Smart young man, but… his family background isn’t great. Miss Jingshu skipped a matchmaking meeting last week to go to the library with him.”
“…The library?”
Chu Tingyun was slightly surprised and then couldn’t help but laugh.
Assistant Fang didn’t understand what he found amusing, only noticing his boss resting one hand against his cheek with a look of interest.
The young man’s clean, mellow voice flowed like wind over a stream, dispelling the scent of alcohol in the night. The intense, suggestive lighting fell on him, but instead of being vulgar, it gave him an unusual elegance.
Chu Tingyun clicked his tongue.
“He plays quite well. Pity it’s not a love song.”
“Uh?”
After Assistant Fang’s long report, he hadn’t expected this to be the comment from Chu.
Slowly swirling the wine in his hand, the liquid gliding along the glass, the refracted light danced in Chu Tingyun’s deep blue eyes, adding a strange allure.
“But smart as he is, he’s still too young; he can’t see people clearly.”
“Can’t see people clearly?”
Assistant Fang paused and looked down at the stage.
At that moment, the last note of the folk song faded, and the young man was invited over.
A middle-aged man in an expensive suit stood surrounded by a dozen people, watching the guitar-strapped youth with a kindly smile.
Mr. Liu, the CEO, expressed willingness to look at his business proposal and even offered him fifteen minutes.
On one condition…
“As a gesture of sincerity, you’ll have to down this glass of wine.”
“…Alright.”
The young man, still naïve, believed the price of entry was just a single glass of wine.
But one glass led to another.
The pulsing nightclub music drowned out all other sounds, and the girls, back on stage, began another round of sultry dancing.
At some point, someone pulled Yan Xun onto the sofa. An arm wrapped around his shoulder, a hand reached out to touch his face.
It was only then that Yan Xun realized no one was interested in his proposal, and no one was ever going to listen.
Bang!
The sound of a wine bottle shattering was swallowed up by the loud music.
Assistant Fang frowned as he looked downstairs. “Mr. Chu, a fight has broken out.”
Or more accurately, Yan Xun was beating someone up.
“Hmm.”
Chu Tingyun picked up his wine glass and gestured toward the scene.
“Go tell Boss Qin that the cameras in their bar seem to be malfunctioning.”
“…?”
Assistant Fang paused.
“But didn’t Sir instruct you to…?”
“Instruct me to what?”
“…”
Assistant Fang didn’t finish the rest of the sentence.
Miss Jingshu’s family had arranged several potential marriage partners for her years ago, all of them sons from wealthy, prominent families, well-matched in status, appearance, and character.
In the eyes of ordinary people, Yan Xun might be a shining star, a small-town boy destined for greatness. But to those truly rich, he was just a poor student from a small city who happened to be good at school.
Even with a prestigious degree from a famous university, he’d end up being just another worker after graduation. One word from Mr. Chu could make him face closed doors everywhere in this city, and eventually leave in defeat.
And just like that, this young man would never have anything to do with Miss Jingshu again.
Chu Tingyun seemed to see through his thoughts, glanced over, and smiled:
“Assistant Fang… I wouldn’t stoop so low as to mess with a male college student who hasn’t even graduated yet.”
“…”
That immediately made Fang Tezhu’s face stiffen, and he felt like his earlier thoughts had been a bit too dark.
He quickly responded in a low voice, “Yes. I’ll handle it right away.”
In less than two minutes, Yan Xun quickly left the battlefield and ran out through the back door. Even though the alcohol had hit him and he had acted out, he knew his limits and didn’t want to blow things out of proportion.
The late autumn night in the capital was freezing. As soon as the wind hit him, Yan Xun finally sobered up a bit. He knew his alcohol tolerance well, so once he was out, he started looking for a trash can to throw up the alcohol in his stomach. But unexpectedly, he bumped into someone.
“Hey, you…”
Chu Tingyun hadn’t even finished speaking before Yan Xun grabbed him like a trash can and threw up all over him.
However, Yan Xun hadn’t eaten much all day, so there wasn’t much vomit, just some of the wine he drank earlier.
Fang Tezhu hurried over, witnessing the whole scene, and nearly collapsed to his knees.
“Pres… President…Chu..”
No joke, at that moment, although Assistant Fang… couldn’t see the expression on Chu Tingyun’s face, he knew that the man probably wanted to destroy the world right then and there.
In the end, Chu Zong quickly took off his overcoat, his face dark, and threw it to serve as a vomit bin.
Chu Tingyun had originally found some interest in this person, but that moment extinguished it all, leaving him only feeling infinitely irritated.
“Sorry… I’ll pay you back for the clothes…”
Although Yan Xun was dizzy, his mind was still clear.
“I’ll… I’ll pay for your clothes…”
As he said that, he started searching for his phone in his backpack.
