Chu Luyu ran downstairs to see Jiang Hezhou.
She was wearing pink-white loungewear, casually throwing on a coat over it. As she ran over, her long hair was still in its just-woken-up state, with even a couple of strands sticking up at the front.
She’d run so fast that she was still catching her breath when she stopped.
“Jiang Hezhou.”
The winter night wind in Jingzhou was bitingly cold. The girl was dressed too lightly—Jiang Hezhou instinctively frowned, but he couldn’t bring himself to say a single harsh word to her.
After all, she’d run down like this just to see him.
And he truly loved the way she looked right now—anxious, eager, her eyes full of nothing but him.
So without a word, he wrapped her inside his coat, looking down at her with lowered eyes.
“Why didn’t you put on more clothes before coming down?”
Chu Luyu didn’t care about the temperature at all. All her attention was focused on the fact that Jiang Hezhou had suddenly shown up in the middle of the night.
“Didn’t you say there’s only one flight a day between that place and Jingzhou? At this hour… you didn’t take a plane, did you?”
“I drove back.”
“Huh? But the news said it was snowing heavily over there—wasn’t the highway closed?”
The place Jiang Hezhou had gone for his business trip was further north than Jingzhou, with temperatures always lower and winters arriving earlier.
Jingzhou had only seen a regular temperature drop in November, with no snow yet. But apparently, over there, it had been snowing on and off for two days straight.
That’s what Jiang Hezhou had told her during their phone calls these past two days.
Jiang Hezhou gave a low “mm” in response, then tightened his arms around her, his voice deep: “The highway was closed, so I took the national road.”
Chu Luyu felt something she couldn’t quite put into words.
In her real world, she’d always been the one overlooked. No one cared about what she said. The most anyone ever told her was to be more sensible, more understanding.
So in her mind, no one would ever drive through wind and snow for hours in the middle of the night just to see her because of a casual remark she’d made.
Her heart felt soft and tender. When she looked up, her eyes had unconsciously welled up with moisture.
Jiang Hezhou noticed immediately, his gaze darkening.
“Why are you crying?”
“Because I’m moved.” Chu Luyu no longer held back. She buried her whole head in his chest, her voice carrying a tearful whine. “Wuwuwu, Jiang Hezhou, you’re too good.”
A person like this—even though he felt such disgust toward her deep down—could still do something like this because of a single word from her.
She really envied the female lead. Envied that girl for being able to have someone so wonderful in her future.
Afraid the girl would get too cold, Jiang Hezhou didn’t stay outside long. He guided her to the back of the car.
The SUV was spacious, with more room in the back than an ordinary car. Once inside, Jiang Hezhou pulled her onto his lap, just like he did at home.
Chu Luyu nestled obediently in his arms, letting him hold her like that. One side of her face was pressed against his chest, and she could vaguely hear his heartbeat.
She suddenly remembered something important and asked him: “You came back all of a sudden like this—is everything okay with the case?”
His arms around her tightened very, very much. Only he knew how much he cherished this moment of closeness. He’d truly missed her—he’d never let work distract him before, but during this business trip, he’d thought of her almost every day, even if he only had a few minutes of downtime.
Sometimes he even found himself thinking: if only she could always be by his side—wherever he went, whatever he did—never leaving him for a step.
He really hated the days when he couldn’t see her. They were unbearable.
Hearing her question, Jiang Hezhou took a long moment to steady himself, barely suppressing the trembling and excitement that surged through his body from finally holding her again.
His voice low and deep, he replied: “I’d planned to drive back to see you and then head back before dawn. But on the way, someone from the team called—they said the suspect had turned himself in at the bureau. So I probably don’t need to go back.”
Chu Luyu was startled.
She almost immediately pushed herself up from his embrace, looking at him with surprise and shock.
“The person who turned himself in—who is it? What happened? Did he come to you on his own? Or did you uncover some leads that forced him out?”
They were so close that as she spoke, Jiang Hezhou could even vaguely feel her breath.
It was still that familiar sweet orange scent—warm, fragrant.
It stirred something deep in him, sending another wave of trembling through his flesh and blood.
His arms around her waist were like two unyielding iron brands, tightening inch by inch.
“I want to kiss you.”
The moment those four words came out, Chu Luyu froze.
She’d been discussing the case with the system, both of them equally surprised by this turn of events, even having a heated internal debate about whether the plotline might truly be changing.
But then the man suddenly said that—and it short-circuited both of them.
Chu Luyu: [Cuihua, analyze this—what does the male lead mean? I was clearly asking him about the case, so why did he suddenly… suddenly say that!]
System Cuihua: [Obviously he doesn’t want you prying into his work. If he flat-out refused to answer and you got upset, he’d have a problem on his hands. So he’s using something else to distract you!]
Was that really it…
The girl was silent for a long moment. Jiang Hezhou could no longer hold back. His thin lips brushed affectionately against her ear, his voice low and husky: “Can I?”
The sexy vibration of his voice buzzed against Chu Luyu’s ear. She felt half her body go weak and tingly. Not knowing how to respond, she turned her head and asked: “If… if I let you, will you tell me more about the case afterward?”
