Yan Muzhou's tone was perfectly natural, and Yan Xuexin, hearing it, didn't suspect a thing. She pouted and said, "How boring—even on holiday at home, you're still talking about work. If you keep this up, An Yao will regret even more having come here for New Year's."
An Yao tugged at the corner of her lips and said, "I won't."
Her planned progress hadn't actually been delayed much. Writing her thesis in this study just now had been even more efficient than at her own place.
Not far outside the window, a lamp glowed faintly, its hazy light reflecting the shadows of swirling snow.
Yan Muzhou kept his eyes lowered on the document on his computer, while An Yao sat at the desk, tapping out a few more lines in a rapid clatter.
Yan Xuexin quietly observed for two minutes, then couldn't take it anymore. She walked over and hauled An Yao up by the arm. "You two really are…"
"Alright, can you two take a half-hour break? It's almost midnight, and the three of us rarely get to ring in the new year together. Let's go out for a bit—don't just stay cooped up in the study staring at computers, okay?"
An Yao: "Hey—just let me finish this short section."
Yan Xuexin stood by supervising, and the moment she saw the final period being typed, she immediately pulled An Yao toward the door.
"Bro, you come out too. Who knows, we might even get to see fireworks."
Yan Muzhou lifted his gaze and caught a glimpse of An Yao's back as she was dragged out, stumbling every other step.
A moment later, he closed his laptop screen and followed the two of them downstairs.
Winter nights in Beiyang were always cold. Before heading out, An Yao went back to her room and bundled herself up in her scarf and coat.
She was dressed all in white today, her scarf wrapped around and around until she looked like a glutinous rice ball coming out the front door.
Yan Muzhou casually grabbed his overcoat from beside his room door and threw it on, but compared to the two girls' full winter gear, his attire looked rather thin against the frigid night.
The front courtyard was empty—at this late hour, even the servants had clocked out.
Fine snow drifted through the air. The moment An Yao stepped out of the courtyard, she could see the white puffs of her breath in the cold.
The three found a pavilion, and as they walked in, An Yao took off her hat. Turning around, she saw that Yan Muzhou's hair was dusted with fine snowflakes.
An Yao: "Why don't you wear a hat, or at least bring an umbrella?"
Yan Xuexin answered with a laugh: "He's not afraid of the cold. And besides, up north, people generally don't use umbrellas when it snows."
An Yao remembered now—back in her first year of high school, when it snowed heavily, she was the only one carrying an umbrella, and walking across campus with it had made her look pretty odd.
Before long, a patch of the sky suddenly lit up, followed by a crackling boom as golden fireworks burst across the night sky.
An Yao looked up. "People actually set off fireworks?"
Yan Xuexin smiled. "I figured there'd be some. Fireworks are banned in downtown Beiyang, but this suburb isn't within the restricted zone."
"Though Grandpa only allows them for the Spring Festival—he won't approve them for New Year's. He's a strange one, that man—loves a lively scene, but hates being disturbed by the noise."
An Yao: "No worries, we can watch whoever's setting them off. Watching someone else's display saves us the money."
Yan Xuexin laughed. "That's true."
Yan Muzhou didn't seem interested in the fireworks. After coming out, he sat on the stone bench in the pavilion, gazing straight ahead at the empty, desolate courtyard, lost in thought about who knows what.
An Yao stood outside the pavilion watching for a good long while, and to keep her view unobstructed, she didn't put her puffer jacket's hood up.
By the time her ears felt cold and she returned to the pavilion, several snowflakes had already landed on the top of her head.
She sat down on the same stone bench as Yan Muzhou, and was just raising her hands to warm her ears with her palms when something swept across the top of her head without warning.
An Yao glanced sideways and saw the man's hand just retracting, and couldn't help but freeze for a moment.
Had Yan Muzhou just touched her head?
Yan Xuexin was still outside, thoroughly enjoying the fireworks, her phone pointed at the sky as she fiddled with various settings to take photos.
In the pavilion, only the two of them remained.
An Yao's eyes still held a hint of surprise, and she instinctively raised her hand to touch the spot he had just brushed.
Yan Muzhou held her gaze for two seconds, then looked away first, saying in a seemingly indifferent tone, "There's snow on your head. If it melts, you might catch a cold."
"Oh…"
An Yao tucked both hands back into her sleeves, folding them together, and stared aimlessly ahead.
For some reason, the image from just now surfaced in her mind, and her heart inexplicably skipped two beats in a way that felt utterly pathetic.
Perhaps it was also a residual reaction from her conditioned response to him.
Yan Xuexin soon returned from photographing the fireworks, with even more snowflakes piled on her head.
This time, Yan Muzhou didn't make a move.
The next second, Yan Xuexin opened the countdown on her phone and announced cheerfully, "It's almost New Year! One last minute—everyone get ready to make a wish."
An Yao always felt that wishes made at times like this wouldn't come true—whether it was blowing out candles on a birthday cake or watching fireworks on New Year's, the wish was made and then the light went out.
