Chapter 07 Chapter 7
Cars and people streamed in front of the hotel. The welcoming attendants were neatly dressed, their matte leather shoes spotless, their outfits adorned with thin suits and woolen coats, representing a season after season. The flower beds flanking the driveway were planted with crape myrtles, irises, and roses. Guests naturally took in the seasonally appropriate small details, but were reluctant to devote more attention. With the rush of everyday life, who would have the time to pause in the driveway?
Just as P City always appears clean and beautiful, but those who inhabit it often feel exhausted. An Jiyue slowly walked down the path in front of the door, lingering a few seconds longer than the average person to admire the colorful flowers on both sides. A day that ended early should have been joyful and relaxing, but she still felt a subtle sense of anxiety, especially when she thought about how long the four-person group next door would continue filming. She felt as if she had a rest-shame syndrome.
She glanced at her watch. It was still early for her dinner appointment with Yue Hui, so she changed her mind and headed back to the hotel. She'd already renewed her swimming pass for several years, and she'd proactively contacted the source for this shoot, saving the business liaison team a lot of trouble. An Jiyue opened her locker, changed into her swimsuit, and walked to the pool, goggles and headphones in hand, splashing herself with water to adjust to the temperature.
She selected her playlist, pulled down her goggles, and lightly jumped into the water. She first silently dived half a meter, then suddenly spread her arms and, in sync with her breathing and the rhythm of her legs and feet, cut through a wave.
The man in the corner closed his computer and silently watched the beautiful figure beneath the waves. She had already swum effortlessly for two laps, then changed her stroke. "It's easy to enter a meditative state when swimming because you're so busy focusing on your breathing." These were the exact words she had said when she'd taught him to swim, and it seemed genuine; she hadn't even noticed herself.
But he nearly exposed himself. He'd gotten a call during a break in his swim, so he went back to the locker room to get a laptop to edit some materials. But when he returned, he saw someone leaping from the pool. The figure and swimming style were so familiar that he recognized it within a few meters. Lu Ye simply sat down, finishing his work while waiting for her, just like he had done years ago.
An Jiyue pushed off the pool wall with one foot, twisting her body and switching to a slower backstroke. Air gushed into her nostrils as she paddled, finding a moment to push her goggles up to her forehead. The next second, she felt a heavy gaze. She sped up, raising her head slightly. Lu Ye, clad in a bathrobe, entered her half-viewing angle.
Lu Ye's eyesight wasn't particularly good, but at that moment, he could clearly see the even rise and fall of An Jiyue's chest, which paused for half a second. The water droplets hanging from her eyelashes trembled as she blinked rapidly. He greeted her first, then noticed the earphones hanging from her ears, and raised his hand to wave at her, as a greeting.
The pure music filling her ears, the faint greeting, his raised hand in her sight, and the ensuing abdominal cramps all combined to drag her down. Cramps were a big no-no, but for An Jiyue, a seasoned swimmer, they were no problem. She thrashed methodically in the water, holding her breath and trying to weather the initial dizzying seconds. But the discomfort faded faster than expected. Lu Ye had swum to her side without her noticing, his hands slipping under her arms, lifting her entire upper body to the surface, and expertly paddling towards the shallows.
His bony fingers crossed in front of her collarbone. An Jiyue curled up stiffly, afraid of any unnecessary contact, and dared not move. "You can let me go..."
The sound was unclear due to the water in her mouth. The man under her tilted his head and pulled her up again: "What did you say?"
"...When did you learn to swim?"
"I learned it a long time ago. Maybe I can swim better than you now."
"What big talk." She knew that Lu Ye had always been a landlubber, while she had only learned it since she was a child, so naturally they could not compare.
"You don't believe it?" Lu Ye seemed to chuckle behind her ear, "Then let's have a race together next time?"
Next time? Will there be a next time? An Jiyue cleared her throat noncommittally and gently broke free from his arms. "Not this time, let's do it now. Let's try a round trip first?"
She looked calm, her limbs paddling freely to maintain her balance. Lu Ye frowned and laughed, "You've become much more competitive than before." He adjusted his swimming cap and goggles, watched her make the "three, two, one" gesture, and dived into the water with her.
He didn't exert his full strength, simply focusing on swinging his arms slowly and steadily. Soon, as he turned back, he met the beautiful figure behind him. She shouldn't be so slow. After swimming a few meters, Lu Ye began to wonder if she hadn't recovered enough. He stopped immediately and turned to look. He saw her scrambling to the shore, not even a towel on, as she headed dripping wet to the changing room.
Run away?
Lu Ye stood in the pool speechless, a long moment before he recovered. Okay, now that was more like her. He leaned leisurely against the water, his thoughts drifting up and down with the shimmering water.
——
"Lu Ye, who is this Lu Ye? He has quite good taste."
The boy who was called casually raised his hand and waved it. Being called by the professor in the first class of the dual degree program was indeed a good start, but he didn't care much about his top ranking at the moment. Instead, he was more concerned about the username "Jiyue" that was just below him.
