Chapter 47 — The Overbearing CEO’s Date, the Commoners’ Misfortune

Yan Dun was stunned when he saw An Chi dressed like a Christmas tree.

“Young Master Chi, today you...” Yan Dun struggled to find the words. “You’re dressed very differently.”

An Chi, who was narcissistic enough to have been reincarnated from a narcissus flower, naturally assumed Yan Dun was complimenting him and smiled proudly.

“Really?”

Just then, Chen Jiangchen and An Zao arrived in the living room.

Chen Jiangchen’s eyes lit up when he saw Yan Dun.

“Brother Yan! Long time no see!”

Yan Dun smiled at him.

“Young Master Chen, long time no see.”

Then his gaze shifted to An Zao. Instantly, he remembered the basket of bright red roses from the previous night, and his cheeks grew warm.

He suddenly didn't dare look at An Zao directly.

Turning his eyes aside slightly, he put on a professional smile.

“Boss Zao, good morning.”

An Zao's expression remained calm as ever. He simply nodded and looked Yan Dun over.

Unlike An Chi's flashy outfit, Yan Dun was dressed very casually today, not at all like someone preparing for a date.

An Zao recalled how carefully Yan Dun had dressed the previous day and immediately realized that today's outfit had been thrown together without much thought.

Yan Dun wore a black pullover sweater under a practical double-breasted herringbone overcoat, black jeans, and black high-top sneakers. He was dressed entirely in black, with no special design elements or emphasis on appearance.

Comfort and warmth were clearly the priority.

When someone dresses for comfort rather than appearance when going out with you, it usually means they aren't romantically interested in you—unless you've already been married for years.

As a result, An Zao's sense of caution dropped considerably.

Chen Jiangchen, being young, wasn't nearly as complicated. He was simply curious why An Chi was dressed like a Christmas tree and spending Christmas with Yan Dun.

So he asked:

“Brother Yan, what brings you here?”

Yan Dun answered honestly:

“President Chi asked me to be his driver for the day.”

He said it with complete sincerity because that was genuinely what he believed.

When An Chi had invited him yesterday, Yan Dun had even asked, 'So I'm just your driver, right?' And An Chi hadn't denied it.

Chen Jiangchen immediately relaxed.

“Oh, I see!”

He assumed An Chi must be meeting someone else and merely wanted Yan Dun to drive him.

An Zao, however, wasn't satisfied.

“Xiao Chi, you already have drivers and secretaries. Why are you borrowing my secretary to be your chauffeur?”

An Chi still hadn't fully accepted the fact that he was gay and wasn't ready to come out to his family before things were certain.

So he resorted to his usual domineering tone.

“Isn't everyone in the An Corporation my employee? Asking him to work for me is doing him a favor!”

An Zao frowned.

Yan Dun quickly intervened.

“I volunteered.”

He truly had.

Triple holiday pay is too wonderful to pass.

Since Yan Dun was willing and An Chi had already said as much, An Zao couldn't push the matter further without embarrassing both of them.

Still, he wasn't about to let it go entirely.

Turning to Yan Dun, he said:

“If you're tired or uncomfortable, leave whenever you want. Ignore him. He may be the CEO, but I'm your direct supervisor. You don't need to cater to him.”

Yan Dun felt embarrassed by such obvious favoritism.

“Not at all! It's an honor to do work for the An Corporation.”

An Zao's expression softened toward Yan Dun.

Then he turned back to An Chi with the stern authority of an older brother.

“This is my secretary. Going around me to assign him work is overstepping your authority. He was too polite to refuse you, but you should know your limits. There won't be a next time. Understood?”

An Chi hadn't expected to be criticized in front of his cousin and a subordinate.

He suddenly felt aggrieved.

“What? Is this secretary more important than your own brother?”

An Zao wanted to say:

Isn't that obvious, you idiot?

But he kindly refrained.

“I'm simply reminding you to be more thoughtful.”

