(For Chapter 1-163, go to (https://chrysanthemumgarden.com/novel-tl/awbtv/))
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"A female student?"
At the red-wood dining table, Yu Jingzhi's fingers paused mid-motion as he peeled a boiled egg. He lifted his eyelids and glanced at Chu Yunsheng, who sat opposite him sipping his porridge.
The dim light flowed through the quiet furniture like water, soft and muted, stretching Chu Yunsheng's shadow into something upright, elegant—like a jade-carved tree.
"That's quite a fresh little peach blossom," Yu Jingzhi curved his lips in a teasing smile.
Chu Yunsheng couldn't be bothered with his jokes and simply reached out to serve him a spoonful of mung bean porridge.
Yu Jingzhi didn't have the slightest sense of crisis that he might be "green-hatted."
(TN: "Wearing a green hat" (戴绿帽子) is a Chinese idiom meaning: Being cheated on by one's romantic partner, Being cuckolded (usually referring to a man))
After finishing his laugh, he brushed away the last bit of eggshell, placed the peeled egg on Chu Yunsheng's plate, and smoothly continued, "But this one… definitely comes with bad intentions. No good visitor, that's for sure."
Yu Jingzhi's expression grew a shade more serious. "A few days ago you told me there were more eyes around watching you. I sent people to investigate. There are bits of influence from all kinds of factions—completely mixed. Hard to identify anything clearly for now."
"It's probably because I've been making too much noise lately. Someone wants to find a crack in the egg to peck at, so they chose you. These people are only targeting me—they don't know anything about your situation. Otherwise they wouldn't have sent a student with such laughably crude 'approach tactics.'"
Chu Yunsheng agreed with this assessment. This was also why, after inviting Jiang Xiuxiu onto the rickshaw, he did not allow the people secretly protecting him to take further action.
Acting rashly would only alert the snake.
After all, even if he was Yu Jingzhi's friend, it wouldn't be to the extent of being guarded at all times with strict protection.
"But if they keep tailing me long enough, it's only a matter of time before they discover something," Chu Yunsheng said.
Yu Jingzhi nodded. "I'll have people clean things up, but we'll keep the movement small—handle it as an ordinary purge of spies. I often visit the hospital anyway. Tidying up the area around it from time to time is perfectly normal."
"Still, even if this makes them cautious, they won't give up on you easily. They'll use all sorts of methods to get close. I'll have Liu Er arrange more people. And the hospital—don't recruit new workers for now. We'll wait. If someone still tries to get close… Then we follow the trail down."
Yu Jingzhi paused mid-sentence. He caught something new flickering in Chu Yunsheng's expression and asked, "Or… do you have other plans?"
Chu Yunsheng didn't object to the arrangements Yu Jingzhi had laid out—but he did indeed have other plans of his own.
He lifted his gaze and said, "The situation in Haicheng is about to change. We can't guard against thieves for a thousand days. As for this matter… I do have some ideas."
To be honest, until tonight, Yu Jingzhi had always viewed Chu Yunsheng as a refined gentleman from ancient times. Even in bed, he felt this person maintained a measure of that gentlemanly restraint—ascetic, dignified, alluring in a way that both tempted and tormented.
But now, sitting at this dining table and hearing Chu Yunsheng's words—seeing his intentions and strategies laid bare—Yu Jingzhi found he could no longer associate him with any image of an orthodox, virtuous gentleman.
When it came to scheming, Chu Yunsheng was no simple lamp that burned clean.
With that thought, Yu Jingzhi suddenly set down his chopsticks.
Chu Yunsheng had finished speaking, and silence settled over the dining table again.
Yu Jingzhi's dark, beautiful eyes rested quietly on Chu Yunsheng, carrying an unreadable depth.
It looked as if he had been weighing something for a while before he finally spoke, voice low: "I remember you once asked Bai Chu if there was anything unusual about Li Lingbi—anything different from before."
"I kept that in mind too."
"I've never believed in gods or ghosts. I only thought Li Lingbi might have been recruited as a spy for some faction and slipped up. Later, I investigated a bit more, but found nothing. So last night, I had Lu Yun find two wastrel playboys to get him drunk."
His words trailed off for a long moment, then resumed softly.
"Tell me… do you think time travel or borrowing another's body could really exist in this world?" Yu Jingzhi looked deeply at Chu Yunsheng and let out a faint smile. "Because in my eyes, that Li Lingbi… has changed far less than Young Master Chu."
Chu Yunsheng lifted his gaze.
Across the long, narrow red-wood dining table, the two of them met each other's gaze—both eyes steady and deep.
Ever since Chu Yunsheng decided to reveal certain things, he had known Yu Jingzhi would eventually guess something. Especially with Li Lingbi running around Haicheng without even trying to hide—given Yu Jingzhi's abilities, discovering the truth was hardly surprising.
