Chapter 62 – Are You Willing to Move In?

At the moment the trial concluded, Yan Ankuo felt like a drowning man finally gasping for fresh air. He tightened his coat around him and lifted his head to inhale deeply.

Liang Jingliang passed by his side, unable to hide his smug satisfaction. “You’re quite impressive; no wonder Director Zhou strongly recommended you.”

Yan Ankuo remained aloof. “If there’s nothing else, President Liang, all you need to do now is wait for the outcome.”

“Alright. How about I treat you to dinner tonight? You’ve worked hard these days; I’ll have Wang Xi make a reservation.” Liang Jingliang made a gesture to call someone.

“I have something else to attend to this afternoon, so I won’t join you,” Yan Ankuo politely declined and then bluntly added, “This time, catching the flaw in the evidence was merely a stroke of luck. They’ll definitely appeal again, so watch your step.”

His implication was clear: don’t do anything that violates conscience again, or there won’t be a next time.

Liang Jingliang shrugged nonchalantly.

Soon after, Gu Huixin emerged with tear-stained cheeks. Seeing Liang Jingliang and Yan Ankuo, her eyes flashed with malice. She pointed at them, her fingers trembling with rage.

“Ms. Gu, let me escort you home,” the assistant, worried about her health, hurriedly tried to calm her down.

Gu Huixin moved like a walking corpse, dragged downstairs by her assistant. Halfway down, she suddenly stopped and turned to shout at Liang Jingliang and Yan Ankuo, “You…you’ll get what you deserve.”

Liang Jingliang responded with a taunting gesture, leaving with the air of a victor.

The sky in Nanjing remained overcast, drizzling with light rain.

Yan Ankuo held up his black umbrella, watching the direction Gu Huixin left in, letting out a long sigh.

The lawyer representing the appellant appeared behind him at some point, patting him. “Dude, no offense, but you were really aggressive today. I couldn’t even stop you.”

Shanghai wasn’t that big, and there were even fewer lawyers specializing in matrimonial cases. They mostly knew each other from their rounds. Yan Ankuo recognized the man before him, a rising star who graduated from Fudan University.

After court, they were all colleagues. A few pleasantries were common. Yan Ankuo put aside his courtroom edge and chatted with him as if they were friends. “You know how those surveillance videos came about better than I do. And you understand the concept of procedural justice better than I do.”

— There are no independent standards for the legitimacy of outcomes, but there are independent standards for the legitimacy and rationality of the process leading to the outcomes.[1] This was a mandatory lesson in school.

They had honed their skills through practical experiences, gaining different insights into these four words, forming different value systems, and eventually achieving a temporary consensus due to judgments or other forms.

The lawyer took off his glasses and wiped them on the corner of his shirt, nodding. “Of course I do. If I were in your seat today, I would have made the same choice.”

Yan Ankuo smiled and shook his head. These matters didn’t concern him. He stood here merely to clear his mind, not to seek validation from others.

“But this case has received a lot of public attention. You also know the background of Gu Huixin’s family, plus it was an open hearing. All I can say is…take care of yourself.”

The lawyer put his glasses back on and nodded solemnly at him, as if bidding farewell to a long-lost comrade.

The first thing Yan Ankuo did upon leaving the courthouse was to call Bian Ji.

“I’m done here. I’m returning to Shanghai tomorrow and have a small gift for you.” Yan Ankuo got straight to the point, his tone filled with barely contained eagerness. “Where are you? I’ll come find you tomorrow.”

Bian Ji didn’t respond as readily as Yan Ankuo had expected, hesitatingly saying he had other plans.

Yan Ankuo found it strange that Bian Ji’s recent flight schedule didn’t match the original plan. Tomorrow was supposed to be his day off.

“No, no, it’s not work-related,” Bian Ji explained. “It’s a personal matter. I thought you wouldn’t be back until later, so I already made plans with someone else.”

