Yueyi did not reply again, presumably because she was busy.
Yan Nianyi was not in a hurry. She exited the chat interface with Yueyi, opened other applications, and scrolled through them listlessly.
Half an hour later, the car slowly pulled into the estate. Yan Nianyi glanced out the car window and saw that everything looked exactly as it had when she left.
Vegetation covered the grounds, keeping the atmosphere fresh and elegant.
Before the car had even come to a complete stop, the butler stationed by the front doors jogged over. Once the vehicle was fully stationary, he waited a few seconds before opening the car door from the outside, keeping his palm half-pressed against the roof.
“Miss, you have returned,” the butler said politely.
“Uncle Li,” Yan Nianyi nodded, her gaze drifting toward the half-open main entrance.
“Eldest Miss, Chairman Yan and the others are waiting for you in the living room,” the butler stated.
Yan Nianyi let out a soft sound of acknowledgment and headed toward the grand entrance. The butler followed close behind her, and as they neared the doorway, he took a half-step ahead to pull the door open first.
“Well, look who decided to come back,” a familiar, teasing voice echoed through the house before she even stepped inside.
Yan Nianyi completely ignored it. The very first thing she did upon crossing the threshold was crouch down, scoop the little dog bounding toward her into her arms, and expertly pet its head. “Tiantian, did you miss me?”
Two cheerful barks served as the dog’s reply.
Yan Nianyi curved her lips, shifting a sliver of her attention to the man who had spoken just before she entered. “Was it not you who asked me to come back, Brother?”
The final title was uttered deliberately, the tone drawn out soft and slow.
“Mom and Dad,” Yan Nianyi said, turning her attention to the middle-aged couple seated on the sofa without waiting for Yan Pin to respond. “I am back.”
Yan Father wore a sleek black suit, sitting with a straight posture. He was likely preparing to leave for the company, but had deliberately stayed behind upon learning that Yan Nianyi was returning.
The woman seated beside the middle-aged man was lavishly dressed and possessed an air of grace and luxury, her skin so well-maintained that she looked to be barely in her early thirties.
“Look at you, you do not even think to come home and visit first. Did you not know your parents missed you?” Yan Mother hurried over to Yan Nianyi’s side, chattering nonstop as she pulled up the girl’s sleeves to inspect her up and down, unable to conceal the heartache in her eyes. “You have lost weight out there. Later on, I will have Aunt Li cook you something nourishing.”
“Pfft,” Yan Pin failed to hold back a laugh. “Where on earth does she look like she needs nourishing?”
“Are you still planning to go abroad?” Yan Father cast a cool glance at Yan Pin, causing the latter to cough and immediately shut his mouth.
Compared to Yan Mother’s direct concern, Yan Father expressed his care more through his underlying actions.
“I am not going anymore,” Yan Nianyi lowered her gaze to stroke the puppy. “I am staying right here in the domestic country.”
“That is for the best. I never agreed to you going abroad in the first place, with no familiar faces around to look after you. If you had been wronged, there would not even be anyone to talk to,” Yan Mother agreed. “If you are willing later on, you can go help out at the company. If you do not want to, just spend your time hanging out with friends.”
“Mm, just do as your mother says,” Yan Father nodded.
“Hold on, Mom, who could possibly wrong her? She is more likely to wrong everyone else,” Yan Pin chimed in with a timely, sarcastic remark.
Yan Nianyi set the puppy down from her arms, leisurely pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses resting on the bridge of her nose, and smiled sweetly. “Brother, do not forget who was the one who tricked me into going abroad in the first place.”
“I just wanted to toughen you up,” Yan Pin defended himself. “Besides, Mom and Dad both agreed to it, so do not hold a grudge against me.”
“Is that so?” Yan Nianyi walked over and seated herself beside Yan Pin, her slender fingers hooking onto an unopened bottle of water on the table, unscrewing the cap as she spoke softly. “Yet you made Sister and me spend fifty-three days apart. Exactly how do you plan to compensate me for those fifty-three days?”
