Li Yan was speechless, and so were the others!

Not recognizing middle school classmates after more than a decade isn't unusual. Many people experience this, especially when there's been no direct or indirect contact, no news at all during those years.

But forgetting others, you should at least remember yourself, right? Not even remembering you were the class president and asking if it was someone else is overdoing it!

Yes, acting!

At this moment, everyone thought he was acting, pretending not to recognize. But actually, Li Yan wasn't pretending; he was telling the truth. Besides not having any communication with old classmates for over a decade, he was different from others; he had experiences ordinary people never have.

Since becoming an assassin, executing his first mission, killing his first person, he had no way back. At that time, he told himself he must forget the past and start a brand-new life in a new world. Regardless of the outcome, he had to persist. The only thing he couldn't discard or forget was his parents.

From then on, it was as if he drank a jar of "Revelling in Oblivion," starting to forget many things.

This is the first time he consciously chose to forget, and the second time was when he discovered the side effects of "Heart Demon." The abilities of "Heart Demon" made him excel in many S-Class missions that were otherwise impossible, discreetly making targets die of unexplained causes, seeming natural deaths, or as unsolvable cases. But it also brought him side effects, increasing his own internal demons. After finding the problem, his initial approach was to forget; only by forgetting those memorable killing memories could he weaken the heart demon.

So, from that time on, he lived more in the present, looking forward, not reminiscing the past. Of course, it worked but not much. Some things forgotten with time, those not memorable, were completely forgotten, but some very special, memorable ones are hard to forget. For instance, the massacre involving Nian Yufei was a shocking and memorable event for him, something he might feel forgotten but would recall immediately when mentioned.

The third choice of forgetting was more than two years ago when he decided to take a break. At that time, he had secretly researched much about "Heart Demon" without an effective, all-curing solution. He could only try to adjust through change. So he moved to a strange city, starting the most ordinary, unnoticed work, trying to merge from a closed isolating soul into the crowd. As for a drop of water, to avoid drying up, the best way is to merge into the ocean.

To this day, he has forgotten many things, and he also strives not to stay in one place too long, avoiding close proximity to others, not wanting friends, no attachments, only freedom. Until due to his father's order, he married Zhang Yurong, with no change. Starting like an ordinary person, accumulating some friends and emotions, only in the past few months, he began to have occurrences without seeking, like Wen Qianyi becoming a colleague and, initially wanting to prank him, was partnered with him; like Yu Xiaodi whom he developed feelings for after many events; and even Zhang Yurong who had always kept to themselves but connected more due to small or large events.

But - not mentioning Zhang Yurong, Wen Qianyi, Yu Xiaodi, Hai Fu, Huang Ying, and others met this year, among those previously connected, only two groups remain memorable. One is a batch of special old brothers like Zheng Yixuan, He Zhengyuan, Zheng Yuzun, Guan Ziyi, Yu Mocheng; the other is people from "their" organization.

Others like childhood playmates, school classmates, neighbors from temporary stays, one-night partners from mutual needs...all forgotten.

...

Realizing Li Yan pretended not to remember, unwilling to reunite, everyone's enthusiasm somewhat waned. They were no longer impulsive adolescents, if you don't wish to join us, should we flatter you instead?

However, He Zhexia remained enthusiastic; seeing the awkwardness, he quickly laughed and said, "Haha, you helped me cheat before, it's been over a decade, finally caught you, won't let you off easily, we must have a drink! By the way, these two are..."

He glanced at Wen Qianyi and Yu Xiaodi, waiting for Li Yan to introduce them. If it were two, he might ask if they were girlfriends; three would be hard to guess.

Unaware, this question posed a challenge for Li Yan!

Li Yan's relationship with Yu Xiaodi is somewhat ambiguous and tangled. Unlike Hai Fu, with whom it's agreed they comfort each other equally, or like Huang Ying who sought a dependence without status; Zhang Yurong being his legitimate wife, Wen Qianyi never acknowledged anything. With Xiaodi, it's different; she's so in love with him, knowing he likes her, but also aware he genuinely has a wife.

So it's a dilemma, having a wife, then saying girlfriend isn't appropriate, saying lover doesn't seem right either. Luckily, because of differences in identity and environment, there's no need to consistently face each other's friends and acquaintances so the issue can be avoided. To Xiaodi's roommates and classmates, they all know Li Yan as her older boyfriend, without any questioning. To Li Yan's colleagues and acquaintances, they haven't directly encountered this.

But now, when He Zhexia asked, Li Yan had to answer, and couldn't avoid the topic of Yu Xiaodi's identity. If he introduced her only as a friend, Yu Xiaodi would surely put on a brave face but feel hurt inside, and even Wen Qianyi might look down on him.

