AADWFL Chapter 1

An Ning stood outside the towering building, lifting his head to take in the imposing modern-tech style skyscraper in the heart of the central business district. After a moment of quiet awe, he stepped forward, pulling out his access card before entering the elevator.

This was the most prosperous district of Binzhou City. To be able to rent even a single floor of an office building here was a mark of wealth and status.

And this building before him—was the headquarters of the Yu Sheng Group.

On the third day after transmigrating into this book’s world, An Ning was here for his first day of work.

Originally, he had been a soon-to-graduate college student. During his internship, his unscrupulous boss withheld his pay. As someone who had grown up in an orphanage, An Ning relied entirely on himself for living expenses, so naturally he couldn’t swallow such mistreatment. When he went to the company to confront the leadership, the argument escalated into a physical scuffle. He was shoved, lost his balance, hit the back of his head on something hard, and blacked out.

And then—he woke up here, inside the world of a novel.

In this wealthy-family romance novel, the original character who shared his name, An Ning, was the chief assistant at Yu Sheng Group. Despite his youth, he held an executive-level position, and at the same time served as the personal life assistant to the company’s president, Yu Xiuming.

The melodrama was that this An Ning was destined to be cannon fodder. He secretly loved his boss Yu Xiuming for years, but felt too inferior to ever confess. In the end, during a car accident, he sacrificed himself to push Yu Xiuming out of harm’s way, dying on the spot. That was where the original An Ning’s story—and life—ended.

When the transmigration first happened, An Ning had woken up in the corner of a banquet hall restroom, dizzy and disoriented. Realizing something was wrong, he used his last bit of clarity to call Yu Xiuming. Soon after, he was sent to the hospital and doctors discovered the wine he had drunk with Yu Xiuming had been drugged.

Luckily, he was taken to the hospital in time. After gastric lavage and follow-up treatment, An Ning recovered quickly. He rested at home for a day, and on the third day, returned to work.

Walking into the building now, the security guards at the door and the receptionist greeted him warmly. His access card was practically redundant, but An Ning still swiped it, nodding and smiling to people along the way before heading into the elevator.

The 27th floor was where both the president’s office and the chief assistant’s office were located.

An Ning’s duties were more unusual than most assistants’. He lived in the same residential complex—and the same building—as Yu Xiuming. Every day, he drove Yu to and from work. Once at the company, in addition to his executive responsibilities, An Ning also had to fulfill his “personal assistant” tasks.

He walked into the luxurious pantry connected to his office, skillfully operating the coffee machine to prepare a cup.

When he first arrived in this world, An Ning worried that, as a background character and tool-like NPC in the book, the author might not have bothered giving him memories. But as he rested, he gradually “downloaded” most of the original An Ning’s memories, like loading a save file, and quickly absorbed the skills that came with them.

Such as making coffee—and a whole list of caregiving chores.

Though in his previous life, An Ning had worked part-time at a café before, so he wasn’t a stranger to coffee machines. But Yu Xiuming’s preferences were different from ordinary customers’. Instead of asking what people wanted, An Ning only had to memorize one man’s tastes.

Black coffee. No sugar, no milk.
Not the most extravagant of choices, and with the machine’s high level of automation, it didn’t take long to prepare.

He poured the coffee into the familiar cup, set it neatly on the tray, and carried it toward the president’s office.

An Ning knocked.

“Come in.”

He pushed open the door with a polite smile. “President Yu, your coffee.”

Leaving Yu Xiuming’s office still wearing a fixed smile, the moment the door shut behind him his expression collapsed faster than a jumper off a high-rise.

The original An Ning had truly lived his unspoken crush to the fullest.

An Ning exhaled, recalling details he had extracted from memory.

Every morning, when delivering Yu Xiuming’s coffee, the original would greet him with a bright smile, saying: “Good morning, President Yu. I wish you a smooth day at work.”

Thankfully, Yu Xiuming had never responded in any particularly pointed way, or An Ning really would have cringed himself into the floor, wishing he could dig a hole and bury himself.

He resolved to gradually break this habit when the chance arose.

Back in his office, he turned to face the pile of work that had accumulated over the past three days. Without a word, he began sorting through the tasks by priority.

The fortunate thing was, along with inheriting the original’s memories, An Ning had also inherited his professional competence. As the president’s chief assistant—a senior executive position at headquarters—his abilities were unquestionable. In fact, it was precisely this skill that had earned him Yu Xiuming’s rare trust and kept him by his side.

Three days’ worth of backlog was no small load for anyone, but it wasn’t enough to overwhelm him.

The steady sound of keys and mouse clicks filled the office as An Ning sank deeply into his work. He didn’t stir until the desk phone suddenly rang.

An Ning pulled his attention back and glanced at the caller ID.

He picked up the phone. “President Yu, do you have any instructions?”

Every day, An Ning’s extension received countless calls. Some came from various departments within the company—many matters required his review, and he would either make the decision directly or filter them before reporting to Yu Xiuming. Others came as direct calls from Yu himself.

Of course, as the true boss, Yu Xiuming’s own desk phone was much quieter—he hardly ever answered anything beyond An Ning’s filtered reports. All the messy communications and requests were handled entirely by this diligent, responsible assistant-slash-executive.

Yu Xiuming’s voice was concise and to the point: “An Ning, come to my office.”

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The man seated behind the desk wore a pair of silver-rimmed glasses. His suit jacket was draped aside, the top button of his shirt casually undone. His hair was neat, his features sharp, his figure upright, exuding both presence and style.

