Over the next few days, Yan Zhuo was elusive, nowhere to be seen. Jiang Yan stayed in the villa with nothing to do, their schedules completely out of sync. It wasn’t until weekend morning that Jiang Yan finally caught Yan Zhuo.
Jiang Yan stood outside Yan Zhuo’s bedroom door and knocked.
“President Yan, time to wake up.”
No one answered him, but Jiang Yan was remarkably patient. If the door wasn’t opened, he would keep knocking. Worried the person inside couldn’t hear, he knocked louder and louder, anyone who didn’t know better would think a loan shark had come to collect a debt.
Before long, rustling sounds came from inside the room, followed by faint, vague footsteps. The door was pulled open from the inside, revealing a pair of exhausted eyes.
“What do you want?”
Yan Zhuo had noticeable dark circles under his eyes, standing behind the door in dark pajamas. His messy hair looked a bit untidy, giving him a touch of everyday life and stripping away his usual cold, distant demeanor.
“Breakfast downstairs is almost cold. Calling you down to eat.”
Yan Zhuo paused upon hearing this, his words as scarce as gold.
“Don’t want to eat.”
With that, he went to close the door, but Jiang Yan reacted quickly and blocked it, intentionally saying:
“If you’re not eating, then I’ll eat it.”
“…Suit yourself.”
Well, isn’t that embarrassing!
“Just teasing you.”
Taking advantage of a moment when Yan Zhuo was off guard, Jiang Yan leaned against the door, shutting down any possibility of him closing it again. Crossing his arms over his chest, he tilted his chin at him: “Go downstairs and eat.”
Yan Zhuo was extremely displeased with his commanding tone, his patience rapidly running out as he asked in a hostile tone:
“What on earth do you want?”
“Taking you to a great place today.”
Jiang Yan threw out a big bait, but Yan Zhuo didn’t bite, refusing without a second thought.
“Not going.”
“Going to see Nan Yu, still not going?” Jiang Yan puffed out his chest, smiling like a sly fox. “I promised to help you before, and I’m a man of my word.”
“Going or not?”
Yan Zhuo hesitated for a moment upon hearing this, then took a deep breath, lifted his eyelids to sweep a glance at him, and suppressed his temper as he spoke:
“What time?”
“No rush,” Jiang Yan leaned against the door frame, scanning Yan Zhuo up and down. “Wait until you’re properly dressed up, so you can give Nan Yu a stunning appearance.”
“…”
Yan Zhuo snatched the door, shutting it with a loud “bang.” Jiang Yan, standing in front of the door, almost had his nose smashed, a wave of internal cursing flaring up inside him.
Why such a terrible temper?
Not long after, Yan Zhuo descended the stairs fully dressed, bypassing the dining table completely and heading straight for the front door.
Jiang Yan called out to stop him urgently: “You’re not eating?”
“No.”
“Aren’t we going out? Hurry up.”
Yan Zhuo’s routine was to skip two out of three meals, but Jiang Yan couldn’t do that, he felt faint with hunger if he missed a single meal. Seeing Yan Zhuo walk away without looking back, he had no choice but to gulp down two mouthfuls of milk, grab some bread from the table, and chase after him.
Damn it, rich people really understand the art of exploitation.
“What’s your hurry?” Jiang Yan sat in the back seat of the expensive car, taking a bite of the bread in his hand, unable to stop nagging. “He’s right at A University, he’s not going to run away.”
Beside him, Yan Zhuo’s fingers were tapping lightly on the back of his hand. Hearing this, he stopped his movements, quietly staring at him for a few seconds before coldly declaring: “No eating in my car.”
If I can’t eat, I won’t eat. What’s the big deal?
Jiang Yan stuffed the last bite of bread into his mouth, shrugged at Yan Zhuo, and after eating and drinking his fill, he leaned back against the headrest, closed his eyes, his face full of contentment.
Just when Yan Zhuo thought he had fallen asleep like a pig after getting full, Jiang Yan suddenly spoke up again:
“Once we reach A University later, follow my lead.”
Yan Zhuo retorted with dissatisfaction: “On what basis?”
Jiang Yan opened one eye to look at him: “Based on my experience.”
“…”
At the gate of A University, Jiang Yan peeked through the gap of the car window sneaky and stealthily. Seeing this, Yan Zhuo knit his brows, shifted away with considerable disdain, and raised half an eyebrow.
“Your so-called experience is acting like a thief?”
