Chapter 4 This is an engagement gift for Miss Yan
As Yan Shuang stepped down the mall steps, she couldn't help but glance at the children chasing and playing by the fountain in the mall's atrium.
Just as she was about to turn and leave, a scream pierced through the mall's background music.
"He's trying to snatch your bag! Stop him!"
Yan Shuang looked in the direction of the sound and saw a tall, thin man wearing a black hoodie running wildly in her direction. Not far behind him, a young girl with a ponytail sat on the ground, her face full of panic.
The surrounding crowd parted quickly, like Moses parting the sea, and no one dared to stop them.
Just as the purse snatcher was about to pass by Yan Shuang, her eyes sharpened, and she unbuttoned her suit jacket.
"Excuse me," she whispered, then suddenly stepped to the side, blocking the purse snatcher's path.
"Get out of my way!" The man viciously swung his fist toward her face.
Yan Shuang slightly tilted her head to avoid the fist, and at the same time, her right hand formed a knife, accurately slashing the inside of the opponent's wrist.
The man, in pain, let go, and the woman's handbag was about to fall to the ground.
She lifted her left leg and gently caught the bag with the instep of her foot, then flicked it upwards, and the bag landed steadily in her hand.
This series of movements was fluid and took only two or three seconds.
"You bitch!" The purse snatcher, enraged, pulled a switchblade from her pocket.
A gasp rang out, and the crowd retreated even further.
Yan Shuang's eyes darkened, and she tossed her handbag behind her, where it landed right in the arms of the girl who was rushing over.
“The mall security will arrive in thirty seconds,” she said calmly. “You still have time to leave.”
The assailant spat and lunged forward with his knife.
Yan Shuang flashed forward, her right hand grabbing the opponent's wrist like lightning. At the same time, she turned her body and executed a beautiful over-the-shoulder throw, slamming the opponent heavily to the ground.
The switchblade flew a long way with a clang.
"Ah!" The thug cried out in pain. Just as he was about to get up, Yan Shuang's high heels gently stepped on his back. The force was light, but it made him unable to move.
“I suggest you don’t move,” she said, taking her phone out of her pocket, “otherwise the next foot might break your ribs.”
Only then did the girl whose bag had been snatched run breathlessly to Yan Shuang's side, clutching her bag tightly in her arms.
"Th-thank you!" she said breathlessly. "You're amazing!"
The girl was in her early twenties, dressed in a simple T-shirt and jeans, looking like a college student. Her face was still pale from shock, but her eyes were bright and full of admiration.
The mall security guards finally arrived, and Yan Shuang gave them a few brief instructions before handing the perpetrators over to them.
She straightened her slightly disheveled suit jacket and prepared to leave.
-
Standing by the floor-to-ceiling windows of a Michelin three-star restaurant, Shang Qiuzhu listened casually to his business partner, Chairman Wang, showering him with flattery about the success of last week's plan, the rise in Shang's stock price, and his "young and promising" business acumen.
Each word is like a carefully tempered breeze, devoid of substance and tedious.
"Such a talented young man as President Shang, who is about to marry into the Yan family, is truly..." Chairman Wang's flattery continued.
Shangqiu Zhu's gaze had already indifferently shifted to the window.
Across the street, under the shade of a sycamore tree, Yan Shuang deftly dodged the fist of a purse snatcher.
She delivered a swift chop to the other person's wrist, catching and tossing the bag in one fluid motion.
Shang Qiuzhu narrowed his eyes slightly, watching his secretary remain calm and composed in the face of the knife-wielding assailant.
The girl next to Yan Shuang smiled and said something to her. Yan Shuang suddenly laughed, not the precise smile she usually wore in business settings, but a genuine and bright smile.
That smile made her look inexplicably young.
young.
Shangqiu Zhu frowned slightly. "How old is Yan Shuang? She and Yan You are twins, so that means twenty-three? Twenty-four?"
"...So what does Mr. Shang think?" Chairman Wang's question brought him back to reality.
Shangqiu Zhu withdrew his gaze expressionlessly.
-
At 3:27 PM, Yan Shuang stood in front of Shang Qiuzhu's office and gently knocked three times.
"Please come in."
When the door was opened, Shangqiu Zhu was facing away from the door, answering a phone call, a Montblanc pen between his slender fingers, making annotations on a document.
Yan Shuang stood quietly to the side, her gaze lowered.
"Okay, let's handle it that way." Shangqiu Zhu hung up the phone and turned around.
Sunlight streamed through his back, making it difficult for Yan Shuang to see his expression for a moment.
"Mr. Shang, this is an engagement gift for Miss Yan." She stepped forward and placed the handbag and black card together on the edge of the desk.
Shangqiu Zhu didn't look at the gift, but instead focused her gaze on Yan Shuang's face.
The two were very close, and he could see the tiny shadow cast by her eyelashes and the unfamiliar diamond stud earring on her earlobe. The design was very simple, and it wasn't as dazzling under the office lights as it was in the sunlight, but it strangely made this girl, who always wore business suits, more lively.
His gaze lingered for only a moment before he casually looked away.
