The address Ye Zhen had given wasn’t far from Jiang Xiaoyi at all, and the guilt she’d felt toward Dan Hui the whole way there vanished the moment she saw Ye Zhen —
This man, once so arrogant and impossible to please, now looked pitifully hopeful, and the instant he saw Jiang Xiaoyi, his eyes lit up like a puppy seeing its owner, his tone rather wronged. “You’ve finally come.”
He glanced at Jiang Xiaoyi again. “If you’d taken any longer, the restaurant owner would have thought I was a con man. The proprietress just now even tried to flirt with me…”
That poor thing. The thought that Ye Zhen had sacrificed this much for work made Jiang Xiaoyi feel a bit guilty inside.
And once she rushed to the register to get the bill and pay it, that guilt only deepened —
“How did you manage to treat a client to dinner and only spend this little money?”
Ye Zhen pursed his lips and said, quite plainly, “I spent quite a bit earlier on some professional books about the cultural and creative industry, and I also enrolled in some online lecture courses, so my salary’s been going fast…”
Jiang Xiaoyi was deeply moved. “But treating a client to dinner counts as business development — you can go through the company’s reimbursement process for that! Don’t worry, once you file the OA reimbursement request, I’ll make sure it’s processed right away!”
Ye Zhen cleared his throat, looking rather noble. “Even though I’m your assistant, I don’t want to rely on that relationship to take shortcuts — just go through the normal approval process. As for spending little tonight, it’s also because I’ve come to understand the difficulties of working people, and I understand a boss’s desire to trim expenses, so I want to contribute to Ruiyi too. Wherever the budget can be saved, I absolutely won’t spend carelessly — it’s not that I’m worried about the reimbursement process being slow.”
So that was it!
Who would have thought that the once extravagant and self-indulgent Ye Zhen could one day transform into someone so understanding of life’s hardships!
Jiang Xiaoyi wasn’t the type to hold grudges forever, and seeing Ye Zhen showing genuine signs of reform in every respect, she felt quite moved. Ye Zhen was thoroughly on the right track these days — the moment Jiang Xiaoyi paid, he said in a low voice, “I’ll pay you back once we’re home, then I’ll go through the reimbursement process.”
Now that Ye Zhen had truly put down the butcher’s knife and turned toward goodness, even considering others when weighing matters, that naturally deserved encouragement, and Jiang Xiaoyi immediately declared, “Consider this meal on me, don’t bother going through reimbursement.”
It wasn’t much money anyway, and she was loaded now.
Confidence and generosity both come from wealth, Jiang Xiaoyi thought — how true that saying was.
Only, she hadn’t expected that Ye Zhen, now financially strapped, would actually refuse her. “No, this is a business matter, public and private should be kept separate. Even though you’re the boss, this expense should still go through proper company reimbursement channels.”
Ye Zhen paused here, then quite naturally looked away, as though gazing at something in the distance, rather casually. “Though, if you really think I’m a good enough employee and want to show your appreciation, I wouldn’t refuse that either — only in that case, you’d need to treat me privately, since work still needs to stay separate from personal matters.”
This man’s gaze shifted back, looking at Jiang Xiaoyi again. “Actually, earlier I ordered dishes to suit the client’s taste, and since I was also watching the budget, I didn’t really eat my fill…”
The old Ye Zhen, with eyes only for himself — he probably thought himself the center of the universe, with all the planets orbiting around him. But now…
Jiang Xiaoyi looked at Ye Zhen with a smile. “Ye Zhen, have you noticed how much you’ve changed!”
Ye Zhen blinked. “What?”
“Just — you’ve started thinking of others, weighing the perspectives of multiple parties in so many things, actively considering things from other people’s shoes.”
Jiang Xiaoyi looked him over once more. “And have you noticed? You haven’t spoken to me in that bossy, imperious tone in ages!” Saying this, she glanced at her watch. “This is actually the perfect time for a late-night snack. No time like the present — since you haven’t eaten your fill, let me treat you now. Crawfish, sound good?”
“Sure.”
“Then let’s go! There isn’t a good crawfish place around here, but I know one in the old town, the flavor is fantastic, the quality of the crawfish is great too — come on, I’ll take you.”
Ye Zhen followed behind Jiang Xiaoyi all the way to the underground parking garage, then got into her car. He seemed still somewhat bothered by what Jiang Xiaoyi had said earlier, and once the driver pulled onto the main road, this man pulled up the partition between the back seat and the driver’s seat, then cleared his throat and lowered his voice. “Was I really that domineering toward you before?”
