Secret Love - chapter 2

It seems that from that day on, Mu Hengguang’s usual cold, arrogant and reserved demeanor disappeared, and it was all replaced with arrogance, being critical of others without reason, playing cool, and shamelessness.
Zhang Mengmeng was scared when she saw Mu Hengguang follow Xia Yan to dinner for the first time, and she almost stabbed her own eyes. The instigator, however, was calm and collected, sitting by the table in a cool manner, waiting for Xia Yan to ask after his health after he burnt his chopsticks and dropped the vegetables.
“…“ Zhang Mengmeng chewed her food in silence, watching the two of them serve each other and eat.
“Eat some vegetables.”
“Celery has a smell.”
“It’s good for your health.”
“Hmph.” Mu Hengguang wasn’t very happy: “I want to eat fish.”
Xia Yan subconsciously agreed: ”I’ll cook it tomorrow.”
Zhang Mengmeng finished the meal with a shocked expression, feeling like a million-fortune Pikachu, replacing the light and illuminating the world…
The next day, Zhang Mengmeng found an excuse not to eat together. Xia Yan was initially a little disappointed, thinking that she didn’t cook well and that’s why her cousin didn’t love it anymore. But when she saw the boss at noon, she was relieved.
Fortunately, there was still Mu Hengguang.
The boss was very accommodating, and he ate a lot of fragrant rice. Although he was a bit picky, as long as Xia Yan coaxed Mu Hengguang, he would eat everything reluctantly.
Xia Yan sometimes wondered if it was because Mu Hengguang liked him, but the boss really had a bad temper. He would blow his soup until it cooled, pick the bones out of the fish, and give an impatient expression of “you really are stupid” if he messed up… No one would act like that to someone they liked… Xia Yan vaguely thought, and several times he recalled the photo of himself he had seen in Mu Hengguang’s wallet that day. Because he was thinking too much, he even remembered the small red line-like wound at the corner of his mouth on the photo more and more clearly.
It was as if a gorgeous flower had blossomed under the ice and rock, with hot blood coursing through its veins and a soft heart beneath its calm exterior.
Xia Yan felt like a thief who had accidentally peeped inside a castle. After just one look, he was mesmerized by the room full of candy and treasures and could no longer take his eyes off it.
A year ago was the busiest time in the company, with annual meetings and cocktail parties happening all at once. Xia Yan didn’t have to attend such events last year. Mu Hengguang always seemed to find him in the way. He couldn’t talk or drink, and at most, he would let him pick him up at the end. So often, when others were busy, Xia Yan was relaxed.
But this year has not been so good. A while ago, Mu Hengguang seemed to have caught the flu virus. For more than a week, he had red eyes and held a runny nose while attending meetings. Even though he was clearly cool and handsome with a cold face, his voice was hoarse and sounded pathetic.
Xia Yan brewed him all kinds of medicinal tea every day, but it was useless.
“No more.“ Mu Hengguang’s temperature had risen significantly in the afternoon, and his burning eyes were so watery that his eyes were red. He could stink with discomfort, and his words in front of Xia Yan carried an element of defiance.
Xia Yan was really worried: ‘You’re not going to the annual meeting tonight, are you?”
Mu Hengguang glanced at him, seeming a little happier, and said listlessly, ’I can’t not go.”
“Then I’ll go with you,” Xia Yan thought for a moment, and said seriously, “I’ll help you avoid drinking.”
Mu Hengguang grunted, not sure if he was agreeing or not, but in the end he just had to bring Xia Yan along because he really couldn’t hold his drink.
The main characters of the annual meeting were naturally the four bosses of the company. One of them was an old professor who recorded a VCR to pay New Year’s greetings and did not show up in person. The other three were a female boss in the finance department, who went back to take care of her children after making her speech at the beginning, leaving only the youngest, Mu Hengguang from the development department, and Lin Jingze from the management department. Lin Jingze’s special assistant was a bright and cheerful handsome guy. Xia Yan was not familiar with each other because he did not participate in these kinds of activities very much, so it was the other person who greeted him first.
“President Mu finally let you come out with him.” The handsome guy smiled and showed eight teeth: ‘My name is Xu Zhi.”
Xia Yan felt a little embarrassed: ’I can’t help President Mu at all… Ah, my name is Xia Yan.”
Xu Zhi gave him a look of a hard-luck buddy and patted him on the shoulder: ”It’s the same for both of us. I don’t do anything when I go out with our President Lin, just freeloading on food, drinks and popularity.”
