“What’s wrong?” the man asked in a low voice.
Everything felt off.
At the very least, given their current relationship, he shouldn’t be holding her like this.
And they definitely shouldn’t be in such an intimate position.
She could once again smell the faint scent of his body wash light sandalwood, slightly intoxicating.
Her cheeks started to heat up, but her body felt so stiff she couldn’t move.
She assumed it was because Song Ye was holding her too firmly.
Awkwardly, she remained pressed against his abdomen, the strange sensation becoming even more pronounced.
If she moved up just a little more…
She quickly cut off that train of thought and whispered, “You… let me go…”
“Are you sure?”
“?”
Jiang Nanshu was absolutely certain.
“Yes!”
Song Ye said nothing and moved aside.
The next second
Without his support, she collapsed to the side like a puppet, letting out a startled scream.
In a panic, she grabbed onto Song Ye’s clothes.
“Wait, wait, wait “
A needle-like numbness spread from her right hand throughout her entire body, especially on the right side, which was already stiff and unresponsive.
She could only clutch his clothes tightly with her left hand, barely holding herself up to avoid falling.
Song Ye had already anticipated this.
He let out a soft chuckle, then moved back into position to support her again.
Jiang Nanshu’s cheek once again pressed against his firm abdomen.
She closed her eyes in despair and muttered, “This is it.
Did I really wake up paralyzed?”
Song Ye smirked and said helplessly, “You slept in the same position for several hours without moving.
Of course, you’re numb.”
Despite the prickling pain coursing through her limbs, Jiang Nanshu knew she couldn’t stay curled up like this forever.
She gripped his arm, trying to stand up slowly.
Halfway up, her knees gave out, and she fell back down.
Song Ye hesitated for a moment, then bent down, hooked his arm under her knees, and easily lifted her into a bridal carry.
The sudden weightlessness made Jiang Nanshu’s mind go blank.
On instinct, she wrapped her arms around his neck.
Before she could even react, she was placed on the conference table.
Song Ye let go and glanced down at her.
“Rest for a bit.”
Jiang Nanshu finally came back to her senses, slowly withdrawing her arms from around his neck.
She propped herself up on her hands and discreetly scooted back a little.
Song Ye turned around, hands in his pockets, and leaned against the table quietly, waiting for her to recover.
After a while, Jiang Nanshu shook her legs, feeling like she had mostly regained control of her body.
She cleared her throat and said, “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” the man replied coldly.
She slid off the table, grabbed her down jacket, and took out her phone to check the time.
It was already past eight in the evening.
She had been asleep for five or six hours?
No wonder her entire body was sore and numb.
“I’m heading home,” she said as she put on her coat and looked at him.
Song Ye responded with a quiet “Mm,” straightened up, gave her a glance, and walked past her toward the door.
Jiang Nanshu, worried about being seen, waited a full minute after he left before sneaking out of the conference room.
As soon as she stepped out, she looked up and saw Song Ye standing not far away, watching her lazily.
It was then that she realized he was waiting for her.
“…You were waiting for me?” she hesitated as she walked toward him.
Hands still in his pockets, Song Ye looked down at her calmly.
“I have something to tell you.”
It was Friday, and since the development team had pulled an all-nighter, they had left early in the afternoon.
There weren’t many people working overtime tonight.
As they stepped into the elevator, Jiang Nanshu turned to him.
“Did you find out who leaked the information?”
Song Ye nodded slightly.
“Yeah.”
Once they narrowed down the location and time, it wasn’t difficult to trace the source.
By the afternoon, they had already figured it out.
It was Lu Xiaowei.
Lu Xiaowei didn’t believe in this project.
She hated Song Ye.
She hated Jiang Nanshu.
As soon as Jiang Nanshu submitted the promotional draft, she immediately complained about it to a friend.
Her friend asked for a picture, and she actually sent one.
It was hard to tell if she was just careless or outright malicious.
“Who was it?” Jiang Nanshu asked curiously.
“Lu Xiaowei,” Song Ye replied coldly.
“She was ranting to a friend and got betrayed.”
“…Oh.”
Jiang Nanshu wasn’t surprised at all.
This kind of thing wasn’t uncommon in game companies people venting to friends without any sense of confidentiality.
Even if it wasn’t intentional, she still had to take responsibility for her actions.
“What’s going to happen to her?” Jiang Nanshu asked.
“Will she get fired?”
