Chapter 88: With the Girl He Loves, Once More…

Lin Chuge held Lin Yuqing’s arm as she stepped onto the red carpet. Through the thin veil, she saw Pei Zhou at the other end, dressed in a suit, standing tall and straight, gazing at her. She walked toward him step by step. Such a short carpet, yet it had taken them eight years to walk it.

Amid thunderous applause from the guests, Lin Yuqing placed his daughter’s hand into Pei Zhou’s.

Some words, no matter how many times they had been spoken before, still had to be spoken again today.

“Pei Zhou.”

Lin Yuqing’s tone was solemn and earnest. “I’m entrusting my Chuchu to you.”

Pei Zhou grasped Lin Chuge’s hand and quickly replied, “I will take good care of her.”

He wanted to say more, but somehow his throat caught. So he repeated again, “I will definitely take good care of her.”

Lin Yuqing gave a small nod.

After that, he looked at Lin Chuge. The thought that his daughter was truly getting married filled him with reluctance.

The child he and his wife had cherished in the palms of their hands, treasured and protected all these years, had unknowingly grown into a young woman. Though she would always be their beloved daughter, she was leaving their shelter, spreading her wings to fly.

She was the daughter they had loved for more than twenty years.

Lin Yuqing’s eyes grew moist, but he restrained his emotions and said, “Chuchu, live well.”

Live well.

It had to be the kind of life where she truly felt happiness and joy.

“Dad, I will. We will.” She squeezed her father’s hand.

Lin Chuge smiled at Lin Yuqing and said every word with clarity, “I will make sure to live well.”

“Good, good.”

Lin Yuqing smiled back and nodded. “That’s good.”

After a brief pause, with the flower children surrounding them, Pei Zhou continued to lead Lin Chuge to the center of the hall. When they stood in place, the lights of the hall dimmed, and the large screen at the front lit up.

It was a short video Pei Zhou had prepared for Lin Chuge in advance.

The video showed moments from their high school days, to university, to graduate school—snippets of their time together.

The high school clips were from years ago, the image quality blurry, yet the youthful faces were still visible. One scene showed Pei Zhou, after transferring from Class Six to Class Three, representing Class Three in the grade’s basketball competition, while Lin Chuge led classmates in cheering for him.

The cheer slogan, once scorned by Pei Zhou but invented by Lin Chuge, resounded in the wedding hall.

The youthful voices shouted with enthusiasm, the slightly cringeworthy words drawing laughter all around.

Pei Zhou and Lin Chuge looked at each other through the laughter and smiled.

The hands they had already clasped tightened further.

Every frame of the video was a memory of theirs. When the footage froze on the day Pei Zhou’s university basketball team won the college league championship—and the moment he proposed to Lin Chuge—the screen briefly went dark, then lit up again.

This time, it showed many familiar faces.

They spoke their blessings to the camera: high school classmates, university classmates, high school teachers, university professors.

Lin Chuge saw Director Li, Teacher Xue, her graduate advisor…

And of course, friends of many years like Xu Luoluo, Shen Xueyao, and Song Bonian.

All the blessings merged into one sentence in the end: “Happy wedding!”

Finally, only Pei Zhou remained on the screen.

He was dressed formally, just like today: white shirt, black suit, his hair meticulously combed. Clearly, he had prepared carefully. Facing the camera, he seemed a little nervous. After a deep breath, he began to speak.

“Chuchu, when you see this video, we should be at our wedding.

By then, you must be wearing a wedding dress, and I’ll probably be holding your hand, standing by your side.

That will be the moment I’ve dreamed of most.

It will also be the happiest moment of my life.

I recorded this in advance because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to say anything then.

Some words may sound clichéd, but I still have to say them—

I do.

I love you.”

That was the true end of the video.

The hall fell silent for a few seconds before erupting into warm applause and cheers.

Pei Zhou turned, holding Lin Chuge’s hand, facing her. Just as he had predicted, his mind was blank.

The host continued the wedding procedure beside them.

“From this day on, whether in poverty or wealth, whether…

…until forever.

Mr. Pei Zhou, do you take her?”

Pei Zhou, eyes fixed on Lin Chuge, didn’t even fully hear the host’s words. He just nodded. “I do.”

The host repeated the words to Lin Chuge.

Finally—

“Miss Lin Chuge, do you take him?”

Lin Chuge, eyes also locked on Pei Zhou, smiled with her lips pressed together, nodded gently. “I do.”

They then exchanged rings.

As the host droned on, Pei Zhou lifted Lin Chuge’s veil to the back.

That face, stunningly beautiful today, was once again clear before him.

Pei Zhou gazed at her and smiled. Lin Chuge looked back at him, lips curving up. In each other’s eyes, no one else existed. They stared for a long moment, and the more Pei Zhou looked at her, the more he adored her. Remembering there was the tradition of kissing the bride, he simply stepped forward, leaned down, and pecked her lips.

His gaze lingered briefly on her slender neck and delicate collarbones before quickly pulling away.

In that instant, a unique emotion surged in his chest.

Driven by it, with lips curling, he instinctively softened his voice and called out: “Wife.”

Lin Chuge heard it clearly.

She too lowered her voice, but answered without hesitation.

“Husband.”

Pei Zhou smiled again.

At that moment, every fiber of his being was filled with an indescribable satisfaction.

That girl he once thought would never have any connection with him—
that cute, well-behaved little girl.

One day, she ended up resting in his palm.

He was willing to protect her forever, to always remember the way she looked in her youth.

To spoil her, spoil her, and spoil her again, until she would never want to leave his hand.

Until year after year, they grew old together.

Until the day when their steps became unsteady, when they grew so old that only one tooth remained, and still they would hold hands, to watch the stars, to watch the moon.

How wonderful that would be.

