And just like that, the month-long reality show came to an end. The audience was extremely reluctant to say goodbye.
When the program officially concluded, the production team selected a set of photos taken throughout the season and posted a nine-photo collage on Weibo. The center image was the photo of Jiang Shu carrying Shen Fu in his arms on the snowy mountain peak. The colors had been adjusted slightly, giving the image a cinematic quality that matched the pristine white landscape.
The two of them looked unbelievably beautiful in the photograph. Even random passersby who knew nothing about the show couldn’t resist opening the original image for a closer look.
The top comments read:
#1: “Some people gained love, while others gained emotional damage.” (dog-head emoji)
#2: “I love Shen Fu so much, sob sob. I guess I’ll love my son-in-law too while I’m at it.”
#3: “LOL. Why call it Limited-Time Heartbeat when it should’ve been called The Great Simp Battle? Sorry, fans, don’t hit me. Just joking.”
…
After filming ended, the guests did not return to the villa. Instead, they either went home themselves or were picked up directly by their agencies.
After leaving the airport, Jiang Shu had someone from his company drive his car over. He loaded both of their suitcases into the trunk, then personally got behind the wheel and drove Shen Fu home.
As the car left the airport, Shen Fu suddenly remembered something. “What about the employee who drove your car over here?”
Wearing sunglasses, Jiang Shu froze for a moment. “…Tell him to take a taxi back.”
The subordinate who had driven all the way over only to be abandoned on the spot: “…”
My terrible boss.
“You haven’t slept well these past few days either. I’ll take you home. Go take a shower and get some proper rest.” Jiang Shu handed her a pillow. “Or you can sleep for a bit in the car first.”
Shen Fu acknowledged him and accepted the pillow. Just as she was about to close her eyes, she suddenly felt something was off. “You’re taking me home?”
“Yeah.” Jiang Shu looked straight ahead and turned the steering wheel.
Shen Fu: “…You’re taking me home without even asking where I live? And you’re not using navigation?”
He looked completely familiar with the route.
Jiang Shu nearly choked. “…”
Back at the villa, when he’d ridden a bicycle that night, Shen Fu had already suspected that Jiang Shu had looked up her address.
Now, however, the evidence was conclusive.
Jiang Shu’s ears turned slightly red as he tried to change the subject. “Do you want an eye mask?”
“Sure.” Shen Fu smiled, tactfully giving him a way out as well.
Since Jiang Shu was driving and couldn’t reach for it, he said, “Check the back seat. There should be a box with some steam eye masks inside.”
After a pause, he added casually, “They came free with something I bought.”
Shen Fu reached back and quickly found them. After opening the box, she realized it was the exact brand she usually used. “This brand doesn’t do promotional bundles with other products. What did you buy that came with these?”
Jiang Shu: “…”
Embarrassed and irritated, he finally gave up trying to hide it. “Fine! I bought them for you, okay? I’ve been secretly in love with you for ages. Before going on the show, I was already planning to kidnap you home. Happy now?”
Shen Fu laughed so hard that all traces of sleepiness vanished. “Sure. When’s the kidnapping happening? I’d like to invest in it.”
Leaning back, she put on the eye mask.
Jiang Shu: “…”
His ears turned red again.
…
Although they had originally planned to go straight home, when they reached the Third Ring Road, Liang Xiaochun called and asked Shen Fu to come sign two endorsement contracts.
So Shen Fu asked Jiang Shu to drop her off at the company first.
Watching him skillfully drive into the underground parking garage, she noticed that when they passed the security booth, the guard looked completely accustomed to seeing the young master.
Without even greeting him, the guard simply opened the gate and let him through.
“Looks like you’re very familiar with my company too,” Shen Fu remarked.
Jiang Shu: “…”
Yes, he was familiar. Not only familiar, he knew the place inside and out. Was secretly being in love a crime?!
Jiang Shu waited in the parking garage while Shen Fu went upstairs.
Before entering Liang Xiaochun’s office, she passed a senior actress from the company, Su Qiuyue. The woman glanced at her with an unreadable expression.
Feeling that something was odd, Shen Fu pushed open the office door and asked, “What happened?”
