Chapter 9 (Wei Zhan accepts marriage arrangement)
Recalling all these actually makes Wei Zhan into a sad mood and thus, he lifts up his face and lets the cool wind of the sky which the sun is now slowly shying away with only a shadow of the sun can be seen high up in the sky. Wei Zhan is taking a deep breath, where he could feel his own hot air around his nose but the cool wind takes and infused into the hot air as if trying to bond with the hot air to cool the person's temperature. This is welcomed by Wei Zhan whose eyes saw the third-floor window where his grandfather is living and the light in the room is on now. Zhan just let his handsome face be at peace with his surrounding and then takes a light step with his long legs into the Mansion.
Once, Wei Zhan steps onto the steps of the entrance, the door opens immediately, and there stands a man that always gives him a genuine smile, Butler Han. Butler is an old man that serves his life here in the Wei Family. He entered the family when he was in his early twenties and became a personal assistant to his grandfather and now he is the head of the household servants and as a butler. Butler Han is someone that seen Wei Zhan grew up, thus their relationship is definitely more than just servant and young master.
"Welcome home, young master" Butler Han bows, he is always respectful to extremely and never ever overstep the line, sometime Wei Zhan wonders if this is his personality because he was trained in the London prestigious school of a butler.
"Thank you" Wei Zhan acknowledge him with a curved up lip which to the butler is already very satisfying and they knew each other with tacit understanding.
13 years ago
Butler Han is a very quiet man but he is compassionate, Wei Zhan is a testimony to this which not many have experienced. During the time when Wei Zhan's parent's accident news clashes into the home of the Wei Mansion. His grandfather was so grief-sicken that he was immobile for three days and nights, he sits in the study room and shut everyone out. No amount of words or action could get him out of his study room. There were even thoughts of maybe getting the psychiatrist or maybe some expert doctors to treat grandfather. However, only one sentence came out of the room which is brought about by Butler Han
"Master just wants his own space to grief, no one is allowed to disturb him, I will be the only one to enter the study room" Butler Han's eyes were all red but he still maintained his professionalism.
At that time, the twelve years old Wei Zhan was left alone, with no care at all from his aunty and uncle who were only focusing on pacifying the patriarch at that time
Butler Han is the only one that took notice of Wei Zhan, the twelve years old Wei Zhan was in shock, at this age, he understood that his parents are gone, which means the laughter, joy and love from his parents do not exist anymore. Wei Zhan choked with tears and snort crying his heart out in his quiet room, away from all the commotion of the Wei Mansion downstairs.
Butler Han quiet entered his room and walks like a ninjas
"Young master" the butler who to everyone has a serious look but not today. His eyes were red and his face was sorrowful.
Wei Zhan who is only twelve starts to throw his angry temper
"Go away! I want to be alone!" Wei Zhan told Butler Han with hurtful voices.
The Butler is not even angry at all but with a very gentle voice, he sat on the edge of the bed, while the young Wei Zhan had buddle himself into a meat dumpling on the bed.
"I miss them too, I have seen how your father grew up till he had you" Butler Han signs and sees to talk to the air sitting inside the young Wei Zhan room.
"However, I knew that walking alone on the lonely bridge is really hard, if I have the honor to share this painful grief together with you then at least we are not alone in the world," Bulter han told Wei Zhan.
The young Wei Zhan kept quiet, till, after some silent moments, the gentle and soft voice of Bulter Han asks
"Do you want a hug?" Butler Han at that time is already a man in his forties of average weight and height.
The twelve-year-old Wei Zhan jumped out of his meat covering and launched like a bullet into Butler Han's embrace.
That might, the old and the young cried their heart out, their lungs were emptied, their souls were crying out for understanding "why good pair of people met such devastating tragedy", their suffocating lungs were emptied out. They cried for don't know for how long but their clothes were soaked with tears, their eyes and noses were swollen but they had formed a bonding through their shared love for Wei Zhan's parents.
Butler Han executed his duty well, taking care of both the present and future patriarch during that heart-wrenching time for both of them.
That was about the last time Wei Zhan truly cried like a baby, after that Wei Zhan seems to turn cold especially when he was attacked by his uncles' and aunty's families a few years later when grandfather Wei showed his preference and exceptional love for Wei Zhan, personally training him to take over the Wei Corporation.
