7: signature

Today was indeed a beautiful day.

At seven o'clock in the morning, Yan Zhuohua was woken up by his set alarm. It had only been a few days, and he had already transitioned from an e-sports schedule to a working man's schedule. Life is truly unpredictable~

At seven in the summer, the sky was already bright. The warm sunlight hitting his body gave Yan Zhuohua a sudden sense of peace and tranquility.

Wait, I'm only twenty. Why am I acting like an old man? Yan Zhuohua shook his head to toss that feeling out of his mind and walked into the bathroom to wash up.

Seven-forty. Yan Zhuohua stood at the snack street between the residential area and the school, preparing to compete for food with the students who were about to be late. It had been a long time since he'd eaten at the snack stalls by the school gate; he really missed it. One had to admit, the food at the school gate was delicious, convenient, and cheap. Hygiene couldn't be guaranteed, but it didn't matter—'a bit of dirt won't hurt.' Weren't these students the best proof of that?

Yan Zhuohua dangled a familiar-tasting jianbing guozi from his mouth, watching the students not far away sprinting toward the school. For a moment, it felt like he had returned to his own junior high school days.

He felt a bit homesick. The closer one gets to home, the more timid one feels.

The hurried school bell interrupted his thoughts; it was eight o'clock. Yan Zhuohua threw the food bag into the trash can and slowly walked to the roadside to wave down a taxi. It was truly a hassle to go out without a car. Yan Zhuohua remembered that he had gotten his driver's license back then just to accompany his teammates, but since he had no use for it, he hadn't bought a car yet. It looked like he needed to buy one. How about this afternoon?

At nine o'clock, Yan Zhuohua arrived at Xingfeng Group, which was under Yan Corporation holdings.

Today was Friday. The office workers were being released from a week of being the walking dead. Everyone was filled with a longing for the weekend, and the entire building was overflowing with an atmosphere of happiness.

Yan Zhuohua took out his access card and successfully entered the building. This card had been issued when he was first preparing to join the company; he hadn't expected it to still work after five years. Yan Zhuohua's card had permissions second only to the Chairman's. He took the CEO-only elevator (the one employees didn't like using) directly to the 23rd floor.

This floor was reserved for the CEO and his team of secretaries and assistants. The Chairman's office was on the floor above, but Yan Zhuohua didn't plan on going up to find his uncle and court death today.

Yan Qinghe's secretaries were busy gathering for a short morning meeting to discuss the day's work when they suddenly saw a beautiful and exquisite young man exit the elevator. Their gossip radars instantly activated, and the originally noisy environment went silent.

Even after Yan Zhuohua turned into another area, the CEO's secretariat remained quiet.

"What a beautiful, handsome guy! I can! I definitely can!"

"Big sister can, and little sister can too!"

"Don't you dare eye my wife!"

"..."

Seeing the topic get more and more aggressive, CEO Special Assistant Ji Yang hurried to stop these people who weren't working: "Do you even know who this is before you say 'you can'?"

"Who is it? Who is it?" The beauty-loving secretaries grabbed Ji Yang's arms and shook them back and forth.

Ji Yang pulled his arms away with a distorted expression. "That is the former company CEO, the current young master of the Yan Family, and the soon-to-be CEO's wife."

The relationship was a bit complicated; the secretaries didn't quite understand.

One look at the expressions on their faces and Ji Yang knew what the situation was.

"It's okay if you don't understand. Just remember he's the soon-to-be CEO's wife." Ji Yang patted the wrinkles on his clothes, ignoring their expressions of biting handkerchiefs and crying. "Back to business!"

Turning into the CEO's office area and passing through the lounge and reception area, the largest office to the south was the CEO's office.

Yan Zhuohua raised his hand and knocked on the door.

"Enter." Yan Qinghe's voice came faintly from inside; the soundproofing was quite good.

Yan Qinghe clearly hadn't expected Yan Zhuohua to be the one pushing the door open, and a flash of surprise crossed his face. Yan Zhuohua waved the access card in his hand at him. "This isn't your employees neglecting their duties; I have a pass."

Yan Qinghe came to his senses and signaled for Yan Zhuohua to sit on the sofa first, then pressed the phone to contact his assistant. "Ji Yang, send in a glass of juice."

After finishing the call, Yan Qinghe stood up and sat down next to Yan Zhuohua. He opened the agreement Yan Zhuohua had just placed on the coffee table, flipped directly to the last page, and found that there was no signature from Yan Zhuohua.

"You..." Yan Qinghe was a bit panicked and bewildered.

Seeing that he had successfully tricked him, Yan Zhuohua lowered his head and laughed. "I'm borrowing a pen from you."

Yan Qinghe didn't react for a moment.

Ji Yang happened to knock on the door at that moment. Yan Zhuohua stood up to open the door for Ji Yang, took the juice and placed it in front of his seat, then turned to go to Yan Qinghe's desk to find a pen.

He took the agreement from the still-dazed Yan Qinghe and flipped to the last page.

Before signing his name, Yan Zhuohua asked once more, "Are you sure?"

Yan Qinghe hurriedly said, "Of course."

Hearing this, Yan Zhuohua no longer hesitated and directly signed his name. The agreement was in duplicate, and Yan Qinghe had already signed his name long ago. Once the signatures were down and the lawyer finished the relevant procedures, it would take effect.

Yan Zhuohua then handed both the agreement and the pen to Yan Qinghe. Yan Qinghe took them, stood up, and contacted the legal department's lawyer, telling them to get on it immediately.

The lawyer arrived quickly. Yan Qinghe explained the matter clearly, then turned back to see Yan Zhuohua holding the glass and drinking juice. Yan Qinghe introduced Lawyer Liu to Yan Zhuohua, "This is the company's lawyer, surnamed Liu."