Jiang Xiaoyi blinked, then nodded. “Pretty bad, actually. Commanding, and not just toward me — you talked to everyone that way, like some CEO straight out of a novel had possessed you.”
“…” Ye Zhen pressed his lips together. “You say a domineering CEO possessed me — doesn’t that mean I had some presence about me at times? I wasn’t that terrible, was I?”
Jiang Xiaoyi shot Ye Zhen an incredulous look. “What are you even thinking? The moment a man becomes your boss, no matter how handsome or gentle he might be, he’s already turned into a blood-feud class enemy. Besides, you used to grind me down every single day back then — do you think I had Stockholm syndrome, thinking your domineering CEO act had presence? Did you find it fun when you beat me down mercilessly every day?”
Hearing this, Ye Zhen’s expression indeed fell. “Was I really that terrible before?”
“Depends on the comparison. Compared to Eunuch Li, your heart’s still in the right place. But compared to my senior schoolmate, well, you’re not much to look at.”
The mention of Dan Hui indeed made Ye Zhen’s face turn unpleasant, apparently having been outshone, and his voice turned sour. “That indiscriminate friend-of-all-women — you call that gentle? What’s so great about him?”
The mention of Dan Hui reminded Jiang Xiaoyi of his confession earlier, and it gave her a headache all over again. She’d always thought of Dan Hui as a senior schoolmate, never once thinking of him that way, and now that he’d suddenly confessed, Jiang Xiaoyi, beyond her surprise, had also begun considering how to respond.
She naturally admired and had good feelings toward Dan Hui — these feelings, though not yet risen to the level of romantic attraction, might well be a good starting point. Slow-burning affection that grows over time wasn’t out of the question either.
The old Jiang Xiaoyi, burdened by debt and swamped with work, had never dared even think about dating. But now…
Could she try things with Dan Hui? Even though she didn’t currently feel that spark, what if it developed? Dan Hui was so good to her — shouldn’t she at least give him a chance?
“Oh, how was your senior schoolmate’s birthday party today?”
Just then, Ye Zhen’s question pulled Jiang Xiaoyi’s thoughts back.
This man’s tone sounded quite natural. “His birthday party must have invited plenty of beautiful female friends, right? Someone as gentle to everyone as him — I wonder how many gifts from women he received at this party.”
“Actually, no, my senior schoolmate is gentle, but he’s not the promiscuous type. This birthday was really just family, honestly the only real outsider invited was me.”
Jiang Xiaoyi had just meant to defend Dan Hui in passing, but Ye Zhen suddenly got quite worked up. “Right, right, right, you’re Boss Jiang now, of course you’re one of a kind. You know how society works — a man’s best fate is to find a good woman. Your senior schoolmate might be gentle, but he’s plenty realistic too.”
Jiang Xiaoyi was about to argue, but Ye Zhen looked at her and spoke first. “Let me ask you this — back in the original timeline, did your senior schoolmate ever invite you to his birthday party?”
Jiang Xiaoyi blinked — that was true, he really hadn’t.
Seeing her reaction, Ye Zhen immediately wore a look of understanding. “I knew it.”
“Jiang Xiaoyi, I’ve seen plenty of men like your senior schoolmate — gentle toward everyone, looking oh so good, but deep down thoroughly pragmatic, believing firmly in marrying within one’s social class. Didn’t you work part-time at his Firefighting Club in that other timeline too? For several years, right? If he genuinely had feelings for you, whether you were Boss Jiang or little Jiang, why didn’t he invite you to a single birthday in all those years?”
“Your personality hasn’t changed whether in that timeline or this one, and neither has your relationship with him — still senior and junior schoolmate. Your past interactions and memories together seem consistent too. The only thing that’s changed is your family’s wealth. But in that other timeline, he wasn’t nearly this eager to court you.”
A trace of disdain crossed Ye Zhen’s face. “I’ve seen this type of man plenty. It’s like raising fish — scatter a bit of fish food to the whole school, then see which fish is fattest and prettiest, and reel that one in to eat. Given a better option, they’ll never pick anything less than the fattest one.”
This comment displeased Jiang Xiaoyi. “How can you think of people so negatively? Whatever else, my senior schoolmate is a good person in my eyes.”
“Whether he’s a good person or not, you’d know if you traveled back and tried it — see if he pursues you relentlessly once you’re back to your old self.”
“I’m not going back!” The moment this topic came up, Jiang Xiaoyi’s reaction turned intense. “I absolutely won’t go back!”
