5: Past

It was already two-thirty by the time he returned home.

Yan Zhuohua took the agreement out of the bag, carefully placed it on the coffee table, and began to read through it in detail. The agreement was actually the standard marriage agreement commonly used by the Yan Family.

The Yan Family was, after all, a large clan. Issues like the division of interests weren't things that could be settled with a few simple words like in ordinary families, which was why this agreement existed. Every marriage recognized by the Yan Family would have such an agreement. it detailed the pre-marital assets of both parties, the division of post-marital assets, and even included parts concerning inheritance. The entire agreement was often half a centimeter thick.

Furthermore, the one in Yan Zhuohua's hands was the marriage agreement for the next head of the Yan Family; it was over a centimeter thick. Had Yan Zhuohua not roughly understood this agreement during his time as the former heir of the Yan Family, he probably wouldn't have finished reading it in a week.

Though it was tedious, as long as this agreement was signed, the marriage was recognized by the Yan Family. The next "Mistress of the House" could then be added to the Genealogy.

Speaking of Genealogy, it sounded a bit like something from a feudal great clan. The Yan Family had a heritage spanning hundreds of years, with all the ups and downs of the eras recorded in that thick Genealogy book. During the wars of the modern era, the Yan Family had exhausted their wealth to protect the country, and the names of those who sacrificed themselves filled several pages. This was the heritage of the Yan Family, so even in a modern society where small families were the basic unit, the Yan Family still maintained this Genealogy.

Moreover, there were some troublesome matters that the law couldn't easily resolve, which had to be settled through this method. For example, there were always some members of the Yan Family who preferred the same sex. The Yan Family had always given their descendants a high degree of freedom, so they generally respected personal opinions on matters like choosing a partner; liking the same sex was perfectly acceptable. However, since the law provided no protection for same-sex marriage, the only way to recognize their status within the Yan Family, as well as their acknowledged marital and property relations, was through the Genealogy. It could be said that except for a special notation regarding gender, same-sex and opposite-sex marriages were no different in the Yan Family and its Genealogy, with virtually identical rights and status.

Importantly, the Yan Family generally only recognized one marital relationship for each family member. Unless it was a special case where three-quarters of the entire clan agreed, they would not grant recognition for a second marriage. In hundreds of years, only a handful of people had a second marital relationship. In other words, if Yan Zhuohua signed this agreement and was entered into the Genealogy, they would be a couple for a lifetime.

This wasn't a fake or contractual marriage like in those wealthy family novels, but a de facto marriage recognized and blessed by the clan.

It could be said that what Yan Qinghe had given Yan Zhuohua was an invitation to spend their lives together.

It was also a very heavy commitment.

Although the agreement was lengthy, it only had some differences in details and supplements compared to the one Yan Zhuohua had previously known. The main content was basically the same, so reading it wasn't very slow.

It was just that his mind kept wandering while reading, which was why it took so long. By the time he finished, the distant sun was near the horizon, dyeing the world with a brilliant, manga-like red. The orange-red light spilling down felt intense and full of life.

In fact, from the moment Yan Qinghe mentioned the fifteen years they had been swapped—even from the moment Yan Qinghe handed the agreement to him—Yan Zhuohua had already agreed to Yan Qinghe's request.

Yan Zhuohua could never refuse any of Yan Qinghe's requests, even though Yan Qinghe had only ever made this one request until now.

It was actually easy to explain. When the fifteen-year-old Yan Zhuohua first learned about the bizarre thing that had happened to him and another person, his first reaction wasn't that he might lose everything he had, but guilt—guilt that someone had lived through hellish days for fifteen years in his place.

This guilt reached its peak especially after he personally investigated Yan Qinghe's life over those fifteen years.

Back then, although that old lady of the Ning Family, Shen Mei, had the idea of fostering a relationship with Yan Qinghe (who was still called Ning Qinghe) so she could gain benefits from the Yan Family through him in the future, her resentment toward the wealthy had never disappeared. This was vividly reflected in her treatment of Ning Qinghe.

One moment he was her darling grandson, and the next he was a money-loser living off her. Being scolded and beaten was a common occurrence, and cold violence permeated every day of Ning Qinghe's life. This life—sometimes normal, sometimes cruel—severely damaged the young Ning Qinghe, not to mention the occasional PUA-style comments like "You must repay me in the future."

That kind of life ended with Shen Mei's death when Ning Qinghe was seven.

But an even more terrifying life began.

While Shen Mei hadn't been good to Ning Qinghe, she at least provided enough food and drink. But Shen Mei's son, Ning Wei, was different.

Ning Wei was a hoodlum. A hoodlum with no source of income, who was an alcoholic and a domestic abuser. Moreover, he didn't know Ning Qinghe's true identity and was completely unaware of Shen Mei's plan, so he had no reason to be even slightly good to Ning Qinghe.

For Ning Qinghe, even the meager amount of care he had received vanished. From then on, he didn't even have a chance to catch his breath.

Ning Wei's wife, Qin Yue, had been practically tricked into marrying him. Her dreams of happiness were completely shattered by life after marriage. Just when she thought having a child would make her husband change his ways, she discovered that the idea of a man turning over a new leaf for his family and child was an utter scam.

People are who they are. By the time Qin Yue realized this, it was too late; she had already entered the stage of "enduring it for the sake of the child." Everyone urged her to sacrifice for the family, but no one ever told Ning Wei, "You need to take care of your family." This is how those who have compromised will keep compromising.

Qin Yue didn't love this child who hadn't changed her life either. Perhaps she didn't leave because of the gossip and persuasion from neighbors and friends, but that was it. Until one day she couldn't take it anymore, ran out of the house, and got into a car accident.

