She was too engrossed and didn’t have time to craft a response to Bai Jie’s words. After Bai Jie finished speaking, she pulled her toward Li Yan.

At this moment, Li Yan had already heard Bai Jie’s words and was looking over, meeting Qiao Huanxuan’s gaze from a distance.

Qiao Huanxuan could sense Li Yan’s unease, but she could only smile helplessly, indicating that this meeting wasn’t by her design but was a coincidence, again linked to Bai Jie.

Li Yan also smiled slightly; by now, there was no time to explain anything. Since they were already there, not acknowledging each other would only appear more deceitful. But... perhaps Huanxuan would have to endure some grievance.

"How did you guys end up here too?"

"We’re here for the New Year countdown! Huanxuan is staying at a nearby hotel, don’t tell me you didn’t know?" Bai Jie said with a smile, sensing Qiao Huanxuan subtly pulling on her arm and glancing at the other three beauties beside them.

Originally, it was her feminine intuition that made her wonder if any of them were Li Yan’s girlfriend, and she knew Qiao Huanxuan liked Li Yan. As an old classmate, she naturally felt she should support her own. So, her gaze carried a slight challenge.

But after giving them all a once-over, Bai Jie withdrew her challenging look in self-doubt. Are these two women even human? Their looks are flawless, their figures impeccable, their charms indisputable: one is seductive and passionate, the other coldly elegant. Either one, to a man, would be a gentle assassin! Even that girl with the black-framed glasses on the side possesses a sort of commanding aura uncommon among ordinary people...

Inwardly, Bai Jie sighed, no wonder last time when she tried to seduce Li Yan, he managed to restrain himself. It’s not that she lacked appeal, nor that he doesn’t have an interest in unwritten rules, but the women around him are of such high caliber that she simply can’t compare!

"Are these your friends?" asked Wen Qianyi with a smile. The two of them approached, diverting the attention of the three, each speculating internally about Li Yan’s relationship with the two while keeping composed to avoid letting anything slip.

Li Yan tossed the bag in his hand to the ground and laughed, "Let me introduce everyone. These two are my high school classmates, this is Qiao Huanxuan, and this is Bai Jie. And these are our company president, Miss Zhang Yurong, Director Wen Qianyi, and Director Hai Fu."

His introduction was flawless, although anyone listening would find it a bit off-putting—introducing them in such a distant manner. But given the current context, isn’t distance exactly what’s needed? They couldn’t let others know about their relationships.

So everyone tacitly agreed with the introduction: two classmates versus three colleagues, with no one closer than the other.

Except Zhang Yurong!

Zhang Yurong had already heard from Yu Xiao Di that Qiao Huanxuan was not just Li Yan’s high school classmate but also his long-lost first love. Later, Li Yan had recounted the story to her vaguely. Bai Jie’s comment, ’Huanxuan is staying at a nearby hotel, don’t tell me you didn’t know?’ rang in her ears, reminding her of the day they reunited and Li Yan, attributing it to drinking too much at a class reunion, didn’t return home and spent the night elsewhere. Later he admitted he was with Qiao Huanxuan, only saying he slept on the couch in the living room.

Instinctively, she felt that there was something between them already. She just didn’t know if it was a rekindling of old flames or a brief revisit to nostalgic dreams.

Everyone exchanged polite greetings, but it wasn’t the right environment for a chat, nor were there any topics to discuss. After the small talk, they all turned their attention to the final performance on stage together.

...

The performance continued with a DJ warming up the crowd for the upcoming New Year countdown. For all of them, it was supposed to be a joyous event. But as the two groups merged, it made everyone feel uneasy. This resulted in even fewer topics to talk about, so they all pretended to be very interested in the stage performances.

Time passed second by second, with the last few minutes slipping away amidst singing. When the final moment of the countdown arrived, both on and off stage, everyone excitedly shouted with the DJ: Ten!... Nine!... Eight!...

At this moment, among the thousands of people below, young couples were embracing excitedly, and those not yet lovers held hands shyly and coyly. Everyone witnessed the arrival of the New Year together, with some even more forward-thinking people already starting to KISS and preparing for a long kiss that spanned two years!

Li Yan, along with everyone around him—except for Bai Jie—wasn’t in a cheerful mood and couldn’t fully immerse themselves in the excitement. Deep down, they all felt regret; if they were the only ones with Li Yan, maybe they’d be bold enough to at least hold hands with him and wait together?

... Seven!... Six!...

Time seemed to stretch out, and Li Yan, listening to the deafening roar, was in intense inner turmoil. Before him, the four girls were all his women, and he wanted to share a heartfelt embrace with them, yet currently couldn’t hug any of them!

... Four!... Three!...

In the last few seconds, Li Yan made a difficult decision!

A bold decision: he left-armed Zhang Yurong and right-armed Wen Qianyi! His arms expanded further, pulling Hai Fu and Qiao Huanxuan into the embrace as well! With a powerful group hug of five people, they entered the New Year’s moment together!

... Two!... One!

The countdown finished, and as they entered the new year, everyone cheered. Fireworks began to spray from the towering Wish Tower, celebrating the new year! For a moment, the sound of fireworks, music, and cheers brought Dameisha Beach to a boil.

Everyone was in uproar, but among them, a few individuals, part of the crowd, grew strangely serene in that final moment. The five of them together didn’t cheer loudly; instead, they became even more silent, almost motionless.

And this was only external stillness; inside, waves were rising!

Li Yan had done something like this before. That one time at Prince Hotel, after the gunfight, everyone hurried to escape, but the elevator was limited, crowded. At the time, Li Yan had to look after several people—Zhang Yurong and Yue Yao, Wen Qianyi, and Yu Xiao Di—so while competing to get into the elevator, he opened his arms to protect them inside. Entering the elevator meant no room to lower his arms, leading to originally spaced protection turning into being squashed tightly together, hugging Zhang Yurong and Wen Qianyi to his sides, with his left hand falling directly on Yue Yao’s shoulder and the right hand on Yu Xiao Di’s shoulder. Forming an exaggerated pose of holding four beauties with effort (see Volume 1, Chapter 171 for details).

Of course, that time was not only crowded but also in a confined space, so around Li Yan there were girls pressing against him. This time, it was just them in a group embrace, with Bai Jie on the side, untouched.

That time, he was protecting them; this time, it was to spend the New Year’s moment together with them...

When they were all indifferent to the New Year, regretting the inability to intimately cross the year with Li Yan, at the last moment, being suddenly held by him, even if there were others, it still left them all unsettled!

Separately, each of them shared various intimate moments with Li Yan; Hai Fu and Qiao Huanxuan had even already had sexual relations. However, they were unaware of each other, and it wasn’t publicized, so now with Li Yan’s sudden bold move, they were all startled. But they didn’t dare to move, speak, or resist, for fear of being discovered by others. Even without moving, it was quickly apparent; they could only watch others’ reactions.

Wen Qianyi and Zhang Yurong had been through this before, recalling the situation back then, so they knew this time Li Yan did it deliberately. Now, their feelings for Li Yan, as well as the physical closeness, were much greater than before, thus their mood was naturally different.

In Wen Qianyi’s view, Li Yan was acting out of lust, perhaps just wanting to use this opportunity for a bit of intimate contact with everyone, mainly Zhang Yurong, whom he covets but seldom has the chance with. But from Zhang Yurong’s perspective, it was far more complicated!

(Thank you for yesterday’s rewards: Yagami Light the Second, dongmin8061, Sea of Falling Leaves, Cavalry, Yu Lian, Cp Pampas) (To be continued, for more details, please log in to www.qidian.com, more Chapters available, support the author, support legal reading!)