Yanbo's so-called proposal was, of course, not a real marriage proposal, but rather an engagement.
After all, Tong Xiaohuai is only eighteen years old, not even old enough to get married yet.
Their engagement ceremony was held on the Lantern Festival at the Mingxuan Hotel, the largest hotel in L City.
Apart from the Yan family, almost everyone else who could be invited was present that day.
The engagement ceremony was quite a sensation. Even though the two hadn't officially registered their marriage, in other people's eyes they were already a legitimate couple.
Two years later, just after Tong Xiaohuai turned 20, Yan Bo proposed to her again.
This time, Tong Xiaohuai readily accepted the ring, but she did not agree to marry him.
It wasn't that she didn't want to marry Yan Bo, but rather that even though she and Yan Bo had been engaged for nearly two years, Yan Bo's parents' attitude hadn't softened at all; on the contrary, it seemed to have become even more aggressive.
"Yanbo, I'm willing to be with you for the rest of my life, regardless of whether we get a marriage certificate or not."
Tong Xiaohuai loves Yan Bo, and she doesn't want him to officially clash with his parents over a marriage certificate. Ultimately, all she wants is to be with him; formalities are completely unimportant to her.
Yanbo has enough confidence in himself, and he also understands that a marriage certificate is not a necessary guarantee for the relationship between two people.
Despite countless efforts, they couldn't persuade Tong Xiaohuai. The only solution was to seek the understanding and consent of Tong's eldest son and mother. They bought a villa in L City and officially moved in together as an engaged couple.
Apart from not having a marriage certificate or a grand wedding, Tong Xiaohuai and Yan Bo lived together like any other couple after they moved in together.
They always believed that parents can't always win against their children, and no matter how stubborn Yan's parents are, there will always be a time when they compromise.
They waited a full fifteen years for the Yan family parents to make this compromise.
When Tong Xiaohuai was thirty-three and Yan Bo was thirty-five, Yan Zhong finally retired from his front-line post. By then, his youngest son had been living with his lover in L City for thirteen years.
By this point, he probably had no more excuses to object.
Perhaps he finally realized that his opposition could not stop his youngest son's determination to be with Tong Xiaohuai.
So, after knowing and loving each other for fifteen years, Tong Xiaohuai and Yan Bo finally got married with the blessings of both sets of parents.
After the marriage, both sets of parents began bombarding the couple with questions, hoping they would have children as soon as possible.
Tong Xiaohuai and Yan Bo have lived together for so many years. Initially, they deliberately avoided having a child because they felt they couldn't give the child a proper status.
Later on, they gradually got used to their life as a couple and stopped caring about the children.
Even after getting their marriage certificate, the two didn't intentionally want to have a child. They even felt that it was good enough to just continue supporting each other like this!
Just when both sets of parents had to accept that Tong Xiaohuai and Yan Bo would become a childless couple and live a life of just the two of them, Tong Xiaohuai became pregnant.
At that time, Tong Xiaohuai was already thirty-nine years old and was experiencing severe pregnancy symptoms.
The first time she experienced morning sickness, she almost vomited up her heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys!
Yanbo didn't want her to suffer, so he told the doctor that he didn't want the child.
Tong Xiaohuai, who has never cared much about children, inexplicably insisted on having one this time.
Tong Xiaohuai endured the most painful and torturous ten months of her life, and at the age of forty, she gave birth to a handsome, fair-skinned, and chubby boy.
This handsome young man is Yan Han.
Yan Han, that kid, was restless in his mother's arms. After he jumped out, he became just as troublesome as anyone else.
Normally, having a child late in life would be a great honor.
Adding to the special backgrounds of the Tong and Yan families, and the fact that his grandparents felt immense guilt towards his parents, they spoiled him rotten.
He was only a few months old when the two elders of the Yan family forcibly took him back to the capital to be cared for.
Tong Xiaohuai and Yan Bo, whose careers were also booming, had no choice but to fly to Beijing every week.
It seems that grandparents and grandchildren tend to have a closer bond with their grandchildren.
Yan Han, that kid, has done a whole host of bad things ever since he could walk and talk.
He used his grandfather Yan Zhong's military medals to prop up a table, and cut up his grandmother's silk cheongsam to make handicrafts. If anyone else had done such bad things, they would have had their legs broken long ago.
But instead of scolding him, Grandpa Yan and Grandma Yan pinched and kissed his cheeks.
“Xiaohan, take it if you want. Grandpa has a big cabinet. Here, these are the keys. Take whichever one you like.”
You have to understand, any one of those medals represents a tremendous honor, and he earned them by risking his life in the past.
But right now, Grandpa Yan didn't even blink, handing them over to his grandson to handle, as if they were just a cabinet full of ordinary building block toys.
Grandma Yan's reaction was, of course, similar to Grandpa Yan's.
By the time Yanbo and Tong Xiaohuai discovered that their son had been spoiled rotten by the two elders and was arrogant and unruly, little Yanhan was already nearly ten years old.
Fearing that their son would be spoiled by his grandparents, the couple resolutely took Xiao Yanhan back to L City.
Xiao Yanhan wasn't dissatisfied; after all, he was just causing trouble in a different place.
When he caused trouble, Yanbo and Tong Xiaohuai could actually turn a blind eye.
But one thing that worried them greatly was their son's personality.
This kid is very smart, but he's also very arrogant and willful. He can't play with other kids his age at all!
This worry followed Yanhan throughout his growth.
Yan Han is excellent, both in academic performance and later in her work ability.
But he shared a common trait with many outstanding people: he was lonely.
"Old Yan, do you think Xiao Han's personality might lead to him ending up alone?"
Seeing her beloved son enter the ranks of 28-year-old single men, Tong Xiaohuai couldn't help but ask the question that had been troubling her for many years.
Although Yanbo, as a father, was also worried, he was ultimately much more open-minded about this matter.
"Fate brings people together at different times. Not everyone is as lucky as me to find you in a crowd at the age of twenty!"
Tong Xiaohuai smiled bitterly, "It's fortunate that he didn't find anyone. What I'm afraid of is that with his extremely arrogant personality, he simply won't find someone who can tolerate him!"
The mother's anxiety finally subsided after she met Zhu Qianying, the girl Yan Han had chosen after rigorous selection.
At this point, she finally believed it.
Everyone, whether outstanding or ordinary, aloof or approachable, will eventually find their perfect match.
He was just waiting for someone to glance back in the sea of people and discover that she was right there in the dim light!
……………………………………The End……………………………………………………
[Finally finished! The story has many shortcomings, but thankfully you all remained loyal and understanding. Thank you everyone! Deepest gratitude! The reunion stories of Little Spoon and Young Master Zong, and Zizai and Xiaoluzi continue in the ongoing novel "Adorable Baby's Secret Order: Daddy, Don't Force It," while the story of Letong and President Ji unfolds in the completed novel "Adorable Baby's Wanted Order: The Priceless Runaway Wife!"]
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