When Zhou Sicheng returned from his shower, he saw his own belt, still holding his lingering body warmth, wrapped around Xiang Zhen’s slender, supple waist. That soft, delicate handful of a waist was tightly bound by the pure black leather, looking as if only he had the right to undo it, causing a certain vein to throb.

This was… guarding against him pulling down his pants.

Zhou Sicheng sat at the edge of the bed and reached out to tug at his waistband, only to find that Xiang Zhen had tied it incredibly tight.

Xiang Zhen reached out to grab the fabric covering his thighs, his bright, crystalline eyes filled with wariness as he looked at him.

“Hubby, we already did it today.”

Carrying the steam and the scent of the supermarket-sale body wash, Zhou Sicheng leaned close to Xiang Zhen’s face and smiled subtly. “Baby, what are you protecting?”

Baby?

The blonde hair framing Xiang Zhen’s forehead trembled slightly, a current of electricity surging through his entire body. Usually, this little spirit would casually call Zhou Sicheng “hubby” at the drop of a hat. If Zhou Sicheng called him “wife,” Xiang Zhen would be happy, taking it as a matter of course. But right now, Zhou Sicheng was calling him baby.

Mama Sunflower couldn’t speak. By the time he grew into a mature spirit, his human form was already that of a young man. Auntie Osmanthus called him Xiao Zhen or Zhenzhen, but this was the very first time someone had called him baby.

Xiang Zhen shyly rubbed his face. His husband was truly too handsome, as blinding and impossible to look at directly as the midday sun.

“I’m not protecting anything. I was just trying on your belt. Do tailor-made suits come with a free belt?”

“They don’t… right?” Zhou Sicheng pondered for a second. “I’ll give this one of mine to you.”

Xiang Zhen never declined anything from his husband more than three times, so he accepted it candidly. “Thank you, Hubby.”

Zhou Sicheng said, “Let me check if it fits, or if we need to punch a new hole.”

Xiang Zhen pulled up his pajama top, obediently letting his husband inspect it.

Zhou Sicheng was a president with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. For his belt holes, Xiang Zhen only needed to go two notches tighter, and there happened to be exactly two notches left over.

He slid his index finger into the gap between the belt and the waist. It was tight, but fortunately, the belt was genuine leather. It lacked the abrasive roughness of artificial leather, so it didn’t feel uncomfortable pressing against the skin.

However, the metal buckle right at his navel was still a bit stiff.

Zhou Sicheng asked, “First time wearing a belt? Do you know how to undo it? Do you want me to teach you?”

Xiang Zhen replied, “I know how.”

He observed his husband every single day. His husband got up every morning, pulled up his trousers, and fastened his belt, so how could he not know? As previously mentioned, spirits possessed an incredibly powerful learning ability; they either didn’t understand something at all, or they mastered it completely.

Zhou Sicheng lifted his long legs, lay down on the bed, and pulled his wife onto his body. With two crisp clicks, the belt slid right off Xiang Zhen’s body and was tossed onto the floor, the metal buckle clattering loudly.

Xiang Zhen hadn’t reacted at all.

Zhou Sicheng patted his back. “Take a midday nap. I won’t touch you.”

The heart that Xiang Zhen had been holding in his throat finally settled. Resting his profile against his husband’s chest, he listened to his steady, robust heartbeat. He really is a very strong and healthy husband.

Lifting his gaze, he suddenly noticed that on the drying rack, two pairs of his underwear were prominently hanging.

“Hubby, did you wash my underwear for me?” Xiang Zhen asked. Previously, after taking a shower, they would always wash their own undergarments by hand out of habit.

Zhou Sicheng murmured, “Mm.”

Xiang Zhen said in a low voice, “Then I’ll wash your underwear for you next time too.”

Zhou Sicheng’s chest rose and fell slightly. “Thank you, Wife.”

That night, Zhou Sicheng truly let his wife get a good night’s rest. The medical theories he had studied told him that one must not drain the pond to catch the fish. Beyond that, there was a sudden surge of tenderness and restraint toward Xiang Zhen. The more fragile and easily overpowered Xiang Zhen appeared when being enjoyed, the more Zhou Sicheng felt compelled to discipline his own willpower with masochistic rigor, deriving a profound sense of accomplishment from cherishing his wife through this self-restraint.

The next day, following the chaotic episode Fan Hao had caused with the account, Zhou Sicheng suggested that Xiang Zhen directly resign and demand a month’s worth of severance package from Fan Hao.

Zhou Sicheng stated, “Entering the bank provides the five social insurances and one housing fund. Once you’ve paid into the Shanghai social security fund for a full year, we can write both of our names on the deed when we buy a house next year.”

Xiang Zhen was completely persuaded. Who wouldn’t want to own a shared house and establish roots in Shanghai?

“Hubby, I’ll go resign today.”