Although he had, of course, already adapted to this new time and life, Ye Zhen still naturally wanted to go back, and he had recently been exchanging ideas frequently with the head of the Chuyuan studio about the concept of parallel timelines, attempting to find the scientific theoretical basis for how one might travel across time. He simply hadn’t expected Jiang Xiaoyi’s reaction to be this intense.
Of course, Ye Zhen understood — after all, no one could bear to give up wealth and status.
Just as he was about to open his mouth to comfort Jiang Xiaoyi a little, promising that even if she went back, he’d still be able to give her a large sum of money, he heard Jiang Xiaoyi’s voice, muffled, speak up first —
“I don’t want to lose my parents all over again.”
Ye Zhen blinked. “Your parents…”
Jiang Xiaoyi lowered her head. “In that other timeline, I no longer had parents.” Then she looked at Ye Zhen. “But here, my parents are both alive and well. There was no car accident, they’re perfectly healthy, and they have money too. It’s like a dream.”
Ye Zhen fell silent for a moment before speaking. “So that’s why you don’t want to go back to the original timeline?”
Jiang Xiaoyi nodded. “There’s nothing I’m nostalgic about in the original timeline — day after day at work, grinding away… Of course, the most important thing isn’t about money. It’s that here, my family is still alive. I understand why you want to go back too — as long as you have a way to go back, you can go back alone, and if you need any help from me that wouldn’t affect my life here, I’d be willing to help…”
“As for my senior schoolmate, I still believe he’s a good person, because back in that other timeline, it was him who took care of me and looked out for me all along. When something happened to my parents, if it hadn’t been for the part-time job he provided me at the Firefighting Club, I probably would have had to drop out of school entirely…”
Jiang Xiaoyi paused. “So I’ll take his confession seriously and handle it carefully…”
Jiang Xiaoyi had poured her heart out at length, but she hadn’t expected Ye Zhen to remain remarkably calm about the topic of traveling back — instead, the moment the conversation turned to Dan Hui, this man practically jumped up, raising his voice. “He confessed to you?!”
“Yeah.”
“Just now, at the birthday party?”
Jiang Xiaoyi nodded, not quite understanding.
Ye Zhen pressed his lips together. “I don’t approve.”
“?” What did this have to do with him?
Fortunately, just as Jiang Xiaoyi was about to speak, Ye Zhen cleared his throat and volunteered an explanation of his own. “Here’s the thing — Ruiyi was, after all, once my enterprise, and you’re a bit naive yourself. Personally, I feel that when it comes to dating, you still need someone who understands and knows you well to vet things, or else you might get deceived.”
This man’s voice quickly cooled and turned analytical. “Besides, since you say you want to take this seriously, that means you currently have no romantic feelings toward him deep down — otherwise, wouldn’t you have said yes right away, your heart racing, the moment someone you liked confessed?”
“You should know, you’re currently still engaged in professional dealings with Dan Hui. What matters most in workplace romances is that if it falls apart, future cooperation might become impossible too. I can tell you’re not that interested in him — otherwise, why would you be hesitating like this?”
Jiang Xiaoyi thought about it, and it did seem to make some sense.
Ye Zhen coaxed her gently, step by step. “Besides, if your senior schoolmate is good to you, does that mean you should just be with him? Then your very reason for being with him would be disrespectful to him. Men have it so hard in this society! You know a man becomes unmarketable goods once he passes twenty-eight? Unless you’re already sure you can marry your senior schoolmate, if you haven’t figured out your own heart and agree to him rashly, aren’t you wasting his precious youth?”
Marrying Dan Hui…
The thought instantly sobered Jiang Xiaoyi up.
She hadn’t thought that far ahead at all.
Jiang Xiaoyi looked at Ye Zhen hesitantly, testing the waters. “Is it really true that in this world, men have trouble finding partners after twenty-eight?”
Ye Zhen nodded solemnly. “Actually, it gets hard after twenty-five. Men past twenty-five are already on the decline — here, they’re basically damaged goods. If you truly care about your senior schoolmate, you shouldn’t waste his time.”
“And think about it, if he really got together with you, could you give him the happiness he wants? You have a company as large as Ruiyi to manage, surely lots of business trips and overtime — after marriage, he’d have to give up his own career, staying home to be your devoted homemaker husband. Your senior schoolmate started his own business, which means he’s an independent man — he might endure and set himself aside for love while the passion burns hot, but love fades eventually. Could he really tolerate being a stay-at-home husband day after day at that point?”
Jiang Xiaoyi fell into deep thought.
