First-Class Lawyer

Salah Wu, a clerk at the Probate Office, had been in the workforce for almost seven decades now. Yan Suizhi had left a deep impression on him right off the bat.

After all, few wrote their wills at the tender age of 27. Even if they did, most would entrust its execution to their family. Thus, those like Yan Suizhi who chose to take it to the Probate Office were far outliers. 

What was more, the amount of assets during his first visit was so substantial for a 27-year-old that it would have been hard for Salah Wu not to notice.

It had always been a rule that when a person deposited their will with the Probate Office, their accompanying family were made to wait downstairs. All intent must be communicated by the person themselves.

Salah Wu remembered very clearly that many people had made appointments on the same day. Those who came discreetly without informing their family would be accompanied by a secretary, an assistant, suchlike, or minimally a driver.

Estate planning was actually a very formal and solemn affair. People who came, for whatever reason, were generally in a ceremonial mood. 

But Yan Suizhi wasn’t.

The way Salah Wu remembered it, that day, the young man had pulled up at the open-air parking lots and went upstairs without preamble. He chatted briefly with him, smiling, then, within ten minutes, had his identity and assets verified, signed all the papers, and departed with a bye and a wave of his hand.

It felt as though the only time he stopped during this process was when waiting for the elevator. Maybe also when he reached out to gently stroke the floral display by the wall. He smiled at Salah Wu, saying, “I used to have one in my study, too. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long.”

Soon, the silver space hovercar at the open-air parking, like a passing summer breeze through the shade of the woods, disappeared from sight.

It gave Salah Wu the suspicion that the young man had simply made a pit stop when taking his car out for a spin, incidentally wrote up his will, and tucked it out of mind the next second.

It made his paternal instincts as an elder flare up. He would occasionally entertain the thought of sending the young one additional periodical emails to remind him of it now and then.

To his surprise, the young man hadn’t actually forgotten about it. He would return on an annual or biannual basis to make some minor corrections, naming a few more charitable organisations as beneficiaries.

Later on, Yan Suizhi sought Salah Wu’s expertise after taking on a few criminal cases that involved estate matters. In time, they became close acquaintances, and Salah Wu was conferred full authority to handle Yan Suizhi’s estate. 

Now, emotions welled up in Salah Wu to see Yan Suizhi, ‘resurrected’, walking into the Probate Office building again. In a sense, these emotions were one of a kind, truly.

“I doubt anyone can get how excited I am right now.” Salah Wu welcomed Yan Suizhi into the identity check room, starting up the machines. He winked. “Because after you were met with an accident, I was the one who had to execute the will. Do you know what an indescribable undertaking that was? You just have to look at my face to understand…”

He pointed to himself. Yan Suizhi looked, then patted him on the shoulder with a smile. “I can see that your facial muscles are a bit stiff. You probably strained it. A hint of holding back mournful tears, but it got squashed down by your elation. If I must put a finger to it, I think I’d be justified in calling this an aborted lament.”

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“I’m old enough to be your dad, don’t joke with me like that!” Salah Wu foamed with rage, but after he was done glowering, the thought of Yan Suizhi coming alone those years ago to deposit his will, unaccompanied by parents and family, came unbidden. He slapped his mouth, amending, “My apologies, what I mean is I’m a whole generation older than you.”

Yan Suizhi smiled. “It’s okay, there’s no need to be so sensitive.”

“Although I can tell it was 100% you the moment your mouth opened, we still have to walk through the authentication process lest my integrity be called into question.” said Salah Wu.

Item by item, the identity checks flashed by. 

Iris authentication cleared.

Fingerprint authentication cleared…

The electronic tone kept broadcasting the results, and Salah Wu’s heart started beating faster from anticipation.

When it came to the final signature authentication, Yan Suizhi actually gave a start when his pen touched the paper. 

Salah Wu asked in confusion, “What’s wrong?”

Yan Suizhi shook his head. “It’s nothing. I nearly signed it wrong.”

