The students at the scene reacted first. They seemed to erupt instantly, and the crowd continuously shouted in surprise.

Li Qing and Lao Er also felt countless voices flood their ears.

“Wait, what happened? I think I just saw the four people proposing to the same person.”

“Am I seeing things…? I saw the same, and I also realized that the handsome guy looks so much like that senior who published in a top domestic journal just last semester and had a co-authorship with a big shot.”

Hearing this, Li Qing, who had just come out of his daze, slowly said: “…Not looks like, that’s him.”

“…”

The surrounding students fell silent again. Soon, the news spread faster than a yawn, and within a short while, every student on the square knew about it.

Once one person’s identity was uncovered, the rest were quickly discovered as well.

After all, there was strength in numbers. Within just five minutes, the identities of the five people on stage were fully revealed. The people who knew the news then fell into a daze again.

No way. With these people’s identities, this five-way romance could really be witnessed without spending money? This was way more thrilling than Temptation of Going Home.

“Oh my god… I never thought I’d see something like this in my lifetime.”

“Four people, oh my god! All of them have big chests and long legs. Big boss Ye really got it all.”

“Is it possible they didn’t actually eat it? Big boss Ye looks confused, like he just realized he was being proposed to today.”

“No, can I really see this kind of Mary Sue idol drama plot in real life?”

“I actually felt it before, especially when Gu Yan and Mu Bai almost jumped off the lake-side rooftop over some small incident. Every time I saw the confession wall update, I felt like an NPC in an ancient TV drama—now the feeling is even stronger.”

A student sighed to his companion nearby.

Other university students around nodded. Indeed, their own lives weren’t exactly turbulent—they were dull. Many hadn’t even talked much to the opposite sex.

Yet their peers had already become company CEOs and were protagonists in a five-way romance

Students marveled at whose life this could possibly be.

Soon, they excitedly waited for the next plot development, with little regard for anyone else’s well-being—a spirit that matched contemporary university students.

However, these students could ignore the five protagonists’ safety, but others could not.

For example, Assistant Jiang and Assistant Liu.

They realized something seemed off when the others appeared at the square after work that afternoon, but since the people claimed to be there for a project, they didn’t pry further. Still, their unease made them quietly increase security as the crowd gathered.

Their precaution proved correct.

When the four men appeared simultaneously, with only Ye Wangxing in the middle, people nearby—including security—turned sharply to watch.

Everyone unconsciously pressed forward. Frightened, Jiang and Liu quickly ordered the security to disperse the crowd to prevent a stampede.

Some students lingered reluctantly, but most left. After all, the flower wall and security made entry impossible.

Even waiting outside, the A University students chose to return to campus obediently. Whether they went back to their dorms depended on whether anyone tipped them off.

Once they left, the crowded square instantly became empty.

The four men naturally pulled Ye Wangxing away from the square center and spoke quietly behind a flower wall, blocking public view.

Security blocked the scene, and the set couldn’t be used for now. Before the bosses declared wrap-up, the others didn’t dare move and stood obediently, awaiting orders.

This time, however, they felt no resentment, only the desire to watch.

After all, they were closest to the flower wall.

Especially when one security guard accidentally swept part of the wall with a stick, creating a small gap, the sound from behind the wall became clearer. Everyone looked at him approvingly.

The remaining A University students outside the line of caution looked at the gap with grievance.

Li Qing and Lao Er were not among them—they were Ye Wangxing’s roommates and were invited inside the line.

They weren’t particularly happy, just dumbfounded watching their fourth brother being pulled behind the flower wall by the four men.

Once they realized, they immediately prayed their fourth brother would return safely to the dorm.

After bringing him in, Assistant Jiang turned to monitor the situation’s development.

Although the crowd was under control, Assistant Jiang and Liu still had a bad feeling—they felt this wouldn’t end so easily.

But before confirming their suspicions, they had one more issue to resolve.

