The next morning, Chu Luyu was woken up early by Jiang Hezhou.
Still half-asleep, she was scooped up in his arms along with the blanket, her eyes barely open. She mumbled groggily: “Why are we getting up so early today?”
Over the past few days, she’d been sleeping in until she naturally woke up—sometimes even past noon. Only when she slept too long would Jiang Hezhou gently call her a couple of times.
But now, the daylight had barely just arrived. She pried her eyes open with effort and saw the clock on the wall reading just past nine. Why was he waking her so early?
Jiang Hezhou smiled and smoothed down her hair—the little cowlick at her forehead was sticking up, making her look adorably soft and dazed.
“A lawyer is coming to the house today. We need to get ready to receive our guest.”
Chu Luyu was a bit confused. She rubbed her eyes and tilted her head up to look at him. “Why is a lawyer coming to our house?”
Jiang Hezhou paused for a moment, then gave a vague answer: “There are some documents that need your signature, and a lawyer needs to be present.”
Chu Luyu blinked her beautiful eyes in bewilderment, as if she’d understood, yet not quite.
Jiang Hezhou was absolutely smitten with her dazed little expression. He lowered his head, caught her lips in a gentle kiss—not deep, just a soft press—then lifted her and carried her toward the bathroom.
The bandage on Chu Luyu’s finger had been removed the day before. Since Jiang Hezhou had been changing her dressing all this time, she’d barely paid any attention to that tiny wound. Now, looking at her finger pad—smooth and flawless as before—she sat on the edge of the sink, couldn’t help wrapping her arms around his neck and acting clingy.
“Jiang Hezhou, the medicine you put on me is amazing—the wound healed without even a scar.”
The man’s dark eyes behind his glasses curved with a smile. He glanced down at her finger, his eyelids lowered, his long lashes obscuring the expression in his eyes. He went along with her words and replied: “Yeah, it really is amazing.”
Around 10:30, the lawyer arrived. By then, Jiang Hezhou had already helped Chu Luyu freshen up and fed her breakfast.
The lawyer, surnamed Jiang, was a bespectacled elite just like Jiang Hezhou. But unlike Jiang Hezhou’s cool, handsome features, Lawyer Jiang had a composed yet sharp look about him.
Jiang Hezhou seemed to know this lawyer well from before. They greeted each other casually, and then Jiang Hezhou introduced Chu Luyu.
“This is my beloved. Just call her Miss Chu.”
Lawyer Jiang nodded, carrying his briefcase as he walked over to Chu Luyu with a smile. “Miss Chu, hello.”
“Hello, hello.” Chu Luyu was completely in the dark. After responding, she edged closer to Jiang Hezhou and whispered, “What’s going on exactly? This feels so formal.”
The lawyer pulled out stacks and stacks of documents from his briefcase—each one thick, filled with pages of dense clauses.
Jiang Hezhou didn’t answer her question. Instead, he took her hand and led her to sit across from Lawyer Jiang—
“Miss Chu, I am here today on behalf of Mr. Jiang Hezhou to discuss property transfer matters. Mr. Jiang Hezhou has clearly confirmed in writing that he voluntarily gifts all of his real estate, vehicles, deposits, investments, and all other movable and immovable properties to you free of charge. Under legal procedures, we need your confirmation on whether you are willing to accept this gift. If you agree, you can sign the gift agreement today. After notarization, all of Mr. Jiang Hezhou’s assets will be transferred to your name.”
The lawyer’s words left Chu Luyu completely stunned. She instinctively looked at Jiang Hezhou.
He was sitting right beside her, leaning slightly forward, organizing the documents she would need to sign one by one. He wore a simple white shirt, with the collar buttoned down to the second-to-last one—not overly rigid, yet still emanating a cool, restrained air.
Sensing her gaze, he turned his head. “What’s wrong?”
Chu Luyu pressed her lips together. After a long moment, she stood up and grabbed his wrist.
“Come with me for a second.”
Lawyer Jiang smiled from his seat, gesturing for them to go ahead. She pulled the man all the way back to the master bedroom, closed the door, and looked up at him.
“Jiang Hezhou, what are you trying to do? Why are you giving all of this to me?”
A smile appeared on his face. He looked at her with gentle warmth. “Can’t you tell? I’m trying to keep you. Since you won’t tell me the real reason why you always want to leave, why you want to run away from me, I want to do as much as I can. I thought—if I gave you everything I have, you wouldn’t want to leave anymore, right? At the very least, before you go, you’d hesitate and think about whether I could still go on. That way, you’d still be tied to me.”
Chu Luyu hadn’t expected him to be so blunt about it. A surge of emotion swelled in her chest. She looked at him for a long time before finally asking: “But if you give all of this to me, what will you do?”
