Song Ye went to change clothes.
Jiang Nanshu stood at the door of the changing room,
texting Jiang Yu to tell her that she wouldn’t be going to pick up the luggage.
She stuffed the phone into her pocket, and when she looked up,
she saw Song Ye coming out of the doorway in his fencing uniform.
The pure white fencing suit was sleek and form-fitting, showing off the man’s tall and lean physique.
Sure enough, it was even more striking than in the photos and videos.
Jiang Nanshu felt her heart race as she stared in a daze.
She had always known that Song Ye had a great figure.
Even as a teenager, he looked better than most boys,
broad shoulders, long legs, and every move on the court was graceful and sharp.
Song Ye held his helmet in one hand and his phone in the other, handing it to her.
Seeing that she didn’t respond, he lowered his head and chuckled,
“Stunned by the view?”
“No…”
Jiang Nanshu snapped out of it, feeling a bit embarrassed.
But she still lifted her face and smiled at him,
“You look better than in the pictures and videos.”
Song Ye raised an eyebrow and smiled.
He stuffed the phone into her jacket pocket, hooked an arm around her shoulders,
and led her forward toward the arena.
“Let’s go.”
Jiang Nanshu was settled into a chair nearby, while he went to warm up.
Jiang Nanshu had only seen fencing matches on TV.
She didn’t really understand the rules.
Her first impression of the sport was that the uniforms looked cool and the athletes’
long builds were very pleasing to the eye.
Her eyes stayed on Song Ye the entire time.
She watched him finish his warm-up, put on his helmet,
and walk into the arena with his coach, holding his sword.
At this point, there were only the two of them in the arena.
Jiang Nanshu saw Song Ye and the coach bow to each other before the match began.
Song Ye was half a head taller than the coach, but not as bulky.
His movements looked more agile and sharp.
They moved quickly across the floor,
keeping a precise distance between them.
Song Ye’s defense and offense were both aggressive, yet very rhythmic.
He advanced step by step, a hint of aggression hidden beneath his calm.
Jiang Nanshu was completely absorbed.
It wasn’t until the mid-match break that she realized she should have taken a photo or recorded a video.
Song Ye took off his helmet, revealing a handsome, sweaty face.
He held his sword in one hand and the helmet in the other as he walked toward her.
Jiang Nanshu froze for a second before handing him a bottle of water in a soft voice: “Tired?”
“Not really.” Song Ye took the water and took a few gulps,
then lowered his eyes to look at her, the corners of his mouth curving up slightly.
Jiang Nanshu blinked: “What are you smiling at?”
“Just thought of our high school basketball games.”
It was the same back then.
Jiang Nanshu sat by the court, waiting for him to walk over to her.
She would freeze for a second before remembering to hand him the water.
At that time, classmates around them would always tease them.
Everyone thought they were a couple.
Even when other girls tried to give Song Ye water,
he always refused, only accepting it from Jiang Nanshu.
The coach nearby gulped down some water, then turned and smiled:
“You two were high school classmates?”
Song Ye gave a quiet “mm,” put the water bottle aside, then turned and said to the coach:
“Let’s continue.”
“I’ve been training students all day. I’m exhausted.”
The coach gave a wry smile and picked up his sword, glancing at Jiang Nanshu.
“Did you two have a fight the past few days?
I feel like the boss has been extra irritable calm but irritable, it’s like he’s tormenting his opponent.”
Jiang Nanshu smiled, “We didn’t fight.”
Song Ye gave her a glance, put on his helmet, and said to the coach, “One more round.”
When it ended, Song Ye took off his helmet and saw Jiang Nanshu putting away the phone she had used to record him.
He paused and asked her, “Want to take a photo?”
“Huh?” Jiang Nanshu was briefly stunned before realizing he meant a photo together.
She quickly nodded, “Yes, I do.”
Song Ye asked the coach to take a few pictures of them.
Back in high school, phone cameras weren’t that great,
and they didn’t have many photos together.
There were only a few group shots, and a few candid ones taken secretly by classmates.
All these years, those photos had stayed on her computer,
and Jiang Nanshu hadn’t dared to look at them.
On the way back, Jiang Nanshu sat in the passenger seat flipping through the photos of the two of them.
Song Ye casually glanced over at her.
“Planning to post them on your Moments?”
“Maybe not…” Jiang Nanshu was in her first relationship,
and didn’t have the urge or courage to show off publicly.
Besides, their relationship was still under wraps.
Other than Li Yi, no one at the company knew about them.
She turned off her phone screen and said seriously,
“I’m afraid that the moment I walk into the office, Chen Yang and the others will all yell ‘sister-in-law’ in unison.”
Song Ye let out a soft laugh.
She asked curiously, “When did you start getting interested in fencing?”
“During my exchange program.
My roommate was from Hong Kong ,he’d been fencing since he was a kid.
I went to a fencing club with him once, found it super stress-relieving, and just stuck with it.”
Song Ye had a natural talent for sports ,
actually, he was gifted in many areas, and picked up new skills quickly.
Jiang Nanshu paused, then asked,
“So can you understand Cantonese?”
“I can basically understand it.”
Jiang Nanshu had suspected before that he might understand Cantonese.