And if Yu Jingzhi asked, Chu Yunsheng would answer. If Yu Jingzhi did not ask, then he likewise would not say more than necessary.
Seeing Chu Yunsheng's expression, Yu Jingzhi's brows shifted slightly. Then, all of a sudden, he leaned back against the high chair—and for the first time in his life, he laughed openly, wholeheartedly, without reservation.
Chu Yunsheng froze, momentarily unable to understand.
Yu Jingzhi's reaction was entirely outside his expectations.
But soon, watching the way Yu Jingzhi's eyes brightened—sweeping away the earlier gloom—he suddenly understood the meaning behind that unrestrained laughter.
If time travel truly existed, If borrowing another's body truly existed— Then the behavior and attitude he and Li Lingbi had shown since arriving in this era… Wasn't it proving that the future of Huaguo must indeed be prosperous, advanced, and peaceful?
A great nation—long plagued by deep-rooted illnesses—would one day be healed.
How could that not be cause for joy? A world so new, a life so full of light—how could it not be worth celebrating?
As long as the future was worth it, then everything in the present had meaning.
Chu Yunsheng silently watched Yu Jingzhi laugh. Only when he finally finished did Chu Yunsheng raise his hand and hand him the handkerchief he was holding.
That night, in Chu Yunsheng's residence—aside from the two of them—everyone else was completely unnerved by Yu Jingzhi's inexplicable laughter, looking as though they suspected he'd been possessed.
The only one who knew the truth, Lu Yun, was instead terrified into deep contemplation.
Chu Yunsheng and Yu Jingzhi silently swallowed this secret between them. Aside from that one unrestrained laugh, Yu Jingzhi never again raised the topic, nor did he ask about anything related.
Since he didn't bring it up, Chu Yunsheng naturally didn't ask either.
The next morning, after breakfast, the two left as usual—one through the main door, the other through the hidden one—each heading off to their respective duties.
The eastern sun rose as it always did, yet somehow it felt different from any day before.
…
In the days that followed, everything unfolded exactly as the two had predicted.
Yu Jingzhi's discreet cleanup of the surrounding informants did reduce the number of openly staring eyes. But Chu Yunsheng continued to face a variety of increasingly creative approaches. It seemed that ever since Jiang Xiuxiu, the floodgates had been opened—and no one could stop the tide.
Even the head nurse at Renhe Hospital teased him with a smile, saying that perhaps Dr. Chu's peach blossom luck had finally arrived—his charm with women was simply unstoppable.
Money, power, beauty—there were indeed many things in this world that could tempt a person. And among them all, physical attraction was the most cost-effective and most efficient.
Especially since Chu Yunsheng's file painted him as a false gentleman—someone who had frequented dance halls before going abroad, yet was still a "pure" young man.
So using beauty to lure him in seemed, to many, like the perfect strategy.
Some people had seen the failure of the first to rush in—Jiang Xiuxiu—but no one took it seriously. They merely assumed her looks weren't enough, her method too clumsy, her intentions too obvious. Or perhaps this Dr. Chu simply didn't like that type of woman.
However, the confidence of these hidden factions lasted only a single short week.
"I finally understand why that surnamed Chu used to visit dance halls before studying overseas yet is still a virgin to this day… He simply doesn't understand what women are saying!"
Near dusk, in a dim alley beside Renhe Hospital, three men—each dressed so differently they looked like they came from separate worlds—gathered behind a wooden door.
They had been lurking in this area for quite a few days. One sold sugar paintings while wandering the streets, another carried trays in the Western restaurant across from the hospital, and the last peddled newspapers among the passersby. Aside from monitoring Chu Yunsheng, they had one more task recently: helping the spies sent from above successfully get close to him.
What they thought would be the simplest job in the world turned out to be harder than reaching the heavens.
The only consolation was that theirs was far from the only group to return in defeat.
"I'm convinced there's something wrong with his head," said the one who worked at the Western restaurant. "Yesterday at lunchtime, he came in to eat. No seats left. A foreign woman—very beautiful—offered to share her table. He just picked up his plate and walked back to the hospital to eat there!"
The newspaper seller burst out laughing. "It's not just his brain—at this point I think he has some… condition. A few days ago, that Miss Susan from the Paramount Dance Hall got bitten by a dog and stayed here two days. When she was discharged, she invited him to dinner. Guess what that man surnamed Chu said?"
The sugar-painting seller leaned forward, curious. "What did he say?"
The waiter, based on what he'd observed, ventured a guess. "He said he already ate?"
The newspaper seller laughed even louder, lowered his voice, and mimicked, "Miss, I'm dieting."
"Pfft!"
"Hahahahahahaha—!"
A wave of barely suppressed laughter burst out behind the door.
