Chapter 33 — Taking Care of Your Eyes

On the last day of their honeymoon, Yan Xiuzhi spent his time in a “chase battle” with Zhou Ziyi.

In this so-called “chase battle,” Yan Xiuzhi would be sitting quietly, and Zhou Ziyi would pop up from anywhere, holding eye drops and asking, “Ge, are your eyes okay? Use some eye drops?”

If Yan Xiuzhi cooperated and used the eye drops, then everything would be fine. But if he said “no need,” then things would get out of hand.

Zhou Ziyi would keep asking like an alarm clock that goes off every few minutes, and the language used became more and more “demonic.”

“Ge, want to use eye drops?”

“Mr. Yan, do you need any special service, like having some water?”

“Boss, want to have some fun?”

“Sir, do you want me to serve you?”

President Yan, couldn’t take it anymore: “What are you even saying?”

Zhou Ziyi didn’t dare to say that those were words from old gangster movies, and he didn’t even use them properly. He could only hold the eye drops and say with confidence, “Eye drops are precious, for your own good and mine!”
This time, Yan Xiuzhi remembered where this line came from: “If you know which advertisement slogan this is, just say it!”

Zhou Ziyi blinked innocently, “What advertisement slogan?”

Yan Xiuzhi: “…”

The CEO couldn’t say anything either, because if the roles in the script were mixed up, everything would be chaotic.

Seeing him remain silent, Zhou Ziyi was about to say something again, but Yan Xiuzhi immediately interrupted, “Alright, I’ll use the eye drops, just stop talking!”

Zhou Ziyi finally laughed, a hint of smugness in his bright eyes. Yan Xiuzhi felt that he really needed to deal with him, but at the same time, he silently thought that perhaps only this person was suitable for making such an expression.

If it were someone else doing this, Yan Xiuzhi would have wanted to get rid of them within three seconds.

However, Yan Xiuzhi agreeing to use the eye drops was just the first step of the process. The second step involved a heated discussion about “who would actually administer the drops.”

In short, it was a childish argument like “I’ll do it!” “I’ll do it myself!” After a few minutes of tug-of-war, Yan Xiuzhi, feeling mentally exhausted and reflecting on how he could be drawn into such immaturity, conceded to Zhou Ziyi’s victory.

Then, Zhou Ziyi pressed him to sit down, held his face, and administered the eye drops.

After the drops were applied, Yan Xiuzhi wanted to leave, but Zhou Ziyi stopped him, holding his face in place, “Don’t get up right away, the eye drops might run off!”

Yan Xiuzhi criticized him, “Where did you learn such twisted reasoning from?”

“My mom said so.” Zhou Ziyi covered Yan Xiuzhi’s head with both hands, bowed his head to look at him, and slowly said, “When I was little, after swimming, my mom made me use eye drops. After using them, I had to lie down for three minutes without moving.”

President Yan Xiuzhi actually had a lot more to say.

But when Zhou Ziyi suddenly mentioned his mother, Yan Xiuzhi was afraid that he would be very sad if he continued, hesitated for a moment, and decided not to argue.

Let’s just endure these three minutes with our eyes closed.

Zhou Ziyi was afraid that he would be bored, so he chatted with him, “By the way, speaking of my mom, I reported our situation to my parents.”

Yan Xiuzhi was surprised, thinking that with Zhou Ziyi’s previous good conditions, now marrying for money and a man, he must not be willing to tell the truth to others. But then he thought again, Yan Xiuzhi felt that Zhou Ziyi might have nowhere else to turn to, nowhere to vent, so he ran to confide in his deceased relatives.

Yan Xiuzhi, as if prompted by a devil, asked him, “Did you tell them about the contract marriage?”

Zhou Ziyi smiled, “I told them that there’s a great guy who’s helping me pay off my debts. This great guy is handsome, has a good temper, and has money, so I’ll live with this great guy for three years in peace. He said go east and I won’t go west, and asked me to chase away dogs but not chickens. Anyway, I’m selling my skills, not my body, and found a good job…”
This nonsense made Yan Xiuzhi realize that it was just a made-up joke.

The president said lightly, “I have a good temper?”

Zhou Ziyi didn’t hesitate at all, “Yes!”

Yan Xiuzhi chuckled, “You’re the first person to say I have a good temper.”

Zhou Ziyi was not at all guilty, “That’s because others can’t see clearly!”

“…” Yan Xiuzhi opened his eyes, looked at his watch, “It’s been three minutes.”

With that, he pushed Zhou Ziyi aside and stood up to leave.

Zhou Ziyi waved the handkerchief behind him, “Customer, please come again!”

