The conference room was dead silent.
Li Chenyang blinked blankly twice. “President Yan you’re getting married?”
Everyone’s gaze was unapologetically fixed on him. Yan Yuchuan, at the center of attention, remained unmoved and nodded calmly. “Yes.”
The executives in the room collectively drew in a sharp breath. Li Chenyang voiced the question on everyone’s mind: “Then who is the other party?”
Yan Yuchuan said, “I apologize, but I can’t disclose that for now.”
“Oh… oh,” Li Chenyang took a long moment to snap out of it, a bright smile spreading across his face. “Then congratulations, congratulations!”
To be honest, he felt immensely relieved.
For a full six months, to save face for his old classmate, he had repeatedly steeled himself to approach Yan Yuchuan, hitting one polite rejection after another. Now that he heard Yan Yuchuan was getting married, although his old classmate would surely be heartbroken in private, it was still better than pining away on a barren iron tree that would never bloom. His two “congratulations” were spoken with genuine sincerity.
Yan Yuchuan said flatly, “Thank you.”
“Brother Chuan,” at that moment, Lin Zhihao stepped past Li Chenyang and rushed straight up to him, stunned. “You’re getting married?”
“Zhihao,” Yan Yuchuan’s eyes flickered slightly. “You’re here. I was just in a meeting and didn’t have a chance to greet you.”
Seeing Lin Zhihao, Li Chenyang smiled and extended his hand, only to have it shoved away by Lin Zhihao. He withdrew it awkwardly.
Lin Zhihao stared straight at Yan Yuchuan. “No, what do you mean? How could you possibly ”
Yan Yuchuan glanced around and furrowed his brow. He had announced the marriage news originally to make Li Chenyang’s old classmate give up hope, but he hadn’t expected Lin Zhihao to be so naturally dense, having made no progress over the years. When flustered, he couldn’t distinguish between personal and professional matters, and had the audacity to put on such a spectacle in front of all the company’s senior executives.
Fortunately, the sense he lacked, others had in abundance. The executives who had been packing up their things at a leisurely pace suddenly moved with brisk efficiency. In no time, the round table was cleared, and in the blink of an eye, everyone had filed out.
In the now-empty conference room, Lin Zhihao advanced on Yan Yuchuan with reddened eyes.
“Brother Chuan, you’re getting married, and you didn’t even tell me? Does my dad know? What about Zhimiao?”
Yan Yuchuan said in a gentle tone, “It was just decided yesterday. You only came back today, when would I have had the chance to tell you?”
“Who are you marrying? You” Lin Zhihao said, “If you do this, what’s Zhimiao supposed to do?”
Yan Yuchuan let out a sigh, his voice tinged with weariness. “Zhihao, I’ve said it many times before. I won’t marry Zhimiao, and she doesn’t want to marry me either.”
“Is this about what she wants?! She’s a patient, what does she know? If you don’t marry her, who else would want her?” Lin Zhihao shouted hoarsely. Suddenly something occurred to him, and his pupils dilated. “Brother Chuan, all these years you haven’t married her could it be that you look down on her for being sick?”
“Zhihao, you should listen to what you’re saying.” Yan Yuchuan shot Lin Zhihao a stern look.
For some reason, lately he could increasingly see traces of Lin Zhenxing in Lin Zhihao. As father and son, they already shared a seven-tenths resemblance in appearance, and now Lin Zhihao’s temper that violent, domineering, overbearing streak was increasingly mirroring his father’s. It left Yan Yuchuan feeling both helpless and powerless.
He spoke as calmly as he could. “Zhimiao only has an anxiety disorder. She needs to follow the doctor’s orders and recuperate in peace. Once she’s better, whether she wants to marry someone, and who she marries, will be her own decision. And long before she fell ill, we had already made it clear we wouldn’t marry there’s no emotional foundation for marriage between us. As for why she fell ill later, I’m sure you know better than I do.”
At those final words, laden with meaning, Lin Zhihao’s face suddenly flushed bright red whether from anger or shame, it was hard to tell.
Seeing him like this, Yan Yuchuan couldn’t bear to be too harsh, and only said, “This is your first time at the new headquarters, isn’t it? I’ll have Chen Le show you around in a bit. Stay for dinner tonight. Pull yourself together, and don’t act so inappropriately regardless of the occasion again.”
After Yan Yuchuan left, Lin Zhihao remained unable to calm down for a long time.
Yan Yuchuan was getting married? Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
He couldn’t believe it… that Yan Yuchuan, whose romantic life had shown no progress for so many years, could actually fall in love with someone else?
Lin Zhihao still remembered how when Yan Yuchuan had fallen for that person back then, it was pure madness utterly reckless, to the point where he could even cast aside the Lin family he had once sworn to protect.
Lin Zhihao had witnessed it once and never wanted to see it again.
Moreover, he had long since passed the point of no return. He had to keep Yan Yuchuan firmly tethered to the Lin family.
Lin Zhihao’s hands trembled as he dialed the phone. “Hey, Dad.”
