10 A proposal

Tuesday, continued ...

As Hou Yi realised the two minutes he thought he needed read the documents was not enough, he determined that he needed to slowly and carefully re-read them to determine what was in them.

Hou Yi returned to the start of the documents and slowly, deliberately and carefully read through them again. When he reached the end of the letter, he realised his initial thought that Lu Jinhu's name was not mentioned anywhere. Further, the letter asked that the officials at the Civil Administration Bureau forgive the absence of Anna's fiancé's details, and noted that the official had met the fiancé, he was a trusted businessperson, but due to commitments he could not remain with the official until the paperwork was completed.

As soon as he saw the name on the letter, Hou Yi realised that it was someone he knew well from previous dealings and knew their opinion of him. What further struck him as interesting is he had a meeting with the official on that same day.

It was then Hou Yi realised that Anna was not kidding the documents contained something and that she could be of assistance. Was she thinking about offering to marry him to thwart the Lu's and get back at Lu Jinhu for what he did? Well the only way that he would know was to simply ask the question.

"What are you thinking Anna?" asked Hou Yi softly, hoping that she was thinking about marriage to him, to derail whatever Lu Jinhu and Yang Lin had planned. He knew that Anna's motivations would be about revenge, but for him it was all about protecting the family company and staff.

Hou Yi always thought that when he got married, he would be the one to propose to his wife. However, he was realistic in their current situation the proposal needed to come from Anna, particularly due to what she had just been through. Hr though went back to the initial thought and that Anna was the woman that he fell for six months ago, as she looked so like her. He really hoped he was right, as since that brief meeting he had dreamed of making that woman his bride.

"Well…." started Anna, realising what she was about to say. "The documents are what I need to marry here, even mentioning City T as the place of marriage and today's date, but not my fiancée's name. It means that I do not have to marry Lu Jinhu. Some oversight in the paperwork, but it does give freedom."

Anna paused for a second and took a deep breath, continuing "I could marry you, instead, without a problem."

Hou Yi, while having figured out what she said before it was said, still responded in surprise "What!", as he was concerned that she might be joking. He looked into the face of this woman who had just proposed marriage to him and realised that it was a serious proposal.

Despite that, he had to as "Are you serious?" so he could be certain to her proposal.

Anna looked Hou Yi in the eye, and clearly and firmly said "Yes. Lu Jinhu has made it clear that I never meant anything to him. He clearly set out to ruin my life. While I think I can deal with that in the long term despite appearances to the contrary, he has also messed with your life, the trying to mess with the lives of your family company's employees. I cannot let him get away with that. I will do what I can to stop him."

Still somewhat in shock, Hou Yi needed to confirm Anna's proposal and asked, "You are certain?".

"Yes I am. He is not going to get away with ruining my life, and if that means to get my revenge, I have to look to someone else that he is trying to ruin I will do so."

Hou Yi looked at her carefully and realised that she still was serious. He, however, did not know what to say.

"Well what do you say, Mr Hou. I'm sorry, Yi, will you and I go and get married?"