Lu Chengzhou was handling Xu Qian.
He needed to return the lunch box and say thanks.
Xu Qian no longer cared about the container.
She was just using it as an excuse to exchange a few more words with him.
But…
Lu Chengzhou truly wasn’t talkative.
Not that he lacked words—he was just quietly reserved.
When Xu Qian asked if his washed clothes felt comfortable, he’d reply, “Clothes meant to be worn are naturally fine.”
When she asked if he wanted lunch, he’d say, “If I want to eat, I’ll go eat.”
He answered—but said nothing at all.
Xu Qian felt a bitter ache inside.
They were drifting toward pointless chatter like “Have you eaten?” or “What’s next class?”—so she cut it off fast.
“I’m heading back.”
She hurried toward the second-year classroom building.
Lu Chengzhou watched her go, smiling faintly without a word.
He turned
and walked toward his own classroom.
Just past the corner, he met Su Qiaoman’s wide, innocent eyes.
He instinctively stepped back.
“Ah Zhou!”
Su Qiaoman couldn’t help chasing two steps forward.
Lu Chengzhou retreated even faster.
“Well, well—you two. Which scene of Romeo and Juliet are you staging?”
Lin Chen stood at the rear.
That sour tone made Lu Chengzhou’s eyelid twitch.
He knew he had to clear things up with Su Qiaoman—fast.
But what to say?
Su Qiaoman froze mid-step.
She glanced back at Lin Chen.
Lin Chen snorted coldly, arms crossed, waiting.
Fury simmered deep inside him.
If she said the wrong thing, he wouldn’t hesitate to have her expelled.
“Lin Chen, he’s my best friend. Please stop looking at him like that.”
What?!
Lu Chengzhou was caught completely off guard.
She was basically telling Lin Chen: *I want to keep you both.*
Could Lin Chen accept that?
No.
His expression darkened further.
“Su Qiaoman… what do you mean? What are you planning?”
“Exactly.” Su Qiaoman stood firm for once. “I’ll keep my childhood bond with Zhou first. Only then will I consider us.”
What?!
She really *was* trying to have both!
Lu Chengzhou nearly wanted to knock sense into the heroine’s head.
What was she thinking?!
He’d worked so hard to steer the plot—just to lock them together and bring peace to this world!
Now this? Wasting all his effort?
Lin Chen lifted his gaze, locking eyes with Lu Chengzhou.
Silent. But the look screamed volumes.
Lu Chengzhou cleared his throat. “Actually, I think—"
Lin Chen, deadpan: “Shut up.”
Lu Chengzhou shrugged and fell silent.
Some things were just fate.
He realized: between him and the heroine, one had to be the devoted admirer.
Maybe that was the conservation law of the devoted admirer.
“Lu Chengzhou… watch yourself.”
Lin Chen dropped that softly spoken threat and left the tense scene.
He didn’t know why he wasn’t angry at Lu Chengzhou.
Maybe because Lu Chengzhou had defended him at his birthday banquet… and before that, quietly did his homework without complaint.
Suddenly, Lin Chen felt Lu Chengzhou was ten thousand times better than Su Qiaoman.
*She* must be the shameless one clinging on.
After all—Lu Chengzhou kept his distance the whole time. *She* was the one pushing forward.
Lin Chen finally saw it clearly.
“She won’t give up Zhou, her childhood friend? Hmph. I won’t give up Zhou, my brother, for her either.”
The thought whooshed through Lin Chen’s mind—
and never left.
…
The empty corridor held only Lu Chengzhou and Su Qiaoman, exchanging a glance.
Lu Chengzhou sighed inwardly.
His once-bright future now felt uncertain again.
“Su Qiaoman,” he said, voice even, gaze steady. “I believe I’ve been clear.”
“Mm. You were.”
She stepped closer.
Stopped an arm’s length away.
“I’ve thought it through too.”
She advanced; he retreated.
Step by step, they backed into the staircase’s blind spot.
Su Qiaoman raised a hand and pinned him against the wall.
“If Lin Chen is so narrow-minded—always looking down on you, denying your place—then I *will* reconsider my choice.”
Lu Chengzhou: “…”
Calm face. Screaming inside.
*Damn it!*
*Like hell you’ll “reconsider”!*
*He’s your destined one! The man who fought through thousands of chapters of love and pain to reach a hard-won happy ending!*
*What’s left to “consider”?*
Su Qiaoman smiled faintly. “Our childhood bond is irreplaceable.”
She withdrew her hand gracefully and turned away.
Leaving Lu Chengzhou alone, utterly dazed.
“I’m just a male supporting character…”
“I just want to survive a few more years here. Is that so wrong?”
“Sigh… this path to survival is truly tough.”
Thinking of the coming incident involving Mr. Lin, his mood sank deeper.
Lin Chen’s obsession with Su Qiaoman was already fading from the original plot.
If Jiang Aiyu proposed an engagement now… he might actually accept.
So—was the story correcting itself? Or twisting further off track?
…
At that moment—
Mr. Lin, chatting with clients in the meeting room, suddenly clutched his chest. A sharp pain stabbed through him.
He forced a smile, struggling to hold on.
The meeting was nearly done. Just a little longer…
But the pain worsened.
Suddenly—
Darkness swallowed his vision.
Chaos erupted in the room.
Lin Chen got the call. No time for leave—he rushed straight home.
“The old master’s condition is critical. Relapse.”
Even the Lin family doctors were helpless.
Adding insult to injury.
Witnesses from the meeting scattered.
At the table: friends, partners, brothers.
Beyond it: wolves circling for a bite.
News spread like wildfire.
Lin Group stocks plummeted. Partners in other cities froze deals, watching closely.
“Oh god… is the Lin family falling?”
Lin Chen’s world spun into blackness.
