After My System Went Bankrupt, I Found My Happy Ending with the General - Chapter 50

When Luo Chuchen heard his name mentioned from the next room, he felt as though a heavy stone had finally landed in his heart a sense of “it’s finally happened.”

Yet he remained frozen in place.

He didn’t dare look at Liang Jue’s reaction. Only now did it dawn on him that Liang Jue, being a martial artist with sharp senses, had likely heard the name Xu Changlin called out next door before he did.

“Now that we are in the capital, under the Emperor’s watchful eye, do not spread baseless rumors,” Xu Changlin calmly interjected.

One of the scholars laughed. “How can you call it baseless? The way the young marquis clung to you even though we left the academy over a year ago it’s still fresh in our minds. Only the two of you seem to think nothing of it.”

Another scholar chimed in, “I remember too. Wasn’t he that young master who always brought his assignments to our South Dormitory to find you, Brother Changlin?”

The first scholar added, “Who else could it be? Brother Liu rarely goes out and seldom visits the market at the foot of the mountain. If you had gone down during your breaks, nine times out of ten you would have run into Brother Xu and that young marquis, hahaha!”

Their discussion grew more animated, almost on the verge of exposing all of Luo Chuchen’s past secrets.

Xu Changlin tried to stop them at first, but as one of the subjects of their teasing, once the men got carried away, they paid no heed and spoke to their hearts’ content.

Standing awkwardly in the adjacent room, Luo Chuchen was forced to revisit, from a third-person perspective, all the tasks he had once undertaken to win Xu Changlin’s favor.

He didn’t dare lift his head.

Liang Jue stood beside him, listening to everything from start to finish.

Luo Chuchen felt this was the most helpless moment of his life.

He had no idea what Liang Jue would think after hearing all this after all, he had never mentioned his past at Shifang Academy in front of him.

Luo Chuchen knew that, at the time, the sword of Damocles, his life points had been hanging over his head.

But Liang Jue wouldn’t know that.

And, what’s more, Liang Jue seemed to be homophobic.

Luo Chuchen curled his toes in embarrassment, desperately trying to convince himself that his actions back then could still be explained away as “making friends.”

After all, he really hadn’t done anything inappropriate.

If his frequent interactions with Xu Changlin had been directed at someone like Ji Yuanzhou, they would undoubtedly have been interpreted as friendly intentions.

But given his own personality… such behavior seemed rather unusual.

Luo Chuchen was afraid to see Liang Jue’s reaction.

He attributed his fear and guilt to the worry of losing Liang Jue as a childhood friend. No matter what, he really didn’t want to see Liang Jue react with disgust or avoidance.

So he kept his head lowered, staring so intently at the pearwood round table in front of him that he might have bored a hole through it.

It didn’t seem long before Liang Jue beside him let out a soft sigh.

Luo Chuchen’s heart trembled.

He thought Liang Jue was about to leave in anger.

Instead, he felt Liang Jue raise a hand and gently rest it on his head.

Liang Jue said softly, “Don’t take it to heart. Most of these men have failed the imperial exams multiple times and remain without official posts. Your academy friend Xu Changlin is your grandfather’s prized student, and with his recent success in the spring exams, he’s become the center of attention. They invited him to this feast with ulterior motives, seizing on trivial rumors to mock him it’s just their way of venting their bitterness and envy.”

“If you don’t want to listen, we can go downstairs now, or I can go teach them a lesson. How about that?”

Upon hearing this, Luo Chuchen’s long-suppressed grievances nearly overflowed in an instant.

He lifted his head and saw Liang Jue gazing at him with a profound look, filled with nothing but concern.

Luo Chuchen gritted his teeth and shook his head. “No need for you to teach them a lesson.”

He turned and walked over to the folding screen, delivering a hard kick.

The wooden screen, already unsteady at its base, crashed to the ground with a loud thud, startling the scholars next door into a flurry of panicked dodges, accompanied by a few indistinct curses.

“Who’s there?!”

“What’s wrong with you?!”

As the screen fell, Luo Chuchen stepped into view with a cold expression.