“Don’t I have you?” Jiang Hezhou’s tone carried a sense of certainty. “As long as you’re here, I still have everything.”
He paused, and when he spoke again, his words carried a deeper meaning: “Or is it that you already have some other plan?”
As he spoke, he looked at her directly, his dark, deep eyes like an unfathomable ocean. The surface appeared calm, cloaked in the deep black of night—but what lay beneath, no one could truly see.
Chu Luyu, however, felt a pang of guilt at his words and didn’t even notice the look in his eyes. She only reacted strongly to what he’d said, exclaiming: “How could that be!”
Jiang Hezhou simply looked at her with a gentle, calm expression. After a long pause, he smiled again.
“As long as you don’t have any other ideas, then let’s go out and sign the papers with the lawyer.”
With that, he gave her no more time to hesitate, taking her hand and leading her back out of the bedroom.
Chu Luyu followed behind him step by step, feeling a little uneasy. But she thought to herself—since they were still in the dreamscape, even if she signed all of this, once they returned to the real plot world… it probably wouldn’t count anyway, right?
She ended up signing dozens of documents. After everything was settled, Lawyer Jiang took his leave, saying he’d notify them when the procedures were complete in a few days so they could proceed with the transfer.
Chu Luyu felt exhausted from all that signing. She collapsed onto the sofa, stretching her wrist, completely drained.
“You own so much property and assets! Good heavens…”
Jiang Hezhou smiled, sat down beside her, and began massaging her hand. “They’re just things the elders gave me over the years. After what happened before the New Year, there probably won’t be any new additions from now on.”
“This is enough to last several lifetimes! What does it matter if there are more additions or not?”
The man’s smile deepened. He looked at her and replied: “So baby’s satisfied with the weight of this gift? Then let’s go shopping this afternoon—you can pay with all those cards I just gave you.”
He wasn’t wrong—there really were “all those” cards. Chu Luyu only found out today that apart from the one he’d given her before, Jiang Hezhou had so many more!
They tidied up and headed out.
In the past, whenever they went shopping, it was almost always Chu Luyu picking out items while Jiang Hezhou quietly followed behind carrying her bags. He had very few material desires—aside from basic daily necessities, some simple clothing, and regular book purchases, he rarely bought much else.
So every time they went to the mall, he would practically buy nothing.
But today was completely different.
Jiang Hezhou drove Chu Luyu to the mall and immediately headed straight for the men’s section. From outerwear and inner layers to small accessories like cufflinks, he bought them all in nearly every style. Every time he checked out, he’d say matter-of-factly to the sales associate: “My wife handles the finances at home—you can have her swipe the card.”
His tone was perfectly natural, with no hint of embarrassment—in fact, it carried a subtle sense of showing off.
Chu Luyu felt a little awkward every time she went to pay. One particularly perceptive saleswoman, picking up on their dynamic, joked softly with a smile: “I feel like if you wrote a book on how to train a partner in a relationship, it would definitely sell well.”
Chu Luyu was mortified. She thought to herself—he trained himself! This wasn’t her doing at all!
Fortunately, night fell quickly, and with their shopping mostly done, they finally left the mall.
After getting in the car, Jiang Hezhou glanced at his wristwatch without looking up. “It’s dinner time. Let’s eat out today. I reserved a nice revolving restaurant—the night view from up there is beautiful.”
They’d eaten out many times before, but nearly every time, they prioritized taste and ingredient quality, choosing highly-rated or long-established restaurants.
Today, Jiang Hezhou suddenly suggested a place that emphasized atmosphere, and Chu Luyu felt an inexplicable emotion stirring.
Was this fate? Tonight would be their final farewell, so even without knowing what was about to happen, Jiang Hezhou had somehow chosen such a ceremonial spot.
The revolving restaurant was on the top floor of a famous building by the river in Jingzhou. When they went up, Chu Luyu noticed that the restaurant had not a single other guest.
She hesitated, tugged at Jiang Hezhou’s sleeve, and whispered: “This place must be expensive and have terrible food—otherwise, why would there be no customers?!”
The man was clearly taken aback for a moment, then curled his lips into a smile.
“You’re right.”
Chu Luyu pulled him closer and whispered: “Since you agree with me, we can still turn around and leave before we sit down.”
Just then, a waiter greeted them warmly and politely. Upon seeing them, the waiter beamed: “Mr. Jiang and Miss Chu, right? Welcome to our restaurant! We’ve prepared the best view seat for you—please follow me—”
After hearing that, Jiang Hezhou smiled again, leaned over to Chu Luyu, and whispered: “I reserved this place way in advance. It might be too late to leave now—how about we just make do and sit down?”
Chu Luyu was speechless. The waiter was already leading the way—she didn’t really have any choice but to make do, did she?
Pouting, she followed along.