Yan Ankuo understood and told him to go ahead with his plans, but still couldn’t help but protest softly, “But we haven’t seen each other for a long time…”

Even before they had confirmed their relationship, Yan Ankuo anticipated a day like this. He just hadn’t expected the conflict to arise so soon. He didn’t know how other couples handled their lack of time together, but Yan Ankuo’s solution was straightforward: create opportunities when none existed.

“How about this, are you free now? I’ll change my travel plans and return to Shanghai tonight. I can be there in two hours at the earliest, and we can grab a quick meal together.” Yan Ankuo decisively changed his train schedule.

His original plan was to deal with some follow-up tasks with his team, but now he would have to hold an online meeting on the train.

Bian Ji missed him too, though he thought it was a bit troublesome, he still agreed. He booked a restaurant near Hongqiao Station and said, “Location confirmed, good. Coincidentally, I have something to tell you.” This month, they had been so busy that they could only video chat twice a week, which could suffocate anyone.

They had faced more stressful times, working late into the night, but this was the first time Yan Ankuo felt such an urgent need to see, embrace, and kiss his lover.

If…they could maximize their already scarce shared free time.

If they could wake up seeing each other every day.

If he could let him sleep with his head on his arm.

Yan Ankuo’s heart raced as he thought about it. He felt like teleporting to Shanghai right now and squeezing the person tightly into his arms.

Having not seen each other for so long, Yan Ankuo wanted to bring back a gift from Nanjing. On his way back, he chose a local silverware shop, picked out a piece of silver, and took out a piece of paper on which he sketched the design he wanted, asking the craftsman to make a ring on the spot.

“Ah, buying a gift for your partner?” the old master asked with a smile while engraving inside the ring.

Yan Ankuo nodded. “Yes, please make it as exquisite as possible.”

“Of course, ask around in Nanjing, I may not be the best, but I’m certainly in the top five,” the old master polished skillfully, referring to the drawing. “I see you drew an airplane here? And this line on the right is contrail?”

Yan Ankuo smiled. “Yes.”

“Is your partner a flight attendant?” the old master asked, putting on a magnifying glass for the finer details. “Young people these days are romantic.”

Yan Ankuo didn’t reply, raising his wrist to check the time, realizing it was still early, he asked, “Master, can I carve a letter inside later?”

“No problem, as long as it doesn’t have too many strokes, it can be carved. After all, it’s inside the ring, it won’t affect its appearance. Whether it’s well-carved or not, it’s the thought that counts.” The old master graciously gave him the space, beginning an impromptu on-site teaching session. “Just align this with the ring, pay attention to the force, steady your hand, it’s not difficult.”

Yan Ankuo was an exceptionally smart student. Not only was he good at skating and law, but he also had a knack for carving.

In the end, Yan Ankuo left with a ring engraved with their surnames’ letters, albeit crooked but clearly visible, and got into the car.

The internet speed on the high-speed train was poor, making it impossible to perform any work requiring network transmission. Yan Ankuo was forced to have two hours of downtime.

He closed his eyes and pondered how to make their already scarce dating time more efficient. Due to the nature of his and Bian Ji’s jobs, their meetings were always rushed, making alone time even more precious.

After exhausting dozens of solutions, Yan Ankuo reached a conclusion: there was a way for them to meet face-to-face every moment of their free time.

Yan Ankuo adhered to a sense of ritual. Even though he had run wildly, disregarding his image, almost losing a shoe, he still remembered to order a large bouquet of roses, to be delivered to the shelf.

The handsome security guard at the restaurant watched over the items on the shelf, handed the flowers to Yan Ankuo, and tactfully wished him, “Have a nice date.”

How could it not be nice? Yan Ankuo thought, walking in the bustling downtown area, on his way to a date with his beloved lover whom he hadn’t seen for three weeks. He could briefly forgive the world’s ugliness.

When Yan Ankuo arrived at the agreed location with the bouquet in hand, it was already past the restaurant’s last dining hour. However, he felt fortunate that his boyfriend, Mr. Bian, possessed excellent eloquence and likability, so the owner made an exception, extending the closing time by an hour.