Present time
"He is waiting for you to come back" Butler Han told Wei Zhan with a soft but calm voice.
"Thanks" Wei Zhan answered back to Butler Han, the voice id flat but his eyes are warm and kind towards Butler Han.
"You have some hoops to jump through" Butler Han smiles lightly
Wei Zhan tilt his head inside and raise a brow
"I will just smash through them," Wei Zhan told Butler Han and both of them shares some inside jokes and laugh very gently.
Wei Zhan then straightens himself and asks
"How are you doing?" the voice is more than kind towards Butler Han
"The old bones are still strong and every day I am getting younger" Butler Han tried to straighten himself to show to his young master acknowledging his concern.
"If you ever want to.........." Wei Zhan was cut off by the butler Han who nods his head
"I know" Butler Han steps aside for Wei Zhan to walk in.
"Hm" Wei Zhan hummed and walks inelegantly into the hall.
The chandeliers are hanging high, illuminating the whole lounge that is full of expensive furniture. Potted plants are placed exquisitely where they will show off the best of themselves. The carpet was of top quality and the layout of the whole place only have one big word hanging on top of it "LUXURIOUS".
Wei Zhan walks in and wants to head towards the stairs but he was stopped by voices
"Wow!!!!! Isn't that our young patriarch" Wei Hong sneers
Wei Zhan did a pretended tilts of his head and a twist of his crisp leather shoes and gives a blank face
"Ahhh..uncle and aunty are both here" Wei Hong's wife is Wendy Hon, she is a rich second generation daughter and she eagerly married into the Wei Family thinking that she will be the patriarch's wife with admiration from all over the world, but she was halted by this young nephew in front of her, thus her eyes naturally emit invisible fiery fire when she looked at Wei Zhan.
"Well! well!, how honorable are we to have the CEO and businessman of the year to visit our humble home" Wendy sneers bitterly at Wei Zhan
Wei Hong, however, actually has feared for this young nephew, after all, he holds the highest power to Wei Corporation and so he slings his arm over his wife to try and give her a hint to not provoke the young patriarch.
The action only adds more fire to his wife
"Why! You are afraid of him?" Wendy looks at her useless husband with anger.
"He is an orphan for God's sake" Wendy Ho gaps as those angry words split out from her, there were some regrets but she is too late for it now, she speaks her mind out, she quickly put her palms over her mouth but her proud nature refused her to apologize.
Wei Zhan turns around and lets his leather shoes make the threatening sound on the polished marble as he walks with ease but at the same time with a threat towards the couple.
"Well, uncle definitely needs to be cautious, the project still needs refining and whether it is approved or not....mmmmm......this orphan is still thinking about it" Wei Zhan then gives a pretended thoughtful look.
Ho Cheng could be seen shaking with anger, his fist is clenched together tightly and the arms on his wife tighten to the extent that it is about to strangle her
"Oochhh" Wendy shouted but Wei Hong did not loosen at all.
Wei Zhan then continue his few words
"This house belongs to the patriarch's family" Wei Zhan stops and then looks at them
"As for relatives, I am still thinking about it," Wei Zhan told them with no mercy
Wei Hong feels the surge of anger overbearing and overwhelming him to the extreme and he shouted out loud
"You!!!! Y-You!!!!"
"This is my father's home"
"Least you forget!"
However, the young man already walks with quick steps and ignores them totally and completely. He looked calm but he was hurt by those cruel words.
Standing in front of the master bedroom, Zhan tries to regular his emotions before he enters to see his grandfather. The one that he felt truly supported him.
"Knock, knock' Zhan uses his slim wrist to action a knock on the door and then a harsh voice came over the door
"Zhan-er comes in" grandfather Wei Zong shouted
Zhan opens the knob of the door and he steps into the big master bedroom that is full of antique future of rosewood, the taste of his grandfather lies in the early century.
The old man with his glasses is sitting on a comfy chair looking towards the door where Wei Zahn walks in.
"Grandpa"
"How are you doing?" Wei Zhan leans in and naturally, gives his grandfather a hug.
