78: Prelude

Throughout Wednesday and Thursday, Yan Qinghe was in high spirits, which made the entire company relax significantly. Even Zhao Zixing meeting Zhao Mingting and securing all the shares and power became a passing cloud in his eyes, something he didn't care about at all.

At eleven o'clock at night, Yan Zhuohua curled up under the covers, panting as he calmed down from the lingering afterglow of their recent intimacy.

A set of brand-new training uniform, now torn to shreds, lay in a messy heap beside him, visible the moment he opened his eyes.

Yan Qinghe finished cleaning up in the bathroom and came out to start applying medicine to Yan Zhuohua.

"Hiss—"

"What's wrong? Was I too rough?" Yan Qinghe quickly stopped his movements.

"...It's nothing, keep going." Yan Zhuohua tried his best to keep his expression and voice normal.

Yan Qinghe watched him for a long time before finally continuing with suspicion, though his touch became much lighter.

Yan Zhuohua couldn't quite bear the sensation and started looking for a topic to distract himself from the feelings on his body.

"Why do you like training uniform so much? You've already torn through three sets."

"The first time I fell for you was because of those training uniform," Yan Qinghe answered calmly.

"The first time you fell for me?" Yan Zhuohua's interest was piqued. "You've never told me that before—how you fell in love with me."

"Haven't you also not responded to me yet?" Yan Qinghe said with a smile.

"...I, I, it's not time yet!"

"Not time yet? I think you're intentionally keeping me hanging, aren't you?" Yan Qinghe said, adding a bit of pressure with his hands.

Yan Zhuohua shuddered and explained shakily, "I'm not. It's just not time yet!"

Hearing this explanation that was no different from no explanation at all, Yan Qinghe wasn't annoyed. After finishing the medicine, he picked up a wet wipe to clean his hands and said unhurriedly, "No rush. There's less than a month until the Lunar New Year break. With over ten days of holiday, I'll have plenty of time and energy to 'interrogate' you a few more times."

Yan Zhuohua trembled even more. "We both have to go back to the main residence then. Aren't you afraid Big Brother will deal with you?"

Yan Qinghe didn't take this threat to heart at all.

"Oh? Then you'd better wait and see whose side Big Brother will be on when the time comes."

"What do you mean by that?" Yan Zhuohua turned over with difficulty and pressed Yan Qinghe for an answer.

"I'm not telling you." Yan Qinghe walked back into the bathroom. This time, it was his turn to keep him in suspense.

Once Thursday passed, the weekend wasn't far off.

Early Saturday morning, Yan Qinghe dropped him off at the airport. He held Yan Zhuohua reluctantly, unwilling to let him go.

"Let go, I need to board now," Yan Zhuohua said, patting him lightly on the back. "I'll be back tomorrow at noon, and then you'll see me again."

Yan Qinghe still didn't let go.

"How about this: after I finish my business this afternoon, I'll go straight to the airport and take the night flight back?"

Yan Qinghe finally released him.

"No, a flight at that time would get you home almost at dawn. You should get a good night's sleep tonight and come back tomorrow."

Although it was a bit of an exaggeration, taking the night flight back would indeed mean getting home around three in the morning at the earliest.

Yan Zhuohua looked around and saw that no one was paying attention to them. He suddenly stood on his tiptoes, gave Yan Qinghe a kiss on the lips, and then, before the other could react, grabbed his backpack and ran off.

Left behind, Yan Qinghe touched his lips, a sweet smile on his face.

At noon, Yan Zhuohua was picked up by a pre-arranged car and taken to a hotel. It was the one owned by his family, and he stayed in the suite reserved for them on the top floor.

After a quick rest following lunch, Yan Zhuohua hurried to the university. Since he only had one afternoon, it was better to go early to avoid any unexpected delays.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly. Yan Zhuohua submitted his materials, which were quickly approved, and there were no issues during the on-site Q&A session.

In the evening, at his mentor's invitation, he went to enjoy a meal of his mentor's wife's cooking and took the opportunity to have a more in-depth discussion with his mentor about his graduation thesis.

It was after ten o'clock when he finally politely declined his mentor's enthusiastic attempts to make him stay longer and prepared to head back to the hotel.

