Those three words — *let’s part on good terms* — hit Jiang Yan like a bolt of lightning, leaving him stunned.

He turned to stare at her, rigid.

And it was only now, in this moment, that he truly and fully realized she was actually going to leave him. With the desperate energy of a drowning man grasping at straws, he said, “I know I was wrong. You don’t want to hear explanations — I won’t give them. Ruoqiao, I promise you: I’ll move out of the Lin family home. I can cut off all contact with her from now on.”

Hearing this, Jiang Ruoqiao was genuinely taken aback.

In the original story, Jiang Yan had a strong sense of obligation toward the Lin family. His bond with Lin Kexing was a real one — they had grown up together from childhood.

Because of that, his feelings toward Lin Kexing had always carried an air of something between lover and guardian, intertwined together. In the original story, he had been protective and caring toward Lin Kexing in the way you’d expect of a devoted male lead toward the female lead.

But now, here he was, actually saying this — saying he’d move out of the Lin family home, that he’d never see Lin Kexing again.

Just how much of a place did Lin Kexing truly hold in his heart?

Beyond the surprise, what she felt was a strange and inexplicable disappointment.

Disappointment in Jiang Yan. What kind of person was he, really? If you called him loyal and grateful — well, here he was, so easily able to say he’d never see Lin Kexing again. If you said his feelings for Jiang Ruoqiao were deep as the sea — then what about how he had been, before he thought he might lose her, with no sense of appropriate boundaries whatsoever? He had fallen short by both of them. He really was quite disappointing all around.

“Jiang Yan,” Jiang Ruoqiao said — she wasn’t entirely sure whether the plot had deviated at this point. “Does your mother know about this?”

She continued, “Has she agreed to it?”

Jiang Yan hadn’t expected Jiang Ruoqiao to bring up his mother at a moment like this. He stumbled for a second before answering, “She knows.”

Jiang Ruoqiao decided to give him one last piece of advice. “You and I are no longer in a relationship, so whether you listen to what I say next is entirely up to you. Call it me venting, if you like. I’m the type who has to say what’s on my mind or I can’t let it go. Jiang Yan, I’ve said it before — Lin Kexing likes you. And I’m certain your mother knows this too. Have you ever thought about why she encouraged you to bring Lin Kexing along with us that day? What was going through her mind? And then, after everything happened, she was able to drive all the way from the city to come pick Lin Kexing up — what was that about? You may not have understood before, and you may not have seen it clearly. But going forward, develop a sharper eye for these things — otherwise next time you find someone you care about, it’ll end in a breakup all over again. And you’ll hurt everyone involved, yourself included.”

This was her parting advice to him.

With that, she stood up. “Jiang Yan, you don’t need to go searching all over the city for me after this. Don’t think about explaining yourself or trying to win me back. I hope what I’ve said today hasn’t given you the illusion that there’s some problem between us that could still be fixed — because we truly are not suited for each other. That has nothing to do with Lin Kexing. I’ll say it again: let’s part on good terms. I don’t want this to end badly. That’s all.”

The breakup was inevitable.

She had her own reasons too, but when it came down to it, they simply weren’t compatible.

She could never, not in this lifetime, accept a boyfriend who had a childhood sweetheart lingering in the wings like that. What bothered her even more was that he didn’t have the faintest sense of appropriate boundaries. And then there was Jiang Yan’s mother to consider — just how masochistic would she have to be to willingly choose to put herself through that kind of hard-mode torment?

Jiang Ruoqiao left.

She hoped this conversation had been enough for Jiang Yan to finally see things clearly. At the very least, he wouldn’t go searching all over for her anymore, and he wouldn’t insist on giving her any explanations.

Jiang Yan stood there in a daze, bereft. This time, he didn’t go after her.

Once Jiang Ruoqiao had moved out of Jiang Yan’s line of sight, she took out her phone from her bag and called Lu Yicheng.

He picked up quickly.

Faster than he ever had before.

