Chapter 10 – What Would an Idiot Like You Understand?

Yan Dun felt especially awkward and could only say, “Director An, hello. I’m President An’s assistant. My name is Yan Dun.”

Within the company, both An Chi and An Zao could technically be called “President” or “Director,” but to distinguish them, everyone called Chairman An Zao “Director An,” while An Chi, the group president, was called “President An.”

An Zao gave a slight nod. Whether he actually remembered the name or not was impossible to tell.

Still, as a boss, he certainly possessed the privilege of forgetting employees’ names and casually calling them whatever he pleased.

An Chi added, “Brother, why don’t you head to the conference room first? I still have some work matters to discuss with Little Yan.”

An Zao nodded and left.

After he was gone, An Chi turned to Yan Dun and asked, “Where’s the gift?”

“Huh?” Yan Dun froze.

“Did your brain stop working?” An Chi frowned. “The gift I told you to prepare for my brother?”

“…”

Yan Dun really had gone stupid.

That’s right—An Chi had originally instructed Yan Dun to prepare a welcome-back gift for An Zao’s return to the country. But Yan Dun couldn’t decide what to buy, so An Chi had suggested he visit the An residence and ask Chen Jiangchen for advice. Instead, Yan Dun had gone to the An residence, splashed coffee on An Zao, and fled in panic, completely forgetting about the gift.

Fortunately, the president’s office always kept generic business gifts on hand—safe, versatile presents suitable for any corporate occasion.

Although these gifts practically screamed “perfunctory,” Yan Dun guessed that with An Zao’s personality, he would never show dissatisfaction.

After work, An Chi brought Yan Dun along to dinner with An Zao. An Chi presented the prepared all-purpose business gift. Seeing such an insincere present, An Zao merely smiled faintly and accepted it, even offering a few compliments—exactly as Yan Dun had predicted.

Yan Dun secretly sighed in relief.

Yep. Just like the Boss Zao I know.

An Zao raised his wine glass and said, “Xiao Chi, you’re not getting any younger. It’s time to think about marriage.”

An Chi immediately bristled. “If we’re talking about age, aren’t you older than me? If anyone should go on blind dates first, it should be you!”

An Zao replied, “There’s no such rule. Besides, Grandmother is the one urging this. If you dislike it, go talk to her.”

According to their background setting, both An Chi and An Zao fit the classic “rich, handsome, parents deceased” trope. They had been raised by their grandmother, who doted on them deeply, so both brothers were very filial toward her.

Since it was their grandmother’s request, An Chi couldn’t exactly complain too much. He only grumbled:

“Wait a second. Since you’re older than me, why is Grandma pressuring me first instead of you?”

An Zao answered calmly, “You can ask her.”

Yan Dun actually understood a little.

According to the original novel setup, An Chi was supposed to have an arranged blind date and engagement with the cannon-fodder female supporting character, so the “marriage pressure” plotline was necessary. But An Zao was merely a low-screen-time tool character in the novel, so no marriage-pressure subplot had been written for him.

As for arranged matchmaking, An Chi wasn’t especially shocked or resistant. In families like theirs, such things were perfectly normal.

An Zao was also a man of action. He quickly pulled out a stack of photos and handed them over.

Seeing so many pictures, An Chi laughed. “Brother, so you’ve been planning this all along!”

But the moment he looked at them, his expression twisted.

“Why are they all men?!?!”

An Zao replied matter-of-factly, “Aren’t you gay?”

Hearing this, Yan Dun was utterly shocked.

An Chi is gay?!

An Chi himself was equally horrified.

“I’m gay?!”

An Zao nodded. “I think so.”

“You think so, therefore I am?!” An Chi exploded in embarrassment. “I think you’re gay!”

An Zao answered evenly:

“I am.”

An Chi nearly jumped out of his chair.

“You are?!?!”

“Is that strange?” An Zao still wore that calm, detached expression, a gentle yet distant smile lingering at the corner of his lips.

An Chi clutched his forehead dramatically. “How is this possible? Why are there so many gay people?!”

Then he suddenly paused and turned toward Yan Dun.

“Wait… don’t tell me you are too?”

As “Honest Yan,” Yan Dun honestly nodded.

“I am.”

An Chi was dumbfounded.

This meal left him questioning his entire existence.

For a long while, he couldn’t recover.

An Chi had always believed himself to be straight, and had naturally assumed everyone around him (except that flirtatious man surnamed Hua) was straight too. Now he was experiencing an unprecedented psychological shock.

After a long pause, the domineering CEO finally regained his aura of “30% cold indifference, 70% tyranny.”

He glared at An Zao and said coldly, “Brother, are you only assuming I’m gay because you are?”

An Zao replied, “Not entirely. It’s mostly intuition. Besides, all the slightly good-looking men in our family happen to be gay, so I just assumed…”

“All gay?!?!” An Chi suffered another emotional blow. “Who else?!”

An Zao calmly listed them off:

“Our cousin Jiangchen… oh, and Jiangchen’s uncle. Also Eldest Uncle, Second Uncle, Fourth Uncle, Fifth Uncle… and even our gardener…”

As a mildly homophobic straight man, An Chi nearly fainted.

The family is doomed!!!! What kind of virus infected us?!?!

