Once some matters are openly discussed, much of the secretive, cautious suspicion disappears.

Shi Niannian went to wash the fruit they bought yesterday, arranged a simple fruit platter with small forks, and brought it to the living room. Jiang Wang was still sitting there, hugging his laptop and reviewing documents.

“This is the first time I’ve seen you so serious,” Shi Niannian said, resting her chin on her hand as she recalled the past. “In high school, you were always sleeping and never did your homework properly.”

“That was sophomore year,” Jiang Wang said lightly.

She didn’t understand. “What?”

Jiang Wang flipped to the last page of the report, signed his name at the bottom, and turned his head to look at the fruit platter in Shi Niannian’s hand, opening his mouth.

She understood and used a bamboo skewer to feed him a piece of watermelon.

Very sweet.

Jiang Wang said, “I studied very hard in my senior year. I was never late, never fell asleep in class, and did all my assignments, just like you. It was quite exhausting.”

Shi Niannian was momentarily stunned. “Really?”

“Yes,” he smiled. “If you don’t believe me, ask Liu Guoqi. He never scolded me in my senior year.”

Remembering Liu Guoqi, Shi Niannian couldn’t help but smile, but as she continued smiling, she thought of something, and the smile faded from her face.

“What about swimming?” Shi Niannian asked. This matter had been weighing on her mind for a long time.

Jiang Wang’s eardrum surgery had been very successful. The problems that emerged later were because he hadn’t protected himself properly afterward. High-intensity training wasn’t enough; he had to push himself even harder.

At that time, Shi Niannian had just left, and he couldn’t sleep at night. Without proper rest and with poor eating habits, his ear began to develop problems after he won the gold medal he had sent to Shi Niannian.

The issue finally culminated during the national team’s first internal training. When the starting gun fired, he dove into the water, completing the entire sequence perfectly. He had the best score among the new trainees in that batch. But when he stood up from the water, suddenly the entire world became very quiet.

It was like hearing sounds from the shore while underwater.

He saw the national team coach standing there excitedly saying something, his mouth opening and closing, but Jiang Wang couldn’t hear anything.

This feeling of complete deafness was the second time he’d experienced it. The total silence was extremely uncomfortable and strange.

Later, he went to the hospital for an examination. It was diagnosed as sudden hearing loss, undeniably related to his irregular and unhealthy lifestyle recently. It would improve or return to normal, but he could no longer continue swimming.

After that, Jiang Chen was in a serious car accident and was hospitalized for a long time. After being discharged, his temper became even more volatile. Jiang Wang only visited once and never went again. Meanwhile, his so-called “stepmother” finally had enough of Jiang Chen and left with her daughter.

At the beginning of his senior year, Jiang Wang gave up swimming and returned to school to prepare for the college entrance exam.

People always need a direction to work toward to get through the long nights. He invested his energy in studying. Everyone said he was working hard, but only Jiang Wang knew that much of what he did was busywork.

He mechanically solved problems he had already mastered thoroughly, sometimes even doing two identical sets of problems.

There were many times when he would stare at the photo of him and Shi Niannian in his drawer—the photo of the two of them holding their first prize certificates from the physics competition.

The girl’s smile was gentle and warm, slightly shy, and her school uniform was worn neatly and properly. It was an image many people would recall when thinking about their youth.

To be honest, regarding giving up swimming, he had felt some unwillingness, but gradually he let it go.

Perhaps it was because he had already won the gold medal and had given it to Shi Niannian, so he no longer had a deeper obsession.

Perhaps his dream had once been swimming, but after meeting Shi Niannian, his dream became her.

After hearing this, Shi Niannian remained silent for a long time, then leaned over and kissed his lips again.

She knew that Jiang Wang hadn’t had an easy time these years. Although to outsiders he appeared to be the successful and distinguished top scholar and CEO, Jiang, when all these events were connected and laid out before her, Shi Niannian felt her heart ache terribly.

She raised her hand, and her soft fingers gently massaged his earlobe. “Does it still hurt now?”

“It doesn’t hurt,” said Jiang Wang.

Because of her movement of leaning forward to kiss him earlier, she was half-kneeling on the sofa, and now, as she moved back, she sat on her knees.

She looked at him quite seriously and said, “I studied my major well in college. Although I don’t have much internship experience, I know what needs attention day-to-day, and I can do general examinations.”

She moved closer and gently pecked his left ear. “I’ll take good care of your ears from now on. I won’t let them hurt again.”

Perhaps it was because the young girl had just been teased, but the corners of her eyes still had a slight redness. Her lips were moist from eating fruit. Kneeling on the sofa with her upper body leaning forward and her hips raised, the light was filtered through her dense eyelashes, mysteriously resembling an innocent fox who had just begun to understand the world.

Jiang Wang leaned back lazily, his gaze fixed steadily on her. Suddenly, he felt as if everything had been worth it. The girl he had liked and waited for all these years was now right before his eyes.

