Chapter 6: She asked me to keep your relationship a secret.

“For me?”

Jiang Nanshu stared at the meal box on her desk, momentarily stunned, before looking up at the young man in front of her.

She remembered his name Gao Xiaokun, one of the core developers that Song Ye had brought in.

“Yeah.”

Gao Xiaokun instinctively pushed his glasses up when nervous, lowering his eyes as if he didn’t dare to meet her gaze.

“My name is Gao Xiaokun.

I also went to First High.

Do you… still remember me?”

Jiang Nanshu dreaded this kind of question.

She smiled politely.

“A fellow alum? Which class were you in?”

Judging by his reaction… could he have had a crush on her back in high school?

“I knew you wouldn’t remember me.”

Gao Xiaokun sighed, pulled out a chair, and sat down beside her, clearly ready to reminisce.

Jiang Nanshu: “…”

She truly didn’t remember.

All she could do was offer an awkward smile.

Gao Xiaokun said, “I was a year below you.

At the sports meet that year, I got hurt, and you cleaned my wound and insisted I go get a tetanus shot.

That night, I even brought you chocolates and soda.”

“…”

The only person who had ever given her chocolates and soda was that first-year student.

Jiang Nanshu immediately remembered after all, it was a very memorable incident.

If it weren’t for him, her relationship with Song Ye wouldn’t have suddenly become closer.

She wouldn’t have started buying sodas for Song Ye regularly.

And maybe, just maybe… she wouldn’t have ended up liking him.

Years had passed, and she had long forgotten what Gao Xiaokun looked like.

She hadn’t even remembered his name.

She never expected to run into him again like this.

She smiled.

“So it was you…”

“You really remember?”

Gao Xiaokun was thrilled.

“Of course.”

Jiang Nanshu thought to herself How could I not?

But… she wasn’t sure if his boss still remembered.

If Song Ye knew that the person responsible for his first-ever major embarrassment in life was now working under him… what would he think?

After a pause, she added, “Thanks for ordering food for me.”

“It wasn’t me.”

Gao Xiaokun corrected her.

“It was the boss who said someone from the operations team was working late, so he ordered an extra meal.”

Jiang Nanshu froze.

“Song Ye asked for it?”

“Yeah.

He even said you don’t eat celery.”

Gao Xiaokun, being a straight-talking guy, didn’t bother sugarcoating his words.

He wouldn’t dare ask Song Ye directly, so he turned to Jiang Nanshu instead.

“How does he know what you don’t eat?

Are you and our boss…”

Jiang Nanshu hadn’t expected Song Ye to still remember her food preferences.

For a moment, she was dazed, then looked at Gao Xiaokun.

“We were classmates.

We even sat together for a while.

Didn’t you know?”

Song Ye had always been a campus legend handsome, a top student, and the only one in their year to be directly admitted to Tsinghua University.

He was often invited on stage by school leaders to give speeches as a student representative.

A true star figure on campus.

“Of course, I knew… but…”

Gao Xiaokun glanced at the dimples at the corners of her lips and hesitated to admit that, back then, he had only paid attention to his “goddess” and completely ignored any “male gods.”

“Hey, Gao Xiaokun! Stop chatting and get in here to eat and work!”

Chen Yang poked his head out from the office and called.

Gao Xiaokun quickly stood up.

“Senior, I’ll head back in first.”

“Wait a moment.”

Jiang Nanshu suddenly thought of something and called after him.

“Hm?”

Gao Xiaokun turned back.

Jiang Nanshu smiled, her eyes curved.

“Can you keep my connection with Song Ye a secret?”

Gao Xiaokun was puzzled.

“Why?

What’s there to hide about being former classmates?

Are you guys going to pretend not to know each other at work?”

We are more than just classmates!

Jiang Nanshu’s mind raced for a convincing excuse.

“You know how the project team is right now.

I even sided with you guys in today’s meeting.

If people know that I was his classmate, they might think he only hired me because we were acquainted.”

Gao Xiaokun thought about it and found it reasonable.

“Alright, I’ll keep it a secret.”

Watching him walk back into the office, Jiang Nanshu let out a breath of relief.

She spaced out for a few seconds before opening her meal box.

Inside were beef with scrambled eggs, stir-fried bamboo shoots, and greens all her favorite dishes.

She broke apart her chopsticks and started eating absentmindedly.

But as she ate, she couldn’t stop wondering what was Song Ye thinking?

Why did he tell Gao Xiaokun she didn’t eat celery?

It had been so many years… who would still remember a former classmate’s food preferences?

Wasn’t he worried that Gao Xiaokun would misunderstand their relationship?

Wasn’t he worried she would misunderstand?

Stop it!

It was just a meal why overthink it?

Inside the development team’s office, the men devoured their food like a storm, cleaned up their trash, and got back to work.

Gao Xiaokun was still eating.

He walked over to Song Ye with his meal box and reported in a low voice,

“Boss, Senior said she was your classmate and that you two sat together for a while…”

Song Ye lifted his cup to take a sip of water, only to find it empty.

