Chapter 1068: Chapter 293: Ten Thousand Words (Part 5)
"Huang Ying, I’m over here." Li Yan walked over quickly.
In that moment, he already saw Huang Ying’s embarrassment and helplessness. His heart ached, and he hurriedly wrapped his arm around her shoulders, giving her some psychological comfort.
"You’re here..." Seeing him coming over, the already awkward Huang Ying showed a shy smile. Standing beside him, with his arm around her, that floating, rootless helplessness from just now instantly felt like it had found something to lean on. Never mind that this was a five-star hotel—even if it were some high official’s grand mansion, she wouldn’t be scared anymore.
"I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have made you wait outside by yourself..." Li Yan rubbed her back and said apologetically, "I know you never come to this kind of place. Actually, I didn’t especially want to bring you to a hotel. It’s because I have work tonight—I have to receive a guest who just flew over from Beihai Country. These rooms were booked for them, and I just picked them up from the airport."
Huang Ying froze, and for some reason she secretly let out a breath of relief, but she was also a bit disappointed. "You... have work? Then I..."
She was mortified again, because her hints tonight had already been very obvious.
Li Yan smiled slightly. "Even if I have work, even if it’s an important guest, it’s not easy for you to ask me out. I can’t turn you down, can’t brush you off, and I definitely can’t stand you up."
"But... that’s not good, is it? You’d better go see your client, don’t worry about me. I’ll go back first. We can be together anytime, we can eat whenever. It’s okay!" Huang Ying started feeling guilty and just wanted to leave.
But Li Yan tightened his grip on her somewhat thin shoulders and said softly, "No need to go. I’ll take you to meet them, and we’ll all have dinner together tonight!"
"But..." Huang Ying lowered her head. "I... I’ve never seen the world. Eating with foreign guests, I’m afraid I’ll embarrass you..."
"Don’t worry, they’re not really any kind of serious ’client.’ This client is the daughter of Paradise Group’s partner boss in Beihai Country. She’s a friend of mine. She’s actually just here to have fun, not to talk business at all. It’s just because of her status that the company told me to treat her well. She came with a friend. They’re both girls younger than you. You really don’t need to feel any pressure." Li Yan told her honestly.
"Really?" Hearing that they were more like friends than clients, Huang Ying finally relaxed a little. She also secretly tried to pump herself up: Huang Ying, oh Huang Ying! You can’t always be like this. Even if you’re standing in the background, you can’t be so useless you can’t even step out...
"Mm, really. But..."
Li Yan kept talking to her out here; this place was slightly better than the lobby. If they went inside, she’d be even more ill at ease, so he might as well finish talking here before going in.
"What?"
"But there was a little surprise. At the airport, I ran into my... another girlfriend." Li Yan felt a bit awkward. Saying this to Huang Ying was really...
Huang Ying froze, and her heart suddenly sank. "It’s... her? Then I’d better go! Or... do you want me to meet her?"
The little bit of courage she’d just worked up was instantly washed away. She felt she was a third party, and now that Li Yan’s official wife was here, how could she have the nerve to meet her? If they met later and the other woman came over to curse or beat the homewrecker, she felt she’d have no face left to even hide!
Li Yan shook his head. "No. Uh, I’m not a good person. I’m a philandering jerk. The one I just mentioned isn’t my wife. Like you, she’s another girlfriend of mine... I’m sorry." By the end, he gave a bitter smile himself.
Huang Ying stared wide-eyed at him, looking a little stunned.
This guy... really hid it deep enough!
Back when they were in the sales department, she’d thought he was a pretty pitiful, honest man. Everyone looked down on him, and the director picked on him and whatnot, so whatever she could help him with, she tried her best to do, leaving this back-office clerk with almost nothing to handle. But she’d never imagined that not only was he married, he even had a girlfriend, and now he was involved with her too!
You really can’t judge a person by their looks, just like you can’t measure the ocean with a bucket!
After being speechless for a while, Huang Ying suddenly felt more open about it. What had he said? "Not my wife, like you, another girlfriend of mine." Could it be that her situation and that girl’s were the same—that he was initially with her because he was helping her? If that was the case, then he was still a good person; you could only call it a fated mess!
"Heh... do you feel like I’m just a total scumbag?" Li Yan laughed at himself. Huang Ying was a daughter from a proper, respectable family, raised with conservative values. Being able to accept the fact that he had a wife was already a kind of helplessness, from initial gratitude to later acceptance. How could she accept that he also had another girlfriend?
But Huang Ying shook her head hard.
"No! I’m just... just surprised. I used to think you... were really honest, like Sun Hui—mouth full of sweet talk but the type who can’t actually get a girl. I didn’t expect you... haha, to be this impressive!"
Seeing the awkward Huang Ying from a moment ago actually start laughing lightly, Li Yan was instead a bit surprised.
In fact, Huang Ying really did feel much more relaxed now!
Even she herself hadn’t expected or realized this. Because of everything that happened before, she’d already decided to stay with Li Yan, but she also knew that not only did he have another girlfriend, he was already married, which made her a third party. That real pressure had always been on her shoulders. Especially after her mother came back, with this issue that could be brought up and exposed at any time, it put her under enormous strain.