Following Yan Qinghe's introduction, Lawyer Liu said to Yan Zhuohua, "Madam, I am Liu Songlei. It will take some procedures for the agreement to take effect, but it will be quick—it should be finished by next Wednesday. However, I need some of your identification documents. I wonder if you brought them?"

Yan Zhuohua was left speechless by the word 'Madam.' He coughed a few times but ultimately said nothing. It was just a title; let it be. Yan Zhuohua handed the documents he had prepared in advance to Lawyer Liu. With a glance, he noticed Yan Qinghe was looking quite pleased, clearly thinking of something wonderful.

"CEO Yan, then I'll head off to get busy?" Lawyer Liu's voice called back Yan Qinghe's thoughts.

"Fine, go ahead."

As Lawyer Liu left with the agreement and documents, only Yan Qinghe and Yan Zhuohua remained in the office.

Yan Zhuohua put down the juice and asked Yan Qinghe, "How do you plan to tell the family? I have to go home sooner or later."

Yan Qinghe didn't hesitate. "Everyone knows the news of your return. They've all put down what they were doing and are coming home on time every day just to wait for you. It just depends on when you're free this Saturday or Sunday, and we'll go back together."

Yan Zhuohua still felt a bit guilty hearing this. He said with feigned composure, "Sunday then. I'll go back Sunday afternoon. I have a gathering tomorrow night."

Yan Qinghe clearly didn't catch the main point: "Gathering? What gathering?"

Was he starting to check in and report his whereabouts already? Yan Zhuohua felt a bit awkward, but he also didn't find it that annoying.

"A gathering organized by Sheng the Second and the others. They said it's a welcome party for me."

"Why didn't they invite me? Aren't we all friends?" Yan Qinghe looked somewhat aggrieved.

Yan Zhuohua glanced at him, wanting to say: 'Don't you have any self-awareness?' The relationship between the two of them was somewhat awkward; would it be appropriate to invite him to a welcome party for his return to A City?

Yan Qinghe read that look.

"We are now... in a husband-and-husband relationship. How can you go drinking behind my back? Where is the gathering? I'm going too."

Yan Zhuohua was stunned by his phrasing. Was this really that cold and somewhat aloof person? Had he changed this much in five years? Could it be that the Yan Family's upbringing turned everyone into this kind of personality?

Although Yan Zhuohua didn't understand, he still granted the request. "Fine, but I don't know exactly where it is. Xu Feng said he'd pick me up at my place. Why don't you come to my place a bit earlier tomorrow, and then we'll go together?"

Yan Qinghe reluctantly agreed to his proposal but was quite dissatisfied with Yan Zhuohua's living arrangements.

"Alright. But since we're getting married, shouldn't we live together? When are you moving into my place?"

Yan Zhuohua indeed hadn't expected this change in topic. He struggled for a moment before saying, "Let's wait until we go home this weekend and talk to the family before deciding."

Considering that marriage was indeed not something that could be completed simply, and there were many trivial matters to discuss, Yan Qinghe let Yan Zhuohua off for now. "Fine."

"Is there nothing else? I've delayed you for so long; you should get to work." Yan Zhuohua checked the time on his phone and stood up.

"Nothing else. What are your plans? Do you want to have lunch together?"

"I plan to go to the mall to buy some gifts for those brothers and friends, as well as for the family. It's been a long time since we met. I'll also buy a car while I'm at it; it's more convenient for going out. For lunch, I'll just find a random shop outside to eat; coming back and forth wastes too much time."

Hearing these arrangements, Yan Qinghe turned back to his desk drawer and took out a card and a key.

"This is my supplementary card. It has no limit, and the password is our birthdays. Use this card when you usually go to buy things. Cars in the shops outside are generally not particularly good; the better ones have to be ordered in advance. This is a Bentley I just bought recently; I haven't driven it much. It's in the company parking lot. I'll have the secretary take you down. Drive this for now, and when your birthday comes in a while, I'll get you a new one."

Yan Zhuohua carefully considered their current relationship and then decisively accepted the card and car key as a matter of course.

"Then I'm leaving. See you tomorrow afternoon."

"Remember to drive safely and send me a message when you get home. Goodbye."

It was getting a bit late. Yan Zhuohua followed the secretary called by Yan Qinghe to get the car and left the company.

He followed the navigation and drove the car directly to a nearby large shopping mall.

Preparing gifts for friends was relatively easy; some models and figurines could cover most of his circle of friends. Yan Zhuohua had also prepared gifts for his family many times. His mother didn't like too many accessories, so he prepared some clothes and pastries. For his eldest brother, he chose a pair of military boots; for his second brother, binoculars; for his uncle, tea leaves; for his Aunt, a weapon model; for his male cousin, a Go set; and for his big star Older Female Cousin, some jewelry.

Selecting these was all very familiar, but when it came to Yan Qinghe, Yan Zhuohua was a bit conflicted. He really didn't know Yan Qinghe that well. In the few meetings five years ago, other people were always present, and the two had never had an exchange. Even the time Yan Zhuohua saw Yan Qinghe before leaving, they had only finished talking business and then he left. In Yan Zhuohua's only impression, Yan Qinghe didn't like to talk, was rational enough, polite to others, and relatively gentle. However, the meetings these past two days had instead shattered his fixed impression of Yan Qinghe.

Perhaps the Yan Family really was warm and healing enough; Yan Zhuohua actually discovered small emotions and expressions in Yan Qinghe that he had never seen before. It was vivid, as if a cold person who only had a few lines of introduction in a book had come to life.

He was quite cute.