Chapter 57: Boyfriend
Tuesday morning, Jian Tang went to work as usual.
Feng Xun drove him once again. This was the beauty of having their workplaces close together—they could commute to work and head home together. Whenever Feng Xun wasn’t busy at noon, they would also meet up for lunch. Over the past two weeks, Jian Tang had practically dragged Feng Xun to try every single food joint along the company’s street.
The five-minute car ride ended in a flash as they arrived below the office building. Jian Tang unbuckled his seatbelt and was just about to step out of the car when Feng Xun reached out a hand to stop him.
“Hold on.”
He fished out a small black box and handed it to Jian Tang.
“? Is this a gift for me?”
“Yeah.”
Previously, Jian Tang wouldn’t let him give any gifts, forcing Feng Xun to look after him under various aliases. Now that they had pushed their progress to the dating phase, he could finally give gifts under his own name.
Jian Tang opened the box and found a small golden pendant inside. It was shaped like a delicate, tiny rabbit head—incredibly cute.
“Wow! Thank you!”
Feng Xun personally fastened the pendant necklace around the youth’s neck, asking him, “Do you like it?”
“I love it!”
“Can you keep it on all the time and not take it off easily?”
“I can!”
“Can I have a return gift?”
“You can!”
“Can I have it right now?”
“You ca… wait, huh?” Jian Tang opened his mouth, scratching his head in a bind. “I-I can’t produce one right now.”
Feng Xun: “You can give me something you already have on you.”
Jian Tang: “?”
Feng Xun: “A goodbye kiss.”
Whenever he used to leave for work, Little Tang would always give him a goodbye kiss. Now that they had finally advanced their relationship to being lovers, everything he had lost naturally had to be compensated for.
“Oh, oh! That! No problem!”
Jian Tang leaned forward, just about to plant a kiss on the man’s cheek, when he suddenly spotted several familiar colleagues walking down the street right toward them. He instantly bolted upright, pretending to admire the scenery out the window with an air of complete nonchalance.
Feng Xun, who waited a long time without receiving a kiss: “?”
“Just wait a second,” Jian Tang whispered. “Wait until they walk past.”
Following the youth’s gaze out the window, Feng Xun found those few faces somewhat familiar… Oh, he had seen them all on the employee resumes.
“Little Tang,” the man’s voice sounded faint and haunting, “are you really that afraid of your colleagues finding out about our relationship?”
Jian Tang’s eyes went perfectly round. “I am absolutely not afraid!”
“Then why don’t you want them to see?”
Jian Tang scratched his cheek. “Kissing right in front of other people, it’s just so embarrassing…” It felt incredibly awkward.
Looking at the youth’s slightly flushed face, a trace of surprise flashed through Feng Xun’s heart.
“So… are you blushing because you’re shy, Little Tang?”
“Huh? I’m not, I’m just… just…”
Just what? Jian Tang hemmed and hawed for a long time, only to realize he couldn’t put it into words.
Could it be that he really was feeling shy? But… why?
If it were in the past, he wouldn’t have considered this something to be shy about, nor would he think it awkward to let others witness his intimate interactions with his wife—after all, who would deliberately avoid the gaze of others when petting and cuddling their own favorite little cat?
But now, he actually started to care.
And it wasn’t just this one thing; it felt like after he decided to pursue his wife all over again, many aspects were gradually turning different from the past.
Take right now, for instance. Feng Xun was staring at him without blinking, and if it lasted for more than a minute, Jian Tang couldn’t help but start blushing. He instinctively wanted to look away, feeling a sense of being unable to withstand it.
Suddenly, a hand draped over his shoulder. Jian Tang’s body tilted, and a kiss was stamped onto his cheek.
“Since you refused to give me a return gift, I’m forcibly collecting it myself.”
Feng Xun gazed at the youth’s crimson cheeks, which looked as soft and pink as a perfectly ripe peach. He licked his lips, wanting more, yet politely unlocked the car doors with a gentlemanly touch.