At that moment, Fang Tezhu had already quickly pulled out some wet wipes to hand over. Even though, apart from the coat he had taken off, Chu Tingyun hadn’t gotten any vomit on the rest of his body.
Yan Xun had just found his phone and turned it on when the battery symbol in the upper right corner turned bright red at 1%, and then the screen went black.
The phone powered off.
“…”
Yan Xun, squatting on the ground, took a moment to process that, and then slowly looked up. He had run out in such a hurry that he hadn’t grabbed his coat. During the fight, several buttons had been ripped off his shirt, and his hair was messy.
His face was flushed red from the alcohol, his eyes were filled with tears from the fight, and he held up his blacked-out old phone for Chu Tingyun to see.
“Sorry, it’s out of battery…”
The young man spoke slowly, and after thinking for a moment, he felt even more apologetic.
“How about I wash it for you?”
“…”
Chu Tingyun was so furious, he could’ve laughed.
In the middle of the night, he really didn’t want to argue with a drunken idiot in the cold, dirty back alley of a bar.
Without saying a word, the man turned around and walked off.
Assistant Fang immediately followed, having already called a driver to bring the car over. The car was parked just by the roadside.
“President Chu.”
Fang Tezhu went ahead and opened the car door for him.
But the person for whom the door was opened didn’t get in right away. Fang Tezhu followed the man’s gaze and realized that Yan Xun had actually taken the coat to the public drinking fountain by the roadside to wash it.
The wind at night was strong, and the temperature was only four degrees.
“Tsk.”
Chu Tingyun, face grim, walked back over.
In a rather bad mood, he said to Yan Xun, “Hey, I don’t need the coat.”
“…”
The young man, busy scrubbing the coat, seemed not to hear and was completely lost in his own world.
Chu Tingyun thought he must’ve been out of his mind tonight. Otherwise, why on earth would he drag a drunk who had thrown up on him into the car?
Sitting in the passenger seat, Fang Tezhu didn’t dare to turn his head, as he was starting to wonder if his boss was possessed.
“Assistant Chu, are we heading…?”
“Home…”
Chu Tingyun instinctively wanted to say home, but then realized it made no sense to bring a drunken male college student back home.
“Find a nearby hotel and get a suite.”
The second those words left his mouth, even the driver couldn’t help but glance into the rearview mirror.
The young man, his face flushed red, his hair messy, and several buttons missing from his shirt, was leaning on President Chu’s shoulder, completely passed out.
“…”
In short, it was hard to blame people for thinking otherwise.
Half an hour later—
Yan Xun was lying on the bed in the presidential suite of a five-star hotel, his wet shirt completely stripped off, revealing his lean and muscular upper body under the soft hotel lighting.
Around his neck hung a small red string, with a tiny jade Guanyin pendant attached to it.
For some reason, seeing that childlike trinket made Chu Tingyun oddly certain that Yan Xun was a virgin.
He thought idly as he called room service for some hangover medicine and a bottle of warm milk.
“Open your mouth.”
The man pinched Yan Xun’s chin, forcing his mouth open, and shoved the pill inside.
Chu Tingyun had never taken care of anyone before, so his movements were quite rough. Then, he shoved the glass bottle directly into Yan Xun’s mouth.
It didn’t look like feeding, more like forcing it down.
“Mm…”
Gulp, gulp—
The young man swallowed a few mouthfuls, but as expected, he choked.
A pained expression appeared on his otherwise handsome face. His wet eyelashes fluttered, and the milk spilled from the corners of his mouth, trickling down to his collarbone and soaking into the pillow.
Every moment of the scene was etched into Chu Tingyun’s eyes, and he suddenly realized his breathing was becoming heavy.
“Cough, cough…”
Yan Xun coughed a few times, finally opening his eyes.
Instinctively, his body reacted in defense. He instantly broke free and pinned the culprit down, forcing him onto the bed.
The milk bottle tipped over, spilling across the bed.
Still coughing from being choked, Yan Xun was breathless when he spoke.
“What the hell did you just do?!”
“…”
Chu Tingyun never thought that at this moment, he would completely agree with both Jingshu and the old man’s opinions.
The little girl did have good taste, but unfortunately—
They weren’t quite a match.
So, in the first month after Yan Xun started dating his girlfriend, a strange man pressed him onto a hotel bed and stole his first kiss.
And four years later, the man had gone from being a disruptive intruder to becoming Yan Xun’s husband, now shamelessly telling him:
“Yan Xun, your first kiss with me.”
“Was just like this.”
Huh?
Yan Xun, who had lost his memory, was instantly caught off guard by those words.
The anger from being force-fed wine just moments ago dissipated. He eased up and no longer pinned Chu Tingyun down.
But the moment he let go, the man wasted no time wrapping his arms around his neck—
And kissed him again, even deeper.
