Chapter 7
Soon, Fang Liangchen returned carrying two identical cups of coffee. The paper cups were embossed with the gilded letters “JS,” and he gently placed one in front of Jiang Shangwan.
“Thank you.” Jiang Shangwan took a small sip. The familiar bitter taste cleared her mind while giving her a sense of security.
“A few days ago, we had a reunion with classmates from our undergraduate days in LA. You didn’t seem to come,” Fang Liangchen said quietly, looking into her eyes. “Many classmates were there, and Professor Stella was too. She said she misses you a lot.”
Jiang Shangwan’s disciplined attitude showed in every aspect of her life. She was always well-liked by teachers. Whether it was easy or professional classes, she rarely skipped them. While some of her peers abroad spent nearly every night partying and socializing, she remained focused and studious.
Professor Stella was one of those who greatly admired her and had helped her a lot.
“I miss her too. If there’s another reunion, please convey my regards to her,” Jiang Shangwan said.
Her fingertips gently traced the rim of the cup. The coolness from the ice seeped through the thin paper into her palm, as if recalling those youthful days studying in LA.
Her bowed head revealed a rare moment of restraint. She was usually bright, radiant, and bold, rarely showing such softness stirred by emotion. Fang Liangchen felt a slight ache, only after losing her did he realize how precious and irreplaceable she was.
During his studies, he met many newcomers from similar affluent backgrounds, but their appearances did not match his aesthetic. Compared to Jiang Shangwan’s graceful figure and looks, they were far inferior.
After returning home, his parents arranged blind dates with many attractive artists, but none had the toughness or strong independent spirit that Jiang Shangwan possessed—qualities he admired deeply.
So, learning that she remained unmarried and single stirred in him a desire to reconcile.
Just as he was about to gently brush a strand of hair from her ear, a sudden voice interrupted his movement.
“Hello, Director Jiang, may I ask where I should report for my internship to complete the onboarding process?”
Fang Liangchen paused and discreetly withdrew his hand to maintain his composure. He smiled faintly and looked at the awkward young man who had appeared out of place.
Jiang Shangwan finally came back to her senses. She pursed her lips slightly and glanced toward the voice. It was a familiar figure, though today he was dressed especially formally in a suit and trousers, standing upright. Despite his business-like attire, the youthful freshness of a young man distinctly set him apart from the company’s usual seasoned employees.
“Shi Yu,” Jiang Shangwan called to him, “You’re here for the internship?”
“Yeah.” Shi Yu walked over to them, holding a cup of coffee identical to theirs, with the same JS logo. He put it down naturally on the table, subtly disturbing the balance of the other two cups.
Jiang Shangwan didn’t notice his movement, but Fang Liangchen’s male intuition caused him to slightly frown unnoticed. This young man was very young, with jet-black eyes fixed entirely on Jiang Shangwan. Although still immature, his temperament was surprisingly good, and he was significantly taller than Fang Liangchen, who was 180 cm.
But he masked it well on his face, just smiling and asking, “Who is this?”
“He’s a student previously sponsored by my foundation. He recently got accepted to Jiang University to study finance. I had my assistant notify him that after enrollment, he could come for an internship and get an internship certificate. Maybe he got lost,” Jiang Shangwan explained, always patient and caring toward juniors.
Upon hearing “sponsored student,” Fang Liangchen immediately relaxed inside, a slight, barely noticeable sneer appearing at the corner of his lips.
Shi Yu quietly glanced at him.
“Report to the 18th floor. Take the elevator, turn left, the first office there. I’ll inform my assistant to receive you and help you hand over work and add you to the work group.”
“Thank you, Director Jiang,” Shi Yu nodded politely. He was very tall, but his suit didn’t seem to fit perfectly, the white shirt collar at his neck showed slight creases as he moved.
He then naturally picked up a cup of coffee from the table, took a big sip, bid Jiang Shangwan goodbye, and went to look for the elevator.
Jiang Shangwan was momentarily stunned: ?
She stared at his departing figure. The young man had a slim waist and long legs, and after striding away quickly, he vanished from sight. But if she wasn’t mistaken, the cup he just took had a faint pink lipstick mark on the rim…
That was clearly the coffee she had already drunk from.
A subtle, strange feeling surged inside Jiang Shangwan. She recalled how naturally he had just taken a sip, seeming to drink from exactly the spot where she had drunk before.
She looked down at the two remaining cups on the table and quickly picked up the one Shi Yu had mistakenly left behind. It looked unopened and untouched.
She quietly breathed a sigh of relief—thank goodness. She was worried she might have accidentally grabbed Fang Liangchen’s cup instead, which would have been a bit gross.
However, Fang Liangchen seemed unaware of this small mishap. The brief exchange earlier had apparently made him completely dismissive of this student’s ordinary background. The phone he left on the table lit up with a message, he glanced at it briefly, then quickly locked the screen.
Jiang Shangwan’s intuition told her it was from a woman, and a glance from the corner of her eye seemed to confirm it.