Jiang Yan was long accustomed to Yan Zhuo’s sarcasm and was already capable of turning a deaf ear to it. He rolled up the window, pulled out a pair of sunglasses to put on, and then pushed open the car door to get out.
He turned around to remind Yan Zhuo of something, only to find the man still sitting motionless inside the car. Jiang Yan gave a soft tsk, it was truly a case of the emperor not being in a rush while the eunuch worried himself sick.
“Get out of the car.”
Jiang Yan propped his hands on the car door, speaking to Yan Zhuo.
“What on earth are you trying to do?”
So troublesome.
Jiang Yan had always been someone who didn’t know how to communicate and only relied on force, completely unaware of his own arbitrary ways. Seeing that Yan Zhuo wasn’t cooperating, he dragged the man straight out of the car.
The current plot had progressed to Nan Yu’s heat suddenly erupting, suffering harassment from a group of rogue Alphas. Ultimately, it was Song Jingxuan who passed by and stepped in just in time to overpower those people and rescue Nan Yu.
It was a very cliché hero-rescues-the-beauty story. As long as Yan Zhuo rescued Nan Yu before Song Jingxuan appeared, followed by a series of warm, caring inquiries and considerate care, was he still afraid Nan Yu wouldn’t be moved?
Jiang Yan felt his plan was foolproof, practically flawless.
“When we find Nan Yu later, you…”
The remaining half of the sentence got stuck in Jiang Yan’s throat. He noticed the person behind him seemed rooted to the spot, impossible to drag along no matter how hard he pulled. Confused, he turned his head to check.
Yan Zhuo had also raised his face, glaring at him through the sunglasses. His wrist, being held by Jiang Yan, twisted uncomfortably. In the end, he turned his face away and said:
“Let go of my hand.”
In fact, the tips of Yan Zhuo’s ears were already burning red like blood, his face pink like peach blossoms by the roadside. It was just that Jiang Yan was wearing sunglasses and couldn’t see a thing.
Even if he were beaten to death, he would never have guessed that this decisive and ruthless domineering CEO was actually as pure-hearted as a sheet of blank paper.
“I get it, I get it. You want to remain pure and chaste for your beloved.”
Jiang Yan immediately let go of his hand. With the sunglasses resting on the bridge of his nose, hiding the expression in his eyes, he smiled lazily, adding a touch of rogue charm.
As soon as his hand was freed, Yan Zhuo felt a slight stir in his heart. Just as he was about to speak upon hearing those words, Jiang Yan raised a hand and pointed, interrupting what he was going to say:
“Look over there, isn’t that Nan Yu?”
“Oh my! Why is he surrounded by people?” Jiang Yan’s sharp eyes caught sight of Nan Yu. Yan Zhuo followed his line of sight. “Young master, go play the hero saving the beauty quickly!”
Go for it!
Beat those bad guys to a pulp, then carry the beauty home, living happily ever after with Nan Yu, while he himself leaves behind fame and glory, holding cold hard cash to open a bar and enjoy life.
???,
“Then what about you?”
Jiang Yan’s evil wild laughter was heartlessly cut off. He was choked up by Yan Zhuo’s idiotic question, unable to catch his breath. At a time like this, why care about a nobody like him?
Jiang Yan shoved Yan Zhuo from behind: “I’ll keep watch for you.”
Pushed forward, Yan Zhuo walked toward Nan Yu, standing in front of him to separate him from those rogues, displaying his true colors as a domineering CEO. The facial expressions of the Alphas opposite him gradually turned sour.
Seeing Yan Zhuo protect Nan Yu behind his back, Jiang Yan felt relieved and immediately turned to leave, he really was going to keep watch.
The plot stated that Song Jingxuan was the one who saved Nan Yu, guessing that the guy was somewhere nearby. He needed to keep a close eye out and block Song Jingxuan from heading over, buying time for Yan Zhuo.
Before Jiang Yan had walked more than a few steps, he spotted a familiar figure. Speak of the devil.
Wearing his sunglasses, he walked quickly up to Song Jingxuan, asking politely, appearing for all the world like a lost student.
“Hello classmate, could you tell me where Teaching Building No. 2 is?”
Because Jiang Yan was wearing sunglasses, and Song Jingxuan hadn’t paid much attention to him last time at Yan Zhuo’s house, Jiang Yan actually managed to fool him. Song Jingxuan gave him directions without any suspicion.
“Walk north along this road, and when you reach the intersection, turn west, and you’ll be there.”
