Having spent the entire evening maintaining her composure, Ruan Yu was abruptly awakened by the blaring of an alarm in the early hours of dawn.
Almost immediately, a hand flailed blindly toward Xu Huaisong's chest.
Eyes still shut, he furrowed his brows and caught her hand. "Your phone isn't here..."
Still half-asleep, Ruan Yu lifted her head groggily. "Then where is it?"
Perhaps it was a habit from living alone for so long—she always kept her phone within arm's reach under the covers for a sense of security, and she hadn't broken the habit yet.
Xu Huaisong had been jolted awake in the middle of the night by the phone digging into him, so he had casually placed it on the nightstand.
After a moment of silent suffering, he finally opened his eyes under the relentless assault of the alarm, turned to fumble for the phone, and turned it off. Then he pulled her back into his arms. "Why set an alarm?"
"I can't just sleep in and freeload breakfast at your house," Ruan Yu groaned, clutching his clothes. "You didn't turn off my snooze mode, did you? If it rings again, I'll..."
Before she could finish saying "get up," she was already fast asleep again.
Xu Huaisong quickly followed suit.
By the time they woke again, the aroma of porridge had already filled the air.
Ruan Yu blinked awake, sat up abruptly, and nudged Xu Huaisong. "What time is it?"
He stirred, checked his watch, and said, "Seven forty-five."
She scrambled out of bed and dashed to the bathroom to wash up.
"Don't rush," Xu Huaisong said, throwing off the covers and heading to the kitchen. After exchanging a few words there, he returned and squeezed into the bathroom, wrapping his arms around her from behind. "I took the blame—said I accidentally turned off the alarm. Take your time."
Ruan Yu had just finished applying cleanser and was about to rinse it off. She nudged him with her elbow. "Then don't get in the way of official business here."
Still exhausted from the lack of proper rest on the plane, he drowsily rested his chin on her collarbone, letting half his weight lean on her.
Struggling to wash her face under the added burden, Ruan Yu bent over and rinsed off before tilting her head to press her damp cheek against his. "Wake up already."
The cold water jolted Xu Huaisong awake. He grabbed a dry towel to wipe his face, then flipped it to dry hers—only to be stopped the moment he touched her.
"Wrong direction! Rubbing like that will make your skin sag!"
He froze. "Then how?"
She demonstrated an upward motion. "You have to gently push upward."
Xu Huaisong complied, drying her face before sighing. "You've changed too."
Ruan Yu pouted. "What do you mean?"
He gave her a flat look. "Before, in situations like this, you'd just say, 'Xu Huaisong, you're so good.'"
She burst out laughing and was about to stand on tiptoe to kiss him when Grandma Xu's voice rang out from outside the door. "Little girl, what are you eavesdropping for?"
They froze, then heard Xu Huaishi whine, "Grandma, why expose me? I was just checking if my brother's up yet!"
"..." Xu Huaisong gritted his teeth, flung open the bathroom door, and stormed out. "Do you not have enough homework every day?"
Xu Huaishi covered her head and fled the scene. "Mom, Mom! I'll help serve the porridge!"
After breakfast, the two returned to Hangzhou. On the way, Ruan Yu mused to Xu Huaisong, "Actually, I think Auntie hasn't completely stopped caring about Uncle. Focus on your bar exam for now, and when you get the chance later, talk to her about it, okay?"
Xu Huaisong remained silent.Ruan Yu glanced at him, about to question why he was ignoring her, when he smiled and said, "Got it." Then he reached over to hold her hand.
She pushed him away. "Focus on driving."
With a girlfriend stricter than any traffic cop, Xu Huaisong had no choice but to return his hand to the steering wheel and concentrate on the drive to Hangzhou.
But even stricter measures awaited him.
Once back in Hangzhou, emergency exam prep mode was activated. Ruan Yu treated him like a son, watching him solve practice problems every day with a "Mom believes in you" look in her eyes. She stewed all sorts of nourishing dishes to boost his brainpower, only to overdo it and leave him overheated. Then she restricted his "indulgences," strictly forbidding excessive exertion.
On the day of the bar exam, she even wore a wine-red dress for good luck and personally accompanied him to the test center.
Xu Huaisong was impressed, but he also sensed the reason behind her recent theatrics.
Her film work was on hold. Though she seemed unfazed on the surface, she must have felt somewhat adrift inside, which was why she was micromanaging him so intensely—to avoid dwelling on those scrapped scripts.
Once, during a study break, he noticed her drafting an outline for a new book, but it wasn’t going well. After scribbling and erasing, she eventually crumpled the paper and tossed it away.
He thought this feeling was probably like being interrupted mid-yawn—trying to stretch again but losing the momentum.
After six grueling hours of exams, Xu Huaisong emerged from the test center in the evening and spotted Ruan Yu waiting in the distance. Just as he was about to walk over, two young women jogged up to him. "Hey, classmate!"
They looked quite young, likely fellow examinees.
Xu Huaisong paused but said nothing, giving them a questioning look.
One of them took a deep breath, lowered her head, and handed him a pen. "Hi, I was sitting next to you today. You left your pen in the exam room..."
Xu Huaisong glanced down. An unfamiliar fountain pen.
"This isn’t mine."
"Oh..." The girl looked up, embarrassed, and shot a pleading glance at her friend.
Xu Huaisong nodded slightly and stepped past them.
But the other girl mustered her courage and chased after him. "Classmate, she... she actually wanted to ask for your WeChat!"
Xu Huaisong stopped and replied flatly, "Sorry, I don’t have one."
