Chapter 44 : Kissed Her Lips

The man let out a low “hiss”, tilted his head back slightly, and his Adam’s apple rolled gently,

And he tugged at the corner of his mouth with a bit of helplessness.

Then he raised his hand to cover the back of her head, letting her leave marks on his neck.

It hurt, but he only frowned slightly.

Jiang Nanshu didn’t bite too hard, nor for too long.

After letting go, she buried her head in his shoulder and didn’t move.

“Are you done stamping?” Song Ye rubbed the back of her head.

Jiang Nanshu sniffled, finally lifted her head, and looked deeply at him, “Song Ye, I…”

She didn’t finish her sentence,

as Song Ye had already lowered his head and kissed her lips.

He pecked lightly on her lips and whispered against them, “Then it’s my turn.”

He seemed to have been waiting for a long time.

After saying that, his kiss turned aggressive,

lips and tongue entangled, deep and fervent.

Although they had kissed before,

Jiang Nanshu still wasn’t quite used to his almost devouring style.

She tilted her head back to endure it, kissed until she couldn’t catch her breath,

ears filled with nothing but the ambiguous sounds of their kisses.

Her thoughts were in chaos, and she couldn’t help but grab his back.

Her nails were neatly trimmed, and with the sweater between them,

the scratching didn’t affect him much.

Instead, it only made his kisses more intense.

The cold wind howled outside the glass door, with snowflakes swirling.

Inside, the thick, steamy atmosphere was suddenly interrupted by a phone ringing.

It was Jiang Nanshu’s phone in her pocket.

Song Ye panted lightly and finally stopped, sounding a little displeased.

“Who’s calling you in the middle of the night?”

“……”

Jiang Nanshu finally got a chance to breathe, her head a bit dizzy.

She froze for a moment before fishing out her phone.

Maybe because she took too long, the other person had hung up.

She glanced at the missed call,

it was from Cheng Jiajia.

She pressed her lips together and gently nudged the man still holding her.

Softly, she said, “It’s a call from Jiajia. Might be something urgent, I’ll call her back.”

Song Ye released her hand on her waist, shoved it into his pocket, and looked down at her.

Jiang Nanshu walked to the glass door and called Cheng Jiajia back.

The other side picked up quickly: “Did I wake you?”

“No…” Jiang Nanshu looked at the snow falling harder and harder outside the door,

her face still a bit warm.

“Good. I just finished playing the new DLC of Echoes of Time, and something feels off…”

Cheng Jiajia also played games.

She used to be a journalist for an art game section, and now she’s the chief editor, so she’s pretty into this stuff.

Once this game got updated, and with such a huge collapse factor,

she started playing as soon as she finished work.

The platform version update was a bit different from Jiang Nanshu’s PC version.

The puzzles were harder.

There weren’t as many “soulmate-like” answers.

For example, in the piano piece, if you choose the wrong answer,

You had to go back and reselect it.

If you were unlucky, you had to retry four times.

So, for regular players, it might take quite a bit longer.

Of course, there were no easter eggs.

Cheng Jiajia started playing around the same time as Jiang Nanshu.

It took her three and a half hours to finish.

An hour longer than Jiang Nanshu.

The piano piece in the game removed the words “Nan Shu” but kept the line “Sounds like the protagonist.”

She listened to it several times and felt it sounded extremely familiar.

But she couldn’t be sure if it was Jiang Nanshu’s voice,

which is why she couldn’t help calling in the middle of the night.

Cheng Jiajia asked, “Did you play it?”

Jiang Nanshu paused for a moment and gave a soft “Mm.”

“That cola… and the piano piece…” Cheng Jiajia hesitated,

“The game’s producer, Will… that’s Song Ye, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Damn!” Cheng Jiajia was shocked, then quickly sensed something, “He’s right next to you, isn’t he?”

Jiang Nanshu turned around and looked at the man leaning casually against the wall.

Their eyes met, his gaze soft and focused.

Her heart felt a bit stuffy.

She pressed her lips together and turned back to look outside the door.

