Chapter 79: Yurong’s Fury

After Li Yan arrived home, he found that Jiang Xueyin’s car had already left, which seemed to suggest she was no longer there. This made him feel more at ease; without outsiders around, he could speak frankly.

Still, would Yurong have truly found out? And what would her response be?

He was unsure. As he emerged from the garage, he leaned against the wall, smoked a cigarette, and contemplated his relationship with Yurong and others.

Li Yan realized that over the past six months, he had accumulated many emotional debts, gained much happiness and affection, but also experienced much psychological stress and burden. The more he engaged, the more he desired long-term companionship with her and them. Yet, both the law and customary beliefs in society forbid these relationships. Thus, the deeper he got involved, the more guilt he felt.

In terms of romantic relationships, due to past habits, he was someone who acted without considering the consequences. But now, the women he was involved with had all invested emotionally; he couldn’t just leave freely after a night together with a casual farewell like before without interfering with each other. These unresolved feelings created an invisible pressure.

Whether he handled things well or not, he ultimately had to face it. As the evening approached, Li Yan discarded his cigarette butt, trying to suppress his internal pressure, and entered the house with a hint of a smile.

At this time, Aunt Liu was already starting to prepare dinner. Yurong should be upstairs; only Yue Yao was watching TV in the living room.

Seeing Yue Yao, Li Yan smiled, then glanced at the stairs.

"Back already?" Yue Yao stared at him, her gaze revealing she had been waiting for his return.

Li Yan immediately realized that Xie Xuanji, who had helped him obtain a gun, should have reported the aftermath to her, and he hadn’t returned the call. Not wanting to interfere with his whereabouts, she also hadn’t called, and had probably been worried all afternoon.

He walked over, circled around Yue Yao, then sat down calmly, and softly said, "You know already? I’m fine; things aren’t as complex and troublesome as imagined."

"Which people?" Yue Yao asked succinctly. It shouldn’t be about money, she guessed it might be someone from the Changhe Group since they were presently causing trouble with Paradise Group.

Li Yan thought briefly, then confided in her, "Rocana’s ’Rose’."

Yue Yao’s gaze flickered, and she asked in surprise, "Isn’t she already dead? You personally dealt with her!"

Li Yan nodded, "She was supposed to be dead, but..."

Just as he was about to say, ’her corpse is missing,’ he suddenly smirked bitterly. The corpse was missing was merely Sonia’s word; he hadn’t gone in to check. Who knew if it was truly the case? Perhaps it was Sonia’s fabrication to present an excuse to pull Li Yan onto a dubious scheme!

"But ’Rose’ isn’t one person; are there other ’Roses’ seeking revenge? Are they responsible for what happened to us other people too?" Yue Yao quickly guessed the situation.

"’Rose’ is reportedly a combined codename for three people; the last one was one of them, today I encountered the second, and maybe there’s another one. Their intentions aren’t simple..."

Li Yan quickly and quietly recounted to Yue Yao the events of that afternoon, focusing on Sonia’s mentioned plan. He had agreed to show no interest and not interfere, meaning, of course, he wouldn’t report it. It’s unlikely for an assassin to report robbers. But Yue Yao was different; she was on his side, and consulting with her allowed for full disclosure.

Yue Yao’s expression became more serious, "I support your decision; although dealing in antiques promises great rewards, the risks are even greater. Especially since it’s not our expertise, rash involvement might lead us to be set up as scapegoats."

Li Yan nodded, then casually asked, "Has Jiang Xueyin left?"

"Yes," Yue Yao replied, glancing at him, "You’ve been with Yu Xiaodi, right? We all know, but Jiang Xueyin doesn’t. Yurong... she’s in a bad mood, you should go see her! I need to quickly use all channels to gather intel; although they’re stirring up trouble nearby, even if we aren’t involved, we must stay informed, lest we get caught in the crossfire."

The two of them headed upstairs together, Yue Yao moving towards the guest bedroom, while Li Yan proceeded towards Zhang Yurong’s office.

...

Approaching the office door, Li Yan inexplicably felt a pressure that made him hesitate, considering whether he should change his approach to speak with her, or perhaps wait a few days until things calmed down to discuss, or maybe...

But he took a deep breath and still went straight in.

"Yurong, still busy? No surprises today, right?" Li Yan tried to maintain a smile.

Zhang Yurong was sitting at the computer with her head propped up by her hand. Upon hearing his words, she didn’t look up and didn’t reply.

Li Yan walked over, knowing she wasn’t asleep. He went behind her and reached out to her shoulder. "Too tired? Let me give you a massage..."

