Whispers of an Old Flame Rekindled Chapter 4

The old house is a three-story Western-style building. It is quite old and not as fashionable in appearance as the high-rise buildings that are rising from the ground today. However, the red-painted eaves, off-white walls, old-style wooden lattice windows, and even the sycamore trees standing tall in the yard are all particularly lovely because they retain the unique charm of time.

Grandma's room is on the third floor of the western-style building. It has a whole wall of arc-shaped windows. No matter spring, summer, autumn or winter, as long as the weather is sunny, the room is always filled with sunlight, illuminating every corner of the room, as well as the dust and fine particles in the air.

Now, the old woman was sitting under the window. The afternoon sun illuminated her snow-white hair and stretched her shadow long as she sat in the wheelchair. She frowned and asked the person next to her:

"I know about the replacement of people before marriage. I have heard of the name of Logan Wen. He is Xiao Ye's first love. At the last moment before marriage, he finally knew his beloved and chose his beloved. Isn't this a very common thing?"

Sitting next to grandma was a lady in her fifties.

The lady was wearing a dark purple dress. She was tall, had fair skin, and had round and strong arms. Her black hair was neatly tied into a bun at the back of her head. At first glance, she was a capable and charming woman.

This is grandma's personal assistant, who is responsible for taking care of everything for grandma. Her surname is Fan and her name is Su Huai.

Grace Fan was sorting out a document. After a moment, she walked to her grandmother and handed the document to her: "We have found the source of the news. The news came from this group. Please take a look."

As soon as grandma stretched out her hand, a pair of reading glasses was handed to her.

She put her glasses on her nose, looked at it from a distance, and found that it was full of chat records of shareholders on the board of directors of her family's group.

Grandma looked at the chat records carefully and unexpectedly found that everyone was discussing the fact that her grandson had sent out two invitations. In her mind, the reason for her natural love for her first love did not seem to have any market here. They first discussed that her grandson's company was already shaky and urgently needed 80 million yuan in aid, so they had a fake marriage; then they discussed that the Hushen Group was a big tree with weak roots, so they secretly planned and began to transfer assets...

The discussion was interspersed with many testimonies.

For example, the day before yesterday, a shareholder's driver went to give a gift, and he found that there was only one car entering and leaving Aiden Yu's garage.

For example, yesterday, a shareholder’s secretary went to give a gift, and she found that all the shoes in Aiden Yu’s entrance were of the same size.

For example, today, a nanny was smart and clever. She went around to the bathroom in Aiden Yu’s bedroom and found only a cup and a toothbrush inside. She concluded that Aiden Yu must have slept alone.

As for the wedding chamber, some people went to check it out, but the lights were never turned on once, and there was no one living there at all.

After collecting all the circumstantial evidence, the matter has been concluded:

"Aiden Yu must have had a fake marriage. His company's funding chain has been cut off, and Hushen Group has also begun to secretly transfer assets!"

When grandma saw this, she fell into deep thought.

After a moment, she waved to Grace Fan: "Xiao Fan, call Xiao Wu and ask her how Xiao Ye's life is these days, and whether he lives alone or with someone else."

Grace Fan was out for five minutes, and when he came back, there was a hint of helplessness on his face.

Then grandma knew everything.

"This child is getting more and more crooked and less and less lovable. He is so careless even about such an important matter as marriage." The old man muttered to the sun, "No, I have to think of a way..."

***

In the afternoon, Aiden Yu, who was at the company, received a call from his grandmother, asking him to return to the old house for dinner in the evening.

Aiden Yu was not surprised at all to receive this call. He calculated the time and it was time for him to receive his wedding fund. So he finished his work as soon as possible and drove back to the old house.

As soon as he entered the door, a Filipino maid came forward to get him a change of shoes.

He changed his shoes, asked where his grandmother was, and went straight to his destination.

That was the room at the end of the third floor. It had the best sunlight and many childhood memories for Aiden Yu. He liked it very much when he was young. Whenever he stayed here, his chubby grandmother would bring cakes from downstairs, sit on the rocking chair next to him, and talk to him with a smile while picking up the needle and thread to start knitting a sweater...

The half-closed door was pushed open, revealing a dry and thin figure in the room. An old man was sitting on the sofa, with hunched shoulders and bent legs. The wrinkles on his face were like ditches growing wildly and crisscrossing on the dry yellow earth.

Memory is like a yellowed old photo, old and distorted.

Just because she fell in the garden, the healthy and energetic grandma in my memory will never be found again.

A small shadow descended, quietly covering Aiden Yu's heart. He knocked on the door and leaned in: "Grandma."