Su Qiuyue wasn’t one of Liang Xiaochun’s artists and was usually extremely busy. There was no reason for her to be here.
Liang Xiaochun pointed at a stack of documents. “She brought these over.”
Shen Fu lowered her gaze. The documents contained interviews with several extras, as well as candid behind-the-scenes photos from the day she filmed the DSLR camera advertisement.
Liang Xiaochun explained: “Someone wanted to use her as a weapon. They sent her all this material and hinted that she should spread rumors accusing you of acting like a diva. But she brought everything directly to us instead.”
Then she added with some surprise, “I didn’t realize the two of you were actually on pretty good terms.”
“Not exactly close,” Shen Fu replied.
The entertainment industry was full of competitors. How many truly close friends could there be?
Especially since Su Qiuyue had once been the top actress at Chunqiu Film & Television. Now, however, her resources weren’t as good as Shen Fu’s. Logically speaking, she should have felt somewhat dissatisfied.
But when Shen Fu had first joined the company, she discovered that Su Qiuyue’s father was staying in the same hospital care facility as her own parents. He suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.
At the time, Su Qiuyue’s career had been at its peak. She was constantly flying around for red carpets and events, far busier than Shen Fu, and had little time to visit. Shen Fu, meanwhile, visited once every week.
One day, Su Qiuyue approached her in the dance studio and asked whether, during her visits, she could also check in on her father from time to time. She worried that if the caregivers thought no family ever visited him, they might become negligent.
Before making such a request, Su Qiuyue had clearly done her own investigation into Shen Fu’s character and decided she was trustworthy enough.
Afterward, although Su Qiuyue never brought it up again, Shen Fu continued visiting the nursing facility after seeing her own parents.
It was only a small detour anyway.
Later, as Su Qiuyue gradually lost popularity and had more free time, she was able to visit her father herself.
Not everything in the entertainment industry was schemes and backstabbing.
For female celebrities, success was far harder to achieve than for male celebrities. Most of the time, women still helped one another.
It was just that neither Su Qiuyue nor Shen Fu was the type to wear emotions openly. From the outside, nobody could tell they had any personal connection. Many people inside and outside the company probably assumed they disliked each other.
And so, by sheer bad luck, someone had handed a knife directly to Su Qiuyue, a person who knew Shen Fu.
“This article wouldn’t have much impact even if it got published,” Shen Fu said. “At most it would annoy people. When the advertiser chased away the extras that day, I was still stuck in traffic. How could they possibly link that to me?”
“Better safe than sorry,” Liang Xiaochun replied. “Let’s keep the evidence. If they try anything else later, we’ll have proof.”
Shen Fu nodded. “You can handle it.”
“Oh, right.” Liang Xiaochun remembered something else. “The company plans to give you some shares. Go home and rest for now. In a few days, we’ll have a meeting to discuss it.”
Companies often used stock ownership to retain artists once they reached a certain level of fame.
The last person at Chunqiu Film & Television to receive company shares had been a Film Emperor in his fifties several years ago.
The fact that management was offering Shen Fu shares showed just how high she had risen.
“Okay.” Shen Fu didn’t feel particularly overwhelmed or flattered.
“And one more thing,” Liang Xiaochun said.
“The fan club wants to change your official support color to bright imperial yellow. What do you think?”
Shen Fu knew about that matter. When she had first debuted, her fan club had originally wanted to use bright yellow as her official support color. Unfortunately, it happened to conflict with the support color of a very popular girl group member at the time. Her fan club was small and outnumbered. They were attacked and argued down by the other fandom until they had no choice but to change colors, eventually settling on dark purple.
Now that they wanted to switch back, it was probably because they finally wanted to hold their heads high again.
There really were fans who sincerely loved her.
Shen Fu didn’t want them to feel wronged, but she had never cared much about these things. “I don’t think there’s any need to change it. Purple is pretty nice. A color is just a color, it doesn’t determine anything.”
After Shen Fu left, Liang Xiaochun had an assistant relay her response to the fan club.
Rong Xiaozhen and the others, who had always been bothered by the matter, finally let it go. “Actually, purple looks really good once you’ve gotten used to it.”
