“Cough, cough, cough…!!!”
As soon as these words were spoken, it wasn’t Yan Xun who choked, but rather the driver up front who burst into a coughing fit.
Yan Xun really couldn’t understand Chu Tingyun’s thought process. He thought the other person was once again hinting at something suggestive or obscene.
So Yan Xun turned his head and snorted lightly, “Don’t think about it, men don’t have such great abilities.”
“…”
Who would have thought that Chu Tingyun didn’t argue or retort, but instead sighed, as if genuinely feeling regretful about not being able to have children.
Yan Xun found this quite unsettling.
But that wasn’t the most unsettling part.
After they got home, Chu Tingyun went straight to their cat, scooped him up, and gave him an extended session of petting and cuddling, calling him “Baobao” repeatedly.
If special effects existed in real life, then at that moment, President Chu would surely have been glowing with fatherly love.
Yan Xun doubted his own eyes, or maybe he was dreaming.
Watching Chu Tingyun and the cat being all affectionate with each other for a good while, Yan Xun finally couldn’t help but speak up:
“…Chu Tingyun, come here.”
“Hm?”
As soon as President Chu turned his head, his little husband’s hand was already on his forehead. Yan Xun frowned slightly, mumbling under his breath:
“No fever, though.”
Chu Tingyun: “…”
His expression immediately became wary, and he quickly pulled Yan Xun’s hand down from his forehead. Then, he examined his husband’s palm carefully to make sure Yan Xun hadn’t smeared anything strange on his face.
This action perfectly illustrated the lack of trust between the two husbands.
Yan Xun found it amusing yet exasperating:
“It’s not dirty. I washed and sanitized my hands as soon as I came in.”
“Really?”
Chu Tingyun still seemed a bit suspicious, leaning in to take a sniff. The cat in his arms looked up at him and followed suit, sniffing at Yan Xun as well.
For a moment, father and “son” moved in perfect sync, which was, oddly enough… kind of cute.
Yan Xun was momentarily stunned.
He had always thought Chu Tingyun didn’t like cats, which was why he had opposed getting one.
It wasn’t unusual to dislike cats, really. It’s not about being kind or unkind; some people are just naturally indifferent to animals. Maybe Chu Tingyun was one of them.
So, to protect both sides from harming or bothering each other, Yan Xun had kept them apart.
But after losing his memory, he realized he might have misunderstood all along.
By now, Chu Tingyun had let go of Yan Xun’s hand and was calling the cat over to the cat room.
“Come on, son! Tonight we’re having a feast—opening canned food.”
These past few days, while he was staying at the hospital with Yan Xun, their cat had been stuck at home with only the automatic feeder for company. It was time to make it up with some canned treats.
“Meow~~~”
As soon as the cat heard the word “canned,” it immediately perked up, elegantly wagging its tail and following Chu Tingyun, meowing non-stop along the way.
Yan Xun stood there watching, deep in thought. After a while, he followed them to see what was happening.
To his surprise, he found that Chu Tingyun had opened seven different cans of cat food, and their spoiled cat was overjoyed, hopping between the bowls, eating a bit from each.
Yan Xun: “…Why open so many? It can’t finish them, and it’s such a waste. Plus, if it eats too much canned food, it won’t eat its regular cat food anymore.”
President Chu waved dismissively, unconcerned: “What’s the big deal? We can always buy more. If it doesn’t like the cat food, then fine, it can have canned food every day.”
He didn’t care about such trivial matters at all. Since the cat was practically like their son now, it should be raised well, he figured.
Perhaps it was psychological, but the more Chu Tingyun looked at the cat, the more it seemed to resemble Yan Xun—elegant, well-behaved, and cute.
So what if it got a few more cans?
Yan Xun: “…”
He suddenly thought that if he and Chu Tingyun really had a child, the kid would definitely be spoiled rotten.
Yan Xun sighed silently.
Leaning against the doorframe, he furrowed his brows, deeply worried about the future education of a child that didn’t even exist.
Before long, the clock in the living room struck eleven.
After washing up, the two of them lay down on the bed.
When they slept, Chu Tingyun, probably afraid of accidentally touching Yan Xun’s injury, for once didn’t cling to him like a koala. He only held onto one of Yan Xun’s arms.