“Tired?” Bian Ji specially came downstairs to meet him, asking his first words were, “Why did you have time to buy flowers?”

“Not tired when I see you,” Yan Ankuo handed him the roses. “Flowers for you.”

Bian Ji propped his chin with one hand. “That sounds like something from a decade-old idol drama.”

Yan Ankuo was displeased. “I meant it sincerely.”

Bian Ji chuckled softly, taking the bouquet with one hand and stroking his hair with the other. “What did you do these days? Why are your eye circles so dark?”

Yan Ankuo sighed. “The case wore me out mentally.”

Bian Ji cared, “Is it resolved now?”

“Not yet judged, but at least I don’t have to invest too much energy anymore.” Yan Ankuo pointed to the table. “Let’s go in quickly, the store owner might start urging us.”

Both of them had been swamped recently. One was exhausted by endless investigations, interrogations, arguments, and evasions, while the other was drowned in paperwork.

Tonight was a brief respite. If they didn’t come up for air soon, both would suffocate.

Bian Ji chose to sit on the same side of the table as Yan Ankuo, secretly slipping his hand into Yan Ankuo’s under the tablecloth, resembling lovesick college students. “Missed you.”

Yan Ankuo replied tenderly, “I missed you too.”

The restaurant had a resident pianist, currently playing a classic folk song from the previous century. All the melodies, reinterpreted by the piano, seemed particularly beautiful and gentle. The music gave Yan Ankuo the illusion that the atmosphere was perfect, and the emotion of a short reunion exaggerated the possibility of misjudgment.

“And this,” Yan Ankuo, like a cliché and outdated idol drama protagonist, attempted to show Bian Ji a magic trick he had learned only last month. He pulled out a ring box from the dense cluster of roses on the table and placed it into Bian Ji’s hand, which he was holding, “A gift for you.”

A ring lay in the velvet box. It was clearly one of a pair of couple rings. The decorative pattern was an aircraft tail and its contrails, which resembled an electrocardiogram depicting a heartbeat. It looked custom-made, suggesting it was a premeditated creation.

Bian Ji’s mouth opened slightly, surprised. “Why suddenly…a ring?”

Yan Ankuo didn’t think the ring had any special meaning. He simply thought Bian Ji’s fingers were suitable for wearing it, and handmade items were genuinely novel, so he made one.

Thus, he didn’t realize that his words combined with the ring sounded formal and serious, placing immense pressure on Bian Ji.

“On my way back to Shanghai today, I kept thinking about a question. Since our schedules never seem to align during the day, and you have to fly all over the world, wouldn’t living together at least give us a chance to meet in the evenings?” Yan Ankuo looked into his eyes, his voice sincere enough to break one’s heart. “So, are you willing to move in and live with me?”

Admittedly, Yan Ankuo was an outstanding lawyer, calm, decisive, and resolute. Yet, as a magician, he was somewhat clumsy. Bian Ji could see through the trick in the flowers and his not-so-agile hands.

Bian Ji froze for half a second, then looked at him in disbelief, confirming, “What do you mean…?”

“I’ve mentioned before, my house was decorated as a wedding home. No one has ever lived with me. Please believe in my sincerity.”

Yan Ankuo assumed Bian Ji was concerned about risks and explained in detail. “Of course, before cohabitation, I will sign a property sharing agreement. I won’t skip any necessary procedures. But all of this is based on your willingness.”

Bian Ji never doubted Yan Ankuo’s sincerity, nor did he consider any economic risks. But when he heard the keyword “cohabitation,” his mind went blank, making it hard to comprehend the rest of the words. He could only stare blankly at Yan Ankuo’s lips moving.

Very attractive lips, but today’s proposal made it hard to focus on them.

Live together…?

Images flashed before Bian Ji’s eyes once again — the shattered vase, intertwined bodies, the heavy slap…

He suddenly turned pale, withdrew his hand, stood up, dragging the chair with a grating sound. “Sorry, I’m not ready yet.”