Chapter 8 – Can I Hit on An Zao?
by Light“Exactly. President An really is observant—I was playing with fire.” Yan Dun smiled and shrugged.
An Chi proudly lifted his chin, looking like a giant dog who would wag its tail wildly after getting a few pats and hearing “good boy.”
Yan Dun found it amusing.
Only in a domineering CEO novel could there exist a billionaire CEO whose emotions were written all over his face like this. Real-life bosses were nowhere near this easy to read.
But because of that, Yan Dun felt An Chi had a uniquely precious side to him.
An Chi suddenly remembered something and asked:
“Oh right, have you prepared my brother’s gift yet?”
Of course not.
Yan Dun had absolutely no idea what the eldest young master liked. Although Aunt Zhang had hinted that the eldest An brother liked money, they couldn’t exactly just give him cash, could they? To give enough money to actually delight the eldest young master of the An family, bankruptcy probably wouldn’t even be sufficient.
Yan Dun rubbed his nose guiltily.
“Yes, preparations are underway. But since I only recently joined the company, I’m not very familiar with Young Master Zao’s preferences. The ideas I’ve come up with are all pretty ordinary gifts—like fountain pens or wine. They’re presentable enough, but for family members, they feel a little distant. Does President An have any other ideas?”
An Chi frowned.
“That’s true. But honestly, I’m not really sure what kind of gifts my brother likes either.”
Yan Dun smiled bitterly.
That was exactly what he expected.
An Chi was the carefree type—he definitely wasn’t someone who excelled at thoughtful gifts.
After thinking for a moment, An Chi said:
“How about this? Next time you bring the tutor to the mansion, ask Jiangchen. He’s more detail-oriented and good at this sort of thing.”
Yan Dun was responsible for driving Mary Sue to and from her tutoring sessions.
He honestly had no idea why this had become his responsibility.
Couldn’t Mary Sue take the bus herself?
Even if buses to luxury residential districts were inconvenient, couldn’t she just take a taxi?
Even if she couldn’t take a taxi, didn’t the An mansion have chauffeurs?
Wasn’t transportation literally the drivers’ job?
Why did he, Yan Dun, have to do it?
But since the plot was written that way, he had no choice.
So Yan Dun drove Mary Sue to the An mansion again.
On the way, he casually asked:
“How’s tutoring Young Master Cousin going?”
“It’s going fine,” Mary Sue answered.
Yan Dun looked surprised.
“Oh? You’re pretty amazing then. You can handle tutoring every subject?”
He genuinely thought she was impressive. Teaching all subjects for the college entrance exams was no joke.
But Mary Sue replied:
“My system gives me the solution methods. I just repeat them.”
“…”
So the impressive one was actually the system?
Yan Dun felt slightly indignant.
Why did Mary Sue get a system that provided tutoring answers while he didn’t get a system that helped him make PowerPoints at work?
After arriving at the An mansion, they happened to run into Chen Jiangchen at the entrance.
Chen Jiangchen was wearing an off-white knitted sweater. The loose cut made him look slim and delicate.
But all his fans knew he belonged to the “looks skinny in clothes, muscular when undressed” category. His figure and temperament were enough to make countless fans slam themselves into walls screaming.
Looking at such a beautiful young man, Mary Sue sighed internally:
I originally thought I could flirt with him, but in this cursed world all the handsome guys are gay.
Chen Jiangchen smiled politely, dimples appearing at the corners of his mouth.
“Teacher’s here?”
Mary Sue looked at the sweet and beautiful young man and felt even more tempted—and even more regretful.
It was like discovering an incredibly delicious-looking bowl of meat, craving it desperately, only to be told:
“That’s dog food.”
That was exactly how miserable she felt.
Chen Jiangchen then smiled at Yan Dun too.
“Secretary Yan came as well?”
“Yes, Young Master Cousin.”
Yan Dun had absolutely no awareness of being a “romance target,” nor any desire to be one. His mentality was still firmly that of a “tool-person secretary,” so his attitude toward Chen Jiangchen remained polite and professional. He merely curved his lips slightly into the perfect workplace smile.
Yet that professional smile made Chen Jiangchen’s heart itch inexplicably.
Meanwhile, Mary Sue’s attention remained fixed on Chen Jiangchen.
Wearing that white sweater, he looked like an untouchable male god untouched by mortal dust.
As for Yan Dun, looking at the white sweater made him think:
Fuck, that’s white cashmere! How are we supposed to deal with coffee stains?!
Just as Yan Dun was about to say something, Aunt Zhang suddenly called from outside the door:
“Young Master Zao, you’re back!”
As an incurable face-lover, Mary Sue immediately looked toward the entrance.
Another handsome man?!
This eldest young master sounded ridiculously powerful, and since he apparently had no romantic storyline with the protagonist, there was a good chance he might actually be straight!
Yan Dun also instantly straightened up.
This was the big boss. He needed to leave a good first impression.
Chen Jiangchen smiled and hurried forward to greet him.
“Big Brother, you should’ve told us you were coming back so I could pick you up!”
The mansion doors opened.
A tall man walked in against the backlight.
The moment Yan Dun saw his face, his breathing stopped.
