The moment Li You’ai got out of the car, only the driver, Jiang Xiaoyi, and Ye Zhen remained inside.

Jiang Xiaoyi sat in the front passenger seat with her back straight, staring ahead, trying to numb herself into calmness, not knowing what scheme Ye Zhen had up his sleeve. This man only glanced at Jiang Xiaoyi once, then told the driver the name of a restaurant.

“Go to ‘Hong.'”

“Hong” was Rong City’s most famous Michelin-starred Japanese restaurant. Though the prices were quite expensive, reservations were still highly sought after — just booking a table required a wait of several months.

Ye Zhen wanted to go to “Hong”?

Jiang Xiaoyi felt uneasy inside. She didn’t dare act presumptuously, and after holding it in, spoke in a voice she tried to make respectful yet understanding: “Mr. Ye, if you’re going to ‘Hong,’ Director Li and I need to go somewhere out of the way — why don’t you just drop me off at the next intersection? I can take a taxi myself and meet up with Director Li.”

But unexpectedly, Ye Zhen showed no reaction at all to what Jiang Xiaoyi said. He simply stared at the car window and spoke lightly—

“Do you like Japanese food? Any dietary restrictions?”

Because the question was so abrupt, Jiang Xiaoyi answered before she even registered it: “I don’t have restrictions on any country’s cuisine.”

Ye Zhen nodded: “Mm.”

Then this man seemed to be thinking about something on his mind, staring at the window glass again.

Was there something interesting outside the window?

Jiang Xiaoyi, uneasy and apprehensive, secretly glanced toward Ye Zhen’s direction through the rearview mirror, only to discover her gaze had unexpectedly met Ye Zhen’s in the mirror.

Jiang Xiaoyi quickly looked away as if by accident, sat properly for a moment, but in the end couldn’t help herself and glanced toward the rearview mirror again, and then…

Then she collided with Ye Zhen’s gaze in the mirror once more.

What exactly was Ye Zhen trying to do?

Jiang Xiaoyi’s heart pounded like a drum, and she became flustered all over.

Fortunately, “Hong” arrived soon. Jiang Xiaoyi got out of the car clumsily, staring blankly as the driver went to park on his own, until Ye Zhen’s voice woke her—

“Let’s go.”

Ye Zhen’s demeanor was rather cold and aloof. Jiang Xiaoyi followed closely behind him, and by the time they were seated in the private room, she still hadn’t figured out what Ye Zhen was up to.

Could it be revenge for her kicking him in the backside — to eat Michelin-starred food right in front of her, punishing her by making her watch without being able to eat?

Ye Zhen also seemed to be pondering something, his face stern and silent, calling the server to bring out the dishes on his own.

This Michelin restaurant didn’t offer à la carte ordering — whatever menu the head chef had recently introduced, all customers ate that, which actually spared everyone the trouble of choosing dishes.

The food hadn’t arrived yet when Ye Zhen broke the silence first.

He glanced at Jiang Xiaoyi, his tone rather flat: “After waking up from the water, I suddenly wanted a proper Japanese meal.”

Jiang Xiaoyi was somewhat confused — was it because he’d fallen into the sea that he now craved seafood? But she didn’t dare act rashly, afraid that if she said too much, Ye Zhen would steer the topic to the matter of her kicking his backside…

So Jiang Xiaoyi could only drink her green tea desperately.

Unfortunately, what you dread always comes. Ye Zhen’s expression darkened, and he still asked: “Why did you resign?”

That interrogating tone, that cold attitude…

Jiang Xiaoyi felt even more certain that she’d simply had a dream from a waterlogged brain — the harsh reality remained: she hadn’t swapped positions with the cold-blooded capitalist Ye Zhen and reached some kind of mutual understanding.

At a time like this, all she could do was play dead and admit fault.

Jiang Xiaoyi pinched herself, her voice trembling with a hint of a crying tone because of it, to make herself look thoroughly repentant: “Mr. Ye, please let me explain. I was possessed by some demon at that moment and kicked you, but honestly my first instinct was to save you. When we were escaping, I was thinking the boss should go first — that’s why that kick happened. Thinking back on it now, I regret it, deeply regret it. I should have been gentler and pushed you down softly instead.”

Her attitude was practically on her knees admitting fault, yet Ye Zhen’s expression didn’t improve at all — it even got worse: “Is that all you want to say to me? Don’t you think there’s something else you should say?”

“There’s nothing else.” Jiang Xiaoyi said with calm sincerity, “The incident happened so suddenly, and I figured my legs had more strength, so to make absolutely sure you’d escape into the sea, I used my foot. Other than that, I didn’t do anything else, didn’t say anything else. But this accident really was quite a shock to you — I heard you were also hit by something that fell from the cruise ship, just like me. The doctor just told me this kind of thing can easily cause certain unnecessary hallucinations, for instance…”

Ye Zhen’s voice even carried a hint of gritted teeth: “For instance, what?”

Was he holding a grudge over that impassioned speech she’d given right before kicking him overboard, and now preparing to pick a fight over it?