“I still have a meeting to attend.” Jiang Shangwan stood up, holding her coffee, and gestured toward him, “If you have things to do, go ahead.”
Fang Liangchen raised his eyebrows. “Alright, goodbye, Wanwan.”
Jiang Shangwan asked her assistant after the meeting how the arrangements for Shi Yu were going. The assistant said they had only assigned him some very simple clerical work—organizing folders and running errands upstairs and downstairs.
Jiang Shangwan understood. As a freshman who hadn’t studied much yet, there wasn’t much he could do, so it was mainly to let him gain some presence.
When Jiang Shangwan entered the office, Shi Yu was quietly sitting in a leather swivel chair. In front of him was a computer screen lit up, and the desk was covered with documents. He was looking at a financial data report.
She smiled and asked, “How many days of classes have you had? How’s your studying? Can you understand it?”
Shi Yu lifted his buried head and looked at her. His pupil color seemed to change depending on the light. At this moment, his serious gaze was deep, like a polished obsidian stone.
He answered honestly, “I haven’t learned much yet. Mainly advanced math, political economics, statistics, and principles of economics. I have a simple understanding of how economics operates in real life.”
“That’s already very good.” Jiang Shangwan never doubted his ability to score 700+ on the college entrance exam. She smiled encouragingly, “Freshman year is just the beginning. Your important major courses probably won’t start until sophomore or junior year. Coming to Jiang Group now is just to get familiar with the environment. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself, we don’t expect you to do much yet. Usually, many people only start looking for internships in junior year.”
“Do you intend to stay and work for Jiang Group in the future?”
Shi Yu just looked at her seriously without answering. Jiang Shangwan realized that he actually had very long eyelashes, but his outstanding aura made people easily overlook the fine details of his facial features.
So pure.
Jiang Shangwan felt in her heart that the young man had a unique vitality, like the clear and transparent morning dew—something you could see through at a glance, with a fresh aura that made you want to get closer.
“I will study hard and serve Jiang Group and Director Jiang in the future,” Shi Yu said, as if answering her question but also expressing something from his heart.
Jiang Shangwan felt very pleased, the feeling of being flattered was quite nice. That is the magic of compliments—whether sincere or not, they can give the listener a brief emotional uplift in that moment.
Her gaze shifted slightly to the coffee cup by his right hand. That cup was still by his side, and Jiang Shangwan looked closely—the faint pink lipstick mark was still there.
She turned her eyes away a bit awkwardly.
Seeing Shi Yu lower his head to look at the data again, she decided to take the cup away and throw it out. As she reached out with her right hand, Shi Yu seemed to just be about to open a file. Their hands brushed unintentionally—the sudden skin-to-skin contact, the warmth of a man against the softness of a woman, created a tingling electric sensation.
A hot, tingling feeling quickly swept over the tip of her heart. Jiang Shangwan was stunned for a moment, her heart raced, as if a strange new feeling had been awakened.
“Sorry, I accidentally bumped into you,” Shi Yu said, pressing his lips, looking a little apologetic.
Jiang Shangwan felt that subtle, strange feeling rise again in her heart, but she didn’t dwell on it and quickly pushed it down. “It’s okay, you go ahead and work. The cafeteria is on the fifth floor—if you get hungry, you can swipe your card and get some food.”
After she left the office, Shi Yu reached for that paper cup and stared at the pink rim for a long time.
Then, as if it were a precious treasure, he carefully took a sip.
—
After Jiang Shangwan left work early, she sent Shen Luo a message: I’ve been feeling kind of strange lately.
She lay back in a soft brown leather seat, a quilted square blanket draped over her legs. The driver waited quietly for her instructions on where to go next. The sleek black Maybach was parked in the garage, waiting for its owner’s next command.
Shen Luo sent her a voice message, but it was noisy—loud music and people’s voices in the background made her uncomfortable: “What’s up?”
Jiang Shangwan quickly typed: Don’t send voice messages. Can you drink less? If you keep drinking like this, you’re going to get fatty liver soon.
Shen Luo replied: My bad, my bad. Forgot not to send you voice messages. What’s wrong? Has Fang Liangchen been bothering you again? Qiao Yuqing said Fang Liangchen hassled her for a month recently to help arrange a meeting. You were mad at her for a long time.
Jiang Shangwan thought for a moment: He did see me again, but he didn’t mention getting back together. We just ran into each other at work. A kid just came to the company recently.
Shen Luo caught a whiff of gossip: Hmm?
Jiang Shangwan rarely shared her true feelings with others, and right after sending that, she regretted it a little, so she added: It’s nothing, I just feel like I’m getting old.
Shen Luo: …Hey! Which one of us isn’t almost 40?
Jiang Shangwan had already stopped replying and turned off her phone, quietly leaning back and closing her eyes to rest. She just felt that her calm heart had stirred a strange, ill-timed, and somewhat sudden ripple.
Maybe it was because she hadn’t been in a relationship for too long.
That moment when their hands brushed—the warmth of the opposite sex entwining, when he lifted his eyelids and said sorry.
She actually found herself wanting to taste the feeling of his fingertips.