“?” Xia Yan didn’t quite understand what it meant to freeload on food and popularity, when he saw a group of people coming to toast. Xu Zhi sat down as if nothing had happened, and began to lower his head to eat the chicken drumsticks and wings. Lin Jingze, on the other hand, held a glass of wine in his hand, ready to face any challenge. He was unruffled, and drank a thousand cups of wine without getting drunk.
Xia Yan: ‘…”
Xu Zhi was still talking with his mouth full of food: ’Again, again, again…don’t be polite!”
Xia Yan: “You, you’re not helping?”
Xu Zhi swallowed the food in his mouth: ‘I’m helping.’ He pointed at the bowl in front of Lin Jingze: ”I’ve already taken care of the boss’s food.”
Xia Yan did see that the bowl was full to the brim and about to overflow.
“You mean helping to hold drinks?” Xu Zhi finally understood what Xia Yan was referring to: ‘I can’t do it.’ Xu Zhi seemed to be recalling something particularly tragic: ”Last year, I held two cups, and when I got home, I vomited like a dog in the boss’s Range Rover… As a result, I didn’t have a good year, and I had to go clean the boss’s car every day.”
Xia Yan: “…”
Xu Zhi: ‘I told you to change your skin, and I’ll deduct the money from my salary.”
Xia Yan asked cautiously, ’He refused?”
Xu Zhi said depressedly, ‘Who knows him? After the New Year, he didn’t stay at home for a few days, but went to all his relatives’ houses. All my seven aunts and eight uncles treated me like I was doing a census, making me feel like I was going to marry into their family.”
Xia Yan: “…”
Lin Jingze is a little taller than Mu Hengguang. Although he is not as refined-looking as Mu Hengguang, he has very manly sword-shaped eyebrows and starry eyes. After a round of wheel battles, Lin Jingze did not show any signs of drunkenness. He smiled in an uninhibited yuppie way, which was sexy beyond words. He extended his hand and casually untied his tie, rolled up his sleeves to reveal his strong forearms, lit a cigarette and held it between his fingertips while pouring himself a glass of wine.
“Are you okay?” Lin Jingze’s voice was low and hoarse. He glanced at Mu Hengguang and raised his eyebrows provocatively, ‘Have a drink?”
Mu Hengguang pursed his lips, and just as he raised his glass, it was empty in his hand, and the wine went right into Xia Yan’s hands.
“Lin, President Lin,’ Xia Yan gathered his courage and stood in front of Mu Hengguang, ”President Mu is not feeling well, I’ll drink for him…”
Lin Jingze narrowed his eyes and took a drag on his cigarette, his expression a little playful: “You’re drinking for him?”
Xia Yan nodded.
Lin Jingze didn’t say yes or no, he held up his cigarette-clamped hand and nodded at Xia Yan: ‘That one glass isn’t enough, you have to drink three…puff!”
Xia Yan: ’…”
Mu Hengguang: ”…”
Xu Zhi innocently withdrew his elbow, which was resting on Lin Jingze’s waist, and stared particularly kindly into the other person’s eyes. Lin Jingze smoked while staring back at him, until Xu Zhi’s scalp went numb and he withdrew his gaze. He said coldly, “One glass is one glass. Let’s drink and talk about it.”
After finishing the first glass, there was naturally no way there wouldn’t be a second glass. Everyone knew that Mu Hengguang wasn’t in good health, and no one would really risk offending the boss by forcing him to drink. But Xia Yan didn’t care. An assistant’s job was to get people drunk at critical moments…
The drinking game continued in waves, and so many people gathered around the main table that there was no longer any room to sit. Xia Yan felt something was wrong as he kept drinking, and when he looked down, he realized he was sitting on Mu Hengguang’s lap. The boss frowned and looked up at him, thinking Xia Yan was drunk.
“Are you feeling dizzy?” Mu Hengguang frowned, ”Don’t drink anymore.”
Xia Yan actually had a good tolerance for alcohol. Previously, when he was in the bank, he had almost drunk every day while talking about projects with developers. He could drink all the sales of a property down, while remaining as clear-headed as ever, and would negotiate the correct amount of interest.
Mu Hengguang thought he was drunk, so he firmly put his arm around Xia Yan’s waist and held him closer to his lap, while gently patting his back with one hand.
At this time, someone came over to toast again, and Xia Yan subconsciously wanted to get up to greet him, but Mu Hengguang held him back and he couldn’t move.
“…“ Xia Yan opened his mouth, he was a little hesitant about whether to tell the boss that he wasn’t drunk, but Mu Hengguang obviously misunderstood.