The moment those words left her lips, everyone in the room except Yan Nianyi fell into a momentary state of stunned silence.
“Nianyi, did you really spend the night at Yueyi’s place last night?” Yan Mother recovered her wits and asked.
“Mm,” Yan Nianyi replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Yan Father and Yan Mother exchanged a glance, falling silent for a moment. As her biological parents, how could they possibly be unaware of her intentions?
Only…
“Does Yueyi harbor those kinds of feelings for you?” Yan Mother asked, weighing her tone carefully. “Or rather, does she even know how you feel about her?”
“She does not,” Yan Nianyi leaned back against the cushions without a care in the world. “Therefore, I still need Father to create an opportunity for me.”
“What kind of opportunity?” Yan Father was suddenly singled out, prompting a puzzled look.
“I want to go to Sister’s company,” Yan Nianyi smiled lightly.
This was a plan she had settled on before returning to the country, staying by Sister’s side every single day so she could see her constantly.
“Absolutely not,” Yan Pin was the first to object, abruptly springing to his feet. “I do not agree.”
Yan Father furrowed his brow.
“Why?” Yan Nianyi unhurriedly poured water into a glass, the sound of the flowing water blending with her voice in a crisp, tinkling chime.
“I am afraid you are going to devour Yueyi whole,” Yan Pin retorted irritably. “You are a woman, and Yueyi is a woman too. Do you even know what Yueyi’s sexual orientation is? What is her stance on this sort of thing?”
Yan Nianyi’s hand stopped mid-pour.
Yan Pin drew a breath. Unwilling to deal too harsh a blow to his most beloved younger sister, he softened his tone somewhat. “Nianyi, you like Yueyi, and everyone in the family knows it, and we are all willing to pave the way for you. But Big Brother is looking out for you too. If you go to Yueyi’s company, you will not be able to be as carefree as you are at home.”
He tried to phrase it as tactfully as possible. He had once accidentally caught sight of the way Yan Nianyi looked at Yueyi, a gaze so unmasked and filled with love. Once Yueyi caught on and rejected her, the only one who would end up hurt was Yan Nianyi.
“Is it not wonderful enough for you to go visit Yueyi every few days? Distance makes the heart grow fonder,” Yan Pin reasoned.
“Nianyi, your brother is right. Why don’t you reconsider? You do not necessarily have to work at Yueyi’s company,” Yan Mother advised as well.
Yan Nianyi’s long, curled eyelashes fluttered. Her well-defined fingers gripped the body of the cup, her lips brushing against the rim in a light sip, though whether she actually drank any water remained uncertain.
She raised her eyelids. “What if I insist?”
Having endured fifty-three days of separation, Yan Nianyi wanted nothing more than to lay eyes on Yueyi every single day. She understood the implication behind Yan Pin’s words, but none of it could rival the agonizing torment of not being able to see Yueyi.
“Dad, is it possible?” Yan Nianyi looked toward the middle-aged man seated across from her.
The muscles in Yan Father’s face twitched silently. He reached into his suit trouser pocket, slid his phone screen a few times, dialed a number, tapped the speakerphone icon, and laid the device down on the solid wood table.
The phone rang a few times before the call connected.
“Director Yan,” a calm and steady female voice sounded from the other end of the line.
Hearing that familiar voice, Yan Nianyi instinctively tightened her grip on the glass cup, her heartbeat accelerating as her gaze locked onto the small rectangular object.
Yan Father looked at her as he spoke to the person on the other end: “Director Yue, it is me. Sorry to bother you.”
“Director Yan is too polite,” replied Yueyi.
“It is like this. Previously, I wanted to give my daughter some practical experience, so I sent her abroad, but she never quite adjusted to life over there. The Yan Corporation currently does not have a suitable position for her. Therefore, I wanted to ask if Director Yue might have any vacant positions where she could go and try her hand,” said Yan Father.