Ning Qinghe was twelve then.

Ning Wei had just finished spending the money Shen Mei left behind and Qin Yue's most recent paycheck when a new sum of money arrived.

Qin Yue's car accident gave him an opportunity to make money. Although the driver wasn't primarily responsible, he made such a scene that he forced the owner to pay several hundred thousand in compensation. Then, he squandered it all within two years.

With no money at home, Ning Qinghe almost couldn't continue his schooling. He had excellent grades, and everyone who pitied him would say, "You will surely have a bright future."

Because of this, through the efforts of his teachers and the school, he barely managed to study for another year, until Ning Wei became so crazed that he wanted Ning Qinghe to drop out and earn money for him.

Ning Qinghe was fifteen then.

Sun Qian finally appeared. Yan Qinghe escaped that hellish life and the surname "Ning"; he finally returned to the life he was meant to have.

This was the life that should have belonged to Yan Zhuohua.

In stark contrast to the first fifteen years of Yan Qinghe's life was the life of Yan Zhuohua.

Before Yan Zhuohua was ten, his father Yan Jinming was the head of the Yan Family, and his mother Jiang Fuyue was a Researcher from a scholarly family. He also had a pair of twin brothers, Yan Zhuoyang and Yan Zhuoyan. His Uncle, Yan Jinming, and Aunt, An Qingman, were soldiers who grew up in the Military Camp. He also had an older male cousin, Yan Zhuoyi, and an Older Female Cousin, Yan Zhuoyue, who were his Uncle and Aunt's children.

As the youngest child in the family, Yan Zhuohua received everyone's affection. For every birthday and holiday, his relatives would meticulously plan for him and prepare exquisite gifts.

Although his related courses were not easy—one could even say they were quite harsh—after he was basically confirmed as the heir at age seven, he still had his own time to do what he liked. Every request he made received a response.

Besides that, he had many good friends of the same age, like Sheng Xufeng, with whom he grew up playing and fighting.

The Yan Family never believed that an heir or others bearing heavy family responsibilities should lose the freedom and fun of childhood, or the warmth and care of a family. So, it could be said that Yan Zhuohua lived a fulfilling and happy life before the age of ten.

The turning point occurred when Yan Zhuohua was ten years old.

At that time, Yan Zhuohua had already been taking courses for many years and had received much relevant education. Compared to the heir candidates of other families, his results and performance were already impressive enough to be perceived as a threat. Thus, when Yan Jinming took Yan Zhuohua as usual to observe the mixed-bag areas on the edge of the city, they were kidnapped.

The planning of this kidnapping was so meticulous and the preparation so thorough that it was easy to judge that the other party's origins were far more complex than just domestic competitors.

Their goal was clear: to eliminate the only suitable heir of this generation in the Yan Family. Although there were other children in the side branches of this generation, their aptitudes for clan leadership and business were far inferior to Yan Zhuohua's. Of Yan Zhuohua's twin brothers, one had been determined to be a soldier since childhood and had already been in the army for over a year, while the other had inherited their mother's talent for scientific research and was busy skipping grades in school to realize his dream of doing research sooner. His older male cousin, because his Aunt had been on a mission before she realized she was pregnant, had poor health from birth and was studying at a medical university to become a military doctor. As for the only girl in the main family line, Yan Zhuohua's Older Female Cousin Yan Zhuoyue, although she wasn't lacking in talent, had entered the entertainment industry since childhood, preparing to become a future diva. Calculating it this way, Yan Zhuohua was the only one in the Yan Family who could shoulder the responsibilities of the next head of the family.

So, the kidnappers, who seemed very clear about this information, targeted Yan Zhuohua from the start.

Even now, scenes from that day would often appear in Yan Zhuohua's dreams. His father shielding him beneath him, with the endless sound of gunfire in his ears.

It wasn't until his Uncle arrived after getting the news that his father breathed his last.

After that, the Yan Family lost its head. His Uncle had no choice but to retire from the army to stabilize the situation.

Yan Jinming's funeral wasn't grand, but many people came. It was only after his Uncle, Aunt, and mother finally finished handling the last of his father's affairs that they noticed something was wrong with Yan Zhuohua.

The issue wasn't a physical or psychological illness; he had just suddenly become very hardworking. This change was hidden within the grief of losing a loved one. The family members who took turns counseling him every day only noticed him gradually emerging from his sorrow. This behavior, which perfectly matched moving out of the shadow of trauma, meant no one discovered Yan Zhuohua's problem.

It wasn't until two months after the incident that Yan Zhuohua exhausted himself into the hospital. The ten-year-old Yan Zhuohua always felt that it was because he was too weak that his father died protecting him, and he felt he had let everyone in the family down. He began to study and train frantically, until he finally collapsed during training.

Yan Zhuohua's illness this time could be said to have angered everyone. After he was discharged, the mother who had been carefully tending to him just a moment ago threw him into the ancestral hall. Yan Zhuoyang, acting as the eldest brother who was like a father, gave him a severe beating with the family rules, and even his usually most doting Uncle and Aunt didn't come to save him. Yan Zhuohua had barely left the hospital before he was admitted again.

After coming out of the hospital again, Yan Zhuohua was much better behaved. At least on the surface, no more problems could be seen, making the lessons his family members took turns giving him while he was hospitalized worthwhile.

Over the next five years, Yan Zhuohua continued to complete all his courses at a shocking pace. His life returned to how it was before he was ten: fulfilling and filled with even more love. It wasn't until just after his fifteenth birthday, when he was about to enter the company to familiarize himself with affairs, that the plot of the real and fake young masters finally erupted.