Chapter 17 – That Flavor Is So Damn Sweet!

Xiao Qi took the beautifully packaged gift cake out of the chairman’s office fridge and unwillingly brought it to An Chi’s office. Inside, An Chi and Yan Dun were discussing plans for knocking out Hua Daimao’s front teeth.

Xiao Qi knocked on the door and cleared his throat. “Hello, President An. Chairman An asked me to bring this cake to Xiao Yan.”

Even this sentence was loaded with subtle scheming. He greeted President An, but not Yan Dun. Yan Dun called him “Secretary Qi,” while he addressed Yan Dun as “Xiao Yan,” subtly implying that his own status was a level higher.

Seeing how much palace-drama energy Xiao Qi possessed, Yan Dun was oddly touched: So there really are ambitious office workers in this overbearing-CEO world!

Of course, realizing that such an ambitious person was his rival made it far less pleasant.

An Chi asked, “My brother told you to deliver cake? Why only for Xiao Yan?” He genuinely found it strange.

Xiao Qi fully unleashed his inner concubine-warrior and said in a loaded tone, “Well, wasn’t it because Xiao Yan gave Chairman An expired cake earlier? Chairman An has plenty of fresh food already—the fridge is overflowing—so he told me to bring Xiao Yan a piece too, so he could have a taste.”

Xiao Qi had technically relayed An Zao’s words accurately, but through half-rolled eyes, meaningful pauses, and exaggerated details, he completely altered the emotional tone. Truly a master of passive-aggressive intrigue.

No matter how thick-skinned Yan Dun was, he still felt awkward now.

To be fair, he regretted giving Chairman An expired cake himself.

Normally, he never would’ve done such a thing. The discounted near-expiration cake had originally been bought for himself. He’d happened to see Chairman An in the meeting room and casually offered him some without thinking much about it. Later, when Chairman An seemed to like it, and Yan Dun had been looking for an excuse to see him again, he’d stupidly used the cake as a reason to visit.

Who knew it would backfire and cost him points instead?

Seeing Xiao Qi’s disdainful look, Yan Dun could only endure it, replying with a strained smile, “How is it expired? I remember it hadn’t expired yet.”

“Mm, it expires tomorrow,” Xiao Qi replied. “But for someone as meticulous as Chairman An, there’s really no difference.”

Yan Dun felt even more embarrassed. He nodded and said, “That was careless and reckless of me. I’m really sorry.”

An Chi was fiercely protective of his own people and immediately spoke up for Yan Dun. “What’s the big deal? My brother isn’t that delicate.”

Xiao Qi dared to mock Yan Dun, but did not contradict An Chi, so he hurriedly nodded. “True, true. President An is broad-minded and informal. Xiao Yan is the same sort of person.”

The implication was obvious: Xiao Yan might fit working under the “informal” President An, but if he wanted to work under the “refined” Chairman An, he simply wasn’t qualified.

Even Yan Dun’s old thick skin couldn’t withstand it. He forced a stiff smile. “Mm, I definitely still have a lot to learn from Secretary Qi.”

Feeling that his “warning shot” had been successfully delivered, Xiao Qi left in satisfaction.

Watching Xiao Qi leave proudly, then glancing at Yan Dun’s defeated expression, An Chi finally caught on. “That guy surnamed Qi was mocking you?”

Yan Dun was speechless. Wasn’t An Chi supposed to have an IQ of 250? Why do I only ever see the “250” part?

Although Xiao Qi had indeed been mocking him, Yan Dun also felt he’d handled the situation poorly himself. Getting mocked a little was deserved, and he didn’t want An Chi stepping in for him.

After all, An Chi was an overbearing CEO. When he defended his people, he never cared about right or wrong. He’d probably just slam the table and say, “Don’t bother coming to work tomorrow.”

Yan Dun didn’t want Xiao Qi losing his job over something so minor.

But Yan Dun’s silence only convinced An Chi he was right.

An Chi immediately flew into a rage. “Damn it! He dares bully my person?!”

Yan Dun was honestly getting tired of hearing the phrase “my person.” An Chi had already said it several times. Yan Dun desperately wished the man would come up with some new lines so he could unlock fresh dialogue and advance his mission progress.

