PMWAIAAPM Chapter 69

Chapter 69: Boss Xing is the Best in the World

The New Year has yet to pass, and Xing Yang didn’t need to wake up early when he heard the sound of the door being pushed open.

Tan Zhiyu entered, wrapped in the cold wave. The snow in Beijing had already stopped, and the excitement of the New Year had taken a short pause.

As he entered, the entire house, which had been sealed up for moving, had everything opened and arranged back to its original place. A few fresh roses were placed on the dining table.

“Why are you back so soon today?” Xing Yang hadn’t gotten up yet; it was a sudden intrusion of warmth that woke him up from the blankets.

“I couldn’t wait to see you.” Tan Zhiyu’s hands had been warmed in a sleeping bag, but his nose was still cool as he buried it into Xing Yang’s neck, causing all of Xing Yang’s drowsiness to vanish.

Xing Yang wrapped his arm around his head, letting him lie obediently against his chest.

It took ten hours to fly to Germany and twenty hours round trip; Tan Zhiyu didn’t have a break in between.

The man closed his eyes, pressing his face against Xing Yang’s shoulder. Even though Xing Yang currently had no scent due to his lack of pheromones, Tan Zhiyu still liked to smell him, even if it was just the warmth emanating from him; it felt like no matter how vast the world was, the only thing that mattered was Xing Yang.

“I really want to just faint like this,” Tan Zhiyu said, “in your arms.”

Xing Yang smiled softly, finding his childishness to be quite adorable. Sometimes he even wondered, when a baby is born one day, if their temperament turns out to be like Tan Zhiyu’s, would they be too spoiled?

But then he thought, what’s wrong with being a little spoiled?

No matter the gender, he could pamper and spoil them—being a little spoiled didn’t seem like a big deal at all.

“I’m uncomfortable, uncomfortable, Xing Yang, I’m so uncomfortable…” He sounded like a clingy child, tightly hugging Xing Yang, resting his chin against Xing Yang’s collarbone and rubbing it insistently, his voice sticky.

“Did the cold wind get to you?” Xing Yang stroked his forehead.

“No,” Tan Zhiyu said. “I’m just really sleepy, but I want to hug you and stay a little longer. Please don’t get up and keep me company, okay?”

Tan Zhiyu closed his eyes, his long eyelashes brushing against Xing Yang’s skin, making his coddling extremely effective.

“Okay, okay.” Xing Yang’s mind drifted a bit, gently touching his eyebrows and eyes with his fingertips.

The light touch made that inexplicable sense of panic disappear; Tan Zhiyu’s presence now brought him peace.

This feeling struck Xing Yang as very magical. This man was the lover he once dreamed of possessing; now that his belly was swelling, could it be said that they had finally achieved a happy ending?

Xing Yang wasn’t sure, but at this moment, he truly felt happy.

After all, he felt drowsy throughout his pregnancy, so he simply indulged with Tan Zhiyu for a long time in bed. It wasn’t until the afternoon, when they finally started eating breakfast, that he noticed a large bouquet of roses on the coffee table.

The rose-scented Tan Zhiyu bought roses for him.

This New Year was warmer than he had imagined.

—

Xing Yang had no idea what Tan Zhiyu had said to his parents in Germany. A week later, Fiona sent him a message: 【I underestimated you.】

However, there had been changes in Fiona’s position, as she transferred from a diplomat back to the German political arena. She also promised she would not interfere in her son’s romantic affairs and that she needed prior notice if she wanted to see Tan Zhiyu when returning to the country.

Xing Yang was a bit curious. Apart from the shares in Yuyin and a few industries he held, Tan Zhiyu actually had no capital to negotiate with his mother. Even his life, perhaps, was not that important to Fiona.

Because even if he were to die, Fiona might still take advantage of his funeral to garner sympathy.

“The glands, didn’t she find you a gland?” Tan Zhiyu mentioned casually. “Since gland trading is illegal, where did she find it for you?”

In some major provinces in the country, gland trading has always been a gray industry. Xing Yang hadn’t understood it in detail before, but he roughly knew it was a big tree supported by a wealthy family with the surname Huo.

“I told her that if she didn’t agree to let us be together, I would expose all her information related to gland organ trading.”

