Chapter 640: Chapter 42
Chapter Forty-Two
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This is Wen Qianyi’s friend’s shop. Her presence here wasn’t surprising; at least to her, coming here is a bit safer than other nightclubs.
Li Yan was a bit surprised though. With the current open and covert struggle between Paradise Group and Changhe Group, she is at least an acting director and should be more focused on the company’s situation, yet she is in the mood to come out for a drink?
Looking over, with Wen Qianyi were two men and one woman. They seemed a bit familiar; he must have met them once, but he couldn’t recall their names.
"Hey! Isn’t that Wen Qianyi?" Before Li Yan could say anything, Sun Hui nudged him with his elbow. This guy was of the same attribute as Li Yan, scanning the room upon entering to see if there were outstanding single beauties. So he quickly noticed Wen Qianyi.
Xu Ping was more reserved, or rather, subtle. He had not been with them every time they went out drinking while earnestly courting a girl. So, he wasn’t present the last time they encountered Wen Qianyi here. Hearing Sun Hui’s words, he looked over, "Really! The beauty director of the Sales Department, your old flame!"
"Old flame? She’s just a partner! I still have a chance, hehe..." Sun Hui joked.
"Li Yan, are you chasing her or what? Looks like someone is about to steal your girl!" Having just finished courting a girl earnestly, Xu Ping keenly noticed something was up.
"Is that so? Let’s go say hi." Sun Hui also noticed and realized Li Yan hadn’t spoken.
Li Yan hesitated a bit, "We should find a place to sit down first."
"Look at you! Good water shouldn’t go to outsiders, even if I have no chance, you can’t give up. We support you!" Sun Hui and Xu Ping pushed Li Yan towards them.
"Manager Wen, what a coincidence?" As soon as they got close, Sun Hui greeted warmly.
"Hello, everyone." Wen Qianyi waved at them with a charming smile. As they walked over, she and her friends noticed them, especially Li Yan.
Seeing that Li Yan and Wen Qianyi only smiled at each other without saying much, Sun Hui got a bit anxious for him. However, since his acquaintance with Wen Qianyi was shallow beyond their initial meeting and some personnel dealings after she became acting director, Xu Ping had even less connection.
"Hello, we’ve met, right?" At this moment, one of the men at the table greeted Li Yan.
Li Yan greeted them with a smile: "Yes, we have all met before." He guessed they probably didn’t remember his name either.
"We won’t disturb your drinks. We’re here to make up for celebrating Li Yan’s promotion to general manager. Manager Wen, would you like to join us for a drink or two?" Sun Hui, not knowing the others, just nodded at them and directly invited Wen Qianyi.
"Is that so? We can’t let him off that easily then!" Wen Qianyi, smiling, glanced at Li Yan, "Let’s open another table then."
She said this, whispered a bit with her friends at the table, and they went to sit at another table with a few others.
The whole time, another man glared at them, reminding not only Li Yan of the man who had attempted to pursue Wen Qianyi and had been tricked last time, but Sun Hui and Xu Ping also sensed the man’s anger.
So, after sitting down but before ordering drinks, Sun Hui patted his chest playfully as if fearful, "Manager Wen, you are giving us face! But one of your friends doesn’t seem very happy; won’t that affect you?"
"Haha, I was interviewed by you, calling me manager Wen, how can I handle that? As for him, ignore him, it’s nothing. By the way, you’re celebrating Li Yan? His promotion was over a month ago, right? Why just celebrate now?" Wen Qianyi asked with a friendly smile, looking around at everyone so no one would feel neglected.
Sun Hui immediately started to complain and fault him: "Speaking of which, as Li Yan’s former leader, you must reprimand him properly. We wanted to celebrate him, and this guy initially agreed. After we organized the event, he didn’t come, fearing the bill! Just let it slide, but he even promised to bring some female stars to drink with us later. We were so looking forward to it, only for him to disappear for more than a dozen days. When he finally returned, it was as if he had become the most diligent person, busy with work every day. Yesterday before work ended, he confirmed he’d come, and then he didn’t show up at night, making Old Xu pick up the tab."