Whether he was tricking her or not, the male lead answered readily: “Yes.”
The next second, Chu Luyu felt her lips being tenderly enveloped. In the ebb and flow of the kiss, the man’s breathing grew heavier and heavier against her ear—
“That’s enough…”
The girl finally pushed him away, overwhelmed. Though nearly half an hour had passed, Jiang Hezhou still felt unsatisfied deep down.
He thought to himself: how could it ever be enough? If he could, he’d really love to press her beneath him, to tease her until she went soft, until she melted into a puddle.
But right now, it really wasn’t appropriate to continue.
Chu Luyu had clearly been worried about his work the whole time. If he kept this up, it might affect how she saw him.
He didn’t actually care about anyone else’s opinion—only hers. He was afraid of scaring her away. So before marriage, before they were completely bound together, he still had to restrain himself. Restrain himself a little more.
He held her for a long while, waiting until her breathing had finally steadied before speaking again.
“I can’t share specific case details with you, but from what the team told me, the person who turned himself in mentioned many details that match leads we’d already uncovered. It’s likely he realized he couldn’t hide anymore and came forward under pressure.”
Chu Luyu thought back to the original plot, where the male lead made a misjudgment and wrongly accused someone. She quickly asked: “Are you sure the team didn’t go to him first with the evidence you’d already found? That he came on his own?”
The difference between the two scenarios was huge.
After all, both she and the system knew how this case was supposed to play out in the main story.
If the team had gone to a suspect with evidence, wouldn’t that be exactly the chain of events from the original plot—the one triggered by the male lead’s misjudgment?
Jiang Hezhou didn’t know why the girl was so fixated on this. He felt she didn’t really need to concern herself with it. But since she kept asking so earnestly, he didn’t want to dampen her enthusiasm.
So he patiently replied: “It was a voluntary surrender. The phone call lasted over ten minutes. I’m very certain the message relayed to me was that the suspect had turned himself in.”
Chu Luyu truly felt like crying.
She screamed internally at the system: [Cuihua! Did you hear that? A voluntary surrender! The suspect turned himself in! Doesn’t that mean the male lead’s ‘beautiful, strong, and tragic’ plotline has really changed?!]
The system hesitated, then replied: [But even if this plotline changes, the romance line remains the same. The male lead’s disgust toward you is still at an all-time high. In less than a month, you’ll still have to complete the plot tasks, and after the final one, you two will break off the engagement. That development is exactly the same as the original setting.]
The little flame that had ignited in Chu Luyu’s heart for reasons she couldn’t quite name was suddenly extinguished by the system’s words.
She felt deflated. After a pause, she replied: [That’s fine… what I really care about most is that someone as good as the male lead was supposed to suffer so much because of the plot. Now he might not have to endure as much hardship. Even if it has nothing to do with me afterward, I’m still happy!]
System Cuihua: [Oh, sweetie… my heart aches for you so much!]
Jiang Hezhou’s full attention was on the girl in his arms. He immediately sensed that she seemed a bit down.
He asked: “What’s wrong? Why do you suddenly seem unhappy?”
Chu Luyu shook her head. After thinking it over, she asked Jiang Hezhou for reassurance one more time: “So this suspect who turned himself in—do you really feel confident he killed those victims? There won’t be any accidents, right? Like… what if you followed the wrong leads and wrongly accused an innocent person?”
To Jiang Hezhou, her words sounded a bit childish. He couldn’t help but smile softly at the corner of his mouth and said: “That’s highly unlikely. Modern forensic methods and technology are very advanced. The kind of accident you’re talking about probably only exists in novels or TV dramas.”
…But you’re literally living inside a TV drama! And not just any drama—a fluffy, low-logic short drama where every setting exists to serve the romance line!
Chu Luyu was at a loss for words. If she kept going, with the male lead’s sharp observational skills, he’d definitely notice something was off.
After a moment of hesitation, she awkwardly changed the subject.
“You drove all the way back so late—have you eaten yet? Do you want some Lidong dumplings? We made a lot yesterday, and the leftovers are in the fridge. If you want, I can cook some for you.”
Jiang Hezhou was indeed a bit hungry. It wasn’t really convenient for him to go inside the Chen house at this hour, so after a moment’s thought, he nodded in agreement.
“Okay.”
When Chu Luyu slipped back into the villa, she moved quietly. She’d never cooked dumplings before, and when the pot was done, about half of them had burst open.
But luckily, Jiang Hezhou didn’t mind.
As she watched the man hold her again, his arms wrapped around her as he ate with quiet composure, a sudden, mood-killing task notification rang out in her head—
[Ding! New task! Invite the male lead to watch a new release of an intimate film with you, and say the key line: “Brother Hezhou, they did it in the car—should we give it a try too?”]
Chu Luyu: […Why would this kind of stupid task trigger at a time like this! Is this even the right timing?!]
System Cuihua: [Hehe. This time, the trigger isn’t a time point—it’s the scenario. In the original plot, the original host also brought the male lead dumplings after winter began. He didn’t let her into the bureau, so they ate in the car, and that’s when she got her naughty idea.]