He paused, turned slightly, and glanced at Gao Xiaokun.

“What else did she say?”

“She asked me to keep your relationship a secret.”

Gao Xiaokun repeated her words.

Song Ye responded indifferently with a simple, “Mhm,” and got up with his cup.

Gao Xiaokun stared blankly at his back.

Only when Song Ye had walked out the door did he mutter to himself,

“…Just desk mates?”

On his way back to his office, Song Ye passed by the break room.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a slender figure facing away from the door.

His steps slowed for a moment before he walked in.

Jiang Nanshu turned around with her cup, completely unprepared to meet his deep, dark gaze.

She steadied herself and looked at him.

“Thanks for the meal.”

“It was just a boxed meal.

Any employee working overtime gets one.”

He spoke emotionlessly while stepping forward to fill his cup with water.

Jiang Nanshu shifted slightly to the side to make room.

“Still, it’s my first day.

It’s only right to be polite to my superior.”

Song Ye took a sip from his cup, leaned against the table lazily, tilted his head slightly, and looked at her casually.

“I thought you wanted to quit.”

“I didn’t expect you to be so straightforward.”

Jiang Nanshu paused for a moment, then looked up at him with a smile and answered just as honestly,

“When I first saw you at the company today, I did have that thought.

But… it doesn’t seem necessary anymore, so I changed my mind.”

The corner of Song Ye’s mouth lifted slightly.

“You’re afraid of people knowing about our relationship?”

Are you seriously trying to kill the conversation like this?

It was already awkward enough.

Jiang Nanshu was screaming internally, but on the surface, she remained calm.

“So, Gao Xiaokun already told you everything?”

That junior was way too eager to please he probably reported everything to Song Ye.

Song Ye let out a quiet “Mm.”

Both of them, without saying it aloud, thought of the memories from their younger days.

After a brief silence, Jiang Nanshu looked up at him again and tentatively asked,

“Then… will you accept my suggestion?”

Song Ye put down his cup and looked down at her expressionlessly.

“Pretend we don’t know each other? Act like today was our first meeting?”

She forced a casual smile.

“Yeah.

It’d be pretty awkward if people found out about us especially for me.

First, I moved in next door to you.

Then, I just happened to apply to the same company as you.

No matter how you look at it, it seems like I planned it all along…”

Before she moved, Song Ye had already received a message from Lu Youchuan, telling him that Jiang Nanshu would be staying next door for a few months and asking him to look after her a little.

That was purely a coincidence he knew that.

He had also seen her resume in advance.

If he didn’t want her in the company, he could have easily rejected her application during the selection process.

“Planned it all along…”

He crossed his arms and glanced at her coldly.

“Is that so?”

Did I just step on another landmine?

Every time the past was mentioned, he suddenly became distant.

Is it just my imagination?

“Of course not…”

Jiang Nanshu quickly denied it, then added after a pause,

“You didn’t like me back then, and I know you wouldn’t like me now either.

I’m well aware of that.”

She lowered her head, avoiding his gaze.

“So, I stopped liking you a long time ago too.”

“Jiang Nanshu.”

His voice suddenly called her name.

His hand dropped onto the table as he straightened his posture.

Jiang Nanshu was caught off guard and instinctively looked up at him.

At 168 cm, she was tall and slender, and today, she was wearing short-heeled boots.

But even so, she was still noticeably shorter than him.

That inexplicable sense of pressure made her uncomfortable.

Song Ye lowered his gaze at her, colder than ever since their reunion.

“The third time.”

“The third time what?”

She blinked, confused.

“The third time since we met again that you’ve deliberately drawn a line between us.

Are you that afraid I’ll misunderstand something?

Or do you just have nothing else to say, so you keep bringing up the past?”

Song Ye let out a self-deprecating laugh, his expression cold and restrained.

He thought that after all these years, he had already let go of how she once said she liked him while still maintaining ties with her first love from before she transferred schools.

But every time she brought up the past, he found that he still couldn’t control his emotions.

Still, he had no intention of discussing it further.

He had kept quiet back then there was no reason to bring it up now, as if he was still bitter about it.

Feelings aren’t something that need explanations or justifications.

Jiang Nanshu hadn’t expected him to hate talking about the past so much.

Luckily, she had one good trait she was quick to admit her mistakes and avoided unnecessary losses.

Especially when dealing with Song Ye.

This trait had always worked wonders.

Back then, whenever she made him mad, a simple “I was wrong” was usually enough to calm him down.

And if that didn’t work, she’d just say it twice.

He never knew what to do with her after that.

“I was wrong.

I won’t bring it up again.”

She looked at him innocently, feeling like his personality had become harder to read.

But since he clearly disliked it, she wouldn’t push her luck.

She smiled slightly.

“Then from now on, let’s just talk about work.

Is that okay?”

Should I say she’s heartless, or just completely indifferent?

Song Ye stared at her face and let out a cold laugh.

“Go home.

I never asked you to work overtime.”