An Chi instantly responded with a classic CEO line:

“Are you teaching me how to do my job?”

An Zao answered with an equally CEO-like response:

“Yes. Problem?”

“...”

An Chi was speechless.

Seeing the atmosphere become awkward, Yan Dun quickly stepped in.

“Didn't Young Master Chi say we were in a hurry? Shouldn't we get going?”

An Chi seized the opportunity to retreat and left with Yan Dun.

Although An Chi considered this a date, he behaved exactly like the straight-man CEO he had always been.

There wasn't the slightest romantic atmosphere between them, and Yan Dun naturally never considered the possibility.

Following a Christmas dating guide, An Chi first took Yan Dun shopping.

The two stormed through an entire shopping street in about ten minutes.

Because when An Chi went shopping, he literally just walked down the street.

That was it.

Yan Dun simply followed behind him.

Next, according to the guide, An Chi took Yan Dun to the movies.

Unfortunately, An Chi hadn't actually bought tickets.

Yan Dun had to run off and buy them himself.

Since it was Christmas, tickets were nearly impossible to get.

After checking the ticket counter and seeing every screening sold out, Yan Dun's face turned green.

During this time, An Chi even texted:

『 Did you go to Siberia to buy the tickets? Why is it taking so long? 』

Exasperated, Yan Dun asked:

『 Do we absolutely have to watch Christmas Love? 』

『 Yes. 』

An Chi answered firmly.

The guide had said romantic movies increased affection.

What An Chi didn't realize was that Christmas Love was one of the hottest films on Christmas Day.

The only seats left were terrible corner seats.

And Yan Dun couldn't exactly make the CEO sit in the corner.

With no other choice, he called in favors and convinced the theater manager to arrange tickets.

When he finally returned, An Chi complained about how long it had taken.

Apologizing repeatedly, Yan Dun led him into a VIP screening room.

After entering, An Chi looked around and immediately frowned.

“Why are there other people here besides us?”

Yan Dun sighed.

“Bos—I mean, President An. Private screenings have to be reserved in advance. It's difficult to arrange one on such short notice.”

An Chi became furious.

“What? I need a reservation to rent out a theater?”

He immediately called the manager of the An Corporation cinema chain and demanded a private theater.

The manager was horrified but somehow managed to clear an empty screening room for them.

Yan Dun was already used to An Chi's madness and didn't interpret any of this as special romantic treatment.

After the movie ended, they came out to find the manager waiting respectfully by the door, asking about their experience.

An Chi launched into a lengthy stream of useless amateur suggestions.

The manager thought:

What kind of idiot is my boss?

But outwardly he nodded enthusiastically.

“President An's insights are incredibly valuable!”

Apparently intoxicated by the feeling of leadership, An Chi then dragged Yan Dun back to the shopping district.

There, he summoned the manager of one of the company's department stores and demanded to know why the Christmas tree decorations weren't perfectly symmetrical.

The manager once again endured the experience with the internal thought:

You're an idiot.

And the external response:

You're brilliant.

Yan Dun listened nearby, frowning.

Was today's entire purpose really just making everyone's Christmas miserable?

The misery continued until evening.

An Chi took Yan Dun to one of the company's restaurants for dinner and immediately demanded to know why the turkey was so large.

The restaurant manager wiped sweat from his forehead.

“Because... Turkeys are naturally rather large chickens...”

An Chi remained dissatisfied.

He promptly called the An Corporation Biological Research Institute and asked whether they could genetically engineer smaller turkeys.

The institute director, a scholar with principles, replied:

“How much did you even have to drink today?”

Then hung up.

Afterward, he called An Zao and told him to control his ridiculous younger brother.

An Zao had already received reports throughout the day that An Chi was touring company properties and offering countless pointless suggestions.

Unable to follow An Chi's logic, An Zao no longer believed this was a date.

He concluded that An Chi had simply gone crazy, dressed like a peacock, and spent the day harassing people.