Lu Yicheng’s voice was as calm and steady as always. “Hello.”

From the lake to the park entrance was quite a distance — Lakeside Park was enormous. She walked and talked at the same time, asking him offhandedly, “You and Siyan haven’t eaten yet, right? I’m done now, I’m heading back. What do you both want to eat? I’ll pick something up on the way.”

Lu Yicheng replied, “We haven’t eaten yet. But you don’t have to go to all that trouble…”

They had spent enough time around each other by now that, even while deliberately maintaining a certain distance, they had developed a basic understanding of one another.

Jiang Ruoqiao cut him off as though she already knew what he was going to say. “Don’t say anything about going to the market to buy ingredients and cooking yourself. If we wait for that, when are we ever going to eat?”

Lu Yicheng said, “…”

“Alright. You decide.” He said.

Jiang Ruoqiao thought: *Now that’s more like it.*

“Then ask Siyan what he wants to eat.”

Lu Yicheng replied with absolute impartiality, “He can’t have most of what he wants. Even though the fever has broken, it’s still better to keep things light and nutritious for now.”

Jiang Ruoqiao burst out laughing. “So strict.”

Children of their generation who got sick usually got to eat things they normally weren’t allowed.

For some reason, hearing her laughter and playful teasing, Lu Yicheng’s ears felt inexplicably warm, even though his expression remained completely composed. “The doctor gave instructions yesterday.”

Jiang Ruoqiao drew out her words with exaggerated gravity, playing along. “Ah, Doctor Lu is absolutely right. Okay — so what can he have?”

Lu Yicheng: “…”  He gripped his phone a little more tightly. “Something light. Noodles are fine, congee is fine. If I remember correctly, there’s a little shop right outside the hotel — a chicken broth noodle place. You could get him a bowl. Some chicken broth should be good for him.”

Jiang Ruoqiao said, “Got it. And you? What do you want to eat?”

Lu Yicheng replied, “Anything’s fine.”

Jiang Ruoqiao thought: *…This man is really the easiest person to feed.*

“Then I’ll pack a few dishes and some rice from a restaurant nearby. We can eat that.”

Lu Yicheng’s attention caught on the word “we” and lingered there for a moment.

Lakeside Park was especially crowded at this hour, the sun beginning its descent toward the horizon. There were children’s play structures, groups of older residents doing their evening square dancing, and plenty of young couples out for a stroll. Jiang Ruoqiao tried to navigate around the crowd, but no matter which way she turned, people were everywhere. To make matters worse, two boys of about ten were riding electric balance boards and were clearly not quite in control of them. Jiang Ruoqiao had tried to get out of their way, but got bumped once anyway, and then a second boy lost his balance and came careening straight toward her.

Jiang Ruoqiao thought: *…Danger!!*

Sure enough, she couldn’t dodge in time. The collision knocked the phone right out of her hand.

Jiang Ruoqiao watched helplessly as her phone was stepped on several times.

On Lu Yicheng’s end, all he heard was a sudden cry of alarm from Jiang Ruoqiao, followed by a sharp, jarring sound — and then the call cut off.

He was alarmed.

Had something happened?

He composed himself and tried calling her number again. A mechanical recorded voice informed him that the number he had dialed was powered off.

What was going on?

Jiang Ruoqiao stared at her phone, its screen shattered into a spiderweb of cracks. She was beside herself. She had only gotten this phone not so long ago, and now it was going to be completely dead? She tried to power it back on, but the phone gave no response at all. Rage coursed through her — she wanted to scream — but when she looked up, the two culprits had already bolted.

What kind of kids were these!

She was furious.

She thought about going to the park management office to request surveillance footage and find those two boys to seek compensation… but the honest truth was that a dispute like this could drag on for a long time, and she’d probably end up arguing with their parents and still not see a single cent. Just thinking about it gave her a headache. On top of that, she had no idea who had stepped on the phone, so there was no one to go after.

What rotten luck. Truly rotten luck.