“…”

Assistant Jiang and Assistant Liu silently looked at each other. They stared for a long while before Assistant Jiang finally spoke.

“For a new project?”

Assistant Liu retorted bluntly: “Didn’t you also say it was for a new project? You even told me explicitly that the set here was for an exhibition.”

After speaking, Assistant Liu and Assistant Jiang fell silent for a moment. What were they doing here, getting worked up over Big Pei and Little Pei?

Thinking about the recent overtime, though the bonuses were generous, they had been busy with so many things it felt like they were being treated like servants.

At that thought, the pent-up resentment of Assistant Liu and Assistant Jiang immediately surfaced, and they began to tally things and gossip.

But to their surprise, the gossip grew bigger and bigger.
“—Big Pei is actually going to confess to Ye Wangxing, but Ye Wangxing is already dating my boss!”

Assistant Liu let out a sharp scream. Assistant Jiang’s reaction was no better. Seeing Liu’s expression, he couldn’t help cupping his cheeks and mimicking Liu exactly.

“—When did Ye Wangxing start dating Little Pei? Big Pei never heard anything about it from him!”

Assistant Liu raised his voice even higher.

“They’ve been dating for two months. During the end of last semester, when the joint publication came out! That joint publication was their token of affection. Little Pei even pretended to show it off many times in front of me. You didn’t know? Big Pei didn’t know?”

Assistant Jiang screamed sharply again.

“How would I know? Little Pei is like a gourd with a saw mouth. Except for talking a few words with Ye Wangxing, he just says ‘uh’ and ‘oh’ to everyone else. I can’t just go ask if he’s dating Ye Wangxing! Besides, whether they’re really dating is uncertain. With Little Pei’s way of speaking, maybe even Ye Wangxing doesn’t realize he’s dating him!”

Their argument escalated in volume until a trembling voice interrupted.

“…You two, are you also here to set up the scene?”

They turned and saw a male student in team uniform standing aside, looking shocked, wearing a watch specially made by their company as a gift.

Next to him, Assistant Zhang looked completely spaced out.

Assistant Liu and Assistant Jiang both felt uneasy.

Three minutes later, the four men behind the flower wall were still speaking quietly. The four scene leaders in front of the set were all spaced out, and the expressions of the other staff weren’t much better.

Even Li Qing and Lao Er looked overloaded with information.

Finally, Assistant Jiang summarized the issue: “So… if everything the four said is true, it means Ye Wangxing started dating Director Shen two months ago, when the company was just founded at the end of the last semester.”

Assistant Zhang nodded.

“And while maintaining the relationship with Director Shen, he gave Little Pei the joint publication, confirming their relationship.”

Assistant Liu nodded.

“The subsequent rooftop jump incident signaled Big Pei and Mr. Xie.”

The dazed Mu Yun nodded.

“And all of this, he did before summer vacation.”

Assistant Jiang said with a vacant expression: “—That means Ye Wangxing maintained relationships with these four people for over two months without anyone discovering it, and the four didn’t even notice each other, even though they worked in the same company for two months.”

“Only when they all proposed at the same time and booked the same venue did Ye Wangxing slip up.”

After hearing this summary, everyone present fell silent, slowly revealing shocked expressions.

They didn’t know what to say for a moment, and facing this scene, indeed, they couldn’t speak.

After a long while, Assistant Zhang murmured: “I really still have so little experience…”

Everyone around nodded vigorously.

Meanwhile, the voices behind the flower wall gradually grew intense—the four men finally realized something was off.

“…Wait, if none of us lied, doesn’t that mean Ye Wangxing was flirting with all of us?”

The man with golden hair spoke, and his sunny, elegant smile vanished, replaced by confusion and uncontrollable gloom. The other three men had different expressions, but all shared uncontrolled negative emotions.

“—Ha, looks like we really got played. Two proposing, two confessing, and none of the four sets were used.”