---

After the wedding, Lin Chuge and Pei Zhou began their honeymoon journey.

They traveled within the country, then abroad. When they returned, they nestled in their new home, spending the last days of their holiday together.

In Lin Chuge’s view, this was a rare leisure time for the two of them.

Once the honeymoon was over, it wouldn’t be easy to go back to such carefree days.

Pei Zhou would need to manage the company.

And she still had to continue her studies, finish what she had left undone, even if she was no longer a “student” in the ordinary sense.

In the end, things would become busy again, just like before.

She and Pei Zhou would inevitably see less of each other until she earned her degree and began to plan further for the future.

Knowing this, Lin Chuge acted even more spoiled in front of Pei Zhou. The person who had always been considerate of his hard work now became someone who “didn’t lift a finger,” or rather “waited for clothes to be handed to her and food to be served,” wholeheartedly enjoying his pampering.

The day before returning to school was no exception.

After napping with Pei Zhou, Lin Chuge lay on the sofa, hugging her tablet, playing games.

Pei Zhou asked her, “What do you want for dinner? Or shall we eat out?”

“I want to eat my husband’s cooking.” Lin Chuge smiled sweetly, glancing at him.

“Let me think…”

She finished her game round and told him, “I want sweet-and-sour spare ribs, and braised prawns.”

After she finished ordering, Pei Zhou chuckled. “Alright, I’ll make them for my lady wife.”

“But you’ll have to come shopping with me.”

At that, Lin Chuge tossed aside her phone, stood on the sofa, and quickly kissed his cheek.

Smiling, she said, “Hurry back, hubby!”

Clearly meaning she didn’t want to go.

Pei Zhou didn’t force her. He kissed her cheek in return. “Alright, I’ll go by myself then.”

“Wait…”

Lin Chuge suddenly couldn’t bear to let him go alone and immediately changed her mind. “I’ll come too.”

“Husband, wait for me to change clothes.”

She hopped off the sofa, slipped into her slippers, and hurried into the cloakroom.

Together they went to the supermarket to buy the ingredients. Afterwards, she returned to the living room and resumed her lazy gaming posture on the sofa. After finishing one round, she felt unusually sleepy. Before starting another, she drifted off.

---

In her dream, images appeared before her.

It felt as though she had returned to childhood—not seven or eight, not five or six, but the age of first learning to walk.

A tiny child in a room, struggling to move her little legs.

Lin Chuge didn’t know why she was seeing this, but she clearly understood that the child was herself.

The nanny had looked away for a moment.

The toddler ran to the staircase, stretched out a foot, and tumbled down the stairs.

The Lin family’s villa was thrown into chaos.

The scene shifted—she saw Chi Haiyin holding her tiny self, weeping endlessly.

The little girl’s head was injured, wrapped with layers of bandages.

Lin Chuge looked at the child in Chi Haiyin’s arms, then noticed memories disappearing rapidly, as though being stripped away.

They were unfamiliar memories.

The person in them had the same face as her, but everything else was different.

Not surnamed Lin, not the child of Chi Haiyin and Lin Yuqing, had not studied at Yinghua, had not entered the best universities, had not pursued postgraduate or doctoral studies. She… didn’t even seem to belong to this world. Who was that person?

A doubt rose in her heart.

Yet a voice told her plainly—that was herself. Not someone else, but her.

Everything was different from what it was now.

Including Pei Zhou.

In those memories, there was no Pei Zhou, no Xu Luoluo, no Song Bonian, no Shen Xueyao.

Even knowing it was a dream, Lin Chuge still grew frantic and fearful.

Afraid that when she opened her eyes, it would all vanish.

Afraid that upon waking, everything would be gone, and Pei Zhou would no longer exist.

This fear gnawed at her heart.

It felt as if something were choking her throat, cutting off her breath. She flailed her arms, struggling for help.

“Chuchu, wife, wake up.”

Pei Zhou’s voice rang in her ears, one call after another.

Those simple words soothed her fear and pulled her free from the nightmare.

She forced her eyes open and saw Pei Zhou crouched beside the sofa. She immediately threw her arms around him, holding him tightly.

“How did you fall asleep on the sofa?”

Pei Zhou gently patted her back, speaking softly.

Lin Chuge shook her head, still shaken, unable to speak.

The familiar, warm embrace slowly calmed her, yet she couldn’t bear to let go.

“Husband, I had a nightmare.”

Lying on his shoulder, she dared not close her eyes. “I can’t even explain what it was like. But in that dream, I couldn’t find you anywhere. It was terrifying.”

“How could that be?”

Pei Zhou’s arms tightened, his voice tender. “You’ll never lose me. I’m right here. Even if I go somewhere, I’ll always tell you.”

Lin Chuge nodded lightly.

Out of that dream, she knew clearly he was right.

How could there ever be a world without Pei Zhou?

Even if it resembled those old dreams, the story was already different.

Gradually, her emotions settled.

She lifted her head from his shoulder, cupped his face in her hands, and kissed him. “Pei Zhou.”

“Mm,” he answered.

She leaned forward to kiss him again, whispering, “Husband.”

Pei Zhou responded once more.

She kissed him repeatedly, again and again, until the kiss finally deepened.

When Lin Chuge pushed him down onto the sofa, with no resistance from him, he looked at the girl straddling him. He didn’t understand why she suddenly acted this way, but he gently reminded her, “Dinner’s ready. If we don’t eat soon, it’ll get cold.”

“…I don’t want to eat.”

Lin Chuge mumbled the words, then sealed his lips with hers, not allowing him to speak.

This time, Pei Zhou really fell silent.

With a soft smile in his eyes, he placed his hands gently at her waist and kissed her back quietly.

Since it was so—

Then with the girl he loved, he would let go once more.