He introduced Xu Ping in passing, "This is Xu Ping from the Admin Department."
The two exchanged polite greetings, and Xu Ping chuckled, "So tonight, when he invited us out, we were all prepared to be stood up again. Others simply didn’t come, betting Li Yan wouldn’t show up once more."
Their talk kept Wen Qianyi laughing; she actually knew why Li Yan had disappeared for a while, recognizing his efforts over the past weeks.
"Li Yan, I didn’t know you were so stingy? No wonder you always say you’ll treat me for a drink and then ghost me!" Wen Qianyi joined in with a playful complaint, still smiling.
Li Yan knew they were all just joking and not genuinely complaining, especially Wen Qianyi, whom he had never actually stood up. So he put on a wry smile, raised his hands in surrender, "Okay, fine, I’ll admit I’m stingy. Isn’t that why I’m here to pay off my debt? Tonight, order whatever you want, I’ll repay my wine debt, or even with food!"
"Water debt, meat repayment?!"
Sun Hui and Xu Ping both mimicked a gagging gesture, "Who wants you to repay in kind? We’ve gotten used to you standing us up, but didn’t expect you’d ghost the beautiful Wen too; is there no justice?"
Xu Ping added, "No fairness left?"
"Utterly unforgivable! Tonight, for the sake of Wen, we’ll bleed you dry!" Sun Hui exclaimed with indignation, then muttered to himself, "Where’s the waiter? Old Xu, let’s go plan this out, and order the expensive ones!"
Xu Ping hesitated slightly, then understood and stood up promptly, "Right, right, do it ourselves."
Seeing their actions, both Li Yan and Wen Qianyi knew they intended to create an opportunity for the two to be alone.
"Haha, do we look like a quarreling couple? It’s like they’re matchmaking us to get back together,"
"Oh, nonsense." Wen Qianyi chuckled, finding it amusing, "You were acting weird! I’m originally closer to you, yet it was Sun Hui saying everything, and you kept your distance. Anyone would suspect we have issues."
Li Yan still felt strong anger, resentment, even killing intent from that direction, so he glanced over and asked softly, "What? That guy still pesters you? Didn’t I humiliate him? He looks like he wants to eat me."
Wen Qianyi shook her head with a bit of exasperation, "The one who greeted you just now was Chen Qitao, the woman is the so-called enchantress, you’ve met all of them. The other one is Zhang Songyang, whom you tricked and used as a shield last time, how could he not hate you?"
"How did he find out I was a decoy?"
Wen Qianyi laughed, "They are all my friends. Though we don’t meet often, we occasionally have dinners and get-togethers. That time, you embarrassed Zhang Songyang badly, then I let you take me home, the meaning was clear. But he didn’t give up. Every gathering afterward, you never appeared when asked, whether he was there or not. Given all that, how could he not guess you were a shield I found?"
Li Yan nodded seriously, "Perform thoroughly; apparently, it’s my fault. How about we pretend to seriously be together? That’ll surely drive him away."
"Go away!" Wen Qianyi laughed reproachfully, "Seriously getting together with you? Where would that leave Yu Xiaodi?"
Li Yan laughed, "Here! You’re right here. There’s room!"
Wen Qianyi looked at him amusedly, "Is that so? Then is there room for another?"
"Here for one more, here another, and here too..."
Li Yan feigned surprise, "Wow, really, if you hadn’t reminded me, I wouldn’t know there’s so much room. Are you willing to be among them?" He was just teasing, not even testing; in today’s society, not many women are willing to be one among many.
Wen Qianyi kept smiling, but the fist she had just retracted from her abdomen was now poised to punch downward, "Sure, but if my boyfriend has room for that many others, I’d kill him so no one else can have him."
Li Yan said, "Isn’t that too extreme?"
(To be continued. To know what happens next, please log on to www.qidian.com, read more Chapters, and support the author by supporting legitimate reading!)