Dual degrees in finance have always been popular, with enrollment requirements and assessment thresholds rising annually. Students who had survived several rounds of selection to gain admission were all full of pride, but in their first class, the professor from the School of Economics poured cold water on them. He presented a dozen economics games, each with its own ranking of gold coins. He then watched with a smile as the students tapped their screens, their faces bewildered. Lu Ye carefully studied the rules of each game, meticulously calculating every possible scenario before making a decision. Despite consistently ranking high in each round, he was consistently outperformed by someone named "Jiyue." Lu Ye remained calm, waiting to see who this person was when the final rankings were released. However, the final results revealed that this user had inexplicably placed second, and he was the one singled out for the spotlight.
"Jiyue... There's no one with the last name Ji in this class." He scribbles through the roster until he finds the answer on the first line. "It turns out her name is 'An Jiyue'."
Lu Ye looked up and glanced around, and happened to meet a pair of clear, curious eyes. His heart skipped a beat, and he heard the professor making arbitrary arrangements on the roster: "An Jiyue, you will be my class representative. Chen Miao, you will be the discipline committee member of my class. Stand up so I can see who it is."
Those eyes flickered, and he turned and stood up. A boy on the other side of the classroom also stood up and accepted the task. Lu Ye quickly found An Jiyue's account in the class group chat. The profile picture showed a girl with a natural and standard smile. Her nose was slightly straight, and her soft lips were pursed in a perfect curve. Although the eyes in the photo were not as lively as when they had just met, they revealed a gentle and firm look.
He added her as a friend, then, as if to cover up his tracks, added the boy named Chen Miao as well.
An Jiyue's success wasn't a fluke; Lu Ye soon spotted her name on the win rate leaderboard for a simulated trading competition in another class. If it wasn't sheer luck, then she must have put in a lot of effort. Lu Ye turned his gaze away from the screen and fixed his gaze on the figure in front of him, her hair half tied in a ponytail. She leaned slightly back in her chair, her neck straight and erect. One hand held a pen, the other rested on her chin. She seemed as absorbed in the Introduction to Investment class as everyone else. However, a silent variety show played on another screen in the drawer. Occasionally, she would react to the hilarious guests on screen. Lu Ye watched from afar as she struggled to suppress her trembling shoulders. Her classmates in the same row had already noticed something was amiss and cast disdainful glances at her.
She had no companions, perhaps because few people in the School of Journalism and Communication chose a double degree in finance. Lu Ye opened the chat box and quickly typed a line.
[Lu Ye: Classmate, what variety show are you watching? ]
An Jiyue: Unguarded Tonight. Hong Kong Variety Show.
【Lu Ye: Looks good?】
An Jiyue: It's great! The show's topics and hosting style are both bold and open. Would you like to watch it with me? I can vote for you.
Lu Ye: No thanks. I'll go straight to your seat. Just give me a pair of headphones.
[An Jiyue: Ah? Is this okay?]
"Of course." He stood in the aisle with his schoolbag slung over one shoulder, and knocked on the desk at the people who were engrossed in their studies. "The get out of class ended a long time ago."
The girl looked around the empty classroom in surprise. The writing on the blackboard was a mess, and the professor, who had been beaming at the podium, was nowhere to be found. Nearly half an hour had passed, and people were already trickling in for self-study. Her gaze finally stopped at Lu Ye. She blinked, calmly shifted the monitor from the drawer to the table, removed half of her headphones, and handed them over.
"Want to watch it together?"
Lu Ye couldn't believe that this person was the type to work hard in secret, but An Jiyue strongly protested his presumption - "You haven't seen me being meticulous about my communication homework!" - but why did he choose to study finance? He couldn't help but ask, "Do you want to go into financial media?"
"Not really," she shook her head, gazing wistfully at the banyan tree by the roadside. "I came here to learn to make my parents happy. Hey, can I team up with you?"
"What team?"
"Various group assignments." An Jiyue looked at him expectantly, her voice fawning, even using a respectful title. "Don't worry, I'm definitely not a black hole for group assignments. I'm a hardworking team member, and I'll do whatever you tell me to do."
She was indeed hardworking, and the three slides she submitted during the summary were almost as impressive as everyone else's in both content and layout, forcing the perfectionist Lu Ye to upgrade the rest of the work overnight. An Jiyue, dragged along to provide material suggestions, was so sleepy she could barely open her eyes, but she didn't complain at all.
"Order a coffee?" He was like a tyrant exploiting labor. "Iced Americano or espresso?"
"Hot chocolate, thank you." She yawned loudly in front of him without any grace. "Life is already so bitter, wouldn't it be nice to drink something sweet?"
——
His skin felt slightly dry from floating for so long, so Lu Ye turned over and dove back into the heated pool. He slowly swam a dozen meters, stretching his limbs, then began to accelerate his heart rate. "Let's burn a few more calories today," he decided before fully concentrating on breathing. "I'll be craving hot chocolate again later."
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