When An Xun woke up again, it was already daylight outside, but the blackout curtains were so effective that he couldn’t tell how bright the sun was.

His body still felt sore, so he couldn’t go anywhere. He just lay there, like a corpse on the bed.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a brand-new phone placed next to the pillow. It hadn’t been locked, and all his data had been perfectly transferred over. He opened WeChat, and the first thing he saw was a conversation on his secondary account, with the company boss at the top of the chat list.

Bo Xiangzhou had already requested leave for him again, and the leave request had been written in a way that his boss really appreciated.

An Xun pouted. Wow, fifteen lines of flattery and human relations skills—what a waste that he didn’t go work for him in the company!

None of his photos or videos were missing either. Bo Xiangzhou’s thoughtfulness was beyond expectations, and An Xun was increasingly convinced that liking an older man was definitely the right choice.

Older men weren’t childish, knew how to take care of people, and were rich.

He dialed Bo Xiangzhou’s number, but he didn’t pick up. Moments later, Bo Xiangzhou appeared, having closed his laptop and walked over from the study, declining the call only after stepping into the bedroom.

Bo Xiangzhou checked his temperature with the back of his hand, finding it normal, and finally relaxed. He called Uncle Lin to bring a bowl of pumpkin and cod porridge, kept warm in the pot, and started feeding it to An Xun, one spoonful at a time.

After a few bites, An Xun lost interest. “It’s tasteless. Too bland.”

“Eat light for today, and tomorrow we can adjust to your taste,” Bo Xiangzhou insisted, making him finish half the bowl before asking, “Does it still hurt?”

“No, just sore. Can you massage it for me?”

Bo Xiangzhou applied the right amount of pressure, and An Xun closed his eyes in comfort, nestling into his arms, feeling like he could doze off again.

“Baby, can we talk about what we didn’t have time to discuss last night?” Bo Xiangzhou asked gently.

An Xun was startled awake. “What? What is there to discuss?”

“The things you lied about.”

If it had only been for money, An Xun wouldn’t have gone to such lengths, sacrificing his freedom like this. Without some other motive, no amount of money would have been enough for him to give up his freedom. After all, he had been living just fine before. Unless there was another purpose.

An Xun tried to change the subject. “Hubby, aren’t you tired after sleeping so little?”

“I didn’t sleep at all last night. I was in the study handling work. I’d like to sleep now, but there’s still something I need to clarify. So, baby, stop stalling. Just be honest, I won’t do anything to you.” Although he hadn’t slept all night, Bo Xiangzhou didn’t show any signs of fatigue. With his Alpha physique, his stamina was excellent, and rather than being exhausted from last night’s activities, he looked even more energized.

“Are you threatening me?”

Fine, he was scared now.

After hesitating for a while, An Xun finally sorted his thoughts and said, “The reason I agreed to the marriage was, first of all, because I… well, you know, young people get involved in some colorful activities to fit in with other young people. That’s a bit off-topic, though. The main reason was that I wanted you to fall in love with me and help me get revenge on the An family. The An family is already in a miserable state, but to be honest, they haven’t suffered as much as I’d hoped.”

The motive of revenge was consistent with his behavior, so Bo Xiangzhou asked, “What kind of revenge are we talking about? Acquiring An’s assets?”

“No, I wanted to bankrupt them,” An Xun said weakly, looking up at him. “I want to see them turn into homeless people.”

“Baby, that’s a little too idealistic.”

“You can’t do it?” Had he misjudged him?

Bo Xiangzhou flicked his forehead gently. “It’s not that. They’re not going to become homeless. At most, they’ll become outcasts, barely scraping by. Acquiring them would be easy, but bankrupting them takes time. Without a fatal weakness to exploit, it’s a gradual process. You’d need to chip away at them, stir up scandals, and damage their reputation. Once the market turns against them and no new investors want to join, we could create internal chaos in the company. With enough internal strife, the company will face various challenges. If you cut ties with them, any potential rescuers will think twice before deciding whether the company is worth saving. Only when that happens will the An family eventually go bankrupt.”

“The An family is doing fine right now; there aren’t any obvious problems. Baby, if you want to see them go bankrupt, you’re going to have to wait a while.”

Bo Xiangzhou had a massive empire, but openly suppressing the An family would be too obvious.

After thinking for a moment, Bo Xiangzhou said, “There’s actually one way, though I’m not sure if old fox An Zhicheng would fall for it. There’s that unfinished construction project in the northern part of the city. The Cheng family considered buying it for further development, but they had someone inspect the foundation and found it faulty. It could lead to the buildings collapsing and the ground cracking, so they passed on it. If An Zhicheng takes on this mess, it’ll be the end of him in the business world.”

“President Bo, I didn’t realize you were so skilled at underhanded tactics.”

“I’m doing it for you.”

The An family really was despicable. If it worked, it would be poetic justice—losing a precious gem while holding onto a worthless pebble, completely blind to their mistake.

“Baby, I wish I’d met you sooner.”

“How much sooner? Not too early, though. If it were too early, it would’ve been illegal.”

“I wouldn’t make a move on a child.”

“Really?” An Xun’s eyes sparkled mischievously as he suddenly smiled. “President Bo, were you planning to adopt me? Let’s see… when I was eighteen, you were twenty-seven. That’s a decent age gap.”

Only someone like An Xun, with his cheeky personality, could turn a tender conversation in this direction.

