6: reason
This matter unearthed the guilt Yan Zhuohua had been hiding for a long time.
After understanding the sequence of events, Yan Zhuohua asked Sheng Xufeng's eldest brother, Sheng Xulin, to investigate the life Yan Qinghe had lived for the past fifteen years. The resulting documents, spanning no more than ten pages, seemed to be filled with the word 'hell'.
At Sheng Xufeng's birthday party, he once said: "I can pay back all the money the Yan Family spent on me, because those are external things, and there will always be a day when they are paid off." Yan Zhuohua's voice was hollow and weak, "But fifteen years of time, pain, and emotion—how can I repay that? Moreover, there's his father, who died for me; they, as father and son, never even met. How am I supposed to repay these things? How can I ever be truly square?"
The sunshine of childhood is like an eternal lamp that illuminates the hesitant path ahead. The trajectory of a person's life from a young age can almost shape their entire future. Therefore, the problems brought about by these fifteen years were not something that could be solved by a simple swap of identities.
So, after locking himself in his room and thinking carefully, Yan Zhuohua prepared to leave the Yan Family first. Although Yan Qinghe had never been exposed to family-related courses, his aptitude inherited from his parents was very good; his past academic records were the best proof of that. He was only fifteen, and while he might not reach Yan Zhuohua's level immediately or might lack certain skills, he could eventually meet the requirements to succeed the family. It was just that his uncle, who was desperate to retire, would have to hold on for a few more years.
The members of the Yan Family did not approve of Yan Zhuohua's departure, but he had a reason he had to leave.
Looking at many wealthy family novels, the struggle between true and fake young masters ultimately stems from an imbalance of emotion and bloodline. To some extent, they could be said to share a single identity. Thus, living under the same roof, they would inevitably clash over the emotions and real-world resources brought by that identity; they were essentially competitors. When a conflict arises, which side should their relatives take? Years of affection? Or the same bloodline?
It was a dead end and the source of family strife.
At this time, Yan Zhuohua understood very well that between him and Yan Qinghe, Yan Qinghe was always the greatest victim, while he was the only beneficiary in both families. Although the life swap was not Yan Zhuohua's intention, nor something he did, he was the sole beneficiary who had obtained things that never belonged to him. There was even a human life standing between them.
Leaving was a necessary choice.
Only by leaving could he avoid conflict with Yan Qinghe and maintain the peace of the Yan Family. Furthermore, only by doing so could he give Yan Qinghe and their family the best opportunity to cultivate their feelings, adapt to the household, and grow. Only after paying back the debt of upbringing—at least the child support—could Yan Zhuohua cleanly and somewhat equally re-establish a relationship with the family.
Despite his family's strong opposition, he convinced everyone. Yan Zhuohua reached an agreement with them: he would temporarily leave the Yan Family and return once he had paid back twenty million. During this process, the Yan Family could not take the initiative to contact him, but out of emotional and safety considerations, Yan Zhuohua had to return to visit once a year and make a phone call every month.
Clearly, Yan Zhuohua hadn't followed through on any of it from beginning to end.
He might have to face the family rules upon his return.
Before leaving, Yan Zhuohua specifically arranged to meet with Yan Qinghe.
In this house, the only one Yan Zhuohua had kept, he handed the investigated information to Yan Qinghe.
Yan Zhuohua got straight to the point: "This is everything I found regarding Ning Wei's illegal activities. Do you want him to pay the price for his actions? These are enough to put him in prison."
Although Ning Wei hadn't committed any major crimes, the accumulation of these scattered petty offenses was enough to give him a hard time.
Yan Qinghe was somewhat surprised, "Why did you come to ask me instead of handling it directly?"
"Because I don't plan on returning to the Ning Family, and I have no upbringing relationship with him. Therefore, whether by law or by sentiment, we can be complete strangers. But you are different. This is the pain they inflicted on you, and they are the ones you lived with for fifteen years. So only you have the right to make this decision."
Yan Qinghe did not hesitate or act like a martyr; he decisively agreed to Yan Zhuohua's course of action.
Soon, Ning Wei was sentenced to six years. Meanwhile, Sun Qian died of her illness before Yan Zhuohua left.
The matter seemed to end there.
But the curtain had not truly fallen on everything behind the scenes. Besides Yan Zhuohua's lingering guilt, there was still a major question without an answer.
Everything was far too coincidental.
How did Sun Qian and Shen Mei, who weren't even on the same floor, know each other and find the time to meet frequently? Why did they happen to share the same psychological state that allowed them to reach an agreement? How could an ordinary nurse easily bypass security to swap the child of a mother on the top floor without being discovered? And why did Sun Qian pop up just as Yan Zhuohua was about to take over the Yan Family, only to die of her illness right after exposing the whole affair?
Yan Zhuohua had tried to check Sun Qian's medical records, but there was only one diagnosis report. Sun Qian had explained that she had no money and thus only bought painkillers at a pharmacy herself. Therefore, whether Sun Qian actually died of cancer was still questionable.
If there really was a problem, then who would set a trap lasting fifteen years, and what was the purpose of this scheme? All of this was perplexing.