“Fufu is genuinely open-minded.”
“Waaah, guys, I have so many mixed emotions. We’ve finally made it.”
Watching Shen Fu’s Weibo posts now receive hundreds of thousands of comments, her fans were genuinely happy for her.
Besides fame, she had also gained both career success and love.
…
Back in the underground parking garage, Jiang Shu was still waiting where she’d left him.
The moment he saw Shen Fu approaching, he coolly spread his arms, raised an eyebrow, and silently hinted that he needed a hug before he could recover.
…Was he having another episode?
Shen Fu opened the car door and got in directly. “We can go home now.”
Jiang Shu: “…”
Why had she acted in so many romance dramas, yet none of that romantic instinct seemed to work on him?
The two-month time limit given by the system had not expired yet.
Tomorrow, Shen Fu planned to visit her parents in the hospital. Although it would probably take another month before they truly showed signs of waking up.
Even so, she was already completely satisfied.
And if being together with Jiang Shu counted as successfully completing the mission, then surely her one billion yuan could be returned to her, right?
The system suddenly appeared. “Yes. Congratulations. You’re rich now.”
Shen Fu: “Have you finished your homework?”
The system replied sadly, “No. And I’m about to move on to my next host. Hopefully the next host won’t be as hopeless as you and take five years to complete the mission.”
Shen Fu: “…”
Then she said: “Keep talking like that and I’ll do things minors aren’t allowed to watch right in front of you.”
The system scoffed. “I don’t believe you. You don’t have the guts.”
The moment it finished speaking, Shen Fu leaned over and kissed Jiang Shu on the cheek while he was getting into the car.
System: “…D*mn it.” The underage system immediately fled.
Jiang Shu: “…”
Who said his wife wasn’t romantic?! His wife was amazing!
Jiang Shu’s handsome face stayed red for quite a while before he finally started the car.
After they merged onto the main road, Jiang Shu glanced at the thick script in her arms. “The variety show just ended. Your company already arranged more work for you?”
“It wasn’t arranged by the company. I already signed a film contract with Gong Kuan. I’m joining the production soon.” She added: “My career is finally taking off. I need follow-up projects to solidify it. You think everyone can casually throw around billions like a rich young capitalist heir?”
As Jiang Shu turned the steering wheel and drove out of the parking garage, bitterness filled his face beneath his sunglasses.
What should a man do when his wife is too career-oriented?
“I’ll go to the hospital with you tomorrow,” Jiang Shu said.
Shen Fu looked at him in surprise. How did he know she was going to the hospital tomorrow?
Jiang Shu thought to himself:
As long as you’re not filming out of town, you go every single week. Did you really think I didn’t know?
But now he could finally help take care of her parents openly, as a member of her family.
Looking at his handsome profile, warmth flowed through Shen Fu’s heart. From now on, she would no longer be alone. Now there was someone she cared about. It felt as though no place in the world would ever seem lonely again.
Although she knew there was no longer any need for formal thanks between them, she still couldn’t help quietly saying: “Jiang Shu, thank you.”
Not only for this. But also for the time years ago when she had collapsed and been taken to the hospital. And for the investment dividends.
Even though she had never asked, Shen Fu knew that over the years Jiang Shu had probably helped her countless times behind the scenes. He simply hadn’t allowed anyone to tell her because he wanted to preserve her pride.
Jiang Shu didn’t say anything. Instead, maintaining a cold and aloof expression, he pointed at his own cheek.
“You’re getting more shameless by the day. I’m thanking you, and you’re actually taking the opportunity to ask for a kiss?” Shen Fu’s gratitude instantly turned into amused exasperation.
Jiang Shu was both embarrassed and indignant. “If you’re thanking someone, at least show some sincerity!”
“Focus on driving.” Shen Fu couldn’t help laughing. “You can have your kiss when we get home.”
“…Oh.” Jiang Shu’s face immediately reddened.
As for which home they were going to…
That was another question entirely.
…
After taking the elevator and arriving outside her apartment, Shen Fu immediately sensed something was wrong. Jiang Shu had followed her all the way home. That alone would have been fine. But why was he standing in front of the apartment next door, awkwardly looking everywhere except at her?
