In the end, only Jiang Hezhou and Chu Luyu remained in the hospital room.
Zhang Jiting had arranged for two bodyguards to stand watch outside, instructing them not to let anyone disturb the couple except for doctors and nurses.
The Jiang family, upon receiving the news, sent over an old butler.
The butler was smooth and tactful. He explained that Jiang Hezhou’s mother had recently gone abroad and had immediately booked a return flight upon hearing of his injury—but a blizzard had hit that country, grounding all flights, and it was uncertain when she would be able to land in Jingzhou. As for the old Mr. Jiang… the patriarch had been busy with Jiang Corporation affairs. Jiang Qiyou’s sudden departure had left him working day and night for months, and he truly couldn’t find the time to come.
The butler had delivered this message to Zhang Jiting and Ji Chen. The two didn’t say much in response—only that Jiang Hezhou had been resting since his injury and had just fallen asleep, so it might not be convenient to see him. The butler didn’t mind. He left behind a pile of premium tonics brought from the old residence and left with the driver.
After he was gone, the two brothers fell silent for a while. Then Zhang Jiting sighed and said, “Looks like the whole Jiang family really holds a grudge against Jiang Er. He got into an accident, and all they sent was an old butler.”
Ji Chen replied, “Auntie Jiang probably really did go abroad. My mom mentioned it a few days ago—she said she saw photos on her social media of her traveling overseas. As for Grandpa Jiang… maybe there really is some resentment. After all, Jiang Qiyou was the successor he personally raised from childhood.”
But these matters and their conversation only reached Jiang Hezhou and Chu Luyu a few days later.
On that day, after Zhang Jiting arranged for people to guard the room, Jiang Hezhou lifted Chu Luyu onto the bed and let her curl up in his arms, crying her heart out.
Yes—crying her heart out.
Jiang Hezhou had never seen his girl so utterly broken and sorrowful. She clung to his collar, as if releasing all the grief she had held in for so long. She cried so hard she nearly convulsed and fainted, but after a brief respite, she would start silently weeping again, beginning another round.
Jiang Hezhou didn’t know how long she cried. All he knew was that the sky outside had gone from bright daylight to nightfall, and she still hadn’t finished. In the end, she must have been completely exhausted—she just pressed her face against his chest and sobbed softly.
Watching her, his heart twisted painfully. Several times he wanted to stop her, but when he saw the anguish on her face, he felt that this outburst of crying was something she needed to let run its course.
His girl seemed to have been holding in too much for too long. He didn’t know what she had been through, but if crying like this could ease some of her pain, he was willing to stay with her until she was done.
Several hours later, her cries grew quieter, as if she had no strength left. But her small hands still gripped his collar tightly, and her body remained pressed completely against his.
He reached over and took a tissue, gently wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes again. Only a dim nightlight was on in the room now, casting a faint yellow glow behind him. His face was half-hidden in shadow, but his eyes behind his glasses remained deep and bright.
“Have you cried enough?” he asked softly. “If you have, can you tell me what really happened?”
He only remembered that before he lost consciousness, he had grabbed her clothes and begged her not to leave. Now that he was awake, his body was mostly fine, and she seemed to be in relatively good health. So he naturally wouldn’t assume she was this heartbroken just because of the accident.
A long silence filled the room. Chu Luyu lay in Jiang Hezhou’s arms, her body still trembling with occasional sobs. Her eyes were cast low, her lashes soaked and stuck together from crying.
After a long while, she finally spoke.
“Jiang Hezhou, I don’t think I’ve ever really told you about myself before. Not the Chu Luyu you once knew, but… the Chu Luyu who’s been living with you.”
“Mm.” He pulled her a little closer, his expression relatively calm. “Then tell me now. I’m listening.”
“Actually, I’m just someone from another world who happens to have the same name as the original Chu Luyu. I got sick and passed away in my world, and after death, I was pulled into this short-drama world by a system. Everything here revolves around the main characters. But unfortunately, I’m just a minor supporting female character.
“The system gave me a lot of missions based on the original plot. Because the male lead was supposed to meet the female lead carrying all his pain and trauma, and I happened to be one of the people who contributed to that trauma. I had never been with anyone before—I was completely inexperienced. So being asked to do those seductive, outrageous tasks was confusing and overwhelming at first. But thankfully, the system was always by my side.
“It was a Northeastern girl named Cuihua, with long, straight hair, looking very cool and sharp. She spoke with a Northeastern accent, and whenever she got anxious, she’d blurt out that classic phrase, ‘Oh my god!’ She was very straightforward and never beat around the bush. But she was also really good to me. In her words, every Northeastern system is naturally protective of their own.
“When I was happy, she celebrated with me. When I was sad, she’d anxiously try to comfort me. A long time ago, I stopped seeing her as just a system—deep down, I already thought of her as family in this strange world.”
As she said this, Jiang Hezhou noticed a hint of tears creeping back into her voice. His heart suddenly sank, a terrible feeling rising in his chest.
He hesitated, then asked: “So where is she now…”
The girl in his arms was silent for a few seconds, then replied: “She was erased. Just last night.”
Jiang Hezhou didn’t know what to say. He remembered Zhang Jiting rambling on earlier after he woke up: “What happened to you is a real miracle. The doctors said it’s rare to see someone walk away from such a major accident with only minor external injuries… There wasn’t a single serious issue—just a small gash on your head.”
His heart sank even further. He asked Chu Luyu, “Was it because of saving me? Because of that accident—I was supposed to die, but it changed the outcome and was erased for that?”
Chu Luyu nodded, then shook her head.