This…
This wasn’t a sculpted “CG-face” handsome man!!!
This face…
It was—
An Zao!!!
Yan Dun’s heart instantly began pounding wildly.
This “An Zao” looked exactly like the “An Zao” from the real world!
His brain felt like it had been struck with a club.
Everything went dizzy.
Not only Yan Dun—even Mary Sue sensed something “unusual” about An Zao.
What was unusual?
The handsome men in this world all looked like game CGI characters: sharply sculpted faces, impossibly perfect and three-dimensional features.
But An Zao looked more like a “real-world” handsome man.
His facial features weren’t individually perfect, yet together they formed a harmonious whole with a natural, unpolished beauty.
And unlike the other domineering CEOs who constantly wore expensive, uncomfortable-looking suits as part of their character settings, An Zao wasn’t dressed formally at all.
Since it wasn’t working hours, he wore a beige trench coat. Despite the casual style, his excellent figure somehow made it look as crisp and elegant as a tailored suit.
An Zao stepped through the door and glanced around the room.
His gaze swept quickly over Yan Dun before settling on Chen Jiangchen.
“There’s no need for that trouble. Studying hard is already the best way to show filial respect to me.”
Yan Dun’s heart pounded even faster.
Even the voice was identical!
This An Zao…
Both his appearance and his voice were exactly the same as the An Zao Yan Dun knew.
Suppressing his racing heartbeat, Yan Dun hurriedly contacted Customer Service:
“Is this ‘An Zao’ from the real world?”
Customer Service replied:
“After inspection, An Zao’s soul does not belong to the domineering CEO novel world.”
Joy instantly exploded inside Yan Dun.
All the worry in his heart melted away like snow under spring sunlight.
“So he really is the An Zao I know?!”
“That is possible, dear~ But I cannot confirm it.”
“Why not?”
“Well, dear~ Our department handles the ‘Romance Interest Group.’ An Zao belongs to the ‘Non-Romance Interest Group.’ Since our departments are different, our data isn’t shared.”
Yan Dun froze.
So because Yan Dun’s role was a “Romantic Interest character,” while An Zao’s role was “non-Romantic Interest,” they belonged to entirely different departments?
And the reason Yan Dun and Mary Sue could exchange information freely was because they were both members of the “Romance Interest Group”?
Realizing the person before him might truly be the real-world An Zao, Yan Dun couldn’t help asking:
“If this An Zao really is that An Zao… can I reveal my identity to him?”
Customer Service answered:
“That would be meaningless, Dear Customer~”
“Meaningless? Why?”
“Because only ‘Romance Interest characters’ retain memories from the real world. Other transmigrators have their memories erased and completely merge into their book-world identities. So even if this An Zao is the An Zao you know, he won’t remember you.”
Yan Dun was shocked.
“His memories were erased?!”
“Yes. If too many people realized they were transmigrators, the world would collapse very easily. Therefore, only people with Romance missions are allowed to retain their memories.”
Meaning…
This An Zao completely believed himself to be a character inside the novel.
He didn’t remember Yan Dun at all.
A wave of bitterness spread through Yan Dun’s chest.
Unable to stop himself, he asked:
“If this really is An Zao, then after the transmigration ends, will he return to the real world like I will?”
“If the mission succeeds, then of course he will, Customer~”
Hearing that, Yan Dun felt overwhelming relief and joy, like surviving a disaster.
“So not only can I survive the car accident… he can too, right?”
He quickly asked another question:
“Then will he remember what happened inside the novel world afterward?”
“No. Only Romance Interest characters retain all memories. Once non-Romance Interest characters return to reality, they won’t remember anything that happened in the book.”
Yan Dun murmured:
“So this An Zao is basically a brand-new An Zao… and after returning, he’ll get ‘factory reset’…”
His heartbeat accelerated violently.
A bold idea circled through his mind like a shark beneath dark ocean waters before finally surfacing with a sharp fin cutting through moonlit waves—
Yan Dun licked his lips and asked:
“Then… can I hit on him?”
Customer Service:
“????? Dear Customer… am I understanding this correctly??”
Yan Dun replied:
“I don’t know how you’re understanding it. But my understanding is: flirt with him, chase him, and personally make this novel fully deserve its explicit-content ban.”
Truthfully, Yan Dun had secretly been in love with An Zao for a very long time.
But An Zao had always seemed painfully straight.
Although he’d never had a girlfriend…
That mostly looked like the result of being too busy struggling through startup life.
After all, An Zao had never had a boyfriend either.
Yan Dun had never dared reveal his feelings.
Because An Zao was his boss.
If his flirting failed, he wouldn’t just lose love—
He’d lose his paycheck too.
But now things were different.
This was a virtual world with an extremely high margin for error.
If he somehow miraculously succeeded in winning An Zao over, he could treat it as gathering successful experience and use those lessons after returning to reality.
And if he failed?
Well, once they returned to reality, An Zao wouldn’t remember any of this anyway.
Trying to romance your secret crush inside a virtual world was basically equivalent to confessing on April Fool’s Day:
If it succeeds, wonderful.
If it fails, just pretend nothing happened.
Advance if possible; retreat safely if not.
Wasn’t that perfect?