In that moment, Chu Luyu felt as if she had been struck by lightning. She suddenly remembered what the system had said—that no matter how the plot changed along the way, the ending would still converge on the same point…
So even for subplots unrelated to the main romance line, as long as an ending was set, it was impossible to change, no matter how hard you tried?
She didn’t know how to describe what she was feeling. On one hand, her heart ached for Chu Fanyin. On the other, she was overwhelmed by a sense of absurdity and unreality.
The system, watching clearly from above, sighed. [Sigh, babe, you see now? Even that tiny, tiny thread we thought we could change—its outcome is still heading to the same place…]
·
With Chu Luyu upstairs keeping her company, Chen Mian was no longer as worried about his mother’s state.
Seeing Jiang Hezhou still hanging around, he scratched his head a little sheepishly. “Sorry, brother-in-law, for dragging you and my sister all the way over because of our family mess.”
“It’s nothing. I’m on leave right now anyway, so I don’t have anything else to do.”
With that, Jiang Hezhou glanced around the room, then toward the second floor. “Is it just you and your mom at home right now? What about your uncle and your older brother?”
“They’d be at work at this hour, of course… but lately, it’s mostly just me and Mom at home anyway. After Dad and Mom had that fight yesterday, she kicked him out. And my older brother’s been on a business trip—he hasn’t been back in about half a month.”
“A business trip that long?”
“Yeah. Otherwise, with something this big happening at home, there’s no way he wouldn’t be here… Mom doesn’t want to affect his work, so she told me not to tell him. Actually, she didn’t want me to tell my sister either, but I was so worried about her. I figured she usually spoils my sister the most, so maybe she’d listen to what she has to say.”
Jiang Hezhou seemed to be thinking about something. At that moment, his phone buzzed twice—messages from his childhood friends’ group chat.
Zhang Jiting: [You suddenly say you want to propose, but you don’t have a clue what you’re doing. How are we supposed to help you plan this?]
Ji Chen: [Exactly. You’re setting up the proposal venue, but you can’t even make it to the site… If you ask me, just come up with some excuse to fool little sister-in-law and make time to come work on it with us. It’ll definitely mean more to her if you do it yourself rather than leaving it to us.]
They had said the same thing a couple of days ago, but Jiang Hezhou didn’t want to be apart from Chu Luyu for long. After everything that had happened recently, he found his dependence on her growing stronger by the day. He was also constantly worried that something unexpected might happen to her—that she might leave him too.
So even though he knew a proposal wasn’t something he should delegate, he had still entrusted it to his two childhood friends.
He was anxious to marry Chu Luyu—to lock down a relationship that was completely certain and couldn’t be easily altered.
Now, after reading their messages, Jiang Hezhou sat beside Chen Mian, phone in hand, silent for a long while.
Suddenly, he spoke up. “With something like this happening at home, you should probably give your older brother a call. Even if you don’t tell him what’s going on, at least ask when he’s coming back.”
Chen Mian thought his brother-in-law’s suggestion was a little odd, but then again, the guy was an adult with far more life experience than he had. So he didn’t overthink it—just nodded and said “Okay,” then obediently dialed Chen Zhou’s number.
“Big brother.”
“I’m fine. I just noticed you haven’t been home in a while, so I called to ask how your business trip is going.”
“No, no, nothing’s going on at home. So uh… how much longer until you’re back?”
“Ah… okay then. You go ahead and work. I’ll let Mom and Dad know about it later, and when you get back, I’ll have Auntie make something good!”
After hanging up, Chen Mian noticed his brother-in-law was still staring at him without moving. A little uncomfortable, he smiled sheepishly. “My big brother said he still needs three or four more days before he can come back to Jingzhou. He kept asking if something was wrong at home, but I managed to brush him off.”
“Good job.”
Jiang Hezhou habitually reached out to ruffle Chen Mian’s hair the way he did with Chu Luyu, but his hand stopped halfway. He seemed to realize he was now averse to any close physical contact with anyone other than his girl—even the same sex.
He withdrew his hand and stood up, saying to Chen Mian, “I have something to take care of. If your sister comes down, have her text me. I’ll come back to pick her up.”
Chen Mian quickly nodded, but after a moment’s hesitation, he added, “Um… brother-in-law, actually, I was thinking of asking my sister to stay here with Mom for a few more days. How about she stays at home during this time? You can go ahead and take care of your own things too.”
Jiang Hezhou paused for a moment, then simply said, “We’ll see what your sister says later. If she wants to stay, I’ll come back in a few days.”
“Okay.”
—
Chu Luyu ended up staying with Chu Fanyin for three or four hours, keeping her company and talking with her until she finally coaxed her to sleep.
When she came back downstairs, she saw only Chen Mian in the living room and was a little surprised.
“Your—” She had almost instinctively said “your brother-in-law” since she was used to hearing Chen Mian call him that, but she caught herself mid-sentence, paused for a moment, then corrected herself. “Where’s Jiang Hezhou?”
“Brother-in-law had something to take care of, so he left first. He said to call him when you’re free. At first, he said he’d come pick you up as soon as you called, but I told him I wanted you to stay home for a couple of nights, so he said he’d wait and see what you decide.”