“Nianyi?” Yueyi flipped through the documents in her hand, and upon confirming everything was in order, she signed her name with a black fountain pen. “Does she know about this?”
“I have already spoken with her,” replied Yan Father.
“As long as she is willing, I will have someone arrange a position for her,” Yueyi responded in a strictly professional tone as she opened WeChat to reply to a message she had missed earlier.
“The breakfast was delicious,” Yueyi typed.
Yan Nianyi’s phone vibrated. Upon seeing the message content, her eyes lit up.
“Director Yue, Nianyi has lived under our care and has never suffered any hardships, so please look after her,” Yan Father tactfully concluded his thought.
Yueyi understood the implication behind Yan Father’s words and smoothly replied, “Director Yan can rest assured.”
“Sorry to trouble you, Director Yue.”
“Director Yan is being too polite.” After hanging up the phone, Yueyi picked up the next document and instructed Wang Lin, who had just walked into the office, “Yan Nianyi will be coming over in a bit. See that she is given an idle, relaxed position.”
Wang Lin acknowledged the order, then looked doubtfully at Yueyi, who was buried in her paperwork. “Director Yue, Miss Yan is not working at the Yan Corporation, but coming to the Yue Corporation instead?”
“There probably was not anything suitable for her over there,” Yueyi paused her pen. “Just arrange something.”
“Understood,” Wang Lin replied.
Expecting the girl to arrive after a few days, Wang Lin was surprised when Yan Nianyi appeared at the front desk of the Yue Corporation that very same afternoon.
“Miss, please wait a moment while I confirm this,” the receptionist said politely to the young woman. “You may go rest in the lounge area over there.”
Yan Nianyi nodded without any sign of impatience, though she kept her gaze fixed on the front desk and remained standing right there.
“Miss Yan,” shortly after, having received notification, Wang Lin hurried over. As soon as she stepped out of the elevator, she spotted the person standing at the front desk with her head down, looking at her phone.
“Secretary Wang,” Yan Nianyi put away her phone.
“Director Yue asked me to come and fetch you,” Wang Lin said.
Hearing Yueyi’s name softened Yan Nianyi’s expression considerably.
Upon entering the elevator, Yan Nianyi watched as Wang Lin pressed a floor button, the doors slowly sliding shut. “What position has Sister arranged for me?”
“Director Yue instructed me to arrange a relaxed and idle position for you,” Wang Lin answered. “The specifics have not been finalized yet.”
“How about the Chairman’s personal attendant? What do you think of that?” Yan Nianyi asked, watching the red numbers counting upward on the display.
“Miss Yan, that position does not exist,” Wang Lin replied, caught in a difficult spot.
“Doesn’t it exist now?” Yan Nianyi removed her glasses, checked them against the light reflecting off the elevator wall, and put them back on. “What does Secretary Wang think? Is it acceptable?”
“As long as Miss Yan is happy.” The elevator stopped at the targeted floor, and the doors slid open to both sides, prompting Wang Lin to lower her head and gesture for Yan Nianyi to exit first.
“During all these days that I was away, did anyone else hover around Sister?” Yan Nianyi stepped out of the elevator without rushing forward.
“No. Every day, I sent you photos of Director Yue according to your specifications. As you saw, there was never a second person’s figure in any of them,” Wang Lin reported.
“True.” Thinking back to the various angles in those photographs, whether Yueyi was working diligently or standing by the window making phone calls, Yan Nianyi hooked the corners of her lips in satisfaction. “You have worked hard.”
“It is only right that I do things for Miss Yan,” Wang Lin’s tone dipped slightly.
After leading her to the entrance of the Chairman’s office, Wang Lin tactfully bid farewell to Yan Nianyi and headed off to the secretary’s office.
Standing before the door, Yan Nianyi felt a rare flicker of nervousness and gave a light knock.
“Come in,” a voice called out from inside.
Yan Nianyi held her breath, adjusted her state of mind, pushed the door open, and met the gaze of the person sitting behind the desk who had looked up. She called out softly, “Sister, I have arrived.”