Before he died, my grandfather forced me to marry the richest man in the capital.

Yan Zhun had fallen far behind the woman; he couldn't even see her shadow anymore. He sat on a bench in the community, ready to rest.

I pulled my clothes tighter and rearranged my scarf until the annoying cold wind wouldn't get into my collar.

As soon as he sat down, his buttocks felt icy cold, the kind that chills you to the bone. Reflexively, he jumped up. His feet were warm, but he sat down on the stool again, gradually letting his buttocks make contact with the stool, starting with a small area and gradually increasing the area, so that it wasn't so cold.

After resting for more than ten minutes, having worn out the time and warmed up the stool, he stood up, straightened his clothes and scarf, put his hands in his pockets, and strode towards the villa.

Upon arriving at the door, Yan Zhun glanced at the time again and realized it wasn't even 6 o'clock yet. To avoid his mother forcing him to go to the company, he stood in the biting cold wind for another 10 minutes or so.

A person stood disheveled at the entrance of a villa, battling the cold wind.

The villa door wasn't opened until 6:10.

As soon as Yan Zhun stepped into the villa, he felt alive again.

These are completely different worlds; the temperature difference is just too great.

On the stairs.

The strict father, already dressed, slowly came downstairs. His wife's antics had made him unable to sleep, so he simply got up. Meanwhile, the strict mother had already gone to sleep.

Yan Zhun was shivering from the cold less than a minute after he came in; his ears and hands were ice-cold. He picked up the air conditioner remote in the living room and turned the temperature up a few degrees. The maid had turned on the living room air conditioner beforehand.

The display showed 30 degrees Celsius. Following his gaze, the father looked at the temperature reading on the air conditioner and reminded his son, "If you set this temperature, will you even be able to go outside later? It's minus outside and 30 degrees Celsius inside." With such a large temperature difference, the chances of catching a cold are very high.

Yan Zhun: "I think it's actually quite good to catch a cold now. At least I won't have to go for a morning run."

Running in this weather is really a brain-damaging experience. I suddenly remembered the short-haired girl I passed by while running this morning. This girl is probably different from others; either she's not very bright, or she's heartbroken and traumatized.

It's probably the latter. Judging from their clothes and appearance, they're probably not mentally unstable; they've likely just broken up with their boyfriend.

However, this way of venting is quite good, it's better than standing on a tall building and threatening to jump, which would require the police to come and rescue you, Yan Zhun thought to himself.

The strict father had already come downstairs and walked straight to the dining room. He pulled out a chair, sat down, and took the bowl handed to him by the maid. "Come and eat something. Turn the air conditioner to 26 degrees. I still have to go to work if you don't want to go out."

Upon hearing this, Yan Zhun did as instructed, picked up the remote control and lowered the temperature by 4 degrees. After adjusting it, he put the remote control on the table and went to the dining room to eat.

Seeing that the temperature was set, the stern father, while eating his breakfast, continued to ask, "Why did you decide to go for a run? Did your mother force you?"

Yan Zhunyi thought, "Isn't this obvious? Otherwise, would he be out of his mind, going outside to freeze so early in the morning?"

The stern father pondered for a few seconds without speaking, seemingly lost in thought. The restaurant fell silent for a moment, then he asked, "Are there many people jogging in the neighborhood?"

Yan Zhun scoffed, "Am I the only lunatic?" Then, thinking of the girl again, he added, "There's another one I don't know."

Strict father: "It's a girl."

Yan Zhun: "Probably a woman, but I'm not sure if she's transgender or a real woman."

Strict father: ".............." You're crazy. A woman is a woman, and a man is a man. What do you mean by transgender or ladyboy?

A dozen minutes later, the father and son finished their breakfast and wiped their lips with tissues in unison. Yan Zhun glanced at his father, trying to ask, "Dad, do you really not know why Mom forced me to undergo the tribulation?"

Upon hearing this, the stern father continued wiping, having roughly guessed the direction of his suspicions. He answered slowly and deliberately, "What tribulation? Your mother is doing this for your own good. Can't you speak properly? Didn't you see the news a few days ago? An eighty-year-old man swims in the winter every year, and he's healthier than you or me. Watch the news more often, instead of thinking about surgery all the time."