Chen Mian had completely shed his usual cocky, mischievous demeanor today. He was still just a college student, and after going through such a huge upheaval with his parents, he now desperately wanted a family member he could rely on—someone he could talk things through with.
Now that Chu Luyu was here, he didn’t want her to leave.
He came up to her, even though he was a head taller, but still looked like a little kid. “Sis, don’t leave. Right now it’s just me and Mom at home. I really don’t know what to do.”
“Mm, don’t worry. I’m not leaving.”
Chu Luyu agreed without hesitation. In fact, even if Chen Mian hadn’t asked her to stay, she had already planned to spend the next few days at the Chen household. Given Chu Fanyin’s state, with no one stable to hold things together at home, the situation was indeed a bit precarious.
As for her stepfather…
Thinking back to what Chu Fanyin had told her, Chu Luyu still felt a lingering melancholy—
“Your Uncle Chen keeps saying he never betrayed me. He says he doesn’t know how he got so drunk or how he ended up tangled with his ex-wife—they just ran into each other at a drinking party, and he really didn’t have any intentions. I want to believe him too, but every time I think about them waking up in the same bed… I can’t stop the disgust from rising up inside me.”
“You ask if I want a divorce? I honestly don’t know. But aside from worrying about our marriage itself, what I’m even more worried about is your and Hezhou’s wedding. You know, this engagement was originally the Chen family’s to begin with. We basically took it and pushed it onto you—it was already asking for too much. If your Uncle Chen and I get divorced, I don’t know what the Jiang family will think. Even if they don’t directly call off your engagement, after you get married, they’ll inevitably make things difficult for you or gossip behind your back… I really don’t want you to be looked down upon out there, or to suffer any injustice.”
At the time, Chu Luyu had simply told Chu Fanyin not to overthink it.
She hesitated for a moment, then vaguely hinted to Chu Fanyin that she and Jiang Hezhou weren’t actually married yet, and no one could guarantee what would happen between them later—who knew if they’d even make it to the altar? There was no need for Chu Fanyin to keep sacrificing her own happiness for something so uncertain.
Chu Fanyin had only taken it as her daughter trying to comfort her. She hadn’t really taken the words to heart, merely forcing a smile and saying she’d think about it.
Later, Chu Luyu told Jiang Hezhou that she would be staying at the Chen house for a few days. He only replied with a single “Okay” and didn’t say much else, as if he had already expected it.
Still, Chu Luyu wasn’t quite used to his suddenly subdued response.
She briefly considered asking the system to check what Jiang Hezhou was doing right now, but then thought better of it. If everything that had happened recently was reminding her that the plot’s ending was unchangeable, then she should stop letting herself fall into that same foolish emotional spiral.
After all, leaving was inevitable. The sooner she pulled herself out, the sooner she could move on.
—
Jiang Hezhou really was busy.
The proposal venue he had chosen was the rooftop of a hotel owned by Zhang Jiting. The location overlooked the river, with an open view in all directions. In Jingzhou, anyone looking to host a banquet would fight to book this place—the waiting list stretched three to four months in advance. It was notoriously hard to get.
But for Jiang Hezhou’s sake, Zhang Jiting had shut down the entire rooftop for half a month, suspending all outside bookings, just to give his best friend the space for his proposal.
Today, Jiang Hezhou had come in person. Besides finalizing the decorative style and some details with the designer, he also picked up the engagement ring he had commissioned long ago.
The ring was designed by the same designer Xiao Yan had recommended before. After discreetly asking Chu Luyu about her preferences, he had settled on the final design with the designer. Knowing the girl had a fondness for pink diamonds, he had asked Ji Chen to keep an eye out for rare pink diamonds at overseas auctions. A while back, they had finally struck gold—at an auction in a certain country, Ji Chen had helped Jiang Hezhou secure a 12-carat, flawless pink diamond for over a hundred million.
Since he had been glued to Chu Luyu’s side lately, once the finished ring was made, he had temporarily left it with his friends. Today, coming alone, he finally had the chance to pick it up.
The massive pink diamond had been cut and polished to perfection. The moment Jiang Hezhou laid eyes on it, he pictured Chu Luyu wearing it.
It would be stunning—gorgeous. She might even cry tears of joy when she saw it. They would embrace amidst applause, and in that moment, they would truly seal their vow never to part again.
The day after the proposal, Jiang Hezhou would take his girl to the civil affairs bureau. He was already burning with impatience to bind her tightly to his side—in body, in mind, and on paper in the eyes of society.
Their names would be side by side forever. No matter how the world changed, they would never be separated again.
Just thinking about it sent a thrill of excitement through his heart. He had already lost too much. To him, Chu Luyu was the piece of driftwood he clung to while drowning.
As long as she was still there, no matter how violent the storm, no matter how many times he was pulled under, he would always have a chance to resurface—to come back to life.
So no matter what happened in the future, he would never let Chu Luyu go again.
In this lifetime, she was destined to stay by his side forever—till death, and beyond.
Leave a Reply