Chapter 35 : Li Yi said someone wants to be friends with benefits with you.

One day later, all the senior executives of the company flew to the island for a vacation and the annual meeting, leaving behind a group of employees to continue working overtime.

Before leaving, Song Ye had already assigned all the work.

During his absence, Li Yi would temporarily oversee the project team.

Li Yi, after all, was still young and did not have Song Ye’s maturity and composure.

He also lacked Song Ye’s ability to command authority.

So, as soon as Song Ye left, the work atmosphere of the project team became noticeably more relaxed.

Since the leader wasn’t around and they had been working overtime for so long, everyone would occasionally slack off a bit.

Li Yi could only turn a blind eye.

“This is the sixth time this month.” Zhou Jiale was furious.

“Is the team leader planning to quit? Taking leave again.”

“Forget about her. The leader approved her leave, so there’s nothing we can do.”

Jiang Nanshu had already gotten used to it and felt that it would be best if Lu Xiaowei really did quit.

She looked at the publicity plan.

One of the items mentioned was having Li Yi do another interview.

Since his last exclusive interview had gained a lot of views, the operations team wanted him to do another media interview.

However, Cheng Jiajia was still angry about being scolded by Li Yi last time when he told her to “get lost.”

Li Yi was young and prideful, and he didn’t seem willing to apologize either.

Jiang Nanshu didn’t want to force Cheng Jiajia to contact the same journalist again since that would be awkward.

After thinking it over, she got up and went to find Li Yi.

Li Yi had just finished a meeting with the planning team and was walking out of the conference room when he heard Jiang Nanshu call him.

He looked up, “Sao… Sister, what’s up?”

“Hmm.” Jiang Nanshu ignored his almost-mistaken address and said, “I need to talk to you about something.”

Li Yi nodded, “Let’s go to the office then.”

For now, he was using Song Ye’s office.

Inside the office, Jiang Nanshu got straight to the point and asked him, “If we switch to another media outlet, it’s possible, but the traffic won’t be as high.”

“Then just switch it.” Li Yi prioritized the project first.

He had recently reintegrated into the project team and was in a much better state.

He wasn’t too concerned about saving face anymore.

Looking at Jiang Nanshu, he asked, “The interview isn’t urgent, right?”

Jiang Nanshu replied, “After the New Year.”

Li Yi thought for a moment and said, “Then during the New Year break, I’ll take her out for a meal and apologize. Could you help set it up?”

Jiang Nanshu smiled.

“Sure.”

After finishing the discussion, she turned to leave.

“Sister.” Li Yi called out to her again.

She turned back, “Is there something else?”

Leaning against the desk with his arms crossed, Li Yi smirked, “My brother really likes you.

You should say yes to him sooner rather than later.

There are plenty of women chasing after him, you should have a sense of urgency.”

“…”

Jiang Nanshu hadn’t expected him to say that.

She paused before smiling, “Did your brother ask you to tell me this?”

“No way.

He would never ask someone else to say something like this for him.

That’s not his style.”

Li Yi had just suddenly realized something.

The game Echoes of Time was practically made by his brother for Jiang Nanshu.

Given his brother’s reserved and awkward nature, he probably wouldn’t say anything to her directly.

Of course, Li Yi wouldn’t tell her that either.

He was just getting impatient watching from the sidelines and couldn’t help but remind her, “Someone’s trying to be my brother’s casual hookup, you know.”

“…”

Jiang Nanshu frowned.

“How do you know?”

“That’s not important.

What matters is that there are plenty of women chasing after him, and quite a few who just want a casual fling.

But don’t worry, he’s extremely disciplined.”

Li Yi looked at her meaningfully.

“My brother has a great body, by the way.”

“…”

As she walked out of the office, Jiang Nanshu thought to herself: I know he has a great body.

Wait—who was trying to hook up with Song Ye?

Was it one of the senior executives in the company?

That night, after arriving at the island, all the company executives had dinner together.

Song Ye found these kinds of social events exhausting, but he had no choice.

He endured it until nine o’clock before finding an excuse to return to his hotel.

Back in his room, he turned on the security camera feed from his home.

The living room was empty, with only Rou Song the cat wandering around alone.

He sent Jiang Nanshu a message on WeChat:

[Still at work?]

Shu: [Still at the office, probably won’t be home until ten.]

It was all because of Lu Xiaowei taking leave again.

Everyone else had to pick up the extra work.