Watching An Chi’s pale face, Yan Dun felt endless sympathy.

President An, you’re currently inside a BL fanfiction novel. Stop doubting reality. Being surrounded by gay people is perfectly normal here. Honestly, you might even be gay yourself.

An Chi began desperately downing glass after glass of alcohol. Unfortunately, drowning sorrow only deepened it. The more he drank, the more miserable he became, until he was thoroughly drunk and disoriented.

As his secretary, Yan Dun had no choice but to support the drunken CEO.

An Chi suddenly grabbed Yan Dun tightly by the collar, seemingly about to say something—but before he could, An Zao pulled him away.

An Zao lifted An Chi by the back of the collar as casually as if carrying an angry kitten.

Yan Dun blinked in surprise. “Director An…”

An Zao said, “My younger brother becomes unruly when drunk. I apologize on his behalf.”

Yan Dun quickly waved his hands. “Not at all, not at all.”

An Zao continued, “Both he and I have been drinking. I’ll trouble you to drive us home.”

“No trouble at all. It’s part of my job.”

Yan Dun drove both bosses home.

An Chi was completely unconscious, sprawled in the back seat like a dead fish after his brother tossed him there carelessly. Since An Chi occupied the entire back seat, An Zao sat in the passenger seat instead.

Feeling An Zao sitting beside him made Yan Dun strangely nervous.

It’s not like this is the first time I’ve driven for Boss Zao… so why am I still so awkward?

This must be the power of love.

His palms were sweaty, but internally he thought:

An Zao just admitted he’s gay… so maybe my chances are actually pretty good? But how exactly should I pursue him…?

At that moment, the system chimed again:

Would you like to activate [AI Helps You Flirt]?

Remembering the traumatic coffee incident, Yan Dun immediately shook his head.

Absolutely not!

Yan Dun might lack flirting experience, but he still had basic adult common sense. Things like “accidentally spilling coffee to attract attention” sounded ridiculous even after thinking about it with his pinky toe.

So he decided to rely on ordinary logic instead.

Although “ordinary logic” barely functioned in this tyrannical-CEO universe…

Still, considering that An Zao was supposedly a soul from the real world, he probably operated according to normal reasoning.

Okay… normal logic for pursuing a guy… uh… first step should be… getting his contact information, right?

Seeing that the An residence was just ahead, Yan Dun parked the car by the roadside. He cleared his throat twice to steady his nervous breathing before adopting a professional tone.

“Director An, for the convenience of future communication, could we exchange contact information?”

Haha, I’m your brother’s secretary. Asking for contact info isn’t weird at all, right? I’m a genius.

Suppressing his pounding heartbeat, Yan Dun looked at An Zao with damp, anxious eyes.

An Zao met his gaze and replied:

“Sure.”

Just that single word—sure—was enough to set off fireworks in Yan Dun’s heart.

AHHHHH he said yes!

And just like that, An Zao and Yan Dun successfully exchanged contact information.

Holding his phone happily, Yan Dun said, “Thank you, Director An. Then I’ll head back now.”

Suddenly, as though remembering something, An Zao asked:

“I heard you’re quite skilled at splashing coffee?”

“………………”

Yan Dun froze solid.

An Zao continued:

“Apparently, besides me, President Hua and Jiangchen have both been victims too.”

At that moment, Yan Dun became stiffer and colder than an ice sculpture from Harbin.

Meanwhile, An Zao still wore that gentlemanly smile—charming, yet somehow deeply unsettling.

Yan Dun’s scalp tingled.

Oh no. I shouldn’t have assumed all the tyrannical CEOs in this world were idiots. Clearly my Boss Zao is genuinely intelligent…

His thoughts spiraled chaotically.

How does he even know about my glorious coffee-splashing history?!

Customer Service-kun immediately appeared to explain:

After you splashed coffee on An Zao that day, Auntie Zhang at the An residence mentioned that you had also splashed Chen Jiangchen before. Because you possess the “protagonist halo,” neither Chen Jiangchen nor Auntie Zhang found this strange at all—they even thought you were adorable. However…

Yan Dun’s scalp tingled harder.

However, An Zao is immune to the protagonist halo…

Customer Service-kun:

Correct! Wonderful memory, Dear Customer!

Yan Dun felt even more numb.

Customer Service-kun added:

An Zao had people investigate what you’ve been doing at the company, which is how he discovered you recently splashed Hua Daimao too.

Yan Dun: “……………………”

No wonder you people said pursuing An Zao was nightmare-level difficulty.

The car instantly filled with awkward silence.

And the person who shattered it was An Chi.

The drunk An Chi, who had previously lain limp like a dead fish, suddenly shot upright like a carp flipping out of water and howled:

“The family is doomed! Why is everyone gay?!”

Yan Dun laughed awkwardly and tried comforting him.

“Actually, there’s nothing wrong with being gay—”

“You idiot, what the hell would you understand?!” An Chi snapped furiously.

Before Yan Dun could react, An Chi collapsed back into unconsciousness.

Yan Dun stared at him speechlessly—

when suddenly the system chimed again:

Successfully collected tyrannical CEO quote: “What would an idiot like you understand?” √

In that instant, Yan Dun gained a whole new understanding of the system’s “synonym recognition” feature.