Grandfather Wei stands up and pats his tall grandson.
"Good Good" Grandfather Wei smiles
"I heard some drama downstairs with your uncle and aunty" grandpa furrows his brow and anger could be seen in his eyes.
"This idiotic son of mine is still not awakened" grandfather Wei looks at Wei Zhan sadly.
Wei Zhan pursed his lips as he did not want to talk about his uncle after all this is the son of his grandfather.
"Grandfather has long ears" Wei Zhan tries to divert his grandfather
"I have ears in the walls in this house and everywhere else" Grandfather Wei pats his grandson and gestures him to sit down.
Wei Zhan took his seat with his long and slender legs swinging into a comfortable position.
"I know grandpa" Wei Zhan nods and curved up his lips.
Grandpa Wei then looks deeply into his grandson
"The faked idiotic boyfriend and also those pretended girlfriends of yours need to stop" Grandfather Wei looks at Wei Zhan with serious eyes.
Wei Zhan got shocked, his grandfather had never meddled into his private life and he wonder why this sudden change but Wei Zhan kept quiet because he knew his grandfather is a very calculated and meticulous person and would not do anything with measure.
Grandfather Wei took a sip of his warm tea
"Do you still remember the story grandpa told you about that great man that saved me, his is Lan Yan" Grandfather Wei told Wei Zhan
Wei Zhan nods his head and he did not want to mention but in his heart
"You told me a thousand times since I was young till now, how can anyone forget?"
Grandfather Wei nods his head slowly and then told him
"He only have a grandson left, he is young and only eighteen years old, you met him many years ago," Grandfather Wei told Wei Zhan
Wei Zhan nods his head and he was twelve at that time, he remembered a cute meatball, the boy was chubby and had very fair skin, like porcelain.
Grandfather nods and smiles
"Great that you remembered him" Grandfather Wei smiles
"Zhan-er, if not for his grandfather saving him and there will be no me and also your parents will not exist and you will not be born," Grandfather Wei told his grandson
Wei Zhan nods his head and understands that maybe his grandfather wants him to take care of that boy.
"What do you want me to do about that boy" Wei Zhan is direct and sharp, he doesn't beat around the bush or waste time.
Grandfather Wei took a deep breath and told Wei Zhan straight in his eyes
"I want you to marry him," Grandfather Wei told Wei Zhan.
Wei Zhan thought his ears had failed his functionality and so he widens his eyes and perks his ears up
"WHAT!" the young patriarch looks stunt on the ground.
"What did you say?" Wei Zhan asks again, he thought maybe his ears are playing tricks on him but he had a healthy body and all his organs are functioning well plus, the hospital they owned will have a yearly body check on all the top executives and a far as he knows, he is super healthy.
"You heard right, marry that boy, his name is Lan Boyi" Grandfather told Wei Zhan
Wei Zhan stands up and turns around in a few circles in agitation and irritation, looking at his grandfather he knew that he is serious but this is such an unreasonable request and his father has always been a fair person.
"Grandpa, we are in the twenty-first century and that boy is only eighteen years old, he is probably even a generation younger than me, how could he accept such an absurd arrangement" Wei Zhan tries to reason out with his grandfather.
Grandfather Wei seems to be very calm
"Here is his recent photo, in fact, yesterday photo" Grandfather Wei throw a picture of Lan Boyi on the table, which means that there was always someone taking picture of Lan Boyi.
"Y-You sent someone to spy on him" Wei Zhan was even more startled.
However, when Wei Zhan's eyes swipe at the photo on the table, his heart had a little jump, the boy is indeed handsome and beautiful combined but still, they are stranger and Wei Zhan is definitely not a person who likes being control especially on marriage partners.
"You never seem to like girls and this boy has a special capability which you will find out yourself, trust grandfather, this will be a good marriage for you" Grandfather talks calmly to Wei Zhan.
Wei Zhan rolls his eyes in irritation, don't get him wrong, he loves his grandfather to the bits but crowning him with a marriage to someone unknown is way above his tolerant level. However, now he needs to maintain calm to get out of it, He is a master of negotiation and so this would not be too hard for him, Wei Zhan had this thought in his mind.
