Chapter 47

Chapter 47

Xie Yunshen walked out, casually stripping off his sticky, soaked shirt.

Yan Shiqi watched his retreating back from behind.

"Hurry up and shower, Mr. Yan. If you get sick, I'll be the one to blame in the eyes of the Yan family," Xie Yunshen said, poking his head back in just after leaving.

Xie Yunshen gave himself a quick rinse, threw on a set of clean clothes, and paused, looking momentarily stunned when he stepped out of the room.

In his mind, Yan Shiqi was the strict, formidable patriarch, a figure whose authoritative demeanor was only matched by his dark suits.

But now, the big boss stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, wearing Xie Yunshen's black sportswear, his face clean and his hair falling naturally across his forehead.

Xie Yunshen gave Yan Shiqi a once-over, circling him.

It was an unexpectedly fresh look, a completely different vibe.

On most people under 180 cm tall, this kind of outfit would look ill-fitting and awkward.

But Mr. Yan, with his imposing aura, pulled it off flawlessly—the clothes even suited him well.

"Mr. Yan, is this your first time wearing clothes like this?"

"I wore them back in school, but not since," Yan Shiqi replied, slowly turning to face him.

For once, he felt a flicker of self-doubt. "Does it look bad on me?"

"No, you look really handsome!"

Xie Yunshen never hesitated to compliment others. Yan Shiqi should have been immune by now, but hearing this still made him smile slightly.

Xie Yunshen walked over to the window. Outside, the sky was gradually darkening, and the heavy rain showed no signs of letting up.

"Mr. Yan, let's stay a bit longer."

Although sitting in the car wouldn't matter what the weather was like, for some reason, Xie Yunshen just didn't feel like going back so soon.

Once back at the Yan residence, Yan Shiqi would change back into that formal suit, sit at his desk piled with work, forever frowning as he fielded calls from everywhere, or sit alone in the dark, lost in thought.

But here, Yan Shiqi was simply his guest.

Through the glass, Xie Yunshen saw Yan Shiqi behind him say, "Alright."

He agreed without a moment's hesitation.

Xie Yunshen turned his head and smiled. "Are you hungry?"

Yan Shiqi paused briefly. "...Are you planning to cook?"

"No, maybe we could have the driver buy something? There's not a single ingredient in the house."

Yan Shiqi said, "He's a driver, not an errand boy."

The words were a wake-up call, hitting him like a splash of cold water.

Xie Yunshen was taken aback. "My goodness, Mr. Yan, you truly are the most thoughtful boss in the world."

Yan Shiqi was conscious of that distinction—a driver was a driver; he wouldn't make him do other tasks.

Xie Yunshen had worked with many important figures before, but few truly adhered to this principle.

It wasn't that other bosses were too cheap; they just took it for granted that the people around them, regardless of position or salary, could be casually assigned trivial, unrelated tasks.

The most frightening thing was that he himself had been influenced by this bad habit.

Yan Shiqi closed his eyes, still helpless against his exaggerated praise. "What would you like to eat? I'll call the hotel's private chef."

"You decide," Xie Yunshen said, tilting his head and affectionately nuzzling his shoulder like a little bird.

"However, I heard from the Third Young Master that the Yan family's hotel recently hired a very famous chef at a high salary. Getting a table of his food in City A is incredibly difficult. Mr. Yan, could I maybe... have a taste?"

His slightly damp hair brushed against Mr. Yan's ear.

Yan Shiqi made the call.

"..." Xie Yunshen sat on the sofa, watching the flurry of activity in the open-plan kitchen, momentarily stunned.

Was it possible that when he said "have a taste," he meant takeout?

He meant he wanted to try this master chef's dishes, not have the man come to the house personally.

Yan Shiqi had just hung up the phone. In less than twenty minutes, the chef arrived with a team of seven, bringing all necessary ingredients and seasonings to cook at the house personally.

Although made fresh on-site, they worked quickly. In under half an hour, eight dishes and a soup were on the table.

The chef's team had just left when the doorbell rang.

Sitting at the dining table, Xie Yunshen glanced at the monitor. It was that guy, Lin Jin.

As Yan Shiqi started to turn to look, Xie Yunshen put a hand on his shoulder, taking a deep breath. "Mr. Yan! It's just a bum."

In this kind of top-tier luxury residence, could there really be bums?

Yan Shiqi didn't expose him.

The doorbell rang persistently.

Xie Yunshen's temple twitched. He was worried this guy might just enter the passcode himself. How dark would Mr. Yan's face turn then?

After all, a while back, to get him to "look after" Shang Guanhong, Xie Yunshen had given him all the house passcodes.

He walked to the entryway and pressed the button to open the main gate.

The moment the gate opened, Lin Jin appeared behind him like an apparition. "Buddy, eating alone, huh?"

Xie Yunshen: "..." What did I do to deserve this? Why was he neighbors with this guy?

"Just happened to have no money for dinner today. Mind if I grab a bite?"

You, the celebrated, genius doctor protagonist, have no money for dinner?

Actually, Lin Jin had spotted the luxury RV in Xie Yunshen's yard from his own property and recognized the culinary team belonging to the international master chef.

He immediately exclaimed inwardly: Damn, Xie Yunshen is hiding things this deep.

A while ago, when his father-in-law was celebrating his birthday, they spent a fortune just to have this master chef prepare a feast.

Lin Jin had tried it once and was still obsessed.

He wondered how Xie Yunshen managed to get such a master chef.