Fiona was a diplomat, and being involved in such a gray industry would turn into cross-border crime. Not to mention her political career would be ruined, she could also end up in jail. At that time, whether it was her ex-husband Tan Yushen or Tan Zhiyu himself, they would also be implicated.

But he didn’t care; even if he were heavily criticized, so what?

Fiona thought he had gone mad. She wanted to save her reputation and status, so she had to give in.

Harming others without benefiting oneself, Tan Zhiyu was always an expert at that.

After listening, Xing Yang could only think he was silly.

But Tan Zhiyu felt it wasn’t silly; he believed it was love.

That evening, the two of them went out to buy hot pot ingredients because Tan Zhiyu really wanted to learn how to cook, but the food was too terrible that even the most basic tomato and egg dish made Xing Yang feel nauseous.

Tan Zhiyu felt very sorry but didn’t know how to improve. They decided to switch to hot pot that night.

The dual-flavor pot bubbled away in the living room. Tan Zhiyu followed Xing Yang in the kitchen to prep the ingredients, but he cut the mushrooms so poorly that he almost peeled the entire cap away.

Xing Yang couldn’t stand his clumsiness anymore, took over the knife himself, or else they wouldn’t be able to have mushrooms for dinner.

Tan Zhiyu couldn’t handle this sense of defeat, but his cooking talent was quite poor, so in the end, he could only honestly stand behind Xing Yang, rubbing his waist like a human pendant, occasionally pecking a few kisses as if to cause mischief.

Once all the ingredients were in, the meat rolls transformed from enticing red to cooked meat in the pot. Tan Zhiyu looked at it for a long time, his dark green eyes filled with anticipation, and his pale cheeks had a hint of excited blush.

“Why aren’t you eating?” Xing Yang asked.

He wanted to ask this earlier because Tan Zhiyu’s seasoning looked so unappetizing—only sesame paste was used, without any seasoning, nothing like the sweet condiments a sweet lover would appreciate.

Tan Zhiyu blinked, with some excitement asking, “Do we eat it just like this?”

“What?” Xing Yang didn’t quite understand at first.

“I’ve never eaten it before.”

Tan Zhiyu picked up a piece of the poorly cut mushroom he had made earlier and asked back, “I’ve never understood why this is called hot pot. Isn’t it the same as just cooking the stuff and eating it right after?”

At first, Xing Yang thought he was joking with him, but when he saw the serious expression on Tan Zhiyu’s face, he understood he was sincere.

Tan Zhiyu had never been to a hot pot restaurant.

He had never eaten hot pot.

When he was young, his family hired a chef to customize menus for him, and after growing up, he got busy with acting, especially after becoming famous, he couldn’t go to public places. He also never had the opportunity to experience the family gathering hot pot.

Xing Yang didn’t laugh; instead, he dipped some of his own seasoning and offered it to him. “Want to try?”

The pot base only had millet and tomatoes. Xing Yang couldn’t eat spicy food; pregnancy nausea would be very harsh on his throat.

Tan Zhiyu leaned over, biting his chopsticks, and ate the crispy yam wrapped in seasoning, and his previously confused gaze suddenly sparked with clarity. “What’s this taste…”

Steam wafted up, and eating hot pot in winter was the most welcoming thing.

Through the bubbling white mist, Xing Yang laughed and asked back, “Is it good?”

He had put a little more sugar in his seasoning, and the simple combination of sesame paste and oyster sauce made the light ingredients more flavorful—fragrant but not greasy.

Even though Tan Zhiyu thought hot pot was no different from cooking, for some reason, in Xing Yang’s hands, it turned out particularly delicious. He looked into Xing Yang’s eyes, and his single eyelids, when he smiled, were even more captivating than the food in his mouth.

Also, because of the pregnancy, there was a bit more tenderness in Xing Yang’s previously robust features.

He was so charming.

Tan Zhiyu nodded in a daze, once again falling into Xing Yang’s trap. “It’s delicious, really delicious.”

So that’s how hot pot is.

The pot base could boil one’s heart, turning the simplest meal into something filled with warmth. After eating half, Tan Zhiyu wanted to sit next to Xing Yang; he didn’t want to be separated by a layer of mist.