If they weren't worried the noise might leak outside and be overheard, the three of them would probably have been pounding on the door, laughing themselves silly.
But after laughing, they all fell into synchronized misery. "None of those people could succeed. How are we supposed to manage? That surnamed Chu… could it be he doesn't even like women? Even the most useless man should show some reaction when faced with beauty…"
"Let's wait and see."
The restaurant waiter pondered aloud. "The higher-ups only sent us to keep watch and make contact. They never told us to stir up a big commotion. If anything truly big happens, that Mr. Yu definitely won't handle things as casually as before."
The sugar-painting seller nodded. "I get the feeling the higher-ups don't value this move that much. They sent a decent number of people, sure, but none of their prized operatives."
"Maybe they did send them already—we just don't know," the newspaper seller objected. "I think this Dr. Chu is actually a pretty important weak point next to that Mr. Yu. Haven't you seen how many sets of eyes are watching this area? It's not just one or two groups. Even Mr. Yu's own entourage doesn't have this many hidden posts."
The three had their own thoughts, and didn't discuss further. Regardless of what their superiors were thinking, they had no choice but to obey orders.
After exchanging a bit more information about the day, they didn't linger in the courtyard and slipped away one by one.
Meanwhile, inside Renhe Hospital, Chu Yunsheng had changed out of his white coat into a pale-blue long robe and picked up his case, ready to head home. But at the hospital entrance, he unexpectedly caught sight of someone he hadn't seen for quite some time—
Mother Chu.
Chu Yunsheng stepped down the stairs just as a rickshaw stopped, and from it emerged Mother Chu along with a young girl dressed in a blue-checked qipao.
Compared to the last time they met, Mother Chu's complexion looked noticeably better. The moment she spotted Chu Yunsheng, her face lit up, and she immediately pulled the girl along as she headed toward him.
"Yunsheng!"
With several days of experience living in something akin to a spider's web of schemes, Chu Yunsheng only needed one glance at Mother Chu and the forcefulness of her approach to know exactly what this was about.
But his expression remained perfectly calm. He reached out to steady her and greeted lightly, "Mother, what brings you here?"
"Why can't I come? A son who doesn't bother visiting his parents—so when his mother misses him and comes to see him, is that not allowed?" Mother Chu shot him a sideways glare, half-scolding.
The Chu family had already learned that Chu Yunsheng had bought his own place and was living alone. Mother Chu had taken it quite poorly at first, and it was Father Chu who sighed and persuaded her—saying their son was grown and should live independently. He managed to stop her from making a scene, but the frustration had been simmering in her heart. Now that she saw him, it all came spilling out.
Chu Yunsheng was still somewhat unused to this kind of affection from his mother. And since he indeed had not visited the Chu household once, he lowered his gaze slightly and allowed Mother Chu to grumble.
But she hadn't forgotten that there were outsiders present, and she couldn't embarrass her son in public. So after only a couple of complaints, she dropped the matter and began asking whether he was adjusting to living alone and various other concerned questions.
Only after all that did she finally get to the main point.
She gently pulled forward the girl who had been standing quietly by her side and introduced her with a smile: "Yunsheng, this is Miss Sheng—nineteen this year, the youngest daughter of your Uncle Sheng."
"Sigh… Your Uncle Sheng was serving as an official in Jinzhou. He offended someone, the family fell into ruin, and while fleeing to Haicheng with his household, he caught an illness on the road and passed away just like that. Your father only had your Uncle Sheng left as a friend from his youth when he was still studying, so he couldn't bear to watch their widowed family and orphans have nowhere to settle…"
"Although that Mrs. Sheng, with her two daughters and no one to rely on, is in a difficult position, she's very independent by nature and unwilling to live under someone else's roof. But your father just couldn't get past it in his heart and wanted to help them. It happened that the young Miss was looking for a job, and I remembered that the last time I came, your hospital was still hiring. So I brought her over to take a look."
Mother Chu never spoke in circles—she was always straightforward and clear. But sometimes, when her words fell on someone with a more sensitive disposition, they might feel a bit uncomfortable.
However, Chu Yunsheng did not see any such sensitivity or displeasure in this girl named Sheng €€.
(TN: The "€€" in Sheng €€ is just the placeholder used when hiding a name)
She simply stood quietly at the side, listening, her expression calm. Only when Father Chu was mentioned did a faint, well-timed hint of gratitude appear in her eyes, but she quickly reined it in again, as if she wasn't good at showing emotions.
"Aunt Lu, I just saw a notice on the door over there. It says they're no longer hiring nurses," Sheng €€ said.
Mother Chu was stunned, clearly caught off guard. "They stopped hiring?"
Chu Yunsheng said, "They stopped last week."
"Then this…"
Mother Chu looked awkward.
