Chapter 16: This matter is over, don’t bring it up again.

S: [How many?]

Song Ye replied quickly, but with just two words.

Lu Youchuan couldn’t tell whether he was concerned or not. He typed casually.

Lu Youchuan: [Maybe five, six, or eight.]

Lu Youchuan: [My dad has a lot of male students, and the hospital has plenty of male doctors.

There are so many resources.

Especially for someone as beautiful as Nanshu, once her picture is out, so many men will want to get to know her.]

Song Ye didn’t respond again.

It was unclear what he was thinking.

Jiang Yu and Lu Mingkun were still trying to convince Jiang Nanshu.

Jiang Yu said, “Tomorrow is Sunday, right? You can at least have a meal with someone.”

Jiang Nanshu was about to reply when her phone rang.

Thank God!

Whoever it was, the call came at the perfect time.

She quickly picked up the phone, answered without even checking who it was.

“Hello.”

She pressed the phone to her ear, stood up, and walked towards the balcony to get some space.

The man’s familiar deep voice came from the other end, with the usual cold tone.

“Jiang Nanshu.”

Jiang Nanshu froze.

She stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, staring out at the night sky, blinked, and softly replied, “Hmm… What’s up?”

Song Ye didn’t answer immediately.

She heard the sound of game background noise and a man cursing loudly, as if arguing with teammates while playing a game.

“F*ck!” the man yelled, “Bro, why’d you turn off my TV?”

The voice was a bit familiar.

Was that… Li Yi?

The game sounds and Li Yi’s cursing stopped, and the surrounding became quiet.

Song Ye’s side was silent as she waited for him to speak.

In the brief pause, Jiang Nanshu suddenly felt uneasy, and glanced back at Lu Youchuan.

She couldn’t shake the feeling that this phone call was a bit too coincidental.

Lu Youchuan was focused on texting and didn’t notice Jiang Nanshu’s glance.

She pursed her lips and turned back to hear Song Ye speak.

“Have you finished preparing the player survey?”

Jiang Nanshu: “……”

What was she even thinking?

He was her boss.

There could only be one reason he was calling her on a day off work.

He had already said that he would only discuss work.

She thought for a moment and replied, “I’ve written half of the survey, but after the black post issue, I’ve been busy revising the promotional draft.

Zhou Jiale took it over to finish writing. It should be done. I’ll check with her later.”

Song Ye paused, then said, “Submit it by tomorrow noon.”

Jiang Nanshu wasn’t too bothered by working on a Sunday.

There were only a few days left before the player testing, and the testing version hadn’t even been confirmed with the operations team yet.

It meant there were still many bugs to fix.

Today, she could take a break because she had worked through the night the previous day.

She responded, “Alright.”

After hanging up, she sent a message to Zhou Jiale, asking if the player survey was finished.

Zhou Jiale: [Kneeling][Kneeling]

Zhou Jiale: [Almost done.

I’ll finish it first thing tomorrow morning.]

The project team was short-staffed.

Yesterday afternoon, Jiang Nanshu took a nap, while Lu Xiaowei had to cooperate with the investigation and was called in for a meeting by Song Ye.

Zhou Jiale and Li Junyi were still monitoring public sentiment and maintaining the operations account.

They were quite busy, which is why they fell behind on this task.

Jiang Nanshu didn’t mind much, so she replied: [I’ll handle it tomorrow morning.]

Zhou Jiale: [You know about the leak from the team leader, right?]

This matter was no longer a secret.

The evening before, Lu Xiaowei’s computer had been checked, and she was called in for a meeting by Song Ye.

Everyone knew about it, even if the company hadn’t made it public.

It wasn’t openly discussed, but everyone was aware.

Jiang Nanshu didn’t know how to respond, so she just replied with an “Mm.”

Zhou Jiale: [I don’t know how Ye-ge will handle this.

If she gets kicked out, I’ll support you for the position.

You’re clearly more capable than her, and she’s always been pressuring you.]

“……”

Jiang Nanshu did want the position, but Lu Xiaowei had connections.

For now, she had no choice.

She sighed and replied: [I appreciate your support.

I’ll bring you breakfast tomorrow, the dumplings my mom made.]

“Nanshu.”

Lu Youchuan called her name.

Jiang Nanshu turned around.

Lu Youchuan was already putting on his coat and holding his car keys.

“I’m leaving. Want me to give you a ride?”

“Sure.”

Jiang Nanshu didn’t want to stay and be forced into another blind date, so she grabbed her coat, turned to Jiang Yu and Lu Mingkun.

“Mom, Uncle, I’m heading back.”

Jiang Yu looked up at her.

“If you don’t want to eat with him now, at least add him on WeChat and chat a bit. Get to know each other.”

Jiang Nanshu: “……”

She couldn’t really refuse, so she nodded.

“Alright.”

Meanwhile, at Li Yi’s house.

Song Ye grabbed his jacket from the couch, his expression emotionless as he prepared to play another round of a new game.

Ever since he was sidelined by the company, Li Yi had been holed up at home, playing games like a recluse, barely going outside, only drinking with friends occasionally.

Song Ye, knowing the player test was approaching, said, “If you don’t go to the company before the player test, don’t even think about getting involved with this project.”

