Chapter 42

Chapter 42

When Ye Weian arrived at Xiangzhang Lanting, Zhou Huaichen was waiting for him at the entrance.

Winter had already set in, and Zhou Huaichen stood tall and elegant in the winter sunlight, wearing a long coat and a scarf.

Ye Weian admired the man's imposing figure and strode over.

—"So handsome!"

—"I wanna jump him!"

Zhou Huaichen's lips curved, and he stepped forward, gently taking his hand. "Are you cold?"

The man's large palm was warm, enveloping his fingers.

Feeling the warmth transmitted through his hand, Ye Weian shook his head. "Not cold."

His gaze remained fixed intently on Zhou Huaichen, as if trying to make up for the half month of lost time.

Zhou Huaichen met his eyes, his own gaze brimming with intense, lingering longing.

Ye Weian took a deep breath and said, "Let's go inside."

—"Let's get a private room!"

—"I want hugs and touches!"

Zhou Huaichen reined in his surging emotions, placed Ye Weian's hand into his coat pocket, and led him inside.

Before Ye Weian arrived, Zhou Huaichen had already reserved a private room.

The two pushed the door open and entered, leaving the bodyguards outside.

Inside the spacious private room, they were alone.

Ye Weian and Zhou Huaichen stood facing each other, and Ye Weian called out, "A Chen."

Zhou Huaichen gazed at him with deep, intense eyes.

Ye Weian's eyes were equally fervent. "It's been thirteen whole days since we last saw each other!"

—"I need a kiss!"

Zhou Huaichen pulled him into his arms, lowered his head, and kissed him deeply.

Ye Weian immediately responded enthusiastically, with passion and boldness.

It was an exceptionally intense kiss, the two devouring each other as if trying to convey their two weeks of longing.

When the kiss ended, Zhou Huaichen rested his forehead against Ye Weian's and said in a hoarse voice, "I missed you so much."

He kissed Ye Weian's forehead, kissed his cheek, and finally pressed close to Ye Weian, nuzzling him. A sweet grape scent enveloped Ye Weian.

Ye Weian's heart pounded wildly.

—"Ah, why isn't there a bed here?"

—"I want to get into bed!"

Zhou Huaichen: "..."

His Adam's apple bobbed. Remembering how this person had stirred with desire in his arms at the inn on Yong Mountain that day, his body stirred with uncontrollable desire.

But... this wasn't the right place.

After a long while, he finally calmed down and said softly, "Let's eat first."

Knowing he had just gotten off the plane and must be hungry, Ye Weian could only say with regret, "Okay."

He then leaned in and kissed the man's cheek and said, "I like this surprise."

—"Piggy is the biggest surprise!"

But the system bounced around in his mind: "That's it? That's it?"

The system: "No flowers, no gifts? President Zhou isn't cutting it!"

Ye Weian retorted without hesitation: "A Chen is doing just fine!"

The system: "..."

Host, stop driving so recklessly!

Ye Weian: "What do you know? Flowers and gifts are too cliché."

Ye Weian: "A Chen giving himself to me as a surprise is so much better!"

The system: "..."

Already defending him like this...

Ye Weian was about to continue arguing.

But Zhou Huaichen suddenly retrieved a bouquet of flowers from the counter behind him and handed it to Ye Weian, saying, "It's my first time giving flowers. I don't know if you'll like them."

Ye Weian: "..."

The system exclaimed: "President Zhou is so cliché!"

Ye Weian: "...Shut up!"

Ye Weian: "I like cliché."

The system: "..."

Host, should you just engrave the words 'double standard' on your forehead?

Ignoring the system, Ye Weian took the flowers and said, "I like them."

He wasn't particularly fond of flowers, but seeing such a large, vibrant bouquet lifted his spirits.

The bouquet contained bellflowers and roses, their meanings symbolizing love, which made him even happier.

Zhou Huaichen said quietly, "I heard giving flowers is the first step in pursuing someone."

Ye Weian reached out and gently touched the petals, encouraging him. "Good job."

—"Piggy seriously pursuing his sweetheart is so cute."

Zhou Huaichen curled his lips and took out a red velvet box, handing it to him.

Ye Weian accepted the box and opened it; inside lay a ruby cufflink.

He looked at Zhou Huaichen in surprise.

Zhou Huaichen said gently, "I happened upon an auction abroad and thought it would suit you, so I bought it."

He knew Ye Weian liked collecting gemstones and had deliberately made inquiries to purchase this cufflink.