Ye Zhen looked at Jiang Xiaoyi earnestly and pressed on. “If you truly appreciate your senior schoolmate, you should set him free, be a broad-minded, dominant woman. After all, whether man or woman, those in business aren’t the best marriage prospects. There are so many temptations in the business world, so much bad influence. Take you, for instance — every time you attend a cocktail party, don’t plenty of men pretend to accidentally spill wine on you, hoping to throw themselves at you? Imagine yourself in his shoes — as your boyfriend, Dan Hui would have to endure all this every day, with some sad internal soundtrack playing in his head, drowning in tears, becoming anxious and insecure. Do you think that’s fair to him?”
Not fair, definitely not fair.
“I say I don’t approve because I’m a man too — if men don’t help other men, is there any humanity left in this society? I can see you’re this hesitant about Dan Hui, clearly you don’t love him. I can’t just watch a good man go astray. Jiang Xiaoyi, as a successful woman, you shouldn’t take advantage of your privileged position as a woman and act however you please.”
“And what about Ruiyi — you’re responsible for that too! What if you date Dan Hui, get married, and then divorce? The proceeds Ruiyi earns during the marriage would have to be split too. Ruiyi should be starting its IPO plans soon — if a divorce breaks out before or after going public, do you know how much damage that would do to the company?”
“There’s always a prenup for that…”
Ye Zhen raised an eyebrow slightly, looking utterly disappointed in her. “You’d already be guarding against your own senior schoolmate like that — is there even a point being together?”
That did seem to make sense too…
Jiang Xiaoyi hadn’t realized she’d been completely led astray by Ye Zhen’s bizarre logic.
She felt Ye Zhen’s analysis seemed remarkably thorough and utterly correct. She even found herself rather impressed with Ye Zhen — this man, after suffering the trials of the working world, could now stand in solidarity with all mankind, empathizing with Dan Hui’s entire life situation, analyzing it from every angle, showing such deep reflection on men’s lives and rights.
Ye Zhen had really changed!
Right then, the driver arrived at the location Jiang Xiaoyi had given, and she got out of the car, explaining under Ye Zhen’s suspicious gaze at the alley ahead: “Cars can’t drive through down there, we’ll have to walk. Just follow me.”
Once she’d said this, she suddenly remembered something. “Wasn’t your phone dead?”
Ye Zhen blinked, then looked away. “Yeah, it’s dead, why? Didn’t I call you from the restaurant’s landline?”
“Then how did you remember my phone number? Does anyone even memorize other people’s phone numbers without checking their phone these days?”
“…” Ye Zhen seemed momentarily stumped by the question, but after a moment, this man calmly answered, unruffled. “Even though I’ve had to work as an assistant out of life’s circumstances, I’m the type to give my all in any role — since I’m your assistant, of course I should keep your phone number memorized just in case. That’s only normal.”
“I see.” Jiang Xiaoyi still seemed a bit skeptical. “Then what is my phone number?”
Ye Zhen stared at the ground without saying a word, only quickening his pace, as though he hadn’t heard Jiang Xiaoyi at all. He looked as though he were starving, and even though there was still some distance to the crawfish restaurant, this man deflected, changing the subject. “I can smell the crawfish already! Come on, let’s hurry and go eat!”
Probably genuinely hungry.
Jiang Xiaoyi thought it over and decided not to press the phone number issue any further, walking briskly ahead of Ye Zhen and leading him straight into the crawfish restaurant.
But once the huge basin of crawfish was brought out, Ye Zhen, who had just been desperately proclaiming his hunger, wore a complicated expression.
“No one’s peeling these for us? We have to shell them ourselves?”
…What kind of question was that — like he was asking whether he’d have to use the bathroom himself…
Jiang Xiaoyi was thoroughly speechless. “Crawfish are a bit of a hassle to eat, but peeling them yourself is exactly what makes it satisfying. And besides, what if the crawfish someone else peeled for you had their saliva on it? Wouldn’t eating that leave you a bit traumatized?”
Ye Zhen pursed his lips, then rather cautiously put on the bib and disposable gloves.
Jiang Xiaoyi dug into the crawfish with both hands and mouth, but Ye Zhen was different — this man leisurely disassembled the shells by hand, his posture proper, his movements elegant, looking less like he was peeling shrimp and more like he was handling some important document.
After a moment, Jiang Xiaoyi watched Ye Zhen produce a perfectly peeled crawfish.
He dipped the meat in the sauce and held it out to Jiang Xiaoyi. “Someone else’s peeled shrimp might not necessarily have saliva on it either.”
This man pursed his lips. “Of course, that requires skill and absolute elegance.”
Saying this, he looked away somewhat unnaturally, then cleared his throat. “There, eat up.”