On the other hand, Yan Xun felt somewhat stiff and uneasy. After regaining his memory, his mind had become a jumble of thoughts. On one hand, he was frustrated and angry about the conflicts and unpleasantness of the past few years with Chu Tingyun, but on the other hand, he couldn’t help but indulge in the warmth and happiness of the past two or three months.
…So pathetic.
Yan Xun thought.
He had made such a firm decision before, determined to divorce and never see that jerk Chu Tingyun again. And yet, after being coaxed for two or three months, his resolve had wavered.
What’s worse, the lies Chu Tingyun had told were so bad! Couldn’t he at least put in some effort and lie a bit better?
As his mind spiraled with messy thoughts, Yan Xun became both annoyed at his own weakness and angry at Chu Tingyun’s half-hearted lies.
So angry he couldn’t sleep!
Chu Tingyun couldn’t sleep either.
Because he was still thinking about what Xie Fengjun had said earlier that day:
[Xiao Chu, you’re the person Yan Yan loves the most right now.]
[When that huge flowerpot fell, without even thinking, he rushed to shield you first.]
It was true.
When Yan Xun had suddenly thrown himself on top of him to protect him, Chu Tingyun was also shocked.
Lying on the ground, he had watched in stunned silence as Yan Xun’s blood first soaked his collar, then dripped down his neck, landing on Chu Tingyun’s face.
At that moment, it was as if Chu Tingyun’s brain had stopped working. His entire world turned blood red.
Even though two days had passed, Chu Tingyun was still in shock, occasionally doubting whether it had all been a hallucination.
Because even though he knew that after losing his memory, Yan Xun had been deceived into liking him a little, he never thought it would be to such an extent.
So this is what Yan Xun is like when he loves someone.
He could actually be so selfless.
As he thought about it, Chu Tingyun couldn’t resist reaching for Yan Xun’s hand, slowly intertwining their fingers until they were tightly clasped together.
He realized that he might have finally gotten what he had been desperately seeking all along.
The feeling was so wonderful, so full of happiness that it went beyond what Chu Tingyun could express in words.
If only Yan Xun could never remember.
In his heart, Chu Tingyun silently prayed, hoping that Yan Xun would never regain his memory.
Forget everything forever, and love him forever.
That would be the most beautiful thing in the world.
That night, the two of them fell asleep cuddled together on the same bed, each with their own thoughts.
…
The next day, Chu Tingyun still didn’t go to the office. He had his secretary send over a stack of documents, intending to work from home.
Some important meetings were moved online, and as for face-to-face meetings with partners and business negotiations over meals, he assigned a few vice presidents to handle those.
In the morning, Yan Xun video-called his parents for about an hour, arranging to take Chu Tingyun home for dinner in a couple of days.
“Good, good!”
Xie Fengjun’s eyes were red as she repeated “good” twice. She smiled brightly and even carefully asked Yan Xun about both his and Chu Tingyun’s food preferences and dietary restrictions.
Yan Xun could eat anything, but Chu Tingyun was picky. However, when explaining, Yan Xun said it was he who didn’t like certain foods.
“Oh, by the way, I also bought you an air purifier and a massage chair. They should be delivered this afternoon.”
The air purifier was because Chu Tingyun was allergic to dust, just in case, and the massage chair was a gift for his parents.
Before buying them, Yan Xun had checked in advance to confirm there was enough space in the living room so that there wouldn’t be any awkward situation where there was no room or they didn’t fit.
“Really? That’s great! Your father’s back has been acting up.”
Xie Fengjun was thrilled. She didn’t say anything about it being too expensive, but expressed her excitement and gratitude instead.
She couldn’t help but ask about Yan Xun’s injury again, gave him a few reminders, and only reluctantly ended the call after that.
After hanging up, Yan Xun used his computer to look up recent news regarding the Chen family’s company.
As expected, most of the previous reports about the Chen family being investigated, along with some negative news, had almost all been deleted. Even what remained had very little traction.
Yan Xun thought for a moment, then logged into a foreign email account, retrieving some photos he had stored there before.
They were scandalous photos of Chen Tengxiao and his male lover, along with a blurry car s*x video. What made it even more interesting was that this male lover also had close ties with a certain bank president.