Song Ye didn’t want to disturb her, lest he distract her from work.

The hotel had a large heated rooftop swimming pool.

Song Ye changed into swimming trunks and put on a bathrobe before heading upstairs to swim.

At this hour, there weren’t many people in the pool.

Song Ye did some warm-ups and then executed a highly professional dive into the water.

He had always maintained a regular exercise routine.

For him, sports were a great way to relieve stress.

Besides swimming, he also played basketball and rode horses.

When he had time, he even practiced fencing.

He swam continuously for an hour without much rest.

By the time he got out of the pool, it was empty.

Stepping out of the water, he walked to the lounge chair by the poolside, pulled off his swimming cap and goggles, grabbed a towel, and lazily dried his hair.

The sound of water splashing behind him signaled someone else getting out of the pool.

A tall woman in a bikini stepped out and stood in front of him.

Her gaze was bold, sweeping from his well-defined chest muscles down to his lean abs.

The V-line muscles on either side of his abdomen disappeared beneath his black swimming trunks.

His long legs were toned and powerful.

Tang Xuan casually flipped her wet hair back, her expression seductive as she smiled at him.

“What a coincidence. I was wondering who could swim non-stop for so long.”

Song Ye calmly tightened the belt of his robe.

His gaze didn’t linger on her as he said plainly, “I’m leaving.”

She quickly followed his steps.

“I’m heading back too.”

While waiting for the elevator, Song Ye pulled out his phone and glanced at his home’s surveillance feed.

Tang Xuan caught a glimpse of his screen and asked, “Your cat?”

“Yeah.”

He checked the time it was already past ten.

Was Jiang Nanshu still at work?

As the elevator doors opened, Tang Xuan looked at him boldly and asked, “Do you want to come to my room tonight?”

She didn’t believe in marriage, and even dating felt like too much effort.

She was just looking for a casual partner with good ‘hardware’ conditions.

The first time she met Song Ye, she thought he must be great.

Just now, she had confirmed it she had a good eye.

This wasn’t the first time she had hit on him.

She had checked his background and knew that he had spent several years abroad.

She assumed he was open-minded.

Even though he looked cold and aloof on the surface, who knew what he was really like?

After his first executive meeting, she had added him on WeChat.

Once they were somewhat familiar, she had texted him an invitation.

He simply never replied.

She didn’t know if he had seen it or just outright ignored it.

A soft click came from the surveillance feed.

Song Ye pressed the elevator button and glanced at Tang Xuan indifferently.

“Find someone else. I have a girlfriend.”

“You’re lying. I know you don’t.”

Tang Xuan didn’t believe him.

Song Ye lowered his gaze back to the surveillance feed.

In the living room, Jiang Nanshu was carrying a kitten into the room.

She placed the kitten on the carpet and crouched down, scratching the older cat, Rousong, on the back.

“Rousong, I’m sorry for coming home late.”

Her soft voice came through the surveillance audio.

Tang Xuan froze for a moment, instinctively glancing at his phone screen.

She saw the home surveillance footage, now showing not just a cat but also a woman.

The woman sat cross-legged on the carpet, her face captured in the camera’s frame.

Her lips curved slightly as she fed the cat a small fish snack.

The elevator doors opened.

Song Ye lowered his hand, stepped out, and walked away.

Tang Xuan snapped out of her daze and followed him.

“That’s Jiang Nanshu, right? I remember her.”

Although they rarely crossed paths at the office, Tang Xuan hadn’t forgotten her.

After all, she and Liang Yun had been the ones to interview Jiang Nanshu when she first joined.

She had left a strong impression not just because of her excellent resume and interview performance, but also because she was stunning.

Song Ye made a quiet acknowledgment.

He had already reached his hotel room door and pulled out his key card.

Tang Xuan watched him swipe into his room.

Although she felt a little regretful, she didn’t push any further.

She lingered outside his door for a few seconds before turning around and heading back to her room.

This entire incident didn’t affect Song Ye at all.

He quickly took a shower and sat at his desk, opening his laptop to continue working on Echoes of Time.

His phone’s surveillance feed remained open beside him.

Occasionally, Jiang Nanshu’s voice could be heard as she spoke to the cats.

Every now and then, he glanced at the screen.

A notification on his computer caught his attention.

Lin Yao had tagged him in a group chat.

Lin Yao: [When are you taking a break? You guys get vacations, right?]

