Under Yan Zhen's threat, Yuan Ya'er didn't dare to do anything more. She obediently got out of the car and walked inside with Yan Zhen.
What she didn't expect was that Liang Zuo also followed beside her, cutting off all her possible escape routes.
Yuan Ya'er was extremely aggrieved.
But she really couldn't think of a way out.
In the past, Yan Zhen was indecisive and easy to manipulate. She could make him do what she wanted just by crying a few times and saying a few words. But now he was completely crazy and wouldn't listen to anything.
She was escorted like a criminal by Yan Zhen and Liang Zuo to the divorce registration window. Yan Zhen pressed on Yuan Ya'er's shoulder and made her sit down, then put an agreement in front of her.
"Sign it."
This divorce agreement was only two pages long, with clear and straightforward terms. It stated that due to Yuan Ya'er's violation of the law and moral corruption, the two parties were terminating their marriage. And Yan Zhen would not pay her any money or divide any property. That meant—this marriage that had only lasted for two days ended with her leaving the marriage with nothing.
At this point, Yuan Ya'er had no other choice but to sign.
Taking a deep breath, she signed the agreement and left her fingerprint.
Then, Yan Zhen handed their marriage certificate and this newly - minted divorce agreement to the staff handling the formalities.
"Excuse me, we'd like a divorce."
The staff member took a look at the marriage certificate and found that they had only been married for a few days. Naturally, he felt a bit strange. Especially when he noticed the swelling on Yuan Ya'er's cheek, he suspected there was something fishy going on.
"You've just gotten married. Why do you suddenly want a divorce?"
Yuan Ya'er put on her signature smile and was about to say something when Yan Zhen coldly said, "She tried to kill someone, and I'm a domestic abuser. Well, do you plan to try to reconcile us?"
Yuan Ya'er's smile froze on her face.
Hearing Yan Zhen's words, the staff member didn't dare to say more and speeded up the process.
The formalities that usually took twenty minutes were completed in just five minutes.
Holding the divorce certificate in his hand, Yan Zhen finally felt relieved.
It was a success. He was divorced.
But then he thought it was a bit ridiculous.
Many years ago, the thing he hated most was the green - covered certificate in his parents' drawer. But now, he had one too. And it was all his doing. He had resorted to violence and threats to achieve his goal.
However, he didn't regret his decision.
"Next, come back to the Yan family with me," he said to Yuan Ya'er beside him, who was holding the divorce certificate and sitting there silently with her head down.
...
Xu Zixi and Yan Yancheng were sitting on a bench by the road, chatting. Opposite them was a construction site covered with green nets.
Although the general layout of the transportation routes was the same, there were still some differences. For example, where her research lab should have been, a commercial - residential community was under construction. Once it was completed, there would probably be a bustling small business district here.
"This is where my research lab used to be. All the money I earned was spent on building the lab, doing research, and recruiting talents. Do you know? There was a period when I was deeply in debt. I owed my two older brothers more than a billion yuan."
Yan Yancheng asked, "Why?"
Xu Zixi said, "Because doing research is a very lonely path. Can you imagine? A team works day and night doing experiments, tests, and writing papers. It may take four or five years or even longer to successfully overcome the difficulties and develop a drug."
"But doing experiments costs money, buying materials costs money, and supporting talents costs money... And a failed clinical trial means everything has to start all over again."
"Fortunately, I've always been lucky. Almost none of our projects failed. So this difficult period only lasted for two years. By the third year, I never had to worry about money again!"
When Xu Zixi talked about these things, her words were full of nostalgia.
"In my past life, I almost regarded the research lab as my home. Except for the necessary time each month, I basically stayed in the lab. I really liked the atmosphere of a group of people getting together and working towards a common goal. When we finally succeeded, the feeling of everyone hugging and cheering was really great."
Yan Yancheng said, "What about now? Do you still want to do research?"
Xu Zixi looked into his eyes, smiled, and decided to be mysterious: "Well... Let's talk about it later. Maybe in a different world, I can have a different way of living. I still have two little ones to support."
Yan Yancheng said seriously, "No matter what you do, I'll support you."
The two left the construction site and headed to the next location.
This time, they arrived at the location of the Yan family's old mansion. However, what Xu Zixi was referring to was the open space next to the old mansion. When she mentioned it, she was full of surprise:
"My home was right here. What a coincidence, Brother Cheng. We were actually neighbors."
Yan Yancheng didn't expect it either. He couldn't help but curl his lips and held her hand, saying:
"Yes, it's really a coincidence. Maybe it's fate. Zixi, tell me something about your home."
So, Xu Zixi excitedly explained it to him. She told him about the style of the building, how many floors it had, how many rooms and windows there were on each floor, how big the swimming pool outside was, how large the courtyard was, how many trees were planted, and what kind of fruits the trees bore.
In addition, Xu Zixi also told many interesting stories from her childhood.
For example, she climbed a tree to pick fruits and fell, knocking out a loose tooth. She thought she had a terminal illness and seriously told her parents her last words when she got home;
Or she buried her "treasure" under a tree, but the family's golden retriever dug it out and chewed it to pieces, making her cry for three days;
Or on Halloween, her eldest brother confessed his love to a girl at the door, but she ruined it by dressing up as a ghost in a bedsheet.
Yan Yancheng couldn't see. He lacked the knowledge of many objects in the world, so he couldn't imagine the scene based on her description. But her tone was so magical that just by listening, he felt that her childhood was really colorful and full of fun.
Compared with his own childhood, which was dull and boring, filled only with medical treatments and endless sensory training.
He couldn't help but sigh inwardly. The Xu family must be a very lively and loving family, right?
Because of his excessive envy, Yan Yancheng didn't even notice that he had said this sigh out loud.
Xu Zixi held his hand and smiled, "Yes, it was really lively. My two older brothers are both married and have two children each. During festivals, there would be many relatives coming to visit. The relatives would bring their children, and the children loved to play in the courtyard. But they were all very naughty. They were far less cute than our two little ones."
He noticed that she said "our two little ones", and his heart melted.
"My mother also liked socializing. She often held afternoon tea parties and reading clubs at home. So, there was hardly a moment when our home was quiet," Xu Zixi said.
The Yan family was different. Old Master Yan was the youngest in the family. He had an older brother and an older sister, but they had passed away early due to old age. The side - branch relatives didn't dare to bother them because his father was not easy to deal with. His mother's relatives were in Jincheng and it was inconvenient for them to come. As for the Huang family behind his father's first wife... they had cut off all contact with the Yan family after his mother married into the family.
In their generation, the eldest brother would often come back with his wife and children when he was free, but the second brother was never to be seen all year round. And he himself had been abroad with his mother for medical treatments for a long time. Occasionally, when he returned to Fengcheng, if it wasn't a festival, the home was cold and deserted, no different from the hotels he stayed in during his medical treatments. This was why he didn't have a sense of belonging to the Yan family's old mansion as a "home".
He used to think that he didn't yearn for a "home" deeply. It was not until he met her in Haicheng that he realized that he actually liked a life full of the warmth of daily life.
The two of them pointing at the open space had already caught the attention of the Yan family.
Butler Pang informed Yan Haikun in the study. Yan Haikun didn't even have time to take off his glasses before he rushed out of the house in a hurry. But after he stepped out of the main gate, he changed his hasty look. He put his hands behind his back, straightened his back, took big steps, and showed the full dignity of the head of the family, which made Butler Pang behind him shake his head secretly.