AAMIBBSBY 21

Shen Shixiao’s broad and straight back visibly stiffened. Then, using his palm, he gently stroked along Xia Zhi’s trembling back. His gaze fell on the cake that was already ruined beyond recognition. 

After seeming to think it over carefully, he comforted, “It’s okay… it just looks a bit ugly. It can still be eaten.”

The expression of the boy behind him changed slightly, carrying a bit of astonishment. 

Is he sure this cake can still be eaten?

Xia Zhi sniffled, his eyes staring aggrievedly at that piece of Black Swan cake. 

So embarrassing, wuwu. 

However, my heart really aches for it!

“I’ll pick it up then.” 

Saying this, Xia Zhi got up and walked over to the cake. His tone was full of pity. “The appearance is a bit poor, but the taste should be good.”

At this time, the boy behind them suddenly interrupted, “This cake isn’t even expensive, is it really necessary?”

Hearing this, Shen Shixiao turned around slightly. His tone was cold. “I already know about the matter you mentioned. Aren’t you leaving yet?”

This boy was named Chen Cheng. He could be considered a childhood friend of Shen Shixiao. When they were young, he often chased after his butt¹A common, slightly crude but affectionate Chinese idiom for a younger child trailing constantly behind an older child to play. to play. However, his personality was arrogant and spoiled, and Shen Shixiao really disliked him.

Chen Cheng’s lips curled and he looked at Xia Zhi. “Shixiao-ge, who is this person?”

Shen Shixiao’s expression was indifferent. He walked to Xia Zhi’s side and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. “My legal partner.”

Xia Zhi, holding the cake box, quietly rubbed against Shen Shixiao’s embrace. The gaze he directed at Chen Cheng was pure and innocent. 

Blebleble, we are legal!

“Oh, so he is that one from the Xia family.” Chen Cheng obviously had heard about the marriage alliance between Xia Zhi and Shen Shixiao. He stared at that piece of cake with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

It seems the two of them aren’t that close. Otherwise, Xia Zhi wouldn’t be so broke that he would cry like that over a dropped cake.

“If Xia-gege likes eating Black Swan’s cakes, I can give you their VIP card.” 

The underlying meaning was, If you want to eat, just tell me. Is it necessary to be so stingy? 

After saying this, he still felt it wasn’t enough, and added another sentence, “Shixiao-ge, really, you too. Since Xia-gege likes eating it, you should buy more for him.”

Shen Shixiao was long accustomed to his green tea remarks. Leading Xia Zhi by the hand, he walked towards the office’s leisure area, leaving behind only one sentence: “I don’t have money, he has my salary card.”

Chen Cheng stiffened, his smile freezing.

At this time, Xia Zhi blinked his eyes and mumbled, “The cake isn’t dirty. The scientists responsible for researching food so you can eat your fill work so hard, we absolutely cannot waste food. Therefore, there’s no need for you to buy it for me, thank you.”

Chen Cheng was choked up with nothing to say. Seeing the two sitting around the dining table preparing to eat the cake, treating him like air, he realized he was asking for a snub and left resentfully. 

However, the task his father gave him could be considered half-accomplished, so he reckoned he wouldn’t be scolded too miserably upon returning home.

Only the two of them were left in the office. Xia Zhi carefully opened the cake box. “This was given to me by the staff when I was shooting a commercial. I originally wanted to bring it to eat together with you, but unfortunately, I ruined it.”

Xia Zhi, who had just finished shooting the commercial, hadn’t removed his makeup yet. Compared to his usual bare face, he looked a bit more bright and stunning. 

However, both were good-looking.

His fingers slightly curled, Shen Shixiao rested his head on them. The cuffs of his white shirt were gently rolled up. On his beautiful, lean, and strong wrist, he was wearing the wristwatch Xia Zhi had given him. 

He murmured, “It doesn’t matter, the taste shouldn’t have changed. Let’s taste it.”

Xia Zhi looked up in surprise. “You want to eat it too?”

Shen Shixiao: “Why not?”

Xia Zhi thought that Shen Shixiao was just casually comforting him just now; he didn’t expect the other party actually intended to eat it too. 

Is this still a domineering CEO? 

Don’t domineering CEOs refuse to eat leftovers, refuse to eat ugly things, and bathe in milk? 

However, this wasn’t bad either. It made it convenient for Xia Zhi to carry out his next plan. Last night he searched online for the “Little White Flower Dating Manual,” which taught him a trick: 

When you feed something to your target, you must keep the cutlery in your own hands. This way, you can pretend to use it inadvertently, and after eating, express innocently and purely: Oh my! We used the same cutlery!

The distance between hearts is built upon using the same cutlery. 

The sparks between the two go whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Xia Zhi grew more excited the more he thought about it. He slowly and methodically cut off a piece of cake, his eyes slightly lowered, preparing to find an opportunity to strike.

“This piece looks pretty good, you eat first.” Xia Zhi raised his head with a beaming smile, his eyes looking sweet, obediently offering the spoon to Shen Shixiao’s lips.

Shen Shixiao’s expression shifted slightly, his gaze pausing. 

He immediately opened his mouth and ate the cake.

Xia Zhi, holding the spoon that Shen Shixiao had eaten from, was as excited as a little mouse seeing cheese. The corners of his mouth secretly curling up, he gently scooped up a piece with the spoon. 

Now is the time!

“Mm, the taste is not bad.”

Xia Zhi lowered his shy eyes, dawdling for a long time before gently raising his head.

However, what he met was Shen Shixiao’s complex gaze. 

That’s not right, where are the sparks? 

Wuwuwu, the manual lied to him!

Shen Shixiao pursed his lips. “I caught a chill yesterday. Got a viral cold—it’s contagious.”