Most of these photos had been taken by Li Rong back then. Now, Li Rong was detained on charges of s*xual assault, which was probably Chen Tengxiao’s revenge.
But since being detained meant he couldn’t see friends, Yan Xun had no way to visit him. He could only think of meeting with Li Rong’s lawyer soon and finding a way to strike back, uncovering what role Chen Tengxiao had played in all this.
Yan Xun changed his IP address and took several precautions, then anonymously uploaded the photos and videos to a certain adult website abroad, erasing all traces afterward.
He had originally intended to use this material to bring public attention to the Chen family after filing a report, but the car accident happened before he got the chance.
Now, he planned to use these things to fish for information.
Yan Xun anonymously sent the website link, scheduled for later delivery, to the feedback inboxes of several competitors of the Chen family.
After finishing this, he pulled out his phone and started drafting a message to an unfamiliar number.
Li Rong had been right all along: the two of them were indeed not powerful enough. So Yan Xun had found some leads from Chu Tingyun, and then hired a private investigator to dig deeper.
By the way, this was the same private investigator who had helped Zhou Ze’s mom gather evidence of her husband’s affair—Detective Liu.
As Zhou Ze had said, Detective Liu was indeed quite skilled. He had managed to find out even the color of his dad’s underwear.
Unfortunately, Zhou Ze’s mom had acted a bit too late. The cheating ex-husband had already transferred most of his assets. Even though the court ruled for divorce and compensation, the final amount of money wasn’t much.
Yan Xun wanted to arrange a meeting with the detective.
But before sending the message, he suddenly thought of something and checked the phone and smartwatch that Chu Tingyun had given him.
Sure enough, there was a tracking app in the smartwatch.
However, there was no eavesdropping or monitoring of phone content.
Tch!
Yan Xun frowned.
But instead of immediately deleting the tracking software or going to confront Chu Tingyun in anger, he thought for a long time before taking his laptop and heading to Chu Tingyun’s study.
At that moment, President Chu was in an online meeting.
It seemed he was dealing with something related to the U.S. branch, and he was speaking entirely in English. However, this time, Chu Tingyun wasn’t using overly complicated jargon, so Yan Xun could understand quite a bit.
Just then, Chu Tingyun mentioned a document, and casually pulled open a desk drawer, reaching inside.
This movement made Yan Xun’s heart skip a beat, a sense of foreboding rising within him.
Sure enough—
In the next second, he saw a familiar report slip out from among the documents that were pulled out.
“!!!”
In that instant, Yan Xun felt like his heart was about to stop.
Chu Tingyun also froze for a moment.
But he quickly recovered, and with his usual composure, he discreetly pulled the paper out, turning it away from the camera and handing it to Yan Xun.
“Assistant Yan, please take this.”
Yan Xun: “…”
With a stiff expression, he walked over quickly, snatched the report, and managed to say:
“Yes, Mr. Chu.”
This time, Yan Xun was decisive. He didn’t want to hold onto something that could socially ruin him any longer and immediately fed the report into the shredder for complete destruction.
Chu Tingyun didn’t stop him. He seemed relaxed, smiling as he continued his meeting.
Twenty minutes later, the meeting concluded.
Chu Tingyun closed his laptop and leaned on one hand to look at Yan Xun, who was sitting on the sofa with his laptop, visibly upset.
However, Chu Tingyun seemed to be in an excellent mood.
“I thought you would’ve thrown it away by now, Xun Xun. Didn’t expect you’d still keep it in my desk drawer. Is this some new form of flirting?”
Yan Xun: “…”
At the time, he had just thought it was safer in the drawer than lying around.
In any case, Yan Xun didn’t want to talk about it anymore.
Every time he remembered how he was tricked by Chu Tingyun into voluntarily getting a sexual health checkup, he felt furious.
It was like that feeling of having done something dumb when you were young—every time you think about it later, the embarrassment and regret are so overwhelming you can barely breathe.
Seeing Yan Xun blushing and refusing to answer, Chu Tingyun didn’t press the topic further. He walked over to him and leaned close.
“What are you looking at?”
“Zhou Ze’s fan forum.”
Yan Xun no longer had to avoid mentioning Zhou Ze in front of Chu Tingyun.