Yan Zhun: He's doing winter running, not winter swimming. Besides, even though you're so healthy, I've never seen you go swimming.

Seeing the defiance in his son's eyes, the strict father coughed a little guiltily to regain his composure, "Don't worry about why I don't go winter swimming. If you stay single for a few more years, your mother and I won't even be able to make it to 65, let alone 80."

Yan Zhun: "............."

After finishing breakfast, Yan Zhun went to the hospital. He was worried that his mother would start causing trouble again once she woke up, so it was better to leave as soon as possible for safety's sake.

Yan Zhun left half an hour later.

Yan Feifei's room door opened on time, and she skipped downstairs wearing a down jacket, carrying a black limited edition bag on her shoulder. It was a birthday gift from her older sister Yan Na, and it was sent from Lancheng.

When she came downstairs, the living room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, but the room was very warm, giving her the illusion that she was wearing the wrong clothes.

My mother usually sits on the sofa watching TV early in the morning, but where is she this morning? I asked the maid who was standing quietly to the side, "Auntie, where's my mother?"

My brother is probably still sleeping, and my father has probably gone to work.

The maid replied respectfully, "Madam is sleeping upstairs. Master and young master have already left; they must have gone to work."

Yan Feifei expressed surprise, "My brother got up and went to work?"

She raised her hand to look at the small red watch on her wrist. "It's not even 8 o'clock yet. My brother leaves home at 8 o'clock every day." He doesn't even get up when he's not having surgery.

What's gotten into you today? This is so unusual, are you in a relationship?

Dating?

That's unrealistic, isn't it? Absolutely unrealistic.

Just as Yan Feifei was filled with questions, the maid spoke up again, "Young Master got up at 5 a.m. and even went for a morning run outside."

Upon hearing this, Yan Feifei was stunned. It took her several seconds to react. Her first thought was that her brother had lost his mind. She looked up at the glass, which had been wiped clean by the maid. She could feel the biting cold wind outside through the glass, and the tree branches were swaying in the wind.

As she looked at the food, she suddenly shivered. She took the breakfast from another maid, mustered her courage, and went to work. It would take several more minutes for the car to start, and she would be criticized by General Manager Feng if she was late.

Stepping outside and feeling the real cold, Yan Feifei once again scolded her brother for having a problem with his brain.

Yan's Group.

Wearing a coffee-colored suit, a black turtleneck underneath, black flared trousers, and nude 8cm high heels, she stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, holding a cup of coffee and looking down at the scenery in front of the office building.

This city has more high-rise buildings than Blue City. Blue City is mostly villas and low-rise buildings, while in the capital, the taller the office building, the more it reflects one's status and position. Different places have different people, and each city has its own symbol.

Lost in thought, she tapped her fingertips, painted with a nude protective nail polish, against the cup wall without rhythm, making a soft sound that, upon closer listening, was quite pleasant.

There were three knocks on the black door, clearly made by bending the index and middle fingers. The sound was soft. The woman snapped out of her reverie, walked towards the office chair in her high heels, gently placed the cup on the table, and said with parted red lips, "Come in."

The secretary walked in with a stack of documents and reported on the morning's work: "Mr. Feng, these are the documents to be signed today. There was a high-level meeting this morning, and several college students will be interviewing sales representatives this afternoon."

As she spoke, the secretary opened another folder in her arms and placed it in front of the woman, reporting earnestly, "These individuals were selected after two rounds of screening. Does President Feng need to conduct the interviews personally?"

The woman kept her head down and didn't answer her secretary's question immediately. She reached out and flipped through the resumes the secretary had given her. There were three people in total. She looked through them all, but her face was expressionless. It was hard to tell whether she was satisfied or not. Even after following her for so long, the secretary still couldn't figure out what she was thinking.

He never showed his emotions on his face and always maintained a professional demeanor.

