Chapter 381: Yu Zi Was Mystified. Was There Anything Wrong With Her Getting Engaged Today?
At Yan Hui Corporation, Yan Huaian stood up and shook hands with Yu Zi.
This was not the first time, but the softness of her palm still made him pause almost imperceptibly before he finally and reluctantly pulled back.
His fingertips accidentally brushed her fingers, and the soft smooth sensation lingered on his fingertips like electric sparks.
Yan Huaian"s eyes darkened, but he kept his emotions in check as he said in a voice as clear as a stream, “Sorry I had to call you out here on a Sat.u.r.day.”
“Don"t be sorry. This is my job, after all,” Yu Zi said with a hearty laugh.
She had always been very grateful to Yan Huaian.
It had only been two years since she joined the law firm, and before this, she had always been tailing her mentor, helping him with his cases by handling the trivial details.
With her lack of experience, it was rare enough for her to receive even the smallest cases. Most of the time, she had to take the sc.r.a.ps from her mentor"s pile of cases.
She came from a family of lawyers. Her father was a famous advocate, and her mother was the head of a procuratorate. She had an older brother too, and he was slowly making a name for himself in the field. Whenever anyone mentioned her brother, they would always say, “Like father, like son.”
Yu Zi grew up in such a household, so she was influenced by it and naturally went on to study law. After she pa.s.sed the bar exam, she hid her family background and underwent the proper hiring process, including a written test and an interview, before she was finally hired by a reputable law firm, Ding Hui.
n.o.body knew that she came from a famous family of lawyers, and they just treated her as they would any junior lawyer. Thankfully, her mentor was quite kind. He never made things difficult for her on purpose, and he guided her sincerely too.
Just like that, she was working as a regular junior lawyer. Once, she followed her mentor to Yan Hui, and after a few more meetings, her mentor would send her in his stead if he was caught up with some other important case and was confident that she could handle the issues on this end herself.
As a result, she ended up growing quite accustomed to Yan Hui"s cases.
That carried on until one day, Yan Huaian suggested that she take on the role of Yan Hui"s legal consultant.
Yu Zi, her colleagues at the firm, and even her mentor were all shocked.
A large corporation like Yan Hui was usually involved with matters of finance, but their scope was extremely vast, with many fingers in many pies. They also experienced unexpected emergencies, so their s.h.i.+p required the guidance of an experienced lawyer. For corporations of this size, their lawyers were often well known within the field as well. No company like that hired a mere junior lawyer like her.
Of course, she was not Yan Hui"s only legal consultant. Each lawyer was in charge of a specific area.
That was why Yu Zi gathered up the courage to agree. Since she was in charge of only one specialized area, Yu Zi was confident she could manage it.
She had been doing pretty well so far, too. When she represented Yan Hui, she did not cower like a junior lawyer at all. Instead, she held herself with confidence and swagger.
That was why she had always been grateful to Yan Huaian for giving her the opportunity.
Yan Huaian packed his things and left together with Yu Zi.
In the elevator, Yan Huaian tilted his head slightly. Taking advantage of the fact that he was more than a head taller than Yu Zi, he used the corner of his eyes to look at her.
She was standing quite some distance away from him, but he could still seem to feel the warmth emanating from her. It was both rather warm and scorching, and it made him somewhat ill at ease.
“Where do you want to go, Lawyer Yu? I"ll give you a lift.” Yan Huaian"s tone softened instinctively, and he turned his head to look at her boldly.
“I"m going to Sheng Yue,” Yu Zi said. “But I can just call a cab.”
Although her parents bought her a very cheap car, it still did not sit down well with her.
“Do you have another job later?” Yan Huaian asked casually.
Yu Zi shook her head and looked a little awkward as she said quietly, “I"m getting engaged today, so the two families are meeting for a meal.”
Yan Huaian paused in his tracks. He knew that Yu Zi had a boyfriend, a houseman, but he did not think that they would be getting engaged so soon.
How old was she? She was still so young.
Yan Huaian"s chest throbbed with a dull ache, and his tone turned stern. He insisted, saying, “I"ll give you a lift there.”
Yu Zi looked at him in surprise. She did not know why he sounded less than pleased, and he did not look very happy now either. Did she say something that displeased him?
Confused, Yu Zi ran through the things she said, but she could not find anything inappropriate.
Could he be displeased because she declined his offer and his kind intentions?
Yu Zi came into contact with Yan Huaian quite often because of work. Her impression of Yan Huaian was that he was always rather stern, but he was usually quite gentle with her. On the other hand, she had seen him lose his temper at his subordinates before.