“Downstairs at my mom’s place.”

“Came to confess?” Cheng Jiajia hit the mark immediately.

“Mm…” Jiang Nanshu’s lips curved into a faint smile.

“Your call interrupted our stamp session.”

“You really know how to make kissing sound so pure and poetic.”

Cheng Jiajia paused and double-checked, “You do mean kissing, right? Not… sex?”

“…” Jiang Nanshu replied helplessly, “We’re downstairs.”

“He drove here, right? The car’s fine too,

that’s a whole different kind of thrill.”

Cheng Jiajia chuckled.

“So are you guys officially together now? What happened to your heartbreaker persona?”

Jiang Nanshu’s chest tightened a little.

She had wanted to explain her situation with Chen Qingyue to Song Ye earlier,

But his kiss had interrupted her.

Those words were pushed right back down by his intense kiss.

She suddenly felt today might not have been the right moment.

Not on the day he had meticulously planned his confession.

Telling him now would be… cruel.

Every February 14th from now on, he might not remember sweet moments,

only feel like he was swallowing a sugar-coated bitter pill.

Regret has too much destructive power.

“Yeah, we’re together now.”

Jiang Nanshu took a deep breath.

“I’ll talk to you later, hanging up now.”

After ending the call, she looked up and saw him watching her.

She quickly turned and instinctively threw herself into Song Ye’s arms.

He naturally held her, pulling her hoodie up to cover her tightly,

and teased her with a laugh, “It’s not like we’re high schoolers sneaking around.

What are you hiding for?”

“…”

Sneaking out for a midnight date,

it wouldn’t be so bad if only Jiang Yu knew.

But if Lu Mingkun found out, it’d just feel… kind of embarrassing.

So,

The newlywed neighbors opened their door and saw the two of them still holding each other.

They gave them a few extra glances before heading to the elevator.

Only when the elevator doors closed did Jiang Nanshu finally breathe a sigh of relief.

She hugged the man’s lean waist, stayed quiet for a moment, then looked up at him.

She’d have a hard time explaining things in the morning.

Lantern Festival was the day after Valentine’s Day,

and she’d have to go to Grandpa and Grandma Lu Youchuan’s place for a meal.

Song Ye looked down at her,

holding her still, expression a bit cool and displeased.

Jiang Nanshu reached up and poked his neck playfully, raising her brow with a smile:

“Didn’t you already stamp me? Still afraid I’ll run?”

“Who knows?”

…”

She looked down at Rou Song and thought of a compromise:

“Then, how about you take Xiaobei home with you?”

At around 1:30 a.m., Song Ye followed Jiang Nanshu upstairs,

But instead of taking the owner, he left with the owner’s cat.

—

In the morning, Jiang Yu noticed Jiang Nanshu didn’t look too well and asked with concern,

“Didn’t sleep well last night?”

Jiang Nanshu had been tossing and turning all night,

Her mind was restless, and she hadn’t slept well.

She sat down at the dining table and casually explained,

“I stayed up a bit late playing a game.”

“Hey, try not to stay up too late.” Jiang Yu chided her, then glanced toward her bedroom door.

“Where’s Xiaobei?”

Usually, she’d let Xiaobei out for a bit in the morning.

Jiang Nanshu paused for a second, picked up a bun, and calmly explained,

“A friend came over last night to drop off my computer.

I asked him to take Xiaobei and look after him for a few days,

it’s not good for him to stay cooped up in the room all the time.”

Jiang Yu didn’t question it and poured her a cup of hot milk.

“Eat up, I’ll drive you to work.”

While the two of them were waiting for the elevator, the door next door opened.

The newlywed couple from last night came out together.

Everyone greeted each other and entered the elevator.

The woman stood beside Jiang Nanshu, glanced at her a few times, then leaned in and asked softly,

“Last night… downstairs, that was you, wasn’t it?”

Jiang Nanshu’s heart skipped a beat, and she turned to look at her.

“The coat.” The woman blinked.

“…”

The down jacket Jiang Nanshu was wearing was the same one from last night.