She glanced at Sheng €€, just as she was about to say something to Chu Yunsheng, when Sheng €€ smiled and said, "Aunt Lu, I know you and Uncle Chu have already put in a lot of effort for my family. I've kept all of it in mind. As for the hospital, you weren't expecting this—don't worry about it. It just so happens that I have a former classmate here in Haicheng who invited me to interview at a secondary school as a teacher. I was thinking that if I couldn't become a nurse, I'd try that tomorrow. I didn't tell you beforehand—please don't be upset."
Her words were perfectly measured, warm and sensible, and hearing them made Mother Chu's heart both sigh and soften—giving rise, once again, to a few thoughts of her own.
So, as she subtly shot Chu Yunsheng a look, Mother Chu said, "Becoming a middle-school teacher is even better. Why would I blame you for anything? All I want is for you and your mother to have a better life."
"Oh right, little €€. Since you're interviewing at the school tomorrow, you should wear something new. Yunsheng, you're always going out shopping—take little €€ to buy some fashionable clothes, and maybe get her hair curled too. Help her dress up nicely. Your mother doesn't understand what you young people like anymore."
Chu Yunsheng lifted his eyes and was about to speak, but Sheng €€ refused ahead of him.
"Aunt Lu, Brother Chu is already very busy—I shouldn't trouble him further. Let's forget about this…"
But Mother Chu said, "You've just arrived in Haicheng and aren't familiar with the place. You should at least look around. See how Yunsheng has already changed clothes? He's done with work and has nothing else to do."
After Mother Chu's persistent urging, Sheng €€ wore a politely embarrassed expression.
Watching Sheng €€'s reactions, Chu Yunsheng secretly made a hand signal toward a corner inside the hospital gate.
After that, he didn't refuse anymore. He simply acted like a son who wasn't very willing but had no choice but to obey his mother's words. He walked with Sheng €€ onto the street, heading toward the department store.
As they walked and had just gone out of Mother Chu's line of sight, Sheng €€ lowered her voice in embarrassment and said to Chu Yunsheng, "Brother Chu, I'm really sorry. I know Aunt Lu may have… may have the intention of matching us, but I'm not considering relationships right now. Brother Chu, you're truly a good person, and I don't want you to misunderstand."
"If you're busy, we can part ways at the next intersection. I also… I also have things I need to do."
The moment she said this, the slight crease in Chu Yunsheng's brow immediately relaxed.
Of course, it wasn't that he casually believed her words. It was because he had finally come to a conclusion: this spy sent here was indeed a spy——
A spy with an extremely credible fabricated identity and background, carefully cultivated rapport with Father and Mother Chu, not at all eager but instead taking the opposite approach in getting close, and possessing nearly flawless acting skills.
Those factions did not take Chu Yunsheng for a fool, thinking he would fall for a bit of casual seduction.
The earlier approaches were meant to test him: if he really took the bait, it would prove he was either a gullible man with no vigilance, or that he already harbored selfish intentions toward Yu Jingzhi and was simply going along with the tide.
In such a case, Yu Jingzhi clearly would not truly regard him as a friend. Even if they managed to pry him away, he would be of limited use.
But now, Chu Yunsheng's previous reactions, as viewed by various factions, resulted not only in ridicule from the lower ranks—more importantly, many began to see value in him.
Adding to that, Yu Jingzhi's responses to everything happening around Chu Yunsheng—his discreet observation, his investigations into those women—all of these pointed to one fact: Chu Yunsheng had sought his help, and Yu Jingzhi still valued this friend.
So, the real operation finally began.
After multiple days of being approached by various women with ulterior motives, they concluded that Chu Yunsheng's guard was now at its highest. He would naturally be suspicious of any woman who tried to get close to him.
And so, at this moment, a girl like Sheng €€ appeared—keeping her distance from the start, making it clear she did not wish to be entangled with him.
With his vigilance sharpened, aside from suspecting this was a different kind of approach, this Doctor Chu would inevitably pay more attention to this unusual girl. And once he began to pay attention to Sheng €€, he would already be stepping into their trap.
"I'll go with you. I have nothing I need to do," Chu Yunsheng said.
"…Alright then. I'll trouble you for the guidance, Brother Chu. I really am not familiar with Haicheng yet," Sheng €€ replied, wearing a perfectly measured expression of helplessness.
Though her face remained cool and courteous in her performance, Sheng €€'s heart was filled with cold contempt.
What she thought would be a difficult target… now looked like nothing special after all.
Chu Yunsheng, who no longer bothered to observe her expression, felt a bit puzzled.
He had expected that since he showed complete indifference to women, the next attempt would be through men—in fact, he and Yu Jingzhi had even devised an excellent countermeasure for that. But unexpectedly, the spy's gender hadn't changed at all.
Could it be… did he really look that much like a straight man?