Chapter 19 – Hua Daimao, the Lawless Maniac

When Hua Daimao opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Yan Dun’s face.

Yan Dun’s appearance perfectly fit what a “universal heartthrob protagonist bottom” was supposed to look like: round deer-like eyes with bright, glossy pupils; a slightly upturned nose that gave him a playful air; and unlike the sharp, heroic brows every domineering CEO seemed to share, Yan Dun’s brows were thinner, softer, and shorter. His whole face looked naturally harmless.

Anyone who saw a face like that would find it hard to dislike him—or even stay guarded around him.

After seeing Yan Dun, Hua Daimao unconsciously relaxed a little.

“So it’s you…”

Yan Dun spoke in a tone that was both concerned and politely distant.

“President Hua, I found you collapsed on the grass beside the path… You seemed injured, so I brought you home. Are you alright? Do you need to go to the hospital?”

“No need. I’m fine.” Hua Daimao shook his head and smiled faintly. “Thank you.”

Yan Dun thought to himself:
These domineering CEOs really are unbelievable. Covered in blood and still no need for a hospital. A single bandage and they’re fine. With physiques like this, no wonder they can commit so many crimes in these novels.

Aloud, he asked, “How did you end up like this? Were you robbed?”

Hua Daimao sighed bitterly. “It’s a long story…”

“Then maybe make it short?”

Hua Daimao chuckled and gave one of those classic wicked CEO smiles.

“You’re interesting.”

Yan Dun’s heart stirred. He hurriedly asked, “So… have I successfully attracted your attention?”

Hua Daimao replied, “You already successfully attracted my attention when you splashed coffee on me.”

Yan Dun was delighted, just as the system notification sounded:

Successfully collected domineering CEO quote: “Woman/Man, you’ve successfully attracted my attention.” ✓

Seeing Yan Dun beam with joy, Hua Daimao misunderstood and said:

“So splashing coffee on me really was your way of getting my attention?”

“Huh?” Yan Dun froze.

Before he could deny it, Hua Daimao continued with another wicked smile.

“Well, it worked.”

At this point, denying it felt more suspicious than admitting it, so Yan Dun changed the subject.

“Forget that. How did you get hurt?”

Hua Daimao raised a brow.

“Are you worried about me?”

Successfully collected domineering CEO quote: “Woman/Man, are you worried about me?” ✓

Yan Dun thought:
These CEOs really can’t speak like normal human beings. And every single one of them is absurdly self-confident.

Helplessly, he replied, “You were lying there covered in blood. Any normal person would worry.”

“But shouldn’t I be your An Corporation’s number one public enemy right now?”

Yan Dun paused.

“That’s… actually a good point.”

Hua Daimao had sent a spy to steal An Corporation’s major game proposal, throwing the executives into chaos and forcing even small fry like Yan Dun to work overtime all night. He really was the number one enemy.

Thinking of that, Yan Dun’s gaze became more cautious.

Hua Daimao laughed awkwardly.

“Do you really think I did it? Do I look like someone who’d stoop so low as to steal a proposal?”

In Yan Dun’s mind, Hua Daimao was absolutely a lawless criminal, so honestly… yes.

Still, considering the saying “seeing someone in person earns them three parts sympathy,” Yan Dun couldn’t exactly say that to his face.

He rubbed his nose and shrugged.

“Then what really happened?”

“My uncle’s faction did it. It had nothing to do with me.”

Yan Dun looked shocked.

“But how could they do something like that without approval from you, the president?”

Hua Daimao pointed at the bloody wound on himself.

“Do I look like I was in any position to object? My uncle wants power, so he arranged to have me assassinated. Luckily, fate’s on my side. I escaped—and then you saved me.”

Yan Dun was horrified.

“Can’t your family just do normal business competition? Why jump straight to murder?”

Hua Daimao looked puzzled.

“Corporate warfare is troublesome. It wastes time and effort. If violence can solve something, why bother using your brain?”

“…”
Yan Dun thought:
Yep. Definitely a lawless maniac.

Seeing Yan Dun’s stunned expression, Hua Daimao smiled.

“Our Hua family has always been like this. We’ve only started cleaning up our image in recent years, but that bloody way of doing things… it seems impossible to change.”

Yan Dun knew what was coming now.

It was time for the mandatory “domineering CEO tragic backstory” segment.

Sure enough, Hua Daimao began recounting his past in detail—basically the standard miserable childhood every CEO protagonist seemed to require.

