Hearing this, Chu Luyu was momentarily taken aback, but she quickly recovered and nodded in agreement.
Throughout the car ride, the system kept chatting with Chu Luyu in her head: [Who would’ve thought, who would’ve thought! There’s actually a turnaround in this! If the old couple makes up, then isn’t this development and ending changing again?]
Chu Luyu didn’t know what to say. Her own feelings were complicated enough. Just yesterday, she had resolved to slowly let go of her feelings for Jiang Hezhou, and now here was her mother’s situation taking such an unexpected turn.
Still, she didn’t dwell on it too much. Her attention was focused on her mother for now. After hearing what her mom had to say, she quickly got up, washed up, changed, and accompanied her to her stepfather’s company.
Her stepfather’s company was only a small to medium-sized enterprise in Jingzhou. He was in manufacturing, with his own factory, but the office was located in a downtown office building.
Chu Fanyin had been there many times before, so the receptionist naturally recognized the wife of the president. After a cheerful greeting, she let them through.
In the elevator, Chu Luyu gently advised her mother, “Mom, since you’ve decided to have a proper talk with Uncle Chen, try not to lose your temper when we get there. We’re going to clear up the misunderstanding. Speaking calmly versus speaking with pent-up frustration will make a huge difference.”
“I know, don’t worry.” Chu Fanyin said, gently stroking Chu Luyu’s hair with maternal affection. “Hearing you say things like this now makes me realize you’ve really grown up.”
Chu Luyu just smiled and didn’t reply.
Chen Huanian’s office was on the fourth floor. When the mother and daughter went up, the people in the office area all seemed to have strange expressions on their faces.
His personal assistant wasn’t around at the moment, and only a junior secretary came forward.
“Madam, you’re here.”
Chu Fanyin nodded. “I’m bringing some soup for President Chen. Is he in his office?”
“He is, but…” The secretary hesitated, looking very troubled.
Chu Fanyin had a woman’s sharp intuition. She sensed something was wrong in an instant. Her expression changed, and she pushed past the secretary, marching straight toward the chairman’s office.
Worried, Chu Luyu quickly followed.
When the office door swung open, an indecent scene unfolded before the mother and daughter—
Chen Huanian was sitting there with a middle-aged woman on his lap. The woman had good bone structure—one could tell she had been quite attractive—but she had clearly not taken care of herself over the years, with loose skin and visible signs of aging.
She had her arms wrapped around Chen Huanian’s neck, looking very intimate. Chen Huanian had his head tilted, most of his face turned away, making his expression hard to read.
Hearing the noise, both of them turned toward the door. The moment Chen Huanian saw his wife standing there, panic was written all over his face.
“Xiao Yin, how did you—”
He hurriedly pushed his ex-wife off his lap and stood up, but before he could finish, Chu Fanyin cut him off, her voice trembling.
“Shut up!” Chu Fanyin took a deep breath, squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again. When she looked at Chen Huanian, there was a new resolve in her eyes. “Chen Huanian, let’s get a divorce.”
As Chu Luyu followed her mother out, the entire office floor buzzed with gossip. From the chairman’s office came Chen Huanian’s furious roar: “Why didn’t anyone tell me Madam was coming?! And—”
The rest was lost as they walked farther away.
And in a corner they didn’t notice, the junior secretary who had greeted them earlier slipped away and made a phone call.
The person on the other end picked up quickly. The secretary lowered her voice and said, “The chairman’s wife came by just now. Yes, she ran into the chairman’s ex-wife… Because the assistant wasn’t around, and when the ex-wife arrived, I let her into the office without asking the chairman, just as you instructed. The ex-wife and the chairman seemed to be acting quite intimately, and the wife happened to walk in on them. Yes, it was indeed very coincidental—I never expected Madam to show up today either…”
After that phone call, the junior secretary’s account immediately received another transfer of fifty thousand yuan. She happily counted her balance, then tucked her phone away and returned to her seat.
On the way back, the system kept chattering noisily above Chu Luyu’s head: [I told you so, I told you so! Some fixed endings really can’t be changed. Even if the process changes, the ending just won’t budge!]
[But your stepfather, honestly—he seemed so honest and unassuming on the surface. Who knew he’d be like this behind the scenes? He really did end up messing around with his ex-wife, just like in the original plot! What a scumbag!]
Chu Luyu couldn’t quite describe how she felt at that moment—somewhat complicated, yet also strangely settled.
Yeah, just like the system said—maybe in this world, any storyline with a predetermined ending was truly unchangeable.
With that thought, she turned her head and looked at Chu Fanyin with a pang of sympathy.
“Mom… what are you thinking?”
Chu Fanyin had been silently crying ever since she got in the car. She stared at the scenery passing by outside the window, tears streaming down her face, and it was a long while before she spoke. “I still feel like this is all a dream. Your Uncle Chen, ever since he was young, has always been a steady, courteous man. When we reconnected later in life—even though we were both adults, each with our own children—he was still so respectful toward me. He pursued me slowly, step by step, and only then did we get together… How could a person who seemed so good change so suddenly like this?”
