CH 211

Winter in Fa Wang District always tapered off in late February.

It started to pour around the twentieth; the temperature picked up, and winter gradually melted into spring. 

It was a lazy and sluggish time of the year, but everyone was wrapped up in work during those beginning few days, Gu Yan especially hard-hit.

The tears of partners and some of the lawyers wet the prison bars, and Southcross Law Firm was henceforth dissolved. The elite lawyers who were originally in its employ were left stranded, open to fierce bidding from major law firms.

The most sought-after of them was Gu Yan.

After the Elderly Bobblehead and the Manson Group case, the recognition and popularity of Gu Yan in the public eye rose exponentially, and his competency was never in doubt. Those law firms didn’t even wait for the First-Class Lawyer selection process to restart and were already at loggerheads. 

Because there was no suspense; anyone with a drop of good sense knew that it was just a matter of time before it was announced.

In those few days, it was as though Gu Yan’s smart device had epilepsy, vibrating impressively with never more than three seconds’ rest.

At the start, Gu Yan would pick up what was basically every call and, due to his manners and upbringing, listen to a few sentences before politely declining.

And every time that happened, a certain dean would be leaning off to the side, openly eavesdropping with considerable interest on his face, perhaps enjoying the show or some other reason.

Every law firm that contacted Gu Yan extended extremely generous conditions plus a bunch of other offers of wide variety on the side.

The nearer ones gifted money, cars, and shares, the further ones gifted property and branch ownership.

There was even one, an aspiring trendsetter, who inquired if he had any family issues that needed resolving.

After this call, the esteemed Dean Yan was finally certain that some people would spout all sorts of delusional talk in order to achieve their aims, and so he immediately commandeered Gu Yan’s smart device, setting an automatic reply, screening all communications. 

As he did this, Gu Yan was standing behind him, hands set on the back of the sofa and his gaze cast down, letting him deal with it however he wanted.

Every law firm was driven crazy for almost a week before they suddenly found that Nan Lu, which had always kept a low profile, had put Gu Yan’s name on their employ, and the status showed that all formalities had been completed.

It wasn’t only him. Fitz, Adams, and a number of former Southcross interns were also transferred to Nan Lu.

This was as though everyone had their chopsticks raised, ravenously staring at that coveted plate of delicacies, only for the entire table of dishes to be suddenly taken away without warning. 

Major law firms almost snapped from sheer rage.

Among them, a portion knew about and had worked with Nan Lu, so after puking blood, they left it at that.

But there was also a portion from more remote planets thousands of light-years away, where news took longer to carry, who didn’t have much knowledge of Nan Lu.

As far as they were aware, someone had injected capital to establish Nan Lu Law Firm twenty years ago. It was a young boutique firm, much smaller than Southcross used to be, though no one knew if it was intentionally kept small. 

Anyway, people only knew two notable points about this firm:

One, Yan Suizhi was affiliated with that law firm.

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Until one day a kind person, unable to keep watching on, leaked some news to the obstinate law firms: The person who had injected capital to Nan Lu back then was Yan Suizhi himself at twenty years of age.

Head-hunting that went all the way up the founder… really now?

Dumbfounded, they immediately ceased fire and waved their white flags.

By the time all these were dealt with, it was already the tail end of February. 

Yan Suizhi then took the last step, making a trip down to Spring Ivy Hospital HQ with Gu Yan to do a long overdue surgery.

“You’re finally here.” Lin Yuan said, annoyed, “I told you that it’ll be suitable to get the surgery done in February, and you chose the last day of February to do it. Why not just pick the last couple of hours before midnight to do it?”

Yan Suizhi said in jest, “I did consider it, but I eventually decided to save you the electricity bills for the lights.”

Dr Lin said drily, “Should I be thanking you?” 

A certain dean, “You’re welcome.”

Lin Yuan, “…”

Just as Dr Lin had said, the technology for this surgery now was well developed. It took no more than one hour from the time that they entered the changing room to the time that Lin Yuan took off his mask and declared it a resounding success.

The sunbeam through the window had only shifted by a slight angle. The surgery was incredibly fast. 

The effects of the auxiliary drugs were beginning to wear off.

As there was no actual cut, anaesthesia wasn’t required. This drug was merely to soothe the nerves, leaving a languidness awash through the body, as though he was just taking a daytime nap in the spring.

Gu Yan went to sign the forms, and Yan Suizhi was seated in the surgical chair, waiting for that last bit of medicinal effect to dissipate.

His gaze fell on a point by the window. His side profile was silhouetted by the sunlight, seemingly caught in his thoughts. 

“What’s wrong? Don’t look directly at light.” Lin Yuan asked, seeing him in his peripheral vision while recording the data.

Yan Suizhi snapped back to the present a moment later, turning his head over to say to Lin Yuan, “Oh, it’s nothing.”

He had simply recalled the long and arduous surgery, the same affair had actually become a trifle now. So simple it was that he took a while to wrap his mind around it, while also eliciting a tinge of… indescribable regret.

