PMWAIAAPM Chapter 23

Chapter 23

The man’s figure was tall and slender, with broad and strong shoulders, blocking the door and covering the bouquet of roses inside with his back.

Xing Yang stood behind him, unsure of his expression.

He carefully put the key into his pocket and said, “Sister Li said you left early. I wanted to find you, afraid something might happen to you.”

His voice was light yet pleasant, softening: “Shall we go in and talk?”

Without communication, relying on guesses would only worsen their concern; even if it was just a contractual marriage, misunderstandings should not abound.

In the eyes of a businessman, a good partner is about mutual benefit, not looking away and remaining silent.

Tan Zhiyu stood at the door, his eyes filled with the romantic vision of the red sea of flowers inside. He seemed a bit dazed, memories suddenly pulling him back to his childhood when the driver would drop him off and pick him up from school. During a spring outing, his parents promised they would take him to the amusement park together. Young as he was, he couldn’t sleep with excitement; he spent the previous day drawing a picture of their family of three, planning to give it as a gift to his beloved parents on their family outing.

With great expectation, his father went to a meeting, and his mother went on a business trip. The nanny took him on countless rides on the carousel.

The nanny stored away the drawing of their family and advised him that he could give it to his parents the next time they met. Little Tan, for the first time, experienced the power of being stood up; he didn’t cry but silently tossed the paper into a garbage can by the road.

Parents who break promises are not the happy family depicted in his drawing.

There were too many broken promises later on, and Tan Zhiyu had long since grown accustomed to disappointment in commitments. So when he saw Xing Yang coming downstairs, his first reaction was that he was about to break another promise. Before he had the chance to feel disappointed, Xing Yang’s roses arrived at his home in advance.

He truly went downstairs to look for someone.

To find his own.

Xing Yang cared about him, very much so. This thought flashed through Tan Zhiyu’s mind, and he felt secretly pleased, but his eyes involuntarily welled with tears.

“What’s there to talk about?” He walked inside, changed his shoes, and carefully maneuvered around the roses to sit on the sofa, afraid he might damage the flowers.

Both of their homes had the same layout; the entire living room was nearly one hundred square meters wide. Not far from the entrance was an open kitchen, and beautiful light poured in during morning and evening, casting a shimmering glow on the red petals scattered with tiny sequins, sparkling with small yet dazzling light.

“You’re hurt.” Xing Yang noticed the injury on his brow, furrowed his brow slightly, then turned around to find cotton swabs and disinfectants to treat him.

Tan Zhiyu lay back on the sofa, exposing the smooth and sexy line of his neck, stretching out a hand to grab a rose that had fallen to the ground, trying to cover up the fact that he was about to cry: “It’s nothing serious, tsk—”

“Be gentle, gentle,” Xing Yang soothed him, noticing the redness around his eyes and mistakenly thinking it was because he was being too rough.

The soft sofa, and…

What else? Before Tan Zhiyu could think, he was interrupted by a sudden phone ring. It was a call from Jiang Cheng.

He picked it up on speaker, as Xing Yang was busy cleaning his wounds with alcohol.

“Boss Xing, my face is going to be ruined; if I end up ugly, will you still like me in the future?” Jiang Cheng’s tone was clearly joking. “You don’t know, Tan Zhiyu hit me so hard! I hadn’t offended him, right? Is it because I’m a newcomer and can’t adapt to this kind of filming intensity? Boss Xing, it hurts so much….”

Xing Yang: “….”

He silently watched Tan Zhiyu beside him; the alpha’s face had already turned cold, and a wave of oppressive pheromones poured out.

Jiang Cheng continued, baffled: “The little cake you sent me today was so delicious. Boss Xing, will you come visit the set again tomorrow? Actually, I shouldn’t have acted against Tan Ge today; after all, I’m several years younger than him and just starting out, unlike him, who is an old hand in the industry. Boss Xing, what do you think?”

These two sentences struck Tan Zhiyu’s heart like knives. He was only twenty-eight! How could he be old?

And what did he mean by sending him a small cake?

The air suddenly fell into an inexplicable silence. Tan Zhiyu pushed away Xing Yang’s hand that was tending to his wounds and stared directly at him.