Zhou Sicheng dropped his wife off below the company building, looking thoroughly content and pleased with life. “Wife, I’ll wait for you right here. Do you need me to help you carry your things?”

“No need, I didn’t buy anything.”

Unlike Yu Yuanyuan, Xiang Zhen’s workstation only held a single large water cup. He even filled it with water from the company every day to bring home and drink.

Zhou Sicheng watched his wife walk inside, then turned to place a phone call to Fan Hao. “Did you find the posts regarding the full refund online?”

Fan Hao smiled, “I don’t quite understand them.”

What kind of boss is this? He wanted him to take the blame, yet he wouldn’t even explain the beginning or end of the situation clearly, telling him to just search the internet instead. Whenever asked, the answer was always that he had no time to explain.

Zhou Sicheng countered, “If you don’t understand, have Little Sunflower summarize it for you.”

Fan Hao vaguely sensed that accepting a ride in that car the other day had been a mistake. Zhou Sicheng wasn’t afraid of being laughed at at all; instead, he simply lacked a scapegoat to provide cover for him, and Fan Hao had just happened to blunder right into it. “Understood, understood. It’s just flaunting your affection online in the middle of the night, right?”

He could shoulder a minor blame like this. He was only afraid that when Zhou Sicheng’s true identity was exposed in the future, an even massive blame would be pinned on him as well.

Zhou Sicheng instructed, “Xiang Zhen is heading in to resign. Prepare yourself on your end.”

“Alright. As for the Madam’s two colleagues, I’ll have HR interview them. Should I assign them to the same department?”

Fan Hao grew quite animated. Compared to dealing with financial figures every single day, Zhou Sicheng’s wife was clearly far more intriguing.

But what exactly did “intriguing” imply?

Zhou Sicheng pondered for a brief moment. Being in the same department meant Xiang Zhen would be advised to break up with him every day. But forget it—compared to having Xiang Zhen adapt to bank work and living securely within his domain, being misunderstood was a trivial matter.

“Keep them in the same department if possible, but you must personally train Xiang Zhen.”

Fan Hao replied, “Understood, I’ll train him personally.”

Having reached his managerial level, he didn’t need to handle trivial matters himself. Personally training Xiang Zhen meant he would have to deliberately arrange some minor tasks for himself again.

Zhou Sicheng hung up the call and dialed Secretary Gao, inquiring about the progress of drawing Feng Chujun into the trap.

Since Xiang Zhen had agreed to resign, there was actually no longer any need to deliberately target Feng Chujun.

Secretary Gao reported, “President Zhou, with Chu Ren taking action, Feng Chujun is indeed highly interested in AI filmmaking and has thoroughly swallowed the bait regarding the connection with Zhou Fu. He is currently willing to sell his company shares to his older cousin sister to pivot his investment into AI. I have already negotiated the price with Miss Feng and am prepared to purchase Feng Chujun’s entire shares under her name.”

Feng Chujun wasn’t an only child, and neither was his father. The equity of the family enterprise was scattered; once Feng Chujun sold his shares, the successor to Jianqi Company would completely change.

Blindly investing in AI would only result in losing everything under the crushing weight of mega-capital.

Zhou Sicheng commanded, “Him selling the equity is a good thing for the other employees. Proceed as usual.”

As for how much money Feng Chujun would be left with in his AI investments, that would depend entirely on how compliant he remained.

Xiang Zhen arrived at the company, braving the gossiping gazes of his colleagues to find his supervisor and announce his resignation.

The company had been abuzz with rumors last night, everyone speculating whether Xiang Zhen had broken up with that boyfriend who gifted him 52 yuan, only to find a wealthy boyfriend instead.

The supervisor had also caught wind of it. “You’re actually leaving before me. Sun Youzhi told me to look after you; did I look after you or not?”

Xiang Zhen replied, “You did.”

Although the supervisor loved to threaten pay deductions, Xiang Zhen’s approval rating was at the bottom, yet the supervisor had never truly docked his pay—though perhaps it was because the salary hadn’t been distributed yet, and he would only find out once it was.

The supervisor stated, “Fine, go find HR to process it. Things are busy lately; you and Yuanyuan are leaving one after another, so I won’t have time to hold a farewell party for the two of you.”

“Thank you, Supervisor.” Xiang Zhen enthusiastically filled the supervisor’s thermos with hot tea. “I’ll go find HR now.”

Xiang Zhen was highly popular within the company, so the HR specialist processed his paperwork very smoothly. However, right as they were wrapping up, she suddenly recalled something and noted, “I need to place a phone call to Mr. Feng to request instructions.”

Xiang Zhen agreed, “Alright.”

After a brief moment, the HR specialist lowered the phone and spoke to Xiang Zhen: “Mr. Feng said he wants to personally speak with you. A salary raise can be negotiated.”

Xiang Zhen asserted, “I must leave.”

HR reasoned, “Then wait until Mr. Feng arrives before discussing further. Go wait in his office.”