Wei Zhan calmly and tried all his eloquent speaking skills to talk to his grandfather, he is not someone that talks a lot but he supposed today is a special day to break the protocol.
"Grandpa, you know I love you and will go to the moon to satisfy you but this......" Wei Zhan tries his best but he was stopped by his sharp grandfather.
"Zhan-er, I don't need you to go to the moon" grandfather Wei told Wei Zhan
Wei Zhan almost have smoke coming out of his nose and probably fire burning on his neatly combed hair
"Grandpa, you know that is not what I mean!" the young patriarch feels like drilling a hole in his grandfather's brain to try and flow in some reasonable sense into it.
Grandfather Wei's face looks as normal as possible and ignored Wei Zhan's sentence.
"I just need you to stay on earth and marry that boy," Grandfather Wei told Wei Zhan with serious eyes.
Wei Zhan for the first time in his life felt helpless looking at his stubborn grandfather, this is not who his grandfather is, he is kind, loving understanding, and full of love for him. Wei Zhan wonders
"What turns him into a stubborn old man"
While he was thinking of how to handle his stubborn grandfather, Grandfather Wei put a document on the table for Wei Zhan
"You are turning twenty-six in a few months"
"You need to marry him before you turn twenty-six in order to fully and totally inherit the Wei Corporation. I know how hard you work for the corporation, you are a natural leader in the field of business, you are even more successful than me"
Wei Zhan eyes almost pop out of his socket
"Grandpa, why are you doing this?" Wei Zhan couldn't fathom what happened to his grandfather and this is the only sentence that he could come out of his now severely lost mind.
Grandfather Wei comes and hugs his grandson
"Zhan-er takes this as grandfather begs you, alright, this boy is like you and has no family to take care of him. His foster parents are not treating him well. However, recently the brave boy has moved out and gone back to stay in his old mansion" grandfather Wei told Wei Zhan
Wei Zhan sighs and told his grandfather
"Grandpa I can take care of him, I can even make sure that he is being treated like my little brother or even my son, but why a marriage, he is so young" Wei Zhan is still trying hard to convince his grandfather.
"I know that but this is a promise that I made to his grandfather, I am old-fashioned and I believe in fulfilling my promise before I close my eyes and leave this world with no regrets," grandfather Wei told Zhan.
"Please fulfill my last wish," grandfather Wei told Wei Zhan
Wei Zhan's every pole and cell had to melt down when he heard his grandfather talking about death, how could Wei Zhan not fulfill his grandfather's last wish when he was given everything by his grandfather.
Knowing that there is no way out, Wei Zhan with his heavy heart and unwillingness nods his head and accepts the arrangements.
The grandfather and grandson finally comes to an agreement with one party not being very willing but finally, an agreement had been reached.
Grandfather laughs his heart out, full of happiness and joy, however, he then suddenly turned to his grandson with a serious tone
"Don't you dare give Boyi a large sum of money and send him away, I am watching you" Grandfather Wei looks at Wei Zhan with a smirk.
Wei Zhan curse himself now as in his mind
"Shit, he knew all my tricks"
Wei Zhan was indeed thinking of giving Boyi a sum of money for him to go overseas, as the saying is "money can make the devil moves", so he honestly wishes to send the boy overseas.
"Boyi will turn nineteen in about a month's time, so you can get the certificate after he turns nineteen" grandfather Wei is satisfied and after knowing that Wei Zhan understands him, he took another sip of tea with great comfort on his face.
Wei Zhan nods his head to his grandfather, he feels angry at his grandfather's decision but at the same time, he doesn't want to not be able to fulfill his grandfather's last wish even if this is beyond his threshold.
Wei Zhan stands up ready to take his leave
"Grandpa, take care of yourself, I will come again in a few weeks to see you," Wei Zhan told his grandfather and ready to leave.
"Zhan-er, thank you for fulfilling this old man's last wish" Grandfather Wei looks at his grandson fondly.
"Just remember that I am doing this for your good, probably I know you more than you know yourself, Boyi will be a good match for you despite the age gap," Grandfather told Wei Zhan
Wei Zhan turns his face away from grandfather Wei and rolls his eyes
"Good my ass"
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