This time, Ye Weian did not refuse his gift but instead began thinking about what to give him in return.

He couldn’t just keep accepting without giving back.

He placed the flowers and gift on the nearby coffee table, then threw his arms around Zhou Huaichen’s neck and said softly, "I really like it."

Zhou Huaichen wrapped an arm around his waist and kissed him again.

When they parted, Ye Weian traced Zhou Huaichen’s back lightly and said, "Don’t go on such long business trips anymore. Ye Yi and Ye Er, our two silly sons, have been missing you so much they can’t sleep."

—"I just won’t tell him it’s actually *little cabbage* who’s been missing him."

Zhou Huaichen’s voice was husky and deep: "Okay."

He kissed Ye Weian’s forehead and said apologetically, "I said I wanted to court you, but then I disappeared for so long. It’s my fault."

Originally, he was supposed to stay abroad for fifteen days, but to return early and see this person, he expedited his tasks and came back two days ahead of schedule.

He missed him so much.

Ye Weian tweaked his ear: "I forgive you."

Zhou Huaichen gave a soft laugh, kissed his lips, and guided him to the table to sit down, saying, "I remember you like the fish here. I asked the kitchen to prepare it."

The owner of Xiangzhang Lanting was familiar with him, so the kitchen naturally complied with his request without issue.

Ye Weian was momentarily speechless.

Last time, someone had ordered steamed perch, and he had eaten a little more of it. He hadn’t expected Zhou Huaichen to remember.

This person truly held him close to heart.

The Zombie King’s heart beat wildly.

—"Aww, my darling is the best darling in the world."

The system was also moved: "Aww, so sweet."

The system: "Mr. Zhou, I won’t call you cheesy anymore."

Ye Weian: "..."

During the meal, Ye Weian asked about Zhou Huaichen’s work, and Zhou Huaichen said everything had been resolved smoothly.

Zhou Huaichen then asked about his life over the past half-month.

Ye Weian shrugged: "Very fulfilling. Work, dealing with Yan Qing, messing with the brat."

—"And missing you."

Zhou Huaichen hesitated mid-action while serving him food.

He gently touched Ye Weian’s face with his other hand, as if expressing regret for his long business trip.

Ye Weian glanced at him: "It’s fine, I’m doing well. When I’m in a bad mood, I vent it on the brat."

Zhou Huaichen chuckled.

He knew the brat was Ye Weian’s younger cousin, Ye Jia. During their video calls, Ye Weian had occasionally mentioned Ye Jia.

"His father is your third grandfather’s second son. He’s overlooked in the family and isn’t particularly capable, but he’s quite honest," he mused. "Ye Jia is kind-hearted by nature. It’s fine to keep him around."

Ye Weian hummed in agreement.

He had naturally considered this as well, which was why he had asked Ye Jia to work at the company. If it were any other cousin, he wouldn’t have been so kind.

As they chatted, the meal quickly ended.

Unlike his usual post-meal laziness, Ye Weian gazed intently at Zhou Huaichen and said eagerly, "I’ll see you home."

—"Full stomach, then bed!"

A gleam of desire flashed in Zhou Huaichen’s eyes, but in the end, he only gave Ye Weian’s hand a squeeze and said, "No rush. I have another surprise for you."

Ye Weian let out a soft ‘oh?’.

Besides flowers and gemstones, there was another surprise?

He immediately grew excited.

The system tried to dampen his spirits: "The gift is probably very cheesy."

Ye Weian: "...A ruby cufflink—is that cheesy?"

Ye Weian: "You have no taste."

The system: "..."

Zhou Huaichen didn’t take out a gift but instead held Ye Weian’s hand and opened the private dining room door.

Ye Weian tilted his head: "?"

Zhou Huaichen said softly, "Patience."

Ye Weian was curious but didn’t ask.

As soon as they walked out, he saw Chi Li entering the private dining room at the end of the hallway—he had never met Chi Li, but the original host knew him, so he naturally recognized Chi Li’s back.

He remarked in surprise, "Chi Li? What is he doing here?"

At that moment, the system excitedly broke in: "Host, the second mission has been triggered! Put down Chi Li!"

The system: "Progress against Yan Qing is 80%, progress against Chi Li is 0%."

Ye Weian: "..."

So Chi Li is the second mission?

For him, whether it was putting down Yan Qing or Chi Li, the tasks seemed rather simple.

The two walked back to the private room, and Zhou Huaichen said, "He's here to meet someone. Let's wait ten minutes."

Ye Weian was even more curious.