His handsome face still bore unhealed scars, his deep eyes overflowed with melancholy, and his thin lips spoke sorrowful words:

“I had an unfortunate childhood…”

Honestly, this was no surprise. For domineering CEOs, a tragic childhood was as essential as the wicked smile.

Hua Daimao talked about how cold-blooded his family was, how everyone in the clan were lawless criminals, how growing up in that environment had turned him into one too—though not entirely cold-hearted. Deep down, he still had warmth.

He was the classic type: a cynical exterior hiding a passionate heart.

Yan Dun pitied him a little, but still couldn’t agree with the whole “lawless criminal” thing. However, after someone poured out such tragic life experiences, staying silent would’ve been awkward.

After thinking for a while, Yan Dun awkwardly blurted out:

“Um… are you hungry? Want me to cook you some noodles?”

The embarrassment on his face was obvious.

But Hua Daimao found it cute instead. He snorted with laughter.

“Sure. Add an egg too.”

So Yan Dun cooked him a bowl of noodles.

After eating, Hua Daimao washed up and went to sleep on Yan Dun’s sofa.

As a domineering CEO, Hua Daimao was naturally tall. Curled up on the couch, he actually looked a little pitiful. With his eyes closed and exhaustion on his face, he lacked his usual sharpness and arrogance.

For a moment, he no longer looked like the untouchable young master he usually was.

Yan Dun sighed softly and draped a blanket over him.

Unexpectedly, Hua Daimao suddenly opened his eyes. His gaze was sharp as a blade as he smirked.

“Little Yan’er, since you feel bad for me, how about letting me sleep in your bedroom instead?”

Yan Dun was speechless.

Yep. Still the same flirtatious young master.

He took a step back.

“Go to sleep early.”

Hua Daimao blinked, suddenly looking oddly pitiful.

“The noodles Little Yan’er made were delicious. Can you make me spam-and-egg noodles tomorrow morning too?”

Yan Dun thought:
You’re already ordering food now? Did you even pay?

Still, he felt awkward arguing with an injured man, so he simply said:

“Good night.”

Then he turned and went into his bedroom. Considering there was currently a lawless criminal sleeping in his living room, he made sure to lock the bedroom door.

The next morning, Yan Dun woke up and opened the door, only to find the sofa empty.

The blanket on top had been folded neatly into a perfect square.

On the coffee table sat a note written in bold, elegant handwriting—Hua Daimao’s own:

Don’t casually let bad people into your house in the future.⌝
Oh, and I won’t be eating the spam-and-egg noodles.
⌞I’m afraid I’ll fall in love with you.

This domineering CEO-style line made Yan Dun cringe so hard his scalp tingled.

Was a CEO’s love really that cheap? Could a bowl of spam-and-egg noodles buy it? If so, why didn’t he just marry the owner of the café downstairs?

As Yan Dun silently mocked him, the system notification sounded again:

Successfully collected domineering CEO quote: “I’m afraid I’ll fall in love with you.” ✓

A few days later, An Corporation’s crisis was resolved.

In domineering CEO novels, 90% of all crises are solved through secret recordings, and this time was no exception.

An Chi used his overpowering CEO aura to obtain an audio recording of Hua Corporation’s game planner confessing everything, and uploaded it online.

The entire internet heard the planner proudly saying:

“Hahaha, all thanks to Xiao Niu for stealing the proposal from An Corporation. Now we can copy An Idiot vs. Dumbass. An Chi must be having such a headache right now. I’m such a clever little genius.”

The scandal instantly exploded online.

The game planner had no choice but to publicly admit to shameless plagiarism of An Idiot vs. Dumbass and resign in disgrace.

Taking advantage of the viral attention, An Corporation immediately launched An Idiot vs. Dumbass and scored a huge success.

An Chi won a beautiful comeback victory, and the domineering CEO halo above his head shone even brighter.

As for the uncle who tried to assassinate Hua Daimao—

Hua Daimao threw him into international waters to feed the sharks.

Apparently, Hua Daimao truly lived by the Hua family creed:

“If violence can solve it, why bother thinking?”

And in this lawless domineering CEO world, whether it was corporate espionage against An Corporation or murderous infighting inside Hua Corporation, there seemed to be no law enforcement whatsoever.

Clearly, domineering CEOs were only truly authentic when they were completely above the law.

Yan Dun was still marveling at the absurdity of life when an even bigger surprise arrived.

He woke up one morning, opened his phone—

—and discovered he was trending online.