AADWFL Chapter 14
by SuxxiYu Xiuming, ever the dutiful gentleman, followed through.
Five minutes later, he introduced Yi Mingwei’s nervous manager to a few friends of his — people who had strong ties in the entertainment industry — and after a round of polite conversation and mutual pleasantries, he quietly excused himself and retreated to a corner.
He checked his watch. The timing felt right. Then he called An Ning.
The line connected quickly — clearly, the other man paid close attention to his calls.
“I’m done here,” Yu Xiuming said, and just hearing the voice on the other end seemed to relax him. His tone even lifted a little. “Are you outside? Come in.”
“Alright,” An Ning agreed immediately, no hesitation in his voice. “President Yu, where are you?”
“After you enter, turn left and keep walking straight. It’s quiet here — not many people around — so it should be easy to find.” Yu Xiuming mentally retraced the layout of the hall. “I’ll wait for you. If you get lost, just call me.”
Not many people?
That detail caught An Ning’s attention immediately. His curiosity — and gossip-loving side — flared up at once. But it wouldn’t be appropriate to ask over the phone how the “meeting” with the actress had gone, so he simply agreed and hurried inside.
After a few turns, he spotted Yu Xiuming without trouble.
Judging by the time, the banquet was still in full swing — wine glasses clinking, polite laughter floating through the air. Everyone inside was a social veteran, keen to network. If Yu Xiuming truly intended to mingle, there was no reason for him to be sitting idly by himself.
But of course, Yu Xiuming was defying expectations — sitting calmly on an empty sofa tucked away in a corner, holding a half-finished glass of champagne with an air of complete disinterest. His whole demeanor practically screamed “social hour is over — do not disturb.”
And somehow, it worked. No one dared to approach him.
“You’re here.”
When Yu Xiuming looked up and saw An Ning approaching, his gaze brightened slightly. He casually set his glass down. “Have you eaten yet?”
From a distance, An Ning had already noticed that Yu Xiuming was alone.
So, whether the blind date had gone well or not — one thing was certain: the actress wasn’t with him now.
So, if Yu Xiuming had called him in, there must have been some other reason.
Maybe it was something to do with networking — someone useful to the company, perhaps.
Dinner?
An Ning had completely forgotten about that.
When your boss doesn’t play by the rules, it’s like staying up all night studying for an exam only to find none of the topics you crammed for on the paper.
He replied honestly, “Not yet.”
“Good.” Yu Xiuming nodded, then casually pointed to the dessert on the nearby table, guiding An Ning’s gaze. “This one’s pretty good. Have some.”
An Ning followed his line of sight and saw a plate of untouched pastries.
They looked… familiar.
He froze for a second, then realized — weren’t these the same kind of desserts they’d had a few days ago at Jialin Garden?
“Didn’t you say you haven’t eaten dinner?” Yu Xiuming said calmly. “No one really eats in this inner hall anyway. It’d just go to waste if I let them clear it later. Better for you to have it now — or grab some to eat while we’re here. When we go upstairs later, we’ll have the hotel send up dinner.”
An Ning, listening, instinctively reached for one of the pastries. He popped it into his mouth before realizing… wait a second.
This whole conversation had gone completely off track.
He swallowed the first bite — it was delicious — then asked slowly, “President Yu, about you and Miss Yi… has she already left? You two—?”
Yu Xiuming looked genuinely surprised. “Yi Mingwei? She’s gone. Left ages ago. Her manager’s already gone, too.”
“Manager?”
An Ning blinked in confusion. “Wait, weren’t you two—?”
“Some people in the entertainment industry need connections more than we do,” Yu Xiuming explained patiently. “It’s not easy to secure good resources there. I called her manager over and introduced her to a few people — just a small favor.”
Even someone as slow as An Ning finally caught on.
Yu Xiuming had never intended to “go on a date” with Yi Mingwei.
From start to finish, he’d simply wanted to repay a favor — helping her by introducing contacts. That was all.
“I understand now, President Yu.” An Ning lowered his head, biting into another pastry — the soft sweetness melting in his mouth.
Maybe it was just the temperature in the room, but his cheeks felt a little warm.
And somehow, the dessert tasted even better than before.
Did Yu Xiuming know that he liked this dessert?
Or was it just a coincidence — that he happened to see it sitting untouched, remembered An Ning hadn’t eaten, and invited him in to have some?
He quickly dismissed the first idea — after all, Yu Xiuming had just said they’d call for dinner upstairs later.
“What’s wrong? You don’t like it? The flavor’s different from the one at Jialin Garden?” Yu Xiuming rested one elbow on the sofa arm, watching An Ning hesitate mid-bite. His confidence wavered slightly. “If you don’t like it, don’t force yourself. Let’s head upstairs and order something else — I haven’t eaten yet either.”
“No, it’s not that!” An Ning panicked a little. “It’s good — really good.”
That pretty much confirmed it.
Yu Xiuming had noticed he liked it — and had specifically called him in to eat it.
But instead of clarifying things, this realization only confused An Ning more.
