Chapter 23 – Is An Zao Targeting Me?

The contestants were all bewildered by the sudden change: An Zao and Yan Dun had become mentors on Celebrity Office Workers in their capacities as executives of the Yan Corporation.

As a result, Yan Dun made it onto the trending searches again.

The production team released a statement saying that Yan Dun and An Zao had originally been “undercover interns,” secretly observing the celebrity interns’ workplace performance. Revealing their identities midway through the competition and parachuting in as mentors had been a pre-planned “surprise segment.”

After seeing this, netizens all commented: 

⤷ The production team really knew how to play us!

Everyone finally understood: no wonder Yan Dun, a CEO’s secretary, had gone on a reality show! So he wasn’t trying to debut as an entertainer after all—he was there to be a workplace mentor. That made much more sense.

After filming this segment, Yan Dun and An Zao returned to the dressing room to rest.

Coming back to his senses, Yan Dun couldn’t help asking, “Did you deliberately reveal your identity early to help clear my name?”

Yan Dun didn’t think An Zao was the same kind of impulsive tyrant CEO as An Chi. For him to tear up the script and derail the planned flow like this, he must have had his own considerations. Thinking about it now, that consideration was probably Yan Dun’s reputation.

An Zao smiled gently. “Yes. Didn’t I promise I’d help you handle it?”

Yan Dun gave a bitter smile. “Thank you, Boss Zao.”

An Zao noticed the trace of bitterness in his smile and asked, “What’s wrong? Not happy?”

“No, of course not. I’m honestly overwhelmed.” Yan Dun shook his head. “I just kind of feel sorry for the production team.”

During the recording of the first episode, Yan Dun had only pitied the post-production staff. But now he pitied the entire crew—from the director to the screenwriters to publicity to post-production… every single one of them had been driven mad by the supreme overlord CEO.

Yan Dun also couldn’t quite figure out what An Zao was thinking. An Zao himself wasn’t overthinking things; he simply said suddenly, “Bai Lisu is getting attacked across the entire internet now.”

Yan Dun didn’t react immediately. “What?”

Thinking Yan Dun hadn’t been paying attention, An Zao explained, “Because we released a statement saying she isn’t Yan Chi’s girlfriend, her reputation’s taken a hit. Also… I already told An Chi not to continue seeing her. A woman with bad intentions like that really isn’t suitable for Xiao Chi.”

Yan Dun caught the implication and asked, “Is Bai Lisu’s current situation connected to you?”

An Zao had already decided to become a do-whatever-he-wants tyrant CEO, so he admitted it openly: “Are you satisfied with what you see?”

Yan Dun was horrified.

Holy crap, has my Boss Zao been assimilated by this tyrant-CEO world too?! He actually said a tyrant-CEO line!

Seeing Yan Dun’s expression worsen, An Zao asked with concern, “What’s wrong?”

Yan Dun quickly shook his head and said, “I think Bai Lisu just has a few little schemes. She’s not really a bad person. It’s enough to stop at this point—you don’t need to destroy her completely.”

An Zao looked surprised. “You’re not angry at her?”

Honestly, not only was Yan Dun not angry, he even sympathized with her a little.

After all, she’d been handed the script of the vicious supporting female character.

But Yan Dun couldn’t say that directly, so he hinted vaguely, “Actually… her nature’s pretty good. Sometimes people are just… unable to control their circumstances.”

An Zao looked startled for a moment, then revealed an appreciative expression. “You’re the kindest and purest person I’ve ever met.”

Yan Dun felt his scalp go numb as the system notification sounded:

System Prompt: Successfully collected tyrant-CEO line: “You are the kindest and most beautiful angel I’ve ever met” √

Yan Dun was on the verge of collapse.

My Boss Zao?! Why is he saying tyrant-CEO lines?!

Oh no——————

And even more devastating—

Why does hearing Boss Zao say such cringe lines make my heart flutter?!

Is there something wrong with me, or something wrong with him?

Yan Dun truly couldn’t handle this development. He couldn’t stay in the room for even another second, so he hurriedly found an excuse to leave the dressing room.

The moment he stepped out the door, he ran into Chen Jiangchen.

Seeing Yan Dun’s poor expression, Chen Jiangchen assumed he was troubled over the trending scandal. He immediately showed a concerned look. “I spent the whole day studying, and nobody told me anything, so I only found out about what happened to you really late…”

“It’s already fine.” Yan Dun smiled. “Thanks for your concern. It’s good that you focused on studying—you should concentrate on practice questions and stop browsing social media.”

Chen Jiangchen gave a bitter smile. “But I wish I could’ve been the first person to help you.”

His smile was tinged with sadness; even his little dimples didn’t look as sweet as before.

How could a gay man like Yan Dun not feel tenderhearted seeing such a beautiful young man make that expression?

So Yan Dun smiled warmly and said, “I’ve received your concern. Don’t be upset, my young master cousin.”

Hearing that affectionate “my young master cousin,” Chen Jiangchen immediately brightened again, smiling happily. “My Brother Yan, then you can’t play favorites!”

“Play favorites?” Yan Dun frowned in confusion, not understanding.

Chen Jiangchen grinned. “You fed Second Cousin cake—why won’t you feed me too?”

Yan Dun instantly became awkward. He scratched the back of his head, hesitation showing on his face. Just as he was wondering whether he should agree, An Zao’s voice came from behind him:

“Jiangchen, have you memorized your vocabulary words?”

The moment Chen Jiangchen saw this “family patriarch,” his expression became unnatural, though he still obediently showed a gentle smile. “I’ve already memorized them.”

Although Chen Jiangchen’s vocabulary wasn’t particularly extensive, that didn’t mean he lacked talent. The reason his academics lagged behind was because he was busy filming, not because he was stupid. In fact, he was not only intelligent, but very smart—after all, he was the outstanding male supporting character in a Mary Sue novel. His memory was excellent, and he had thoroughly memorized all the words An Zao assigned within the deadline.

An Zao raised an eyebrow and casually asked, “What does corroborate mean?”

Chen Jiangchen froze, then carefully replied, “That… shouldn’t be within the exam syllabus, right?”

The word started with “c.” If it had been part of the syllabus, Chen Jiangchen definitely would have memorized it already. Since he didn’t know it, that could only mean the word wasn’t in the syllabus. On this point, Chen Jiangchen was very confident—after all, he possessed the memory abilities of an elite supporting male lead.

An Zao himself had only mentioned the word casually and wasn’t even sure whether it was in the college entrance exam syllabus. Chen Jiangchen immediately opened a vocabulary app and said confidently, “Big Cousin, this word really isn’t in the syllabus.”

An Zao still kept a stern face. “Just because it’s not in the syllabus means it definitely won’t appear and you don’t need to learn it?”

Chen Jiangchen: …?

I suspect Big Cousin is targeting me.