The waiter had reserved a seat for them right by the window. Outside, the sky had already darkened but wasn’t yet pitch black. Lights flickered on in the grid-like windows of the towering buildings all around, and the city’s nightscape—with its hazy, scattered glow—washed over them.
The waiter handed over the menu, and Jiang Hezhou pointed to Chu Luyu across the table. “My wife will order.”
He had been saying the words “my wife” especially smoothly today, and every time Chu Luyu heard it, her cheeks grew warm. She took the menu from the waiter, flipped through a couple of pages, and not knowing what to choose, asked: “What are your chef’s specials today?”
The waiter listed three dishes: “Crispy roast pigeon, low-temperature wagyu beef, and braised eel with black garlic.”
“We’ll have those three, plus a soup and two desserts after the meal.”
“Very well.” The waiter nodded, jotting it down, then hesitated slightly. “Are you sure about two desserts? For gentlemen, we also offer fruit and a light post-meal tea.”
Chu Luyu felt a little awkward and didn’t know how to respond, but Jiang Hezhou across from her couldn’t help curving his lips. “Both desserts are for her.”
“Oh.” The waiter looked a bit embarrassed, his face full of apology. “I’m so sorry—I didn’t realize…”
After he left, Chu Luyu was still a bit miffed. “Why does ordering two desserts have to mean two people are eating them? Is it that strange for one person to have two?”
“Not strange at all—after all, my baby can polish off four bowls of rice by herself. Two desserts are nothing.”
Chu Luyu’s eyes widened instantly as she glared at him. “Say that again!”
The smile on Jiang Hezhou’s face deepened, and he offered a not-very-serious apology: “I’m wrong.”
She gave him a small eye-roll. Then, after a moment, Chu Luyu tilted her head and studied the man across from her.
“You seem different today. This is the first time you’ve joked with me so deliberately like this.”
“Mm, now that I’ve bet my entire fortune on you and know you’re probably not leaving, I guess I’ve loosened up a bit.” Jiang Hezhou’s smile grew richer as he spoke, his eyes full of little flecks of light. “Chu Luyu, you’re really not leaving, are you?”
A flicker of unease and guilt passed through Chu Luyu’s heart again. She didn’t want to lie to him about something this important, so she could only change the subject: “Why do you keep asking about that?”
His lips curved, his eyes full of tenderness. “Because I just want to confirm it a few more times.”
“But I don’t want to keep saying it.” Chu Luyu deliberately put on a slightly impatient look. “Saying it too much gets annoying.”
“Alright, then I won’t ask.”
Jiang Hezhou was being quite agreeable this time. Seeing that he truly didn’t plan to press further, Chu Luyu let out a quiet sigh of relief.
As their meal was wrapping up, Jiang Hezhou gazed out at the fully dark night sky and asked Chu Luyu: “The night view here is beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it’s really beautiful.” That was true—the restaurant was by the river and high up, and the view from here was gorgeous.
Jiang Hezhou glanced back at her, then raised his wrist to check his watch. “Do you want to see something even more beautiful?”
“Even more beautiful?”
“Yes.” As he spoke, the man seemed to sense something, looked out the window, and prompted her, “Look outside.”
At that moment, countless drones gradually rose into the sky, dotting the dark night with points of light. Chu Luyu’s eyes widened as she watched them cluster together to form a series of “comic strip” scenes.
The first frame showed a tall man in a white coat wearing glasses, standing beside a little painter in a beret carrying a sketchbook. Though their features weren’t exact, based on the characteristics, Chu Luyu could tell they were her and Jiang Hezhou.
In the second frame, the two were sitting together eating, looking a little distant from each other.
In the third, they walked through a door together, then ate together, watched TV, went shopping together.
With each additional frame, the two grew closer and more affectionate.
Finally, there was a scene where the two entered a restaurant, sat across from each other, and the male figure asked: “Do you marry me?”
The next frame zoomed in on a giant diamond ring formed by drones, which then went into a ring box. Then, a drone—modeled after the one in the drone formation—appeared, and the “ring box” was attached to it, slowly flying closer from the sky.
Chu Luyu was stunned. Before she could react, she heard a faint buzzing sound nearby, growing louder as it approached. When she saw it clearly, her expression shifted to even greater surprise—
It was a real drone, and it looked exactly like the final frame they’d just seen outside. Hanging from its body was a ring box!
At that moment, the restaurant began to fill with the sound of a cello playing a melodious tune. Under Chu Luyu’s astonished gaze, Jiang Hezhou stood up, reached out to take the ring box from the drone before them, and knelt on one knee in front of her.
Surprise gave way to shock in Chu Luyu’s eyes. She knew what he was about to do and spoke with urgency and confusion: “But didn’t you already propose at the hotel rooftop before?”
The man’s expression was completely natural as he replied: “That time wasn’t happy. I want to give you a truly perfect proposal.”
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