If only they could have held off the surgery back then, if they had a few more years… 

That would have been wonderful.

Lin Yuan eyed him suspiciously. Yan Suizhi said with a smile, “It’s really nothing. It just feels like time just flew by.”

“Indeed.” Lin Yuan didn’t register the words and assumed that he was marvelling at how short the surgery was. He nodded, mumbling, “It feels to me like all I did was touch the machine and tweak a few keys.”

According to Dr Lin, there would be a few days of sensitivity after the surgery. He should avoid looking at light and staying in the sun. His smell, taste, and other senses might be affected as well. Even an extra grain of salt might make him want to retch, so he should stick to a lighter diet. 

“The same goes for your hearing; you’d notice every sound. You’ve been staying at the city garden, right? While it is relatively secluded there, it is still the heart of Fa Wang District. I suggest that you stay elsewhere for now.” That was what Lin Yuan advised.

When Yan Suizhi heard this, he couldn’t resist saying, “Hearing you, it doesn’t really sound like postoperative discomfort anymore.”

“What, then?”

“More like the onset of a rabies attack.” 

“…”

Seeing Dr Lin’s complexion gradually take on a greenish tint, Gu Yan immediately whisked this unreasonable scoundrel away.

Actually, even before Lin Yuan had offered his advice, they were already in the midst of moving.

Yan Suizhi’s former residences were back under his name. In addition to the old manor he had lived in with his parents in his childhood and the apartment on Maze University’s campus, there was also a villa near Nan Lu Law Firm. 

That villa was backed by the most beautiful lake bodies in Fa Wang District. It was quiet and secluded.

They stayed here during this period, and it was also convenient for Gu Yan to commute to Nan Lu.

Listening to his doctor for once, Yan Suizhi arranged a week of leave for himself.

Lin Yuan had passed him a health advisory, which was just a form stating what timings he should wear the medical eye mask to ensure that his eyes could rest in the dark, what timings he could engage in more visually strenuous work, what time to take his medicine, the minimum hours of sleep he needed, and other such advice. 

There was also a list of foods to be avoided attached behind. Regrettably, Dr Lin was slack; the list didn’t state that it was ‘absolutely forbidden to eat’ but that he should avoid eating ‘as far as possible’…

So before the list could bid its calling, it mysteriously vanished bright and early on the very first day.

Gu Yan had a morning meeting with a client. Before he left, he planned to check the refrigerator and food cabinet against the list and dispose of the food items that Yan Suizhi should be avoiding.

What happened was that he turned the smart device inside out, yet was still unable to find even a flicker of a shadow of the list. 

Just as he was prepared to dig through the deleted folder, Yan Suizhi came down, asking him as he fastened his cuffs, “What’s the matter? You’re looking so serious in the morning; did something go wrong with the case?”

“No.” Gu Yan shook his head and said, “I can’t find the list of food to avoid that Lin Yuan sent over yesterday.”

Dean Yan’s hand on his cuffs slipped. He went “oh” and then, “How can that be? Did you search your smart device?”

“Mn.” 

“What about the rest of the folder? Was it emptied?”

Hearing this, Gu Yan paused in his movements. He turned a paralysed face to look at a certain someone.

“What are you looking at me for? Is the list growing from my face?” Dean Yan crossed the wide living room and walked to the kitchen, gently patting Gu Yan’s face. “Don’t block the refrigerator door. I want to take some fruits.”

Gu Yan folded his arms and leaned against the door, not letting him pass. “When did you secretly delete it?” 

“Secretly? What do you mean? Who did?” A certain dean was an expert at playing dumb. “Student Gu, I advise you not to malign me, I’m a vengeful man.”

“It was there before I went to bed last night, and now it has gone missing. Besides yourself, Teacher Yan, no other living person had the opportunity nor the permissions to commit the crime.”

Dean Yan said, “Then it must have been a ghost.”

“…” 

The distinguished Lawyer Gu regaled him with a deadpan look. “How would a ghost have known that I had only kept the list in that folder and emptied it out?”

Dean Yan, seeing that he had been exposed beyond saving, immediately turned heel to flee, but his wrist was caught by Gu Yan.

“Did you save the list?”

The dean looked nonplussed. “What would I save that dastardly thing for? Self-inflicted abuse?” 

Gu Yan, “…”

With a migraine, he gave the other a hard stare and then bowed his head, projecting his chat messages.

Yan Suizhi peeked at his screen. “What are you doing?”

“Texting Dr Lin, troubling him to send me another copy.” 

Sensing the impending crisis, the dean immediately pulled Gu Yan’s collar, kissing him, then smoothly stroked a finger over the smart device.

“Teacher Yan, the number in your years?” Gu Yan asked tetchily.

The dean kissed him again.

Gu Yan, “…” 

Eventually, Lawyer Gu’s firm willpower underwent molecular disintegration, and the matter of the list of foods to avoid was temporarily put to rest.