He did not take his rage out on them, screaming and yelling. In fact, he never acted out when he was angry.
Instead, his expression would be as cold as ice, and he would look at you with his freezing hard eyes, making you break out in a cold sweat and terrifying you to the point that you would not dare to look at his face.
Of course, when his subordinates messed up their duties and Yan Huaian grew mad at them, he looked much sterner than he did now.
Even so, Yu Zi was still too scared to decline Yan Huaian"s offer again, so she let him send her to Sheng Yue.
While they were in the car, Yu Zi glanced at the clock and saw that they were still early. They would probably arrive at Sheng Yue in time.
As a result of the sudden change in Yan Huaian"s expression earlier, Yu Zi was still a little too scared to look him in the face. The pressure in the car felt a little low and suffocating.
A long time pa.s.sed, during which she repeated to herself over and over again, "He"s the hand that feeds me, he"s the hand that feeds me."
Taking a deep breath, she decided to ease the current atmosphere.
She faked a chuckle or two and initiated a conversation with Yan Huaian. “Where are you going later, President Yan?”
At first, Yan Huaian just gave her a sideways glance, his side profile hard and cold.
Nevertheless, she had to admit that the man looked very good even with a stony expression.
He just had a habit of exerting pressure on his surroundings every so often, and the mere thought of being with him stressed her out. Yu Zi could not imagine Yan Huaian dating anyone.
Was he going to date someone with an expression that cold?
It was even harder for her to imagine him acting like a normal lover would, talking to his girlfriend in gentle tones and trying his best to cheer her up.
Yu Zi could not help but rub her arms. Just the thought made her feel cold.
Yan Huaian looked at the clock display on his dashboard and said, “I"m going to find a place to eat.”
For some reason, Yu Zi felt like he had stabbed her with those words.
She could tell that he was going out of his way to give her a ride, so it probably would not be right for her to not repay his kindness.
However, she was having her engagement banquet at noon. Only the members of the two families would be there, having a meal together, so how could she invite Yan Huaian to join them?
That was why Yu Zi had no choice but to suppress that thought and pretend she did not understand his hint.
Yan Huaian gave her a glance with his wistful eyes, pursing his elegant and well-shaped lips.
After that, Yan Huaian did not drop Yu Zi at the entrance of Sheng Yue and leave. Instead, he parked his car at Sheng Yue"s carpark, looking as though he had every intention of following her into Sheng Yue.
When they got out of the car, Yu Zi looked at Yan Huaian. She wanted to say something, but then she hesitated.
Yan Huaian"s expression softened. She did not know what he was thinking, but his expression was not as dark as it had been earlier. That look made him completely unapproachable, and it discouraged anyone from even trying to talk to him.
Yu Zi scoffed at him inwardly. Even if he was the hand that fed her, his unpredictable temper made him difficult to deal with.
Just as she was thinking that, his deep and warm voice suddenly said by her ear, “Since I"m already at Sheng Yue, I might as well eat here.”
After all, he had to eat somewhere.
Yu Zi opened her mouth. She wanted to offer to buy him lunch and tell him to put it on her tab, but it did not seem right to try and shoo him away like that.
Who did she think she was? How could she possibly say something like that to the president of Yan Hui?
So she swallowed that idea back down too, walking into Sheng Yue with Yan Huaian.
The manager of Sheng Yue naturally knew Yan Huaian, so he approached and greeted him. “President Yan.”
When he saw that Yu Zi was next to Yan Huaian, the manager continued, “Do you want us to prepare your room?”
“There"s no need. I"ll be eating alone in the main hall,” Yan Huaian said. He read the manager"s thoughts in the latter"s eyes, and his mood soured again.
As he said that, he gave Yu Zi another look.
Yu Zi was mystified. Was there anything wrong with her getting engaged today?
Why was he acting like she was the main reason he was left to eat alone today?
Despite that, Yan Huaian"s gaze still filled Yu Zi with unspeakable guilt, so she immediately told Yan Huaian, “I have special circ.u.mstances today, President Yan, so I"ll treat you to a meal next time.”
Yan Huaian nodded somewhat flippantly, as though he did not really believe her, and then he left with the manager.
Yu Zi held up her wrist and looked at the time before bursting into a jog toward the rooms. She was wearing high heels, and the marble floor was not the most conducive surface to run on, so she took extra care not to fall as she jogged.
Along the way, a waiter asked where she was going, and Yu Zi told him the room number. After that, the waiter led her all the way to a large room with double doors and opened the doors for her.