As it turned out, as soon as Lin Jin walked into the living room, he saw Yan Shiqi sitting at the dining table and thought, no wonder.

He turned around and walked back.

Xie Yunshen raised an eyebrow: Could it be that even this guy knew when to back down?

Five minutes later, Lin Jin reappeared with a four-tiered lunchbox, holding it out like a cheeky monkey: "Pack me some to go, I'll eat it at home."

Truly the male lead he knew—adaptable, resilient, and shameless to the extreme.

Xie Yunshen went back to pack a lunchbox for him, then closed the front door: "Get lost."

Xie Yunshen returned to the dining table and had to admit, the master chef's skills were truly exceptional.

Yan Shiqi asked, "Does he live nearby?"

Xie Yunshen replied casually, "Yeah, he's always lived in the house next door." Suddenly remembering something, he added, "But today is my first day living here, and I have absolutely no connection with this pretentious jerk!"

Yan Shiqi didn't ask further.

Xie Yunshen ate with great relish, while Yan Shiqi sat there with a blank expression.

Using serving chopsticks, Xie Yunshen picked up a piece of fish and placed it in Yan Shiqi's bowl, watching him eat it before asking a truly unique question: "Mr. Yan... do you not have a sense of taste?"

Yan Shiqi paused, holding the fish with his chopsticks, and decided to tease him: "Yes, I lost my sense of taste two years ago."

Sure enough, Xie Yunshen revealed an unmistakable look of pity.

Xie Yunshen believed that someone who couldn't taste food would lose most of life's pleasures.

"Don't worry, I'll get Lin Jin to fix you up!" After a moment of silence, he came up with this solution!

Next door, Lin Jin, who was happily eating at home, suddenly sneezed.

Yan Shiqi said, "...No need."

Xie Yunshen was taken aback. Of course, Lin Jin was Yan Shiqi's love rival after all. How could a big shot like him swallow his pride and let his rival treat him?

"Maybe you just prefer stronger flavors."

From then on, Xie Yunshen spent the entire evening creating all sorts of bizarre flavor combinations for Mr. Yan.

For example, tomatoes dipped in chili, mango served with fish soup, goose feet dipped in sugar...

Yan Shiqi ate each one expressionlessly and calmly, then looked at him composedly, as if presenting experimental results.

"..."

Xie Yunshen almost wanted to pry open his lips and examine his tongue closely.

"Poor Mr. Yan, will kissing feel like eating plain steamed buns in the future?"

"..." Yan Shiqi was truly speechless and almost laughed.

Xie Yunshen secretly vowed never to eat so heartily in front of Yan Shiqi again.

Because of this, Xie Yunshen felt a bit listless the next day.

While working out with Yi Wuyi in the training room, the two of them even discussed the matter.

"What?" Upon hearing this, Yi Wuyi was momentarily confused and surprised.

"I thought you knew. Mr. Yan told me himself—he has no sense of taste."

What confused Yi Wuyi wasn't the matter itself, but the fact that "the usually cold and stern Mr. Yan would lie to tease Xie Yunshen."

That was even more unbelievable than the former.

Of course, as a trusted aide who had been by Yan Shiqi's side for so many years, he knew the former was also false.

"How can you be sure what Mr. Yan said is true?"

"I pretended to dip tomatoes in chili to test Mr. Yan. He ate it and showed no reaction."

"That's not difficult. Many people can eat chili," Yi Wuyi hinted.

Xie Yunshen fell silent for a moment before leaning in and whispering, "Yes, but I secretly added a lot of wasabi to it."

Yi Wuyi paused for a moment: "..."

Mr. Yan, you're the real tough one.

"I thought about it later and realized I went too far. How is that any different from bullying a cripple for not being able to play soccer?" Xie Yunshen even began to reflect on himself.

Of course, Yi Wuyi couldn't tell him the truth, as he couldn't afford to offend Mr. Yan. He could only pat Xie Yunshen's shoulder, trying to comfort him: "It's fine. After all, Mr. Yan doesn't know... there was wasabi in it."

"..." Hearing this, Xie Yunshen felt even more guilty.

Later, Xie Yunshen even messaged Lin Jin to ask.

"If someone suddenly loses their sense of taste, is there any way to cure it?"

Lin Jin thought he was messing with him and replied with a question mark: "Generally, in such cases, we consider it incurable."

"I'm serious +_+" Xie Yunshen was uncharacteristically earnest.

"Alright then ╮(︶﹏︶)╭ Some people experience this temporarily after severe trauma or major shocks. If they can resolve their emotional knots, it should gradually recover."

Another message followed: "Who are you talking about? Don't tell me it's you. You look like someone with a great appetite, excellent sleep, and zero internal conflict—there's no way you'd have taste disorders. PS: Try leaving me on read again."

Xie Yunshen tossed his phone aside, too lazy to reply. He recalled Yan Shiqi's demeanor in front of the tombstone that day—the silent face, clearly suppressing extreme pain.

He felt even more like a terrible person.

Xie Yunshen immediately barged into the study and, under Mr. Yan's surprised gaze, gave him a fierce hug.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Yan."

"..." Yan Shiqi was sitting in his chair behind the desk at the time, and Xie Yunshen hugged him along with the chair. Calmly, Yan Shiqi placed the documents in his hand on the table.

Yan Shiying, who was reporting work nearby, watched the scene in silence for two seconds: "...Is he always this crazy?"

Yi Wuyi, standing guard, replied, "Well, occasionally."