The two slept in each other’s arms all night.
Throughout the night, Chu Luyu was held tightly in Jiang Hezhou’s embrace, unable to break free even a little. Even when she mumbled about being too hot in the middle of the night, he only pulled the blanket down slightly—but he never loosened his hold on her.
The next morning, Chu Luyu finally felt some relief.
In her drowsy state, she vaguely saw Jiang Hezhou standing at the foot of the bed getting dressed. His upper body was still bare, the lean muscle contours on his back clearly defined.
Outside, the sky had barely begun to lighten—it looked to be around six or seven in the morning. Chu Luyu struggled to prop herself up and asked him: “Why are you up so early? Heading to work?”
Seeing her awake, Jiang Hezhou’s expression instantly softened.
He had already put on his thin black sweater, his gold-rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. He walked over and bent down to kiss her forehead.
“I do need to go to the bureau. Sister Yao just called—she said there’s been new progress on the case and they need me there now.”
The girl had just woken up and still looked a bit dazed, her hair messy, her cheeks soft and full. Jiang Hezhou found her more and more adorable the longer he looked. He couldn’t resist kissing her face again: “Go back to sleep. If I remember correctly, you only have one large class this afternoon, right? No need to get up this early.”
Chu Luyu had still been groggy, but the moment she heard about new progress on the case, she was wide awake.
She sat up completely and asked him: “What do you mean by new progress? Didn’t you say the suspect had already turned himself in? Has something gone wrong?”
Jiang Hezhou hesitated. He really shouldn’t tell her too much—it went against organizational requirements.
But looking at her, he simply couldn’t bring himself to refuse.
After a moment’s pause, he gave her a general answer: “The person who turned himself in might not actually be the real perpetrator. As for the rest, I can’t tell you—it’s case confidential.”
Chu Luyu’s eyes widened. Even after Jiang Hezhou left, she still hadn’t fully snapped out of it.
She called out to the system: [Cuihua!]
The system had gone into sleep mode the night before after Jiang Hezhou had pinned her to the bed. It hadn’t woken up yet when Chu Luyu did. She had to call out several times before it slowly stretched and finally booted up.
System Cuihua: [What time is it even? Why are you waking me up so early? What about you and the male lead… huh? Where is he?]
Chu Luyu: [He went to work!]
System Cuihua: [Holy crap. Gotta hand it to the writer’s workaholic characters—you two must’ve been at it all night, and he can still head to work first thing in the morning without a second thought!]
Chu Luyu: […If you bring that up, I have a question for you. The male lead losing control like that yesterday—that wasn’t in the original plot, was it?]
System Cuihua: [Definitely not. In the original plot, the male lead never got that drunk. But yesterday, your stepfather kept pouring him glass after glass of strong liquor—losing control was only to be expected.]
…But why was she the one getting “tormented” when he lost control?!
Just thinking back to last night made her face heat up again.
But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that. She suddenly remembered the key point and quickly steered the conversation back: [Before he left, the male lead said the person who turned himself in might not be the real perpetrator. What’s going on? Is the plotline about to change again? Is it going to circle back to the male lead making a misjudgment in the end?]
System Cuihua: [Asking me about this is about as useful as asking your kneecap! Ever since that fake eyewitness was exposed, the plotline has completely diverged from the original setting… I don’t know what leads the male lead and his team have uncovered now, or how deep their investigation has gone. And in the original plot, the serial killer’s identity was never revealed—it remained a cold case to the very end. So at this point, I honestly don’t know whether every step they’re taking is right or wrong.]
Chu Luyu understood what the system was saying, but she still couldn’t help feeling anxious.
She felt that no matter how things ended between her and the male lead, she genuinely hoped his future wouldn’t be as painful as the original setting had prescribed.
Someone as good as him deserved a better future.
Even if the plot required him to meet the female lead, there had to be other ways.
Seeing her fall silent again, the system sighed: [Sweetie, having empathy is a good thing. But too much of it will only make you suffer. You and the male lead have at most twenty-something days left together. After that, he’ll be a stranger you can never see again. His life—how it turns out—really won’t have much to do with you anymore. Don’t wear yourself out over this.]
Chu Luyu sighed, unconsciously biting her lip: [Cuihua, I know what you mean. I’ll try to stop thinking about it so much. You’re right—the male lead’s future really has nothing to do with me.]
Over the next few days, Jiang Hezhou became busy again from morning till night.
This time seemed different. Before, no matter how busy he was, he’d always find pockets of time to reach out to Chu Luyu. She’d grown used to his calls and messages during brief respites from work.
But this time, he only sent a message each night, reminding her to dress warmly and eat well. Aside from that, there was complete silence on his end.
Chu Luyu sensed something was off. After waiting another two days, she finally couldn’t hold back anymore and asked the system to check on what was going on with the male lead.
The system agreed readily enough, but no sooner had it started looking than it let out a sudden “Holy shit.”
Chu Luyu’s heart clenched immediately. She asked: [What’s wrong? Is something major happening? Is the male lead’s original misjudgment plotline resurfacing?]
System Cuihua: [No, it’s not that. It’s just… it’s just…]
Before Cuihua could finish, Chu Luyu’s phone suddenly rang. She picked it up and saw that it was Yao Meng calling her.
She felt both surprised and apprehensive. At a time like this, a colleague of the male lead contacting her likely meant something bad…
“Hello, Sister Yao.”