He had almost signed as ‘Ruan Ye’, only catching himself after a pause. It was only then that he realised he was really going to say goodbye to this name. Henceforth, he would no longer be associated with it.

Yan Suizhi swiftly signed his own name. 

The scanning light shone across it and the electronic tone sounded again.

Signature authentication cleared.

Identity checks completed. Authenticated person: Yan Suizhi. Death notice is retracted, and settlement of estate has been terminated.

Salah Wu took the detailed account statement ejected from the photon computer, glancing through it, then said a little apologetically to Yan Suizhi, “Just so you know, I’ve already distributed a portion of your estate, the portion you set aside as donations to welfare institutions, orphanages, and whatnot.” 

Yan Suizhi nodded. “I am aware.”

“You are? I haven’t even made the public notice yet.”

“I happened to talk to a director of one of the welfare institutions.”

Salah Wu, “Oh… you contacted the director but didn’t contact me? If you got in touch with me sooner, wouldn’t I have paused the proceedings for you? That way, you’d have more assets remaining. As it is, the procedure to undo it could take another three months.” 

But Yan Suizhi waved his worries off. “There’s no need to roll it back.”

Salah Wu scanned the row of figures. “It’s a lot of money. You… don’t want it?”

“It didn’t go to waste; it’s more than fine.” Then, Yan Suizhi murmured, “The remaining is enough…”

“Enough for?” Salah Wu dug his ears. “I didn’t catch the last bit. Must you speak so softly? Come over and tell me, why are you standing so far away.” 

Yan Suizhi smiled. “I’m just talking to myself. Besides, you’re not from the alliance’s civil administration, so you can’t do anything about the last few words.”

Salah Wu muttered under his breath and glowered at him. “Fine, then. All your accounts and assets will be unfrozen within three working days of the termination of the proceedings, so if there’s nothing else, I’m going to write the official announcement.”

“Can I trouble you to help me with one more thing?” Yan Suizhi said.

“What is it?” 

“Withdraw a portion from the remaining assets and set up a medical foundation.”

“As what? An inheritance division?” asked Salah Wu.

“Not as an inheritance division. It’s to be withdrawn and set up in the present.”

Salah Wu said testily, “Piss off! I only handle dead people’s stuff, I don’t care about people like you who come back to life.” 

“Strictly speaking, it does concern a deceased friend; also, who else is more familiar with the genetic establishment process than you?” The esteemed Professor Yan graciously swept his arm, gesturing ‘after you’ at the door, and said, “Let’s discuss it in the office.”

Salah Wu, “…Isn’t this my office, why are you acting more like the host than me?”

Twenty minutes later, Yan Suizhi emerged from the office.

In that time, he had registered a new medical foundation to run a special agency in the alliance, established by ‘Ruan Ye’. 

This was the last time that he was signing this name. It was time to return everything that he had borrowed from that young boy to its rightful owner.

But the real ‘Ruan Ye’ had passed away long ago; there was nowhere to direct the thanks. After some deliberation, he could pay it forward with worldly means and hope that the boy who slumbered in a flowering barrow was at peace.

When they reached the elevator, Yan Suizhi glimpsed a familiar floral display by the wall out of his peripheral vision.

He reached out to touch a blossom, saying, “The one in my study is gone, but yours is still blooming so beautifully.” 

For a split second, Salah Wu abruptly felt as though he had gone back in time, every scene reproduced as it was before. Only, Yan Suizhi now was somewhat different from the 27-year-old young man in the past…

Salah Wu was unable to pinpoint how so, exactly. It was only after Yan Suizhi had already walked out of the building that he suddenly remembered to ask, “Do you still need to do up a new will?”

It was a diplomatic way of putting it. What he meant was since the original will was being carried out, it was now voided, so was he going to write a new will?

Yan Suizhi glanced back at him, stilling briefly, before a faint smile crossed his face. “I probably won’t come to the Probate Office for this in the future. I have someone to entrust it to.” 

Edited by snoflakesun

Expect 6x/weekly updates from here on out~

Removed the weibo extras for now, will repost after the last chapter.