The two were watching a variety show when suddenly, Li Yue called, her sharp voice piercing through: “Cancel all your work after the new year; something has happened! What are you going to do? The company doesn’t even have time for public relations!”

Entertainment news had leaked a short video of Tan Zhiyu and Xing Yang holding hands shopping for ingredients in the supermarket.

Across the Butterfly Manor was a large shopping mall filled mostly with young people, making Tan Zhiyu’s non-mask wearing face extremely recognizable.

The news of their previous divorce had stirred up quite a fuss, and now they were shopping in the supermarket hand in hand. Even from the side, Xing Yang’s small stomach had clearly begun to swell, no winter clothing could hide it.

Tan Zhiyu raised his eyebrow lazily and bit into the wagyu that Xing Yang had fed him. “Why PR?”

“If you don’t do public relations, just wait to have your reputation ruined, won’t you?”

The media suspected he married because of resources, and now that they were entangled again after the divorce, they were undoubtedly examining Tan Zhiyu’s character.

There isn’t a wall that doesn’t let any air through. Xing Yang squeezed Tan Zhiyu’s arm, signaling him not to speak to Li Yue like that.

“You’ve already taken on two movies next year, big brother, please don’t create any more scandal! Or else if you get blacklisted, you’re done for!”

Tan Zhiyu said, “It’s okay, Boss Xing can support me.”

The land Xing Yang had initially given him after their divorce had already appreciated to over a billion; the interest alone was hundreds of thousands a day he couldn’t even finish spending.

Li Yue was dizzy running into this kind of artist: “You—”

She thought that being love-struck was the most annoying kind of species in the world, completely disregarding the life or death of someone like her, a worker.

Haha.

“He’s joking.” Xing Yang took the phone from Tan Zhiyu’s hand, smiling as he pinched Tan Zhiyu’s face. “Sister Yue, he’s just a bit willful.”

“Um… does that count?” Tan Zhiyu leaned over and kissed Xing Yang’s abdomen.

“If you need public relations, I can have the company handle the pressure.” Xing Yang said.

“Now it’s not about pressure…”

They had been connected long before, with such a developed network, it had spread long ago. Even if the heat was lowered, it would still be futile.

Xing Yang’s image was too poor, and his reputation outside was not good. Tan Zhiyu being with him for a day would lead people to criticize him: “A single bed can’t produce two types of people.”

Such rumors were enough to make Tan Zhiyu begin to fade from the entertainment industry.

“Then I won’t act anymore.” Tan Zhiyu’s handsome face was serious.

“Ancestor, you are my dear ancestor—”

At the end of last year, Tan Zhiyu had just won the Best Actor award and then suddenly said he wouldn’t act anymore. Even the boss of the entertainment company wouldn’t let go of such a money-making tree.

Now, there were two paths: either let Tan Zhiyu continue to let the rumors sink, or bring Xing Yang back into the public eye to salvage his reputation, simply lowering the heat and covering their mouths would be counterproductive.

That night, Tan Zhiyu’s Weibo indeed fell into chaos.

【No, doesn’t Xing Yang insist on grabbing Tan Zhiyu alone?】

【Who will save my eyes — Has Tan Zhiyu been threatened again?】

【I see he has been targeted. Xing Yang is now a behind-the-scenes shareholder; doing nothing but counting money every day, having fun, and now he wants to find someone to be a dad….】

【This child might not necessarily be anyone’s.】

【Did Xing Yang put some kind of spell on him? This is outrageous. What makes a common man like him…】

“Sister Yue, can I join this variety show?” Tan Zhiyu directly sent over the program on TV.

It was a reality show for couples in the entertainment industry, scheduled for prime time, mostly featuring lesser-known second-tier stars participating to increase their visibility.

With Tan Zhiyu’s status, going on such a variety show was completely self-deprecating.

Moreover, since Xing Yang was pregnant, he couldn’t go out to film and could only stay at home with cameras set up to broadcast their daily life.

Xing Yang frowned slightly because a variety show like…

“My Boss Xing is the best, the best in the world. I don’t want them to criticize you; it makes my heart uncomfortable.”

Tan Zhiyu hugged him tightly, his voice muffled. Even though Xing Yang was the one being criticized, it seemed like Tan Zhiyu felt more wronged.