Then Chu Luyu understood—the car and the dumplings were the trigger points for this task.
Ridiculous! Absolutely ridiculous!
Chu Luyu: [Where am I supposed to suddenly find a website like that at this hour? Is there a time limit for this task?]
System Cuihua: [Of course! Once you and the male lead get out of the car, if the task isn’t completed, it’ll be declared failed. As for the website… hehehehehe, just open your browser now and I’ll make it pop up directly.]
Chu Luyu: ………………
Jiang Hezhou was still eating the dumplings at a leisurely pace. She’d cooked the two fillings she liked best, and he didn’t seem to mind them at all.
She really couldn’t bear to interrupt him. She pulled out her phone, tapped it a couple times, and after confirming the webpage had loaded, immediately turned the screen face down.
At least let him finish eating first… If she actually went through with this awful task, he’d probably get so annoyed he wouldn’t even be able to finish his dumplings.
Watching him finish the last bits of filling and wrapper, Chu Luyu knew she couldn’t stall any longer. She steeled herself and unlocked her phone.
“Oh! How did this pop up! What’s going on!”
She deliberately acted surprised, bringing the phone closer so Jiang Hezhou could see it too, then braced herself as the page loaded the video.
The clip the system had arranged was wild—the male and female leads barely had any setup before they were already going at it in the back seat of a car…
As the atmosphere in the video grew increasingly steamy, Chu Luyu bit her lip and, her voice trembling, forced out the key line: “Brother Hezhou, they did it in the car—should we give it a try too?”
As soon as she finished, the task progress bar ticked forward. Chu Luyu immediately sighed in relief and was about to put her phone away when the man above her suddenly pressed down on her hand.
Jiang Hezhou, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke in a low voice—and what he said was something Chu Luyu never expected—
“How?”
His question made her scalp tingle. She quickly reached out to the system for help.
Chu Luyu: [What’s going on! What’s happening! Why did the male lead suddenly ask that! There’s no way he actually tried it with the female supporting character in the original plot, right?!]
System Cuihua: [Of course not! How could that be! But in the original plot, the original host didn’t care so much about his work either. I suspect he might be afraid you’ll keep pestering him about those case details, and he’s annoyed, so he’d rather just go along with your words and completely redirect your attention!]
Chu Luyu: [So what do I do now? How am I supposed to answer?]
System Cuihua: [Just answer however—I don’t think he’ll actually do anything. That glaring -90 disgust value is still right there!]
Chu Luyu felt completely trapped. With no other choice, she murmured back to Jiang Hezhou: “Just… just do what the two people in the video are doing.”
Jiang Hezhou was silent for two or three seconds, then gave a low “okay.”
By this point, the video had progressed to the next stage. The male actor was busy with the female actor’s shorts while simultaneously pulling off his own with one hand, all without stopping whatever his mouth was doing.
Chu Luyu’s blood pressure was spiking. Her cheeks grew hotter by the second, her mind racing as she desperately tried to find a way to end this situation gracefully.
But then, the man’s large palm covered her eyes.
“You don’t need to watch the rest. I’ll learn from it myself.”
The male actor in the video was now fully exposed, with key parts of his body about to come into view.
There was no way he’d let a young girl watch another man—not even in a video like this.
Her vision suddenly went dark. Chu Luyu felt that after she couldn’t see, the sounds in the car became even more vivid and clear.
The video continued playing—soft moans and wet, mingling sounds reached her ears without filter.
She thought of those two nights before, and unconsciously, she felt that familiar damp sensation again.
Suddenly, the man’s arms tightened around her, and he murmured in her ear in a low voice: “I’m going to start practicing now.”
Chu Luyu was stunned. Before she could react, she felt his hand move to her waistline.
She tensed up and pressed down on his hand.
“D-do we have to rush this?”
His voice was hoarse—in the depth of this midnight hour, in such an enclosed space, it was especially alluring.
“In a hurry? But we’re getting married soon. This kind of thing really should be learned and practiced early. I’ve been too busy before—I didn’t realize I’d need you to take the initiative… That’s my fault. So from now on, you don’t need to worry about anything. I’ll learn.”
Chu Luyu had never expected the man to respond to her so seriously.
Her eyes were still covered. Jiang Hezhou gave her no chance to refuse, and in one smooth motion, he did what he’d been stopped from doing before.
A lake that had long swayed under the moonlight now welcomed a long, elegant jade bamboo.
The bamboo first tentatively touched the lake’s surface. Water weeds floated above—the bamboo brushed them aside and continued sinking.
The lake had been warm and moist for a long time. The bamboo moved inside with unfamiliar hesitation, its joints grazing the lake walls, making the entire body of water tremble.
Chu Luyu’s mind was now completely blank. She couldn’t see what was happening in the video anymore. All she heard was Jiang Hezhou’s hoarse voice asking her—
“Should I learn their dialogue too?”
Before she could even process his question, his low, electric voice came by her ear, almost overlapping with the male actor’s from the video—
“Baby, you’re so wet…”
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