Chapter 42
It seemed like the words “my boyfriend” had won her over. The joy from being pleased was clearly visible on Shi Yu’s face, and he quickly turned into a wagging puppy.
His hand, feeding her fruit, paused. “Say it again, Wanwan.”
“I said I want to contribute a little to my boyfriend,” Jiang Shangwan bit into a small piece of watermelon. “It’s the kind with seeds, so sweet.”
After the intimacy, the warmth seemed to make happiness feel within reach. When they were together, the vast villa no longer felt empty. Even the cold black-and-white-gray décor seemed to take on warm hues. Being young wasn’t just in the beautiful body, but also in the positive life state of the young and their vibrant hearts.
Jiang Shangwan usually ate very little, but when she was with Shi Yu, her appetite would open up, and she would eat a little more.
After finishing the game, Jiang Shangwan casually replied to a few work emails and dealt with some documents her assistant sent over. Only then did she open the notifications piling up in WeChat. Shi Yu was right beside her, so it definitely wasn’t him sending the messages, and she wasn’t in a hurry to check them.
She remembered that she had forgotten to ask Qiao Yuqing about the threats she had faced, but most likely there wasn’t a serious problem—if there had been, Qiao would have contacted her earlier.
It was actually Shen Luo who sent her a few complaints: 【Recently, my dad dragged me to the company to work, I’m so exhausted I could die, and my brother yells at me all the time.】
【Didn’t you get bothered by that student you had? How long has it been since we went out drinking?】
Jiang Shangwan hadn’t introduced Shi Yu’s situation to them yet. At first, she just wanted to enjoy a sweet relationship. Since she had already crossed some boundaries, she temporarily let go of many external restrictions and decided to take each day as it came, without needing to publicize it to the world. But at that moment, she suddenly felt a bit of a desire to show off.
【You haven’t been online recently? Didn’t you see all the trending searches?】
【What? I saw, I see it every day.】 Shen Luo replied quickly.
Jiang Shangwan simply forwarded a trending Weibo post she had saved from a while ago, with millions of likes. It was Shi Yu’s clarification video from the day the beta test was paused.
【My little boyfriend.】
【Ah…? Isn’t this the game boss who was buying trending searches not long ago? When did you start dating?】
【Isn’t he the student you brought before?】
【Yeah, take a closer look. Also, he didn’t buy the trending search; it was started by a random blogger who helped boost the hype.】
On the other end, Shen Luo’s judgment was initially influenced by the overly formal suit, and since the lighting at the private club was quite dim that day, he stared at the video for a long time before realizing it was the same person.
Shen Luo was greatly shocked: 【What the heck, how long has it been, and now he’s the boss??】
【So, pull yourself together—stop hanging around bars and chasing women, and stop letting your brother yell at you.】
Shi Yu saw that she was focused on typing, and casually leaned over, asking in a low voice, “Are you chatting with someone?”
“Yeah.” Showing off her capable little boyfriend.
Seeing that he seemed curious, Jiang Shangwan generously tilted the screen toward him, saying, “Remember the time I took you for drinks? You’ve met him before.”
“Childhood friend,” Shi Yu’s arm around her waist tightened slightly.
“Childhood friend? Stop listening to his nonsense,” Jiang Shangwan didn’t want him to misunderstand. If there really was something, she wasn’t the type to lie or cover up the truth. To be precise, she just looked down on such tactics.
“It’s true we grew up together, but we’re too familiar with each other, and there’s no romantic feeling at all. Plus, he’s been with more women than you have clothes, so there’s no way I’d ever think of him like that.”
Unless she were crazy, she would never willingly jump into someone else’s pond. Her standards were high enough to filter out all men who didn’t meet them.
Shi Yu kissed her ear, his heart softening. He whispered in her ear, “Wanwan, you’re really something.”
She had no defenses against him. Not only did she directly show him the information, but she also patiently explained so much to him. She could have easily skipped over the topic, avoided answering any of his questions or concerns, just like many seasoned players in love who are good at being vague, using silence to stir up emotions.
But she chose to reassure him.
“It really isn’t anything. He was just complaining that his family wants him to take over the company, so he’s tired. His family is very strict with him, they limit his allowance every month because they’re worried he’ll mess up, and he has a competitive older brother constantly pressuring him and scolding him.”
“He just wants him to do better,” Shi Yu said.
“Of course, who wouldn’t want their child to move upward?”
“Then why is there my video?” Shi Yu asked further.
“Are you pretending not to know? Naughty puppy. Of course, I’m showing off you. He’s so lazy and degenerate, while you’re so young and ambitious.”
Shi Yu chuckled softly. He pulled the blanket over them both, wrapping them tightly together.
