[Four years ago—]
This was quite a famous, trending bar in the capital. Today, the entire first floor had been booked out to celebrate the birthday of President Liu from Kexin Venture Capital.
A dozen beautiful young women had just finished a provocative dance routine. Blowing kisses to the audience, they gracefully sashayed off the stage in their ten-centimeter heels.
Next, a young man holding a guitar walked on stage.
In a private VIP room on the second floor, Special Assistant Fang pointed him out to Chu Tingyun—
“The one playing guitar on the stage is Miss Jingshu’s boyfriend, Yan Xun.”
The distance was too great, and the bar’s lighting was dim and atmospheric, making it impossible to clearly see the face of the person on stage. One could only see that he was wearing a simple white twill shirt and light, acid-washed jeans, possessing a clean aura that felt completely out of place here.
“He just turned twenty-one, a college junior majoring in computer science, and apparently the top scorer in the city for his college entrance exams. Not long ago, he developed a mini-app and sold it for a few hundred thousand.”
“He went to Kexin Venture Capital’s headquarters several times last month, but was rejected every single time. Coming here today, he probably wants to try a different approach. That’s why he is playing a folk song that President Liu used to love back when he played music in his youth.”
It was obvious that Special Assistant Fang had already investigated the young man thoroughly.
“A very smart young man, but… his family background is lacking. Last week, Miss Jingshu skipped her blind date just to go to the library with him.”
“…The library?”
Chu Tingyun was slightly taken aback, then couldn’t help but laugh.
Special Assistant Fang didn’t understand what he was laughing at; he only saw his boss resting his cheek on one hand, looking highly intrigued.
The youth’s clean, deep, and mellow voice was like a breeze blowing over a stream, scattering the heavy stench of alcohol in the nightclub. The intense, suggestive lighting fell upon him, yet he didn’t appear tacky or vulgar; instead, it added a unique kind of handsome charm.
President Chu clicked his tongue. “He plays quite nicely. Pity it’s not a love song.”
“…Ah?”
After meticulously reporting so much information, Special Assistant Fang didn’t expect President Chu to give such an evaluation.
Chu Tingyun slowly swirled the beautiful wine glass in his hand, letting the vivid liquid lazily circle the glass walls. The refracted pinpricks of light fell into the man’s deep blue eyes, revealing a somewhat bewitching quality.
“Smart he may be, but he’s still too young. He can’t read people.”
Can’t read people?
Fang Ming froze, then looked down at the first floor.
At this moment, the melodious folk song had just struck its final chord, and the young man with the guitar was invited over to the main table.
The middle-aged man in an expensive suit sat surrounded by over a dozen people, looking amiably at the guitar-carrying youth before him.
President Liu stated he could take a look at his business plan and was willing to give him fifteen minutes.
The premise being—
“To show your sincerity, you must down this glass of alcohol on the table.”
“…Alright.”
The young man, still sheltered by campus life, was truly naive. He thought the price of admission was really just a single glass of alcohol.
But one glass was immediately followed by another.
The fiery, deafening nightclub dance music drowned out all other sounds. The beautiful women returned to the stage and began a new round of dancing.
Someone pulled him down onto the sofa. Someone wrapped an arm around his shoulder, reaching out to touch his face.
It wasn’t until this moment that Yan Xun realized no one could hear, and no one wanted to hear, his business plan.
Crash—
The sound of a bottle shattering was swallowed by the loud music.
Special Assistant Fang looked down, his brow furrowing. “President Chu, a fight broke out.”
Or, more accurately, Yan Xun was unilaterally beating people up.
“Mn.”
Chu Tingyun pointed with his wine glass. “Go have a word with Boss Qin. Tell him the security cameras in his establishment seem to be malfunctioning.”
“?”
Special Assistant Fang was stunned.
“But didn’t the Master say earlier to let you…?”
“Let me what?”
“…”
Special Assistant Fang didn’t finish his sentence.
