Ten Years of Yearning. My Love, Let Me Protect You.

From the shadows, two silhouettes revealed themselves. Michael and Ben parted the fake bushes and came out in slow and lazy steps and finally stood in front of her. 

"Can you be more misleading?!" Michael murmured and then pressed his lips in dissatisfaction. When he glanced around, he saw some people were staring at him and Ben. 

Yet, the other man was unfazed. Ben patted away the fake leaves from his clothes and turned to her. He frowned when he saw her face and joked with a straight face, "Ah, Lilia, you made us wait so long… Also, you look like my mother with those glasses. Put it off!"

Right that instant, the man lost 10 goodwill points from Ji Yanli's mind. 

"Shut up! Haixiao has told me I look mature and charming in this pair of glasses. How can you make fun of it?!" She nudged her glasses slightly and harrumphed. She was proud of her choice and knew it looked good on her. 

Michael hesitated to speak but upon noticing her creased face, he decided to stay mute. The man was way more clear header than Ben.

Then, Ben turned to look at the building from where she had come out just now. It wasn't an ordinary complex. Also, only the rich people lived around the neighbourhood. When he realised it, Ben turned to her and murmured with guilt, "Lili, it turns out you and your husband are rich."

Ji Yanli nodded her head and then asked, "It's a given. But… So what?"

"... I was thinking of luring you to my side with old money!" Ben scratched his head and replied with a shrug. 

"Get lost!" Ji Yanli condemned him as she began to walk on the streets with large steps. The other two men exchanged glances and hurriedly tagged along. 

"Lili babe!" Ben shouted purposely.

"Wait for us, Lili!" Michael called out and ran while leaving Ben behind. Soon, it became a race between the three people about who could run faster. 

As if they were just getting to live as kids again, they were playing around as if they owned the place and they chased each other and pushed one another to win. It was a very funny scene!

From the balcony, Wang Haixiao saw all of these. Rather than getting mad and jealous, the man was somewhat relieved.

"With those monkeys around, she will be fine." His insecure heart finally got a ray of comfort. The man turned around and left with the anticipation of tonight's battle. 

"Should I make dinner first?" Yet, It was his first concern!

...

At the beginning of every day, Ji Yanli could only go to university. Then attending lectures for hours with a stiff body, having lunch, going to the library for group study… in the end, no time for the workout. 

Thus, after thinking a lot, she had decided to jog at night, or rather walk faster without any break to burn that cheesy fat of hers. But doing something alone wasn't something she preferred and thus she thought of adding these two men in case Wang Haixiao didn't agree. 

"Today's weather is extremely good." Ji Yanli stated with a benevolent smile as she concentrated on the green plants by the roadside. 

But she didn't have the time to laze around and admire the environment as two men were walking behind and keeping a strict check on her behaviour. 

"Hurry Lili. You can't stop now." Michael reminded her gently when she got distracted for a moment and slowed down. 

"You are too slow! At this rate, you will only gain weight, not lose." Ben was merciless with his comments yet he would yawn from time to time and walk like a snail. The man was too lazy to stay quiet.

Both men were walking without any problems. Only Ji Yanli was out of breath. She was trying to concentrate on the road and walk faster and faster yet every minute felt like a century. 

"Why is it too hard?!" As Ji Yanli murmured, she wiped her face and threw the sweat away. After doing it for a few minutes, she saw something ahead and stopped. 

"What's wrong?" Michael asked as he went beside her. 

"Are you already tired? It's only around the kids' playground and it's not even 1 hour yet. Told you it's not so easy to lose weight. Just come to my gym. I will help you…" Ben playfully whispered and wanted to stand beside her other side. 

But the other two people were too quiet. When he shifted his sight ahead, Ben noticed someone was standing there. But the lightning there wasn't good enough and the face was covered in shadow. 

'What is he doing here?' Ji Yanli silently stared at the man and pressed her lips tightly. She breathed out the air she was holding and annoyingly glanced ahead. 

When she remembered the conversation she had some days ago with this man, her scalp turned hot! But she didn't change her route and continued to advance with a straight and aggressive face. 

"What is that man doing by standing in the middle of the footpath?" Ben commented with indignation. Because Ji Yanli was silent, he didn't voice out his curses and silently followed her. 

But at that moment, he was more than happy to follow her because Wang Haixiao wasn't present. He glanced at Michael and tsked in irritation, 'It will be better if he just leaves!'

Soon they walked until they were a few inches away from the man. Yan Luhan checked the two young men who were following Ji Yanli with scrutinising eyes. His cold gaze then locked onto the lady who acted as if he didn't exist.

When she proceeded to brush past him, Yan Luhan suddenly grabbed her hand tightly, successfully stopping her in her way. Both of them stopped in their tracks as their eyes met. 

Yan Luhan asked sarcastically, "Why are you pretending not to see me? Am I that easy to ignore?" Then the man turned to the two men and disdainfully asked, "Your new lackeys? Not bad. You still have good taste. Back then there were Haixiao, Shubin and Lei and now these foreigners…"

Hearing him, the two men went from aggressive to numb. At first, they had thought that some pervert had come o take advantage of her. Even though they didn't understand Yan Luhan's Chinese words, they understood that Ji Yanli knew him. 

They turned to look at Ji Yanli, only to see her face darkening. 

"Shut up!" Ji Yanli scolded Yan Luhan. She shrugged her hand away and tried to leave but Yan Luhan grabbed her arm tightly again. In return, she sneered, "Yan Luhan, I am warning you! Leave my hand!"

"I won't." The man intensely stared at her eyes and something was brewing in those orbs. He turned to look at the other two men and hissed out, "Answer me. Who are they? Why would you come out at night and they are following you? Isn't that cheap Haixiao enough?"

The man acted like Ji Yanli had cheated and he had come to interrogate her. But oddly, barely some people were around the place. Also, both of them weren't talking in the common language of the country and thus people failed to understand the situation clearly. 

At the side, the two confused men were clueless as they didn't even understand the meaning of the words spoken by the two people. But they knew from her reaction… 'Lili is very angry! Can't interrupt her!'

They obediently stood at the side and waited for her to call out to them if she needed help. Ben was too lazy to stand at the same place for a long time and thus he said with spite and impatience, "Lili, should I beat him for you? Also, I don't like his face. The words also sound stinky!"

"No." After replying, Ji Yanli scoffed like a mad dog and turned to Yan Luhan, "It's none of your business with whomever I stay. Rather, go and control your messy family instead!"

Even though she was staying abroad for some time, Ji Yanli was still acquainted with many reliable news sources present back in Ming city. Just reading the colourful gossip of Yan Ruomin, Ji Yanli could stay entertained for several weeks!

As Yan Luhan's face darkened with outrage, she ignored him and turned to the two men standing at the side and harshly said when she saw them motionless, "You two! Can't you see I am being harassed?! Even if you can't start a fight, at least help me out! I have yet to start my walk properly! Damn it!"

At her outburst, this time, they understood Ji Yanli's mood and with a haughty and quarrelsome attitude, Ben slowly went ahead. He glanced at Yan Luhan and then looked at the man's fingers which were clutching Ji Yanli's arm, tightly. He thought hatefully, 'My hands are itching to get into some action!'