Chu Luyu didn’t know how to comfort her. She couldn’t even tell whether this development was her stepfather’s own choice or the plot forcing it to happen.
But regardless, from what they had seen, Chen Huanian’s infidelity was now a confirmed fact.
She knew Chu Fanyin must be heartbroken, so she didn’t say much—just sat quietly and waited for her mother to sort through her emotions on her own.
When they were almost home, Chu Fanyin suddenly seemed to make up her mind. She turned to Chu Luyu and said, “Xiaoyu, I’ve really decided to divorce him this time. I won’t change my mind.”
Chu Luyu didn’t say much, just nodded. “Since you’ve decided, we should start preparing right away. First, we need to find a place to stay temporarily. We also need to ask Chen Mian what he thinks—he’s both you and Uncle Chen’s child, so if you two divorce, it should be his choice who he wants to live with.”
“Of course. Even if Chen Huanian and I divorce, Xiaomian won’t be neglected by either of us. But…” Chu Fanyin hesitated, her tearful eyes looking at her daughter. “I’m still worried about you and Hezhou. Even though you kept comforting me the other day, if your Uncle Chen and I really get divorced, your engagement with Hezhou will definitely become very awkward. Then—”
“Mom.” Chu Luyu interrupted her, hesitating for two seconds before taking a deep breath and speaking again. “Don’t worry about us. Because I’ve already decided to separate from him. If nothing unexpected happens, we’ll break up after the 17th of this month at the latest.”
She had asked the system before—in the original plot, the engagement between the original host and the male lead ended around the 17th. That was why she said that.
Chu Fanyin was stunned, her face full of surprise.
“Why—out of nowhere—are you suddenly talking about breaking up? And you even have a specific date… Did something happen?”
Chu Luyu shook her head and replied, “It’s a long story. Anyway, if you’ve decided to divorce, don’t let anything else hold you back. I definitely don’t want to be the reason you hesitate or feel burdened. Mom, right now all you need to think about is how to make yourself happier. Nothing else matters.”
Hearing her daughter’s words, Chu Fanyin’s emotions welled up again. Tears filled her eyes once more, and she nodded repeatedly at Chu Luyu.
“Okay, okay. Mom understands. Mom understands.”
At that moment, the system suddenly spoke up above Chu Luyu’s head: [Babe, you’re not conflicted anymore? I thought the closer it got to the engagement being called off, the more upset and hesitant you’d be!]
Chu Luyu sighed inwardly, her tone hard to read—whether she was letting go or simply giving up: [Cuihua, I think you were right. I used to keep hoping that the plot might change because of human interference. But now it’s clear—no matter how much things change along the way, the endings are still the same… Since the ending is already written, I won’t fight it anymore.]
With that, she silently made up her mind, her tone growing firmer: [When the time comes, after the last task is completed, I’ll end things with the male lead completely, just like in the original plot.]
Over the next few days, Chu Luyu stayed at the Chen house to keep Chu Fanyin company. In her free time, she dragged Chen Mian along to look for a new place to live.
After deciding on the divorce, Chu Fanyin talked with Chen Mian that very night. Though the boy was sad, he knew his father was the one at fault, and he had no right to ask his mother to forgive him just to keep the family together. Later, Chu Luyu also asked him—after their parents divorced, who did he want to live with?
Without a second thought, Chen Mian replied: “With you and Mom, of course! Dad’s the one at fault, and he’s always so busy anyway. I’d have to be crazy to live with him.”
Chu Luyu nodded and said she understood, silently planning in her mind that this time, they’d need to rent at least a four-bedroom place.
During this period, Jiang Hezhou called her many times. Twice, when she was out looking at houses, he somehow knew and asked what she was doing outside. Chu Luyu was surprised at the time, but figured he must have heard the wind in the background when she answered. She made up an excuse, saying she was just out taking a walk with her mom.
Jiang Hezhou didn’t seem suspicious, but after a moment of silence on his end, he said he missed her very much, and that once she was done with things over there, he would come pick her up right away.
Chu Luyu softly agreed with an “okay.” After hanging up, Chen Mian, curious, asked her: “You and Brother-in-law seem to get along really well—so why did Mom say you two are also planning to break up?”
“Sometimes things that look good are only on the surface—temporary.”
She said this as the two of them stood inside a four-bedroom apartment they had just viewed. The agent was still enthusiastically pitching the place, but they looked around and eventually decided to take it.
After signing the contract, Chu Luyu received the keys and took a quiet, deep breath. Then, turning to Chen Mian beside her, she said, “Kid, this is our home now.”
“Yeah! It’s our home!”
After renting the place, the siblings went back to the Chen house and started packing.
Chu Luyu didn’t have much stuff left—she had sold off so many secondhand items before, and there was barely anything remaining in her room. Chen Mian, being a boy, didn’t have many things either. But Chu Fanyin had boxes upon boxes; years of accumulated belongings that would take forever to sort through.
The household staff had been looking gloomy these past few days, with many of them trying to talk Chu Fanyin out of it. But she had already made up her mind and wouldn’t be swayed by a few words.
And just as the three of them were busy packing, Chen Zhou, who had been away on his business trip for days, finally came back—
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