Since the company wasn't far, he drove away and quickly arrived at the company, only to realize that it was the rush hour for work and bringing her to work like this could easily lead to misunderstandings. If it were an ordinary pretty coworker, it might still be fine, no need for grand expectations. But what about his wife and the others?

Suddenly, an idea popped into his mind. If Jiang Lele got off at the company gate, many people would see it. Either drive away and let her off elsewhere, and then both return separately. But knowing Jiang Lele's personality, she definitely wouldn't stand for such hassle. She wasn't even supposed to come to work, just sat in the car for a couple of minutes. Making her walk farther wouldn't be easy for her.

Li Yan had no choice but to speed up into the parking lot, planning to find an inconspicuous spot to park, and then let Jiang Lele get out first.

Actually, it wasn't a big deal, but he had made significant progress with his wife last night and didn't want Zhang Yurong to have any misunderstandings first thing in the morning.

But often, the more you don't want something to happen, the more likely it is to happen. Under normal circumstances, Zhang Yurong would have gone up already, but when Li Yan parked the car, he found she had just parked! And next to her, Hai Fu had just gotten out of the car, and the two seemed to be greeting each other.

Li Yan wanted to let Jiang Lele go first, but couldn't explain why, so he had her get out of the car while he dawdled, pretending to gather his things.

As he was stalling, Wen Qianyi drove her flashy sports car in quickly and parked not far next to Li Yan.

Another one!

Li Yan really wanted to bury his head on the steering wheel, pretending to be car-sick and resting for a while. But even if he managed to avoid coming out, he was the only one with an apple green QQ car in the parking lot. Whether anyone else noticed wasn't sure, but Zhang Yurong, Wen Qianyi, and Hai Fu definitely knew!

"Hurry up, stop dawdling, or we'll be late!" Jiang Lele, who had already gotten out, though she'd only sat in his car for a short while, was still quite loyal and didn't leave him alone. She was waiting for Li Yan, and seeing him continue to dawdle, couldn't help but knock on the car roof to urge him.

Li Yan secretly laughed bitterly. He actually wanted her to go first right now! But he's experienced Jiang Lele's fierce side—if she got impatient and said something outrageous… he had to get out.

When he got out, he braced himself to act nonchalant, trying hard to glance left and right with the corners of his eyes. He discovered that Zhang Yurong, Hai Fu, and the just-arrived Wen Qianyi were indeed all looking over!

In this morning parking lot, Li Yan felt quite overwhelmed. If he'd known, he would have just driven off alone. Why bring Jiang Lele at all! Facing the different directions of gazes from the three beauties, each with complex relationships with him, he could only act unconcerned.

As he left the parking lot with Jiang Lele, those three also began walking out, almost as if they were leisurely following behind Li Yan, making him feel six gazes on his back.

Thankfully, Jiang Lele was only verbally fierce, far more self-aware physically than anyone else. Had she been holding onto Li Yan's hand right then, Old Li would've barely been vindicated even if he jumped into the Yellow River.

Finally, he managed to get out. Li Yan made up an excuse about needing to go to the security office and told her to go ahead without him, then hurriedly ducked into the security office.

He was indeed taking care of official duties—truly checking on the security team as a deputy captain. But in the eyes of the three beauties, it seemed intentionally evasive!

Wen Qianyi had seen him chatting and laughing with Jiang Lele before, not knowing who she was. Now seeing Jiang Lele arriving in Li Yan's car sparked some thoughts. Of course, she wouldn't show it.

Zhang Yurong and Hai Fu recognized this girl with Li Yan as Jiang Lele from the planning department due to this incident. However, they didn't overthink it or suspect them of being familiar or colluding. They just thought they were meeting to discuss how to deal with the situation.

But their respective thoughts were different. Hai Fu thought about how achieving absolute fairness in handling this matter would be tough, and a fallout could cause more harm to the company. Her concern was how to protect Li Yan!

Zhang Yurong, on the other hand, didn't have such encouragement. Since she wouldn't let him take the blame, she suddenly recalled Li Yan's lip injury and tooth marks upon seeing Wen Qianyi, mischievously thinking about how Wen Qianyi might assume the marks originated from either Yuxiaodi or now, Jiang Lele.

Regarding Li Yan's fickleness, she personally disapproved and was against it. Yet, when it comes to a potential threat from a rival in love, there lingers some ordinary woman's little jest. Li Yan's image deteriorating in Wen Qianyi's eyes wouldn't be unwelcome—that way, there'd be one less rival. After all, even if he isn't a priceless treasure, she wouldn't want others fighting over what's hers.

