BIAC CH 17

Chapter 17: If It’s Not a Scandal, Then Is It Good News?

Su An quickly entered the president’s office.

“Sit,” Tang He gestured with a raised hand.

“No need, I’ll stand and listen,” Su An instinctively felt that nothing good was coming and figured standing made it easier to escape. But the big boss was now raising an eyebrow in disapproval, so she had no choice but to pick the seat furthest from Tang He and sit down.

“Are you free tomorrow night? Accompany me to a dinner appointment,” Tang He said.

Su An looked at him questioningly, waiting for him to finish.

“As my girlfriend.”

Sure enough, the next sentence left Su An stunned.

Was this some kind of joke? For an event that required a female companion, was it really possible that the great President Tang couldn’t find someone to go with him? What kind of dinner was this? Wait a minute, did he just say girlfriend and not just date?

“With whom?” she smartly cut straight to the point.

“Du Jianyou,” Tang He said, frowning, as if saying the name took effort.

Su An adjusted her posture, crossed her arms, and leaned comfortably back into her chair. “Go on,” she said, with a look that clearly meant she was all ears.

Tang He knew he couldn’t hide anything from her. Since he’d called her in today, he had no intention of hiding anything anyway—especially since he needed her help.

He started recounting the story from the beginning—starting from his so-called act of heroism at Moonlight Bar (more like meddling in someone else’s business), conveniently skipping over the part where he drunkenly kissed someone, and continuing all the way to the last time they met when he awkwardly ran away—also skipping over the part where he kissed someone again while sick. But he went into suspicious detail about their day-to-day interactions, as if trying to cover up the parts he didn’t want Su An to notice.

“So what you’re saying is—Du Jianyou confessed to you, and now you plan to take me as your girlfriend to dinner, hoping he’ll give up on any inappropriate ideas and you two can go back to being just friends?”

Su An skillfully summarized all of Tang He’s evasions into one sharp sentence.

Tang He admired Su An’s sharpness. She never beat around the bush and always got straight to the point. He nodded. “Yes, it’s really that simple. So I’m counting on you tomorrow night.”

Thinking he had finally explained everything and could breathe easy, Tang He reached for his tea. But before he could take a sip, Su An raised a perfectly arched eyebrow and asked casually, “Did you two sleep together?”

Tang He was so shocked he nearly spilled his tea. He immediately denied it in a flustered voice: “What nonsense are you talking about? How could I possibly sleep with a man?” Though… thinking back, they hadn’t been far from that point. But even if he had such indecent thoughts, he would die before admitting them.

Su An rolled her eyes. Just over a month ago, this man had declared with full confidence, “I would never fall in love with a man.” And now here he was, shrinking back and begging her to pretend to be his girlfriend. It was almost… pitiful.

“So you kissed then. How was it?” Su An didn’t give him a moment to recover before moving straight to the next question.

Tang He was now regretting Su An’s brilliance with every fiber of his being. He quickly pushed the teacup farther away in case she dropped another bombshell.

Sighing, he decided to just get it over with: “It felt really good.” So good it made him blush just remembering it.

“How good?” she pressed on.

“I… had a reaction. Is that enough for you? Su An, stop asking already!” Tang He collapsed into a low groan, burying his face in his hands, utterly mortified.

Su An nodded in satisfaction. “Then what’s the problem? He loves you. You have feelings for him. Why drag me into this mess?”

Tang He looked up at her, confused. Su An had always been the voice of reason, and now she was saying things that didn’t make sense to him. “What do you mean, ‘what’s the problem’? Don’t talk nonsense. I don’t love him.”

Su An calmly asked, “Let me ask you this—when you heard him say he liked you, did you feel even a little bit happy?”

“How could I be happy?”

“I didn’t ask whether you could be happy. I asked if you were happy.”

“…” Tang He had no response.