“Don’t get up,” Mu Hengguang coaxed him, “you’re sitting in the VIP seat, if you get up, someone else will take it.”
Xia Yan: “…”
Mu Hengguang said with a serious expression on his face, ‘This seat is very expensive, don’t waste it.”
The person proposing a toast was probably drunk as well, and with a slurred tongue he exclaimed, ’Then, then boss… I, I want to sit here too!”
Seeing that the other person was about to crouch down, Xia Yan was scared and quickly finished the wine in his hand. He embraced Mu Hengguang’s head and yelled like a drunk, ”No, no! This is mine! You, you, you sit there!”
The drunken buddy sobered up a bit when he yelled at him like that, muttered sorry, and staggered away.
Xia Yan let out a sigh of relief only to realize that the current position was incredibly intimate. He was hesitating whether to continue pretending to be drunk or to explain clearly when he noticed that Mu Hengguang’s hand holding his waist was shaking a little.
The boss’s head was buried in his arms, and from Xia Yan’s angle, all he could see were the tips of the other person’s ears, which were red from showing their hair.
He really does like me, Xia Yan thought blankly, as he was held tightly by Mu Hengguang. When there were fewer people, and the seats around them were empty, the two of them still maintained the same posture.
It wasn’t until the end of the annual meeting that Xia Yan realized that Mu Hengguang had fallen asleep just like that, holding him.
Xu Zhi helped Xia Yan get into the car, and Lin Jingze was waiting in the distance.
“Don’t blame President Lin, he just wants to keep an eye on President Mu,” Xu Zhi smiled with eight teeth again, holding the car door as he casually chatted with Xia Yan, ”although the company always says that the management department is the heart, the development department actually represents the development potential of a company. President Mu didn’t have a special assistant before because of this reason, no one will entrust their future to someone they don’t trust.”
Xia Yan seemed to realize what the other person was trying to say, sitting upright and listening carefully.
Xu Zhilele was pleased: “Don’t be nervous. When you first arrived, President Mu really admired you, and he promoted you exceptionally as his special assistant because he wanted to take you under his wing. He trusts you more than anyone else, and although his temper is just like that, I think you should understand.”
Xia Yan nodded, his cheeks a little warm, not just from drinking too much or anything else.
Xu Zhi didn’t notice: “Although he talks badly about you, he protects you externally. At last year’s annual meeting, he didn’t call you so that you wouldn’t get drunk, and he would rather get a headache drinking by himself. It’s just that he probably didn’t expect that you would be such a good drinker…”
Lin Jingze smoked a cigarette and leaned against his Land Rover, staring at the two men impatiently and yelling, “Are you done?”
Xu Zhi’s face showed a helpless expression. He shrugged at Xia Yan and turned back to comfort his boss like a child: ”I’m coming, I’m coming, don’t lose your temper…put out the cigarette, you’ve smoked a few tonight, get in the car!”
Xia Yan watched as Xu Zhi sat in the passenger seat of the Land Rover. Lin Jingze leaned over and naturally fastened the seat belt for the other person. Xu Zhi leaned out of the window and waved to Xia Yan, saying, “Let’s go!”
Xia Yan waved goodbye with a smile. He waited a while before getting into Mu Hengguang’s car. The other person was sound asleep in the back seat, his clothes covering him.
Xia Yan crouched down, and he tilted his head to look carefully at his boss’s face. Suddenly, he thought of something and reached out to pull out Mu Hengguang’s work ID card. Then, after hesitating for a moment, he carefully tore off the ID photo on it and put it in his bag.
When Mu Hengguang arrived at the company the next day, his cold had already improved a lot, but his face was still very bad. He had just had a fever yesterday and was not drunk, so naturally he remembered what had happened. He was even afraid to face Xia Yan, and his voice was harsh when he spoke.
“Anything else?“ Mu Hengguang impatiently asked Xia Yan, who had not left immediately after reporting his work.
“Ah…” Xia Yan scratched his face a little embarrassedly, “actually, there is some personal business.”
Mu Hengguang frowned, staring at the other person as he took out his wallet and inexplicably handed it to him.
Xia Yan was very nervous, ”open it, take a look.”
Mu Hengguang looked suspiciously down, opened Xia Yan’s wallet, and saw his own ID photo stuck in the transparent folder at a glance.
“This, this is…” Xia Yan stuttered, ‘my heart.”
Mu Hengguang: ’…”
Xia Yan took a deep breath: ‘I want you to wait first… but what does it really matter.’ He looked at Mu Hengguang and smiled: ”I can’t wait anymore.”
END