Of course, neither of them would reveal their thoughts.

...

Gossip is pervasive, whether it spread from the administration or planning department, the security team also caught wind of the matter, leaving Yang Dalong to sympathize but powerless to assist. Although he still admired Li Yan and had received Li Jie's instructions to cooperate with him, to him, it all boiled down to matters of the Paradise Group. Even if he personally believed Li Yan, he could only objectively provide evidence as a third party.

And having never encountered such situations before at Paradise Group, he could only comfort Li Yan as a friend.

Li Yan didn't really mind. After having a cigarette with the security team, he waited until everyone was in the office before leaving for the business department.

As he passed through the lobby on the first floor, Chen Xiaoen stopped him and quietly inquired if something had happened, and whether it was troublesome. Li Yan felt helpless, becoming the center of gossip yet again. The other girls at the reception desk, who would usually greet him or joke around, now seemed busy, only eavesdropping for information. Until the situation became clear, they chose not to associate with someone potentially disloyal.

The warmth and coldness of human relationships—Jiang Lele had already experienced the feeling of being on edge yesterday, and Li Yan also noticed that people with casual acquaintances tend not to care much about you. Despite Chen Xiaoen's good intentions, he felt grateful but could only reassure her that everything was fine.

Taking the elevator to the business department, Li Yan was surprised to see the always diligent and conscientious Huang Ying cautiously looking around in the corridors.

"Huang Ying, are you okay?"

As he walked over, Huang Ying hurriedly approached him, looked around to see if anyone was paying attention, then led him into the pantry, opening the door to the smoking area in the back.

"What's going on?"

Li Yan noticed her unusual behavior, so different from her usual self, and reached out to hold and squeeze her hand, comforting her.

Huang Ying quickly shook her head and anxiously said, "It's not me, it's you!"

"What's wrong with me?" Li Yan laughed, realizing she had also heard about Jiang Lele and Chen Aiyuan's incident, which reassured him.

"Don't you know? Everyone's saying you're... that you're with..." Huang Ying was worried about him, but hesitated to say it facing him, seeing how unaware he seemed.

Seeing her looking up at him, stammering, Li Yan suddenly wanted to hug her, so he embraced her and quietly said, "You mean everyone's saying I'm collaborating with a girl from the planning department to steal company secrets, right? It's not true; it's false accusations. I'm at the security team just for show; my main work focus is still at the business department. How could I seek such petty gains?"

"Really?" Huang Ying looked up at him, still uneasy.

"Absolutely true. You have to believe that under General Manager Zhang's sharp eyes, there's no way he could be fooled by petty people."

Hearing Li Yan's certainty, Huang Ying finally relaxed a bit and realized she was already in his embrace, softly saying, "Let's not do this... we're at work..."

Li Yan understood her meaning; if they weren't at the company, she probably wouldn't refuse. But here, considering her character, she must be anxious. He didn't tease her further, leaned down, kissed her gently, and said, "I'll go out first to check. If no one's around, then you come out."

"Okay..." Huang Ying was worried about Li Yan today, and since he couldn't return to the office conveniently, she ventured boldly to wait for him. Although her worries were gone, she still feared being discovered, feeling tense.

As Li Yan was about to open the door to leave, he heard faint footsteps approaching the pantry from outside.

Seeing him suddenly stop, Huang Ying also got nervous again, listening carefully to hear footsteps from high heels outside, her face turning pale.

She looked at Li Yan helplessly, and he patted her back, signaling her not to worry. He pointed outside, indicating he would go out to lead people away.

But Huang Ying quickly shook her head, thinking it safer to wait a while, until the people outside left, before going out.

The two approached the door, listening to the sounds outside. Someone indeed entered the pantry outside, but after refilling water, did not leave. Huang Ying secretly complained but dared not speak.

Li Yan listened for a moment and decided to go out first. No matter who's outside, after all, it's a woman who just arrived at work and wouldn't enter to smoke. Greeting her might lead to leaving together.

Therefore, he patted Huang Ying, signaling her to wait inside and listen to the situation outside, then opened the door and stepped out.

Once out, Li Yan saw that it was Wen Qianyi standing outside with a cup of coffee, breaking into a cold sweat. If she saw him and Huang Ying alone in the smoking room...

(Writing three chapters overnight, waking up to continue working hard on the fourth chapter, praying for support with monthly passes!) (To be continued, for more details, please log on to www.qidian.com, more chapters available, support the author, support legitimate reading!)

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