Volume One, Chapter Five: When Did They Get Together?

Realizing he had lost his composure, Lou Ye cleared his throat and, as if to cover it up, asked, “When did it happen? Back when you were at Imperial University, you and Lu Jinnian were famous as the perfect couple. How did it…” end in divorce?

It wasn’t him.

Sang Wan came back to herself.

If the man in the hospital who pulled her back from death had been Lou Ye, then even if he didn’t know exactly what had happened, he would surely know that Lu Jinnian had long since stopped caring about her and had already given up.

It couldn’t be him.

Sang Wan lowered her gaze. “It’s all in the past… People change.”

Lou Ye didn’t reply.

The wonton soup wasn’t any rich bone broth or ancestral recipe. It was simply seaweed and dried shrimp.

Just the right amount of salt.

Just the right temperature.

But at this moment, as it settled in his stomach, it brought a searing heat.

That warmth spread, giving Lou Ye the feeling of just finishing a morning run, desperate for a cold shower to cool himself down.

“Let’s not talk about me…”

Sang Wan naturally shifted the topic. “Give me an address where you can receive packages, I’ll send you your engagement gift.”

He wanted to say it wasn’t necessary.

But, looking at Sang Wan’s face, Lou Ye changed his mind. “Add me on WeChat, I’ll send it to you.”

Sang Wan was startled, her heart pounding wildly.

She had once had Lou Ye’s WeChat.

At the freshman orientation, the aloof, handsome young man swaggered up with a careless grin. “Hey, which way to the architecture boys’ dorm?”

No one answered him.

It was only when she stepped in to help that Lou Ye relented, and his attitude softened.

It was also that day that he added her on WeChat.

Over the next two years, they kept in touch, mostly when he borrowed books or asked for help with assignments.

Later, as they got to know each other, he would occasionally ask for small favors.

After she graduated, they had sporadic phone calls, or exchanged festive greetings on WeChat.

Sang Wan had always kept her distance, never crossing any lines.

In her eyes, Lou Ye was just a diligent, slightly unruly junior.

But Lu Jinnian was jealous, insisting Lou Ye was clearly interested in her, and his mood soured whenever he saw them texting or calling.

As her pregnancy and motherhood made her increasingly busy, their contact waned. When Lu Jinnian once again dug up old grievances to pick a fight, Sang Wan simply blocked and deleted Lou Ye.

The capital was vast. She and Lou Ye were as distant as earth and sky, impossible to intersect.

But Sang Wan hadn’t expected that after all these years, the awkward boomerang would come back to her.

“Alright…”

Her earlobes tinged with red, Sang Wan masked her embarrassment, pretending she’d never added him before, and opened her phone to scan and add him.

His profile picture was still pitch black.

Lou Ye’s WeChat name was unchanged.

SS.

On the campus forum, they said the school heartthrob’s WeChat name was a silent threshold—his ideal girl must have a perfect double-S figure.

Lou Ye’s own post claimed S stood for everything he possessed.

Super Super.

She hadn’t understood then.

But after learning that Lou Ye was from the top of the capital’s elite pyramid, Sang Wan understood.

Family, background, wealth, status—

Everything Lou Ye had was unattainable for others.

Sang Wan sent her friend request.

Looking up, she saw Lou Ye eating wontons at a leisurely pace.

He showed no sign of picking up his phone to accept her request.

Sang Wan stood up. “Take your time, I’ll be going.”

“Let’s go together!”

Lou Ye pushed aside his bowl, pulled out a napkin to wipe his lips, and got up to follow Sang Wan outside.

After a few steps, as if remembering something, Lou Ye turned back to the shop owner bustling behind the stove. “Uncle Wang, starting today, free meals for twenty-nine days…”

The shop owner replied with practiced ease, “Got it!”

Sang Wan’s gaze was amused as she turned back.

“Where are you headed?”

They reached the car in a few strides. Lou Ye looked back at Sang Wan. “I’ll give you a ride.”

“No need.”

Sang Wan shook her head in thanks. “I’m going to visit the university, it’s not on your way.”

The Lou Group was in the city center.

Imperial University was in the suburbs.

It really wasn’t convenient.

Lou Ye didn’t insist, but asked, “So, what are your plans?”

She definitely needed to find work.

But Sang Wan hadn’t started thinking about it.

To be precise, she hadn’t had the time.

She wanted to leave the capital, start anew in another city, and escape Lu Jinnian and Lu Xiaomu completely.

But she’d grown up in the capital—it was her home.

Nearly thirty and forced to leave her hometown for two people who weren’t worth it, Sang Wan couldn’t bear it.

“I don’t know yet.”

She shook her head. “I’ll take a few days to clear my mind and think it over.”

“Alright.”

Lou Ye nodded, opened his phone to accept her friend request, and sent her an address. “I’ll wait for your gift, then.”

The Ferrari sped away.

Sang Wan glanced at the cloudless blue sky, then turned and walked on.

She lingered in the mall for two hours. Every time she looked at a price tag, she bitterly regretted her impulsiveness at the wonton shop.

Reduced to having only a hundred thousand left in her bank card and WeChat balance, she had actually offered to give him an engagement gift?

And Lou Ye agreed???

Anything cheap would be embarrassing.

Anything expensive, she couldn’t bear to part with.

Her phone buzzed repeatedly with Xu Yiyi urging her, asking where she was and when she’d arrive—the braised meatballs in the second canteen wouldn’t last much longer.

Gritting her teeth, Sang Wan picked a pair of cufflinks for nineteen thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine and paid.

The clerk wrapped them carefully, promised to notify her as soon as they were shipped.

Sang Wan dashed into the subway station.

She hurried and managed to reach Imperial University’s second canteen just in time for dinner.

“What did you say you were doing on the phone?”

Xu Yiyi felt she must have misheard. If not for her two open classes this afternoon, she would have called right then for clarification.

Sang Wan looked calm. “I ran into Lou Ye while eating wontons. It’s his engagement today, so I picked a gift for him.”

Wontons, Lou Ye.

Lou Ye, engagement.

Sang Wan, gift.

Every sentence carried a strange undertone.

Xu Yiyi blinked. “You two… When did you start hooking up?”

???

The juicy braised meatball caught in Sang Wan’s throat, and she coughed until her face turned red. “Xu, please mind your words, alright?”

What did she mean, hooking up?

Not only were she and Lou Ye entirely innocent, but today was his engagement—Xu’s comment was completely inappropriate.

Fortunately, both she and Lou Ye had graduated years ago, and the university’s stars were now others.

Otherwise, who knew what kind of storm would be stirred up.

Checking the surroundings, she saw no one paying attention to their corner.

Sang Wan turned back and glared fiercely at Xu Yiyi. “Never. Not before, not in the future, understood?”

“Heh…”

Xu Yiyi replied with a cryptic smile, neither agreeing nor denying. “Stubborn duck, let’s see how long you can keep it up.”

As she spoke, both their phones chimed.

At the same time, exclamations echoed around the restaurant.

Sang Wan looked down.

On her screen, a news alert popped up.

Seeing the headline, her heart skipped a beat and her gaze froze.