Chapter 18 – President Hua Is Awesome

Yan Dun fell into deep conflict:

Feed cake to An Chi with his hand…

H-how was he supposed to do that?

Leaving aside how bizarre the action itself was, even if Yan Dun forced himself to shamelessly go through with it, An Chi definitely wouldn’t accept it!

He might even get angry and yell at Yan Dun…

This was really difficult.

Yan Dun sat there frowning so hard that even the cake in front of him no longer looked appealing.

An Chi, sitting opposite him, also frowned and asked, “What’s with that expression? Doesn’t it taste good?”

Yan Dun helplessly shook his head.

There was no way he could just say: Boss, let me feed you cake!

Meanwhile, Bai Lisu had been crouching outside by the doorway so long that her legs had gone numb.

Really, where in the world were there so many coincidences? How could every sweet interaction between the protagonists just happen to be witnessed by evil cannon-fodder characters?

Wasn’t it all thanks to dedicated supporting villains like Bai Lisu camping out seriously to make it happen?

Bai Lisu squatted there waiting and waiting, but Yan Dun still hadn’t fed the cake yet. Unable to hold back any longer, she contacted Customer Service-kun through their telepathic connection.

Bai Lisu: “Hey hey hey, Xiao Yan, hurry up and do it already!”

Yan Dun: “It’s not that simple. My relationship with An Chi isn’t close enough… If I suddenly make a move, it could backfire.”

Bai Lisu: “…Your relationship seriously hasn’t reached that stage yet?”

Yan Dun: “Mm.”

Bai Lisu: “Then you’re kind of failing at being a heartthrob.”

Yan Dun: “……”

Bai Lisu: “If I had gotten the heartthrob halo—”

Customer Service-kun interrupted:

Even then it wouldn’t help, Customer. You don’t possess the compatible hardware for gay romance.

After cursing Customer Service-kun, Bai Lisu cut off the telepathic call and stood up, marching directly over to Yan Dun and An Chi.

An Chi looked surprised upon seeing Bai Lisu.

Yan Dun was equally shocked.

Why are you here? I haven’t even figured out an excuse to feed the CEO cake yet!

Although Bai Lisu had acted in countless Mary Sue-style roles, playing an evil supporting female character was equally effortless for her—

Because, honestly, acting as a Mary Sue often wasn’t that different from acting as a fake innocent manipulator or scheming flirt.

Bai Lisu put on a shy, hesitant expression. “President An, what a coincidence… Speaking of which, it feels like we haven’t gone on a date in ages.”

An Chi frowned slightly. “Mm…”

To be fair, after too many arranged blind dates, An Chi had gotten annoyed with the whole process. Somehow, he found Bai Lisu comparatively pleasing to the eye. So when An Zao later tried arranging another blind date for him, An Chi had said:

“No need for now. I’ll keep seeing Bai Lisu a bit longer.”

Thus, An Chi had officially placed Bai Lisu into the category of “someone worth continuing to get to know.”

Meanwhile, as a proper cannon-fodder female supporting character, Bai Lisu naturally assumed this meant she was already An Chi’s girlfriend.

She sat down shyly and said, “Oh, you’re eating this cake too! What do you think of it?”

An Chi replied, “It’s alright.”

Bai Lisu picked up a slice of cake with her fingers and smiled sweetly. “I heard this cake tastes better if someone feeds it to you by hand—here, let me feed you…”

As she spoke, she shot Yan Dun a meaningful glance from the corner of her eye.

Yan Dun immediately understood and internally shouted: Such a professional!

Before An Chi could frown and push her away, Yan Dun quickly grabbed another slice and blurted:

“Men and women shouldn’t touch casually. I’ll feed President An instead!”

Without waiting for permission, Yan Dun shoved the cake directly toward An Chi’s mouth, forcefully stuffing it in regardless of whether he accepted it or not.

An Chi had just started to say, “I—mmph—”

And suddenly found an entire nut-filled cake slice rammed into his mouth, nearly choking to death on the spot.

System notification:

[Feed cake to An Chi in front of Mary Sue] Complete √

Only then did Yan Dun finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Bai Lisu suppressed the victorious grin threatening to appear and dutifully put on a wounded, resentful expression before tearfully running away—

Though internally she was thinking:

Oh yeah, mission complete. I can still make it back in time for my beauty sleep treatment!