After a moment, the woman pushed the file aside, closed it, looked up at her secretary, and instructed, "You'll handle the interviews this afternoon. Don't mention these things to me again. Keep the good ones, and fire the bad ones, understand?"

The secretary nodded. "Understood."

The woman took a pen from the pen holder, twirled it between her fingers, flipped to the last page, and began signing. She glanced at the contract, signed two copies, and left the last one unsigned, handing it back to her secretary. "Ask who was responsible for this contract. There are three typos. Chinese characters are profound; a single character can have different meanings depending on its combination. After typing contracts for so long, don't you know where typos are least likely to occur? Do I need to teach you?"

She didn't point out those three words, but let the person who made the mistake find them themselves.

The secretary took the contract and admitted her mistake, "It was my fault; I didn't double-check it."

Before the woman could say anything more, her phone next to the mouse started vibrating. She glanced down at it, waved to her secretary (Yan Na had assigned her to meet a client today), and said in a less than friendly tone, "Get out. I don't want this to happen again."

After the secretary left and closed the door, she answered the phone, "Mr. Yan, is this a check-up?"

Yan Na made the call and laughed out loud, "How could I dare? You're my dad's favorite now, I need you to put in a good word for me."

Feng Xiaoni spun around in her chair, then stood up, her high heels clicking on the floor. "Is this an order being issued?"

Yan Na rarely calls her. Whenever they do contact each other, they mostly talk about equipment. Currently, all the equipment for Yan's Hospital is sourced from Lancheng. She needs to communicate with Yan Na about purchasing. After communicating, they would chat about topics outside of work. Over time, their personalities have become compatible, and their relationship is quite good.

Yan Na chuckled lightly, cutting to the chase. She wasn't one for beating around the bush. "Secretary Chen said you haven't had a medical check-up. Why don't you take some time to go to the hospital? We can't let Yan's Group get a reputation for not caring about the health of its employees."

Secretary Chen was the secretary Yan Na left for Feng Xiaoni, and she was very popular.

Feng Xiaoni stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window again. She liked standing in this spot. "I'm fine. I'll go for a check-up in a while. I'll go with Feifei then."

Upon hearing her sister's name, Yan Na asked, "How has that girl been lately? Has she done anything wrong?"

Feng Xiaoni's gaze was unfocused. "She's pretty much settled down. She's serious when she's working, but when she's not, she just wants to slack off. She's pretty clear about the difference between work and leisure. I actually envy her way of life."

Yan Na: "There's a feeling that she's leading you astray."

Feng Xiaoni laughed out loud, "My self-control is pretty good, so that's probably not the case."

Yan Na: "This girl has no ambition. She'll just give up if she can. Someone has to push her forward. Even if a tiger is chasing her, she still has time to look back and see how far she is."

Feng Xiaoni agreed with Yan Na's accurate assessment of her younger sister, saying, "Everyone's pursuits are different, but we girls should have our own careers." This is the confidence to step back.

For Feng Xiaoni, who doesn't come from a privileged background, she is always on the path of upward mobility, constantly striving every day. Sometimes she wants to relax and sit down to rest, but she finds that she can't.

That's why she said she was a little envious of Yan Feifei, who could rest whenever she wanted and slack off whenever she wanted.

She couldn't. She was her parents' only daughter, and if she didn't work hard, she wouldn't be able to provide for them.

After a few seconds of silence, Yan Na spoke again, "No need to invite Fei Fei. Fei Fei just had a physical exam at the beginning of the year. Someone like her, who eats several bowls of rice in one meal and can practically skip around while walking, doesn't need to have a check-up twice a year. You should go get checked out sooner rather than later."

Feng Xiaoni was afraid that if she didn't agree, President Lan would personally come down to inform her of the check-up. With just one check-up, everyone wouldn't have to take turns working. She quickly thought about her work for tomorrow and said, "I'll go tomorrow morning and come to the company after the check-up."

Seeing that she had agreed, Yan Na said no more.

Feng Xiaoni always does what she says and is true to her word. Her weakness is that she doesn't lie, so Yan Na believes she will go.