Meng Wantian didn’t want to talk anymore.
She didn’t understand why, after being reborn and given a chance to start over, everything had changed.
In her previous life, Feng Yiyi hadn’t had this attitude toward that woman, and Jiang Hezhou hadn’t truly loved her either.
How was this different? Why was everything different?
·
A week later, Jiang Hezhou finally had a brief respite from his busy schedule.
There was still no progress on the case—just as the system had said. The leads were vague and confusing, the whole investigation tangled like a ball of yarn.
But as far as forensic work went, Jiang Hezhou had already completed everything required of him. Even in the following days, he’d only stayed to discuss case details with the team.
Feeling that he probably couldn’t contribute much more, Jiang Hezhou took Chu Luyu back home.
Chu Luyu had spent a full week living in the bureau dormitory. When they left, several officers who’d gotten to know her came to see them off. Yao Meng even told her to come back with Jiang Hezhou sometime to eat at the cafeteria again.
After getting in the car, Chu Luyu kept leaning her head out the window, waving goodbye to everyone outside. As the car slowly pulled onto the road, Jiang Hezhou called for her to sit properly and buckle up.
“Once this case wraps up, the team might have a get-together. I’ll bring you to see them then.” Sensing that the little girl seemed a bit reluctant to leave, he comforted her softly. “You’ll have plenty of chances to see them in the future.”
There wouldn’t be plenty of chances… because they only had about two more months before they’d part ways. Maybe after today, she’d never see these people again in this lifetime.
And what he meant by “once the case wraps up” was probably after they solved it, right?
But only she knew that this case was destined to remain unsolved.
At the thought of what lay ahead in the plot, Chu Luyu’s mood unconsciously soured.
She sat in the passenger seat, leaning her head against the window, her eyelids drooping slightly.
“Jiang Hezhou, have you ever made a mistake at work?”
“What kind of mistake do you mean?”
“Like… the kind that could completely overturn the outcome of a case—a very serious mistake.”
Jiang Hezhou smiled, his cool, handsome face carrying an expression that was both modest and not quite modest. “I’ve never made that kind of mistake. And I shouldn’t in the future either.”
Chu Luyu let out a heavy sigh inwardly and fell silent.
The first trial class at the art class was scheduled for the weekend a few days later.
Chu Luyu’s early promotions had been very effective, and with the boost from Jiang Hezhou’s network, over forty kids showed up for the first session. The big classroom was packed, and the lounge area was full of parents.
This was Chu Luyu’s first time teaching an art class. Although the beginner curriculum was simple, and she’d looked up plenty of examples online for how to start a class, standing on the platform for real still made her nervous.
Fortunately, she adapted quickly. Before long, she’d hit her stride, and the classroom atmosphere grew more lively by the minute. The parents waiting outside all looked increasingly satisfied.
Qi Xuecheng had also come to this trial class. Chu Luyu had spotted him from the start—a tiny figure sitting among a group of children, his demeanor and appearance standing out.
After the trial class ended, many parents signed their kids up on the spot. Chu Luyu and her newly hired teaching assistant were busy for quite a while before seeing off the last child.
The family and friends waiting outside had been there for a while—Chu Fanyin, the two Chen brothers, and Jiang Hezhou had all come.
Chu Luyu told her assistant to clock out early and walked over to greet them.
“Sorry to keep you all waiting! I should have told you to head to the restaurant first.”
Her eyes sparkled as she spoke, and she radiated a vibrant energy different from her usual self.
Chu Fanyin, seeing her precious daughter suddenly doing so well, had already wiped away tears of joy several times. Chen Mian beside her looked equally delighted, saying to Chu Luyu: “You really look like a real teacher! Mom and I were just saying—you’d never guess this was your first time teaching.”
Chen Zhou and Jiang Hezhou stood side by side, similar in height—both tall and lean, with a striking presence.
Chen Zhou handed a bouquet of flowers to Chu Luyu, smiling warmly at her. “Xiaoyu, congratulations on a successful trial class.”
Chu Luyu thanked him, took the flowers, and immediately turned to look at Jiang Hezhou.
The man stood there, silent, his gaze fixed on her all along. When she looked over, their eyes met in midair.
She suddenly remembered that among the parents who’d signed up just now, quite a few had mentioned being employees of the Jiang Group. It turned out Jiang Hezhou hadn’t just promoted her at the bureau—he’d also spread the word at his own family’s company…
A warmth spread through Chu Luyu’s heart. She stepped to the side, naturally took the bouquet from Jiang Hezhou’s arms, and handed the one Chen Zhou had just given her into his.
“Hold the one from my big brother for me. I’ll take yours.”
Chen Mian, ever the troublemaker, teased: “What’s this? Big brother’s bouquet is too heavy, so you have to make your fiancé hold it for you?”
Chu Luyu shot him a playful glare. “Say one more useless thing, and I won’t give you any chopsticks at the restaurant!”
While the siblings were laughing and joking, a shadow of darkness flickered in Chen Zhou’s eyes, though it quickly returned to normal.
