Chu Luyu stood by the street, completely dumbfounded.
She asked the system: 【Didn’t you say I wouldn’t see the male lead again for two weeks? There are still three days left! And he’s not even here—how could a task pop up all of a sudden?!】
System Cuihua: 【Who said the male lead isn’t here? The task was triggered precisely because he is here. And in the original plot, the task node was when the original owner met the male lead again and did some more annoying things—it just happened to be two weeks apart in between… It’s not that we have to wait exactly two weeks before the task starts.】
Chu Luyu felt a bit despairing. She scanned her surroundings and asked: 【So? Where is the male lead now?】
System Cuihua: 【Look to your front left—that Qiangzi Beef Noodle place.】
Chu Luyu immediately looked over—
There was indeed a beef noodle shop across the old street. The signboard looked old, with red characters on a yellow background, showing some age.
Inside, a few tables had customers seated. Near the entrance, a clean, elegant back in a white shirt was visible.
That should be Jiang Hezhou.
Chu Luyu had a headache. She hadn’t expected to run into the male lead just by casually looking for a place to rent.
Damn this plot-driven task! She hated it!
Over there, the beef noodles Jiang Hezhou had just ordered had been brought to the table, steam carrying the aroma of noodles billowing above the bowl. He didn’t eat right away—one hand held his chopsticks, the other held his phone as he checked messages.
In the small work group chat, a colleague had sent him a message asking if he had time to attend the department’s teaching seminar next Tuesday.
Jiang Hezhou hesitated, still undecided about whether to agree, when suddenly someone pounced on him from behind.
His vigilance was high—his chopsticks were almost instantly gripped tight—and he was about to turn around when that familiar sweet orange scent wafted over with the air behind him.
Before he could register his surprise, the person behind him directly threw herself onto his back and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Her body was soft. When she embraced him from behind, Jiang Hezhou felt as if he were being wrapped in a sweet, soft marshmallow. One of her forearms crossed horizontally in front of his neck, and her little head nestled intimately against his left side.
The next second, a lowered, soft voice reached his ear—sweet and sticky, as if lacking confidence: “Big brother, it’s been so many days—have you missed me?”
【She’s seducing me again. 】
Those words were the first thing that crossed Jiang Hezhou’s mind.
Upon realizing that, he found that subconsciously, he wasn’t particularly resistant—rather, there was a vague, hidden sense of anticipation.
Chu Luyu watched the task progress bar tick forward by +1 and breathed a sigh of relief. She immediately straightened up from behind the man.
The moment she pulled away, Jiang Hezhou felt an inexplicable emptiness for a split second. He frowned instinctively and turned his head toward her.
Chu Luyu had no idea what he was thinking. Seeing his brows knitted together, she immediately whined to the system.
Chu Luyu: 【Cuihua, look at the male lead—look at his expression! He’s so annoyed with me!】
System Cuihua: 【Isn’t that obvious? After what happened last time, of course he’s annoyed with you!】
Chu Luyu pouted. Whatever—let him be annoyed. The task was done, so she didn’t need to stick around and be an eyesore.
She gave an awkward smile at Jiang Hezhou. “What a coincidence, you’re eating here too. Um, I don’t really have anything—just saw you here and wanted to say hi… You go ahead and eat. I’ll be going.”
But the moment she turned, her wrist was suddenly grabbed by him.
The light from outside happened to fall on his turned profile. Behind his gold-rimmed glasses, his eyes were cool and distant, yet they were fixed intently on Chu Luyu.
“The beef noodles here are really good. You should try some.”
Chu Luyu froze, completely taken aback.
Chu Luyu: 【Has the male lead gone crazy? He’s actually inviting me to stay and eat beef noodles with him? That’s what he means, right? I’m not misunderstanding, am I?】
System Cuihua: 【Hmm… Something feels off to me. Normally, at this point, he should be avoiding you as much as possible! This isn’t right, this isn’t right—holy crap, you don’t think he wants to keep you here to talk about calling off the engagement, do you?!】
Chu Luyu immediately tensed up too: 【What do I do then? If he’s set on breaking off the engagement, how am I supposed to handle the later tasks?】
System Cuihua: 【It’s okay. First, see what the male lead actually wants to say. Calling off the engagement is just my guess—maybe it’s not that.】
Chu Luyu: 【What if I just run?】
System Cuihua: 【What good would running do? He knows where you live anyway. And his grip on your wrist is so tight, like he’s afraid you’ll bolt—do you really think you can get away?】
Chu Luyu, hearing what the system said, instinctively glanced down.
A pale, cool palm was firmly wrapped around her wrist. The slender, defined fingers looked casual in their placement, but the grip around her wrist bone was tight.