Su An continued, “If you really didn’t want him, you could’ve brushed him off easily—like any of your past bed partners. So why ask me to play along with this charade? Why still worry about staying friends?”

“He’s not just any bed partner… and I don’t not want him,” Tang He mumbled, weakly defending himself.

“So you do want him?” she pointed out mercilessly.

“Stop playing word games with me. I’m not joking with you,” Tang He said, slightly annoyed.

“I’m not joking either,” Su An replied. “Based on your reputation as the great white shark of the business world, if you want something, you’ll go to any lengths to get it. If you don’t want something, you’ll throw it away without hesitation. When have you ever been like this—hesitating, afraid to reach out even though you want it, unable to let go even though you want to? If that’s not love, then what is?”

Her cold and blunt conclusion hit the mark.

“I must be out of my mind,” Tang He admitted, utterly defeated under Su An’s relentless attack.

Su An nodded again. In her eyes, being foolish and being in love were the same thing.

“I still want to ask—what’s so bad about this? You two have feelings for each other. Why not just date seriously? What are you even tangled up over? Why are you trying to drag me into this mess? Don’t you know that sabotaging someone’s love life leads to bad karma?”

Su An shook her head, clearly not wanting to get involved in this muddy situation.

“Love life? What kind of love life could we possibly have?” Tang He scoffed. “With my identity, even dating the girl next door would be a logistical nightmare, let alone a relationship with a man. Forget me as an individual—just our entire corporation would be torn to shreds by this so-called ‘scandal.’ In the business world, even a baseless rumor can cause stock prices to fluctuate and create huge losses. And if the rumor turns out to be true? Then it’s not just a rumor—it’s a catastrophe. You’re part of this company too. Tell me—can I really afford to be selfish and reckless, throw everyone’s livelihoods away just for my own happiness in a relationship?”

Su An fell silent. She knew everything he said was true.

“And let’s not even talk about what our corporation would suffer. Have you thought about Du Jianyou’s company? He finally has something of his own. His career is just getting on track, and he’s barely finding his footing. Right now, he needs stability. If a scandal breaks out now, even if we can handle it—can he? His reputation, his company—they might go down in flames. All the effort he’s put in over the years could be ruined overnight.”

Tang He didn’t even dare to imagine how Du Jianyou would cope with such a collapse.

He let out a long, heavy sigh and added, “I’m older than him by a few years. He calls me ‘Ge.’ I can’t stand by and let him throw everything away just for the sake of being with me. The things he hasn’t thought of, I have to think for him. The backup plans he doesn’t have—I have to prepare them. He doesn’t deserve to lose everything just for a fling.”

His voice was weary, heavy with fatigue.

“He wouldn’t have nothing. He’d still have you, wouldn’t he?” Su An tried to offer comfort.

“Have me?” Tang He gave a bitter smile. “I’d be the one who caused him to lose everything. Two people caught in a scandal—how exactly would they save each other?”

“Would you stop calling it a scandal already? So you fell in love with someone—how is it as terrible as you make it sound?” Su An’s tone softened, but Tang He could tell she was already half-convinced by his reasoning and was just trying to cheer him up.

“If it’s not a scandal, then what is it—a joyful announcement?” Tang He chuckled bitterly. “Let’s not kid ourselves. Society might look open-minded on the surface, but in reality, it’s deeply conservative. I don’t want to be the one fighting the whole world alone.”

“You’re not alone. You have Du Jianyou. And me.”

“That’s exactly why I have to stay clear-headed,” Tang He murmured. “Su An… you’ll help me, right?”

Looking at her always-confident old friend, now so hesitant and fearful in the face of love, Su An felt a pang of sorrow.

She nodded. “I’ll go with you tomorrow night.” As his subordinate, she followed orders. But as his friend, she only hoped he’d one day find happiness.

Tang He leaned back into his chair, closed his eyes, and gave Su An a weak, bitter smile—one even more painful than tears.

(To be continued…)