Jiang Ruoqiao didn’t go downstairs. Instead she climbed back up to her own room and started packing her things.
She had only stayed one night and her luggage wasn’t much. Packing it up was easy. When she snapped the clasps shut and drew the zipper closed, she wasn’t sure whether she should feel melancholy or relieved.
Her feelings for Jiang Yan had been worn away, little by little, over this stretch of time.
Watching him tangle himself up with Lin Kexing, she felt very little. Only a kind of numbness. Perhaps this was just the plot. Even though the circumstances had changed, what was meant to happen had happened anyway. Maybe she had even nudged it along herself.
In the original story, this part of the rural homestay was nothing like this for the secondary female lead. There was no Truth or Dare scene at all. The owner had brewed his own bayberry wine and given each of them a full bowl — the secondary female lead didn’t want to drink, and the male lead took it for her. Of course he also ended up taking the “little sister” Lin Kexing’s share, so three bowls in, with the wine not being weak, he went lightheaded quickly. After chatting with the others for a bit, he couldn’t take it anymore and went upstairs. Lin Kexing, worried about him, slipped away unnoticed and went to his room. The male lead mistook her for someone else, kissed her — and when she came back to herself she pushed him away and rushed back to her own room.
The next morning, the male lead had mostly forgotten the whole thing. He did ask the secondary female lead if she had come to find him the night before, and she said no, so he assumed it had been a dream.
In reality, the owner hadn’t served them wine at all. Because there was a child at the table, and the bayberry wine looked appealing, the owner’s wife — a mother herself — had worried the child might mistake it for a regular drink and want some, and had also thought that these were just students, so she’d said nothing and kept it to herself.
From start to finish, Jiang Ruoqiao had been a cold-eyed observer. Not trying to recreate the novel’s plot — just watching as herself, as someone living inside the situation.
And yet…
Jiang Yan had still drunk too much. Still felt unwell and left early. The power had still gone out.
How terrifying.
Jiang Ruoqiao had been frightened at first, but when she walked in and saw the two of them tangled together, even that fear had mostly faded.
The story was already different now. Her breakup with Jiang Yan would no longer be for the reasons in the original — no longer the contempt for the poor, the fixation on wealth. Now it was because he had had intimate contact with another woman, and because he had no sense of boundaries with that woman.
She was leaving today, no matter what.
If she didn’t leave now, the one walking away would be Lin Kexing.
Lin Kexing would depart in utterly wounded innocence, and that would hand all the power back to the two of them. If they came to explain that it was a misunderstanding on her part — if he turned around and said that Lin Kexing had already left, proving she had no feelings for him, that it was only a thoughtless mistake — that would be revolting.
She would not give either of them even the smallest opening to minimize this, to smooth it over, to make it disappear.
The one who left held the high ground.
Jiang Ruoqiao dragged her suitcase out the door at the fastest pace she could manage. It was the owner’s own building and had no elevator. Getting her luggage down the stairs would take some effort — the case itself wasn’t terribly heavy, but it was still a suitcase, and going down stairs was another matter. Just as she was gritting her teeth and bracing herself, a hand stepped in forcefully and took the suitcase from her. She looked up — it was Lu Yicheng.
Had he been waiting here at the top of the stairs the whole time?
Did he think she was about to do something reckless?
She wasn’t. : )
Even if she truly lost her mind, she would drive Jiang Yan and Lin Kexing to ruin first and worry about the rest later.
Lu Yicheng’s arms were formidable. To Jiang Ruoqiao’s eyes, he carried that suitcase the way you’d carry a bag of cotton — effortless, barely any exertion at all.
She had no choice but to follow him down the stairs. When they reached the ground floor, he handed the case back to her — probably to avoid any awkwardness.
Jiang Ruoqiao wasn’t the sort of person who failed to appreciate kindness. He had followed her earlier to Jiang Yan’s room, and followed her again just now. He hadn’t said a single word the whole time, but she could feel his concern.
She pressed her lips together. “Thank you.”
Lu Yicheng just looked at her, his gaze level and calm.
Out in the courtyard, the others were playing cards. When they saw Jiang Ruoqiao come out with her luggage, Yun Jia and the others dropped their hands and rushed over, visibly startled. “Ruoqiao, what is this?”
Jiang Ruoqiao smiled. “Something came up. I already talked to the owner — his cousin is heading back to the city and said she can give me a lift.”
Yun Jia frowned. “This suddenly?”
She had a feeling something was wrong. She glanced around, then her eyes went wide. “Where’s Jiang Yan? And where’s his sister??”
Right — Ruoqiao had just said she was going to check on Jiang Yan. It had been less than twenty minutes, and she’d come back down with a suitcase ready to leave. There was no way to believe nothing had happened.
Jiang Ruoqiao’s expression said it all.
“What the—!” All three of Yun Jia’s group were furious. They were ready to march upstairs and tear Jiang Yan apart.
They were all adults. A lot could be read between the lines.
In this short a time, Jiang Ruoqiao’s demeanor had changed completely. She couldn’t bear to stay another moment. She had just gone looking for Jiang Yan, and now neither Jiang Yan nor Lin Kexing could be found anywhere. Even the most oblivious person could sense something was wrong.
“Jiang Yan, you absolute idiot!” Yun Jia had the sharpest temper of the group and was practically reaching for a wine bottle to go after him.
Jiang Ruoqiao stepped in quickly to hold her back, her expression tired. “There’s no need. Really. I have to go anyway. You all stay and enjoy the rest of the trip. When we’re back, I’ll treat everyone to a proper meal as an apology. Okay?”