The tall youth with a tear mole sneered sarcastically, baring his teeth as he looked at the handsome young man standing with his head down like a child who had done wrong, as if he wanted to devour him.

The on-site staff’s chatter grew louder and even reached the ears of the university students outside.

“This really wasn’t very good. It was completely toying with someone’s feelings.”

“Now it’s fine. Next time we date someone, we’ll have to ask them if they have a partner or any other ambiguous relationships.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. I didn’t expect these big shots to ever be caught in such a situation, but this was really unfair.”

Li Qing and Lao Er also sighed. Although they knew their Fourth Brother had acted unfairly, they hadn’t expected the teachers to be publicly humiliated in this way. But after all, it was indeed unfair.

What confused them more was when their Fourth Brother had started dating the two of them without telling anyone. They could understand, though—it wasn’t exactly a glorious thing.

While he thought this, a voice finally came from inside the flower wall. Once it spoke, everyone who heard it froze.

“So… you’re saying that before the summer I had already gained two boyfriends and two ambiguous relationships?”

The young man’s voice revealed confusion, as if he had no idea about this at all.

“—Then how come I didn’t know???”

Ye Wangxing’s words stunned all the eavesdroppers.

The handsome young man continued, his voice extremely confused, as if he had no idea what had happened.

“…I thought we were just friends. A while ago, you ignored me. I thought you were angry with me for not choosing your proposal. I coaxed you for a long time before you were willing to talk to me, and I was happy for several days…”

Hearing this, Li Qing and Lao Er nodded in agreement—they knew Ye Wangxing had been frustrated for a long time, which had caused their trouble in the first place.

The four on the opposite side remained silent for a long while. Finally, one of them spoke. He rarely talked, and his voice was somewhat hesitant.

He asked: “—But you gave the joint work to me.”

Little Pei’s voice carried some confusion.

“Isn’t that what friends should do? Especially since you’re my teacher. It would have been abnormal if your name hadn’t been on the joint work. At first, I even thought it wasn’t much to show, since your current rank didn’t require such a low-scoring paper. In reality, I took advantage of you. So when you were so happy back then, I was a bit puzzled,” Ye Wangxing said, again revealing confusion.

Little Pei remained silent, and Li Qing and Lao Er felt as if a sword had pierced their hearts.

Although their Fourth Brother spoke the truth, it was painfully honest.

Then another spoke. Li Qing and Lao Er recognized Shen Jiu’s voice.

“You invited me to sit in your company, and without spending a cent, you gave me 10% equity in the company. Isn’t that a token of affection?”

Ye Wangxing sounded even more confused: “But wasn’t that the treatment you deserved? With your ability, being CEO of my newly opened small company was already a compromise. I had to give you the proper benefits. Even though you were one of the partners, I couldn’t let you work for free, right?”

…Li Qing and Lao Er couldn’t listen anymore—it was too cruel.

It was like hitting someone with a stick and then giving them a sweet date.

Of course, despite that, after Ye Wangxing spoke, they still leaned against the flower wall to continue listening.

“…You delivered meals every day?”

“You all had weak stomachs. Of course, I had to care a bit more.”

“…You gave me snacks?”

“You were preparing for a big competition. Of course, I had to help you reach your best state.”

“…You said things about sponsors back then.”

“Now I dare not say that either.”

…

After this series of conversations, half an hour had passed by the time they finally stopped.

These thirty minutes basically confirmed two things: first, Ye Wangxing had genuinely cared about the four people, second, everything in the chat logs came from the true intention of “we are friends.”

When this was revealed, many onlookers couldn’t believe it.

How could those people, so untouchable, be outsmarted by Ye Wangxing? But in fact, he really had.

Unfortunately, Ye Wangxing had been too good to his friends, leading them to all misunderstand him and imagine he had two boyfriends and two ambiguous relationships.

Assistant Jiang felt embarrassed just thinking about it. Liu and Zhang began fidgeting with their toes.