“Mm, sister-in-law, are you busy?”
“No, I only had a morning class today at the interest class. I’m free now.” Chu Luyu paused, then asked, “What’s wrong? Is something up with Jiang Hezhou?”
“Yes.” Yao Meng’s voice sounded heavy. “The real culprit behind those serial homicide cases has been found. It’s… someone Xiao Jiang knows. The confirmation came through the day before yesterday. He seems to have taken it really hard. This morning, after he talked to the killer once, he went back to his dorm and hasn’t come out since. I was wondering, if you have time, could you come over and keep him company? He looks… really bad.”
After the call ended, Chu Luyu practically flew downstairs to get a taxi.
On the way to the municipal bureau, she kept discussing it with the system.
System Cuihua: [Before you answered the call, I already knew what was going on with the male lead. The culprit behind these serial homicides is his friend—someone you’ve met before…]
Chu Luyu’s heart was in her throat. The friends of the male lead she’d met were the few people she’d seen at the hot spring resort.
Chu Luyu: [Is it Xiao Yan’s boyfriend?]
System Cuihua: [No.]
Chu Luyu: [Then is it that guy called Ji Chen? The male lead called him by name a couple times that day, right?]
System Cuihua: [The name’s right, but it’s not him either.]
Chu Luyu fell silent. Out of three people, after eliminating two, only one was left.
She couldn’t even remember his name. In her memory, he seemed like a more reserved, introverted man—not as talkative as Zhang Jiting or Ji Chen. During the gathering, he’d just smiled gently and said very little.
System Cuihua: [I don’t have much of an impression of that friend of the male lead either, which is why I was so shocked when I found out… You really can’t judge a book by its cover. Who would have thought that the mastermind behind such brutal killings would look so ordinary?]
Chu Luyu didn’t know what else to say. She couldn’t tell whether this outcome was driven by the plot or if it was a choice made by the character’s own consciousness outside the plot.
The taxi arrived at the municipal bureau entrance, and Yao Meng was already standing there waiting for her.
She seemed to have arranged a visitor pass in advance. When the security guard saw them, he immediately let them through.
“Xiao Jiang has been in his dorm since morning without coming out. We called him to eat, but he didn’t respond—just said he was tired and wanted to rest… But we’ve worked with him for so long. We know what he’s usually like. Even if he worked three days and nights straight, he’d still keep up his energy. This time, it’s definitely the case that’s gotten to him. Everyone’s worried. We thought you’d be the best one to come and talk to him.”
Chu Luyu nodded, her expression turning solemn.
When they reached the dorm, Yao Meng left her at the door. Before she left, she gave Chu Luyu’s shoulder a gentle pat and said: “It’s on you.”
Pushing open the dorm door, she spotted Jiang Hezhou at once.
He hadn’t even changed clothes, lying half on the bed. His white lab coat hung loosely over the edge of the mattress, one long leg casually stretched to the floor, one arm raised with his palm and wrist covering half his face.
There was a palpable sense of defeat and dejection radiating from him—something rarely seen on him.
Hearing the noise, Jiang Hezhou assumed it was another colleague. He didn’t lower his hand, staying in the same position.
“I’m really not hungry. You all go eat first. I’ll head to the cafeteria later.”
Chu Luyu sighed softly and said: “What time is it now? If you wait much later, will there even be anything left at the cafeteria?”
Jiang Hezhou froze, immediately lowering his hand. Seeing that it was indeed Chu Luyu, he quickly sat up.
“Why are you here?” Then, catching on, he asked, “Sister Yao called you, didn’t she?”
Chu Luyu nodded. Standing there looking at him, she couldn’t hide the sadness and heartache in her eyes.
“You’re hurting, aren’t you?” she asked.
Jiang Hezhou didn’t answer right away. Instead, he reached out his hand toward her, motioning for her to come. This time, without a moment’s hesitation, Chu Luyu placed her small hand in his and let him pull her into his embrace.
After seating her on his lap, the man buried his face in the crook of her neck.
The cool breath instantly touched the skin of her neck, but this closeness felt different from before. There was no flirtatious or ambiguous atmosphere between them—only him leaning on her.
Chu Luyu had never felt such obvious low spirits and vulnerability from this man. She couldn’t help but reach up and stroke his head, whispering softly: “I can’t quite remember his name. He was the other person at the hot spring resort, besides Zhang Jiting and Ji Chen, right?”
“Yeah.” His voice was muffled when he answered. “His name is Li Yuebai. He’s the friend who’s been by my side the longest since childhood.”
Li Yuebai’s parents had both worked for the Jiang family their whole lives. His father had been Jiang Hezhou’s father’s secretary, and after the elder Jiang passed away and Jiang Qiyou took over the company, he continued to assist Jiang Qiyou.
The two had known each other since birth. As far back as he could remember, Li Yuebai had always been by Jiang Hezhou’s side.
He wasn’t a particularly noticeable presence, but Jiang Hezhou’s relationship with him was genuinely good. Even his friendships with Zhang Jiting and Ji Chen had been forged through Jiang Hezhou’s introductions.
People had sometimes said that Li Yuebai, being like a household servant from ancient times, wasn’t fit to play with real young masters. But no one ever paid those comments any mind. If anyone dared say such things to their faces, Jiang Hezhou would even stand up for Li Yuebai.
So when he met Li Yuebai this morning and heard what he had to say, Jiang Hezhou felt a mix of shock and helplessness like never before.
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