Just like the wishes she'd made throughout her three years of high school, every single one involving Yan Muzhou, and in the end, none of them had come true.
But when the countdown reached the last ten seconds, An Yao saw Yan Xuexin piously pressing her palms together, and she followed suit with a matching gesture.
Perhaps it was because some wishes were too ethereal and elusive; she should be more practical, and then she'd be more likely to be favored.
So, after Yan Xuexin finished making her own wish, she turned to see An Yao with her eyes closed facing the sky, not opening them again until at least a full minute had passed.
Yan Xuexin laughed. "You have that many wishes?"
An Yao nodded sheepishly. "…I guess I do have quite a few."
She had indeed just gone through a whole list—her thesis, work, family matters, what to do after graduation—and had even given the heavens plan B and plan C options.
Yan Xuexin then looked at her brother and asked, "You were so fast. Did you even make a wish?"
The look in Yan Muzhou's eyes was as calm as his tone as he uttered a few words: "I have no wishes."
Yan Xuexin paused for a moment, not particularly surprised, but smiled and said, "You should've said so earlier. You could've let Yao Yao share a few with you."
Yan Muzhou glanced sideways at An Yao.
"I've already made all of mine too."
An Yao rubbed her nose. "It's getting colder. Let's head back."
"Yeah," Yan Muzhou said. "Let's go."
.
The next day, Elder Yan rose early, almost before dawn, and was already reading the newspaper in the living room.
After getting up, An Yao went downstairs to greet him and noticed the old man seemed to be in good spirits today. After breakfast, she began calculating the likelihood of slipping away around noon.
In the morning, everyone else was sitting in the living room chatting or watching the news. She glanced around and noticed that neither Elder Yan nor Yan Muzhou was downstairs.
Yan Xuexin told her, "It seems not long after breakfast, Grandpa called my brother over to play chess. But it's been almost two hours now, and they still haven't finished."
An Yao glanced toward the upstairs.
"Two hours? That should be about done, right?"
Yan Xuexin knew she was eager to leave and offered her an old trick they used to use: "You might as well wait for my brother to come out and head back with him. Otherwise, if Grandfather keeps you here this afternoon, it won't be easy for you to leave."
At that moment, the chess game in Elder Yan's study upstairs had reached its endgame. The board showed a clear divide between the two sides, and after calculating a few moves ahead, it was obvious that Yan Muzhou's victory was all but certain.
Elder Yan didn't rush to make his move. He took a leisurely sip of tea and asked, "What you did with Old Chen recently was too much. He's a veteran of the company after all. Even if you disagreed on R&D philosophy, you could have given him a nominal position and let him retire peacefully within the group."
Yan Muzhou said flatly, "He was the one who refused to let go. I'd already left him plenty of room."
Yan Xingzong shot him a sharp, heavy look. "Old Chen's gone. What's next? The R&D center has always been under your grand-uncle's family."
Yan Muzhou: "In all these years, they haven't produced any real results anyway."
Yan Xingzong placed a piece and said slowly, "When I put Yaowei in your hands, it was for the group's profitability. But what you gain it for isn't just commercial success—more importantly, this company is the pillar of the Yan family."
Yan Muzhou continued placing his pieces expressionlessly. "As long as they don't interfere too much in operations, the existing dividends alone are enough to keep them comfortable for generations."
Yan Xingzong sighed. "You need to think about the future. If you just let them live off what's handed to them without ambition, the An Mingshan family is the best cautionary example."
Yan Muzhou gave a faint smile and said, "They're not without ambition—they don't just want what's handed to them, they want even more."
Yan Xingzong's gaze lingered for a moment, then he spoke plainly: "You were planning to build new R&D and production lines in Nancheng anyway. Just leave the original ones in Beiyang to them. As long as things stay as they are, it won't drag the group down too much."
Yan Muzhou said nothing, placing another piece.
Yan Xingzong's general was now completely trapped, just as he'd predicted earlier—Yan Muzhou hadn't given him an inch.
He made his final move, then stopped looking at the board, instead meeting the young man's eyes directly.
On the last move, Yan Muzhou still showed no mercy. He picked up his piece and captured the opposing general.
Yan Xingzong watched him, his gaze dark and unreadable.
Yan Muzhou rose, and in a very calm tone said, "Perhaps you need to reconsider whether you want me to be the group's operator, or the executor of your decisions."
"Given Yaowei's current situation, I cannot fulfill both roles at once."
Yan Xingzong's voice sharpened: "What do you mean? Would my decisions hold the group back? Even if they would, balancing the Yan family's dignity with the group's operations is precisely the responsibility you should bear in that position. It's also the reason I brought you back into this family."
As a massive family enterprise, Yaowei's strengths and weaknesses in management and operations were something Elder Yan—as its founder, who had personally led the group for decades—understood better than anyone.
Yan Muzhou saw no need to discuss it further. Before leaving the study, he left one final remark: "If you can't strike that balance, then I'll have to decide for myself—unless you choose someone else to take my place."