Xing Yang didn’t expect him to say such things. He usually joked with him without boundaries, and before Tan could utter any more sharp words, he hurriedly hung up the phone.

“You sent him a small cake; today you went specifically to visit him.” Tan Zhiyu said calmly, but his gaze was chillingly severe.

He was the main partner!

What was Jiang Cheng? What did he count as?

Where was he old?

Tan Zhiyu secretly regretted in his heart why he hadn’t dealt a harder blow, directly hitting that guy’s face to disfigure him, preventing him from ruining other people’s families. That morally bankrupt little brat would one day find himself eating instant noodles without a seasoning packet.

“You like younger ones, right?” He sneered, “It seems one alpha can’t satisfy Boss Xing’s daily needs.”

“It’s not like that.” Xing Yang’s temples throbbed incessantly; he knew a fierce battle was about to erupt.

He felt an inexplicable sense of guilt, unable to comprehend why he had panicked so much when he hung up the phone, as if he was caught in infidelity by his husband. Their contractual marriage didn’t include emotions, right? Perhaps it was a matter of responsibility.

Xing Yang managed a brief explanation, unsure of what else to say. Just as he was about to continue wiping Tan’s cheeks, Tan Zhiyu suddenly pushed him away: “Stop pretending in front of me!”

His volume suddenly rose, displeasure and impatience evident.

“I’m sorry….” Xing Yang eventually bowed his head, but his heart was suffocating.

Besides apologizing, he really didn’t know how to comfort anyone; communicating with Tan Zhiyu was the most challenging collaboration he had ever handled. Even the red roses didn’t help him plead his case.

“Do you dare say you have no feelings for Jiang Cheng? Knowing I hate him! You specifically brought him into the crew and sent him flowers and cake! What does that phone call earlier mean? Why did you hang up? Calling me old? Xing Yang!”

He shouted, and in a fit of anger, tossed the cushion in his hands into the sea of roses, missing Xing Yang.

Xing Yang: “…..”

He didn’t want to argue, thinking it would be better to go home first. As for how their relationship had suddenly soured, he would take his time to analyze it when he got back.

Looking up, he saw Tan Zhiyu sitting across from him, tears fell onto the fabric sofa, leaving streaks on his face; the moisture in his eyes looked like scattered pearls: “Xing Yang, you’re cheating during the marriage! You beast, how dare you treat me like this? Where am I old, wuwuwuwu—”

“Wuwuwuwu, you sent me sunflowers this afternoon, and now roses! You’re straddling two boats, you—wuwuwuwu—get lost!”

“I’m sick of you! Never want to see you again, wuwuwu, you’re like a rock. Why do I have to fight with him? I’m your alpha; why can’t I get a little cake? Wuwuwuwu Xing Yang!”

Xing Yang: “?”

The pheromones in the air rapidly escalated. Tan Zhiyu clutched another cushion, pitifully sobbing, his legs curled up on the sofa, cascading hair and his hands wiping his eyes seeming to express he felt very wronged.

“I didn’t cheat, nor do I have feelings for him; the cake I wanted to send you…had an accident.” Xing Yang was taken aback by this scene.

The sight of a one-meter-nine man curled up on the sofa crying while clutching a cushion was quite rare; his heart ached for the beautiful figure shedding tears.

“Really?” Tan Zhiyu looked up with a pitiful expression, his mouth still turned downward.

“Yes.”

“Then aren’t you going to comfort me and explain?” Tan Zhiyu sniffled, staring unhappily at him while wiping tears: “Otherwise, we’re getting a divorce tomorrow.”

“Even if it’s a contractual marriage, I still have my cleanliness standards.” He haughtily turned his head: “Besides, I just experienced a tear overflow; it has nothing to do with you.”

Xing Yang took a deep breath, lightly chuckling with a hint of helplessness.

He suddenly realized that Tan Zhiyu was truly quite childish.

But on second thought, it seemed that Mr. Tan really held within him a child who had never grown up.

Children can cry too as they grow up.

“I hate you, Xing Yang. You made me unhappy.”

“Okay, I apologize to you, alright? Hmm?” Xing Yang leaned closer with a tissue to wipe his tears, quietly asking.