They reunite at the negotiating table.
The text message "Don't wait" eight years ago made her wait from dawn to dusk at the school gate. Now she is the youngest partner candidate of Jincheng Law Firm. He is the investment bank MD of Taiping Capital. Across the negotiation table of the tens of billions of mergers and acquisitions, he nodded businesslikely: "Mr. Lu, let's get started."
During the day, there was a tit-for-tat confrontation. He refused to give in for profits, while she fought hard for the terms. Late at night, they each turned on their computers - he investigated the opponents who spread rumors about her, and she compiled the materials he needed to respond. No one said anything, no one stopped.
Until the night when the project ended, she walked out of the building holding the documents and saw him leaning against the car.
"Lawyer Shen, I'll give you a ride."
There was warm milk tea from the small shop at the school gate in the car. She suddenly smiled: "Lu Shichen, do you know that I have been waiting for you?"
His fingers tightened on the steering wheel: "I know. So I'm here."
Not the timid boy from eight years ago, not the teenager who only texted about breaking up. He was the man who dared to stand in front of her after checking all the rumors. He was the partner who silently cleared the obstacles for her every night.
"Shen Nian," he called her name for the first time, "career is a part of you, and so am I. I don't ask you to choose."
She looked at the receding lights outside the window and suddenly understood - these eight years were not a blank period, they were each growing into people who could stand side by side.
"Not for you," he said, "but for us."
She didn't answer, just held the milk tea tighter. The city lights outside the car window are brightly lit, much like the street lights at the school gate that year. Only this time, she didn't have to wait any longer.