Yan Xingzong looked at him. "Do I still have that authority now?"
"Personally, no. It depends on what the current board thinks."
Yan Muzhou said no more and turned to walk out of the study.
Not long after, from the corridor, he heard the loud crash of a chessboard and pieces scattering across the floor behind him.
The sound carried downstairs as well. Several of the younger members of the Yan family who were chatting were startled by the noise, and An Yao and Yan Xuexin exchanged a glance.
An Yao lowered her voice. "What's going on?"
Yan Xuexin shook her head. "No idea. Something must have fallen."
But judging by the sound, it didn't seem like something had simply dropped.
Yan Xuexin guessed, "It probably isn't Grandpa getting angry—his talks with my brother are usually pretty pleasant."
It was only after she said this that she remembered how, lately, whenever the old man mentioned Yan Muzhou, he rarely sang his praises the way he used to, always keeping his name on his lips.
In fact, during their last two phone calls, he had even asked her if she knew what Yan Muzhou had been busy with recently.
A moment later, Yan Muzhou descended the stairs into the living room.
The Yan family members turned to look at him, but none of them could detect anything unusual in his expression.
Yan Muzhou swept his gaze across the room and walked over to where An Yao and Yan Xuexin were sitting.
After sitting for a while, he asked, "Want to head back?"
"Now?"
An Yao paused. "Aren't we supposed to at least stay for lunch with Grandpa Yan?"
Yan Muzhou said calmly, "No need."
Yan Xuexin said, "I'll go a bit later. I already arranged a pickup time with the driver."
An Yao thought for a moment, then said, "Then I'll head back."
She looked at Yan Xuexin. "Let Grandpa Yan know for me."
From Yan Muzhou's demeanor, she vaguely sensed that something unpleasant must have happened upstairs just now. In a situation like this, going up to say hello would be inappropriate—she'd be walking straight into the line of fire.
Yan Xuexin replied with a simple "Okay."
Yan Muzhou didn't call for the driver and drove himself.
The car had gone several kilometers in complete silence.
It had snowed the night before, and a layer of snow still remained unswept on the road outside, crunching beneath the tires as they passed. The sky outside was overcast and gloomy.
An Yao couldn't help but wonder what could have happened upstairs.
Based on what she knew, Yan Muzhou wasn't a biological member of the Yan family. Elder Yan had taken him in, raised him, and placed him in the position of Chairman and CEO of Yaowei. At best, it could be called recognizing talent and appointing by merit—but at worst, looking at the next two generations of the Yan family, there truly wasn't a single capable person among them.
Finding someone whose intelligence and ability could match Yan Muzhou's was even more impossible.
Elder Yan had probably been left with no other choice, which was why he'd made that decision.
Yan Muzhou asked in a seemingly casual tone, "What wish did you make last night?"
An Yao's thoughts were still racing, mulling over the Yan family's affairs, when she heard his question.
"I…"
She'd originally wanted to say that wishes don't come true if you say them out loud, but on second thought, she hadn't really believed in it much anyway.
The atmosphere in the car was too stifling right now. Staying silent the whole way would be worse than saying something.
An Yao said, "First, I want my thesis and graduation project to pass smoothly. Also, I want to get the fast-track spot for converting my internship to full-time at the company. After graduation, I want to land a few more offers, pick the one with the highest salary, save up some money, quit by forty to open my own studio, and ideally hold a solo exhibition too."
She rattled off a whole list, and after a moment, she heard the man beside her say in a level voice, "Those are all very good wishes."
An Yao: "…What do you mean by 'not bad'? Does it mean easy to achieve?"
"It might seem easy for you, but they're actually all difficult—each one harder than the last."
Yan Muzhou: "For me, they're difficult too."
An Yao: "Because they're my wishes. If you want to copy them and make them come true, you'd have to start over from college."
Yan Muzhou tilted his head to glance at her, saying in a calm voice, "That's not what I meant."
An Yao smiled faintly. "I know."
She just wanted to lighten the mood a little.
"Do you really not have any wishes at all?" she asked, a hint of curiosity in her voice.
In An Yao's imagination, someone without wishes was probably quite content with their current situation, thus having no desires. But she always felt that Yan Muzhou didn't belong to that category.
Yan Muzhou said, "I do have one, but it's almost impossible to achieve."
An Yao paused for two seconds. "How so?"
"In that book you read before, you even marked a passage: 'A goal is like a distant mountain—when you chase it relentlessly, it always recedes. When you merge with the path itself, the mountain lies beneath your feet.'"
Yan Muzhou: "You remember it that clearly?"
An Yao: "I happened to read it a couple more times, so it stuck."
Yan Muzhou was silent for a moment, but his gaze lingered in her eyes for a long while.
The red light ended, and the car drove on for another stretch. An Yao noticed that at the next fork in the road, he turned in the opposite direction from what the navigation indicated.
Thinking he was distracted, she reminded him, "You seem to have taken the wrong turn."
Yan Muzhou said, "No wrong turn. We'll go have lunch first, then head back."