Li Yi didn’t speak.

He slowly walked towards the door.

Li Yi had always been cocky and arrogant, showing off and expecting an audience.

Only Song Ye, with his cold, indifferent gaze, could control him.

“Bro,” Li Yi knew Song Ye wasn’t joking.

He quickly got up.

Song Ye glanced back at him from the entrance, Li Yi was still young, only 23, but after his first real setback, he had lost some of his confidence.

“Do you really think I’m still capable?” Li Yi asked.

Song Ye looked at him coolly and said, “Compared to Liang Yun, you’re still doing much better.

At least you’re making my life easier.”

Li Yi: “……”

What kind of comfort was that?

Song Ye didn’t say anything else, opened the door, and walked out.

Li Yi sat back down, staring blankly at the floor for a while before logging into Feishu.

He used to be the project’s producer and investor, but now sidelined, he still had access to the project’s data.

Lu Youchuan drove off and made a phone call that lasted for over ten minutes.

By the time he hung up, it was almost dark.

Passing by the pet hospital, Jiang Nanshu quickly said, “Let’s not go back yet, I need to stop by the pet hospital.”

“Your cat still isn’t better?”

Lu Youchuan slowed down the car and pulled over.

“Broken bones and pneumonia, pretty serious, but it should be able to come home in the next couple of days.”

Jiang Nanshu had bought a lot of things for the cat online.

Some of them had already arrived, but she had been busy lately and was worried about not taking good care of it.

She turned to Lu Youchuan and said, “I ordered a couch cover that the cat can’t scratch.”

Lu Youchuan had bought a real leather sofa, which was quite expensive.

“Why so polite with me?”

Jiang Nanshu smiled lightly.

“I’m getting out of the car.”

She paused, then turned to him and asked, “Bro, did you just send a message to Song Ye?”

Lu Youchuan had previously relayed a message to Song Ye, which made Jiang Nanshu frustrated, and she had gotten angry about it.

Also, she didn’t know Song Ye’s attitude yet.

Maybe he still had unresolved feelings for her?

Song Ye’s personality made it hard to imagine him liking someone again after being hurt in his youth. Even if he liked her, he probably couldn’t just let go immediately.

Lu Youchuan, with a serious face, replied, “No.”

“No?”

Jiang Nanshu didn’t say anything further, just got out of the car.

On the way home, Song Ye’s phone kept vibrating with messages from Lin Yao.

Ever since learning that Jiang Nanshu lived next door to him and worked at the same company, Lin Yao had been texting him repeatedly, warning him not to make the same mistakes again.

Song Ye had once replied with a “Go away,” and after that, he simply ignored him.

Not long later, Lin Yao’s call came through.

Song Ye answered the phone and passed by the pet hospital.

He glanced at the hospital entrance and unexpectedly saw Jiang Nanshu getting out of Lu Youchuan’s car.

Lin Yao asked on the phone, “Want to go grab a drink?”

He still held a grudge about Song Ye canceling their late-night dinner for Jiang Nanshu.

Song Ye slowed the car, stopped in front of the community entrance, then turned the steering wheel and headed back.

“I have to prepare for the player test.

There are a bunch of bugs to fix, not the right time for drinks.”

He casually glanced ahead.

“Maybe another day.”

“Alright,” Lin Yao sighed.

“But first, tell me, what’s going on with you and Jiang Nanshu now?”

As Song Ye parked, he glanced at the hospital entrance, where Jiang Nanshu was standing still, unmoving.

He turned off the engine and said self-mockingly, “What’s there to talk about?”

It was obvious that Jiang Nanshu was deliberately keeping her distance from him and had repeatedly stated that she no longer liked him.

“Better that way,” Lin Yao said, seemingly relieved.

“I’m just worried that you’ll get confused again and end up being her backup.”

The term “backup” stung Song Ye, and he took a deep breath, his voice cold.

“Let’s not talk about this anymore.”

“Fine, I won’t bring it up again,” Lin Yao replied.

Song Ye hung up and got out of the car.

Jiang Nanshu was standing at the entrance of the hospital, staring at an unfamiliar friend request.

The note said: “Cheng He, a student of Mr. Lu.”

She immediately recognized it as one of her blind date prospects.

She bit her lip, hesitated for a while, and eventually accepted the request.

She couldn’t refuse Lu Mingkun’s kind intentions.

After accepting, she put her phone back in her pocket and reached for the glass door.

She didn’t push it open on the first try.

Just as she was about to use more force, a large, long hand landed on hers, pushing the door open for her.

Jiang Nanshu instinctively looked up, saying, “Thank you.”

When she saw the man’s cold, handsome features, she froze.

She blinked and asked, “What are you doing here?”

Song Ye withdrew his hand, looked down at her, and said, “Came to buy something, just happened to run into you.”

“Oh…”

Jiang Nanshu pressed her lips together.

“Is this your cat, Little Bei?”

The same female doctor was still on duty, performing an exam on a Bichon Frise.

She heard the sound and looked up, greeting him.

Song Ye paused, looked at her, and said, “Little Bei?”

Jiang Nanshu felt a bit guilty, turned her gaze away, and muttered, “…It’s a name I gave to my cat.”