President Yan entered the master bedroom without hesitation and locked the door.

*
And then, eye washing.
Just like the previous day, Zhou Ziyi sat on the sofa, covered himself with a towel, patted the seat next to him twice, and waited for President Yan to “fall into the trap” automatically. Yan Xiuzhi suspected that this method was similar to calling a dog over, but he had no evidence.

Then President Yan went over and, once again and yet again, lay on Zhou Ziyi’s lap.

He no longer wants to ask Zhou Ziyi why he couldn’t just lie on the outdoor lounge chairs, or even directly on the sofa. After the childish argument of “who will put eye drops,” President Yan had a premonition that “why should I lie on your legs” was also a wave of unproductive nonsense, and he resigned himself to it in advance.

— If I had known this guy had so many quirks, I wouldn’t have admitted to going down to save him.

— It’s hard to buy money. I already knew it.

Feeling mentally exhausted, President Yan dutifully completed the “wash eyes, put in eye drops, apply ointment” routine. Just as he was about to get up, Zhou Ziyi, still wanting to court death, lightly patted his forehead twice, saying, “Alright, Xiao Xiu!”

Yan Xiuzhi narrowed his eyes.
He suddenly sat up, grabbed Zhou Ziyi’s collar, and pushed him down!

“Is it fun to play with me?” The man leaned over to look at the young man, his tone filled with a strong warning, “Don’t push your luck too far.”

Xiao Xiu is how the elders at home address him. Except for relatives, no one else has ever called him that—others don’t have the guts to do so. Zhou Ziyi had been quite well-behaved since his visit to the Yan family. But now, he suddenly learned to call him by this name, which had been tormenting Yan Xiu for the past two days, and he couldn’t hold back anymore.

Zhou Ziyi, who was pressed down on the sofa, was stunned for a second, looking at the man above him, and blinked, “Are you angry?”

“Stop fooling around!” Yan Xiu stared at him. “Do you think that after escaping punishment once, you really think I won’t punish you? Do you think I’m a paper tiger^[1]“Paper tiger” is a calque of the Chinese phrase zhǐlǎohǔ (simplified Chinese: 纸老虎; traditional Chinese: 紙老虎). The term refers to something or someone that claims or appears … Continue reading?”

“…No, I absolutely didn’t mean it like that!” Zhou Ziyi widened his eyes. “I’m just afraid of the silence being awkward, so I just say whatever comes to mind! I didn’t know you didn’t like being called ‘Xiao Xiu’!”

His tone was both surprised and aggrieved, as if he hadn’t expected Yan Xiu to get angry over this point. “Ge, think about it, I didn’t say anything at all. I just said ‘alright,’ that was just a form of address. I just suddenly remembered that someone used to call you that. If you don’t like it, just say so, there’s no need for a domestic violence.”

President Yan, felt like the first half of what was said wasn’t entirely wrong, and his nameless anger dissipated somewhat. But then, as he listened to the rest, he suddenly let go. “I didn’t mean to hit you.”

But even Yan Xiuzhi himself didn’t find this statement very convincing. His legs were entwined with Zhou Ziyi’s, one hand was resting near the man’s head, and the other had just been clutching the other’s collar. With one lean, it was a full-on suppression, like a cage.

Zhou Ziyi was not small, and being held like this made him look genuinely aggrieved.

“It’s not a domestic violence, don’t speak nonsense.”

“…Oh.” Zhou Ziyi, being quite tactful, gave up the playful banter and obediently said, “I understand.”

Yan Xiuzhi seemed to have genuinely misunderstood him, and for a moment, he was at a loss, so he added, as he stood up, “You’ve been talking back too much these past few days, I just want you to listen.”

“Alright, I’ll be obedient from now on.” Zhou Ziyi sat up. Just as Yan Xiuzhi was about to stand up and leave, Zhou Ziyi suddenly raised his hand and cupped his face. “Wait, Ge!”

He was so startled that Yan Xiuzhi, rather than stopping in cooperation, was more like freezing in surprise. “…What?”

Zhou Ziyi stared into the man’s eyes and said, “Ge, it seems like your eyes are still swollen… Haven’t you felt any worse?”

Yan Xiuzhi originally didn’t feel anything, but when Zhou Ziyi said that, he subconsciously raised his hand to touch it.

Smack!

Zhou Ziyi lightly slapped his hand, “Ge! Don’t touch it!”

Yan Xiuzhi: “…” Well, he ended up getting slapped first.

“It feels about the same as yesterday,” Yan Xiuzhi had to admit, “Not worse, but not better either.”

