Chapter 29: You and I Part 1

The next morning, Wei Tingxia was woken by a thunderous sneeze.

He opened his eyes and tried to sit up in fright, but his lower back lacked strength. He could only flail on the bed for a moment, propping himself up with his right arm. Just then, he saw Yan Xinfeng emerging from the bathroom with a gloomy expression, his hair still dripping wet.

“You sneezed?” Wei Tingxia asked. Without waiting for Yan Xinfeng to reply, he nodded affirmatively. “You’re sick.”

With that, he let out a hey-hey chuckle, looking extremely pleased and gloating.

Yan Xinfeng: “……”

He ignored Wei Tingxia’s implication and walked purposefully to the bedside. His hand slipped under the covers, rubbing Wei Tingxia’s lower back hard and fast.

“Hiss—”

The sore spot was pressed forcefully without warning. Wei Tingxia’s laughter vanished as he trembled under Yan Xinfeng’s hand, clutching the bedsheet and blurting out, “I was just concerned about you!”

“I’m concerned about you too,” Yan Xinfeng retorted breezily, continuing the massage. “Afraid you got fucked too hard and it hurts.”

Well then. Last night, he had knelt before him, crying and begging Wei Tingxia to marry him. Now he was acting all smug like a little victor. Clearly, once he was in the family, he wasn’t even going to pretend anymore—his true colors were showing.

Wei Tingxia kicked at him from under the covers and sat up straight, speaking up for himself. “Anyone in this world might be unable to get out of bed after sex, but it’ll never be me.”

He hopped off the bed, ignoring the ambiguous marks all over his body, and sauntered toward the walk-in closet. As he walked, he tossed back, “Go take some medicine. It’s normal to get sick after getting caught in the rain.”

As his words landed, he turned back, intending to check Yan Xinfeng’s reaction. Instead, he found him looking unwell, followed by another sneeze.

That confirmed it—a cold for sure.

Wei Tingxia changed clothes in the walk-in closet, pondering having Yao Ling brew some ginger sugar water for them both to drink.

Then he left the closet and saw that Yan Xinfeng hadn’t changed at all. Instead, he had lain back down on the bed, lying on his side and fiddling with his phone, who knew what for.

Wei Tingxia frowned in confusion. “Don’t you have work today?”

“Work what?” Yan Xinfeng shot back without looking up. “I got married today. I should get marriage leave.”

“Young Master, you’ve already used marriage leave as an excuse once,” Wei Tingxia reminded him without hesitation. “Use it again, and people will think it’s your second marriage.”

“I will.”

Yan Xinfeng reached out from under the covers and wiggled his fingers at Wei Tingxia, making him see the two rings on his ring finger.

The ornate ruby wedding ring and the worn, simple silver engagement ring stacked together didn’t look out of place at all. New and old, expensive and plain coexisted so harmoniously that it made anyone who saw them like them.

Wei Tingxia looked down at his own ring finger too, only to find a bite mark at the base. Any touch of emotion instantly vanished, replaced by utter speechlessness—like he had married a dog.

Yan Xinfeng was still firing off messages nonstop. Wei Tingxia leaned over for a look and, sure enough, it was Lu Zhao.

Wei Tingxia knew they must have chatted plenty these past days, but he had been too lazy to care. Now, seeing Lu Zhao getting harassed, he felt it was just desserts.

[Yan Xinfeng: I got married.]

[Lu Zhao: I know. Wasn’t it a few days ago?]

[Yan Xinfeng: No, you don’t know. This time it’s a real marriage.]

[Lu Zhao: ……Please tell me the spouse isn’t Wei Tingxia.]

Yan Xinfeng frowned and typed quickly: [Don’t make that kind of immoral joke.]

Lu Zhao, who had inexplicably made an immoral joke, was done: [Then I wish you two a hundred years of harmony.]

That was the response Yan Xinfeng wanted. Without another word, he sent a big red envelope over, then sincerely thanked him.

Lu Zhao saw the red envelope and was finally satisfied. He pocketed it, sent an emoji, and vanished.

Only then did Yan Xinfeng have the mood to deal with Wei Tingxia, who was draped over his back, closely monitoring the chat.

Wei Tingxia was dressed especially nicely today. He knew his advantages well and played them to perfection. He wore a smoky gray shirt of soft, fine fabric. When he leaned over Yan Xinfeng, the material brushed his neck like warm water flowing over skin.

The smoky gray really suited his eyes.

Normally, someone with striking looks wearing dark colors might seem faintly oppressive, but not Wei Tingxia. His features were bold, yet his eye color was profoundly deep—like a black ink pellet in a bowl of clear water, deep and bright.

Yan Xinfeng casually supported the man’s arm and pulled him into his embrace over the covers. Then, right in front of Wei Tingxia, he opened his contacts and dialed a very familiar number.

The phone rang three times before connecting.

“Hello?”

Mrs. Yan’s voice came through the speaker. Wei Tingxia shifted to a more comfortable position. Compared to last night’s emotional collapse, she had clearly adjusted to the best mindset. Perhaps telling Yan Xinfeng the truth had eased her heart somewhat.

“It’s me, Mom,” Yan Xinfeng cleared his throat. “I have something to tell you.”

“Anything except bad news like the company going bankrupt. Go ahead.”

Yan Xinfeng first looked down and kissed Wei Tingxia’s forehead, as if to soothe him and ease any tension. Then he said solemnly, “I got married.”

“……”

Mrs. Yan fell silent.

Wei Tingxia instinctively curled up, not wanting to deal with it. Who wouldn’t think they were crazy seeing this?