Meanwhile, An Chi was furious about being hung up on.

But since the director had been personally recruited by An Zao, he couldn't do anything about it.

Finally, he turned to Yan Dun.

“So, what did you think of today? Did you have a good time?”

Yan Dun thought:

If it weren't for the pay...

Out loud, he nodded.

“It was wonderful. Being able to accompany President An on business inspections was an honor.”

An Chi froze at the phrase business inspections.

“I didn't invite you out today for inspections.”

Yan Dun looked surprised.

“Wasn't it?”

If it wasn't an inspection, then had it just been a day-long campaign of finding fault with people?

An Chi was about to explain.

But his "whenever I'm about to confess, I get interrupted" buff activated.

Just as he was preparing to say he wanted to try dating Yan Dun, two striking figures appeared at the entrance.

Both men looked up.

It was Bai Lisu and Hua Daimao.

Bai Lisu wore a fiery red low-cut evening gown, perfectly embodying the flamboyant villainess aesthetic.

Hua Daimao was dressed equally provocatively.

In the middle of December, he wore a semi-transparent gauze shirt that subtly revealed the perfect marble-like muscles expected of a domineering CEO.

It was enough to drive gay men wild.

An Chi stared at him in shock.

“It's December! You're wearing gauze? Be careful you don't get pneumonia!”

Hua Daimao laughed.

“I didn't expect President An to be concerned about my health.”

An Chi immediately denied it.

“Hmph. I'm concerned about my health. If you expose something and I accidentally see it, I'll get a stye.”

Hua Daimao shook his head.

“That won't happen. I'm wearing nipple covers.”

An Chi looked as though he'd just heard something horrifying.

His expression screamed:

I've been spiritually contaminated.

For several seconds, he couldn't speak.

Taking advantage of the silence, Bai Lisu stepped forward.

“What a coincidence. Shall we share a table?”

An Chi frowned.

“Share a table? What do you think this is, a street food stall?”

Bai Lisu was accustomed to his terrible attitude and simply smiled.

“Sorry, that was thoughtless of me. President An, Secretary Yan, you've both helped me before. Since we've met on such a wonderful day, allow me to offer you a drink.”

As she spoke, she secretly poured in the special drug.

The same one that made the top become hard and the bottom become weak.

Yan Dun watched her drug the drinks right in front of everyone.

He was stunned.

Is she seriously putting something in the drinks?

The Customer Service System answered:

Yes, Customer.

Yan Dun thought:

Are these people blind? Nobody sees this?

The System replied:

Under the influence of plot force, everyone else just happens to be looking somewhere else whenever she drugs someone, Dear Customer.

Yan Dun:

... Are you serious?

Looking around, he discovered that everyone truly was staring in random directions.

Everyone except him, since he wasn't affected by plot force.

His eyes met Bai Lisu's.

The situation became awkward.

She whispered:

“Help me out. Pretend you didn't see anything.”

Yan Dun sighed and nodded.

As the protagonist's destined love interest, he supposed he had to cooperate with the villainess's work too.

Once the drugging was complete, everyone returned to normal.

Bai Lisu poured a glass of wine for An Chi.

“President An, please have this drink.”

An Chi frowned.

“If you tell me to drink and I obey, wouldn't I lose face?”

Bai Lisu thought:

What a bastard.

Switching tactics, she immediately put on a tearful expression.

“Waaah... I suppose I'm not worthy...”

“You're right.”

An Chi showed absolutely no mercy.

Bai Lisu knew he was a jerk.

She hadn't realized he was this much of a jerk.

Feeling lost, she looked at Yan Dun for help.

Yan Dun reluctantly stepped in.

“Well... this appears to be an '82 Château Lafite. Maybe have a glass?”

“I've drunk so much 1982 Lafite I'm sick of it.”

An Chi casually pushed the glass forward.

“If Little Yan likes it, he can drink it instead.”