Chapter 47 – Suffocating From Embarrassment

Zhou Ziyi tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep. By the time he woke up the next day at noon, Yan Xiuzhi had already gone to work.

Zhou Ziyi let out a big sigh of relief.

If Yan Xiuzhi had stayed at home like last time, Zhou Ziyi would have been so embarrassed that he would have wanted to disappear. Even if Zhou Ziyi could handle it himself, he could imagine how Yan Xiuzhi would react.

To be honest, Zhou Ziyi already felt that Yan Xiuzhi was very kind for not throwing him out in the middle of the night along with his belongings. And there was something even more dangerous than that kiss.

Zhou Ziyi had committed the biggest taboo.

It seemed like… he really had feelings for Yan Xiuzhi.

Despite Yan Xiuzhi repeatedly saying not to take it seriously, Zhou Ziyi was treading on dangerous ground. He felt like he was playing with fire. The young man had previously boasted about being “professional,” but he had ended up playing himself, truly experiencing the consequences.

Don’t even mention that Zhou Ziyi was not as determined as before to pursue Yan Xiuzhi. After all, the tower near the water gets the moonlight first ^[1]The original meaning of “the tower near the water gets the moonlight first” is that the tower near the water gets the moonlight first, and later it is a metaphor for getting some benefit … Continue reading. Zhou Ziyi was very clear that if he dared to make a move, Yan Xiuzhi would definitely kick him out before anything happened. If he tried a different tactic, like boiling a frog in warm water, Zhou Ziyi didn’t have the confidence to escape Yan Xiuzhi’s scrutiny. Most likely, before the water temperature even rose, the frog would jump out and overturn the bowl.

After thinking it over, the only way to avoid losing both people and money… is to try to preserve money as much as possible.

Zhou Ziyi felt that he needed to be more clear-headed. He married Yan Xiuzhi for the sake of 30 million yuan. He couldn’t let himself be swayed by some romantic feelings halfway. Breaking off the path to 30 million for an impossible love would probably become a laughingstock online. President Yan was like someone coming to help the poor precisely, and yet Zhou Ziyi, a poor person, would only end up causing trouble for him. If he ended up heartbroken and poor again, he might as well just jump off a bridge.

Looking at it optimistically, even if it was just unrequited love, he could still occupy the position of a legal partner and spend three years together day and night. He didn’t seek eternity, just the experience of having had it. Others might want to experience it but not have the chance, right?

Looking at it even more optimistically, if he ended up not liking Yan Xiuzhi because he saw Yan Xiuzhi’s flaws from spending every day and night together, or if he got tired of it after three years… then wouldn’t it be better to part ways?

Zhou Ziyi could only convince himself in this way.

But even if he convinced himself, Zhou Ziyi still didn’t have the confidence to face Yan Xiuzhi.

Anyway, Yan Xiuzhi left early in the morning and often worked late at night, so it was easy for Zhou Ziyi to avoid him.

So for several days in a row, he stayed behind closed doors, hardly leaving his room except for meals. He even slept in until noon, skipping breakfast.

Zhou Ziyi skipped breakfast, and Yan Xiuzhi’s breakfast was also skipped as a result.

Originally, President Yan used to have noodles, sandwiches, soy milk, coffee, and the like in the morning. Although it wasn’t every day, he could have them for three to five days a week. Now, suddenly stopping for a week, Yan Xiuzhi, who was eating takeout breakfast, suddenly felt… tired of it.

He instructed Li Fei, “Find something new for breakfast tomorrow.”

“Ah?” Li Fei was stunned for a second before fully understanding her boss’s meaning. “…Alright.”

What made the workaholic boss suddenly so picky about breakfast?!

Li Fei complained inwardly, but of course, she didn’t dare to say it. She just said, “By the way, President Yan, I bought ten pairs of glasses. I’m not sure what specific style you want, so I bought sunglasses, regular glasses, and glasses without lenses. You can take a look first. If there’s anything you don’t want or particularly like, I can exchange them.”

Only then did Yan Xiuzhi remember this matter.

This was because there were really few accessories that caught his eye when he looked at Zhou Ziyi. He seemed to like glasses, so Yan Xiuzhi mentioned it to Li Fei. Now that Li Fei brought it up, Yan Xiuzhi’s first reaction was not to see what the glasses looked like, but to suddenly realize that he hadn’t seen Zhou Ziyi in person for a long time.