“I thought,” a few seconds later, Mrs. Yan said slowly, “we’d already discussed this. Yes, you two got married about a month ago.”

“This is different,” Yan Xinfeng corrected. “I just successfully proposed.”

“……”

Mrs. Yan fell silent again. The air filled with suffocating awkwardness, but someone was blissfully oblivious, feeling none of it.

This time, Wei Tingxia really wanted to leave.

A billionaire CEO acting like a kid who’d never been married, announcing his proposal to the world. Wei Tingxia was crazy too for going along with marrying first and proposing later, dooming them both to the reputation of Yan Xinfeng being nuts—and dragging Wei Tingxia down with him.

“Sorry,” he said softly, trying to interrupt Yan Xinfeng’s nonsense. “Things were chaotic last night. He hasn’t recovered yet. You can hang up now.”

The moment she heard his voice, the silent Mrs. Yan laughed immediately.

“So you two are together.”

What did that mean? Did she think Yan Xinfeng wouldn’t dare spout nonsense in front of him? Clearly, she had misjudged.

“Since you’re both there, I’ll say it straight.” Mrs. Yan’s voice still held a smile. “Come back for dinner in a few days. Whether it’s a fresh proposal or a fresh marriage, at least it has a good outcome.”

Without waiting for Yan Xinfeng’s response, she turned to Wei Tingxia. “Yan Xinfeng has never dated, and he likes you too much, so he might get overly excited and not know what to do. Be tolerant—he’s still good at making money.”

Hearing this, Wei Tingxia barely turned around to look up at Yan Xinfeng’s expression, full of doubt.

With Yan Xinfeng like this, it was hard to imagine how he had amassed his billions.

But Yan Xinfeng didn’t care what they thought. After hearing Mrs. Yan’s advice, he leaned toward the phone and said finally, “Thanks, Mom.”

Then he hung up and wrapped Wei Tingxia up in the covers again.

Wei Tingxia was muffled in the bedding, limbs trapped with only his head sticking out. His voice was stuffy too. “What are you doing?”

“Want to hug you.” Yan Xinfeng stated matter-of-factly.

“Then why hug over the covers?”

“Afraid I’ll give you my cold.”

“Ha!” Wei Tingxia seized the opening. “You finally admit you have a cold!”

“……”

Yan Xinfeng’s face darkened. He wanted to press him down but couldn’t bear to, so he just hugged tighter.

“I was too hasty.” It was only the next morning that he had a chance to explain. “The car had an issue, so I ran all the way from the gate.”

He might not usually be so urgent, but after learning the truth from his mother, Yan Xinfeng had been terrified. His mind had been filled with what if he walked in and found Wei Tingxia packing his bags.

“I still need to apologize,” he whispered by Wei Tingxia’s ear, enunciating each word. “I should have told you often that I love you.”

If he said it every day, Wei Tingxia might have believed him. Then, when his father came looking, he would have chosen not to believe it—or gone home and punched him, demanding an explanation.

They wouldn’t have wasted five years in vain.

Unfortunately, they had both been too young, each harboring true feelings but hiding them away, thinking no words were needed. And so they had let time slip by.

Wei Tingxia hummed in his arms. “I accept your apology.”

Yan Xinfeng’s lips curved. “Thank you.”

System 0188 appeared silently behind them, pulling up the Collapse Index chart. The line had dropped to a stable green—world safe.

Stabilizing the world just required making Yan Xinfeng believe in his love. How could it be that simple?

Wei Tingxia smacked his lips, finding it unbelievable yet normal. Yan Xinfeng was a love-obsessed fool who wouldn’t speak his feelings plainly—otherwise, he wouldn’t have thrown tens of millions, even billions, at him.

System 0188 was thrilled. It had lost hope through several near-collapses, but things had turned around at the last moment. The task was complete. It floated around happily, using its body to make a heart shape at Wei Tingxia.

[I won’t disturb you two.] It said. [Have fun.]

With that, System 0188 vanished from sight, upbeat background music playing. Yan Xinfeng looked up in confusion. “What was that?”

“Nothing,” Wei Tingxia sat up. “Probably the speakers glitching.”

He finally struggled free of the bedding, kicked off his slippers, and leaned against the headboard, side-eyeing the still undressed Yan Xinfeng.

“Do you want to get up now, change, and go downstairs for breakfast? Or should I strip naked and nap with you some more?”

Yan Xinfeng didn’t choose right away. Instead, he looked Wei Tingxia over from head to toe, back and forth several times, before saying slowly, “You couldn’t handle it.”

Wei Tingxia scoffed. “Impossible.”

There was nothing under the sun he couldn’t handle.

“But I still suggest you don’t overdo it, or your cold will worsen and cause trouble.”

After casually tossing out that concern, Wei Tingxia hopped off the bed and mock-bowed toward the bedside. “Pampered young master, I’ll go brew you some ginger sugar water to ward off the chill.”

With that, he deftly caught a flying pillow, laughed as he hugged it, and dashed out of the room.

……

It took a week for Yan Xinfeng’s cold to fully recover.

The first thing Lu Zhao did after his honeymoon—after bidding a reluctant farewell to his wife—was ask Yan Xinfeng when he was treating him to dinner.

“I don’t care if it’s you or him treating. I demand this meal,” Lu Zhao declared righteously. “You owe me!”

Yan Xinfeng couldn’t deny it. He had been paranoid before, constantly dragging Lu Zhao into analyzing things. It had been useless, but the time wasted was real.

“Then together,” he said. “Mom hasn’t seen you in ages anyway.”