Only then did Zhang Yurong react. She abruptly lifted her head, turned her chair, and stared at Li Yan, saying in a low voice, "I think we should have a serious talk!"

Her cold demeanor was very different from the indifference when they first got together. Her brow was mixed with resentment, anger, agitation, depression, and even a sense of humiliation!

Li Yan sighed silently, knowing that for someone as smart as her, just hearing a little bit of news could lead her to guess a lot more. This time, perhaps she’s really hurt!

He went to sit on the sofa and nodded. "Go ahead."

Zhang Yurong looked at him. Because he had moved to the sofa, there was a bit more distance between them and she also felt a bit more at ease. The invisible pressure she placed on herself seemed to be diluted by the space. Originally, she thought Li Yan would joke, or explain or deny something, so she could take the opportunity to unleash her pent-up resentment. But his calm demeanor, as if anticipating the consequences, made her hesitant to explode.

"Did you go drinking again last night, ended up drunk, and rested until now before coming back?" she sarcastically repeated the excuse he’d given last time, deliberately glancing at the clock on the wall.

After last night’s incident made the news, Li Yan guessed she might know, especially since Yue Yao had already informed him. Even if she hadn’t, her tone now gave it away.

"I lied to you... Actually, I didn’t go drinking. Today is Xiao Di’s birthday. I went to her place early to celebrate her birthday."

Upon hearing his truthful confession, Zhang Yurong felt a bit of relief on one hand since he didn’t conceal or deny it completely. On the other hand, she felt worse since it indicated how important Xiao Di was to him; he didn’t mind bringing it up directly. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Excellent! A full-page ad in the evening paper, outdoor LCD screen ads, hacking S University’s website, hiring someone to sing, sponsoring a tennis match, hiring a stunt team to fly on wires, petal rain... Very thoughtful and generous!"

Li Yan was a bit surprised that Yurong knew about it. He could imagine she might find out, but how did she know in such detail? Was it possible some reporter added embellishments for a story fee? But then he realized since it happened at S University, even if the university’s website was hacked, wouldn’t there be rumors at the school? The website was back up today, so if she’d browsed S University’s forum, all the details would have been exposed.

Zhang Yurong became increasingly agitated as she spoke, and when she mentioned ’generous,’ she couldn’t help but let out a cold laugh, "May I ask, Mr. Li, what were the expenses last night? You must have gone to a luxury hotel, honeymoon suite afterward, right? Maybe even a candlelit dinner, flowers, and fine wine. Such a grand gesture to gain the lady’s smile! Yet, you endlessly harp about the thousands Yue Yao borrowed to save her life!"

Li Yan felt wrongly accused, thinking, I was afraid you might misunderstand! I wouldn’t care even if it was hundreds or thousands of times more spent on Yue Yao. But he could only tell himself this in his mind, unable to say it aloud.

With a ’snap,’ the pen in Yurong’s hand snapped!

She was a refined person and wouldn’t normally snap her pen for no reason. She was fighting the urge to throw something, and thus, the force transferred to the pen in her hand.

Li Yan’s splurge for Xiao Di’s birthday, when compared with the money spent for Yue Yao’s life-saving treatment, seemed stingy. Moreover, she felt such an expense couldn’t be covered by Li Yan’s savings. Not long ago, at Jiang Xueyin’s suggestion and under the guise of helping Yue Yao repay her debt, she gave him a card containing more than just the money Yue Yao spent on her hospital stay!

She, as the wife, was afraid he’d face humiliation without money among friends, or succumb to unpleasant influences, so she gave him extra funds. Yet he used this money to create romance and establish goodwill with a lover!

Anyone would feel extremely angry and frustrated, as this was utterly humiliating.

Li Yan, hearing her angry rebuke, thought she was only upset about the extravagant spending on Xiao Di’s birthday and didn’t connect it to this angle. Otherwise, he’d have felt even more unfairly accused since he only used his own money. The card that Yurong gave him was never used, neither did he know how much was on it, nor did he use his wife’s money on his lover.

Hearing the pen snap, Li Yan quickly glanced at her hand, relieved to see she wasn’t hurt, but knowing she must be extremely angry at this moment. However, he misunderstood the main issue, thinking Yurong was upset over giving Xiao Di preferential treatment. So he quickly said, "Your birthday is coming up soon, and I won’t be stingy. I’ll spend even more..."

He actually thought I was just comparing or jealous of her? Zhang Yurong looked at him disappointedly and said coldly, "No need!"

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