Lin Yao: [When are we having our get-together?]

S: [In a few days, after I get back.]

S: [How about next Friday night?]

Xu Hao: [Where are you now?]

S: [On an island, company annual meeting.]

Lin Yao: [No wonder you have time to reply to the group chat. You usually just ignore us.]

Song Ye glanced absentmindedly at the surveillance feed.

Jiang Nanshu had just finished cleaning the litter box.

For some reason, she suddenly walked up close to the camera.

Her delicate, fair-skinned face was magnified in the lens.

She squinted slightly, scrutinizing the camera.

Then, she made a playful face.

“Song Ye, you’re not secretly watching me through the camera, are you?”

“……”

Song Ye, are you secretly watching me through the surveillance cameras?”

“……”

Jiang Nanshu had just heard the sound of the camera rotating when she suddenly realized why Song Ye wouldn’t let her take Rou Song away.

Does Rou Song really recognize its home?

She was a little doubtful.

She crossed her arms, stared at the camera, and snorted, “If you are, that’s really kind of… perverted.”

“……”

Song Ye let out a low chuckle, opened her chat at the top of his WeChat list, and typed a line.

Jiang Nanshu’s phone chimed.

She picked it up to check.

S: [Who are you calling names?]

Jiang Nanshu: “……”

She hadn’t expected that he was really watching the surveillance.

Her face suddenly felt a little warm.

She put down her phone, knowing that he was still watching her, lowered her gaze, and blinked her long, curled eyelashes.

She muttered, “Whoever responds to me, I’ll scold them.”

Jiang Nanshu hadn’t thought about it before, but now that she knew he was watching her through the cameras, she felt a little uncomfortable.

“I should just take Rou Song back home with me tomorrow.”

Song Ye’s fingers, which were typing on the keyboard, paused slightly.

He turned off the surveillance and called her via video.

Jiang Nanshu saw the video call request and hesitated for a few seconds before answering.

On the screen, Song Ye was wearing a simple white T-shirt.

It was like they were in two completely different seasons.

She wasn’t sure if he had lost weight or if the camera made him look thinner, but his face seemed more gaunt than it had been before.

“Like this, is it okay?”

The man lowered his eyes, looking at the camera.

“Mm.”
Jiang Nanshu pressed her lips together, her gaze drifting toward the corner of the living room.

Rou Song and Xiao Bei had squeezed into the cat bed together, seemingly planning to sleep together…

Song Ye looked at her and smiled.

“I wasn’t lying to you.

Rou Song really recognizes its home.

If you want to take it back, you should bring its cat bed too.”

He paused and then said directly, “Otherwise, I really don’t want to let you take it.”

Jiang Nanshu: “……”

So, he was secretly watching her.

The atmosphere grew silent, carrying a hint of ambiguity.

Suddenly, a piece of background music played through the earpiece.

Jiang Nanshu found the melody familiar.

She heard him typing on his keyboard and looked up to ask,

“Are you playing a game?

Or working?”

Song Ye muted his computer volume, glanced at her, and said, “Just doing something.”

Jiang Nanshu let out a small “Oh.”

“Then I’ll head back now.

It’s getting late.”

“Mm, sleep early.”

“Okay, I’m hanging up.”

Jiang Nanshu was about to end the video call when she suddenly recalled what Li Yi had said.

She hesitated and looked at the camera.

“Are you alone in your room?”

Song Ye leaned back in his chair, looking at the camera lazily.

He chuckled, “What else?”

Jiang Nanshu hesitated for a few seconds before speaking indifferently.

“Li Yi said someone is just hooking up with you.”

“……”

Song Ye crossed his arms and continued looking at her.

“You don’t know who I like?”

She did.

He liked her.

Jiang Nanshu suddenly fell silent.

Inappropriately, she thought of her father.

Somewhere deep inside, she felt that Song Ye was different from her father.

She shouldn’t compare them or try to prove anything.

Doing so would be disrespectful to Song Ye.

But she still couldn’t help but ask, “Isn’t it said that some men can separate sex from love?”

Song Ye’s gaze swept over the screen in front of him.

The materials displayed there were ones he had prepared years ago.

But back then, he had fallen into an uncontrollable emotional state, making it impossible to finish Echoes of Time.

“I don’t know about others, but I can’t separate them.”

His deep gaze shifted to her, and his tone was calm.

“If they can be separated, then it’s not real love.”