That got Yun Jia to hold back — barely.
She was still seething. “What do we even feel like celebrating now? This whole thing is ruined!”
All of it was Jiang Yan’s fault. This had been a get-together for two dorms. And he showed up bringing a “little sister.”
*Little sister* my foot.
Du Yu, Wang Jiangfeng, and Lu Yicheng all stayed quiet. They genuinely had no standing and no basis for comment — they were Jiang Yan’s dorm mates, after all. As far as the girls were concerned, all four of them were in it together.
The owner’s cousin was a woman in her early thirties, driving a large four-by-four. She had come by today to pick something up and was heading back now. She had one spare seat, and Jiang Ruoqiao could hitch a ride.
Lu Yicheng stepped forward to help load the suitcase into the boot.
Yun Jia shot him a sideways look. “No need.”
Lu Yicheng: “……”
Right then.
Every man present understood — they were being caught in the crossfire. But whose fault was it, really, if their roommate and friend had done something unforgivable?
Yun Jia and Gao Jingjing helped Jiang Ruoqiao lift the suitcase into the back of the car.
Just as Jiang Ruoqiao was about to open the car door, Jiang Yan came downstairs.
After what had happened, Jiang Yan’s head was pounding, and he had wanted to get up and go after Jiang Ruoqiao but the dizziness had made it impossible to move. He forced himself to the bathroom and doused himself with cold water until his head cleared, then came down to find Jiang Ruoqiao already about to get in the car. His eyes were bloodshot. Ignoring the headache, he surged forward — nearly bowling over Du Yu — and reached out to stop her, his voice hoarse: “Ruoqiao, just let me… explain.”
That last word came out with great difficulty.
In truth, he didn’t even fully understand what had happened. By the time he came back to himself, he found he had been holding Lin Kexing.
Lu Siyan had no idea what was going on. He saw his mother about to leave and started to move toward her, but Lu Yicheng caught his hand. Lu Siyan looked up at him in protest, but Lu Yicheng gave a single shake of his head — serious, unambiguous. At that, Lu Siyan stilled.
His dad was rarely like this.
He was genuinely a little scared. But what had happened to his mom? Had someone hurt her?
Jiang Ruoqiao looked at Jiang Yan quietly. “What is there to explain? That I saw wrong? That I misunderstood, that you two just accidentally — Jiang Yan, let me make this clear to you right now. I don’t care whether you intended it or not, whether it was a misunderstanding or it wasn’t. This is where we end. We’re breaking up.”
Jiang Yan looked at her sharply. “Break — breaking up?”
Yun Jia was already done holding back and raised her voice: “If not breaking up, what else — waiting for the new year? Someone like you doesn’t deserve Ruoqiao!”
How much confidence did a man need to have in himself?
Did he really think Jiang Yan was the last man left on earth? After what had happened, still no break-up?
If she didn’t break up with him, she’d just torture herself.
Jiang Ruoqiao pulled herself free, turned, and opened the car door. She was done entertaining an audience. “I’m heading off.”
She said it to Yun Jia and the other two.
Jiang Yan, however, could not accept this outcome. His head was killing him, but there was only one thought in his mind: he could not lose her. They had been so happy when they arrived. What had happened? Why had it come to this? How had it ended in a break-up?
He couldn’t accept it.
His mind was blank. Only one thing: she could not leave. If she left now, he would lose her entirely.
He reached out and braced his hand against the car door, a clear refusal to let her go. Jiang Ruoqiao looked up to meet his eyes — and then, inexplicably, she paused. Those eyes — they seemed to overlap, slowly, with the cold pair that visited her in dreams.
She didn’t want to waste any more time on this.
She pulled her gaze from Jiang Yan and, in the air, it met Lu Yicheng’s.
Lu Yicheng was startled for a moment too. But he couldn’t ignore the quiet stillness of her expression, or the resistance she was holding in check.
This wasn’t his business. He had no reason to get involved. And yet, looking at her like this, looking at her looking at him, he couldn’t truly stay apart from this any longer. Even he didn’t know why.
He couldn’t stand apart — at least not right now. At least not where she was concerned. He was no longer a bystander.
Lu Yicheng lowered his eyes. A few seconds of silence. He patted Lu Siyan gently, reassuringly. Father and son exchanged a glance — in the time they’d spent together, they had developed an understanding. Lu Siyan pressed his lips shut, unusually quiet.
With Lu Siyan settled, Lu Yicheng finally moved, and before Du Yu or anyone else could react, he stepped forward and placed himself between Jiang Yan and Jiang Ruoqiao.
Lu Yicheng and Jiang Yan were more or less the same height.
The scene was chaotic. Even Jiang Ruoqiao’s closest friends hadn’t moved in — and yet Lu Yicheng, who had always been gentle and unassuming, was the one who stepped out. He stood between them.
They were nearly the same height, but Lu Yicheng had the edge by a fraction. They had been friends, but now they stood opposite each other as if in confrontation. Lu Yicheng’s expression was undisturbed, unreadable — yet he held his ground between Jiang Yan and Jiang Ruoqiao, planted squarely in front of her.
Never mind everyone else — even Jiang Yan, staring at Lu Yicheng in this moment, seemed not to understand.
Lu Yicheng said nothing at all.
He simply blocked Jiang Yan’s path. And in that opening, Jiang Ruoqiao pulled the car door open and got in, shut it behind her, and the outside world was suddenly a different place entirely.
Jiang Yan could only stand there and watch the car start and drive away, watch her disappear from his world, little by little.