Ridiculous!
That was the first thought that flashed through Jiang Hezhou’s mind after hearing Chu Luyu’s words.
If he had briefly felt a glimmer of change in his perception of her after coming home from work today, then at this moment, those feelings had completely vanished.
Had he been too polite? So polite that this woman thought she could keep pushing her luck?
Jiang Hezhou’s expression had turned very sour. Even without looking up, one could sense his face growing cold and tense.
Chu Luyu’s hanging heart finally thudded to the ground.
She whined to the system: [So he really is angry, right? And he has every right to be. Who in their right mind just blurts out “owwie, blow it better” like that… Where did the original owner even come up with this dialogue? No wait, this character is just strange to begin with! She doesn’t seem like a normal person!]
System Cuihua: [She’s just a character driving the plot forward in a short drama—what kind of logical, well-rounded character development were you expecting? And why do you even care if the male lead is mad? You just need to complete the mission. You’ll be gone in half a year anyway.]
Chu Luyu: [That’s true, but it’s just… it’s just… AHHHHHH!]
Chu Luyu really couldn’t stand this feeling.
She hadn’t done those bad things intentionally, yet she had to bear all the consequences.
Thinking of this, she suddenly felt a little wronged. Her lips couldn’t help but pout, and her brows furrowed unconsciously.
Just as Jiang Hezhou looked up, ready to give her a stern reprimand, he saw her like this.
She had been the one to say something unreasonable and do something unreasonable, yet now, when she looked back at him, she seemed like the victim—her expression pitiful and aggrieved.
In an instant, the words that had reached the tip of Jiang Hezhou’s tongue suddenly wouldn’t come out.
He remembered what his mother had said to him before.
Earlier, when they had met a few times, this woman’s little gestures had been so obvious they were annoying. He had brought it up indirectly with his mother, and she had analyzed it for him from a woman’s perspective.
“Those little moves she makes to get close to you might just be her way of trying to bridge the distance between you. Since you’re already engaged, as long as her little antics aren’t over the top, it’s really not a big deal.”
Jiang Hezhou thought about his mother’s words, his gaze fixed on Chu Luyu. For a long while, he said nothing.
Chu Luyu was on the verge of tears: [Cuihua, I feel like the male lead is cursing me with his eyes.]
System Cuihua: [What’s the big deal about eyes? He’s about to curse you with his mouth too. Let me think… In the original plot, after the original owner made this request to him, he—]
Before the system could finish, Jiang Hezhou suddenly moved.
He reached out, one hand holding Chu Luyu’s calf, the other supporting her foot. He lowered his head a few centimeters, his lips parting slightly, and the next second, a cool breeze brushed against her ankle.
Chu Luyu froze. The system went silent too. Both of them stared with wide eyes as Jiang Hezhou blew gently on her ankle, once, twice.
Jiang Hezhou’s face was flawless—not a single weak angle to be found.
With his head slightly bowed, the jawline of his profile remained sharp. His glasses rested beside his face, and through the lenses, one could see his long lashes falling with his lowered eyelids.
The male lead was truly stunning.
Aside from the numbness in her mind, that was the only thought left in Chu Luyu’s head.
If anyone else did this, it would carry at least a hint of humiliating sleaziness. But when the male lead did it, his naturally cool, aloof aura made the scene feel perfectly appropriate—not awkward in the slightest.
The cool air flowed downward against her ankle, and Chu Luyu felt a genuine tingling sensation there.
She stiffly endured Jiang Hezhou’s actions until, after a few blows, he finally stopped.
“Just this once. Don’t let it happen again.”
He didn’t look at Chu Luyu when he said this, though his hand remained on her calf.
Snapping back to reality, Chu Luyu immediately pulled her foot away and, without looking back, hopped frantically toward the bathroom.
“I—I’m going to the restroom…”
Jiang Hezhou hadn’t expected that reaction from her at all. He stared at her back until she disappeared into the bathroom, then heard the heavy slam of the door behind her. A flicker of hesitation crossed his mind.
Was she… blushing?
Sitting on the toilet, her face flushed red, Chu Luyu complained to Cuihua: [Cuihua, what on earth is going on? In the original plot, did he actually do what the original owner asked? She told him to blow on it, and he actually blew?]
System Cuihua: [I’m wondering the same thing. In the original plot, he didn’t do what the original owner asked. Instead, he gave her a stern dressing-down with a serious face. The original owner was unhappy about it, but since she was new to the situation, she didn’t dare say much. So this little flirtatious scheme she’d carefully set up ended in failure.]
Chu Luyu: [Good heavens, what I just… what I just…]
In the real world, she was a complete novice—she’d had very, very little contact with guys, and her romantic experience was a big fat zero.
