After coaxing the dizzy little fellow to sleep, Xiao Yan immediately called his secretary to announce that he wanted to sell all the assets under his name, including the company.
After graduation, Xiao Yan had started a small software development company. Although it couldn’t compare to other listed corporations, such a small enterprise was still worth over a hundred million yuan, making it quite easy to liquidate if he wanted to sell it. Combined with the real estate and vehicles registered under his name, everything added up to at least two hundred million yuan.
The apocalypse was arriving soon, and what he needed to do now was prepare supplies so that he could protect the people he wanted to protect when the end times struck.
Such a sudden decision from his boss naturally frightened the secretary quite a bit. However, Xiao Yan remained adamant and instructed the secretary to settle everything within a week, leaving the secretary with no choice but to obey.
Having resolved the matter of funds, Xiao Yan returned to the bedroom. Looking at Mu Li, who was sleeping soundly on his bed, his expression turned gentle. This person truly acted like a child; even while asleep, he had to clutch Xiao Yan’s pillow in his arms as if holding a plush toy.
Xiao Yan bent down to gently place a kiss on Mu Li’s forehead before sitting down beside the bed. As he watched Mu Li, his thoughts inevitably drifted back to his past life.
He could not imagine how much hardship the exquisite, noble young master—who looked like a little prince before him—must have endured to become that wretched version of himself. What kind of profound love could drive someone to disregard life and death, casting aside everything to follow him to the bitter end, remaining utterly without resentment or regret even when meeting such a tragic fate?
The mere thought of Mu Li dying before his eyes in the past life caused Xiao Yan’s expression to grow increasingly gloomy. A heavy pressure emanated from him, causing the glass of water on the nightstand to begin vibrating slightly, and even making Mu Li, lying on the bed, stir restlessly. Xiao Yan immediately reined in his thoughts, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath to calm himself down. Fortunately, the person on the bed had not woken up.
Extending his right hand forward, a cluster of dark flames flickered and burned in his palm. Experiencing the familiar warmth in his hand, Xiao Yan curved the corners of his lips. He hadn’t expected that his ability had actually followed him back as well.
Being overly excited after his rebirth, he had been too busy winning the person over to his side to realize that his ability had returned, thinking he would have to wait until the apocalypse began. It was a good thing he got it back; once it was back, absolutely no one else would be his match.
In his past life, everyone assumed Xiao Yan possessed dual abilities in regeneration and lightning, but that wasn’t the case. Aside from the regeneration ability, he possessed another ability—devouring. He could devour the cores of ability holders and zombies, thereby acquiring their powers. The so-called lightning ability was merely generated after he mistakenly swallowed an ability core.
Yet, the Xiao Yan of the past life had been too hung up on human kindness and never dared to use this power to devour his own kind, which ultimately led to him being so easily poisoned and trapped.
Staring at the flames in his hand, Xiao Yan sneered. Living through a second life, he would never trust human nature again or indulge in the pipedream of rebuilding human civilization. If he was going to be anything, he would be the supreme king and lay the entire world at the feet of his precious treasure.
At the thought of Mu Li, Xiao Yan’s expression softened once again. Stowing away the flames in his hand, he gently stroked Mu Li’s hair and murmured softly, “This time, I will never miss you again.”
Mu Li was caught in a sweet dream and woke up after an unknown amount of time. The moment he opened his eyes, he was caught off guard and plunged straight into Xiao Yan’s infatuated gaze.
As their eyes met, Xiao Yan’s expression gradually shifted into gentleness, as though he were once again the dashing gentleman. Yet Mu Li knew that this person had been sitting by the bed staring at him like a total stalker, and had probably been watching him for who knows how long. What should he do? Just thinking about it made him feel so excited!
Feigning ignorance of the little fellow’s blushing ears and feeling entirely unashamed, Xiao Yan spoke softly to Mu Li, “Get up since you’re awake.”
Pulling back the blanket to sit up, Mu Li still didn’t dare look at Xiao Yan. In the muddle-headed span of just half a day, his unrequited love had actually come true, feeling entirely like a dream.
No matter how he thought about it, it felt unreal. Moreover, this person seemed somewhat different from what he had imagined, but the memory of that afternoon kiss made his face burn with heat, rendering him even less capable of meeting Xiao Yan’s gaze.
Disregarding whatever Mu Li was thinking, Xiao Yan directly scooped the young man into his arms and stole another fragrant kiss before asking, “What’s wrong? Did you not sleep well?”
“No… I slept quite well…” Mu Li’s already flushed cheeks grew even redder. Why was this person like this? Why did he always love kissing him? Yet he didn’t actually hate the feeling at all, even harboring a trace of joy deep inside his heart.
“Would you like some pastries? I made some.” Xiao Yan held the person without letting go, and Mu Li was reluctant to push him away either, the two of them clinging stickily to one another.
Hearing the word “pastries,” the little foodie—who hadn’t felt hungry just a moment before—felt his stomach rumble again. He nodded with restrained dignity, then shook his head. “I’m not all that hungry.”
As soon as those words left his mouth, Mu Li regretted it inwardly. Was he appearing far too gluttonous in front of the person he had a crush on? Yet he genuinely wanted to taste them so badly; since Xiao Yan cooked so well, the pastries he made certainly wouldn’t be bad either.
Lifting Mu Li up as if he were carrying a koala, Xiao Yan supported the young man’s bottom with both hands and strolled leisurely toward the living room. “Have a little bit. Dinner is still a while away.”
“Um, alright then. I’ll just eat a tiny bit.” Burying his face in Xiao Yan’s chest, Mu Li spoke in a voice no louder than a mosquito’s buzz, yet Xiao Yan heard it clearly and smiled with even greater amusement.
Reaching the living room and setting the young man down on the sofa, Xiao Yan walked over to the kitchen, where he had stored the small pastries he made earlier, and brewed a cup of mild jasmine milk tea. He placed the milk tea and pastries on the coffee table right in front of Mu Li, telling the little fellow to help himself.
Taking advantage of the time Mu Li spent eating, Xiao Yan pulled out his phone and opened a shopping app, purchasing a large quantity of bottled drinking water in one go. To avoid arousing suspicion, he had all deliveries sent to this location and placed orders across multiple different vendors.
Aside from drinking water, he also bought long-shelf-life biscuit foods, along with cooking oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and other daily necessities. As long as items could be stored for a long time, regardless of whether they would prove useful later, he tossed everything into the cart and checked out. Before he knew it, he had spent over an hour glued to his phone, dropping tens of thousands of yuan in the blink of an eye.
Mu Li had long since noticed Xiao Yan staring fixedly at his phone. Knowing that Xiao Yan ran a small company, he assumed he was busy dealing with work matters.
Sensibly choosing not to disturb him, he quietly ate his pastries and drank his milk tea all by himself, taking the opportunity to secretly snap some handsome photos of his boyfriend who was hard at work, saving them into his private album.