“Yes, but not entirely. Actually, she had prepared to sacrifice herself long ago. To help me fix the plot of this world, she secretly found a banned Plot Modification Manual for me—the one you saw before… When she handed it to me, she didn’t say anything about it. She only said that after seven days of editing the plot, everything would get better. She had already decided back then to use herself to trade for my safety and well-being in this world. And when she saved you last night, she used the last bit of energy she had left…”
At this point, Chu Luyu seemed to think of something, and her nose stung again as she broke down crying once more.
“But Jiang Hezhou, I actually thought about it afterward… You’re the male lead of this world. Logically, the plot wouldn’t let you die. At that moment, I was so panicked that I kept begging the system to save you, completely forgetting about that. The system might have remembered, or maybe it didn’t… But either way, it used its last bit of energy just to put my mind at ease and stop your car from exploding.”
Chu Luyu sobbed as she spoke, her cries growing louder. “And then it was gone, Jiang Hezhou. Then it was just… gone…”
Hearing her words and her cries, Jiang Hezhou’s heart grew even heavier. He held the grieving girl tightly and whispered in self-reproach: “It’s my fault. If I hadn’t overreacted so badly yesterday, maybe none of this would have happened. I was so terrified you were leaving that I completely lost my mind. I should have gotten out of the car right after the crash, but all I could think about was finding you—I had to find you.”
He kept repeating his apologies: “I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. If it weren’t for me, it would still be here.”
Chu Luyu shook her head, crying. “I’m not trying to blame you, Jiang Hezhou. I’m just so sad. I don’t have anyone else to tell this to. I’m not blaming you…”
What had happened was too sudden. Given Jiang Hezhou’s state at the time, Chu Luyu completely understood why he had come after her like a madman. She was just heartbroken—the system that had always been good to her, always by her side, was gone. She was just too heartbroken.
Jiang Hezhou kissed her forehead tenderly. They held each other for a while, letting their emotions settle. Then he spoke again.
“There’s actually one thing I don’t understand. Even if we love each other, even if you stay by my side, the worst that happens is the plot goes haywire. Why were you and the system so determined to fix it before? Or… if we’re together, will this world collapse?”
“I don’t know what would happen to the world, but… I would die.”
Jiang Hezhou’s body went rigid in an instant. It was as if he suddenly realized something. His face pale, he looked at her.
“That flowerpot that day—”
“Yes. That flowerpot was supposed to hit me. That was the first plot kill arranged for me.”
Jiang Hezhou’s hand, wrapped around her waist, clenched unconsciously. He didn’t know what he was thinking, but when Chu Luyu looked up at him, she could see a dark, turbulent emotion churning in his eyes.
At this moment, oddly enough, she felt a rare impulse to joke.
“What’s wrong? Hearing this, are you scared I might actually die, so you’re thinking of letting me go?”
Jiang Hezhou gazed at her deeply for a long, long time. His eyes reddened at the corners, and he looked at her with an apology and pain in his gaze. “I’m sorry.”
He couldn’t do it. Even knowing that forcing her to stay would lead to her death, he still couldn’t let her go. Just thinking about the rest of her life—that she might start a new intimate relationship with someone else in some corner he didn’t know about, that she might curl up in someone else’s arms and smile at them—made him want to die from the pain.
He pulled her even closer, holding her with such force it was as if he wanted to melt her into his bones. Looking at her, he swore solemnly, each word deliberate: “If that day really comes, I’ll go with you.”
Chu Luyu understood exactly what he meant. As if she had expected it all along, she smiled, tears still clinging to her eyes.
“I knew you’d say that. That’s why I didn’t listen to the system when it suggested I run away.”
She took a deep breath and continued: “Jiang Hezhou, do you know? Before yesterday, I was always treading carefully, always weighing every move. I was afraid of the plot—I saw it as the creator and ruler of this world, and I felt so small that I shouldn’t fight against it. But after the system was erased because of me, I suddenly felt like I had nothing left to lose.”
“It doesn’t want me to live? I’ll live well anyway. It doesn’t want us to love each other? I’ll love you even harder—more than ever before. I’ll kiss you wildly every day, make love to you, and outside of the plot, we’ll possess each other completely—body and soul—until death comes, until the day we can’t love each other anymore.”
The moment she finished speaking, a loud rumble of thunder rolled through the night sky outside the window. Boom—!
Thunder in winter was incredibly rare. It echoed through the hospital room like a warning or a sign.
Chu Luyu flinched at first, startled, but then she burst into laughter.
“Jiang Hezhou, should we do it right now?” She flipped over and straddled his waist, grabbing his collar. Though she was still laughing, her eyes were red with tears.
The thunder outside grew even louder at her movement—flashes of lightning streaked down one after another. Boom! Boom! The whole building seemed to tremble. But amidst the thunder and lightning, Chu Luyu leaned in, resolute and devoted—
“Jiang Hezhou, kiss me.”
At that moment, the man’s eyes were like a surging sea—deep and tumultuous. He flipped them over in one swift motion, pinning her beneath him.
BOOM—!
Another fierce clap of thunder crashed down, as if striking right above their heads. But they showed no fear—their eyes held only each other.
The next second, they kissed fiercely. It was more intense than any kiss before. Jiang Hezhou kissed her with raw hunger, and Chu Luyu, trembling at her very core, bit his tongue.
Thunder roared in their ears, and it felt as if the world was about to explode. But they didn’t care—not for a single second.
Their bodies trembled, their hearts quaked, and in that moment, their souls finally, truly, without any misalignment, embraced each other.
—
Before the world falls apart, I have your love, I have you by my side.
I have no regrets.
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