When the doorbell rang, Lin Zhimiao was crouched among the flower beds, trowel in hand, shoveling soil around the young crabapple seedlings.
This detached villa was located on the outskirts of Pingcheng, built halfway up a mountainside, surrounded by lush trees, with every breath filled with the fresh scent of greenery.
Lin Zhimiao had resigned as Chief Financial Officer of Xina Technology at the end of last year. The doctor said her symptoms weren’t severe, and there was no family history of the condition it was mostly caused by pent-up emotions. She took her medication on schedule, followed the doctor’s orders diligently, and attended weekly psychotherapy sessions, but there hadn’t been much improvement.
A troubled mind needs a remedy for the mind itself Lin Zhimiao understood this principle well.
After Yan Yuchuan arrived, she had the caregiver pick some fresh oranges from the orchard and brew a pot of fruit tea. The two settled into reclining chairs in the garden, a sun umbrella overhead, with a small square table between the two rattan chairs holding the tea set and biscuits.
Lin Zhimiao asked Yan Yuchuan about the company’s recent situation, specifically inquiring about the performance of her successor, Li Chenyang. Upon hearing that he was steady and methodical in his approach, she felt somewhat reassured. She had always felt guilty about not being able to stand with Xina during the critical moment of its IPO.
A cool breeze blew past, and she closed her eyes, already feeling drowsy from the effects of her medication. Just then, Yan Yuchuan spoke up: “On this trip to Platinum Harbor, I stopped by Platinum University on the way.”
Lin Zhimiao glanced at him without responding, then heard him add: “I went to see Professor Xu.”
“How is she doing?” Lin Zhimiao asked.
“She’s doing well,” Yan Yuchuan said. “She was still asking about how you’ve been.”
“What did you tell her?” Lin Zhimiao’s words came out a bit quicker.
She wasn’t afraid of others knowing about her condition, but she never wanted to disappoint Xu Pingxin. Back then, she had been the only woman on the team, and Xu Pingxin had given her a great deal of care.
“I just said you’re still at Xina, serving as Chief Financial Officer.”
“Thank you for lying on my behalf.”
“I didn’t lie. Once you’re in better shape, you’ll come back sooner or later,” Yan Yuchuan said, quietly picking up his cup and taking a sip of tea before adding, “I also ran into Jiang Ge.”
Lin Zhimiao picked up a cookie from the plate but didn’t eat it she just held it in her hand, accidentally shaking off a few chocolate crumbs. She asked with feigned nonchalance: “How is he?”
“He’s about to be promoted to associate professor, should be by the end of this year,” Yan Yuchuan said. “Next year, he’s also going to the Innovation Camp as a startup mentor.”
Lin Zhimiao nodded. “He has research achievements and practical experience his promotion to associate professor is a done deal.”
“There’s one more thing,” Yan Yuchuan said. “He’s getting married.”
Lin Zhimiao’s hand paused briefly. “That’s great.”
As soon as she said it, she keenly noticed Yan Yuchuan’s gaze and let out a light laugh: “No need to worry about me it’s been so many years now.”
“He sent an invitation and asked if you’d be willing to come.”
Lin Zhimiao wasn’t surprised. Inviting an ex was exactly the kind of thing a blockhead like Jiang Ge would do. “He’s certainly not afraid of awkwardness.”
Yan Yuchuan took a pearlescent white envelope from his bag and placed it on the small square table: “I brought it for him. Whether you go or not is up to you.”
Lin Zhimiao picked up the envelope, said “Thanks,” opened it for a quick glance, found nothing interesting, and put it back down. She turned to Yan Yuchuan, resting her chin on her hand, and said: “Aren’t you about to have good news yourself?”
“Zhihao told you?”
“He’s been absolutely thrilled about it after all these years, he still hasn’t given up on making you his brother-in-law,” Lin Zhimiao suddenly leaned in, her expression turning mischievous. “So who is it? My brother said you wouldn’t tell him. Is it really that mysterious?”
“It’s not completely finalized yet, so I haven’t announced it for the sake of caution.”
“Fine,” Lin Zhimiao pouted, then added, “So do you love that person?”
Yan Yuchuan paused. “I should love them.”
Lin Zhimiao burst out laughing: “What do you mean ‘should’? Don’t you know yourself whether you love them or not?”
Yan Yuchuan thought for a moment, lifted his chin, and said more firmly: “I love them.”
Lin Zhimiao smiled and nodded. After that, the two of them listened to the wind and fell silent for a while.
“Zhimiao,” Yan Yuchuan suddenly spoke up, “can I ask you a question?”
“Hmm?”
“Why did you and Jiang Ge break up back then?”
“Haven’t I already told you? My brother and my dad didn’t approve they thought Jiang Ge’s family was drowning in debt and it would be too much pressure, so we broke up.”
Yan Yuchuan was silent for a moment, gazing into the distance, then said: “Actually, I’ve been thinking lately about Jiang Ge’s resignation.”
Back then, Jiang Ge was the first person to leave the startup team. His stated reason for leaving was vague “a mismatch with the team’s development philosophy” which sounded like a generic excuse, but Yan Yuchuan seemed to understand what he meant.