This was also one of the reasons Yan Zhuohua wanted to send Ning Wei to prison. Before all the suspicious points were cleared up, nothing could happen to Ning Wei.
In the years since Yan Zhuohua left the Yan Family, he hadn't just focused on esports and studying; he never stopped investigating these matters. Although his power was much smaller after leaving the Yan Family, there were always indelible traces hidden away. While there was no direct evidence, Yan Zhuohua was basically certain that these events were no coincidence. He even suspected whether his kidnapping case at age ten originated from the same source.
After all, the Yan Family didn't just have military influence; their commercial power was also formidable. More importantly, the Yan Family had always been involved in official weapons research and medical experiments. This was what the Yan Family wanted to protect most. If there really was a problem with these events, then the power behind them wasn't just coming for the Yan Family.
This was also Yan Zhuohua's fundamental purpose for returning this time: to uncover the power and reasons behind these events.
Thinking of this, Yan Zhuohua's train of thought was interrupted by the doorbell.
His takeout had arrived.
The taste of that restaurant at noon was indeed good. When he didn't know the flavors of other shops, this one was the most suitable. When he left after lunch, Yan Zhuohua had specifically asked the front desk if they delivered. To his surprise, the shop provided delivery services via SMS ordering.
Not bad! This was the biggest gain of the day!
The delivery person outside wasn't from common platforms like Meituan or Ele.me, but a specialized delivery person from the restaurant.
Yan Zhuohua took the takeout and placed it on the dining table, preparing to eat. By the time he finished dinner and cleaned up, the lights were already coming on outside.
Through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, he could see the scenery of the river and the road. The distant high-rise residential buildings emitted dots of white or orange light; it was a night where ten thousand homes were lit up. Opening the window, the river breeze blew through his hair, and the faint sound of sirens came one after another, reminding Yan Zhuohua of the feeling of home.
Yan Zhuohua turned back and looked at the marriage agreement placed on the coffee table.
He wouldn't refuse Yan Qinghe. It wasn't that he couldn't see through Yan Qinghe's intentional act of playing the victim at noon, but it didn't change anything. For fifteen years of swapped lives and his father's life, as long as it wasn't something insane or treasonous, he would agree to any of Yan Qinghe's requests.
The reason he hadn't immediately agreed to Yan Qinghe's request was simply that he hadn't prepared himself for marriage all at once; it was indeed a bit sudden.
Coming back wasn't to think about whether to agree, but to think about the next step of the plan and to accept the life he and Yan Qinghe would spend together in the future.
At the same time, it was to test Yan Qinghe's determination regarding this request and to give him a chance to regret it.
However, judging from the situation at noon, Yan Qinghe wasn't going to regret it. Although Yan Zhuohua really couldn't figure out Yan Qinghe's reason for doing this, if he wanted it, then he would give it. At worst, they could just separate later; although it would be difficult, the possibility wasn't exactly zero.
Yan Zhuohua was not an indecisive person. Since the result of the test at noon was already clear and he wouldn't refuse Yan Qinghe, this matter would inevitably proceed. Procrastinating was meaningless, so he decided to go directly to the company to find Yan Qinghe tomorrow morning and give him an answer.
Picking up the agreement, Yan Zhuohua did not sign it, choosing instead to sign it in front of Yan Qinghe tomorrow. Teasing him a bit could be considered retaliation for his act of playing the victim at noon.
After putting away the agreement, Yan Zhuohua didn't go straight to wash up and rest. It was still early, and there were two very important things to do.
One was regarding the fans. He had been busy these past two days; although he had posted on social media and given out red envelopes, he ultimately needed to give everyone a better explanation. Yan Zhuohua decided to hold a live stream and have a simple chat with the fans.
The other thing—sigh, it was a bit embarrassing to mention, but he had to consider it. How was he going to explain things to his family? Yan Zhuohua had been away from home for five years, virtually without word. Now that he was back, his family clearly already knew; returning was only a matter of time. Moreover, he didn't know how to bring up the matter of him and Yan Qinghe to them.
What he needed to consider now was how to reasonably explain his behavior and his relationship with Yan Qinghe. This was somewhat difficult; he suspected no one would believe any reason he found, and he might not even be able to convince himself. He'd better consider how to lower his family's anger levels; if he could suffer fewer hits from the family rules, it would be a win!
Yan Zhuohua paced back and forth in the living room. After thinking for a long time, he only came to the conclusion that 'one is soft-mouthed after eating someone's food, and one's hands are short after taking someone's things.' After seeing Yan Qinghe tomorrow, he would go buy gifts. As long as he was willing to spend money, none of this would be a problem!
Yan Zhuohua was very satisfied with his plan. His mood jumped from anxiety to a sudden, clear sense of happiness. He turned and sat at the computer, preparing to start the live stream and fool his fans (not).
The live stream ended quickly. After Yan Zhuohua's continuous explanations (and throwing around large amounts of money), the fans finally calmed down. Closing the stream, the fans had also accepted his retirement. From today on, he was truly saying goodbye to the past five years.
He hoped for good weather tomorrow.