Even Mu Yun wasn’t exempt. He rubbed the goosebumps that had appeared on his arms, realizing Xie Yihan’s reputation in the team had collapsed.

Although Xie Yihan’s misunderstanding was understandable, the team didn’t care.

Mu Yun could already imagine that upon returning to the team, Xie Yihan would earn the nickname “Confession Guy.”

While Mu Yun thought this, the four behind the flower wall finally walked out.

Their expressions were grim.

The golden-eyed man barely smiled, but everyone could see the gloom in his eyes.

Next to him, his tall, handsome nephew had red rings around his eyes. Though expressionless, he looked pitiful.

Behind them, a man with honey-colored skin and muscular chest appeared. He no longer had the coquettish look from before the confession attempt. His well-kept hair had one strand falling messily—just like his mood.

Finally, a tall young man in team uniform looked like he had taken the hardest hit, stumbling slightly as he walked.

The handsome young man stood behind everyone, looking embarrassed and cautious, like a normal friend after a misunderstanding.

He kept apologizing, but now his usual persuasive skills no longer worked.

Ye Wangxing’s face showed a hint of sadness.

Li Qing and Lao Er felt pity, knowing their Fourth Brother’s romantic endeavor had probably truly failed.

But as they watched, they suddenly realized something was off.

—Hadn’t Ye Wangxing said he liked them?

Why, in this situation, did he treat them strictly as friends?

From the earlier scene, if Ye Wangxing expressed interest in just one person, that person could logically be with him, while the others remained friends.

Four ran away instead of leaving one? The latter was obviously better.

Realizing this, Li Qing and Lao Er felt a chill down their spines.

They suddenly noticed Ye Wangxing’s behavior now was fundamentally inconsistent with his previous behavior.

It was as if he had been possessed by someone else.

But thinking carefully, Ye Wangxing had shown this before.

He said he liked them but hadn’t considered choosing among the four—he hadn’t even thought about confessing.

Li Qing’s eyes widened as he turned to share his guess with Lao Er.

Lao Er, hearing it, instinctively looked at Ye Wangxing and met his gaze directed at the four.

It was indeed an admiring gaze, but…

He showed no possessiveness, no controlling desire. He simply poured love onto the four without requiring their response.

Lao Er felt chills down his spine. He put a hand on Li Qing’s shoulder, wanting to immediately clarify with Ye Wangxing.

It seemed Ye Wangxing could easily extricate himself—after all, the four looked angry, as if ready to leave, while Ye Wangxing stood in the square, downcast.

Li Qing and Lao Er planned to console him after the four dispersed, but unexpectedly, the four suddenly stopped midway, turning to look at Ye Wangxing.

“—Wangxing, when you did these things, did you really not feel anything for me?”

The four asked similarly.

Ye Wangxing froze on the spot, then looked down, shyly or perhaps searching for an excuse.

Before he could speak, a voice came from above.

“—Ye Wangxing, you actually deceived my uncle, my cousin, and the other two! Didn’t you say they weren’t interested in you? What’s going on now? You said you had feelings for them but only watched from the side, satisfied. How come this is happening?”

Everyone present was shocked by the voice.

When they looked up, they were stunned.

“…Wait, are leaks really this extreme now?”

Liu, outside the cordon, looked up at the two massive parachutes, dazed. Then he excitedly turned to the stiff young man in the square, eyes burning with gossip fever—completely ignoring the sky.

Originally intending to attract attention, Gu Yan was ignored.

—Who cared about him jumping from the sky when Ye Wangxing was surrounded by four men?

The golden-eyed young man, previously gloomy, now smiled broadly and clung to Ye Wangxing.

In front of everyone, he pressed his face against Ye Wangxing’s without hesitation.

The others seemingly approved, nobody got angry.

—After all, the young man was 1.9 meters tall and completely pinned Ye Wangxing in place.

Even if he wanted to escape, he couldn’t.

 

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