If he didn’t already know how the story ended — that Yu Xiuming had never felt anything romantic toward him, had never even noticed the original An Ning’s silent affection — he might have started to believe his boss actually liked him.
I mean seriously — what kind of boss shoos away a gorgeous actress his mother set him up with, only to call in his assistant and feed him dessert?
An Ning could only chalk it up to the fact that Yu Xiuming was simply… a really good person.
A good man, and a good boss.
Especially later that night, when he saw his bank account — an extra bonus had been deposited, the one from their dinner at Jialin Garden.
That sealed it for him.
Working for such a decent boss, with good pay to boot — maybe he really was lucky.
That night, after returning home, Yu Xiuming sent a message to Jing Yan.
Yu Xiuming: [Had a bit of a gain tonight.]
Jing Yan, who was always online at night, replied instantly:
[?]
Yu Xiuming: [Went to the Baishating banquet tonight.]
Jing Yan: [!!!]
Three exclamation marks later, a call came in immediately.
Yu Xiuming answered.
“You went to Baishating? You actually went? Wasn’t that full of celebrities tonight? What were you even doing there?”
Yu Xiuming, used to his friend’s machine-gun questions, answered patiently,
“I wasn’t planning to go. Xu Jianan insisted, so I went to be polite.”
At the mention of Xu Jianan, Jing Yan instantly understood.
“So your mom still hasn’t given up on setting you up?”
Before his friend could even ask who the candidate was, Yu Xiuming stated plainly, “Yi Mingwei.”
“Yi Mingwei?” Jing Yan sounded surprised. “That’s… quite a change from the last one, isn’t it?”
He knew Yi Mingwei — everyone in their circle did.
Back in the day, that heiress had been more sociable with him than the ever-distant Yu Xiuming.
“But wait,” Jing Yan said, “you said you gained something tonight. What did you mean by that? Don’t tell me— Yu Xiuming, seriously? You like that type now? You should’ve said so earlier — I could’ve introduced you ages ago!”
“It’s not that!” Yu Xiuming was genuinely horrified. “How could you even think that? I just helped her manager make a few connections — who said anything about liking Yi Mingwei?”
“Then what was the ‘gain’ you were talking about? You mean your big takeaway tonight was helping some manager network?”
“Just listen,” Yu Xiuming said, exhaling slowly, regaining his usual composure. “I meant An Ning.”
The moment he said that name, the other end of the line went suspiciously silent.
“Jing Yan?” Yu Xiuming wasn’t even sure for a moment whether Jing Yan had lost connection or dropped the call. He asked tentatively,
“You still there?”
“I’m here,” came the eerily calm voice. “What about An Ning? Go on.”
Something about Jing Yan’s tone felt… off. But Yu Xiuming didn’t press it.
“As you suggested, I’ve been keeping an eye on him. He hasn’t shown any signs of wanting to resign lately.” Yu Xiuming paused, thinking back to the evening. “But I do think… he might actually like me.”
“You know what?” Jing Yan said after a beat, voice full of odd regret. “Now I really regret calling you — should’ve made it a video call instead.”
Yu Xiuming frowned. “Why?”
He heard his friend sigh on the other end.
“What makes you think that?”
So Yu Xiuming recounted the entire incident — how he’d called An Ning into the banquet’s inner hall, offered him dessert, and noticed how An Ning’s cheeks had turned slightly red while eating it.
“You’re sure that’s your conclusion from all that?”
“Yes. Why? Is there a problem?”
Jing Yan nearly groaned out loud.
“Yu Xiuming,” he said, exasperated, “don’t you think the bigger issue here is the fact that you deliberately saved dessert for him?”
“What issue?” Yu Xiuming asked, completely clueless. Still, knowing Jing Yan had far more experience with these things, he waited patiently for the explanation.
“Do you realize,” Jing Yan said dryly, “that besides my parents, the only person I’ve ever gone out of my way to save dessert for is Ming Fei? Not even you got that treatment.”
After receiving the new bonus payment, An Ning checked his account balance again — and instantly lit up with joy.
Yu Xiuming was generous to a fault. Though the total still wasn’t enough to reach his post-resignation goal, it was a significant income nonetheless.
A boss who pays well is, by definition, a good boss — and An Ning firmly believed that.
He flopped onto his bed, chin resting on the soft sheets, staring at his account balance on his phone with a foolish grin before glancing out the window.
The moonlight was bright and clear, slipping past the neon glow of the city to spill gently into his room.
A deep sense of contentment filled his chest. He closed his eyes and rolled lazily across the bed, smiling to himself.
Meanwhile, in the same building, Yu Xiuming was lost in thought.
“So you’re saying… the fact that I’m paying too much attention to him is abnormal?” he asked, sounding genuinely stunned. It was a line of thinking he’d never considered.
“Exactly.” Jing Yan’s tone was firm. “If you keep this up, I swear one day you’re going to call me — and the first thing out of your mouth will be you coming out.”
Author’s Note:
Jing Yan: Don’t you dare cue me into your dog food.