On the other side, Shen Luo, unaware that they were hugging each other, sent a message with no sense of timing: 【Can you stop mentioning my brother? He’s so annoying. He got me a few interns to manage, all from Tsinghua and Peking University.】
【What can I manage? Just let the top students self-study. Do they need someone to teach them? Let them get their own internship certification; it’ll add a nice touch to their resumes.】
【What are you doing? Why haven’t you replied to me for so long?】
Jiang Shangwan pressed the voice message button and sent a reply: 【It’s 11 PM. What do you think I’m doing? I’m lying in my little boyfriend’s arms, getting ready to sleep.】
【…You’re something else.】
She turned off the screen and then sent a message to Qiao Yuqing: 【How’s everything going? Have you sorted out the issue from before?】
It took a long time for the reply to come through: 【It’s fine now, he doesn’t dare to send anything, but he’s still pestering me, asking for reconciliation.】
【That’s good, as long as it’s fine. Get some rest.】
【Wanwan, Fang Liangchen contacted me again recently. He said you’re in a relationship now, with that student you had drinks with before? You’re not serious, right? Just having fun? You two have too much of an age gap.】
A hint of displeasure flashed across Jiang Shangwan’s brow: 【What did Fang Liangchen say to you again?】
【He just mentioned you were in a relationship, and told me to advise you not to get too carried away, to lower your standards.】
Jiang Shangwan snorted lightly in her heart. What a low blow. He was clearly trying to spread the news about her relationship with someone so much younger, intending to make her feel embarrassed under the judgmental eyes of her friends. After all, this was a student who was 12 years younger and from a very different background.
Unfortunately, she no longer cared about these things. His impression of her was still stuck on the naive sense of pride he had back in their student days—how childish and laughable. Everyone else was moving forward, but it seemed like he was still stuck in the same place in Los Angeles.
【I get it. You don’t need to worry about him. I scolded him.】
【Not just playing around, we’re actually in a relationship.】
Shi Yu’s embrace tightened gradually, and he kissed her gently on the forehead. They pressed even closer.
“What’s wrong?” Jiang Shangwan put down her phone and turned over to face him, pressing herself tightly against him. “Miss me already? You little clingy puppy.”
Shi Yu rested his nose against hers, feeling the soft curve of her small, delicate nose. There was a unique arch on her nose bridge, a distinctive nose peak that made her features and bone structure even more striking.
The distance between them was so close that they could feel each other’s warm breaths brushing against their faces, a slight tickling sensation. Jiang Shangwan gently rubbed against him: “You seem really happy.”
“I am. I saw it.” Shi Yu wrapped his arms around her slender waist, holding her so tightly that she felt almost unreal in his arms. “Wanwan, you said we’re in a relationship.”
“Yeah.” Jiang Shangwan replied, “No need to lie.”
From the first time he mistakenly grabbed the wrong coffee at the Jiang Corporation, he had left her with that initial fluttering feeling. From when he took her to the hospital for her stomach illness, shielding her from behind on the side of the road at night and confronting a perverted man who had harassed her, he gave her a rare sense of security. And from the moment he offered her half of his family’s entire fortune, he had truly unlocked her heart.
Jiang Shangwan had to admit, his presence was special. There was no involvement of interests or calculations, just mutual attraction and a gradual closeness.
“It feels unreal, like a dream.” Shi Yu said, “You’re too good. You’re never getting away from me.”
“What’s not real about it? You can calmly accept an eight-figure income, so what’s unrealistic about just being in a relationship?”
He got up and blocked her lips with his, using the kiss to replace any answers or questions. His tongue forcefully parted her mouth and lips, finding the hidden, smoothness within, tangling with it, hooking onto that softness, swallowing all her breath and scent, sucking and entwining with force.
He sucked her tongue with force, hearing her faint hiss of pain. Slowly, his lips parted from hers, and he stared at her wet lower lip, wiping away a strand of silver that had been drawn out.
Jiang Shangwan closed her eyes, grabbing the chestnut-colored, messy hair at the back of his head, pressing his head down to deepen the kiss. They were like starving wild dogs, desperately attacking the only source of food in front of them, until they had stolen every breath from each other, only then did they stop, panting for air.
…The plane landed at Haishi Airport. As soon as they exited the cabin, they were hit by the chilling cold wind, making their whole bodies shiver.
The vast, snowy landscape mixed with the solemn, cold northern wind, instantly waking up the drowsy Jiang Shangwan. It was already the end of December in Haishi, and the city was covered in a thick blanket of snow from a heavy snowstorm.
The sub-zero cold weather here was starkly different from the mild winter of Jiangcheng. The cold was piercing and direct, chilling to the bone, and even the wind carried a hint of indifference.
Shi Yu reached out and pulled up the hood of Jiang Shangwan’s down jacket, holding her close to shield her from the wind as they walked forward. “Haishi winters are very cold and windy, unlike Jiangcheng. You have to keep your hood on, or the wind will hurt your face.”
Jiang Shangwan had originally planned to bring a short, unhooded fur jacket and stockings, but Shi Yu insisted on changing it to a hooded, long down jacket and thick leggings.
They waited in the lounge for the car to pick them up. This time, there was no assistant accompanying them; all the luggage was being pulled by Shi Yu.
Jiang Shangwan’s voice was muffled: “It’s so cold here, can people really survive in this kind of weather?”
“Of course. It’s not even the coldest yet. The coldest can reach minus thirty degrees. The cold here is dry and sharp, directly cutting to the bone, but it’s not the damp cold that gnaws at you. Once you’re inside and the heating’s on, it’ll be much more comfortable. That’s why many people here wear short sleeves under their down jackets.”
“Short sleeves under a down jacket?” Jiang Shangwan exclaimed. “This is such a strange place.”