Miss Jingshu’s marriage prospects had been selected by the family years ago. There were four or five candidates, all young masters from prominent families of equal social standing.
Their family backgrounds, looks, and character were all outstanding.
As for that Yan Xun, in the eyes of ordinary people, he might be a prodigy who leapt over the dragon gate. But in the eyes of the truly wealthy, he was just a poor student from a small city who knew how to study.
Even gilded by the prestige of Capital University, after graduation he would just be another wage earner. A single word from President Chu could cause him to hit walls everywhere in this city, forcing him to leave in disgrace.
In this way, the young man would never have anything to do with Miss Jingshu again.
Chu Tingyun seemed to see right through his thoughts, shooting him a smiling glance. “Fang Ming, I’m not so classless as to go out of my way to ruin a male college student who hasn’t even graduated yet.”
“…”
These words instantly made Special Assistant Fang’s face stiffen, feeling that his own thoughts just now had been a bit too dark.
He quickly and quietly replied, “Yes. I will go handle it immediately.”
Within two minutes, Yan Xun downstairs swiftly disengaged from the battlefield and fled through the back door. Although the alcohol had gone to his head and caused him to act out, he knew his limits and didn’t want to blow the situation out of proportion.
The capital’s late autumn was freezing. The biting wind outside finally sobered Yan Xun up a little. He knew his alcohol tolerance perfectly well, so the moment he ran out with his backpack, he started looking everywhere for a trash can to throw up the liquor churning in his stomach.
But he didn’t expect to accidentally bump into someone.
“Hey, you…”
Before Chu Tingyun could finish speaking, Yan Xun grabbed onto him like a human trash can and threw up all over him.
Fortunately, Yan Xun hadn’t eaten much all day, so he didn’t throw up a lot—just some of the alcohol he had just consumed.
Special Assistant Fang, who had followed right behind, witnessed the entire scene. His knees went weak, and he narrowly avoided dropping to the ground.
“Pre… President Chu…”
It was no joke. In that moment, even though Fang Ming couldn’t see the expression on Chu Tingyun’s face, he knew the man had the urge to destroy the entire world.
Ultimately, President Chu, his face dark as thunder, swiftly stripped off his overcoat and tossed it to the boy to use as a barf bag.
Chu Tingyun had originally harbored a bit of interest in this person, but now every trace of it was instantly wiped out, replaced only by infinite annoyance.
“I’m… I’m sorry…”
Although Yan Xun was dizzy, his mind was conscious.
“I’ll pay… I’ll pay you back for the clothes…”
Saying this, he started digging through his backpack for his phone.
By this time, Special Assistant Fang had already frantically pulled out wet wipes and handed them over, even though Chu Tingyun hadn’t gotten any vomit on himself outside of the discarded coat.
Yan Xun finally found his phone and turned on the screen, only to watch the glowing red 1% battery in the top right corner drop to zero.
The phone automatically shut down.
“…”
Crouching on the ground, Yan Xun processed this for a moment before slowly tilting his head up. He had run out in a hurry and only grabbed his bag, leaving his jacket behind. During the fight, several buttons on his shirt had been ripped off, and his hair was a mess.
His face was flushed from the alcohol, and his eyes brimmed with physiological tears forced out by vomiting. He held up his black-screened, beat-up phone to show Chu Tingyun.
“I’m sorry, it died…”
The youth spoke slowly. After thinking about it, he felt incredibly guilty.
“How about… I wash it for you.”
“…”
Chu Tingyun was so angry he almost laughed.
It was late at night, and he had zero desire to stand in a freezing, filthy bar alleyway arguing with a drunk.
So, without a single word, the man turned around and walked away.
Fang Ming immediately followed. He had called the driver to bring the car around earlier, and it happened to be parked right by the curb.
“President Chu.”
Special Assistant Fang stepped forward and opened the car door for him.
But the person he opened the door for didn’t get in. Following the man’s gaze, Special Assistant Fang looked back, only to realize that Yan Xun had actually carried the ruined coat over to a public drinking fountain by the street and was washing it.