The situation had been so urgent at the time — as long as Jiang Xiaoyi flatly refused to admit anything, what could Ye Zhen even do to her? After all, things had been so chaotic then that even Jiang Xiaoyi herself, upon waking, had felt dazed and thought she’d traveled to a parallel timeline.

Even in the car, exchanging glances with Ye Zhen repeatedly, Jiang Xiaoyi had harbored some hope that maybe everything from the parallel timeline had actually happened. But looking at Ye Zhen now, sitting there with a dark expression clearly preparing to deal with her, Jiang Xiaoyi felt she’d better calm down.

She racked her brain, trying to bluff her way through: “For instance, maybe I said something disrespectful to you, or even had thoughts of resigning…” Jiang Xiaoyi pressed her lips together and smiled slightly. “Mr. Ye, you know I’m willing to be your assistant for life. If you have any impressions to the contrary, that’s definitely a side effect of the concussion from being hit. I am absolutely loyal to Ruiyi, never thought of resigning, and even less thought of disrespecting you!”

Perhaps because Jiang Xiaoyi’s bald-faced lying was simply too much, Ye Zhen’s mood looked even worse than before. This man’s anger now carried a hint of resentment: “Am I short on assistants?”

That meaning…

Was he planning to fire her?

Jiang Xiaoyi felt uneasy. She had already rapidly calmed down now, and scenes of her spirited days as CEO Jiang in the parallel timeline seemed to flash before her eyes. Jiang Xiaoyi still remembered her feelings for Ruiyi, her passion for the comics project — and even after being knocked unconscious, she’d been able to imagine all of this in the parallel timeline, which showed her inner devotion to this project incubation work at Ruiyi hadn’t faded.

She didn’t want to be Ye Zhen’s assistant anymore, but she still wanted to stay at Ruiyi, wanted to stay in the Project Incubation Department, wanted to make up for the parts she hadn’t done well enough in her imagined parallel timeline, to look at workplace problems with a different mindset, to work even harder to mobilize more resources, to help the fledgling domestic comic startup studios that needed incubating grow.

But… the first step to accomplishing any of that was not being fired by Ye Zhen.

Jiang Xiaoyi tried to look composed as she watched Ye Zhen, but no miracle occurred. Ye Zhen lowered his head, took a sip of tea, and continued the topic: “I’m not short on assistants, so starting today, you’re off my assistant position.”

The instant she heard these words, Jiang Xiaoyi couldn’t tell whether her inner feeling was more “of course” or more sour discomfort.

The parallel timeline was just her own dream — the Ye Zhen there was merely a figure she’d imagined. The real Ye Zhen had never changed; he was still that hard-to-please capitalist with a boss-complex who didn’t understand how to consider his subordinates and had an inflated sense of his own greatness. This was normal behavior for him, and yet Jiang Xiaoyi still felt an empty, lost, uncomfortable feeling in her heart.

Because of this, she almost didn’t hear Ye Zhen’s next sentence clearly, until he repeated it with furrowed brows—

“Starting tomorrow, you go back to your Project Incubation Department. I’ll find someone better for my assistant position. You just go back to your own department and produce some results for me.”

Jiang Xiaoyi had originally wanted to instinctively resist, but once she heard clearly what Ye Zhen said, only one thought remained in her mind—

Could there really be such good news?!

Her eyes suddenly couldn’t help but light up: “I can go back to the Project Incubation Department?!”

Ye Zhen, not sure what was happening, had his gaze — which had just been fixed on Jiang Xiaoyi — immediately dart away the moment it met her eyes, as if scalded. This man took a sip of tea: “You’re this happy just to go back to Project Incubation? Li You’ai isn’t even particularly good to you.”

Li You’ai isn’t good to me, but you’re not much better!

Jiang Xiaoyi suppressed the complaint in her heart, thinking that although everything from the parallel timeline was fake, Ye Zhen perhaps really wasn’t as bad as she’d originally thought — or maybe he was still quite bad, but at least this time his bad intentions had accidentally resulted in something good, like sending her back to Project Incubation.

But while Jiang Xiaoyi was happy, Ye Zhen appeared to be in a very bad mood. He glanced at Jiang Xiaoyi and said in a low voice: “So unwilling to be my assistant.”

Jiang Xiaoyi was secretly delighted — as long as she could go back to Project Incubation, even if Ye Zhen docked half a month’s worth of her performance bonus right now, she’d be willing. In her emotional excitement, Jiang Xiaoyi couldn’t help drinking a few more sips of her green tea. It was at this moment that the server slid open the Japanese-style door and began serving the dishes, so she hadn’t quite caught what Ye Zhen had just muttered under his breath and had to look up and ask: “Mr. Ye, what did you just say?”

Ye Zhen had looked unhappy the entire time, and only said tersely: “Nothing.”

Once the dishes arrived, Jiang Xiaoyi discovered that Ye Zhen hadn’t only ordered for himself — there had been no intention at all of making her watch him eat as punishment. The exact same dishes, one portion for each of them.

Jiang Xiaoyi didn’t understand what Ye Zhen meant by this — could it be that inviting her to eat Japanese food was actually out of genuine gratitude for her decisively kicking him overboard to save his life?