Shen Fu paused while opening her door. “Why are you opening the door next door?”
Jiang Shu pulled out his keys. Opening the door felt wrong. Not opening it felt wrong too. His ears burned red as his long fingers practically scratched the paint off the door. “Wife… you live here too?”
“What a coincidence. When did you start living next to me?” Shen Fu was completely bewildered. “Wait. Don’t go inside yet.”
She grabbed the embarrassed young master’s coat.
Now she finally understood why Jiang Shu knew the distance from her home to every film set so precisely. Because he literally lived next door.
“So all the trash bags I left outside my door that kept mysteriously disappearing… that was you taking them downstairs?”
Jiang Shu became annoyed from embarrassment. “Don’t make it sound like I was stealing your garbage! I was just helping you out while I was at it, so you wouldn’t have to go downstairs late at night to throw it away.”
“And five months ago, when the couple upstairs had that huge fight and kept everyone awake, the property management said someone went up there and punched the husband. Was that you too?”
Jiang Shu felt he had completely lost any concept of dignity by now. “Don’t spread rumors. I just went upstairs and taught that guy a lesson. I don’t go around punching people for no reason.”
“And the scar on your shoulder?” Shen Fu suddenly asked. “Why did Wang Xuanheng say your car accident happened during the month after I left?”
Jiang Shu still felt wronged when the subject came up. He said resentfully, “I was chasing after you just like that GIF, and you never once turned around to look at me.”
Shen Fu replied calmly, “Wait here. I’m going home to get a pillow so I can suffocate you with it.”
If the teenage Jiang Shu hadn’t been so proud and stubbornly unwilling to speak up…
If the teenage her hadn’t been so timid, always hiding from problems like an ostrich…
Would they have already been together for many years by now?
Jiang Shu: “…”
“Wife, I love you.” Sensing that Shen Fu’s mood was off, Jiang Shu pulled her into his arms. His chin rested on top of her head as his tall frame enveloped her completely. In a muffled voice, he said: “Don’t suffocate me. I just got you. I don’t want to die.”
Shen Fu: “…” Her sadness instantly vanished.
She pushed him lightly.
“Stop hugging at the front door. Let’s go inside first.”
“Good point.” Holding Shen Fu’s hand, Jiang Shu led her inside.
Shen Fu’s gaze fell on his hand tightly clasping hers. As the door opened, sunlight seemed to fall across their joined hands. She couldn’t help curling her fingers and intertwining them with his.
But even if she had known his feelings back then, she probably would have made the same choice anyway, given that she had been bound to the system.
From then until now, everything had unfolded in the best possible way.
So there was no need for regret. No need to keep looking back. No need to feel wistful.
Because they still had a long life ahead of them.
They had met early and they had not fallen in love too late.
From inside the doorway came voices.
“Jiang Shu, why did you suddenly stop?”
“Wife, what did you say in the car?”
“What do you mean, what did I say?”
“You said I was driving and that we’d kiss when we got home.”
“Your memory…”
“What? Planning to go back on your word?”
“…You’re so annoying. Come here.”
…
When he was sixteen, beneath dim lighting, Jiang Shu stood beside the spiral staircase and looked upstairs.
The tall teenager’s thoughts grew wildly like weeds. He understood nothing. He only knew that he desperately wanted to date her. If those chaotic heartbeats and flushed, embarrassed anger could be called liking someone.
Even now, his wish had never changed.
He wanted to grow old with Shen Fu.
As long as Shen Fu was willing.
Jiang Shu thought carefully about it. Then he let out a cold laugh and revised that inner monologue:
Shen Fu, whether you’re willing or not, you’re going to be willing.
End of Main Story
Author’s Note
The main story ends here.
All the plot points from the synopsis have been written. If I keep writing, there won’t be any remaining hooks, and the story will become less interesting. So it’s better to stop where it should stop.
The extras will be the youth arc I mentioned before. After finishing the youth arc, the final extra chapter will be the wedding.
That’s all. See you in the extras. Love you all.
