"Just because you’ve gotten used to it! You let them bully you continuously without a temper, and let her behave this way toward others, which is a form of indulgence! It makes people like Tao Lin more arrogant; she might suffer a big loss later on, and it will cause other helpless classmates to be treated this way."

"Uh..." Huang Ying never thought about this issue. She used to think that retreating and being tolerant would lead to peace. Is this really indulgence?

"This issue needs to be changed as much as possible; you must pay attention. How can people trust the company if you’re a security company person being bullied like this?"

Seeing Li Yan teaching her from all aspects to prevent her from suffering losses, even though her character is not easy to change, she obediently agreed to avoid worrying him.

As they walked and chatted, Huang Ying talked about her school days, including Tao Lin, who was a classmate but with whom she had a mediocre relationship.

Hearing what she said, Li Yan felt relieved but still reminded her not to associate too much with Tao Lin to avoid getting influenced by her.

Huang Ying didn’t realize he meant avoiding Tao Lin’s openness in pleasing men and thought he disliked Tao Lin’s personality today. She didn’t like it either and seriously agreed.

...

After being first shocked by two clothes priced at over ten thousand yuan each, Huang Ying didn’t resist much when Li Yan later bought her some pants and shoes priced at a few hundred yuan during shopping. If he had bought these first, she might have found them too expensive.

Li Yan originally just wanted to get Huang Ying some clothing, but after the incident with Tao Lin, he realized Huang Ying never had many clothes, and many she could wear were worn for years. This reminded him of Huang Ying’s younger brother; though a mother might favor the youngest child, as the sister, Huang Ying always cared about him. Li Yan had met her brother several times; he’s a sensible boy, so he likely doesn’t have much clothing either.

Since he already met her brother as Huang Ying’s boyfriend and saw the furniture replaced at her house, Li Yan expressed that he’d buy some clothes and shoes for her brother as her brother-in-law. Huang Ying felt both reluctant and grateful, as she values her family greatly. Her past decisions were for her family, so Li Yan remembering her brother and buying clothes for him moved and comforted her even more than buying clothes for herself! 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Since they’re going on a trip tomorrow, Huang Ying knows this too. Knowing Li Yan is married and has a wife to accompany, although she doesn’t know who it is or suspect it’s someone from Paradise Group, she knows to spare him time and didn’t ask him to stay longer. After he sends her home, she lets him return. Today has been a day of highs and lows for her, ending in great happiness.

Shortly after Li Yan left, he received a call from Nian Yufei!

This girl made him feel both amused and helpless. Before Christmas, she already called saying she wanted to treat him to a meal to show gratitude. At that time, Li Yan had numerous appointments and directly refused her. Nian Yufei then said, ’Can I make a phone reservation and line up now, so that it’ll be my turn next year?’

Li Yan jokingly bragged about having many people lining up to meet him, stretching to the street corner, and she played along with the joke, so he casually said, ’You definitely can next year.’ By ’next year,’ he meant ’a year from now,’ thinking that after a year, she’d grow up more, meet more people, and maybe become more genuine in attitude, allowing casual contact as friends without avoidance.

Unexpectedly, this quiet, innocent girl had a bit of cunning, first using phrases like ’You are an important person, can’t go back on your words, can’t deceive me as a child,’ ’You said you’d always protect me, but later left without a word,’ and so on, leaving Li Yan unable to backtrack. Thinking of the nearly ten-year-old Nian Yufei from seven years ago, he earnestly promised to keep his word and dine with her next year.

In the end, Nian Yufei pointed out her ’next year’ actually meant ’the week after’! After the Western calendar’s New Year following New Year’s Day, not practically a year later.

Due to numerous events following Christmas, Li Yan went through an extremely busy few days, forgetting about her completely. During these recent New Year’s holidays, she didn’t call, seemingly forgotten as well. Seeing her call now suddenly reminded him of that agreement, and currently... it’s evidently the ’next year’ at that time!

...

"Brother Li Yan..."

Nian Yufei’s voice remains crisp and pleasant, and the way of addressing is still intimate. Before knowing his name, she always called him ’big brother’ based on childhood memories; after learning he was named Li Yan, fearing ’big brother’ sounded contrived, she changed to ’Brother Li Yan.’

"Nian Yufei, Happy New Year! You’ve grown another year older!" Li Yan decided not to back out; since it’s like this, why not settle it tonight!

"Yes." Nian Yufei laughed and said, "Brother Li Yan, do you remember the promise you made last time? Fei’Er knew you were busy during the New Year’s holidays and didn’t want to interrupt your dates with your girlfriend... Now it’s the 3rd, do you have time?"

A girl invites me for a meal, yet needs to check my mood and wait for my schedule!

Li Yan found it amusing himself; he didn’t want Nian Yufei to be disappointed, immediately replying: "Tonight I have time; starting tomorrow, there will be new plans. What about you? Where are you?"

Due to previous refusals, Nian Yufei didn’t have high hopes for actually getting a meeting today, but unexpectedly, after hinting a bit, he agreed. Delightedly surprised, she said, "I’m here! I’m in S City, and I’m free. Where... do you want to eat?"

Listening to her hastened words, Li Yan smiled, "Guest follows host; you choose the place."

"Oh, alright, then... then..."

Hearing Nian Yufei stammering, Li Yan felt odd: "Not prepared, huh?" Didn’t she remember all along? How could she not prepare?

"No, no, it’s just... you know, there are people following me, I have to discuss with them and get consent about a safe place..." Nian Yufei felt embarrassed, originally thinking he’d continue to decline, so this was merely probing, unexpectedly, he agreed.

Li Yan recalled her frequent encounters with professional assassins and the bodyguards around her, without questioning further. "Alright, discuss, confirm the place then call me, but hurry, evening is approaching."

"Mm!" Nian Yufei wished she had known he’d agree so readily, preparing in advance, and called earlier.

Li Yan continued driving, waiting for her callback.

Several minutes later, Nian Yufei called him again.

"Brother Li Yan, they said recently it’s unsafe... going to a public restaurant is harder for defense. Could you come to me instead?" Nian Yufei sounded apologetic, quickly adding, "The level of chefs here is high, all kinds of ingredients are ready, I can have someone purchase more now, surely there will be something you like."

Li Yan chuckled, she is still a child after all; with this in mind, how much could one really eat? "No problem, I’ll go to you! Tell me your address, I’ll head over soon."

Nian Yufei sighed with relief, quickly reported the address, seemingly unfamiliar herself, reading as if she were following a script.

After hearing it, Li Yan frowned; this address was too familiar! It is Houhai Villa District where he and Zhang Yurong live!

This Nian Yufei secretly moved nearby becoming his neighbor! Was this for proximity?

Nian Yufei has some background, possibly influential in S City, knowing his name and company. If she uses all resources, finding his residence shouldn’t be difficult.

This made Li Yan very displeased!

Seeing Li Yan silent, Nian Yufei quickly said, "Indeed it’s a bit inconvenient coming from downtown, but this is one of my secret properties; Wood Grandpa said it’s safer here. Could I trouble you... to come over?"

(Thanks to brothers for yesterday’s rewards: Yagami Light, If It Was ~ Snow, dongmin8061, Yu Xuan’s father, Stepping Snow Looking for Plum 1971, Cp Pampas) (To be continued, to find out more please visit www.qidian.com, more Chapters available, support the author, support legitimate reading!)