But Zhou Huaichen didn't seem like he was going to explain, so Ye Weian didn’t ask.

Ten minutes later, Zhou Huaichen opened the door: "Time's up, let's go out."

Ye Weian just went "Mm."

Chi Li happened to step out of his private room at the same time and spotted them right away.

His face darkened as he walked over, his eyes looking them over carefully. "President Zhou, President Ye, here for a meal?"

If you looked closely, you could see he was wary.

He had just met someone and suspected Zhou Huaichen and Ye Weian might have found out about it in advance and come to keep an eye on him.

Zhou Huaichen said calmly, "I just got back to the country and came here for a meal with Wei An. What are you doing here, President Chi?"

Hearing this, Chi Li let his guard down.

He had also heard that Zhou Huaichen had been on a business trip abroad for the past two weeks.

Zhou Huaichen must've come back early to surprise Ye Weian.

Thinking of those posts they put up half a month ago and realizing they were on a date now, his face darkened again.

The Ye family was already difficult to deal with, and now the Zhou family was added to the mix—it was truly troublesome.

He held back his dislike and said, "I’m also here to meet a friend," not wanting to talk anymore.

Zhou Huaichen didn’t ask any more questions and simply hummed, "Then we'll be going."

Chi Li watched as they walked away and suddenly called out, "President Zhou, President Ye, next Saturday is my mother’s birthday. We’re hosting a birthday banquet at home. I hope you both can grace us with your presence." He handed over two invitations. "I was planning to deliver these to your residences today. Since we’ve run into each other here, I’ll give them to you now. I hope you don’t mind how informal this is."

Ye Weian narrowed his eyes.

He and Chi Li were already sworn enemies, yet Chi Li was still sending him a birthday invitation—clearly, there was something fishy.

But he took the invitations anyway, keeping a straight face, and said, "Sure."

Accepting the invitations was one thing; whether he would attend was another.

Watching Zhou Huaichen and Ye Weian walk away side by side, Chi Li’s face darkened as he instructed his assistant beside him, "Check what time they got here."

The assistant soon returned with the information: "President Zhou arrived an hour ago, and President Ye came half an hour later. They were indeed on a date."

Chi Li was relieved.

It seemed the two had no idea why he was here.

Thinking of Ye Weian accepting the invitation and Yan Qing’s crying and complaining, he sneered and said, "Ye Weian, you wronged Qingqing first. Don’t blame me for playing rough."

...

Ye Weian and Zhou Huaichen walked out of the restaurant together.

The system quietly reported, "I found out that next Saturday isn’t actually Chi Li’s mother’s birthday."

Ye Weian: "Figured as much."

Chi Li clearly intended to pull something at the birthday banquet, most likely targeting him.

The system: "I’ll look into it more to see what exactly he’s planning."

Ye Weian: "Mm."

By then, he and Zhou Huaichen had reached the underground parking lot.

Zhou Huaichen took his hand and said quietly, "Let’s go meet someone first."

Ye Weian glanced at him: "Someone? Is that the surprise you mentioned?"

—"Aren’t you my surprise? You actually arranged for someone else?"

—"Zhou Zhou, you’d better not be planning some weird threesome, or I’ll punch you!"

Zhou Huaichen: "..."

He chuckled wryly.

Sometimes he couldn’t understand what was going on in the mind of the person he loved.

He led Ye Weian to the car and opened the door.

Inside, besides the driver and bodyguard, there was a middle-aged woman.

Ye Weian raised an eyebrow at Zhou Huaichen: "?"

Zhou Huaichen gently guided him by the back and said, "Get in the car first."

Ye Weian: "Okay."

Once they were seated, the middle-aged woman couldn’t wait to speak: "President Zhou, I’ve already recorded the conversation. I hope you’ll keep your promise as well."

Zhou Huaichen had the bodyguard bring over the voice recorder and said, "Of course."

Ye Weian looked at Zhou Huaichen, then at the middle-aged woman, and started to get an idea.

Zhou Huaichen explained without being asked: "This is Ms. Ji, the person Chi Li just met. She is Ding Yiming’s wife. Ding Yiming is Chi Li’s assistant."

With that one sentence, everything became clear to Ye Weian.

Zhou Huaichen had the bodyguard play the recording on the spot.

It contained the conversation between Ms. Ji and her husband, Ding Yiming, in the private room earlier, mentioning two key points. First, Ding Yiming was acting under Chi Li’s orders, and Chi Li had not denied it. Second, Ding Yiming had evidence of Chi Li and Yan Qing conspiring against the Ye family.