Before, he used to think this marriage was purely transactional, that he was just bought by Chu Tingyun. So whenever he faced Chu Tingyun’s anger and threats, Yan Xun had to tolerate and stay silent, for his own sake and for the sake of his family and friends.
Because they weren’t equals in a supportive relationship; they were sponsor and lover.
But now things had changed, and Yan Xun felt it was time to make some adjustments!
“It seems like Zhou Ze’s been out of town filming lately, staying really busy.”
“Oh.”
Chu Tingyun knew much more about this than Yan Xun, but he didn’t like hearing his husband mention that chubby kid with the surname Zhou, so he didn’t respond.
But Yan Xun didn’t care. He kept talking.
“I heard the female lead in their crew ran into a stalker fan recently. They not only followed her car but also secretly installed a tracking device.”
Yan Xun had been reading several shocking reports about celebrities encountering extreme stalkers, and he was deep in thought, frowning as he spoke.
“I think installing tracking devices is pretty terrifying. I wonder if Zhou Ze might run into that kind of thing in the future. If it were me, I’d beat those people up before handing them over to the police for a proper lesson.”
Chu Tingyun, who had also installed a tracker: “…”
Suddenly, he felt very uneasy.
Yan Xun turned to him and asked, “What do you think, Chu Tingyun?”
“…”
For a moment, Chu Tingyun felt like he had just been singled out.
“Uh… yes, that’s definitely wrong!”
He carefully observed Yan Xun’s expression. Seeing that Yan Xun seemed to be speaking generally and wasn’t angry with him, Chu Tingyun breathed a sigh of relief.
When Yan Xun had first discovered the tracker he’d installed to monitor him, the argument between them nearly blew the roof off.
If he found out again now, things would definitely not stay this calm.
Thinking this, Chu Tingyun felt even more at ease and joined in condemning stalkers and unethical media for a while.
“These people are insane! Absolutely without morals!”
“Exactly! How can they invade others’ privacy like that?”
“…”
Yan Xun noticed how passionately Chu Tingyun was ranting and couldn’t help but feel confused.
Wait a minute—why does this guy feel no guilt at all?
Then, all of a sudden, Chu Tingyun switched the topic.
“Uh, well, if you’re that worried about him, why don’t you have him sign with one of my film companies?”
He figured that being a celebrity created too much of a barrier between them and ordinary people. Plus, running around for filming all the time meant Zhou Ze wouldn’t have much time to hang out with Yan Xun. Eventually, the relationship would cool off, right?
Chu Tingyun thought it was a brilliant idea.
Yan Xun was stunned. “You own a film company?”
With a perfectly natural tone, Chu Tingyun replied, “Yes, I invested in a couple of them a few years back. They’ve been doing pretty well.”
Otherwise, how would he have pulled Zhou Ze away?
Yan Xun: “…”
Just when he thought he understood how rich Chu Tingyun was, his perception was shattered again.
Back in school, the wealthiest person Yan Xun knew was Zhou Ze’s dad.
He drove a BMW, wore a gold watch, and lived in a luxurious mansion worth millions.
But later, Yan Xun realized that Zhou Ze’s “rich” dad was nothing more than a small-time businessman compared to Chu Tingyun.
However, bringing up Zhou Ze reminded Yan Xun of some old grudges. So, he closed his laptop and casually asked Chu Tingyun:
“By the way, Zhou Ze said we stopped being friends because you were jealous and couldn’t stand him. What was that about?”
Chu Tingyun: “…”
Damn, he never should’ve brought that up.
Wait, let him think. How should he spin this?
Chu Tingyun racked his brain:
“That was because… you two didn’t set clear boundaries. Friends should stay friends. Why were you playing guitar and singing love songs together?”
In fact, Zhou Ze, as a singer in his twenties, releasing a love song was perfectly normal. The lyrics were about a breakup between a man and a woman.
Yan Xun had only played guitar and sang a few lines of the chorus. Even though the video had been deleted, Chu Tingyun had smashed the guitar and threatened to blacklist Zhou Ze.
Yan Xun knew all too well how important dreams were to his best friend, so Chu Tingyun’s words had crossed a line for him. That’s why they had such a huge fight back then.