“She can’t be fired,” Song Ye admitted.
At first, he had planned to kick her out of the project team.
“Did the lead developer plead for her?” Jiang Nanshu guessed.
Lu Xiaowei’s boyfriend was the lead developer on the project.
If he asked for leniency, Song Ye would probably give him some consideration, even if he wanted to pursue the matter.
When they found out, Song Ye had immediately called Lu Xiaowei in for a talk.
He had told her outright, “You can’t stay on my project anymore.
If another team wants you, you can stay in the company.
If not, you’re on your own.”
Lu Xiaowei had thought it was just a casual complaint to a friend.
She never expected it to blow up into such a big issue.
When confronted with the evidence, she had gone pale and admitted her mistake.
“I didn’t mean to do it, Ye-ge… Please give me another chance.”
Currently, the company had no new projects.
The other teams weren’t short on staff either.
If she got kicked out of this team, she’d have nowhere to go.
She didn’t want to leave, especially since her boyfriend was still on this project.
Just as Song Ye finished telling her this, he had received another message.
If it had only been the lead developer pleading for her, Song Ye could have ignored it.
After all, he had already considered replacing him too.
But it turned out that Lu Xiaowei had connections she was the niece of a senior executive’s cousin.
Song Ye could ignore the lead developer.
But he couldn’t completely disregard the higher-ups.
As the elevator doors opened, Jiang Nanshu stepped out, looking at the rows of parked cars.
It suddenly dawned on her how did she end up in the underground garage with Song Ye?
Song Ye glanced at her and succinctly said, “Connections.”
“Oh…”
She stood near the elevator doors and finally understood.
“She has someone backing her.”
No wonder.
They had always been on bad terms, and now they had completely fallen out.
If she stayed on the team, working with her would be even more difficult in the future.
Jiang Nanshu felt a bit helpless she was getting really tired of office politics.
Song Ye looked at her with an amused expression.
“You have connections too.”
“…”
She met his gaze, her heart skipping a beat.
“Who?”
“Your neighbor.”
“…”
Once again, Jiang Nanshu hitched a ride with her neighbor.
On the way home, Song Ye asked if she wanted to eat anything.
She thought about the Cantonese dim sum in her fridge.
“I’ll just eat what you brought me last night.
It’s still really good.”
Song Ye said nothing more and drove straight home.
Back at home, Jiang Nanshu took a shower, reheated the food from the fridge, and sat at the dining table while calling Cheng Jia Jia.
She had been too busy the past few days to catch up.
As soon as the call connected, Cheng Jia Jia asked, “So?
Has the boss lost his appeal yet?”
Jiang Nanshu swallowed a bite of shrimp dumpling, thinking about Song Ye’s slightly unusual behavior over the past two days.
She hesitated before saying slowly, “If I said I feel like Song Ye’s attitude toward me has been a little… different, kind of like…”
“Like what?”
Song Ye pursuing her?
Jiang Nanshu didn’t dare to entertain the thought.
After all, back in high school, she also thought Song Ye liked her, but what happened in the end?
She was rejected harshly.
People don’t fall twice in the same place, do they?
She shook her head, pushing away these self-indulgent guesses.
“Nothing.”
She paused.
“Maybe it’s just my imagination.”
“Jiang Nanshu, who taught you to only say half a sentence and leave people hanging?” Cheng Jia Jia was furious.
“Spit it out!”
Jiang Nanshu had no choice but to spill everything that had happened over the past few days.
After listening, Cheng Jia Jia fell silent for a moment before saying, “It really seems like he’s pursuing you.”
“But… it also doesn’t quite feel like Song Ye.”
“It reminds me of how he treated you back in high school.
It was the same way.”
Jiang Nanshu remained silent.
Cheng Jia Jia continued, “Back then, he was guaranteed admission to a top university.
He didn’t even need to attend the prep school, but he still came.
We all thought it was because of you that he was there to tutor you.
Sometimes, he even brought you food, and I got to benefit from it too.”
“But… he didn’t like me.”
“…Yeah.”
Suddenly, the food in Jiang Nanshu’s mouth lost its flavor, even tasting a bit bitter.
Cheng Jia Jia calmly reminded her, “So don’t let yourself be fooled by him.
Remember what you said at the bar before you must not fall for him again.”
Jiang Nanshu pressed her lips together and smiled.
“I remember.”
But sometimes, a heartbeat doesn’t listen.