The late-night wind was howling, and the temperature was a mere four degrees Celsius.
“Tsk.”
Chu Tingyun’s face darkened, and he walked back over.
In a terrible tone, he told Yan Xun, “Hey, I don’t want the coat anymore.”
“…”
The youth, who was vigorously hand-washing the coat, acted as if he couldn’t hear him, completely immersed in his own world.
Chu Tingyun felt that something must be seriously wrong with his brain tonight; otherwise, why would he forcibly drag a drunk who had just puked all over him into his car?
Sitting in the passenger seat, Special Assistant Fang didn’t dare to look back even an inch, heavily suspecting his boss had been possessed by a ghost.
“President Chu, where are we going now…?”
“Back…”
Chu Tingyun subconsciously wanted to say ‘home,’ but what the hell would it mean to bring a drunk male college student home?
“Find the nearest hotel and book a suite.”
The moment those words fell, even the driver couldn’t resist glancing in the rearview mirror.
The young boy, his face flushed red and his hair a total mess, was wearing a shirt missing several buttons. Clutching the soaking wet overcoat, he was leaning heavily against President Chu’s shoulder, completely passed out drunk.
“…”
In short, one really couldn’t blame them for overthinking the situation.
Half an hour later—
Yan Xun was lying on the massive bed of the five-star hotel’s presidential suite. His wet shirt had been stripped off, leaving his firm, beautiful upper body fully exposed under the bright hotel lights.
The only thing left was a red string hanging around his neck, carrying a tiny jade Guanyin pendant.
For some unknown reason, looking at this childish little trinket, Chu Tingyun was inexplicably certain that Yan Xun was a virgin.
As he carelessly entertained these thoughts, he called room service and ordered them to bring up hangover medicine and a bottle of hot milk.
“Open your mouth.”
The man pinched Yan Xun’s jaw, forcing his mouth open, and shoved the pills inside.
Chu Tingyun had never served anyone a day in his life, and his movements were quite rough. Next, he directly shoved the mouth of the glass milk bottle into Yan Xun’s mouth.
It didn’t look like feeding; it looked like force-feeding.
“Mmph…”
Gulp, gulp—
The youth was forced to swallow a few mouthfuls, but unsurprisingly, he choked.
A look of pain crossed that aloof, handsome face. His damp eyelashes trembled as the excess milk spilled from the corner of his lips, gliding down his collarbone to bloom into a massive wet patch on the pillow.
This scene reflected, frame by frame, in Chu Tingyun’s eyes. He suddenly realized his breathing had grown a bit heavy.
“Cough, cough…”
Yan Xun coughed violently and finally snapped his eyes open.
His body’s instinctual defense mechanism kicked in, causing him to instantly break free. He forcibly grabbed the culprit, flipped him over, and pinned him firmly to the bed.
The milk bottle was knocked over, spilling everywhere across the sheets.
Having choked severely just now, Yan Xun was still panting as he spoke.
“What the hell were you doing just now?!”
“…”
Chu Tingyun never thought he would simultaneously agree with both Jingshu and the old man’s views at this exact moment.
The little girl’s taste in men was indeed excellent. What a pity.
—They weren’t quite a match.
And so, within the very first month of Yan Xun dating his girlfriend, he was pinned to a hotel bed by a complete stranger who ruthlessly stole his first kiss.
Furthermore, four years later, today, that same man had successfully evolved from an interloping homewrecker into his legally wedded partner, and was now shamelessly declaring to him:
“Yan Xun, the first time you kissed me.”
“This is exactly how it was.”
Eh?
The amnesiac Yan Xun was instantly stunned by this sentence.
The anger from being force-fed alcohol suddenly dissipated. His strength ebbed, and he was no longer gripping Chu Tingyun in a suppressing hold.
But he never expected that the very moment he let go, the man couldn’t wait to hook an arm around his neck.
Kissing him even deeper.