Thinking about missions, Yan Dun immediately picked up the cake, cut off a small slice, handed it to An Chi, and smiled. “How does this cake taste?”

An Chi, like a big kid, had an easily distracted attention span. Hearing that, he took a bite and said, “Not bad.”

Yan Dun was deeply disappointed.

I was hoping you’d say: “This flavor is so damn sweet.”

Seeing the disappointment on Yan Dun’s face, An Chi assumed it was because of the cake itself. “This kind tastes bad after sitting too long. I’ll take you somewhere authentic later and get you fresh-baked ones. What do you think?”

Yan Dun was surprised by the suggestion, but food was always tempting, so he naturally agreed.

And so, An Chi tossed aside work entirely and directly dragged Yan Dun out.

By now, Yan Dun was already accustomed to these wildly irresponsible “overbearing CEO” behaviors. Anyway, protagonists blessed with destiny never suffered consequences. Going out for cake wouldn’t delay work—if anything, while eating cake, dramatic background music might suddenly start playing as inspiration struck and An Chi came up with some miraculous strategy to utterly crush the villain.

As a domineering CEO, An Chi was both overbearing and straightforward. He directly told his assistant he was going out to eat cake. The assistant, clearly long accustomed to his CEO antics, didn’t even react.

Not long after An Chi and Yan Dun left, An Zao happened to walk past the office with Xiao Qi. Seeing the office lights off, An Zao frowned slightly. “Where are the people inside?”

The assistant, having worked under An Chi long enough to absorb some domineering habits himself, replied casually, “Oh, Secretary Yan thought the cake you sent didn’t taste very good, so President An took him out to eat better cake.”

“…”

An Zao’s expression shifted through several changes in an instant before finally settling back into calmness.

Beside him, Xiao Qi was sweating nervously. Originally, he’d wanted to seize the opportunity to badmouth Secretary Yan a little more, but seeing An Zao’s expression, he suddenly felt it was wiser to stay as quiet as a chicken.

Still smiling faintly, An Zao asked, “Do you know which restaurant they went to?”

“Oh, the best dessert shop in town.”

An Zao asked, “What’s it called?”

“The name is literally ‘The Best Dessert Shop in Town.’”

An Zao: ???

Meanwhile, at The Best Dessert Shop in Town, Yan Dun was equally full of question marks.

Because the system had just issued him a new mission:

[Trigger plotline: Slap Bai Lisu in the face.]

Yan Dun was stunned.

Customer Service-kun prompted: “…Do you remember that this fanfic is called I Slapped Mary Sue’s Face Swollen?”

Bai Lisu: Fuck.

Yan Dun: “Ah, Bai Lisu, you’re here too?”

Customer Service-kun: Because this plot requires cooperation from both parties, we’ve opened a telepathic conference call for you two. Customer

That explained it, though suddenly hearing another person’s voice inside his head was still terrifying.

Yan Dun: “Next time, can you warn me before connecting the call?”

Customer Service-kun: Certainly, Dear Customer. So now that the mission is clear—slap Mary Sue in the face—no problem, right?

Yan Dun: “Uh… okay… Um, Bai Lisu, sorry about this…”

Bai Lisu: “It’s fine, it’s fine. If you’re gonna slap me, hurry up. I still need to go back and get my beauty sleep afterward.”

System Plot Prompt:

Mary Sue learned that An Chi was at The Best Dessert Shop in Town. She deliberately went there to “accidentally” run into him.

But unexpectedly, she saw Yan Dun and An Chi eating desserts together late at night, with Yan Dun enthusiastically feeding cake to An Chi by hand…

Yan Dun: ??????

Bai Lisu: “Oh, I get it now. Then I’m supposed to grit my teeth in envy and hatred, let a vicious glint flash through my eyes, and obediently run over to get my face slapped, right?”

Unlike Bai Lisu, Yan Dun was nowhere near as accustomed to cliché plot developments. He was still deeply shocked by the phrase:

“Yan Dun enthusiastically fed cake to An Chi by hand.”

He stared blankly in disbelief, completely failing to realize one thing—

Not only was Bai Lisu on her way to witness Yan Dun feeding An Chi cake…

An Zao and Hua Daimao were also both already on the way there.