On his very first day in this world, An Ning had seen this boss—the man the original An Ning had loved for a lifetime—and he had to admit, Yu Xiuming’s “character design” was exactly his type.

Only twenty-eight, Yu had been raised since childhood as the heir of the Yu family, receiving elite education. Before the age of twenty, he had graduated from a top foreign university, then immediately joined the family conglomerate. Two years ago, he officially took the helm, becoming the new leader of Yu Sheng Group.

With an aura both mature and steady, yet carrying the sharp vigor of youth, Yu Xiuming had dominated the business world in recent years. Almost everyone believed this young successor would lead the corporation into even greater prosperity.

Now, wearing the silver-rimmed glasses he only used when staring at a computer screen for long hours, Yu’s presence carried an added edge of scholarly sharpness.

When An Ning entered the office, his eyes instinctively swept the room. He noticed at once that the coffee cup at Yu’s side was already empty, and that the teapot he had prepared earlier—timed and kept at the perfect temperature—was glowing with its ready light. Seeing that Yu didn’t immediately speak, An Ning guessed nothing urgent was at hand. Smoothly, he lifted the teapot and refilled Yu’s cup.

“Thank you.” Yu Xiuming lifted his right hand, removed his glasses, and tilted his head slightly to signal An Ning to sit down.

That gesture meant what he had to say wouldn’t be finished in just a few words.

An Ning’s brain spun rapidly even as he obediently sat down on the small single sofa by the desk.

Though only twenty-eight, years of battling in the business world, combined with his harsh upbringing and elite education, gave Yu Xiuming the aura of a mature man. In his silences, there was a particular kind of restrained allure.

An Ning wasn’t sure if it was because, in the three days since he’d fallen into this book world, he’d been gradually immersed in the original body’s emotions—but whenever he focused on his boss, it was as if he were wearing a thick filter. No matter how he looked, Yu Xiuming just seemed more and more attractive.

But that was useless. He wasn’t about to stupidly fall for someone who, in the end, would indirectly cause his death.

“I personally looked into the incident at the banquet these past two days.” Yu Xiuming, unaware of the storm of thoughts in An Ning’s head, moved his mouse and pulled up a new interface on the screen. “Here’s the surveillance footage—it’s already in your inbox. If you want to watch, you can, but it’s all filth. If you don’t, forget it. I’ve already identified the culprit and handled it.”

His voice was cold at the end.

An Ning froze for a moment before realizing—Yu Xiuming had, within just two days, swiftly tracked down the truth behind an incident that An Ning himself wasn’t even sure had a culprit?

That didn’t quite match his expectations for his supposed background-character role. He had assumed Yu Xiuming would take the matter seriously, yes—but only because he was someone at his side. Whether out of humanitarian concern or to protect his own reputation after being implicated, that would have been enough reason.

But this sounded… almost like Yu Xiuming was being protective of him?

“Thank you, President Yu.” An Ning gave his thanks. Then, noticing that Yu had scrolled further down to reveal dense lines of text, he temporarily set aside his doubts and asked hesitantly, “President Yu, what is this?”

“Some confessions and details,” Yu replied simply. But he didn’t say he’d send a copy to An Ning—after a few more clicks, he closed the panel. “I’ve already dealt with it. The drugging was aimed at me. Because you’re by my side, you got caught up in it.”

That much did align with An Ning’s expectations.

He was just a minor figure. Even if he held the title of an executive at headquarters and worked directly beside Yu Xiuming, he had no background and no capital. In the end, he was only a knife in Yu’s hand.

He himself wasn’t important. What mattered was the one holding the knife.

“Then… was the drug actually meant for—” An Ning’s expression changed.

“No.” Yu Xiuming raised his hand, instinctively about to push up his glasses—only to realize he’d already removed them. For a rare moment, he seemed caught in an awkward pause, revealing a flicker of uncharacteristic unease.

An Ning caught every detail.

“The drug really was intended for you.” Yu Xiuming’s tone wavered slightly. “No matter how you look at it, you were wronged. The one behind it was connected to Yu Qi. I’ve already had him dismissed—and I guarantee that any company linked to Yu Sheng Group will never hire him again.”

At the mention of Yu Qi, An Ning suddenly understood.

A staple of wealthy-family novels: Yu Qi was one of the countless illegitimate sons of Yu Xiuming’s father. Unlike the others who were never even mentioned, Yu Qi was his father Yu Linshan’s favorite—and he was less than two years younger than Yu Xiuming.

In the memories An Ning inherited, Yu Xiuming’s relationship with his family was terrible. He loathed talking about his complicated, twisted family background.

If Yu Qi was the instigator behind this, then it made sense that Yu Xiuming, despite his estrangement, wouldn’t want an “outsider” like An Ning to peer too deeply into the family’s ugliness.

So he glossed over it as much as possible, while still giving an explanation—and compensation.

Everything fell into place.

Yu Xiuming’s concerned gaze lingered on An Ning’s face. So An Ning smiled and said, “President Yu, thank you for handling this for me. I… don’t want to dig any further into it. Let’s put this matter behind us.”

After all, being drugged was nothing to be proud of. And the scene at the banquet had been humiliating enough. An Ning worked hard to keep his reaction within the bounds of normalcy.

Yu Xiuming seemed relieved. “Alright, as you wish. But I’ve already pursued everything that needed pursuing. I won’t let you be wronged.”