Finding it rather baffling, Xiang Zhen headed to Feng Chujun’s office.

A few minutes later, Feng Chujun arrived driving his sports car, pushing the office door open with great urgency. “I’ll raise your salary to ten thousand. You can work as my assistant from now on.”

Xiang Zhen felt a bit regretful, but a person had to maintain integrity, and he had already arranged an interview with the bank. “You said it too late.”

Feng Chujun demanded, “Did you secure a new, wealthy boyfriend?”

Xiang Zhen clarified, “No, I love my husband very much.”

Feng Chujun countered, “I can give you 52,000 yuan too.”

Xiang Zhen asked, “Why?”

Feng Chujun scoffed, “Are you playing dumb? Because I like you, of course.”

Xiang Zhen asserted, “I don’t like you. Hurry up and process my resignation; my husband is still waiting for me downstairs.”

The sun was very harsh today, and his husband was terrified of getting sunburned.

Seeing that he couldn’t utter three sentences without bringing up that stingy husband, Feng Chujun’s expression turned fierce as he sat down on the sofa, lighting a cigarette. “I’ve been negotiating a massive project lately. If it succeeds, my wealth will ascend to a completely different tier. I can bring you along to do it. I know I haven’t come to the company these past few days and neglected you, but do you still insist on resigning?”

Xiang Zhen replied, “Mm.”

Feng Chujun flicked the cigarette ash. “Resigning without cause… Your recommender initially was Sun Youzhi, right? He’ll be fired along with you.”

Xiang Zhen froze. “Brother Youzhi didn’t do anything wrong.”

Feng Chujun sneered, “If you resign, he bears collateral responsibility.”

Xiang Zhen balled his hands into fists. Zhou Sicheng had clearly stated that resigning was simple; it was already a mercy to this company that he wasn’t taking them to labor arbitration.

Why fire Brother Youzhi?

Sun Youzhi had brought him out of the village, found a place for him to live, and arranged his very first job—he was his mentor. Sun Youzhi worked diligently, staying up late to clock overtime every single day to gradually rise to the position of supervisor. He was the pride of his parents.

Jobs were exceptionally difficult to secure nowadays; if Sun Youzhi got fired because of him, Xiang Zhen would be consumed by immense guilt.

Xiang Zhen truly wanted to crack open Feng Chujun’s skull to see what exactly was inside. He clenched his fists, then loosened them again.

Seeing him looking thoroughly infuriated, Feng Chujun offered a smirk, giving him an out: “Go back and reconsider. I can still offer you a salary of ten thousand.”

The moment he stepped into the room, he had realized that after not seeing him for a few days, this little customer service agent had grown increasingly striking—more beautiful than anyone in the entertainment industry. Keeping him within his grasp while he was still naive would not only be a great stroke of luck for himself, but it would also prove immensely useful in the future.

Xiang Zhen slumped his head as he waited for the elevator. Unless he could secure a better job for Sun Youzhi, he would end up dragging Brother Youzhi down with him.

The moment the elevator doors slid open, the person stepping out was none other than Zhou Sicheng.

“Hubby!” Catching sight of his husband, Xiang Zhen instantly felt a wave of grievance wash over him.

Zhou Sicheng embraced him and massaged his shoulders, his gaze completely frosted over with coldness. “Did someone bully you?”

While waiting in the car just now, he had spotted Feng Chujun’s Ferrari roaring past and had immediately followed him up. Clearly, one couldn’t afford to be too merciful to those who coveted his wife.

Seeing that Zhou Sicheng looked as if he was about to storm in and thrash Feng Chujun, Xiang Zhen quickly pushed him back into the elevator. “Don’t be angry. Beating people up leads to jail; let’s go talk in the car.”

Zhou Sicheng demanded, “How did he bully you?”

Xiang Zhen explained, “He threatened me, saying if I resign, he’ll fire Brother Youzhi as well. He also told me to work as his assistant.”

Zhou Sicheng felt a surge of pure fury. Suppressing his anger, he comforted him, “It’s fine, I have a solution.”

Xiang Zhen asked in surprise, “Hubby, what solution do you have?”

Zhou Sicheng replied, “I heard he has incurred a massive debt and will be selling the company very soon. The newly appointed manager will not fire Sun Youzhi.”

Xiang Zhen was delighted. “Hubby, how are you so incredibly omnipotent?! You even know about this!”

Zhou Sicheng noted, “Fan Hao told me. Fan Hao went to his house to collect debts two days ago.”

Xiang Zhen grew highly excited. “Then will I be following Manager Fan around to collect debts everywhere in the future too?”

Zhou Sicheng smiled. “You want to work as a debt collection customer service agent?”

That wasn’t a bad idea either; at the very least, debt collectors wouldn’t receive negative reviews from customers. He had reviewed the backend system when he covered for Xiang Zhen as a customer service agent previously. His wife worked day and night, yet his approval rating was firmly at the bottom—he truly was adorable.