Bo Xiangzhou chuckled, half-annoyed, half-amused. “What are you thinking, baby? Do you really see me as that kind of person?”

“No, you’re not.” He really wasn’t a beast. He just looked like one of those refined villains. After last night, An Xun realized how truly gentle he was.

“Still feeling uncomfortable?”

“Not uncomfortable.”

Feeling bolder after their intimate night, An Xun spread his arms toward him. Bo Xiangzhou wrapped him in the blanket and held him. An Xun bit down on his Adam’s apple, causing him to frown slightly, then kissed his lips before whispering in his ear, “Actually, you could be a little rougher.”

After saying that, he slid like a fish back under the covers, using some strength to roll out of Bo Xiangzhou’s arms. “Alright, let’s get serious. Did you figure out An Xin’s motive?”

“That’s Cheng Song’s business. I’m only responsible for you right now.”

“You haven’t contacted him?”

“No.”

A little disappointed, An Xun lowered his head and frowned.

Bo Xiangzhou had planned to hold him and nap for a bit, but seeing his expression, he immediately dialed Cheng Song.

An Xun stretched his neck. “An Xin said last night that he planned to use that stuff on Cheng Song.”

There was no need to call; the motive was obvious.

Just as Bo Xiangzhou was about to hang up, Cheng Song answered. “If you’ve got something to say, say it. I’m busy.”

“Did you figure out what’s going on with An Xin?”

“You’ve gotten pretty nosy, huh?” Cheng Song regretted his words immediately. It wasn’t Bo Xiangzhou who was nosy; it must have been the person beside him pushing him to make the call. “No, he wouldn’t say anything.”

“Oh, then I’ll tell you. He wanted to turn the fake into reality,” Bo Xiangzhou said, smoothing down An Xun’s messy hair. “The drug was meant for you. He just didn’t succeed due to outside interference.”

Cheng Song paused. “Looks like that drug really is powerful. You’re actually willing to talk this much today.”

“…”

Bo Xiangzhou pressed An Xun’s head back into the blanket and walked out of the room. The last thing An Xun heard was him saying, “Keep an eye on An Xin,” before everything went silent.

Keep an eye on An Xin? For what?

An Xun couldn’t figure it out.

When Bo Xiangzhou returned, he held An Xun in his arms, and they took a nap together. An Xun didn’t move at all. His body was too exhausted, and after scrolling through some entertainment news, he started feeling sleepy again. He put his phone aside and dozed off, their breaths gradually syncing as they slept.

By the third day, An Xun was back to bouncing around, but Bo Xiangzhou still wouldn’t let him return to work. After a week of being pampered, he was more than happy to go back to the office.

If he lay around any longer, he’d waste away. It was only now that he understood what people meant when they talked about being spoiled.

He had always known his husband had some money, so when Bo Xiangzhou assigned him a personal driver, he didn’t refuse.

It was too cold to wait for a car, and leaving right after work was more convenient.

An Xun asked Bo Xiangzhou to buy a car for a few hundred thousand yuan. At that moment, Bo Xiangzhou’s expression had been priceless. An Xun didn’t feel embarrassed, though—after all, a few hundred thousand was still quite expensive. But when he followed the driver to the parking garage, he was stunned.

The car looked out of place among all the luxury vehicles. If cars had emotions, he feared this one might fall into a depression.

As he strolled along, munching on a roasted sweet potato he’d bought on the roadside, the delicious smell wafted into the company. The company was pretty laid-back, and his coworkers were friendly. Although the smell was distracting, no one said anything. They just cried silently inside, craving roasted sweet potato while working.

One of his female coworkers, someone he was close to, asked, “Why didn’t you come in last week?”

“I—” An Xun’s mind sparked with inspiration. “I hurt my back.”

“That sounds serious. I didn’t think someone your age would have back problems. Does it happen often?”

An Xun wasn’t sure why she was asking about this. “Not often.”

“Then I won’t recommend any pain relief patches. But if you hurt it again, you should give them a try. I pull my back often, and this brand works wonders.” She opened her shopping cart, full of cosmetics, and found the patches.

An Xun opened his phone, too. Since he’d already lied, he had to keep up the act.

She went on and on about the benefits of the patches, and An Xun nodded at every point. It wasn’t until another coworker reminded them that the boss was coming that they realized they’d been chatting for nearly half an hour.

That day, An Xun only finished two e-commerce banners. The rest of the time, he was busy flirting with Bo Xiangzhou.

He kept trying to start silly conversations, but Bo Xiangzhou wouldn’t bite, which only made him want to push it further.

He wanted to see how long Bo Xiangzhou could remain composed.

[No Calling Me Baby]: Hubby, does this look good?

It was a pink sheer nightgown, the kind couples would wear for intimate occasions.

[Hubby]: Not good.

An Xun: “?” Was he questioning his taste? He had spent forty minutes looking for something to spice things up!

Without thinking too much, An Xun placed the order in a fit of passion. After paying, he blushed because a coworker who had come to borrow something accidentally saw it.

The embarrassed coworker quickly tried to leave. “Uh… my charging cable broke. Can I borrow yours?”

“Sure.” An Xun unplugged the charging head and handed him the cable.

[No Calling Me Baby]: My reputation’s ruined! Someone saw it! It’s all your fault.

Knowing how to pamper him, Bo Xiangzhou played along and replied: It’s all my fault.