This dinner proceeded under such a strange atmosphere. Jiang Xiaoyi didn’t dare speak, and Ye Zhen didn’t seem to want to speak either, so the two of them ate in silent quiet.

“Hong” truly lived up to its reputation as a Michelin restaurant that always required booking and queuing — the food was excellent. Though it wasn’t Western cuisine, Ye Zhen still dined with elegant, noble grace. As long as this man didn’t open his mouth, he looked as if he’d stepped out of a painting — genuinely captivating.

Her handsome boss was treating her to dinner, hadn’t fired her, and had even transferred her back to the department she wanted — this should have been wonderful news, but as Jiang Xiaoyi looked at Ye Zhen, she instead found she had little appetite.

She thought of the Ye Zhen in her parallel-timeline dream, proudly showing off that he could eat chicken wings with a knife and fork; thought of the Ye Zhen who felt embarrassed after stir-frying asparagus with soy sauce and wasabi; thought of the Ye Zhen who seriously discussed the prospects of the comics industry with her; thought of the Ye Zhen who patiently taught her how to outmaneuver executives, narcissistic yet genuinely capable of backing it up…

Every version of Ye Zhen in the dream had been so vivid, so alive, that Jiang Xiaoyi had come to believe it was real.

So returning to reality, was that why it hurt so much?

Jiang Xiaoyi didn’t know what was wrong with herself. She warned herself she mustn’t, but she completely failed to control her emotions — eating the delicious food, tears began falling.

She wasn’t particularly nostalgic for the luxurious, wealthy life in the parallel-timeline dream, but she missed her healthy parents in that parallel timeline, and she missed the Ye Zhen who’d been so familiar with her there…

Ye Zhen had also been eating silently with his head down at first, until a moment later he seemed to notice something was off with Jiang Xiaoyi. This man looked up, and probably saw the tears on Jiang Xiaoyi’s face — his eyes instantly filled with surprise, then panic. He immediately grabbed a napkin, wanting to give it to Jiang Xiaoyi.

“What’s wrong with you? Did you eat wasabi again?”

Because Jiang Xiaoyi didn’t take the napkin, this man flustered and clumsily began wiping her face himself, then glanced at Jiang Xiaoyi’s plate and muttered, somewhat baffled: “There’s no wasabi.”

Jiang Xiaoyi had been crying, but Ye Zhen’s motion of wiping her tears was so clumsy that her face started to hurt a little, and she finally stopped crying. She paused for a moment, then suddenly realized something and looked up sharply at Ye Zhen.

What had Ye Zhen just said?

She ate wasabi again?

But she had never had any experience eating wasabi together with Ye Zhen here in this world — the only time she’d cried from eating wasabi was in the parallel-timeline dream.

But Ye Zhen had used the word “again”!

Could it be…

Could it be that everything she’d experienced in the parallel timeline hadn’t been a dream at all?!

At this moment, Jiang Xiaoyi’s palms suddenly grew sweaty with tension. She stared at Ye Zhen, who looked flawlessly composed as he searched for a wet wipe, and after an intense internal struggle, decided to risk it—

“Tom?”

What answered Jiang Xiaoyi was Ye Zhen’s natural, automatic reply: “Hm?”

This man was still pursing his lips, searching for a wet wipe: “Wait a moment, I used too much force just now and the napkin residue got on your face…”

Jiang Xiaoyi’s heart pounded like a drum, afraid that what she’d just heard was an illusion, so she bravely continued asking: “In modern society, what’s the greatest dowry a man can bring to a marriage?”

Ye Zhen answered without even thinking, almost blurting it out: “Chastity.”!!!

Because Jiang Xiaoyi’s question had been so abrupt, it hadn’t given Ye Zhen time to think, and only after answering naturally and instinctively did this man register what the question actually was. He stopped what he was doing with his hands, no longer searching for the wet wipe, and looked at Jiang Xiaoyi with a flustered, delighted gaze: “You remember?”

Damn it! It really wasn’t a dream!

Jiang Xiaoyi pinched Ye Zhen hard, watching him look like he wanted to cry out in pain, and finally confirmed everything.

“Ye Zhen, we traveled to a parallel timeline together, didn’t we?”

Ye Zhen looked as if he’d let out a breath of relief. The displeased expression he’d worn until just now finally showed signs of dissolving, and this hard-to-please man finally seemed to grow happy—

He glanced at Jiang Xiaoyi: “I thought my brain was broken. Thought I’d hit my head and damaged it.”

Ye Zhen glanced at his watch, and his voice finally returned to the tone Jiang Xiaoyi was familiar with, carrying a hint of grievance and accusation: “Right before the dishes came out just now, at this exact time, I suddenly really wanted to go review questions for the Male Virtue EMBA question bank, because according to my usual schedule, that’s about when I’d be doing practice questions. My whole mind is still full of those damned Male Virtue questions.”

At this moment, Jiang Xiaoyi found it hard to describe the ecstatic joy in her heart. There was only one feeling inside her—

Male Virtue training is amazing!!!