Xia Zhi held the spoon to cover up his embarrassment. 

“Haha, my immunity is strong, I’m not afraid…”

A meticulously designed shared-cutlery segment ended in embarrassment just like this. 

Xia Zhi bit into the cake, weeping secretly.

After eating his fill, Xia Zhi sat lazily on the sofa, not wanting to move. Shen Shixiao had taken his medicine and felt a little dizzy. Planning to go home together with Xia Zhi after his meeting, he kept him there for a little while longer.

Bored with nothing to do, Xia Zhi, like a wriggling caterpillar, wrapped himself in a soft blanket and scrolled through Weibo on the sofa. 

His followers had already reached 4 million. Recently, his follower count had been growing very quickly, and his direct message inbox was overflowing every day.

Shiming Home Furnishings acted very swiftly. As soon as the rough-cut promotional images came out, they couldn’t wait to post a character silhouette on Weibo, telling everyone they had a spokesperson. 

The fans underneath were very active, listing the names of many popular young idols. Xia Zhi scrolled for a long time and finally saw a little angel say that the silhouette looked like him. 

Xia Zhi clutched his phone gleefully. So this is the happiness of having fans.

Without realizing it, his eyelids grew heavy, and he fell asleep curled up on the sofa. 

When he woke up, he found that the blanket on him had an extra thick layer, and under his head, a pillow had appeared at some unknown time. 

Wuwuwu, it must have been Shen Shixiao who covered him. 

So considerate!

Looking towards the nearby office desk, he just noticed that Shen Shixiao’s posture seemed different from usual. It seemed like he was slumped over the desk, asleep. 

Was his narcolepsy acting up?

He was just about to go over when a knock came from the office door. 

He answered, “Enter.”

The assistant brought in a man over 50 years old. The wrinkles between his brows tightly pinched together, looking deeply scheming and calculating. 

He was wearing a black suit. Looking at the name of the document in his hand, he should be a high-level executive of the Shen Group.

The man was addressed as President Xu by the assistant. He looked at the sleeping Shen Shixiao with calm leisure and slowly asked, “Has President Shen’s narcolepsy still not been cured?”

The assistant: “Right, the doctor said it’s very hard to cure completely.”

President Xu smiled a little. Xia Zhi’s intuition told him this old man Xu was not a loyal person, and definitely not a good sort.

“Since that’s the case, I’ll come back another day.” Before leaving, President Xu glanced at Xia Zhi, narrowing his eyes meaningfully as he pushed up his glasses.

After the assistant left, Xia Zhi quietly went to Shen Shixiao’s side. 

Is this narcolepsy really that hard to cure completely? 

However, it doesn’t matter—he wouldn’t disdain Shen Shixiao. 

It can be… read-cough cough-treated²“读” (dú) means to read out loud. “咳咳” (ké ké) is the sound of coughing. Xia Zhi is playfully/awkwardly covering up his silly idea that he can cure Shen Shixiao’s sleep disorder by reading him a story.. 

With him always by his side, there’s nothing to fear.

Opening his phone, Xia Zhi searched for a long time, and finally selected a book titled The Yandere³Originally a Japanese loanword (“Yandere”). It describes a character archetype who is intensely, obsessively, and often dangerously/violently in love with someone. Top Student’s Obedient and Soft Sweetheart.

Clearing his throat, he began to read aloud with emotion.

【Top Student Shen: “You can’t even do such a simple question? How should I punish you? Hmm?”

Sweetheart Xia’s delicate and small face welled up with grievance. “Wuwuwu, I just don’t know how!”

Top Student Shen: “Starting from today, for every wrong question, a kiss.”

Sweetheart Xia blanked for a moment, clutching his school uniform. “No!”

Top Student Shen coaxed, “If not that, then call me Gege?”】

Reading up to here, Xia Zhi paused slightly, staring blankly at Shen Shixiao’s full, fair forehead.

“Gege!”

“Zhizhi likes you~”

Wuwuwu, he’s so pretentiously delicate! 

Slowly leaning close to Shen Shixiao’s side, Xia Zhi propped up his chin, unconsciously humming the little tune in his heart. 

“You love me~ I love you~ Zhizhi and Xiaoxiao are sweet as honey~”⁴This is a hilarious real-world pop culture reference. Xia Zhi is parodying the massively viral, inescapable theme song for the Chinese bubble tea and ice cream chain Mixue Bingcheng (蜜雪冰城). The original lyrics are: “You love me, I love you, Mixue Bingcheng is sweet as honey” (你爱我，我爱你，蜜雪冰城甜蜜蜜). Xia Zhi swapped the brand name for their own nicknames (“Zhi Zhi and Xiao Xiao”).

Shen Shixiao’s slightly unfurled fingers suddenly curled shut.

• 1
  A common, slightly crude but affectionate Chinese idiom for a younger child trailing constantly behind an older child to play.
• 2
  “读” (dú) means to read out loud. “咳咳” (ké ké) is the sound of coughing. Xia Zhi is playfully/awkwardly covering up his silly idea that he can cure Shen Shixiao’s sleep disorder by reading him a story.
• 3
  Originally a Japanese loanword (“Yandere”). It describes a character archetype who is intensely, obsessively, and often dangerously/violently in love with someone.
• 4
  This is a hilarious real-world pop culture reference. Xia Zhi is parodying the massively viral, inescapable theme song for the Chinese bubble tea and ice cream chain Mixue Bingcheng (蜜雪冰城). The original lyrics are: “You love me, I love you, Mixue Bingcheng is sweet as honey” (你爱我，我爱你，蜜雪冰城甜蜜蜜). Xia Zhi swapped the brand name for their own nicknames (“Zhi Zhi and Xiao Xiao”).