Since that figure fleeing in a panic disappeared from his sight, how long had it been since he saw him and talked to him? Six days? Seven days?

He also didn’t know if his injuries were healed. That night, he only saw the injuries on his face. Did he have any other injuries on his body…

“President Yan?” Li Fei stood waiting for a few seconds, seeing no movement, and reminded, “Should I bring the glasses over now?”

Only then did Yan Xiuzhi come back to his senses. “…Give them to me.”

Li Fei just went to get the glasses. Ten pairs, each in its own glasses case, all packed in one tote bag. Li Fei put the bag on Yan Xiuzhi’s desk and said, “Mr. Yan, just now, Huang Feichun from X Corporation wanted to make an appointment with you for a chat in the afternoon and asked if you have time.”

Yan Xiuzhi glanced at her and said, “…I’m busy.”

“Do you want to let him know when you are available?”

“No need.”

“Okay, I understand.” Li Fei obediently left the office.

Yan Xiuzhi looked at the bags on his desk and squinted.

— You deliberately sent me a photo of Zhou Ziyi being forcibly kissed, and you still want to take advantage of me?

— Too naive.

*
Zhou Ziyi had been cooped up at home for several days, feeling like he was growing hair all over his body.
But once this avoidance behavior started, he didn’t know how to turn back. After thinking it over, he decided to resume his normal routine starting tomorrow. If he ran into Yan Xiuzhi… so be it.

Are you going to avoid him for more than two years? Impossible!

The decision was made, but after the decision was made, the irritability that he had tried to ignore in the past few days suddenly came back.

Chii! Chii! Chii——!!!

Zhou Ziyi held a digital pen in his right hand and pinched the little white rabbit on the pendant of his mobile phone in his left hand. Although it was noisy, it also relieved stress. But his left hand also had to frequently operate the digital tablet for functions like undo and zoom in and out, so he was quite busy switching between pinching the rabbit and operating the tablet.

While he was drawing, an old client suddenly sent a message. Zhou Ziyi thought there might be new business and casually clicked on it, but was stunned upon reading it.

[Did you use the design I bought from you for a contest? Or did you authorize someone else to use it?]

Below the message was an attached image. It seemed that the results of a contest posted on W blogs, and the first-place image was actually drawn by Zhou Ziyi.

Well, it might not necessarily be the image drawn by Zhou Ziyi, but it looked exactly the same. Zhou Ziyi’s mind stirred, so he downloaded the image and compared it with the original file on his computer. He found that most of it matched, but some details were different, so he became suspicious.

He replied to the other party: [It wasn’t me. I only gave you the original image, and the copyright of this image is yours. Where would I have authorized it?]

After a pause, he added: [I compared the two images, and the structure and color are basically the same, but there are some discrepancies in the details. I suspect that he traced the sample image I posted online. My sample image is only a 300k small image with a large logo, so it’s not easy to draw accurately.]

The other party quickly replied: [Got it! Then I know what to do! Can I post a screenshot of our conversation?]

Zhou Ziyi had just sent out the word “okay” when suddenly there was a knocking on the door.

“!!!”

He startled, turning abruptly to look at the door and asked involuntarily, “Who?”

Yan Xiuzhi’s voice came through, “It’s me.”

After asking, Zhou Ziyi suddenly felt foolish. It was already evening, and besides Yan Xiuzhi, who else would be knocking on the door to his bedroom? If it were a bad person, they would have barged in long ago, right?

But at the moment… he couldn’t quite decide who he’d rather not see, a burglar or President Yan.

He saved the file, gave the white rabbit a squeeze, took a deep breath at the sound of the long “buzz,” and then walked towards the door. As he walked, he silently encouraged himself in his heart, “Zhou Ziyi, you can do this!” “Put on your Oscar-worthy acting skills!” After several rounds of this, he finally put his hand on the doorknob.

Then slowly pressed down, and slowly opened the door.

After a week, the legally married couple finally faced each other again.

At the first sight of Yan Xiuzhi, Zhou Ziyi’s heart skipped a beat.

—Tsk, the effect is almost like a pacemaker.