The old woman's face was filled with obvious surprise, which smoothed out the wrinkles on her face. "When did you come back?"

Aiden Yu walked to the grandmother's side and carried her from the sofa to the wheelchair: "Just now, I came to see you as soon as I got home. Come, I'll take you for a walk in the garden."

Grandma was even happier. She waved to Aiden Yu and said, "Don't worry. I have something here. Take it and have a look."

Grandma's hand pointed to the small coffee table next to her, where a document was lying quietly.

"What is this? Is this the gift certificate for my wedding fund?" Aiden Yu said with a smile. He stretched out his long arm, took the document, and read the title on it, "Opinion on the Review of the Marriage between Aiden Yu and Logan Wen..."

Just now when he read this, Aiden Yu burst out laughing:

"Who wrote this? What a stupid title!"

Grandma didn't laugh, so the only laughter in the whole room was Aiden Yu's, which was lonely and abrupt.

Aiden Yu felt a little confused. He put away his smile, flipped through the documents in his hand again, and read them out one by one:

"'Opinion on the Review of the Marriage of Aiden Yu and Logan Wen'... Article 1: Aiden Yu and Logan Wen agree to accept the regular review of the special commissioner once a week; Article 2: Aiden Yu and Logan Wen agree to accept the review and scoring system of the special commissioner. If the score is too low within a week, it means that the marriage is in a red light state; Article 3..."

When he read this, he had a bad feeling in his heart, so he jumped directly to the regular review and scoring form attached at the back and took a quick look at it.

The table is written like this:

Holding hands, 1 point.

K!ss, 2 points.

Go out in pairs and get points based on time.

Sleeping in the same bed, the score will be calculated according to the evidence.

...

Where did this form come from? It’s such a shame, it’s disgusting!

That’s not all. At the end of this document, there is actually this sentence:

"The review will last for one year. If the two parties divorce or fail to reach the review conditions within one year, Yu's Enterprise will use its 80 million investment to acquire control of Aiden Yu Company in proportion."

Aiden Yu asked grandma woodenly: "What is this?"

Grandma: "Here is the contract for you. Your wedding fund will be paid to you in the manner specified in the contract."

Aiden Yu: "April Fool's Day event?"

Grandma: "It's been half a year since April Fools' Day."

Aiden Yu was confused: "Are you kidding me? Why should I sign this contract? Shouldn't the wedding fund be given to me once I get married?"

Grandma: "That's normal, but there's something wrong with you."

Aiden Yu was not convinced: "What's wrong with my situation?"

Grandma's look of faint condemnation fell on Aiden Yu, as if to say: Don't you know there's something wrong with your situation?

Aiden Yu realized that he couldn't argue. He coughed lightly and retreated strategically: "Even if my situation requires more waiting time, I can't use this privacy-invading contract, right? Grandma, look at this form. What does "evidence of sleeping in the same bed" mean? What kind of evidence can there be for sleeping in the same bed?"

Grandma assured Aiden Yu: "The form was made in a hurry, and some of the items on it are indeed not detailed enough. We will make careful adjustments later. Don't worry, your space is still yours."

Aiden Yu wanted to say something else.

But the grandmother spoke first. She looked at her grandson and smiled, her eyes narrowed into two crescents, her smile was kind and tolerant, and the wrinkles on her face transformed into lines of wisdom that had been deposited over time.

"Xiao Ye, give yourself some time so that you can know what you really want. Besides, you have no choice unless you don't want your wedding fund."

Aiden Yu: ...

"By the way," Grandma added, "Don't worry about your private space. Grandma won't disturb you. I've already talked to Aunt Martha, who has been taking care of you and cooking for you. Aunt Martha patted her chest and promised me that while taking care of you, she would carefully observe your newlywed situation."

Aiden Yu found that his grandmother was determined to do this.

This is not good.

He temporarily left his grandmother's place, took the documents and hurried downstairs, intending to find a quiet place to take a closer look. As a result, when he passed by the study on the second floor, he was stopped by Henry Yu who was inside.

"Suitable for the wild."

"I have something to do."

"I have something to do, too."

Aiden Yu paused, then stopped and walked into the study, asking his father, "What's the matter?"

"The company's stock price has fallen."

"so?"

"The reason for the stock price fluctuations is a rumor that has been circulating in the business circle in the past few days. It is said that the son of Henry Yu of Hushen Group could not support his own company, so he tried to find a way to get 80 million from his family through a fake marriage. It is further expanded to the possibility that this is a double act performed by the boss of Hushen Group and his son, and the assets are transferred in various ways... You are so stupid that it surprises me."