Seeing An Chi nearly choke to death, Yan Dun felt deeply guilty. He hurriedly handed him water while apologizing frantically.

“I’m sorry, President An…”

An Chi snorted. “You practically took my life.”

System notification:

Successfully collected overbearing CEO line: “My life is yours” √

Seeing that An Chi wasn’t genuinely angry, Yan Dun relaxed and even joked:

“So was Bai Lisu telling the truth? Does this cake really taste better when fed by hand?”

An Chi gave a wicked CEO-style smirk. “Why don’t you try it yourself?”

Yan Dun froze.

Before he could react, the CEO’s large hand pinched his cheeks open, forcing his lips apart, and a chunk of nut-filled cake was shoved directly into his mouth.

Yan Dun also nearly choked to death.

Talk about karma!

Seeing the sneaky grin on An Chi’s face, Yan Dun forgot all about hierarchy and stuffed cake back at him in retaliation.

An Chi, being extremely domineering, immediately retaliated by smearing an entire slice of cake all over Yan Dun’s face.

When An Zao arrived at The Best Dessert Shop in Town, the scene he witnessed was:

Yan Dun and An Chi both had cake smeared all over their faces.

Meanwhile, the restaurant manager stood nearby saying professionally:

“Nut-filled cakes aren’t very comfortable for facial application—they can scratch your delicate skin. Would you like to try this one instead? It contains French raspberries, New Zealand cream, and Yunnan roses, all excellent for skincare.”

An Zao wore the exact expression of a parent catching misbehaving children.

“What exactly is going on here…”

An Chi, upon seeing An Zao, instantly looked like a naughty child caught red-handed.

“B-Bro… why are you here?”

Yan Dun also saw An Zao and immediately regretted his loss of composure.

I must look absolutely awful right now… Oh no!

An Zao chuckled lightly. “Everyone else is working overtime, and you two seem to know how to have fun.”

The words themselves weren’t harsh, and he even said them smiling—

Yet somehow they carried overwhelming pressure.

The domineering CEO An Chi now resembled a kindergarten kid pouting stubbornly.

“Work-life balance is important too! What’s the point of sitting there endlessly working overtime? It’s not like anyone’s come up with a solution anyway!”

Yan Dun guiltily explained, “We’re really sorry, Chairman An. We only came out for something to eat. We’ll head back immediately…”

“No need.” An Zao lifted his wrist to glance at his watch. “It’s late already. You should get off work and go rest. You still have work tomorrow.”

“T-that…” Yan Dun didn’t dare agree.

An Zao smiled again. “It’s fine. President An is right—work-life balance matters. Sitting there uselessly won’t solve anything. Go home first.”

“…Understood.”

Only then did Yan Dun agree.

An Zao then tilted his chin toward An Chi. “You too. Come home with me.”

A chill instantly ran down An Chi’s spine.

…My brother’s smile is terrifying.

______๑♡⁠๑______

As soon as the brothers returned home, An Zao launched into three soul-searching questions:

“How are things going with Bai Lisu? Have you been dating recently? Any progress?”

An Chi answered vaguely, “The company’s been busy lately, and she’s filming variety shows too, so we haven’t had time to date. There’s not much progress.”

“Really?” An Zao sounded unconvinced. “If you truly cared, could you really not make time? Besides, your workplace and her filming location are literally the same place. I arranged all this because I thought you liked her. Don’t waste my efforts.”

An Chi looked surprised hearing this from his brother.

“Why are you so invested in my marriage?”

An Zao replied matter-of-factly, “What kind of question is that? You’re my younger brother. Isn’t this normal?”

“But we’re both young men. Shouldn’t we understand each other? Normally nobody settles down this early.” An Chi spoke as if it were obvious. “I thought you were only arranging all this to appease Grandma. Who knew a young guy like you would be so into pressuring people to marry?”

An Zao replied, “Grandma’s getting old and keeps talking about wanting grandchildren. I’m gay, so she can’t count on me. Naturally she’s putting all her hopes on you.”

An Chi suddenly understood and grinned.

“Oh, so you’re redirecting the disaster and dumping the family-lineage responsibility onto me?”