Jiang Xiaoyi stared at the crawfish held near her mouth, Ye Zhen’s hand raised right beside her lips — she only needed to open her mouth slightly to eat it in one bite.
But for some reason, Jiang Xiaoyi felt a bit nervous and bashful.
In this world, it was a very common thing for men to peel shrimp and feed women while eating — several nearby tables had men doing exactly that for the women dining with them — but as Jiang Xiaoyi stared at Ye Zhen’s hand, her heart still started pounding violently.
Why was she suddenly nervous?
Stop it, stop it! Get a grip, Jiang Xiaoyi!
“My hand’s getting sore from holding this up, are you going to eat it or not?”
Fortunately, Ye Zhen’s eventual unnatural complaint pulled Jiang Xiaoyi’s mind back to reality, and she ate the crawfish he’d peeled straight from his hand, and then…
Then Ye Zhen, his expression unchanged, his movements growing ever more practiced and graceful, peeled an entire basin of crawfish for Jiang Xiaoyi.
“Weren’t you hungry? Why are you giving it all to me?”
“You never forget the one who dug the well when you drink the water — since you’re treating me, of course you should eat your fill first.” Ye Zhen cleared his throat. “That’s only normal. Besides, you’re the boss now, and I’m a properly deferential employee, of course the boss should eat first.”
That did make some sense. Back when Jiang Xiaoyi had been an employee, whenever the company had gatherings, wasn’t it always Eunuch Li who got to pick up his chopsticks first with every dish that came out?
In this workplace atmosphere, it was as though being a superior naturally made you more distinguished than everyone else.
Jiang Xiaoyi looked at the plate of appetizing, already-peeled crawfish in front of her and couldn’t help feeling a bit wistful — who would have thought that Ye Zhen, once so deeply afflicted with boss syndrome, would now be affected by workplace culture pressure himself, starting to flatter his own boss!
Jiang Xiaoyi watched Ye Zhen’s shrimp-peeling posture and felt a pang of sympathy she couldn’t quite suppress. “Ye Zhen, even though this society isn’t kind to men, you really don’t need to curry favor with me like this, you don’t have to do this…”
As it turned out, while she was showing concern for Ye Zhen, he didn’t appreciate it at all, shooting her a glare. “I want to do this.” He glanced at Jiang Xiaoyi. “Do you have a problem with that?”
That attitude was still quite domineering-CEO, but his shrimp-peeling posture was thoroughly that of a practiced working stiff…
Who would have thought Ye Zhen had turned into a humble working man with a domineering CEO living inside him!
Ye Zhen made quick work of the whole basin of crawfish, and was even eager to order a second one, but fortunately Jiang Xiaoyi quickly stopped him —
“That’s enough, you haven’t eaten much yourself, hurry up and eat too, crawfish is best while hot.”
“Are you sure you’ve had enough?”
“Enough, enough!”
Only then did Ye Zhen stop. “Alright, then I won’t peel any more. If you still want more, I’ll peel some for you.”
Although Jiang Xiaoyi had once thoroughly despised Ye Zhen’s boss-syndrome arrogance, now that Ye Zhen had suddenly changed so much, she felt a bit uneasy too. “Ye Zhen, did you take some kind of shock to the system?”
Ye Zhen indeed looked displeased. “Why would you say that? Have I not been performing well at work recently? Or is my working out not going well? Even my cooking has already covered both Huaiyang and Cantonese cuisine, and I’ll conquer Sichuan cuisine soon too. My abs are already at eight-pack level, fully meeting your standards…”
That was precisely the issue!
These past several weeks, Ye Zhen’s attitude at work had been earnest, often proactively working overtime, and once Jiang Xiaoyi got home, he’d pull her aside to have her explain the cultural entertainment and comics industry to him. His cooking skills, which he’d once flatly refused to learn, had suddenly improved by leaps and bounds, and now he was even peeling crawfish for her!
And besides…
“I’m about to receive my Male Virtue EMBA certificate.” Ye Zhen said this as though it were a passing remark. “I wonder if your senior schoolmate has gotten his yet?”
Ye Zhen elegantly ate a crawfish with a fork. “Actually, I’ve come to realize that the Male Virtue EMBA certificate really does carry a lot of weight, because it comprehensively reflects a man’s overall qualities. After all, you’ve seen the exam questions yourself — it’s not limited to that narrow definition of male virtue. How should I put it — a man who can pass this exam can really be considered among the best.”
So peeling an entire basin of crawfish for her was the result of his Male Virtue EMBA studies?
That certificate really did carry a lot of weight, then — a stubborn holdout like Ye Zhen could be brainwashed to this degree?
Impressive, truly impressive.