The Chen family lived in a two-story standalone villa. It wasn’t in the most upscale neighborhood in the city, but the surroundings and security were decent.
Although Chu Luyu knew some of the plot, she had none of the original owner’s memories. So as she followed everyone home, everything felt new and unfamiliar.
Chu Fanyin sent the household staff off and decided to cook dinner herself. After briefly welcoming Chu Luyu and Jiang Hezhou when they arrived, she dove straight into the kitchen, leaving Chen Mian to entertain them outside.
Chen Mian still had that same lazy, bratty look about him. Seeing his mom leave and no one watching over him, he stood up, said he was going to his room to change, and left them there without a second thought.
The living room suddenly became just Chu Luyu and Jiang Hezhou.
Chu Luyu felt a bit awkward. After all, this was her home—she should probably be the one playing host.
So she pushed the fruit platter toward Jiang Hezhou: “Have some fruit.”
Jiang Hezhou seemed to notice her discomfort. After a moment’s pause, he said: “This is my first time here. Why don’t you… show me around your room?”
Chu Luyu hesitated briefly, then agreed. With the system’s guidance, she led him to the innermost room on the second floor.
It was the largest bedroom on the second floor, facing south. When she opened the door, the room was flooded with light.
The room was packed with clothes and bags of all kinds. Besides the built-in walk-in closet, there were also several simple rolling racks along the walls, each one loaded with colorful clothing for every season.
In the corner were piled nearly a hundred shoeboxes of various sizes. Though they were neatly organized, the sheer volume made the space feel cluttered and stifling.
Chu Luyu swallowed hard and gave Jiang Hezhou an awkward smile: “Heh, I have a lot of stuff in my room. Hope you don’t mind.”
Jiang Hezhou said nothing, simply stepping into the room in silence.
The room’s feel reminded him of his early impressions of Chu Luyu—gaudy, cloying, with an oppressive air of suffocation.
He did his best to ignore his visceral reaction. As his gaze swept the room, he noticed half of a certificate peeking out from behind a clothing rack.
“‘Little Artist Excellence Award’…” He murmured as he pushed the clothes aside to reveal the rest. “Third grade.”
“Uh, yeah, that’s an award I got in an elementary school art competition. I stuck it there so long ago I completely forgot about it.”
Jiang Hezhou recalled that his mother had once mentioned she’d majored in fine arts. After a pause, he asked: “So you’ve been drawing since you were little, and you chose that major in college too?”
“I guess so,” Chu Luyu mumbled. “Though she only picked it to coast through…”
“What?”
“Nothing.” Chu Luyu grinned, trying to change the subject. Her eyes happened to land on an easel nearby. “Hey, my easel’s still here! Since we’ve got time, want me to draw you?”
Jiang Hezhou had never seen her draw before and was a bit curious.
“Sure.”
System Cuihua: [What’s going on? How did we end up drawing?]
Chu Luyu: [The original owner was an art major, right? I’m just reinforcing the character and soothing my itch to draw, hehe.]
Back in the real world, she’d worked every day—her pen and tablet were always within reach. Since arriving here, she hadn’t touched any of these tools in ages…
Jiang Hezhou cooperatively sat down on the single-seater sofa across from her.
His legs were impossibly long. As he sat, his knees created a slight arch, and his trousers rode up a little, revealing a sliver of his ankle wrapped in black socks.
“Do I need to strike a pose?”
“No, just sit naturally.”
Chu Luyu was already set up. The easel held paper, pencil, and eraser. No paints, but that was enough.
She dragged the easel to the edge of the bed, held up the pencil, and sighted him—
Sunlight streamed through the window behind him, spilling over the crown of his head, his neck, and his shoulders. He wore a grey-blue shirt with a clean, simple cut and perfectly straight shoulder lines.
For some reason, Chu Luyu was reminded of a scene from the drama—the male lead at work.
She put pencil to paper, following the images in her mind, stroke by stroke, quickly filling the blank sheet with a complete portrait.
When she finished, she excitedly trotted over to Jiang Hezhou.
“Look!”
She sat on the edge of the sofa, unconsciously leaning close, and held the drawing out for him to see.
Her long, loose hair was tucked behind her ear, but with her movement, a few unruly strands still swayed to the side, brushing against the man’s shoulder—some even grazed his cheek.
Light and feathery. It tickled.
Jiang Hezhou was momentarily dazed.
Then his gaze fell on the drawing she’d handed him.