“Ah, you should go to the hospital again after returning to the country, it’s not good to keep going on like this,” Zhou Ziyi stared at him carefully, making Yan Xiuzhi feel uncomfortable until he let go of his hand, “For now, you’ll have to continue using the eye drops.”

Yan Xiuzhi: “Do you have a daily quota to finish a bottle?”

Zhou Ziyi: “Boss, with assets of over a hundred million, why bother saving a bottle of eye drops?”

Yan Xiuzhi: “…”

Mr. Yan didn’t want to argue, so he turned and walked away.

*
Another day passed, the day to leave the island.

Even though it was a midday flight, Zhou Ziyi still got up early to start packing. He was actually very efficient and had a plan for packing, so he didn’t rush. But because the villa was so big, he was used to checking every place for anything left behind… This led him to walk around in circles.

Mr. Yan came out for breakfast in the morning and Zhou Ziyi had already made the first round; Mr. Yan finished packing and came out of the master bedroom, and Zhou Ziyi was still lifting sofa cushions. Mr. Yan was speechless, “Are you checking things or disarming landmines? Do you want to turn this house upside down?”

“Just… out of habit,” Zhou Ziyi said, turning to look at him, “I didn’t used to be like this before, I don’t know when it started, but every time I have to leave, I always feel anxious. Maybe there’s a bit of mental disorders, just ignore me.”

Zhou Ziyi’s tone was quite calm, but for some reason, Yan Xiuzhi suddenly remembered the news he had read before about him hurriedly dropped out of school and returned to China when his parents passed away.
At that time, was he also checking his room over and over again, forcing himself to shift his focus?

Yan Xiuzhi didn’t know what he was thinking, but suddenly said, “You don’t need to go out, I will.”

Zhou Ziyi had just walked to the French window in the living room, he was about to step out and get down the steps, when he heard this, he turned his head to look at him, “Huh? No, your eyes are uncomfortable now, don’t go out to stimulate your eyes.”

Mr. Yan was prepared, he picked up the sunglasses hanging on his collar and put them on, “It’s fine.”

“…Alright, Mr. Cool,” Zhou Ziyi laughed, “Then I’ll leave it to Mr. Yan outside.”

Yan Xiuzhi also came out of the living room and approached him: “You can go back now.”

Zhou Ziyi stood still and didn’t move: “I’ll accompany you, President Yan.”

Yan Xiuzhi: “Are you afraid I’ll overlook something?”

Zhou Ziyi smiled and said, “How could that be? President Yan can handle this villa with ease.”

Yan Xiuzhi ignored him and walked past him.
However, even though he had been walking up the steps for several days, Yan Xiuzhi suddenly stepped into empty space!

“!!!” Zhou Ziyi quickly stepped forward to catch him, then kicked his heel on the step below. Yan Xiuzhi collided firmly into the young man’s arms, and Zhou Ziyi held him tightly, his whole body tensed. Fortunately, there was only one step, and below was flat ground, otherwise they would have both fallen.

“Oh my god…!” Zhou Ziyi finally stabilized himself, sweating from the scare, “You scared me to death!”

Yan Xiuzhi was pressed against the young man, and the heat from the other person had transferred to him, so he hadn’t come to his senses for a moment.
He couldn’t figure out how he had stepped into empty space.

His heart seemed to have belatedly realized, suddenly pounding a few times. Zhou Ziyi, who was close to him, seemed to have sensed it and patted his back, as if consoling him softly.

“Thank goodness I stood firm this time, otherwise my butt would hurt again…” Zhou Ziyi muttered, then turned to Yan Xiuzhi, “Ge? Are you okay? Did you twist anything?”

“…No,” Yan Xiuzhi steadied himself and, taking advantage of the situation, broke free from his embrace, “…Thanks.”

The second time being caught by the young man, Yan Xiuzhi didn’t know if he had been too prone to falling recently, or if Zhou Ziyi had just reacted quickly.

But why was Zhou Ziyi always so willing to desperately grab someone without hesitation? Even if he might fall himself?

Just because he had received money?

“You’re welcome,” Zhou Ziyi paused, staring at him, and said seriously, “But, are you sure you’re not having trouble seeing?”

Yan Xiuzhi didn’t admit it, “No, it was a mistake.”

Zhou Ziyi was skeptical, “Really?”

Yan Xiuzhi replied lightly, “It’s just the sunglasses affecting me.”

Zhou Ziyi reached out to remove his sunglasses and raised a hand gesture, “Ge, how many fingers?”

“Three,” Yan Xiuzhi slapped his hand away, “Stop messing around.”

Zhou Ziyi said, “Wrong, this is six plus one, it should be seven!”

Yan Xiuzhi said, “…Get lost.”