This stance clearly meant he wasn’t about to let her go.
Chu Luyu resigned herself to her fate, steeled her nerves, and obediently sat down across from him.
Jiang Hezhou ordered a signature bowl of beef noodles for her. While waiting for the food, she sat there on pins and needles, while the man across from her seemed quite composed and at ease, even making small talk with her.
“This place used to be an auto repair shop, not a noodle restaurant. A few years ago, the noodle shop owner came from out of town to start a business, took over this space, and renovated the whole place before turning it into what it is now.”
Chu Luyu had other things on her mind and answered absentmindedly: “Really? That’s quite a shift in clientele…”
The noodles were later brought out by the owner’s wife. Chu Luyu hadn’t had much expectation and just took a symbolic bite.
But in an instant, her expression lit up.
“It’s actually this good?!”
She looked genuinely impressed. Her previously casual eating manner shifted into something more serious.
Jiang Hezhou observed her expressions from across the table. As he leisurely picked up noodles with his chopsticks, he lowered his gaze and let out a soft chuckle. “I’ve been coming here to eat for years, and I’ve tried just about everything on the menu. This beef noodle bowl is the best thing here.”
Chu Luyu was surprised to hear that. She hadn’t even finished chewing what was in her mouth when she looked up.
“All the time?”
As she spoke, her cheeks were puffed out, making her look like a round, adorable little hamster.
Jiang Hezhou averted his gaze a little unnaturally and replied, “Didn’t I just say that before this was a noodle place, it was an auto repair shop? Before my father passed away, his car had come here for repairs.”
Chu Luyu was a bit taken aback.
She quickly asked the system: 【Cuihua, what’s going on? Is there some hidden plot here?】
System Cuihua: 【I don’t really know the specifics either. The original plot didn’t go into much detail about the male lead’s father’s death. All I know is that his father died in a car accident, seemingly caused by brake failure. The car crashed into a large tree on the outskirts. His father shielded him in time, so he was fine, but his father died on the spot.】
Chu Luyu: 【Oh my god. Judging by what the male lead just said, it sounds like he suspects his father’s death wasn’t that simple?】
She couldn’t help but ask Jiang Hezhou directly: “Do you think there was something wrong with the shop that repaired your father’s car? That someone tampered with his vehicle, which led to the accident?”
Jiang Hezhou didn’t look up, his brows and eyes still calm.
“Just a guess.”
Was it really just a guess? If so, he wouldn’t have been coming here for years for no reason…
But Chu Luyu didn’t feel it was appropriate to pry further. After all, this was his personal matter, and their current relationship wasn’t one where she could discuss such topics.
She decided to stop talking and focus on eating her noodles.
That said, the beef noodles were really, really good—springy and smooth, with a broth that must have had some secret house recipe, tasting far better than ordinary beef noodles elsewhere.
The system watched her chow down and couldn’t help teasing: 【You really know how to eat. Weren’t you worried about the male lead wanting to break off the engagement earlier? How come the moment you start eating, all that goes out the window?】
Chu Luyu ate with pure enjoyment: 【If it’s going to happen, there’s nothing I can do about it anyway. Might as well finish this delicious bowl of noodles first.】
Chu Luyu did experience anticipatory anxiety when faced with difficulties.
But she never made things hard on her present self for the sake of things that might happen in the future.
That would be too foolish.
After they finished eating, Jiang Hezhou went to the counter to pay. Chu Luyu stared at his back, her mind wandering.
If he really brought up breaking off the engagement later, what should she do? Grab his leg and beg him to give her another half year? But if he asked why, how would she answer?
Her thoughts were a mess. Even after Jiang Hezhou led her out of the noodle shop and they had walked quite a distance down the street, she remained silent.
“What are you thinking about?” Jiang Hezhou suddenly asked.
Chu Luyu snapped out of it and realized they were already out on the street.
“Nothing much,” she said, trying to keep her tone natural, turning to smile at him. “Now that we’ve finished eating, are you heading back to work?”
Jiang Hezhou didn’t take the bait. He continued walking calmly beside her. After a few seconds, he suddenly asked an odd question out of nowhere.
“What kind of person do you think I am?”
Chu Luyu blinked, full of question marks.
After a moment, she tentatively replied: “Calm and composed, restrained and courteous? Hmm… a very mature, very steady, and very, very good person.”
She thought she’d given a pretty good compliment, but Jiang Hezhou showed no reaction whatsoever.
A moment later, he stopped under an old plane tree. Dappled light and shadow from the branches and leaves fell over his head, his white shirt, and his handsome, refined face, all marked with the traces of tree shadows. Behind his glasses, his eyes looked at her deeply and intently.
“What if I’m not?”
Chu Luyu didn’t catch on: “What?”
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