What the male lead had just done caught Chu Luyu completely off guard. It was really… sudden.
But then something else occurred to her, and she sat up straight: [Wait, if his reaction was different from the original plot, does that mean I completed the mission or not? They’re not going to count it as a failure just because he reacted differently, are they?!]
System Cuihua: [Nah, that won’t happen. Your mission is to recreate the original female supporting character’s plotline. As long as you go through the required scenes, any other variables have nothing to do with you. Didn’t you notice the progress bar that popped up next to me? Your mission progress already has a bar!]
There was indeed a floating progress panel next to the system, now glowing faintly, with a progress bar showing +1.
Chu Luyu: [Before, you only told me what the punishment was for failing a mission, but you never told me what the reward is for completing one.]
System Cuihua: [The rewards are huge! Every time you fill up a progress bar, you earn wish points. Later, if you have any wishes, you can exchange them with these points. If you don’t use them during the mission, once the mission ends, all those points will be converted into money and deposited into your personal account here.]
Chu Luyu: [So how many points did I get for that mission just now?]
System Cuihua: [That was a regular mission—only 3 base points.]
Chu Luyu: [And what can 3 points get me?]
System Cuihua: [Uh, the wish redemption system here has a minimum of 20 points. For 20 points, you can exchange for an A-rank “Wish Fulfillment” within the drama. If converted into money, 20 points can get you 2 million.]
Chu Luyu’s eyes lit up when she heard “2 million.”
So 1 point equals 100,000 yuan?!
But she was still curious and asked: [What exactly does an A-rank “Wish Fulfillment” mean?]
System Cuihua: [It means something you want to do in the drama but can’t accomplish through your own power. The difficulty ranges from A to S ranks. For 20 points, you can exchange for the lowest-rank wish.]
Chu Luyu: [Can I use points to get out of doing certain tasks?]
System Cuihua: [In theory, yes. But the missions get harder as you go, and your points accumulate slowly. Losing a lot of points just to skip one mission—that wouldn’t be worth it.]
Chu Luyu: [Mm, you’re right. I’ll think about it when the time comes…]
After getting her mission questions sorted out, she thought back to the ankle-blowing incident.
Chu Luyu: [I still think it’s so absurd. Why would he agree to a request like that?]
System Cuihua: [Well, if you think about it carefully, it kind of makes sense. The male lead in this drama is inherently restrained, polite, upright, and composed. In that situation, he might have reacted like he did in the original plot—by scolding the original owner directly—or he might have acted like he did with you: annoyed inside but maintaining appearances on the surface. Didn’t he say afterward, “Just this once, don’t let it happen again”? That was clearly a warning!]
Chu Luyu: [True.]
Anyway, there was no way the male lead changed his behavior for her sake. In a plot like this, that kind of special treatment was reserved for the female lead.
And she was just the high-maintenance supporting character who would be dumped by the male lead in six months.
With that thought, Chu Luyu’s heart settled comfortably back into place.
—
It was still early. After showering, Jiang Hezhou went to his study to grade some papers submitted by his students.
The overall style of his study matched the rest of the apartment—most of the furniture was black and brown. On one entire wall of bookshelves were mostly forensic medicine textbooks and journals, along with some collections of essays and classics he’d read since childhood, as well as works by past Nobel Prize winners.
By the window sat a large desk. In the corner next to the desk stood a human skeleton model, and behind the model hung a diagram of the human skeletal structure.
He walked over to his desk as usual and turned on his computer.
First, he replied to a few messages from students, then checked the updates his colleagues at the police unit had posted in the group chat about the progress on two recent cases. He was just about to open the papers his students had submitted when his WeChat lit up with a group message.
It was a small group chat with a few friends.
Ji Chen: [@Jiang Hezhou, our great forensic doctor, it’s your first day cohabiting with your fiancée—how’s it going?]
When the others in the group saw someone bring this up, they joined in one after another.
Li Yuebai: [I heard my mom mention it the other day—Jiang Er’s fiancée seems like she’s a bit too… flighty.]
That was putting it mildly. They’d all been friends since childhood, and those who could hang together naturally had decent character.
The news that Jiang Hezhou had been saddled by his family with a very mercenary and flashy fiancée had spread through their circle a while back.
He was the second son of the Jiang family, without the pressure of inheriting the family business, so he’d grown up with more freedom. His family hadn’t interfered much with his plans for the future.
At the time, everyone had been quite envious of him, thinking—he’s a forensic doctor, and his parents didn’t even object. That just showed how much freedom his family gave him.
But no one expected that, nearing thirty, he’d suddenly be saddled with family responsibilities he had to shoulder.
