A Year Flew By

A Year Flew By

Over the next year or so, with Xu Kaiyang joining the team, Wang Yue's studio shifted into high gear. Not only did their workload surge, but everyone quickly learned the differences between various building materials. It was a painful yet rewarding experience for them all.

At first, with so many inexperienced people on the team, their plans needed especially careful and thorough review. For some unusual cases, Wang Yue had to look things up. If he couldn't find the answer, he had to resort to special measures, even consulting professors himself.

For much of that year, Wang Yue worked late into the night by himself. Since it was often too late to go home, he would simply sleep at the office, too lazy to bother going back to his apartment.

But that changed one morning when Ruan Wan had no classes during the first two periods. Remembering that there was unfinished work from the day before, she went to the office. When she opened the door, she saw that the light in Wang Yue's office was on.

Ruan Wan peered in from a distance through the window. Wang Yue was asleep inside. Looking at the books scattered beside him, she suddenly realized that while everyone else had gone home to rest, Wang Yue had kept working. He had probably been doing this for quite some time.

Throughout all this work, Ruan Wan had always felt that Wang Yue was the one looking after them. The salary he paid them would have been more than enough to hire people with work experience.

Yet Wang Yue never complained. He was always incredibly patient with them. Ruan Wan was the kind of person who remembered even the smallest kindness.

Seeing Wang Yue fast asleep that day, she suddenly felt that this usually mysterious and capable man was still just a boy at heart.

The motherly instinct deep inside Ruan Wan prompted her to slip quietly into Wang Yue's office, drape a blanket over him, and leave.

About half an hour later, Ruan Wan came back with breakfast.

From that day on, she often brought breakfast, and sometimes late-night snacks, too.

One Saturday, after washing up at his apartment complex, Wang Yue passed by the office a little after ten. To his surprise, Ruan Wan was still there. He went in and helped her finish her work, then walked her back to the dorm.

That was also the day Ruan Wan learned Wang Yue had an apartment in the complex. She asked him why he didn't cook himself something tasty, then told him that Zheng Wei had complained about the school cooks, who managed to turn perfectly good ingredients into the worst food imaginable.

After thinking it over, Wang Yue gave her a key and told her she and the others could go over whenever they felt like cooking something good.

From then on, whenever they were at the office, there was always plenty of delicious food. Ruan Wan had become a little chef, and everyone learned that her cooking was just as impressive as her looks. Zhao Shiyong was one lucky guy.

Over that same year or so, Wang Yue and Xiao Nan's Xiaonan Steamed Bun Shop had moved into the larger shop they'd bought. Xiao Nan's cooking was delicious and affordable, so people often came from far away to buy buns. But Wang Yue had stopped taking a share of the shop's profits a year earlier. Seeing that he wouldn't budge, Xiao Nan stopped trying to persuade him and simply told Xiaobei to work hard.

Wang Yue turned the original little shop into a milk tea store called 2006. Business was booming. By now, they had opened a branch near every university in the city.

Over that year or so, everyone had grown a lot. Combining what they learned in class with practical experience had given them a much deeper understanding of their studies.

Everyone's living standards had improved significantly. Wang Yue's roommates especially had once all looked slim and wiry, except for Liu Lei. Now, they were all a little more solidly built.

The commission Wang Yue paid them was, on paper, at the going market rate, but they also got bonuses every month. Everyone's wallets were stuffed.

After a year of work, the ten-person studio could handle its projects with ease. Over that year, they had witnessed Wang Yue pull off some truly bizarre moves.

For a while, Xu Kaiyang referred several older women from Wenzhou to them. They had several buildings that needed renovating, and the studio couldn't keep up with the work.

So Wang Yue flew to Jinling and met a few of the women from Wenzhou for coffee. No one knew exactly what they discussed, but in the end, both sides parted on excellent terms.

Not long after Wang Yue returned, a property management company came to the studio to discuss working together. As it happened, the company's owners were those women from Wenzhou. They handed all the design work for their properties to the studio and told them there was no rush.

It was Ruan Wan's birthday. Everyone was celebrating with her, and things were getting lively when her boyfriend suddenly showed up to surprise her.

Wang Yue felt a little irritated, but it was because he was worried about Ruan Wan. He had met this Zhao Shiyong before.

It turned out that on the day Wang Yue had flown to Jinling to discuss the property management company with the women from Wenzhou, a young man and woman had walked into the café together, leaning against each other, just as the group was saying goodbye.

After hesitating for a while, Wang Yue called a businessman in Jinling and asked him to find a private investigator to look into Zhao Shiyong and that girl.

Once he'd made the arrangements, Wang Yue went back to the gathering. As soon as he sat down, Zheng Wei leaned toward him. "What were you off doing? You saw Ruan Wan's friend show up—don't tell me you're jealous. I noticed you kept staring at Zhao Shiyong. Wait, do you like men?"

"What kind of nonsense is going on in that little head of yours?" Wang Yue said helplessly, giving Zheng Wei a gentle tap on the head.

"I've seen Zhao Shiyong in Jinling," Wang Yue said. Seeing that Zheng Wei wouldn't let it go, he decided to tell her the truth.

"Jinling? When you went up against those rich older women?" Zheng Wei exclaimed dramatically.

"Why is your mind so filthy? But yes, it was that day. Now hurry up—Ruan Wan's waiting for you to cut the cake!" Wang Yue thought Xu Kaiyang had been a bad influence on him.

"I'm telling Ruan Wan you like her!" Zheng Wei made a face and ran off.

Wang Yue shook his head, exasperated, and was about to walk away when Xu Kaiyang said, "Was she telling the truth? Do you like Ruan Wan now?"

"Ruan Wan's the sort of woman a mature man would want to marry. Zheng Wei, on the other hand, is what love feels like. She makes you feel like youth is supposed to be just like this." After a year of knowing Ruan Wan, the more Wang Yue learned about her, the more he felt she was a wonderful girl—the kind who'd make a perfect wife and mother.

A girl that beautiful had made a point of saying she had a boyfriend on her very first day at school. She had left herself no way out and given other men no chance.

According to the rules of TV dramas, devoted women always ended up with unfaithful men. Wang Yue hadn't seen it for himself before, but after running into Zhao Shiyong this time, he was speechless. It seemed the story was playing out exactly as expected.

From a distance, Wang Yue saw Zheng Wei whispering something to Ruan Wan. Ruan Wan gave Zheng Wei a light punch, then sneaked a glance at Wang Yue.

For just a moment, Wang Yue's heart pounded fiercely. It was as if he'd been struck by lightning.

At that moment, Wang Yue's scalp tingled.

In the real world, Wang Yue had never been in a relationship. He'd spent twenty-nine years single, like a lazy salted fish. In this world, he felt his heart ache whenever he saw Zheng Wei upset. When he saw the look on Ruan Wan's face, his heart fluttered.

Had this little monster, now let out of its cage, been born with the makings of a playboy?

I'm completely pure!