She was silent for a moment, then turned to him and asked,
“Are you coming again tomorrow night? I’ll keep you company.”
These past few days, Song Ye had been fencing to vent almost every night,
usually getting home around 1 a.m.
Tonight was relatively early
it ended before midnight.
He wasn’t going to let Jiang Nanshu stay out that late with him.
“No, I’ll head home earlier tomorrow night.”
“But I—”
“Lin Yao is on a business trip.”
“Oh…”
That explained it.
Jiang Nanshu put her phone back in her pocket.
She originally wanted to ask him, Are you feeling any better now?
But then decided against it.
He probably didn’t want to show his vulnerable side in front of her maybe he was afraid it would affect her.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone to the fencing club secretly to blow off steam.
When they reached the parking garage, one of her old roommates messaged in a group chat,
saying she was getting married on Labor Day.
She asked if Jiang Nanshu would be able to come.
Jiang Nanshu wasn’t sure if she’d be free and replied in the group:
Not sure yet.
If I can, I’ll come.
If not, I’ll just send a gift.
If you can come, let me know ahead of time!
After graduation, most of them hadn’t kept in close contact,
but they’d been roommates for years, and the friendships were still decent.
Roommate: Nanshu, do you have a boyfriend?
The elevator doors opened.
Jiang Nanshu was pulled in by Song Ye.
She glanced up at him, then looked back down and typed in the group:
I do.
As soon as the message was sent, the group exploded.
Who is he?? You had so many handsome guys chasing you back in school,
and none of them made it!
Come on, show us!
What kind of guy managed to win you over?
Do you have a picture?
Nanshu’s totally into good looks
it has to be a super hottie.
Let us see!
…
Jiang Nanshu thought she heard a low chuckle above her head.
Her ears turned a little red.
She didn’t even look up.
“Stop peeking at my phone.”
“I’m tall. I just glanced down and saw it.”
Song Ye was holding his sports bag in one hand and lazily resting the other arm around her shoulders.
He glanced down at her screen.
“A lot of guys chased you in college?”
“Not really, she’s exaggerating…”
Jiang Nanshu hesitated for a second, then sent one of their recent photos to the group.
The elevator signal was weak, so it took a while to send.
By the time they reached the 26th floor and stepped out of the elevator,
the photo finally went through.
The coach had decent photography skills,
and the photo of the two of them looked great.
Naturally, the group was full of praise.
They said Jiang Nanshu’s “face-only” standard never failed,
and her boyfriend really was super handsome.
They started asking who Song Ye was and what he did.
Jiang Nanshu felt too shy to talk about all that with her roommates while Song Ye was standing right there.
At the doorway, she turned to him and said, “I’m going to shower.
Later, I’ll… go see Rou Song and Xiao Bei.”
“Just Rou Song and Xiao Bei?”
Song Ye lowered his eyes, smiling faintly as he looked at her.
Jiang Nanshu’s expression didn’t change: “And my boyfriend too. Happy now?”
Song Ye chuckled softly.
“Very.”
Once they got home, Jiang Nanshu finally took out her phone to check the group chat.
Her old roommate, the one who had gone with her to pick out a birthday cake back then and was now getting married.
Nanshu, your boyfriend looks kinda familiar! Did he ever come to our school?
Is he that super hottie I saw at the cake shop on your birthday?
Jiang Nanshu froze for a moment.
She hadn’t expected her to remember.
She looked down and replied:
Yes, that was him.
Roommate: No way! I knew it!
I remember saying that day, someone’s boyfriend came to surprise her,
and you just said you didn’t know him!
A wave of bittersweet emotion welled up in Jiang Nanshu’s chest.
She replied: We were high school classmates.
There was a misunderstanding between us for a while, but now we’re back together.
Roommate: So he’s the one who asked the staff to change the name on the cake too?
shu: Yeah, it was him.
Roommate: Oh my god! Even with a misunderstanding, he still came to see you at school?
I’m obsessed, this is too cute!
After chatting in the group for a few more minutes,
she finally went to take a shower.
Lately, Rou Song and Xiao Bei had been staying next door.
Jiang Nanshu would go to Song Ye’s place after work every day to visit the cats,
only heading home right before bed.
It was already past midnight.
When she walked into the apartment next door,
the cats were curled up asleep in their bed.
She entered the master bedroom.
Song Ye had just come out of the bathroom.
His body was still slightly damp with steam,
clearly just finished showering.
His hair was only partially blow-dried.
The man reached up and turned off the bathroom light, pulled the door shut,
and his dark eyes locked straight onto her.
Jiang Nanshu walked over and hugged him.
As soon as she looked up, she was kissed by him.
She let out a soft sound of surprise, her heartbeat instantly speeding up.
Song Ye held her close, reached out to shut the bedroom door,
and pinned her against it, kissing her deeply.
His kisses, as always, were intense completely at odds with the usually restrained and cool image he gave off.
The master bedroom lights were off,
and only a faint glow filtered in through the sheer curtains.
Jiang Nanshu wrapped her arms around his neck, tilting her head back,
trying to see his face clearly in the dim light.
“Song Ye, that year ,
when you came to my university in junior year .
how long did you look for me?”