“Sorry, classmate,” Jiang Yan spoke again, “My sense of direction isn’t very good. Could I trouble you to…”
“Ah, ”
Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by a blood-curdling scream. Both of them raised their heads at the same time, looking in the direction of the sound. Unsurprisingly, an accident had occurred…
“Xiao Nan!”
Seeing Nan Yu sitting collapsed on the ground, Song Jingxuan completely lost his composure. Disregarding Jiang Yan, he ran straight up to him and pulled the person into his arms.
“!”
Jiang Yan’s right eyelid twitched wildly, sensing something terrible. He quickly sprinted over as well. A crowd had already gathered there. Yan Zhuo stood in the center, with three or four people lying knocked out in front of him, while Nan Yu behind him was held in Song Jingxuan’s arms, leaving only Yan Zhuo standing there all alone.
The several people who had fallen were the Alphas who had tried to harass Nan Yu. The scene was noisy and chaotic. Yan Zhuo’s fists hanging by his sides slowly tightened, his eyes locking with Jiang Yan’s across the sprawling crowd.
Jiang Yan was also dumbfounded seeing such a tragic scene. How was this completely different from what he had envisioned? How did a romantic rescue turn into a car crash scene!
More and more onlookers gathered, making Nan Yu feel humiliated. He propped himself up against the ground, wanting to stand up. Jiang Yan shot Yan Zhuo a look, signaling him to go over and help Nan Yu up.
If he didn’t help him up now, the guy was going to be stolen away.
Yan Zhuo’s dark orbs stared at Jiang Yan without moving immediately, almost driving Jiang Yan to spit blood out of anxiety, wishing he could physically force him to go help the person up.
“Hurry up.”
Jiang Yan mouthed to him again. Only then did the hollow-eyed Yan Zhuo move, walking stiffly and awkwardly like a wooden puppet. He walked up to Nan Yu, bent down, and extended his hand to him.
“Snap, ”
In the next second, it was slapped away.
Jiang Yan was shocked, and Yan Zhuo froze on the spot, remaining in that posture without moving for a long time. His gaze stayed fixed on Nan Yu, helpless like a child who had done something wrong.
Helped up by Song Jingxuan, Nan Yu looked weak and pitiful. Leaning in his arms, his eyes red, he glared at Yan Zhuo:
“Why did you have to use your pheromones? Why did you have to resort to violence?”
“It was them…”
“Even if it was their fault, why did you have to make such a scene? Are you satisfied now that I’ve been humiliated in front of so many people?”
After saying this, Nan Yu gave Yan Zhuo no chance to defend himself, as if he had exhausted all his strength, slumping softly into Song Jingxuan’s arms, pleading with a sob: “Senior, help me, please?”
Song Jingxuan glanced up at Yan Zhuo, then lifted Nan Yu in a princess carry: “Mr. Yan, excuse us. I’ll take Xiao Nan to the hospital first, please make way.”
Leaning in Song Jingxuan’s arms, Nan Yu brushed past Yan Zhuo. At this moment, the several Alphas behind them started shouting aggressively again. Yan Zhuo turned his face, his dark, sinister gaze landing on them, eyes filled with malice.
Not good!
Jiang Yan pushed through the crowd and walked straight to Yan Zhuo’s side. He patted his shoulder lightly, shielding the man behind him like a hen protecting her chick, snapping back at that group of people:
“If you’ve got the guts, don’t run. I’ve already called the police. You guys harassed an Omega first, let’s see who the police arrest when they get here!”
“A bunch of scumbags, utterly shameless!”
Yan Zhuo stared blankly at the back of Jiang Yan’s head, mesmerized. It was the very first time someone had stood in front of him and spoken up on his behalf. The lingering warmth on his wrist began to tingle softly again. He silently lowered his head, staring at Jiang Yan’s hand hanging by his side.
Those Alphas were nothing more than cowards, after being scared by Jiang Yan like that, they all scattered. The onlookers also gradually dispersed, leaving only the two of them in place.
At this moment, the setting sun poured down like molten gold, casting its glow over the world. All the buildings were enveloped in the orange sunset, making the entire city feel as if it were soaked in orange soda.
Jiang Yan looked at Yan Zhuo with a mix of disappointment and frustration. The usually overbearing Alpha was now submissive and despondent, causing Jiang Yan to be unable to utter a single word of criticism. He could only let out a heavy sigh.
“What did I tell you?”
Yan Zhuo raised his head, his usually sharp eyes filled with confusion. Like an innocent child, lost and helpless, he could only open his mouth to ask Jiang Yan.
“Do you think I was wrong, too?”