The next morning, when Shi Niannian woke up, she was still being held in someone’s arms.

She was used to sleeping alone and couldn’t quickly adapt to sleeping with another person. So every night, she would face away from Jiang Wang, and he would hold her waist from behind.

The first thing she did upon waking was to check the time. She struggled to reach out from under the blanket for her phone.

It was already 9:30.

She was momentarily stunned. She didn’t have class this morning, and her advisor hadn’t scheduled anything else, so she hadn’t set an alarm last night. But Jiang Wang was someone who had to go to work.

“Jiang Wang.” She gently elbowed him behind her.

He held her tighter, nuzzling his face against the back of her neck. His voice betrayed his sleepiness: “Hmm?”

“It’s nine-thirty.”

He responded with an unresponsive “hmm,” this time in a declarative tone, showing no intention of getting up.

She turned around to face him, propping herself up on her elbow. “Aren’t you going to work?”

“No,” his voice seemed even hoarser. One hand rested loosely on her waist. “Let’s sleep a bit more. Don’t move around.”

Shi Niannian blinked her eyes in confusion and lay back down.

But then she belatedly realized what Jiang Wang had meant earlier, and the tips of her ears gradually turned red.

Jiang Wang, seeing the change in her expression, asked with a smile, “Did you understand?”

She didn’t answer but instead gazed at Jiang Wang, lost in thought.

This was the first time she had truly opened her eyes to see Jiang Wang, who had also just woken up. His hair was slightly messy, and those eyes, usually as sharp and deep as pools, were not yet clear. His body had a pleasant, faint smell of shower gel that had lingered through the night.

This feeling was wonderful.

Although she still couldn’t adapt so quickly to living together after getting their marriage certificate, the feeling of waking up and seeing Jiang Wang made her heart flutter from the moment she woke up—until Jiang Wang’s index finger lifted her collar slightly, and Shi Niannian came back to her senses.

The young girl was wearing clothes with a collar that resembled a baby doll style, looking very cute. His fingertip touched a spot on the side of her neck, and he hooked his lips into a smile, saying, “There’s a mark.”

Jiang Wang’s only restraint with her was not taking that final, substantive step with her, but almost everything else that could be done, he had done. Everything that should be done, he had done.

Sigh.

Shi Niannian had never imagined Jiang Wang to be like this before. Although he used to say vulgar things in the past, they were never as explicit as now.

Meanwhile, at the company, there was a heated discussion about how CEO Jiang, for the first time since taking over the company, was “absent” without a reason.

With Jiang Wang’s return from his business trip, they had resolved another major project. Now the entire company had emerged from its previous inhuman state, becoming very harmonious and warm. The gossip in the company group chat was also stirring, and early in the morning, everyone was excitedly discussing this matter.

*I never expected it! Wasn’t CEO Jiang famous for keeping away from women? How did he fall so hard this time?*

*Finally! With a beauty warming his bed, CEO Jiang has finally become a befuddled ruler who no longer holds morning court!*

*Will our Jiang dynasty fall because of this!? And then we, starving subjects, will have to take our families elsewhere to seek a wise ruler??*

*Today the king doesn’t hold morning court, I feel that before long, he’ll be engaging in warfare just for the amusement of his concubines!!*

*Although I’m already beginning to tremble for my rice bowl, I still want to use my last drop of blood to shout that CEO Jiang’s infatuated character setting is great to follow!!!*

*Speaking of which, what does that “beauty hidden in the golden chamber” look like?? I’m so curious!!*

Secretary Zhao sat in the spacious office next to the chairman’s office on the 19th floor, looking at the string of chat messages in the company group, wondering why a boss like Jiang Wang would have such a group of dramatic employees.

Jiang Wang had several secretaries, and Secretary Zhao was the only woman. However, her work ability couldn’t compare to people like Fang Qi, so she could only be considered a life assistant, managing Jiang Wang’s work schedule and some calls and invitations.

Originally, CEO Jiang had several appointments this morning, but they were not particularly important—just some meals and entertainment activities to maintain connections. Jiang Wang had canceled them yesterday, clearly planning to spend quality time with his little wife.

After sleeping a bit more, they both got up and stood at the washbasin. Jiang Wang finished washing first, patted her head, and said, “I’ll go downstairs first.”

Since Shi Niannian moved in, breakfast was prepared at home every day. Previously, Jiang Wang didn’t eat breakfast and didn’t have time to eat, working until he lost track of day and night.

Breakfast was already set on the dining table. Despite being abroad for so many years, Shi Niannian still preferred Chinese food. Two glasses of milk, a basket of steamed dumplings and crab roe buns, egg foo young, and a bowl of taro ball sweet soup.

Jiang Wang reached out to feel the food tray—it was still hot.

