That day, the person sitting in the car across from the hospital really was Zhou Yanxing. When he saw Chi Zhan standing under the umbrella with that man, then watched the two of them leave together in the same car, a flicker of suspicion rose in his heart.
Zhou Yanxing was the kind of man with an almost pathological sense of territoriality. Which meant: he was intensely possessive of what he considered his. So possessive, in fact, that it bordered on absurd.
If he didn’t care about something, you could split it up, share it, or throw it away—it wouldn’t matter to him in the slightest. But once something caught Zhou Yanxing’s interest? Then trying to take it from him was like choosing “Hell Difficulty” on a game menu.
Sure, there was a saying in love about “first come, first served”…
But so what if you weren’t the one who came first?
Even if it was hell, he was still going to charge right in.
“Secretary Chi is a great guy, sure,” Cen Chi said with a shake of his head, his tone calm and unhurried. “But not everyone’s going to fall in love with him. You’ve just idealized him too much. But if you’re really that into him… why not test the waters? See where you actually rank in Secretary Chi’s heart.”
***
Midnight.
When the call came in from Zhou Yanxing, Chi Zhan was curled up in a bean bag, gaming with Tao Ran.
It was the last day of the ranked season—if they didn’t climb now, it’d be too late. Everyone was racing against the clock.
The fight on screen was heating up when the incoming call flashed. Chi Zhan dismissed it with a flick, barely glancing at the screen, then dove right back into the frenzy of tower-pushing.
Tao Ran, who had just handed off a bunch of work during his department transfer, had been spending the last few days gaming in a daze with Chi Zhan. Hearing the ringtone, he raised an eyebrow.
“Was that your boss calling? This late?”
Chi Zhan maneuvered his character into a bush and replied absently, “He usually doesn’t call at this hour. With his efficiency, he should be—wait, push, push, push!”
The match ended surprisingly smoothly. Chi Zhan let out a long breath, refreshed, and finally checked the missed call—
It was Zhou Yanxing.
Ignoring the call was one thing. But rejecting it outright? As far as Chi Zhan knew, the number of people bold—or dumb—enough to hang up on Demon King Zhou was exactly zero.
Well, until now. Apparently, he’d just become the first.
The relaxed, cozy Secretary Chi instantly sprang up from the bean bag like it had burned him. He hit redial. Each “beep-beep-beep” of the ringtone stretched unbearably long, nerves crawling under his skin.
The line connected.
“President Zhou, were you looking f—”
he barely got the words out before a stranger’s male voice cut in.
“Hello, is this Mr. Chi?”
Chi Zhan’s heart lurched straight to his throat.
“Yes, speaking.”
That clearly wasn’t Zhou Yanxing on the other end. Who the hell was this guy? It was the middle of the night. Had Zhou Yanxing gone off for a one-night stand or something? But if so, shouldn’t they be calling Doctor Cen, not him?
Was his whole wingman plan… already done? But then the next sentence caught him completely off guard.
“Your friend had a bit too much to drink and is passed out here. We’re about to close the bar—could you come pick him up?”
“……”
He’d barely ever seen Zhou Yanxing drink, and certainly never drunk like this. Sure, he’d attended a handful of business banquets—maybe five or six—but even then, he held his liquor well. No one dared force him to drink, and even half a bottle of white rice wine never fazed him.
So what the hell was going on tonight? Zhou Yanxing not only went drinking at a bar, he even got himself wasted?
Chi Zhan glanced at the calendar.
Ah. That explained it.
Today was Singles’ Day.
Sighing, he got up and started getting dressed. Tao Ran looked at him in disbelief.
“It’s midnight and you’re heading back to work? You win the dedication award.”
Chi Zhan could only offer a helpless smile.
Back when he signed the contract, the terms had been very clear: on-call 24/7, fully responsible for managing Zhou Yanxing’s personal life. That included—but was not limited to—custom wardrobe coordination, meal planning, morning routines, and late-night reminders. The kind of tedious, nitpicky tasks that would drive most people mad.
In short, he’d signed on under the job description of a personal secretary. That high salary came with a high price.
But Zhou Yanxing didn’t like being micromanaged. Chi Zhan had heard rumors that a previous secretary had once tried to win him over by making breakfast every morning, doing his laundry, even hinting at moving in. Eventually, Zhou Yanxing got so fed up, he fired the guy on the spot.
Chi Zhan suspected that poor soul had probably been a player.
So here he was, getting paid like a live-in secretary, but only doing regular office secretary work.
It wasn’t exactly a scam, but it wasn’t not one, either.
As he rifled through the wardrobe for a jacket, he suddenly remembered he’d accidentally brought Doctor Cen’s coat home. He still needed to return it—a headache he didn’t need right now.
Tao Ran was packing up to head home as well. Chi Zhan reassured him, “It’s just a one-off. We’ll game again tomorrow.”
“Hey, want me to come with?” Tao Ran looked genuinely concerned. “You gonna be alright on your own?”
Chi Zhan grinned.
“A real man never says he can’t. Worst case, I’ll have someone help me carry him to the car. Easy.”
He and Zhou Yanxing had only been working together for two days after he came back from his leave. Once the system bug was fixed, this kind of thing wouldn’t happen again.
Honestly, even if Zhou Yanxing was out getting drunk in the middle of the night, the bar staff should be calling anyone but him.
But yeah—Singles’ Day did tend to stir up some melancholy.
Chi Zhan called a ride and headed over. He’d never been to a place like this. Surprisingly, the bar was quiet. Not the chaotic rave scene he’d imagined—just soft, slow music flowing like water under dim, moody lighting.
A waiter approached.
“Can I get you anything?”
“I’m here for someone,” Chi Zhan said, describing Zhou Yanxing’s appearance.
The waiter nodded quickly.
“Oh, your friends are right this way. They, uh… had quite a bit.”
Friends?
Chi Zhan paused.
That wording didn’t sit right.
He followed the waiter to one of the booths—and froze the moment he saw who was inside.
“Your friends.”
Zhou Yanxing being here was expected. But… Cen Chi?