“You brat…” An Zao laughed helplessly before steering the topic back. “You keep rejecting everyone—this one doesn’t suit your taste, that one isn’t your type. Bai Lisu’s the only one who’s even barely caught your eye. Just try getting along with her properly. Give her a chance—and yourself one too.”

An Chi never imagined his cool older brother would one day earnestly lecture him about dating.

The world truly had changed.

Still, no matter how domineering he was, he couldn’t overpower his older brother. So he repeatedly nodded.

“Alright, alright. I’ll have Xiao Yan arrange another date with Bai Lisu when I get back, okay?”

An Zao immediately disliked that idea. “Why should Xiao Yan arrange it? Can’t you do it yourself?”

An Chi replied, “Isn’t that his job?”

“Since when do secretaries arrange their CEO’s dates?”

“There also aren’t many secretaries earning over a million a year!” An Chi shot back. “If he’s getting paid that much, shouldn’t he actually do work?”

An Zao was secretly shocked. “Over a million a year?”

“Yeah.” An Chi looked completely justified. “I felt like giving him a raise.”

The absurdity of this world left An Zao speechless. “A raise? What was his salary before?”

An Chi thought for a moment. “I think it was around three hundred thousand.”

“…”

An Zao was truly speechless toward his brother.

“Isn’t that raise a little excessive?”

An Chi didn’t care in the slightest. “What’s the big deal? The company has plenty of money!”

Then he suddenly remembered the company wasn’t entirely his and glanced cautiously at An Zao.

“Do you think I gave too much?”

An Zao replied, “Not at all.”

But internally, An Zao felt strangely dissatisfied.

The person paying Yan Dun a million-dollar annual salary should’ve been him, not someone else.

So An Zao added:

“I happen to need another secretary on my side. Why not transfer Xiao Yan over to work for me?”

The moment An Chi heard this, he looked exactly like a child whose toy was being stolen.

“No way! If you need a secretary, ask HR to hire one! Why are you stealing my Xiao Yan?”

An Zao thought:

Xiao Yan isn’t yours.

Hmph.

______๑♡⁠๑______

Meanwhile, Yan Dun had absolutely no idea he’d become the secretary both overbearing CEOs wanted to fight over.

He simply went about his business as usual.

After the cake-smearing incident at the dessert shop left him looking disheveled, he washed his face before leaving The Best Dessert Shop in Town.

Since it wasn’t far from his home, he decided to take a shortcut back.

Unexpectedly, halfway there, he kicked something—or rather, someone.

Yan Dun screamed. The other person screamed too.

Hearing the miserable cry, Yan Dun panicked.

“P-President Hua?”

Hua Daimao crawled out of the bushes covered in blood.

“Ah… it’s you…”

Then he immediately fainted.

Yan Dun was terrified. He quickly crouched down to check Hua Daimao’s condition and found him covered in blood, looking pitiful beyond belief.

Yan Dun immediately pulled out his phone, preparing to dial 110.

At that moment, Customer Service-kun suddenly appeared again with a reminder:

Dear Customer!, you cannot call the police, nor can you take him to the hospital.

Yan Dun was baffled. “Why?”

Customer Service-kun replied:

In overbearing CEO novels, whenever the protagonist encounters an injured male supporting character collapsed on the ground, they always bring him home. Calling the police or taking him to a hospital is never an option!

Yan Dun: “????”

Having no choice, Yan Dun could only follow the logic of the overbearing CEO universe.

The system also informed him he had triggered a plotline requiring him to bring Hua Daimao home and bandage his wounds.

After dragging the unconscious Hua Daimao onto his sofa, Yan Dun fell into another dilemma:

I’ve never learned professional first aid! He’s hurt this badly—how am I supposed to bandage him?

Customer Service-kun answered helpfully:

It’s fine. In overbearing CEO novels, every protagonist without medical knowledge can casually bandage a blood-covered CEO and heal him perfectly. Customer

Yan Dun: “Casually is enough?”

Customer Service-kun: Yes, Dear Customer

Yan Dun: “Okay.”

So Yan Dun grabbed a Band-Aid and stuck it onto Hua Daimao’s forehead.

The very next second, Hua Daimao—who had been unconscious in a pool of blood moments earlier—slowly woke up.

Yan Dun: “Awesome.”