Both girls froze, their expressions falling—until a woman in a wine-red dress approached and intercepted him.
She glanced at them, then smiled at him. "Classmate, no WeChat? How about a license plate number?"
Then, they watched as the man who had coldly rejected them just seconds ago lowered his head with a faint smirk and said, "I do. Getting in?"
As the pair walked away arm in arm, the two girls clutched each other in the crisp autumn breeze, utterly bewildered. "So now you don’t ask for WeChat when hitting on someone, you ask for their license plate?"
"Yeah, remember that. Next time you meet a guy like this, don’t miss your chance!"
Ruan Yu huffed as she got into the car with Xu Huaisong. "I leave you alone for a few hours, and you’re already attracting admirers!"
"I—" He laughed helplessly, about to placate her, when his freshly powered-on phone buzzed with multiple message alerts.
During his exam, Xu Huaishi had called him several times.
Ruan Yu glanced at the screen. "Call her back. She wouldn’t blow up your phone like this unless it was important."He gave a quiet "Mm" and called Xu Huaishi back. As soon as the call connected, he heard her deliberately lowered voice: "Bro, Mom and I saw the news."
Xu Huaisong frowned slightly. He was about to ask what news when the words caught in his throat—as if he suddenly understood.
Beside him, Ruan Yu quickly opened Weibo to search.
A trending news headline popped up: Suzhou Court Decides to Retry Jiang Yi's Case. Below it was an attached video showing Jiang Yi sitting outside the police station, wailing uncontrollably, with Xu Huaisong stepping forward to comfort him.
It was likely filmed by a passerby and leaked to reporters.
The comments section was flooded with sighs and sympathy.
Though both their faces were blurred, making them unrecognizable to others, Xu Huaishi and Tao Rong would have recognized Xu Huaisong at a glance.
On the other end, Xu Huaishi continued, "Mom hasn’t said a word all afternoon—just cleaning nonstop. When I talk to her, she’s completely distracted."
He sighed. "I’ll come home when I have time. Stay with her these next few days, okay?"
"Got it." Xu Huaishi paused, then added tearfully just before hanging up, "Bro..."
"No need for apologies," Xu Huaisong cut her off. "No one is truly at fault here—except the criminals and their accomplices."
After hanging up, Xu Huaisong sat silently in the car for a long while.
Ruan Yu didn’t press him about the "peach blossom" incident. Instead, she patted the back of his hand and said, "What’s done is done. No one can change the past, but that doesn’t mean the story ends here. Jiang Yi has to keep living, and we have to keep fighting."
Xu Huaisong turned to look at her as she smiled and continued, "Jiang Yi’s case has been resolved, but Zhou Jun’s hasn’t. If everyone only believes what they see, we’ll never know who the next Jiang Yi might be—or where another Wei Jin might be gloating, watching everything unfold. So you have to fight on, just like your dad did for his clients."
Xu Huaisong murmured an "Mm," then asked, "Then... are you afraid?" The way his mother had been back then.
Ruan Yu shook her head, meeting his gaze firmly. "I’m not afraid of rumors. I’ll stay by your side."
Xu Huaisong smiled faintly when his phone rang again.
This time, it was Zhang Jie calling.
He answered to hear Zhang Ling’s excited voice: "Attorney Xu, the court just notified us—two friends of the victim in Zhou Jun’s case are willing to testify in court!"
He furrowed his brows. "How so?"
"Have you seen the news? Suzhou is buzzing over the retrial of a decade-old case. The victim’s family must have been moved by it and changed their minds. I’ll go to the court tomorrow for details."
Xu Huaisong closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. "Alright, thank you."
After hanging up, silence filled the car once more.
A moment later, Ruan Yu suddenly chuckled softly, as if struck by a thought. "Huaisong, do you believe in karma?"
"Hm?" He turned to her.
"I’ve always felt that karma exists in this world. Look—while investigating Zhou Jun’s case, you uncovered clues about Jiang Yi’s. And now, Zhou Jun’s case has taken a turn because the truth about Jiang Yi’s came to light. No matter how tangled the path, the seeds people sow in one place will always bear fruit somewhere else."Xu Huaisong smiled slightly. "Then would you like to hear about your karma?"
She froze for a moment. "What?"
"The Cen Group contacted me a couple of days ago."
"Hmm?"
He gently touched her face with a smile. "After Wei Jin was arrested, your film encountered funding issues. When Mr. Cen learned about this, he decided to acquire partial shares in Huanshi and invest in your film as compensation for the plagiarism incident you were previously involved in."
Ruan Yu was so shocked her mouth hung open for a long moment. "Really?"
Xu Huaisong nodded. "I was planning to tell you tomorrow after finalizing the details with Huanshi."
"But," she frowned, "this compensation is too generous. I don't deserve it..."
He lightly tapped her forehead. "His investment in the film is also for profit, and he'll earn much more than you."
Ruan Yu made an "oh" sound, realizing he was right, then suddenly thought of something. "With this connection, do I have more say in this film now?"
"If you want, I can negotiate a supplementary contract to help you gain more control."
She nodded. "There's nothing else, just... I'd like to share this karma with someone."
"Hmm?"
"This series of coincidences was largely thanks to Sun Miaohan. If I can have a say in casting, I'd like to ask if she'd be willing to come back for another audition. Let's make a clean, honest film together."
Author's Note: Leave Note: Folks, Director Gu, who's been updating daily for 60 days straight, is taking a day off tomorrow for a team outing. No update tomorrow—see you all this weekend!
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