However, if he publicly introduced her as his girlfriend, it was like making a commitment, but what about Wen Qianyi?

At this moment, he couldn't even turn his face away to avoid answering, because for both Wen Qianyi and Yu Xiaodi, it would seem like he would rather not acknowledge an old classmate than admit Yu Xiaodi as his girlfriend.

With no choice, Li Yan had to face it head-on and answer. Fortunately, since encountering them, Li Yan had been frequently stunned, so his hesitation now went unnoticed.

"This is my good friend Wen Qianyi, also a coworker; we just returned from a business trip together. This is my girlfriend Yu Xiaodi, who is still a university student."

After hearing Li Yan's introduction, everyone was stunned.

In the midst of her nervousness, Yu Xiaodi waited for this sentence from him, and a tremendous sense of happiness overwhelmed her, leaving her dumbfounded. She had always wanted to be Li Yan's girlfriend, but because of his wife, he had never admitted it. Now that he would acknowledge it, does it mean... Regardless of what it means, being his girlfriend for just one day, or just a moment in front of friends, already made her very happy.

Wen Qianyi was also secretly mocking herself—did this guy finally make a decision? Well, it's better than dragging it on... But deep in her heart, there was still a hint of unavoidable loss...

The classmates were also a bit surprised. In their view, if one of these beauties was Li Yan's girlfriend, it should have been Wen Qianyi; Yu Xiaodi just looked too young. Old cow eating young grass!

They weren't fresh out of society, they were all well-versed, and after their initial amazement, they noticed Yu Xiaodi's disbelief. Xiaodi was still young and wore everything on her face, but in their eyes, this amazement turned into suspicion.

Could it be that this girl wasn't Li Yan's girlfriend, just a friend or colleague, brought along because he saw his old crush, Qiao Huanxuan, and wanted to prove he still had charm with a temporary stand-in?

In order to verify, they looked at each other, but everyone was an old classmate, familiar with each other's backgrounds. Abin, Aqing, and Bai Jie were all on the same page; except for He Zhexia and Qiao Huanxuan pretending not to know, they all recognized each other's thoughts and shared the same idea, immediately displaying knowing smiles.

It's said women have a sixth sense, especially sensitive in emotions. Their smiles and the way He Zhexia and Qiao Huanxuan were staring at Li Yan quickly revealed the difference to Wen Qianyi. She also quickly thought of the possibility they speculated. Was it because of this woman that Li Yan admitted Xiaodi as his girlfriend? Was she his first love's crush?

In her happiness, Yu Xiaodi was a bit slower than Wen Qianyi to react, but the term "crush" was just openly mentioned by He Zhexia earlier, and now seeing their expressions, she also became suspicious. Am I benefitting from this Qiao Huanxuan? After all these years, is she still that important in Li Yan's heart?

Personal concerns led to chaos, and for a moment both of them were burdened with their own thoughts.

"We just returned from a business trip, need to get back first. See you all!" Although Li Yan didn't want to acknowledge these classmates with little impression, now it was basically confirmed they hadn't got the wrong person, so abruptly leaving would be impolite.

Wen Qianyi also smiled politely, "Xiaodi came to pick us up and hasn't had lunch yet, so we need to grab some food first. You all go on, see you!"

This was originally an excuse, but when He Zhexia heard it, he excitedly said, "What a coincidence! We especially wanted to invite you to dinner, but weren't sure if you were free. Today, we just happened to catch you!"

Seeing their confusion, Bai Jie added, "We haven't seen each other for a few years, and this time Lao He initiated a reunion by gathering classmates from S City and nearby cities. Booked a private room in a hotel and everyone has gradually arrived. Lao He came to pick up Huanxuan, and we haven't seen her in ages, so we came along to meet up. Didn't expect to also meet our missing class monitor of a decade, you!"

Damn, how could it be such a coincidence! Li Yan cursed inwardly. — 55555, today only 4 votes, monthly ticket dropped by one place, asking brothers with tickets to support, now 228, up to 240, 老赖 will definitely add 4 more chapters today!

(Thanks for the rewards from brothers on the 7th: Yagami Light II, I Love Watching Hundred Flowers Story, dongmin8061, Evil Emperor Descendant, Reader 080717083828326, Curved Sabre Wu Xilang, Yidu Master, CaoNoName, Yagami Light II, Fate Decides You and Me, tigerking777, CP Pampas, Yidu Master) (To be continued, to know further developments, please log on to www.qidian.com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)

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