Jiang Nanshu only realized something was off after he turned around and opened the door to his house.
It wasn’t just about her sneaking back home from work it was about why she left the cat at Song Ye’s place.
Wasn’t this… unintentionally increasing their time alone together? This was already going against her principles.
“Wait a minute!” she couldn’t help but call out.
“Wait for what? Hurry up, I need to take a shower and get some sleep.”
Song Ye had changed his shoes at the entrance and turned to glance at her, his voice sounding a little tired. “
Pick it up when you come back tonight.”
Without waiting for her response, he stepped inside and shut the door.
Jiang Nanshu: “……”
Was she entrusting her child to him? Picking it up later at night?
His voice did sound very exhausted.
Jiang Nanshu didn’t have the heart to argue any further.
She turned back to her place, picked up the pet carrier, and hesitated for a moment at the door before taking off her shoes and stepping inside in just her socks.
Once inside, the whole place felt eerily familiar. Even the sofa was a deep gray L-shape.
The only difference was that Lu Youchuan had chosen a leather sofa, while Song Ye, probably because of the cat, had opted for a fabric one.
If she mistakenly walked into the wrong house one night, she probably wouldn’t even notice.
Seriously, her “cheap brother” was really… copying an entire house design? Did he have no originality at all? How convenient.
And the fact that Song Ye went along with it?
Song Ye was lounging on the sofa lazily, with the cat lying beside him, belly up.
His long fingers gently scratched its belly, making the cat purr in contentment.
He looked up at her. “
Just leave it here.
I probably won’t be working late tonight.
Let me know when you come back.”
Jiang Nanshu glanced at the soft, fluffy cat, wanting to pet it but resisting the urge.
She set the pet carrier down, hesitated, and then said, “Thanks.
Get some good rest.”
Then she walked out of Song Ye’s apartment and helped him close the door.
On the way back to work, Jiang Nanshu still felt that something was off about Song Ye’s attitude toward her.
But after getting burned once, she was now overly cautious and didn’t dare overthink it.
At that moment, her phone buzzed.
It was a message from Cheng Jiajia.
Cheng Jiajia: [Are you free on Christmas? Want to grab dinner and watch a movie together?]
Shu: [That’s the day we finalize the project.
Not sure when I’ll be off work.]
Cheng Jiajia: [When you were in Deep City, I let it slide if we didn’t meet for months.
But now that you’re back, tell me how many times have we actually met?]
Uh…
Probably only twice?
Jiang Nanshu sent her a meme of a dog looking exhausted: [Been super busy lately. How about we go shopping and have dinner on New Year’s Day instead?]
Cheng Jiajia: [December 31st! Let’s celebrate the New Year together!]
She attached a picture.
When Jiang Nanshu opened it, she saw two tickets to a New Year’s Eve concert by a legendary band.
This band had been famous for over twenty years a true classic spanning generations.
Their concert tickets were notoriously hard to get.
She had tried to buy some back in Deep City with her coworkers but failed.
Shu: [Scalper tickets?]
Cheng Jiajia: [Yep, super expensive.
Are you coming or not? Don’t waste them!]
But Jiang Nanshu suddenly remembered that December 31st was Song Ye’s birthday.
It was hard to forget after all, he was someone she had once liked so much.
They had even spent one of his birthdays together, and the next day had marked the start of a new year.
Of course, Cheng Jiajia wouldn’t remember this.
Jiang Nanshu curled her lips slightly and replied: [Alright, I’ll do my best to come.]
Shu: [If I get stuck at work, you can always sell the tickets outside and make your money back.]
Cheng Jiajia: [Get lost.]
Shu: [……]
Seeing this, Jiang Nanshu suddenly thought of Li Yi.
She messaged Cheng Jiajia: [Li Yi came back to the company.
I got a little revenge for you the other day.
If he has a conscience, he might apologize to you.]
Cheng Jiajia: [……]
When she arrived back at work, the project team’s desks were mostly empty.
Some people had already fallen asleep at the office, too tired to go home.
A few colleagues were sprawled out across the room, snoring in unison.
They were all absolutely exhausted.
Jiang Nanshu made some updates to the player survey based on the fixed bugs and checked with the content team about the Christmas-themed character illustrations.
Around 7 p.m.,
Gao Xiaokun yawned, “Man, my whole body aches from sleeping in the office.”
Chen Yang asked, “Boss back yet? If not, let’s go grab a nice meal downstairs.
I don’t want to eat another takeout box.”
“My brother is a man of refinement.
He probably went home to shower and change first. He won’t be back so soon,” Li Yi said groggily as he stepped out of Song Ye’s office, rubbing his neck.
“Let’s go. My treat.
Order whatever you want.”
Gao Xiaokun, ever practical, asked, “Do you even have money left?”
“……”
Li Yi had drained his savings investing in the project team.
Now, he was genuinely broke.
Annoyed, he said, “Put it on my brother’s tab.”
“Then let’s get hotpot! There’s a great Chongqing-style place nearby.”
“Good call.
Hotpot is perfect for winter.”
The group linked arms, chatting and laughing as they headed downstairs.
Before leaving, Li Yi asked, “Anyone else wanna come? Let’s go.”
Some people had already eaten or planned to go home, so only a few joined.
Jiang Nanshu finished up her work, packed her things, and clocked out.
Before heading home, she stopped by the restroom.
While still inside a stall, she overheard a conversation outside.
It was Lu Xiaowei’s voice: “This is straight-up workplace bullying.
Anyone can see that the development team is isolating Ah Heng.
He works hard, puts in overtime, and still gets scolded by Song Ye all the time.
Ever since Li Yi came back, the hostility is even worse.
Song Ye just wants to push out everyone who isn’t on his side.”
Another voice chimed in, “Maybe it’s because he went home?”
Lu Xiaowei replied, “Then he could’ve at least sent a message in the group chat.”
Jiang Nanshu knew the situation wasn’t that simple.
Song Ye wasn’t the type to deliberately mistreat someone, and he had no deep-seated conflicts with the lead developer.
If that guy just did his job well, there was no reason for Song Ye to push him out.
His only goal was to get the project done and launch the game as soon as possible.
And if anyone had been ostracized at first, it was actually Li Yi.
Then Lu Xiaowei added, “Song Ye and Jiang Nanshu must be sleeping together.
They live in the same complex who knows, maybe they even sleep in the same bed every night.”
Another woman said, “I saw Song Ye go into the conference room the other day and stay for a long time.
When he came out, Jiang Nanshu was with him.”
“I told you! They’re definitely involved.
Who knows what they were doing in there.”
Jiang Nanshu: “……?”
She hadn’t expected the rumors to get this wild.
If she let them keep talking, they’d probably claim she was already pregnant with Song Ye’s child.
Without hesitation, she opened the stall door.
The two women turned in shock, their faces instantly turning red and pale in turns.
Jiang Nanshu walked to the sink, calmly washing her hands as they stood there, silent and awkward.
After drying her hands, she turned to them with a slight smile.
“Next time you gossip, check if anyone’s in the stalls first.
Otherwise, I might just record it.”
Then she walked out, leaving them standing there, utterly mortified.