Zhang Yurong hummed lightly, "Emotionally, I believe that you, Master Li Yan, are not fickle, but rather very loving, and I also believe you truly want more and more."

Li Yan smiled awkwardly, "I say, Yurong, isn’t Emperor Qianlong known as a playboy? Didn’t he live to eighty or ninety?"

Zhang Yurong argued, "Maybe he only had one... or just a few women in his lifetime." Saying that an emperor has had only one woman in his life is almost impossible, at least the Empress and Noble Consort surely couldn’t have been without the Emperor’s favor.

Zhang Yurong was really helpless with his twisted logic. "I can’t be bothered to talk to you, if you want to compare to the emperor, go ahead! It’s none of my business."

As she spoke, she got up, put the dish back in place, and was about to leave.

"If I were the emperor, you’d definitely be my Empress!" Li Yan laughed as he turned off the light and followed her out. "Hey... Yurong, I can’t see, help me!"

"Who cares about you? Find your own way back!" Yurong had already seen that he could squint to see the road or how else did he get over there? Of course, she understood that he was deliberately coaxing her to hold his hand, but she wouldn’t fall for it.

"Well, maybe I’ll just feel my way to your room then."

As they spoke, they both came out. Seeing that Yurong was ignoring him and continuing to walk forward on her own, Li Yan mumbled to himself, "Oops, better not wander into Yue Yao’s room..."

Sure enough, upon hearing this, Yurong quickly returned and whispered angrily, "Can you not be so despicable? If you go bother her, Yue Yao won’t dare stay here anymore!"

"I’m just afraid of accidentally going the wrong way. Why don’t you walk me back?" Li Yan looked innocent, but his hand accurately grabbed Yurong’s hand.

She was helpless against him, so Yurong had to hold his hand and quicken her pace going forward.

...

"We’re here!"

"Come in and sit for a while? It’s still early..."

"Early my foot! Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. I won’t be like some people, getting touched by your tricks and then being deceived by your sweet words to give in..." Zhang Yurong looked at him, thinking he wanted to take advantage of the atmosphere to win her over like he did on Yu Xiaodi’s birthday. She blurted out what was on her mind.

But after saying it, she felt it might not have been appropriate to mention Yu Xiaodi at this moment, as it spoiled the mood.

Both of them fell silent, and Li Yan tried to laugh it off, "I just wanted you to come in and get that bouquet..."

He went inside intending to help her take it out but saw the flowers were already gone. It seemed she had taken them when she came over with the dish.

"No need then, good night." He said, closing the door behind him.

Zhang Yurong stood at the door, looking at the closed door and the gift in her hand. She couldn’t help but sigh silently, realizing she still couldn’t let go. Yu Xiaodi remained a thorn between the two of them, which hurt whenever touched.

Now, she was already twenty-five. In all her years, she had only experienced this one relationship—assuming it could be counted as a relationship with him—he was the only man occupying her heart. Was she going to spend the rest of her life with him?

While pondering this question, she walked back to her room.

Recalling the whole process of being with Li Yan, she felt somewhat helpless. Experiencing this relationship made her feel that starting anew with a stranger and developing deep feelings was an arduous and troublesome ordeal.

Actually, he was fine, just a bit flirtatious and lustful... It’s a pity she never thought of capturing his heart or using her allure on him from the start. Being indifferent to him had perpetuated the current predicament.

However... I can handle being the president of a group, manage an entire company, so can’t I handle a single man? With so many strong opponents handled smoothly, I can’t deal with one girl?

...

As Zhang Yurong was secretly making her decision, Li Yan was already lying in bed. Tonight’s unexpected situations had allowed him and Yurong to quickly reconcile, which he hadn’t anticipated. Except for the little thrill in the bathroom with Yue Yao earlier, everything had gone smoothly.

Yet, Yurong’s earlier words still pricked him somewhat.

Overall, being able to reconcile this way was much better than planned. It was her birthday, so he decided to let her have her way and not argue much. After all, the more conservative she was, the more it benefited him as the husband-to-be.

At this point, he wanted to sleep. But there was still something that needed handling, because... there was another girl today, whose relationship with him hovered between distant and ambiguous, and today was her birthday too!

He took out his phone and immediately dialed Wen Qianyi’s number.

"Who is it? Calling this late and interrupting my sleep, don’t you know it’s unethical?"

Although Wen Qianyi sounded like she had been woken up and hadn’t checked the caller ID, Li Yan could hear her alertness and knew she was saying this on purpose.

"It’s me, isn’t it Christmas? Didn’t you go out drinking or have fun with friends?"

"Oh, I don’t have a boyfriend accompanying me, what’s there to do out there? Watch other couples? You didn’t invite me for a drink, so should I go get drunk by myself?" Wen Qianyi teased with laughter. "So? Done with your date and here to flaunt some superiority among us singles?"

"Happy Birthday!" Li Yan said softly.

"Wha...t?" Wen Qianyi was taken aback, seemingly not expecting he’d call for that.

"It’s past midnight, today is your birthday, right? Happy Birthday!" Li Yan sincerely repeated.

Wen Qianyi paused and spoke softly, "How did you know today is my birthday?"

"Haha, don’t you remember, on your interview day, I sort of played the interviewer for a bit! You amazed us with your brilliance, how could I forget your details?"

"Really? I thought Xiao Di saw my details during the medical check-up and told you." Wen Qianyi chuckled, feeling pleased that he remembered her birthday from their first meeting.

Li Yan didn’t want to discuss Xiao Di, but she assumed he spent Christmas with Xiao Di tonight and he didn’t find it necessary to explain.

"Any plans for your birthday today?"

"Why? Is there an agenda? Interested in inviting me out?" Wen Qianyi smirked mischievously, "I have no plans, but have you got any approval? And didn’t you say you’d treat me to dinner yesterday?"

Li Yan chuckled awkwardly. He couldn’t readily agree since it was also Zhang Yurong’s birthday, and having both together like last night’s dinner was absolutely impossible. "Hehe, what agenda could I have, we’re good friends, right? Being concerned about you is natural. By the way, what do you want as a birthday gift?"

"Pfft... asking me now and expecting me to choose my own gift, isn’t that insincere? Treat me to dinner tonight and we’ll call it even." Wen Qianyi still remembered. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Dinner... would there be time? Might need to be with Yurong and her family in the evening, how about lunch instead?

"I can’t wait, let’s do lunch! Actually, I have prepared a gift. I’m just worried you might not like it, so I’m checking in case I need a replacement."

Wen Qianyi seemed indifferent to whether it was lunch or dinner, but upon hearing he had a gift prepared, she immediately asked, "What gift?"

"It’s so late now, I can’t send it over, can I? Tomorrow, then, probably during the day."

"Ha! You’re teasing my curiosity? You’re raising my expectations, I might be very picky tomorrow."

"Then I’ll... prepare a backup!"

"You said it, two gifts! I want them both!" Wen Qianyi said excitedly.

Li Yan chuckled, "Backup gift, that’s just me, right?"

"Get lost! Stop joking around... Go to sleep, come earlier tomorrow!" (To be continued, for more exciting content, please log on to www.qidian.com, where more Chapters are available. Support the authors and support legitimate reading!)