When it came time to eat, Qi Mubai finally arrived late, claiming he’d come to pick up his nephew. But he showed no signs of leaving—he simply pulled out the chair next to Chen Zhou and sat down.
Chu Luyu was genuinely annoyed by this male lead number two. Several times during the meal, he tried to speak to her, and she really didn’t want to respond, but politeness forced her to.
Fortunately, Jiang Hezhou kept conveniently interrupting at just the right moments—adding food to her plate whenever that man spoke, and occasionally chiming in softly on their conversations.
Back and forth like that, Chu Luyu barely exchanged more than a few words with Qi Mubai.
She ended up eating quite a lot, stuffing herself. Maybe it was because she’d been nervous during her first trial class today, but she felt hungrier than usual.
Everyone else at the table had pretty much put down their chopsticks and were chatting away.
Chu Fanyin looked at her future son-in-law with concern and asked about his situation: “Hezhou, I saw on the news that there’s been another homicide in Jingzhou recently. Are you all getting busy again?”
“The bureau does have a case we’re working on. I brought Luyu to stay at the bureau dormitory earlier because I couldn’t make it home every day and wouldn’t be able to take care of her.”
“Oh! I was wondering why she said she was staying with you when I called! I was going to bring you both some homemade dishes!”
Chen Mian looked surprised. “You two are that close now? Can’t bear to be apart for a day?”
Hearing that, Chu Luyu nearly choked on a shrimp. She coughed for a while, with Jiang Hezhou patting her back the whole time.
After a moment, when she seemed to be doing better, Jiang Hezhou grabbed a clean wet wipe from the side, gently wiped her mouth, and said: “Your sister’s a bit spoiled at home. I don’t feel comfortable leaving her alone.”
The tone was completely intimate and doting—only Chu Luyu didn’t notice anything unusual about it. Everyone else at the table had subtly changed expressions.
Especially Qi Mubai, whose casual glance over met Jiang Hezhou’s eyes. The two men exchanged a silent, several-second stare before Qi Mubai looked away first, turning to speak with Chen Zhou.
“This Second Young Master Jiang is quite different from the rumors.”
In Qi Mubai’s impression, Jiang Hezhou had never been much of a presence in their social circle. But whenever someone mentioned him, they’d say he was cold, reserved, and not much of a talker.
Yet throughout this entire meal, Qi Mubai hadn’t seen any of that coldness—Jiang Hezhou had been talking nonstop, even cutting Qi Mubai off intentionally several times.
Chen Zhou, being perceptive, naturally understood what Qi Mubai meant.
He just smiled, still looking perfectly gentle: “The happier they are, the more at ease Auntie Chu will be.”
Qi Mubai was momentarily speechless. After a moment’s thought, his mood soured again.
“You knew what your sister was really like back then, so why didn’t you stop her from chasing me? And why did you never try to set us up?”
Chen Zhou smiled faintly. “I let her work as a receptionist at my law firm—wasn’t that me setting things up? You were the one who always held a bias against her.”
Qi Mubai gave his friend a meaningful look, then after a long pause asked: “Actually, I’ve wanted to ask you for a long time—do you like this stepsister of yours or hate her? Sometimes I really can’t read your attitude.”
Chen Zhou lowered his gaze, concealing the look in his eyes.
“You’re mistaken. I’ve never hated her.”
·
After the meal ended, while Chu Luyu was chatting with her mother, Jiang Hezhou went to the restroom.
When he came out, Chen Zhou happened to be washing his hands at the sink. Seeing him approach, the other man smiled first.
“You took good care of Xiaoyu throughout this meal. Thank you for the trouble.”
His tone was natural, like a brother-in-law talking to his future brother-in-law. Jiang Hezhou nodded slightly, his voice polite and courteous: “It’s what I should do.”
Chen Zhou’s hand movements paused briefly as he scrubbed, but soon returned to normal. He didn’t look up this time, keeping his eyes on his hands under the faucet as he said in a natural tone: “Actually, I was quite surprised at first that you two get along so well. After all, Xiaoyu’s personality is very different from yours—and she’s the type to lose interest in things pretty quickly.”
Jiang Hezhou hadn’t paid much attention to his words at first, but at that last sentence, his hand-washing movements also came to an abrupt halt.
He looked up through the mirror, his gaze calmly falling on Chen Zhou.
The man on the other side still hadn’t looked up, maintaining his original posture as he continued: “Back then, she used to pester me to help her chase Mubai. She’d have me set up outings for them constantly, and even worked as a receptionist at my firm for two months just to get more chances to see him. At the time, I really thought they’d end up together. But then she suddenly stopped pursuing him after a while. When I asked why, she said she’d gotten bored and couldn’t be bothered anymore.”
Jiang Hezhou didn’t move, but the look in his eyes had clearly turned cold and heavy. “What are you trying to say?”
Chen Zhou smiled, turning off the faucet.
He looked up, meeting Jiang Hezhou’s gaze in the mirror, his expression still gentle and refined: “Nothing much. Just that if one day she gets tired of this too—like she did before—please don’t blame her. Just bring her back to us safely. In our family, she’ll always be a treasure.”
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