Contract Marriage

Chapter 22

T/n: the italicized you's are the polite form of the word.
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"If you go to A'Qing's bookcase, to second drawer on the leftmost side, you'll find a small box there; and inside it, is the answer to what you want to know."

Han Yang stood before the bookcase, the words Xu Luozhao spoke earlier replaying in his mind. That bookshelf of Helian Qing's was rather high, so he used a step ladder to climb up; going for the second drawer on the far left, to the box Xu Luozhao had spoke of.

It was an antique looking wooden box, covered in many intricate designs which were exquisite and beautiful.

Taking the case into his hands made Han Yang feel quite nervous, to the extent where his hands actually began to tremble as the constant feeling of it being like he was peeking at some mysterious object over took him.

He did not try to open the box at first, he only stared at the thing intently, while the two opposing thoughts: "Open" and "Don't open", bounced against one another, as if they were the multiple choice answers on a sheet of paper laid out before him.

His mind warned him doing something like this was wrong, and that spying on Helian Qing's private things without his consent was very bad.

But, his heart told him this thing should be something regarding him, otherwise Xu Luozhao would have been unlikely to tell him about it to begin with.

Besides, he wanted to know the answer to those things Xu Luozhao had said, and ultimately, why Helian Qing wanted to make such a contract with him.

Without a doubt, his emotions prevailed over his rationality in the end. So with the intake of a deep breath, Han Yang slowly opened the box. The box's latch made a soft "click" echo within his hand when it unlocked, and in that split second, Han Yang heard the sound of his own heart pounding.

Surprisingly, there was nothing particularly special inside the box. So far, just an old piece of newspaper—looking a bit yellowed—resting atop its other contents.

Upon seeing the newspaper, Han Yang was a little stunned; not understanding what Xu Luozhao's intent could have been in making him see it. He then took out the newspaper and read the date on its cover: July 25th, 20xx.

——This newspaper was from five years ago.

Why would Helian Qing treasure and preserve an old newspaper like this? Han Yang did not understand.

Now putting back the box, Han Yang opened the newspaper and read the capitalised front page headline of the leading news story——Helian Group's Next Heir, Helian Qing, Receives Secret Invite to Attend the XXth Youth Standalone Webgame Competition: So could this mean the Helian Group is possibly stepping foot into the online gaming industry?!

Below this headline, one-third of all the titles were all about Helian Qing.

Han Yang, "..."Is narcissism that Qing Gége's reason for wanting to hoard popular newspaper headlines of himself and keep them in that box? Could that Qing Gége actually turn out to be more of a narcissist than a tsundere?

Knowing fully well such a thing was out of the question, Han Yang still could not help but laugh after he thought about it, as he took a careful look at the Helian Qing from back then. Comparatively speaking, there was not that much difference between the Helian Qing in that picture to his current appearance. His features were still quite handsome, and his expression was still rather indifferent; but now it seemed like those features, along with his temperament, became even more refined, more mature—more...composed. That photo, suddenly made Han Yang become more curious as to what Helian Qing was like those years back, especially whether or not he was such a sharp-tongued tsundere as he was now.

Yep, he must've still been like that. He was probably born that way, Han Yang thought, before he returned his gaze to the newspaper's contents.

The article from five years earlier was about a webgame competition where Helian Qing, who was invited as a mysterious guest, received a great deal of attention from the media. It also had quite a number of people guessing whether his acceptance of the invitation to a competition like that had something to do with the next direction his company would advance in.