He immediately decided it would be safer to stay out of the situation. So instead of panicking outwardly, he clapped and praised Beichuan. Acting calm and composed, he told him there was no need to be so angry, and reassured him that Churong wouldn't marry him — as if that should make things easier.
The people around them began whispering again. Even though the wedding had been disrupted, they were impressed by how calm Linghu remained. He carried himself like a true noble young master.
Now Beichuan suspected that this had all been part of Linghu's plan to make him look foolish.
Meanwhile Linghu was completely confused inside. Normally the crowd would support the main protagonist, but this time they seemed to be on his side instead. The situation felt completely wrong, and he began imagining the worst possible outcome. In his mind he even urged Beichuan to just take Churong and leave already, since that would solve everything. He looked at him, wondering why he was not acting.
Churong, on the other hand, found the whole thing amusing. On the outside Linghu looked calm, and inside he was completely panicking. Watching him struggle like this was entertaining.
Beichuan then declared that he did not care about anything else, as long as Churong was safe. Walking up to her, he delivered his usual lines. As long as he was present, no one would force her into anything. No matter how many people stood in his way, he was not afraid.
Churong looked at him, and for a moment it felt as though things were going the usual way. Linghu even thought that this was the perfect moment for Beichuan to take her away.
But everything took a strange turn. Instead of reacting emotionally, Churong showed irritation.
"This guy is really getting on my nerves."
What?
Linghu was completely confused. This wasn't part of the script. She was supposed to be emotional and allow herself to be taken away. Perhaps she hadn't read her lines properly.
Beichuan stepped forward and grabbed her arm, offering to help her escape safely. She immediately slapped his hand away and called him out for being overly dramatic. Then she turned toward Linghu as if she wanted to say something, and paused.
Beichuan became tense, unable to understand her reaction.
Then Churong said that she had figured everything out. She had realised that this world felt like a story designed for men, in which she was meant to end up with Beichuan as one of the heroines.
She had just broken the fourth wall. She was aware of her own existence. It was the first time Linghu had ever seen a female lead understand the matrix.
Churong stood there confidently, staring directly at Beichuan with her whole bearing, as if waiting for him to say something.
Fed up, Beichuan called out to her and asked whether this meant she was afraid Linghu might bother her in the future.
Hearing that, Linghu became nervous, wondering why the two of them were standing so close together. Beichuan stepped closer and warned him not to even think about touching her, and Linghu insisted that Beichuan was misunderstanding the situation.
Churong, however, told Beichuan to step aside, because she wanted to speak to Linghu. He ignored her and continued to block her, acting as though he were the one in control.
At that point Churong lost her patience and firmly told him to stop making decisions for her. She stated clearly that she was not going with him.
Beichuan turned to her. He was convinced that she did not truly mean what she was saying, and that she was only confused. Poor Churong was speechless. He continued, saying that her silence proved everything, and that she did not need to worry, because he feared no retaliation. He swore he would not let someone as gentle as her fall into the Linghu family's trap.
Then he suddenly turned toward Linghu with anger in his eyes.
At the same moment, Linghu remembered this exact scene from the story. This was the point where Beichuan looked at him with killing intent — and that was usually how he died. In his mind he started blaming Churong, certain that she was putting on an act just to get him killed.
Meanwhile Churong stood there confused, wondering what she had even done wrong, questioning whether she really looked as though she were acting.
At that moment her father stepped in and told Beichuan that enough was enough. He insulted him, saying he was like someone reaching far above his station. He also made it clear that Linghu was already part of the family.
Linghu was thinking the opposite. To him, father and daughter both felt as if they were setting him up, pushing him toward danger.
Beichuan refused to accept it. Churong should not be forced to marry someone like Linghu, he insisted, because in this life only he would marry her.
Churong was momentarily stunned, and told him that he shouldn't go that far. Inwardly she was completely frustrated. No matter what she said, Beichuan twisted her words into something else. The situation was becoming exhausting.
Beichuan smiled confidently and said she was only being shy, and promised that he would come back for her.
Linghu watched him, hoping he would just take her away, so that there would be no reason for him to return later and cause trouble.
Beichuan then turned back and warned Linghu that his attitude would not last long. The next time they met, he would expose him and humiliate him in front of everyone.
Linghu did not care about any of that. He called out to him indirectly, suggesting that he should just take Churong and go. Beichuan found his behaviour strange, but still said he would return.
Linghu did not like this at all. He wished Beichuan would take the foolish girl and leave, never to return.
Of course, Churong heard his thoughts whenever she was being roasted. Fed up, she finally snapped, shouting that they were both adults and demanding to know when this nonsense would end.
Then, without warning, she grabbed Linghu and kissed him.
Everyone was shocked, especially the main protagonist.
She declared that this was proof of her decision. She would marry Linghu, she said, and she liked him, and Beichuan should leave.
Even after that, Beichuan still believed she was being forced. He began thinking about how to save her, and even considered destroying the Linghu family if necessary.
Linghu, on the other hand, was completely lost and could not understand anything that had just happened.
At that moment the system appeared and congratulated him. He had completed the first mission by changing Churong's mindset. Because of that, she would now help him survive for the next five chapters. As a reward, he received a six-hundred-metre villa.
He was not impressed at all. With his current wealth, a villa meant nothing to him.