Yan Xiuzhi appeared quite calm as he held a bag and glanced at Zhou Ziyi. Zhou Ziyi was wearing pajamas, with a slightly flushed complexion, perhaps from just having taken a bath. What was most peculiar was that this guy was holding a digital pen in one hand and a phone in the other, with a small rabbit pendant hanging from it. The phone swayed gently in the air, and it was unclear what was going on.

Zhou Ziyi, who was already feeling awkward, couldn’t bear it when he noticed Yan Xiuzhi’s gaze on him and had to speak under the invisible pressure, “Is there something, Mr. Yan?”

Yan Xiuzhi’s gaze then returned to Zhou Ziyi’s face, and tacitly avoided mentioning the previous kiss, only asking, “Busy?”

“…” Although it was just a normal gaze and casual inquiry, Zhou Ziyi found it difficult to control his heartbeat. He was really weak. He tried to remain composed and said, “Ah, I’m just drawing.”

Without asking further, Yan Xiuzhi simply handed him the bag, “For you.”

“Ah?” Zhou Ziyi unconsciously took the bag and then remembered to ask, “What’s this?”

Yan Xiuzhi replied, “Glasses.”

Zhou Ziyi mechanically repeated, “Glasses?”

Yan Xiuzhi said, “A gift for you.”

Zhou Ziyi widened his eyes, “For me?!”

“Mm.” Yan Xiuzhi couldn’t bring himself to explain the true origin of the glasses. He couldn’t understand what he was thinking at that time, insisting on buying glasses for Zhou Ziyi. Now, looking at the young man’s surprised expression, Yan Xiuzhi felt like he was at a loss for words.

He could only hastily offer an explanation, “A gift from a business partner… they don’t suit me.”

“Oh…” Zhou Ziyi glanced into the bag and was startled, “So many! Are they all for me?”

Yan Xiuzhi replied, “They’re all for you.”

Zhou Ziyi felt like he couldn’t endure it any longer.

Yan Xiuzhi probably only came to get rid of “extra stuff,” but Zhou Ziyi just couldn’t shake the thought of “he gave me a gift!” It felt like he was having delusions. He realized his heart was racing, his face flushing, and if he didn’t hold back, he might expose himself.

“Well, thank you, Mr. Yan,” Zhou Ziyi had to “rush” him, “Is there anything else? If not, I need to continue working on the drawing.”

“Nothing.” Yan Xiuzhi actually wanted to leave as well, but a thought suddenly came to his mind. He couldn’t help adding, “It’s okay to draw, but don’t stay up late every day. Getting up early and eating breakfast is good for your health.”

Zhou Ziyi didn’t immediately understand why he mentioned breakfast, and casually replied, “Okay, I got it…” Before he could finish speaking, the young man suddenly realized, “Sorry, Mr. Yan, I haven’t gotten up to make breakfast for you in the past few days.”

Yan Xiuzhi didn’t necessarily expect him to make breakfast, but even Mr. Yan himself felt like his words just now sounded like he was urging breakfast. He had to say, “It’s okay, you don’t need to worry.”

“No, I really should go to bed early, get up early, and have breakfast.” Zhou Ziyi clearly wanted to avoid Yan Xiuzhi, but couldn’t resist the impulse deep in his heart. He hesitantly asked, “President Yan, do you have anything you want to eat tomorrow morning?”

Yan Xiuzhi: “…Anything is fine.”

Zhou Ziyi: Success! He didn’t distance himself from me!

The young man didn’t know why he was excited (or anxious) and subconsciously pinched his fingers a few times.

Little White Rabbit: “Chii! Chii—!!”

Zhou Ziyi then realized that he had actually brought the rabbit along.

Startled by the sound, Yan Xiuzhi frowned and said, “Why did you press that again? It’s too noisy.”

“Sorry, sorry.” Zhou Ziyi quickly turned his head and threw the phone on the bed. “So, President Yan, do you have anything else?”

“…Nothing.” Yan Xiuzhi nodded slightly. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

Zhou Ziyi replied, and after Yan Xiuzhi left, he closed the door, leaned against it, hugged the bag, and let out a long sigh, “Sigh…”

On the other side, Yan Xiuzhi also went upstairs.

Unconsciously, he recalled the conversation with Zhou Ziyi, and he felt that something was off. After thinking about it, Yan Xiuzhi suddenly realized.

— He… didn’t call me “brother” anymore?