His mentor had no choice but to compromise by insisting on walking him to the entrance of the residential compound. This time, he couldn't refuse.

On the way, the mentor couldn't help but sigh about what a good student he had.

"You're good. Your thesis is well-written, and you knew to come back early to settle the paperwork. Unlike Old Zhang—his precious student insisted on coming back in the last two days, and he has to keep waiting for him."

It sounded a bit familiar, so Yan Zhuohua ventured to ask, "Is it Wen Hengtang?"

"Yes, yes, yes, that's him. You know him?"

"I do. We met by accident nearly two years ago. We're pretty good friends."

"Hahaha, then I guess he finally got his wish," the mentor laughed heartily. "When he first enrolled as a freshman, he was asking around for you everywhere. He said he was your... e-sports fan? He wanted to meet you and get close to his idol. I only just found out that he actually got his wish long ago."

"That really is quite a coincidence," Yan Zhuohua also laughed happily. "I didn't expect you to follow those things too, Professor."

The compound wasn't large, and they soon reached the entrance. The car Yan Qinghe had arranged was already waiting outside.

"Please go back, Professor. It's freezing out here, and I wouldn't feel right if you stayed."

Watching his mentor turn and walk away until his figure gradually disappeared, Yan Zhuohua pulled back his smile and turned to get into the car.

At noon the next day, Yan Qinghe was waiting at the airport right on time.

After a week of scattered snowfall, the weather had completely cleared up, and it looked like it wouldn't snow again for the next two weeks. The days when snow melted were always the most piercingly cold. Even under the midday sun, Yan Zhuohua still felt a bit chilly.

"Get in the car quickly. The temperature has dropped sharply today, and you didn't bring any thick clothes." Yan Qinghe took the backpack from his hand and, without even wasting time for a hug, hurriedly ushered him into the car.

The air conditioning was on in the car, and Yan Zhuohua felt his whole body warm up as soon as he stepped inside.

"Is everything settled?" Yan Qinghe started the engine and drove the car out of the parking lot.

"Mhm." Yan Zhuohua smiled warmly. "Besides those trivial matters, I've also discussed it with my professor. I'll finish up my thesis as quickly as possible during this winter break and send it to him for review."

Yan Qinghe was quite surprised to hear this. "So soon?"

"Did you forget? Shortly after the New Year, Big Brother is going to drag me into the Military Camp for two months of special training. After that, there's the test driving. When would I have time to write my thesis?" Yan Zhuohua replied. "If I prepare it in advance, it'll be much more convenient later—I'll just have to wait for the defense."

"That makes sense."

During the week before the New Years Day holiday, everyone was inevitably a bit excited.

Yan Qinghe, however, was exceptionally well-behaved this week. He was looking forward to the long-overdue punishment session on Friday night and was determined to let Yan Zhuohua conserve his strength.

Yan Muxuan had agreed to stay at the company for another three months on Yan Zhuohua's behalf, which forced him to postpone his grand retirement plan. This made him quite grumpy, and this week he even found Yan Zhuohua an eyesore.

With no other choice, Yan Zhuohua could only work diligently under his Uncle's direction, without a single moment of rest.

It wasn't until Friday, with the three-day New Year's holiday imminent, that Yan Zhuohua finally got a chance to catch his breath from the "very happy about the upcoming holiday" Yan Muxuan.

Quickly finishing the entire day's work, he prepared to head up to the 24th floor to slack off for the afternoon.

This was understandable; in the last few hours before a holiday, everyone was excited. The company was also quite humane, reducing the workload as much as possible and even allowing those who had finished their work without any issues to leave early.

It was just a pity that Yan Qinghe, as the chairman, couldn't possibly leave early. If it weren't to keep him company, Yan Zhuohua would have slipped away long ago.

The entire afternoon, one worked behind the office desk while the other leaned lazily on the sofa wearing headphones to watch a movie, with a glass of juice and a large bag of snacks by his side.

After finishing a movie, Yan Zhuohua got up to stretch his aching waist. He didn't know what Yan Qinghe was thinking, insisting that Yan Zhuohua stay within his line of sight, claiming under the beautiful pretext: "This is what true companionship is."

As Yan Zhuohua paced back and forth in the office, his movements were interrupted by the ring of his phone.

It was a call from Officer Liu.