Ye Weian was a little surprised.

This was almost enough to take down both Yan Qing and Chi Li.

He looked at Ms. Ji and asked, "Does your husband really have evidence of Chi Li and Yan Qing meeting?"

Ms. Ji nodded: "I’ve already sent it to President Zhou."

Ye Weian looked at Zhou Huaichen.

Zhou Huaichen hummed in agreement and said, "I'll get it to you later."

Ye Weian replied, "Okay."

Hearing this, the system burst out: "As expected of a Big Boss, what a boss move!"

Taking care of both Yan Qing and Chi Li at once—the host can complete two missions in one go.

Absolutely unstoppable.

Zhou Huaichen had the bodyguard escort Mrs. Ji back and arranged for bodyguards to protect her family.

The protection, of course, was aimed at Chi Li.

If Chi Li ever found out Mrs. Ji had contacted Zhou Huaichen, he would surely harm her.

After she left, Ye Weian looked at Zhou Huaichen and asked, "What did you promise her?"

He knew Zhou Huaichen had reached out to Mrs. Ji because of him, so whatever the condition was, he should be the one to cover it.

Zhou Huaichen shook his head and said, "Ding Yiming has been charged with inciting murder and faces a heavy sentence. Mrs. Ji hopes to reveal the truth and shorten her husband's sentence as much as possible. That's her only request."

Ye Weian was a bit surprised. "Chi Li must have offered Ding Yiming quite a lot, right?"

Zhou Huaichen nodded. "Fifty million yuan."

Ye Weian frowned even more deeply.

Fifty million yuan was a fortune for an ordinary family.

Why would Mrs. Ji still reach out to Zhou Huaichen?

Zhou Huaichen explained, "Mrs. Ji is all about loyalty. For her, having enough money is enough—she just wants her husband to be released sooner."

"I promised to hire a lawyer from Hongda Law Firm to defend her husband."

Ye Weian understood.

Mrs. Ji was likely disgusted with Chi Li for throwing her husband under the bus. No amount of money from Chi Li would change that.

Hongda Law Firm was Zhu Hongke's company, and Zhu Hongke's relationship with Zhou Huaichen was common knowledge—no wonder Mrs. Ji had come to him.

Zhou Huaichen added, "The original purpose of arranging the meeting between Mrs. Ji and Chi Li was to get Chi Li to admit he used Ding Yiming as a fall guy. I didn’t expect the added bonus of Yan Qing."

Chi Li did not deny conspiring with Yan Qing to target the Ye family, and with the evidence Ding Yiming held, they could sue Yan Qing as well.

Ye Weian looked at Zhou Huaichen and said, "I'm loving this surprise."

—"Love it to death!"

Zhou Huaichen let out a soft chuckle, tweaked his ear, and said, "Whatever makes my baby happy."

Ye Weian cleared his throat.

—"We're discussing serious matters here, hands off."

—"I'll lose control!"

The smile on Zhou Huaichen's lips deepened, but he didn’t let go.

Ye Weian had no choice but to force himself to focus. "When did you contact Mrs. Ji?"

Zhou Huaichen was upfront about it. "The day her husband was arrested."

Ye Weian: "?"

That soon?

Zhou Huaichen looked deeply into his eyes, his gaze filled with affection he could barely hold back. "Chi Li made you unhappy."

In other words, since Chi Li had upset Ye Weian, he would take down Chi Li.

Ye Weian's heart skipped a beat.

The system howled: "Host, Zhou loves you so much!!"

The system: "Wuwuwu, I'm totally fangirling over this!"

The system: "Where else can you find an alpha CEO like this?! Host, you're so lucky!!!"

Zhou Huaichen glanced at the birthday invitation he had casually tossed aside and said, "We’ll go to the Chi family on Saturday—perfect timing to deliver a big 'gift' to Chi Li."

The system howled again: "Face-slapping! Face-slapping!"

The system: "Mr. Zhou, the GOAT!!!"

Ye Weian ignored the system, his dark, bright eyes locked intently on Zhou Huaichen.

—"So sly, so bossy—I'm into it!"

—"Let's go home! Home!"

—"Today, I must have my way with Zhou Zhou!"

Zhou Huaichen: "..."

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, everyone~ I kept writing and writing because I was worried you’d be upset reading about Chi Li’s storyline...

Nearly 5K words—the second update will still be at 3 PM this afternoon~

Thank you all so much for your support. I’ll keep working hard!