Having just showered in the morning, he was quite enjoying the morning. His hair wasn’t dried yet, and his robe was loosely tied, his whole person exuding a lazy and casual air.

The doorbell rang twice.

Jiang Wang shuffled over in his slippers, opened the door, and saw Fan Mengming.

Fan Mengming excitedly squeezed into the house: “Hey, I went to your company this morning, and you weren’t there.”

Jiang Wang: “What’s the matter?”

Fan Mengming just looked around the house curiously: “I heard from people at your company that you’re keeping a little lover at home. What’s going on? Is it true or false?”

Jiang Wang frowned slightly but didn’t respond.

Fan Mengming noticed the two pairs of chopsticks on the dining table and understood that the rumor was true.

When he first heard people from the company say that Jiang Wang was keeping a little lover at home, he slapped the table and said, “Absolutely impossible!”

Fan Mengming was also an idle person after graduation. His mother had arranged several chain stores for him, where he held a nominal position. He was quite familiar with the people in Jiang Wang’s company, so they spoke freely with him.

They listed various strange signs for him, all confirming that Jiang Wang had truly moved on from his feelings for Shi Niannian and had quickly installed a beauty at home—highly efficient.

Fan Mengming found it surprising. At first, he hadn’t realized how much Jiang Wang liked Shi Niannian. But later, more than a year after Shi Niannian left, on the night after the college entrance exam, Jiang Wang beat someone up in a bar, and he understood that this person hadn’t forgotten the young girl at all.

He also didn’t understand why Jiang Wang never contacted Shi Niannian and never went to find her, only feeling that this was too damn devoted, simply waiting.

Jiang Wang saw him staring at the breakfast in a daze, kicked him, and said lightly, “It’s not for you to eat.”

“…” Fan Mengming lamented that the tables had turned, and he had finally lost favor. “So there is someone at home, CEO Jiang?”

Jiang Wang looked at him without speaking, his expression a bit impatient.

This was as good as confirming it. Fan Mengming sat down in a chair: “So it’s true. I didn’t believe it at first, but it’s good. You couldn’t keep waiting like this forever. It’s a good thing to be able to like someone else again.”

Jiang Wang just silently watched him express his feelings.

There was a slight sound from the stairway. Jiang Wang looked up to see Shi Niannian coming out of the bedroom.

Fan Mengming heard it too and widened his eyes in disbelief, only then realizing that the breakfast hadn’t been touched yet, so of course, his new sister-in-law was still at home.

He was sitting at the edge of the dining table, and from this position, Shi Niannian couldn’t see him from the stairs.

“Jiang Wang, is my backpack in the living room?”

Jiang Wang casually glanced at Fan Mengming and then looked towards the sofa: “It is.”

This is exactly what everyone said! She’s still a student, and he’s already made his move! He’s too inhuman!

Fan Mengming thought in shock, suddenly feeling something wasn’t right. This voice… seemed a bit familiar.

It sounded like Time’s voice?

But why wasn’t she stuttering anymore?

Fan Mengming jumped up from the dining table and turned his head to look towards the stairs.

Shi Niannian hadn’t expected there to be another person in the house. She was startled and jumped. The two of them froze in place simultaneously. In the end, Shi Niannian reacted first, somewhat awkwardly raising her hand to greet him.

“Ah,” Fan Mengming blinked and repeated, “Ah, so the ‘little lover’ they were talking about is you.”

“Huh?”

What little lover?

Jiang Wang had no intention of letting this idiot Fan Mengming continue talking. He beckoned to Shi Niannian: “Come eat breakfast.”

So the two of them sat side by side at the dining table, with Fan Mengming sitting across from them, looking at them over and asking, “…Time, when did you come back?”

“Just recently, just got back.”

“Hey, weren’t you going to pursue a master’s degree? Brother Wang secretly checked your information back then and said you were going to take the graduate entrance exam.”

Shi Niannian was stunned for a moment and turned her head to look at Jiang Wang. The latter was calm, showing no sign of being exposed, and continued eating his breakfast. She hesitated and said, “Later, I decided to come back to China for my master’s degree.”

After chatting for a while, Shi Niannian lowered her head, suddenly remembering something, and almost dropped her chopsticks.

Fan Mengming was still chattering on the other side. Her face burned again, and she softly said, “I’ll go upstairs to get my things,” and ran off as if escaping.

Only when she got back to the bedroom did she remember that her backpack and other things were all in the living room. She stood in front of the mirror, pulling her collar down slightly, revealing mottled red marks.

Jiang Wang came up and saw her doing this, her face red as she looked in the mirror.

“It’s quite low, others can’t see it,” he said, leaning against the doorframe, his words carrying a smile.

Shi Niannian pouted, not wanting to pay attention to him.

Jiang Wang hugged her waist from behind and kissed her neck, his gaze slightly darkening: “I didn’t even leave marks there.”