Jiang Shiyan usually looked tall and thin. It wasn’t until Tang Yang was embraced in his arms, her cheek against his chest, that she realized how broad and familiar this chest was.

Tang Yang’s back was covered by the warm down jacket. Through the thin layer of her cashmere sweater, she could more clearly feel his body temperature, contours, and that pleasant, subtle woody scent carried on the wind.

Tang Yang’s nose nuzzled against Jiang Shiyan’s cashmere sweater, gently sniffing.

As she inhaled, the earlier uneasiness completely dissipated. Warmth seeped into her limbs, and she softly began to speak about Zhou Mo’s box of cookies and the unpleasant surprise inside.

A Maserati and a black gold card.

It would be a lie to say there was no temptation, but having gone through the whole experience, Tang Yang felt more fear in retrospect.

Only when she was in Jiang Shiyan’s embrace did she dare to express her vulnerability: “What if I couldn’t resist? What if I had just gone along with it?” Her lips turned down, feeling even more upset, “I only graduated from school a year ago, I’m still just a baby. Why do I have to go through so much…”

Tang Yang was softly playing the pity card.

Jiang Shiyan knew she was exaggerating to some extent, but his heart still tightened. His brows furrowed and then relaxed.

Finally, he stroked Tang Yang’s soft hair and said gently, “The last time you let me hug you was two years ago, I think.”

Tang Yang looked puzzled.

Jiang Shiyan reminded her: “You wrote a paper on human nature and the relationship between supply and demand with your project.” Then the paper was accepted by SCIENCE.

Tang Yang had shown the paper to her advisor, hoping for his help in polishing and offering suggestions. Afterwards, Tang Yang went to Houston.

By the time she returned from another project, the paper had been published in SCIENCE, but her advisor was listed as the first author, the teaching assistant as the second, and Tang Yang only as the third.

For middle school students, test scores are everything.

For Tang Yang, who was about to complete her doctorate and urgently needed a second SCIENCE paper for an ideal job offer, that paper was everything.

Even now, Tang Yang could recall the bewilderment she felt upon seeing the authorship, followed by a chilling disappointment.

“Are you rubbing salt in the wound?” Tang Yang grabbed Jiang Shiyan’s collar, looking at him unhappily.

“No,” Jiang Shiyan explained, “I meant to say if you feel the cookie incident is less upsetting than the paper incident, then since the paper issue is in the past, this will also get better after a good night’s sleep.”

“And if the cookie incident is more upsetting than the paper incident, I wanted to say,” Jiang Shiyan paused, “I’m still here by your side.”

I was here before, and I’m still here now.

A simple, objective statement.

Perhaps it was his slightly hoarse voice, or perhaps because Tang Yang had misunderstood at first, but Jiang Shiyan’s words came out a bit awkwardly.

Looking down and meeting Tang Yang’s shining eyes, Jiang Shiyan coughed and added, “Little Tang Chicken.”

This time, Tang Yang didn’t respond.

She gazed at him quietly with an extremely gentle expression.

Their bodies were less than two fists apart, and Jiang Shiyan could smell the fragrance of her hair. The scent of her hair and her gaze intertwined, making it hard to tell which was more captivating.

Jiang Shiyan dared not tease or provoke. He looked left and right, his Adam’s apple bobbing, his heart beating faster and faster.

Was I just being too sentimental? Probably not.

Is Yang-jie very moved right now? It seems so.

Girls are prone to impulsiveness. What if Yang-jie gets carried away and confesses? What if Yang-jie gets carried away and kisses me…