Behind the desk, Henry Yu took off his thick-framed glasses and rubbed his nose.

"I told you on the day of your wedding that you can do whatever you want, just do it beautifully. It's only been a few days, have you and your new spouse acted out a single minute of drama? At least he got paid, and it's a paycheck anyway. Wouldn't it be much easier if you even hired a little celebrity to act with you?"

While Henry Yu was speaking, Aiden Yu was listening all the time, with no expression on his face from beginning to end.

When the other party finally finished speaking, he simply responded that the responsibility for the matter was clear and there was nothing to argue about.

"That's my problem."

"From now on, you should go out together, act out some drama in public, and take some time to visit the group and try to dispel the rumors."

"I know."

"As for your grandmother, this fund itself is a rule set by the old lady. If you can make her change her mind, go for it. But I will not refute the old lady's decision." Henry Yu said, "Of course, 80 million is not a lot. If you need it, I can approve it for you. You can bring an investment plan first..."

"Dad." Aiden Yu interrupted and told the other party clearly, "My company is not bankrupt, and I don't need you to inject capital."

Henry Yu didn't react at all when he was rejected, and said calmly: "You can get out."

Aiden Yu turned and left. When he reached the door, he heard his father's voice again from behind.

"Have you signed the prenuptial agreement? I don't think so. Why choose someone else to get married with? Why choose your first love to get married with her? You turned a simple business into the embarrassing situation it is now."

***

Although things had changed beyond Aiden Yu's expectation, he couldn't stop living because of one thing. Aiden Yu had dinner at the old house as planned, and chatted with his grandmother for a long time with a smile on his face before returning home.

When he got home, went to bed, and lay alone in the dark, Aiden Yu began to show some signs of distress.

If time wasn't too tight and other channels weren't able to gather funds in time...

Forget it, there is no point in thinking about these things now. The ancestors paid the money, and he must bow to his grandmother, which means... he has to bow to Logan Wen.

There is a skill to lowering your head; just going straight up definitely won't work.

While Aiden Yu made an appointment with Logan Wen, he also found some time to find his teacher Tony before the meeting and made a decadent look with messy hair and red eyes. If he was not afraid of being too exaggerated and making things worse, Aiden Yu would even want to do a full performance and make his eyes tired and bloodshot by doing a handstand...

Anyway, the look of "obviously about to cry but pretending to be strong" was completed.

Aiden Yu went to the agreed location with this look.

***

The two met in a quiet coffee shop.

With a soft ding-dong sound, the automatic glass doors of the coffee shop slid open to both sides, and the landscape fountain at the entrance was gurgling with water, covered with a layer of marshmallow-like mist.

Logan Wen took two steps into the store. It was still early, and the seats in the coffee shop were empty. There were not many people, and Aiden Yu was not there either. He chose a seat by the window and sat down, and began to work on his phone, while waiting for the other person to arrive.

After a while, footsteps were heard, and a tray with a cup of coffee was pushed to Logan Wen.

Logan Wen didn't even raise his head: "You sent the wrong one, I didn't order it."

But the other party replied: "This is the coffee designed by our specially invited barista for his distinguished guest. It represents his feelings for the guest. Only this guest can taste it."

Logan Wen was startled when he heard this, and his eyes unconsciously moved to the table. He saw a layer of fluffy and light milk foam on the surface of the coffee, and in the center of the milk foam, there was a latte art of a smiling sun face. This smiling face was quite cute. If it weren't for the uneven length and thickness of the lines around the circle representing the sun halo, as if it had encountered a soul hairdresser, this latte art could be said to be very perfect.

"Is this the standard of the specially invited coffee master in this shop?" Logan Wen raised his eyes with a smile, but restrained himself when he saw Aiden Yu's face clearly, "What's wrong with your eyes?"

"Something unexpected happened. I invited you here today to ask you a favor."

The more deliberate, the more you have to act as if nothing happened. Aiden Yu knows the essence of keeping people on edge, so he just mentions it in one sentence and then gets to the point.

He sat opposite Logan Wen, clasped his hands on the table, leaned against the edge of the table, and looked sincere and genuine:

"Please don't divorce me."

The eyes on the other side were like two intoxicating springs, which made people feel tipsy at a glance and couldn't help but believe everything the other person said. Logan Wen turned away unnaturally: "What do you mean?"

Aiden Yu cleared his throat and briefly recounted the previous events, emphasizing his grandmother's time requirement to Logan Wen: "...So, we have to maintain this marriage for a year."