“Go on, get to work.”
If they stayed in the car any longer, he couldn’t guarantee what else he might do.
“T-then I’m leaving.”
Jian Tang pulled open the car door and darted out like a nimble little rabbit, turning his head back after running a few paces.
“Feng Xun, goodbye.” He waved to the person in the car, his eyes curving into little crescent moons. “Hope you have a great day.”
Infected by the other party’s smile, Feng Xun smiled as well. “Yeah, you too.”
As long as I see you, every day is a great day.
—
His working routine afterward went on exactly as before.
That “CEO Feng” still hadn’t shown his face today. After reporting the situation truthfully to the Realm Lords, Jian Tang spent his time scrolling through the Monster Forum for a bit, browsing the human platforms to look at the amusement, or sending messages to Feng Xun to chat about company gossip. The entire morning was quickly whittled away.
As noon approached, the sister from the administrative department sent Jian Tang a message, asking if he wanted to join everyone for seafood hotpot outside.
[Sales Tangtang]: I won’t be joining, I already have plans with someone else. ^_^
[Administrative Number One Flower]: Hehehe, I get it, I get it. You have a lunch date with your boyfriend, right? I saw you guys this morning! That super handsome guy sitting in the driver’s seat was your boyfriend, wasn’t he? He even snuck a kiss on you—the two of you are seriously way too sweet! ~^o^
Eek! S-Sister Xia actually saw that?
Jian Tang felt a bit embarrassed, but a sugary sweetness bubbled up in his heart. He silently corrected her in his head: He’s not a boyfriend, he’s my wife.
Huh? Wait, no, no. Right now, he and Feng Xun were in the “dating phase” and hadn’t entered the next stage yet. He couldn’t call him his wife for the time being.
Thus, Jian Tang replied cheerfully—
[Heehee, yep! The handsome guy you saw is my boyfriend! (^?^ mini)]
During lunch, Jian Tang brought this up with Feng Xun.
“I didn’t hide our relationship, you know. When Sister Xia asked me, I told her straight out that you’re my boyfriend. She even praised you as a super handsome guy and said I have great taste.”
The terms “boyfriend” and “great taste” were highly pleasing to Feng Xun, so much so that he even added an extra bowl of rice. “Who is Sister Xia?”
“She’s Sister Xia from the administrative department.”
Feng Xun thought about it and quickly matched the name to a face—she was a highly capable, mature woman whose marital status column on her resume read “Married.”
Not bad. She was a promising talent, well-suited to interact more with Little Tang.
Feng Xun: “It seems you’ve gotten very well-acquainted with all your colleagues at the company.”
“Yeah, everyone is great, and they all love this company a lot,” Jian Tang said. “Because of that, everyone is also worrying themselves sick over the company’s future, praying every day that the company can operate a bit longer and that the boss runs away a bit later.”
Feng Xun’s chopsticks paused. “Hmm?”
“Because that CEO Feng never shows his face.” Jian Tang stuffed a piece of lotus root into his mouth, eating with immense relish.
“Everyone suspects he’s a retired underworld boss who set up this trading company just to launder his money. But because he’s afraid his old enemies will catch wind of him, Crazy Feng is bearing the humiliation, swallowing his anger, and sneaking around without daring to show his face. He strictly relies on remote control so that if his whereabouts are exposed one day in the future, it’ll be convenient for him to abandon this property and immediately run off with the funds.”
Feng Xun: “…”
What kind of nonsensical fabrications were these?
“Do you believe that theory?” Feng Xun asked.
Jian Tang shook his head. “Nope.”
Because he had actual inside information, he naturally knew that CEO Feng wasn’t some retired underworld boss, but merely a task taker with thoroughly ordinary strength.
“But I’m also really curious as to why he never shows up.” Jian Tang decided to gather collective wisdom and consult an outside source. “Feng Xun, what do you think is the reason our boss never shows up?”
Feng Xun: “…”
Feng Xun: “Uh, I don’t know either.”