There was nothing she could do about that.
On Saturday, Jiang Nanshu slept in until one in the afternoon.
After catching up on much-needed rest, she finally felt refreshed.
Jiang Yu called and invited her to dinner at the Lu family home.
She lazily stayed in bed until five in the afternoon before finally heading out.
At her apartment entrance, she ran into Lu Youchuan.
They both stepped out of their respective elevators at the same time and froze for a moment upon seeing each other.
Lu Youchuan had left early last week due to work, and their father had nagged him several times about it.
So today, he made time to come home.
Seeing Jiang Nanshu, he raised an eyebrow and smiled.
“Nanshu, how have you been?”
“I’m good, just a little busy.”
Jiang Nanshu was used to him calling her by name.
Lu Youchuan looked at her and asked, “I was actually asking how things are going with you and Song Ye.”
“…”
Jiang Nanshu was exasperated.
“Didn’t we already establish that the two of us are impossible?”
“Why are you two chatting at the door?”
Lu Mingkun had seen Jiang Nanshu from upstairs.
Hearing their conversation through the slightly open door, he pushed it open and called out, “Nanshu, come inside.
It’s cold outside.”
With that, the conversation between Lu Youchuan and Jiang Nanshu was cut short as they both stepped into the house.
That night, after dinner, Jiang Nanshu sat on the couch with Jiang Yu, watching TV.
Lu Youchuan accompanied Lu Mingkun nearby, having tea and chatting quietly.
The TV was playing a family drama.
At that moment, the storyline showed the female lead’s father having an affair, throwing the whole family into chaos.
Jiang Nanshu glanced at Jiang Yu, worried that the scene would bring back bad memories.
She reached for the remote, intending to change the channel, but Lu Youchuan spoke up.
“Why do people even cheat?
If they don’t want to be in the relationship anymore, they should just get a divorce instead of making a mess.”
He paused, then turned to Jiang Nanshu.
“Don’t you think so, little sister?”
“Mm?”
Jiang Nanshu looked at him, feeling a little confused.
“Uh, yeah, I guess.”
Lu Youchuan continued, “Same goes for relationships.
If you don’t like someone anymore, just break up and move on.
Two-timing is the worst…
Ow, Dad, why’d you hit me?”
Before he could finish his sentence, Lu Mingkun smacked him on the head.
“What kind of nonsense are you saying?
Is that why you keep breaking up with people?
Go from one to the next just like that?
Is this how you’re teaching your sister?”
Lu Youchuan: “…”
He glanced at Jiang Nanshu, hesitant to say more.
Watching him get scolded, Jiang Nanshu suddenly found it amusing.
She burst into laughter.
Lu Mingkun continued, “I was just thinking about having you introduce Nanshu to a boyfriend.
But looking at you now, I doubt you have any decent people around you.”
After finishing his rant at his son, he turned to Jiang Nanshu with a much gentler tone.
“Nanshu, I know a young man who’s excellent he’s the youngest attending doctor in our hospital’s cardiology department.
Good-looking and responsible.
Why don’t you meet him?”
Jiang Nanshu: “…”
She wasn’t laughing anymore.
“Yeah, just meet for a meal and get to know each other,” Jiang Yu chimed in.
“If you feel a connection, you can get to know him better.
We’re not forcing you into marriage, just expanding your social circle.
If it works out, great, and if not, that’s fine too.”
Hearing this, Lu Youchuan thought: This is bad.
Not just one, but several men?
Song Ye is going to be busy.
“Mom, let’s not do that,” Jiang Nanshu groaned, rubbing her forehead.
“I… have social anxiety.
I don’t want a blind date.”
“It’s not a blind date, just a casual meeting.”
“…Mom, you’re playing with words.”
Lu Youchuan coughed and said, “Dad, Aunt Jiang, actually, Nanshu already has someone she’s interested in.”
Jiang Nanshu’s eyes widened.
“I do not!”
“If not, then just meet the guy for dinner,” Jiang Yu said, assuming that her daughter was only denying it because she wasn’t interested in the man Lu Youchuan was hinting at.
“…”
Jiang Nanshu stared at her mother, then sighed in defeat.
“Fine, then yes, I do.”
Jiang Yu: “…”
Meanwhile, Lu Youchuan sent a WeChat message to Song Ye:
[Are you going to make a move or not?
My dad and her mom are setting her up for blind dates.
A whole line of men is waiting.]