She felt a bit embarrassed, but still smiled and nodded.

As they stepped out of the elevator, the woman smiled at her and whispered,

“Your boyfriend is so handsome.

Tall and good-looking, you two look amazing together.

I’m so jealous.”

“Hey, hey, hey, you’ve been complimenting him all night. Your husband’s right here.”

Her man, clearly displeased, pulled her away.

Jiang Nanshu stayed silent for a moment, then turned to look at Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu had heard, too, and was smiling at her.

“So… you and your boss are official now?”

Jiang Nanshu didn’t hide it and nodded.

“Mm. We just confirmed it last night.”

“That’s great. You haven’t dated in so many years, I was starting to worry.”

At first, Jiang Yu had worried that her failed marriage with Jiang Tianlei had left a scar.

Then she worried that she might have feelings for Chen Qingyue.

Now that she knew her daughter was finally in a relationship, she was truly at ease.

After getting in the car and buckling her seatbelt, Jiang Nanshu suddenly said, out of nowhere,

“Mom, I really regret not listening to you back in high school.”

She deeply regretted not listening to Jiang Yu back then,

her feelings for Chen Qingyue, her guilt, and seeing him again.

Or maybe, if Jiang Yu had just told her a bit earlier how things were,

she would’ve never met up with Chen Qingyue again.

If that hadn’t happened, they wouldn’t have reconnected in high school.

And she and Song Ye wouldn’t have missed all these years.

Jiang Yu didn’t quite understand and turned to look at her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Jiang Nanshu couldn’t really blame Jiang Yu.

After Jiang Tianlei passed away, her mother had raised her alone, and it hadn’t been easy.

She lowered her head and sighed, “I just feel like I wasn’t obedient enough before, and now I regret it.”

Jiang Yu didn’t quite catch on and drove the car out while offering some casual comfort.

“The past is in the past. Don’t think about it too much.”

The snow from last night had mostly melted by the time morning came, and the temperature was a bit lower than the day before.

Jiang Nanshu got out of the car and received a message from Song Ye.

He had sent over a list of restaurants, asking which one she wanted to go to for dinner.

As she walked toward the office, she lowered her head and replied: You’re not working overtime tonight?

S: No overtime.

S: The project team has a social event tonight.

The office and the bank organized a social event.

There were more single men in her office, and more women in the bank.

Those who volunteered were going to attend. Half of the single men in the project team signed up, especially in the development group.

Apart from the married ones and those with girlfriends, everyone else signed up,

whether they just wanted to join in the fun and avoid overtime, or were just eager to find a partner;

It wasn’t clear.

That’s when Jiang Nanshu remembered the event.

She flipped through the list of restaurants Song Ye had sent and walked into the elevator.

Inside the elevator, someone greeted her.

“Good morning, Senior.”

Jiang Nanshu looked up and froze. Song Ye was at the back of the elevator, still wearing the same outfit from last night, and was looking down at her.

She paused for a moment, then looked at the familiar faces in the elevator and calmly greeted them.

“Good morning.”

She stood in front of Song Ye and typed in the message box: “I want to eat Hong Kong-style dim sum.”

She had been craving it since the first night of the year.

Song Ye had his hands in his pockets.

His phone buzzed, but he didn’t take it out.

His gaze fell on Jiang Nanshu’s phone screen as he softly said, “Okay.”

Gao Xiaokun turned around and asked, “Boss, what did you say?”

“I didn’t say anything.” Song Ye gave him a casual glance.

Jiang Nanshu smiled slightly and put her phone back in her pocket.

When she got to her desk, she overheard a conversation about Echoes of Time.

Zhou Jiale said, “It even trended on hot search at midnight last night.

Didn’t expect this game to be so popular.

So many people are playing it.”

Jiang Nanshu was stunned. Is it even a trend?

Li Junyi said, “There are a lot of posts on the forums, too.

Maybe it’s because of the nostalgia factor.”

A member of the planning team, Xiao Ying, called out, “Nanshu, did you play it?”