Disappointed, Jian Tang picked up a piece of broccoli with his chopsticks, mumbling under his breath, “Fine, maybe he’s just a boss who hates going to work.”
Feng Xun carefully observed the youth’s expression. “Didn’t you say that a boss who never shows his face but only hands out salaries is the ultimate perfect boss in your heart?”
“That’s true in principle, but if he completely avoids showing his face to the point where nobody even knows if he’s a human or a ghost, it makes everyone feel very uneasy.”
The main reason was that it made it entirely too difficult for him to carry out his undercover work!
After all, the ones truly paying him were the three Realm Lords; the human salary issued by CEO Feng was merely a bonus. As a highly responsible little monster, Jian Tang still hoped he could provide some valuable clues for his Realm Lord bosses.
Feng Xun tapped his fingers lightly against the table, lost in thought. “…Hmm, makes sense.”
After wrapping up lunch with Feng Xun, Jian Tang returned to the company for his midday nap.
This was one of Jian Tang’s absolute favorite segments. His office enjoyed excellent lighting, and when he moved his recliner in front of the large glass window at noon, he could fully soak up the nourishment of the sun. For a plant-based monster, it was practically a massive supplement.
Jian Tang enjoyed a small office all to himself and didn’t need to clock in during the afternoon. He would frequently oversleep in the warm sunshine, but today, just as the afternoon work hours commenced, Jian Tang was startled awake.
Because the phone resting on his desk suddenly began to vibrate violently, as if it had gone mad.
Blinking in confusion, Jian Tang picked up his phone and realized it wasn’t a phone call—the group chat notifications were exploding.
[Administrative Number One Flower]: Gather, gather, gather! Everyone gather!!!! Emergency, emergency, sudden emergency!!!! CEO Feng is coming to the company this afternoon to inspect our work!!!
This chat wasn’t the company’s official OA group, but a small group the staff had set up privately. There were no big bosses or minor bosses inside, only pure working-class stiffs. For Sister Xia to run into this group to post a message, it meant the administrative department had clearly received a notification, so she had immediately rushed over to tip off her brothers and sisters.
The working area outside instantly threw into utter chaos. Everyone scrambled and tumbled down from their respective beds and recliners, lunging toward their workstations. They frantically stuffed the snacks and gaming consoles on their desks into drawers, or hurriedly cleaned up their computer desktops to hide any newly installed game icons. Someone even hauled out the uniform suits they hadn’t worn in ages from their lockers, grasping at every second to throw them onto their bodies.
Although everyone had frequently complained in private about how the big boss never showed his face, the moment he was truly arriving, everyone’s first reaction was to treat it like a formidable enemy. They were entirely terrified, deeply afraid that a single slip-up would displease the big boss and cost them this job.
Amidst the mass of chaotic commotion, Jian Tang was the only one whose spirits rallied: He’s finally coming! The target of my surveillance is finally willing to appear!
Although Jian Tang lacked any experience as an undercover agent, the Realm Lords had already instructed him that he didn’t need to recklessly stand out; he only needed to observe from the shadows. The safety margin was exceptionally high, so Jian Tang still felt relatively confident about his first undercover mission.
In order to make himself appear thoroughly ordinary and blend perfectly into the crowd, Jian Tang deliberately took cues from his other colleagues. He tidied his workstation until it was spotlessly clean, tucked away any miscellaneous items unrelated to work, cleared out his computer’s bookmarks folder, and simultaneously donned the custom uniform blazer provided by the company. He looked entirely like a qualified, law-abiding corporate drone.
With his preparations complete, Jian Tang blended into the crowd and headed into the conference room together.
The conference room, which had completely devolved into a delivery pickup point, couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief at this moment: I can finally fulfill my original purpose!
Unchanging from the time forecasted by the administrative department, at exactly 2:45 PM, the doors to the conference room were pushed open right on time.
Everyone immediately stood up straight in solemn respect, speaking in unison, “Good afternoon, CEO Feng!”
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