He had decided to resign right after Yan Yuchuan decided to sell the MAP technology patent to Xinzhou Group.
Yan Yuchuan and Jiang Ge had hit it off originally because they both held deep reverence for scientific research, believing that technological innovation was the foundation of a company’s survival.
Later, for the sake of short-term gains in the company’s development, Yan Yuchuan handed over the core underlying technology to someone else. It was easy to imagine how disappointed Jiang Ge must have been with him.
Yan Yuchuan tried multiple times to persuade Jiang Ge to stay, but Jiang Ge’s mind was made up. He even refused to speak with him directly and simply walked away.
Lin Zhimiao understood what Yan Yuchuan meant he thought that if Jiang Ge hadn’t resigned and left back then, perhaps the two of them might have had a chance to rekindle their relationship.
She shook her head, unconcerned. “Jiang Ge was always meant for academia. Can you imagine him, like my brother, socializing and drinking with people every day? Impossible. With his personality so particular that he can’t stand even a speck of dust in his eye even if he hadn’t left then, he would have left sooner or later. Besides, if our feelings had really been that strong, how could we have just stopped keeping in touch simply because we no longer worked together? Honestly, it just wasn’t meant to be, and there wasn’t much feeling there to begin with. Don’t overthink it.”
“It’s not just that,” Yan Yuchuan said, looking down at the chocolate crumb on the ground that had attracted a swarm of ants. “I’ve been thinking that selling the MAP technology to Xinzhou back then might have been a strategic mistake.”
At the time, the Xinzhou Group had promised them excellent benefits, allowing them to take off immediately in their early stages. But the price was that Yan Yuchuan had to transfer the MAP technology patent entirely to Xinzhou.
It could be said that all the major difficulties Xina was facing now were a direct result of that patent transfer.
Lin Zhimiao said, “You can’t look at it that way. Without the investment from Xinzhou, Xina’s capital chain might have broken long ago, and there’d be no chance of making it this far. This kind of thing always comes with both risks and opportunities.”
By the time the sun was about to set, Lin Zhimiao saw Yan Yuchuan into his car. Before he left, she asked him, “When are you going to settle down?”
Yan Yuchuan realized she was talking about marriage. “Next week, I’ll go meet her parents. Once the details are confirmed, we’ll make the announcement.”
Lin Zhimiao curled her lips playfully. “Then you have to tell me as soon as possible, I really want to meet that person.”
“I will.”
Lin Zhimiao pressed her lips together, and for some reason, her eyes dimmed slightly as she said wistfully, “That you could find someone like that again. I really, truly am happy for you.”
“Thank you.”
“You have no idea,” Lin Zhimiao choked up, her lips trembling slightly. “These past few years, watching you be like a stagnant pool of water I…”
Hearing this, Yan Yuchuan frowned slightly. Lin Zhimiao seemed to realize she’d spoken without thinking and stopped herself, then forced a smile. “Never mind. I’m just… just really happy for you…”
After watching Yan Yuchuan’s car drive off into the distance, Lin Zhimiao took a flashlight down to the basement. She rummaged around for a while before pulling out a wind-up music box from a storage bin one that had been buried at the bottom.
It was the farewell gift Jiang Ge had given her before leaving Xina.
The music box played a well-known gospel song. Just hearing the melody, you could fill in the lyrics in your head. But every time it played, it would stutter at the second phrase. It had been like that from the moment she received it likely a defect from the factory.
Jiang Ge was such a meticulous person. He’d compare prices at three different stores before buying even a thermal undershirt for winter. Yet he’d given her a defective product wasn’t that just his way of telling her plainly that he had no lingering attachment to her at all? So Lin Zhimiao, out of spite, had tossed the music box to the bottom of the storage bin and hadn’t touched it since.
Still, no matter what, this was the last thing Jiang Ge had left her.
Lin Zhimiao thought about it, shook her head with a self-deprecating smile, and dusted off the music box.
The cylindrical wooden base had been eaten through by worms, and the five little metal figures on top had lost their paint. She wound the key, and the figures began to dance to the music. Sure enough, it stuttered at the same spot again the sound was grating to the ears.
She gritted her teeth and pried open the bottom cover of the music box with brute force, wanting to see what was blocking the gears from turning.
The moment the cover came off, something fell out from the bottom, making a crisp “click” as it hit the ground. Because it was so light, it bounced up from the floor and landed at her feet.
Lin Zhimiao bent down and picked it up.
It was a thin metal sheet?
At first glance, it looked like a storage card, but it was much thinner and lighter thin as a cicada’s wing, no exaggeration. Lin Zhimiao brought it closer to her eyes and noticed an engraved marking on it: 302.8TB.
From that, she deduced it was a memory card. But it wasn’t the standard SD card size you’d find on the market. It was far too small, how could something so compact hold such a massive amount of data as 302.8TB?
What on earth was this thing.
Just then, the music box stopped stuttering. The gears turned smoothly, and soft notes drifted out from the spindle, as clear and crisp as spring water
“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me;
I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.”