Ji Chen: [If you ask me, that girl’s family is pretty amusing too. They said before that they wouldn’t cash in on the favor, but how many years has it been since her grandfather donated his corneas to Grandpa Jiang before he passed? And now they suddenly show up at the doorstep.]
Zhang Jiting: [Didn’t the engagement exist from the very beginning, though?]
Li Yuebai: [That engagement was originally between Jiang Er and the child that family’s daughter-in-law was carrying at the time. That family was a blended one—Jiang Er’s current fiancée is the daughter the aunt brought with her back then. Later, that aunt gave birth to a son, so the engagement naturally fizzled out.]
Zhang Jiting: [Then why is it being brought up again all of a sudden?]
Li Yuebai: [Who knows. If you ask me, Jiang Er better not be filially obedient to a fault at a time like this. Even if it’s arranged by the family, if it’s not right, he should push back.]
Jiang Hezhou watched their messages roll in one after another, but he didn’t feel much about it.
Jiang Hezhou: [She’s just a marriage partner. To me, it doesn’t make much difference who it is.]
He didn’t have anyone he liked anyway, nor did he seem to have a strong longing or desire for love. His family had once made a promise with someone, and since the elders had arranged this marriage for him, he’d accept it. That was all.
It wasn’t about blind filial piety, nor did it warrant words like “push back,” because he simply didn’t care much about marriage itself.
Though in their previous meetings, that woman had indeed annoyed him with her little antics. But today…
His mind suddenly flashed to the image of Chu Luyu staring at him with those watery eyes, looking pitiful and wronged, asking him to blow on her ankle.
Jiang Hezhou paused.
Just then, Officer Xiao Liu from the police unit suddenly called.
A call from the police unit at this hour… Jiang Hezhou’s expression instantly turned serious.
“Hello.”
“Professor Jiang, a body-dumping homicide has occurred in a suburban area of the neighboring province. Due to the complexity of the victim’s injuries, their police unit has requested your assistance for an autopsy consultation.”
—
For the next three days, Jiang Hezhou didn’t return home.
Chu Luyu didn’t find out about his sudden midnight business trip until the next day.
He’d left her a note, clearly explaining why he’d gone out and noting that his return date was uncertain. He’d also considered that her injured ankle might make things inconvenient for her, so he’d hired a short-term housekeeper to handle her three meals a day and keep the place clean while he was away.
Later, the system chatted with Chu Luyu about it: [Now you understand why the original owner always said all he thought about was work, right? Normally, if your fiancée’s ankle was swollen that badly, wouldn’t you at least consider that before heading out in the middle of the night and staying away for days?]
Chu Luyu had just finished a bowl of handmade tangyuan that the housekeeper had made. The dumplings were soft and chewy, with a sweet, fragrant peanut filling inside.
She was in that blissfully full, carb-coma state, feeling all drowsy and fuzzy. But when she heard Cuihua’s words, she perked up a bit.
Chu Luyu: [That’s such flawed logic! Under normal circumstances, if an emergency comes up at work, it’s totally fine for him to be away for a few days. Besides, he’s a forensic doctor! A forensic doctor!]
A forensic doctor’s work uncovers the truth behind case after case.
The dead can’t speak, but forensic doctors seem to speak on their behalf.
What a great and serious job that is!
System Cuihua: [Oh, sweetie, I just adore you! This is exactly why you’re my Northeast-system-raised kid—your thinking is so upright and proper! Just like me!]
Chu Luyu was a little embarrassed by the sudden compliment and smiled shyly, pressing her lips together.
Chu Luyu: [I’m just stating the facts. And honestly, I think the male lead has already done a great job. Sure, he left suddenly in the middle of the night and has been gone for days, but he’s made sure all my needs are taken care of. Doesn’t that count as him keeping his fiancée in mind? I really can’t understand what the original owner was thinking.]
System Cuihua: [She was just being difficult. No gratitude, no contentment. She had money and wanted love, and once she had love, she wanted even more love. Someone like that—back in our Northeast, everyone who met her would be annoyed.]
Chu Luyu sighed. After a moment, she asked: [But if the male lead is out working and not coming back, can I still keep doing my missions?]
System Cuihua: [Don’t worry. He’ll be back today. And there’ll be a new mission triggered today too.]
No sooner had Cuihua finished speaking than the sound of someone entering the door code echoed from the entryway.
Chu Luyu froze for a second, and the next moment, the system’s chime rang out—
[Ding, new mission triggered. Within one hour, invite the male lead to watch a short CEO drama with you. You must watch until the male and female actors share a kiss, and say the key line: “Look, they’re kissing.”]
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