Now, thinking back on it, and seeing Chu Tingyun’s complete lack of remorse, Yan Xun felt like picking another fight but held back, deciding to take a different approach.
Yan Xun set his laptop on the coffee table, crossed his arms, and began questioning Chu Tingyun:
“Oh? Then tell me, what’s going on with you and Gu Shanqing?”
Chu Tingyun was completely caught off guard: “What… What do you mean, me and Gu Shanqing?”
“Why did you give our cat to him to take care of? Are you two that close? I also heard you went on a business trip together, sharing meals, hotels, and transportation?”
Yan Xun raised an eyebrow, continuing to press,
“Chu Tingyun, you’re married. Can’t you exercise a little self-restraint? Don’t you think this lack of boundaries is inappropriate for a married man?”
Chu Tingyun: “…???”
This was so absurd that for a moment, Chu Tingyun didn’t even know how to respond.
Before he could come up with a reply, Yan Xun grabbed his phone, opened WeChat, and was about to delete Gu Shanqing from his contacts.
“Cut ties with Gu Shanqing. You’re not allowed to see him anymore. If I catch you two together, I won’t stand for it.”
Chu Tingyun: “…”
“Wait! Yan Xun, hold on!”
He hurriedly snatched his phone back.
Yan Xun had no real intention of deleting Gu Shanqing, so he let it go without resistance.
Chu Tingyun felt that Yan Xun was acting very strange today.
Yan Xun had never shown any dislike for Gu Shanqing before. When they went to pick up the cat, he had even suggested inviting Gu Shanqing for dinner.
Why the sudden change?!
But discovering that Yan Xun was jealous, Chu Tingyun was pleasantly surprised. He studied Yan Xun’s expression carefully and realized that his husband was genuinely a bit upset.
“!!!”
Chu Tingyun’s lips immediately curled into a smile.
“Wait a second, Xun Xun, are you really jealous of Gu Shanqing?”
He immediately leaned in to kiss and cuddle his husband without a shred of guilt, even badmouthing his friend to comfort him.
“There’s no need for that, baby. He’s not as handsome as you, not as young, and not as strong. I’d have to be out of my mind to choose him.”
Yan Xun: “…”
Although the outcome wasn’t exactly what he had in mind, the unexpected compliment made him feel a little better.
But he quickly remembered his purpose, worked hard to suppress the smile threatening to curl his lips, and quickly returned to his angry and unreasonable expression.
“How do I know if your investment in him back then wasn’t because you had other intentions? And with so many branch companies and so many vice presidents under you, how is it that you’re closest to him?”
“Oh, come on, how is that even possible?!”
Chu Tingyun was so happy that even while explaining, his face was blooming with a smile.
“I’ve known Gu Shanqing for so many years. If anything were going to happen, it would’ve happened long ago.”
Yan Xun: “Really? I don’t believe it.”
Chu Tingyun: “…”
Ah, such sweet troubles.
As the two were “arguing,” the doorbell rang.
Yan Xun went to open the door and found it was a delivery—a very large box. He was a bit puzzled and asked as he signed for it:
“What’s inside, such a big box?”
The delivery guy said, “The pears you ordered—100 pounds of them.”
Yan Xun thought he misheard:
“…How much?”
“Oh, no,” the delivery guy corrected himself, “It’s 200 pounds. But there was a logistics issue, so we’re delivering half first.”
Yan Xun: “…???”
Say that again, how much?!
At that moment, Chu Tingyun also came out. He handed the delivery guy 500 yuan to help open the box, put half the pears in the fridge and the other half in the kitchen pantry, and then clean up the cardboard boxes.
After all, President Chu didn’t want to touch those dirty boxes, nor did he want his little husband to be burdened, so he simply paid to hire some help on the spot.
The tip was more expensive than the delivery fee, and the delivery guy was quite surprised. But once he got the money, he quickly started working with a big smile.
Yan Xun watched the whole process and finally realized who had bought these 200 pounds of pears.
He felt at a loss for words and asked:
“Chu Tingyun, why did you buy so many pears? You don’t even like pears.”
“But don’t you like them?”
President Chu crossed his arms, as if it were perfectly reasonable.
Yan Xun: “…”
Fine, fine, even if he does like pears.
But 200 pounds of pears?! Who’s supposed to eat all of that?