His expression stilled for a second: “This is…”
“Hehe, I imagined what you’d look like at work, based on your appearance. Pretty good, right?” Chu Luyu was smug, pointing at the drawing with her pencil. “This is the scalpel you use during autopsies. Since it’s for the abdominal area, I drew the wide-bladed organ knife. And I also added the city bureau’s team emblem on the lab coat… How about it? Pretty detailed, huh?”
The classification of autopsy scalpels was something Chu Luyu had remembered from watching the documentary earlier. It wasn’t that she’d paid special attention—it was just that once those fine instruments were categorized, they stuck in your mind.
As for the emblem, that was purely from when she’d watched the short drama.
Art students had always been sensitive to patterns and designs.
Jiang Hezhou remained silent for a long while. Then, he took the drawing, quietly pulled out his phone, and tapped the screen.
A transfer notification sounded from Chu Luyu’s phone. She glanced at it—Jiang Hezhou had sent her ten thousand yuan.
She was confused. “What are you doing?”
Jiang Hezhou: “Payment for the artwork.”
With that, he took the drawing from her hand, carefully picked up an empty paper bag from the corner of the room, and put it inside.
Seeing this, Chu Luyu was in high spirits. “So you’re pretty happy with it, then?”
Jiang Hezhou rarely curved his lips into a smile. “Mm.”
“Awesome! Then I’ll gladly accept your generous tip, sir!”
She jogged over and pretended to massage his arm—she’d aimed for his shoulder, but he was too tall, and reaching up was a bit of a stretch.
“If you ever need any other art-related services, feel free to come to me! I take all kinds of commissions! Next time, I’ll give you an eight-percent discount.”
The smile in Jiang Hezhou’s eyes deepened. “Deal.”
Chen Mian had been sent upstairs by Chu Fanyin to bring up some fruit. When he arrived, he happened to catch the two of them in this harmonious moment.
He curled his lips in slight dissatisfaction, thinking: I’ve given her plenty of my saved pocket money to buy clothes and those stupid bags, and she’s never been this sycophantically nice to me.
With that thought, he held the fruit platter in one hand and pulled out his phone with the other, quietly snapping a photo and sending it to Chen Zhou.
[Chen Mian]: Big Brother, look—these two are pretty harmonious.
Chen Zhou didn’t reply. Chen Mian figured he must have boarded his flight and didn’t think much of it.
By evening, Chu Fanyin’s homemade feast was finally complete.
Chu Luyu and Jiang Hezhou had already come downstairs. Jiang Hezhou was helping set the tableware while Chu Luyu seized the moment to sidle up to Chu Fanyin and whisper quietly.
“Mom, when is Uncle Chen coming back?”
She pretended to be completely unaware of the tension between the two elders, mumbling softly: “He should be off work around now, right?”
A flicker of unease crossed Chu Fanyin’s face. After a moment, she smiled at Chu Luyu: “Never mind him. Let’s just eat.”
Chu Luyu thought for a moment, then quietly slipped away to a corner and sent a message to her stepfather, Chen Huanian.
[Chu Luyu]: Uncle Chen, Mom made a huge dinner herself tonight. When do you get off work? We’re waiting for you to eat.
System Cuihua: [You’re trying to play matchmaker and mediator for the old couple?]
Chu Luyu: [What else can I do? From what you’ve said, they seem to have a good relationship. All of this tension is because of the original owner. Since the trouble started with me, it’s only right that I fix it.]
A moment later, her stepfather replied.
Chen Huanian: [No need. I’ve been busy lately. No time.]
Chu Luyu was taken aback. She scrolled up through their chat history.
Most of the original owner’s conversations with this stepfather were initiated by him—either asking how she was doing, or sending her money transfers, or playing peacemaker between her and her mother, urging her not to always be angry with Chu Fanyin.
To be fair, just based on their past exchanges, this stepfather had already done more than enough.
This sudden coldness meant he was genuinely upset.
Chu Luyu sighed inwardly. She was a complete pacifist. Whenever someone around her argued, she’d feel unbearably awkward and uncomfortable.
Whenever there was tension in her family, she’d try every way to ease it.
But now, this situation…
Chu Luyu sighed to herself, feeling that this would need a more long-term approach.
When everyone sat down to eat, Chen Mian kept craning his neck toward the front door.
“Dad said he’s working late and can’t make it. But Big Brother said his flight would land in the evening. Not sure where he is now—I called him earlier, but it’s still unreachable.”
