Chapter 1 Marriage Contract
Nine o'clock in the evening, in the top-floor private room of the "Cloud Top" club.
The dim blue light spilled across the leather sofa like water, and on the marble coffee table, a bottle of Yamazaki 25-year-old was almost empty. The air was filled with the oaky aroma of whiskey, mixed with the faint tobacco scent of cigars—this was the typical night in this circle of Kyoto.
Huo Yanli leaned back on the sofa, his long, slender fingers loosely holding a wine glass. Today he was wearing a dark gray shirt, with the top two buttons undone and the sleeves casually rolled up to his forearms, revealing a section of his sharply defined wrist and the Patek Philippe worth seven figures.
"So, tomorrow?" Ji Yun sat opposite him, raising an eyebrow and smiling with undisguised teasing. "Our arrogant young master Huo is finally going to be tamed?"
A few low laughs echoed from inside the private room.
Zhou Mubai adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, his lawyer's instincts making him more cautious in his wording, but the amusement in his eyes was undiminished: "To be precise, he's been subdued in a legal sense. Yanli, are you really not going to put up any more resistance?"
Shen Yu didn't say anything, but just swirled his wine glass and gave him a look that said, "You've finally met your match."
Huo Yanli twitched the corners of his mouth, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. He tilted his head back and downed the rest of the whiskey in his glass in one gulp. His Adam's apple bobbed as the cold liquid slid down his throat, but it couldn't quell the restless fire in his heart.
"Subdue?" He put down his wine glass, the base of which clinked against the marble coffee table. "Do you have some misunderstanding about the name 'Mrs. Huo'?"
Ji Yun became interested and leaned forward: "What do you mean? I heard Grandpa Huo say that this girl is the granddaughter of his old comrade-in-arms, he knows her inside and out, you have to marry her." He imitated the old man's tone, "Yanli, you have to get married whether you like it or not! -- That's what he said, right?"
Another burst of laughter followed. This group of people had grown up together, knowing each other's family backgrounds, embarrassing moments, and even the temperaments of their elders inside and out. Old Master Huo's decisive and uncompromising style was well-known in their circle.
Huo Yanli didn't laugh. He reached for the wine bottle and poured himself another finger's width of wine. The liquid poured into the glass, making a clear, gurgling sound that was particularly distinct in the now quiet private room.
“The old man threatened to kill himself.” He said calmly, as if stating a business matter unrelated to himself. “At the end of last month, in the hospital, he pulled out his oxygen tube in front of me.”
The laughter stopped abruptly.
Ji Yun's teasing expression vanished. Zhou Mubai put down his wine glass. Shen Yu also sat up straight.
...........
In the VIP ward of a top-tier private hospital, the smell of disinfectant was so faint as to be almost undetectable. The old man lay on the hospital bed, an IV drip inserted into the back of his thin hand, his face ashen from a long illness, but his eyes shone brightly, like two flames that refused to be extinguished.
"You must marry that girl from the Song family." The old man's voice was hoarse, but every word struck Huo Yanli like a nail. "Your Grandpa Song and I have a life-or-death bond. He saved my life! I promised him that if either family had an heir, a boy and a girl, we would get married. Now that girl is waiting, and you're telling me you won't marry her?"
Huo Yanli stood by the bed, still wearing his crisp suit, having just stepped down from a negotiation table during a cross-border merger. He tried to reason with him: "Grandpa, this isn't your era anymore. A marriage agreement? I don't even know what she looks like."
"I have photos! A clean and innocent young woman, working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, upright!" The old man became agitated, his chest heaving. "You think I don't know who you're eyeing? That one from the Lin family? Yanli, wake up! That kind of woman doesn't have you in her heart, she only cares about money!"
"Don't mention her. Besides, how do you know that the Song family's daughter doesn't just want money?" Huo Yanli's voice turned cold.
"Don't compare her to Song girl, she's not worthy." The old man coughed suddenly, his face turning red, but he still stared intently at his grandson. "You think she's like all those other women around you, only interested in money and status? Let me tell you, she doesn't care. She doesn't care about any of those things. She has something much bigger in her heart. This old man of mine, halfway to the grave, is hoping that you'll find a reliable person by your side! This marriage is a matter of honor! It's the face of our older generation!"
"You're willing to trade my entire marriage for your reputation?" Huo Yanli found it absurd, and a surge of anger rose within him.
"Change it?" A flicker of pain crossed the old man's cloudy eyes, followed by an even deeper stubbornness. He suddenly reached out and ripped the oxygen tube from his nose! The machine immediately emitted a piercing alarm.
"Grandpa!" Huo Yanli's pupils shrank suddenly, and he stepped forward to grab his hand.
The ward door was flung open, and Mr. and Mrs. Huo rushed in upon hearing the alarm. Mrs. Huo, dressed in a Xiangyun yarn cheongsam with a cashmere shawl draped over her shoulders, looked terrified: "Dad! What are you doing!"
Mr. Huo, dressed in a dark Zhongshan suit, had a livid face. While helping the medical staff who rushed in to hold down the old man's struggling hands, he turned his head and looked at Huo Yanli with a complex expression. His eyes contained helplessness, disapproval, and the weariness of a father who was powerless to change the situation.
The old man's face had turned purple from lack of oxygen, but he managed to squeeze out the words through gritted teeth: "If you... don't agree... I'll die right now..."
"Dad, please stop talking." Mrs. Huo's voice trembled with tears. She looked at Huo Yanli, her eyes pleading. "Yanli, can't you...can't you just go along with Grandpa for now? The doctor said Grandpa's body can't take any more stress..."
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