Logan Wen recovered. He lowered his eyes and remained silent for a while, then teased: "A year is too long, isn't it? Can someone like you still have a year of vacancy?"

Aiden Yu recalled for a moment: "There really wasn't a year off."

Logan Wen: "That's it. What if you fall in love with someone else and want to get married, and I still maintain my engagement with you? What should I do then? Should I ask you to commit bigamy?"

Aiden Yu felt that these words were quite profound. They were obviously referring to him, but in fact they were pointing at him.

As for what else could this fake marriage have, Aiden Yu judged Logan Wen by himself and thought that he just didn't want to be a monk for a whole year. This was also a very legitimate request. Why should a 27-year-old man with full blood and vigor be a monk? Men have needs.

He figured it out, and said, "Don't worry, marriage is not as important as 80 million. Money has blinded my mind, at least in this year, I will not be moved by anyone. Of course---" He followed Logan Wen's deep meaning and added, "This is just my side. As for you, if you have a crush on someone in this year, don't worry, I will definitely help you two get married, and when our cooperation is over, I will give you a wedding gift."

Logan Wen laughed and said, "You think very far ahead."

Aiden Yu was deeply touched: "I was too busy before and not well prepared. I should have been more thorough... I thought this was a simple win-win cooperation, but I didn't expect it to develop to this point. I am sorry for the trouble it has caused you."

The second half of this sentence is Aiden Yu's solemn apology to Logan Wen.

Logan Wen looked at him and said, "You said you were sorry, but why do I feel like your eyes are expecting me to agree?"

Aiden Yu blinked and said confidently: "Yes, I am!"

"Do you think I'll agree?"

"Perhaps."

"Why?"

Aiden Yu thought: "By money?"

Logan Wen was not very interested: "I said, it's not about money."

"No, no." Aiden Yu shook his finger, "What's wrong with money? Look, I even gave up my wedding for money."

"I also have half a stake in your wedding." Logan Wen reminded.

"Then we have reached a consensus." Aiden Yu said with a smile, "The matter is still the same, but the time and difficulty of the project have been increased a little. However, the more you put in, the more rewards you will get. I promise to give you a high return. Do you want to consider it?"

"Based on my understanding of you..." Logan Wen said, "If this is all, you wouldn't say so much. There must be other changes, so explain them all at once."

There was no way to get away with this. Aiden Yu did not hide it and briefly told her grandmother's request for extra observation and Henry Yu's instructions.

Logan Wen had a blank expression on his face and didn't move.

Aiden Yu observed the other party's expression and thought that he might be so shocked that he lost the ability to express himself. He quickly assured Logan Wen: "Don't worry, this is all a show. I swear to God that I will never take advantage of you, not even a little finger!"

Logan Wen's expression turned cold.

Aiden Yu noticed it again. Although he didn't understand what went wrong, this conversation was clearly going in a bad direction. He wanted to save the situation, but then he thought about his grandmother's ridiculous contract that he couldn't accept...

Aiden Yu sighed and decided not to force Logan Wen: "I can understand if you don't agree. Let's go get a divorce certificate. It should still be in time for us to go there now."

Logan Wen sat still: "I thought you would beg me for a while longer."

When Aiden Yu asked for help, he was sincere, and when he gave up, he was also decisive: "There is nothing to ask for. You should suffer a little loss in this matter. It's good to end it this way."

Logan Wen clasped his hands together, his gaze a little vague. Although it was clearly directed at Aiden Yu, it seemed that he was not only looking at this person, but also at something farther away.

When Aiden Yu begged him, his heart wavered out of habit.

But time has blurred everything. The little peacock that always walked with its head held high in my memory, proudly showing off its feathers, is gone and has grown up. He now has a more handsome figure and more beautiful feathers.

The adult peacock will no longer coax him, flirt with him, or urge him to change his mind.

He didn't want to change his mind anymore.

Logan Wen: "Is it really that troublesome?"

"Life is full of troubles. If there is no one thing, there will always be another. You don't have to worry about me." Aiden Yu responded philosophically, and casually said something cool, "At worst, after I divorce you, I will find someone like you to get married quickly, let him change his name to Logan Wen, and then complete the one-year agreement with him. This time, I will make everything clear at the beginning."

Logan Wen was shocked: "...Aiden Yu."

Aiden Yu: "Hmm?"

Logan Wen: "You are really good."

Aiden Yu said modestly: "I am honored to receive your compliment."

Logan Wen stood up, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Before the divorce, take me to see your grandmother. I want to talk to her."