Chu Fanyin nodded: “He messaged me too, said he’d be back today, but didn’t give a specific time.”
Chen Mian frowned, a little displeased: “Then tell Auntie to set aside some of each dish for Big Brother. He’s already tired from rushing back on a business trip—he shouldn’t have to eat our leftovers.”
“Don’t worry, Mom already arranged that.”
As she spoke, Chu Fanyin reached over and put a rib in Chu Luyu’s bowl, then immediately added a meatball right after.
“Xiao Bao, eat more. Today’s dinner is all your favorites.”
Chu Luyu watched her originally empty bowl quickly turn into a small mountain of food and felt helpless.
She pleaded softly: “Mom, please, that’s enough. If you keep adding more, I won’t be able to finish it…”
“If you can’t finish, then just eat it anyway. Look how thin you are. You were going on and on about dieting before—you were practically just skin and bones.”
Jiang Hezhou had been quietly observing from the side, but his peripheral vision caught what Chu Fanyin had been putting in Chu Luyu’s bowl.
Sweet and sour ribs, crispy fried mushrooms, meatballs, and sweet and sour fish… So these were Chu Luyu’s favorite dishes.
He silently made a mental note.
Later, when the table atmosphere was harmonious, Chu Fanyin took the opportunity to speak earnestly with Jiang Hezhou.
Ever since the two had gotten engaged, she’d wanted to have a proper conversation with him but had never found the right chance.
“Hezhou, we haven’t had many chances to meet before, and there are so many things I haven’t had time to say. Xiao Bao, she…”
Chu Fanyin essentially wanted to ask Jiang Hezhou to be patient and understanding with Chu Luyu, to be accommodating and not take things too seriously with her.
“I know this engagement came about suddenly, but Xiao Bao has always been cherished in our home. No matter what happens in the future, she will always be our precious child.”
Her mother’s words made Chu Luyu’s nose sting involuntarily.
In the real world, she’d never had anyone to lean on. From a very young age, she’d gotten used to solving problems on her own. But here, she was finally experiencing the maternal love she’d been missing for so long.
Chu Luyu really wanted to cry.
Chu Luyu: [Cuihua, I want to cry so bad. This family is just too good, truly too good.]
System Cuihua: [Uh…]
Chu Luyu had a bad feeling: [What’s with that reaction? Don’t tell me, with this atmosphere right now, you’re about to give me a mission!]
System Cuihua: [It’s not me! The missions are arranged according to plot points. It just so happens that you and the male lead are having dinner at the original owner’s home right now, and coincidentally, there are elders present too.]
As soon as it finished speaking, the familiar system chime rang out in the air—
[Ding, new mission! Please whisper to the male lead in front of your family, touch his abdominal muscles for 10 seconds, and say the key line: “Hezhou-gege, would you like to taste me tonight? Luyu—more delicious than anything on this table.”]
Chu Luyu: [……………………Just kill me now!!!]
System Cuihua: [Hehehe, this mission is indeed a bit embarrassing.]
Chu Luyu didn’t even want to speak anymore. She slumped there in despair, eyes glazed over.
Chu Fanyin, across the table, noticed something was off and repeatedly asked her what was wrong.
She let out a dry laugh, saying she’d eaten too much and needed a moment.
Jiang Hezhou, sitting beside her, leaned closer.
“Want me to take you out for a walk?”
“No, no.” She hadn’t completed the mission yet—if he went with her, how could she do it in front of the whole family?
Chu Luyu felt like either way, it was a dead end.
She took a deep breath, steeled herself with the resolve of a martyr, picked up her chopsticks, and put a rib in Jiang Hezhou’s bowl.
Before the man could react, she suddenly leaned in close, her lips hovering about a centimeter from his ear.
“Hezhou-gege, would you like to taste me tonight? Luyu—more delicious than anything on this table.”
She recited it like a mantra, almost without a single pause, all in one breath.
While speaking, her hand didn’t stay idle either. She quietly slipped it under the table, found the area around his lower abdomen, and slammed it down.
But… but…
Hmm… the feel of this…
Suddenly, the system shrieked like a madwoman: [HOLY CRAP, YOU JUST GRABBED THE MALE LEAD’S PRIVATES!]
Chu Luyu: [What? What privates?]
The system was silent for two seconds, then replied: [You know, the three words that always get censored in novels—starts with ‘d’.]
Chu Luyu: …
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