Next to the black card was a document, an A4 sheet of paper with dozens of neatly arranged records. It was a detailed summary of the gifts she had purchased for Yan You over the past two years, from jewelry to bags to limited edition perfumes. Each item was followed by Yan You's reaction after receiving it. "She liked it very much and wore it to the dinner party that day." "She said the color didn't suit her skin tone, but it was a brand she loved." "She didn't use it publicly, but showed it to her friends in private."
Shangqiu Zhu raised her eyebrows almost imperceptibly, recalling how nimble she looked in the midday sunlight.
"Did you specifically compile these statistics?" He put down the form.
“Given the importance of gifts in maintaining relationships, the system’s data records help improve the accuracy of subsequent choices,” she answered as if reporting a quarterly financial report. “This can avoid repeatedly buying similar items and also adjust the budget allocation according to Ms. Yan’s preferences.”
The office fell silent for a moment.
“Next time you do these things,” Shangqiu Zhu said, “you can do them during work hours, without taking up your personal time.”
A hint of surprise flashed in Yan Shuang's eyes. Shang Qiuzhu almost never cared about the work-life balance of his employees, and this sentence was the closest he could come to being considerate.
"It's my duty to share Mr. Shang's burdens." She quickly adjusted her expression, a perfect professional smile appearing on her lips. "Besides, Mr. Shang has always been considerate of his subordinates; he even approved a salary increase for our entire department last week."
That was a perfectly timed compliment.
Shangqiu Zhu's lips twitched slightly: "Is that so? I thought it was the result of Director Chen's best efforts."
"Director Chen just submitted the application. Whether it's approved or not ultimately depends on President Shang's mood, doesn't it?" Yan Shuang blinked, her tone lighter than usual. "The marketing department applied three times but it wasn't approved yet."
Shangqiu Zhu put down her pen. "So you're implying that I'm being biased?"
"I wouldn't dare." Yan Shuang lowered her head slightly, but Shang Qiuzhu caught a glimpse of cunning in her eyes. "I'm just stating the facts. Everyone has witnessed how well President Shang takes care of the President's Office."
Shangqiu Zhu did not respond, but steered the conversation back to: "Please pass the necklace on to me."
Yan Shuang nodded, picked up the jewelry bag, and turned to leave the office.
When Yan Shuang got home that evening, she had just put her high heels in the shoe cabinet when Yan You's raised voice came from the living room: "How could he do this! We had a date, and then he said he had a meeting at the last minute? What do he take me for?"
"Youyou, don't get agitated." Zhou Yaqin's voice was gentle and ingratiating. "It's normal for Shangqiu Zhu to have important business to attend to when he manages such a large company."
Yan Shuang stopped in her tracks.
When she left the company today, she clearly saw that Shangqiu Zhu had already left work, and there were no other items on her schedule.
“Maybe they’ve prepared a surprise.” Father Yan Zhenye’s voice unusually reassured him, “Shangqiu Zhu isn’t someone who doesn’t understand manners.”
Yan Shuang took a deep breath, composed herself, and walked into the living room.
Yan You was nestled on the sofa, her makeup still on but already partially ruined by tears. Her mother sat beside her, gently patting her back, while her father, unusually, was not in the study but standing to the side.
"I'm back," Yan Shuang said softly.
The three of them turned their heads at the same time. Yan You's eyes were still red, but they lit up instantly when she saw the HW handbag in Yan Shuang's hand: "What's that?"
Yan Shuang stepped forward and handed the dark green gift box to her sister: "President Shang asked me to give this engagement gift to you. He did have an urgent meeting today and specifically instructed me to apologize to you."
She added the second half of the sentence on the spot.
Yan Shuang knew all too well how to quell her sister's emotional storm: a small gift, plus just the right amount of comfort.
Yan You couldn't wait to open the packaging.
"Oh my god!" Her tears stopped instantly, and she jumped up and rushed to the full-length mirror in the entryway, holding the necklace under her neck to show off. "It's a new HW design! I saw it in a magazine!"
Zhou Yaqin smiled as well: "I knew it was a surprise, didn't I? Such an expensive gift must have been carefully prepared."
Yan You was already engrossed in taking selfies, searching for the best angle to showcase her new jewelry.
"Shuangshuang, did Shangqiu Zhu say anything else?" Zhou Yaqin asked while helping Yan You fasten her necklace. "Did he mention the engagement banquet?"
Yan Shuang shook her head: "I only said that I would ask my sister to have dinner another day."
"I knew Qiu Zhu didn't do it on purpose!" Yan You pouted at the phone camera, completely forgetting her anger from half an hour ago. "Mom, quickly take some pictures for me, I want to post them on WeChat Moments!"
As Yan Shuang watched her sister change angles in front of the camera, she recalled the more than twenty similar entries on the detailed gift record sheet in Shang Qiuzhu's office earlier that day.
Every time Yan You got angry, she was eventually appeased with luxury goods.
And each time, it was her younger sister who was responsible for selecting, purchasing, and even apologizing on her behalf.
Yan Shuang sighed. She wasn't helping the Yan family monitor Shang Qiuzhu at all; she was clearly cleaning up his mess.
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