Jiang Ruoqiao instinctively pinned all the blame squarely on meeting up with Jiang Yan.

If she hadn’t come to meet him, none of this would have happened!

Meanwhile, back at the hotel, Lu Yicheng was still trying to call Jiang Ruoqiao — but the phone remained switched off, every single time. On one hand, he told himself that this was Lakeside Park, a heavily trafficked public space. Nothing would happen there. Besides, Jiang Yan was not that sort of person. On the other hand, he couldn’t control the worry spreading through him.

That cry of alarm.

And then the phone suddenly going dead.

It was all too easy to imagine the worst.

Lu Siyan sat on the bed watching cartoons and noticed his father pacing back and forth, looking frightening — his brow so deeply furrowed it could have crushed a fly. Somewhat afraid, Lu Siyan quietly shifted his position on the bed, located the remote control, and with highly developed survival instincts, turned the television volume down a notch before asking, “Papa, what’s wrong?”

Lu Yicheng stopped pacing.

His mind was already made up. He pocketed his phone and said to Lu Siyan, “Siyan, I need to go out for a bit. Stay in the room and don’t go anywhere. Don’t open the door for anyone except me or your mother.”

He trusted Lu Siyan.

Earlier, when he had gone to tutor a student at their home, Siyan had been left on his own at the apartment — no one to look after him. Siyan had been raised well. He knew what he could and couldn’t touch, never opened the door to strangers, and would never sneak out on his own.

This particular hotel chain had good overall standards.

Lu Yicheng forced himself to stay calm. “I’ll be back soon.”

Lu Siyan was a little uneasy. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing serious.” Lu Yicheng said. “Your mother might have run into a bit of trouble. I’m going to meet her and bring her back. You stay in the room.”

Lu Siyan nodded. “Okay. I won’t go anywhere. I won’t touch the electrical sockets. I won’t open the door for anyone — only for Mama and Papa.”

“Good boy.”

After leaving these instructions for Lu Siyan, Lu Yicheng grabbed his phone and hurried out.

He jogged across the pedestrian crossing, walked down one street, and at last spotted the landmark sign for Lakeside Park.

Weaving through the crowd without stopping, he finally reached the park entrance.

He swept a quick glance around — and spotted Jiang Ruoqiao immediately, picking her out from the crowd in an instant.

Jiang Ruoqiao was the kind of person who stood out naturally. Someone like her seemed to draw the eye no matter where she was, no matter what.

She was still upset about the phone, brow furrowed, radiating a clear “do not approach” energy. Several men who had considered striking up a conversation with her took one look at her aura and thought better of it.

Lu Yicheng finally let out a quiet breath of relief and strode toward her.

When Jiang Ruoqiao looked up, she found Lu Yicheng standing right in front of her. She was a little startled — and then remembered that she had been on the phone with him when she got knocked over. He must have run all the way here. His breathing was slightly uneven.

He had been worried she might have gotten hurt.

Jiang Ruoqiao held up her phone, its screen shattered into a complete snowstorm of cracks, her expression hovering somewhere between the urge to laugh and the urge to cry. “I got knocked over by someone while we were on the phone. The phone’s dead. It won’t turn on. Don’t worry — I’m fine.”

Lu Yicheng’s expression remained as serious as ever. “Who knocked you over?”

Jiang Ruoqiao had just been about to complain about her terrible luck.

But from behind her, a clear, cool male voice called out —

“Ruoqiao.”

Jiang Yan, after sitting by the lake for a while, had started walking back. As he made his way toward the park entrance, he spotted Jiang Ruoqiao.

He knew he shouldn’t call out to her, but couldn’t stop himself from taking one last look.

From a distance of about two meters, Jiang Yan’s gaze drifted slowly from Jiang Ruoqiao’s back to the man standing in front of her — and it was apparent that the two of them had been in the middle of a conversation.

He asked uncertainly, “Director Lu? What are you doing here?”

—