He scanned the so-called scholars one by one, including Xu Changlin, who had turned pale upon seeing him from afar.

With a disdainful snort, he remarked, “All you’re good at is gossiping behind people’s backs. With such character, I doubt you’ll pass the imperial exams even if you study for ten years it’ll all be a waste of effort.”

With that, he took Liang Jue’s hand and strode directly downstairs, leaving the scene.

The two quickly descended the tavern stairs, settled the bill at the counter, and even left an extra string of coins to cover the cost of repairing the screen. As they stepped out of the tavern, hurried footsteps echoed behind them, followed by a tense call of “Chuchen.”

Turning around, they saw Xu Changlin.

To be fair, Xu Changlin had been trying to stop the scholars from gossiping earlier and hadn’t done anything particularly offensive.

So Luo Chuchen stopped and waited to hear what he had to say.

Xu Changlin, panting, came to a halt as well. His clothes were stained with tea splashed from the screen’s fall onto the table, making him look rather disheveled.

He fixed his gaze on Luo Chuchen and said, “I’m sorry.”

As if knowing that further explanations would be futile.

Luo Chuchen replied stiffly, “It’s fine. I’ve already gotten my revenge. They’re nothing but petty people.”

Xu Changlin smiled weakly, a hint of dejection in his expression. “Yes, this apology is from me personally. After all, back then.”

Luo Chuchen cut in, “I take responsibility for my own actions. You don’t need to worry about it.”

Xu Changlin sighed. “Alright, calm down. But my feelings for you aren’t as they said Never mind, I’ll talk to you about it another time.”

Luo Chuchen was taken aback.

Xu Changlin’s words were entirely unexpected, leaving him staring blankly as Xu Changlin turned and walked away. It took him a while to snap out of it when Liang Jue nudged his arm.

“What do you think?” Liang Jue asked quietly.

Luo Chuchen shook his head. “After all that commotion, I’m not in the mood to have fun anymore. Let’s head back.”

He walked gloomily beside Liang Jue, mulling over Xu Changlin’s words.

It was strange.

Could it be that Xu Changlin actually had feelings for him? But before the system left, the displayed affection level for Xu Changlin was still at the friend stage. Why would he act this way now?

Luo Chuchen couldn’t make sense of it.

This New Year, Luo Chuchen spent it in a rather melancholy state.

When he went to the Chu residence for the New Year’s Eve dinner that evening, Xu Changlin was nowhere to be seen. His excuse to his uncle was that he had gone out to meet friends at noon and accidentally ate something bad, leaving him unwell and needing to rest.

The next day, on the first day of the New Year, Luo Chuchen watched Shechuan set off firecrackers in the small courtyard.

Amid the crackling explosions, Luo Chuchen sat listlessly on the veranda, hugging a warm stove, his mind wandering back to the events of the previous day.

Kicking the screen and scolding those scholars didn’t bother him much.

It was only later that he began to reflect on Liang Jue’s reaction. At the time, he had thought Liang Jue was simply supporting him, but looking back now, Liang Jue’s demeanor had been unusually calm, as if he didn’t care at all about Luo Chuchen’s past in Yunzhou.

It wasn’t until the afternoon, when Liang Jue came to the Marquis’s residence to pay his New Year’s respects, that Luo Chuchen had a chance to see him again.

Liang Jue had brought several gifts and even handed Luo Chuchen a small red envelope containing an exquisitely crafted copper coin.

Luo Chuchen accepted the gifts with some unease. After having the steward store them away, he pulled Liang Jue into his study.

He wanted to ask Liang Jue about it, but he didn’t know where to start.

Should he explain everything he had done in Yunzhou?

But on one hand, there wasn’t much room for explanation, and on the other, Liang Jue didn’t seem particularly bothered by it,

Liang Jue simply sat upright in a chair in the study, flipping through the storybooks Luo Chuchen had left on his desk.

Luo Chuchen sat beside him for a while, suddenly feeling for the first time that the silence between them was uncomfortable.

It had never been like this before.

Even when he had first returned to the capital after years apart from Liang Jue, there had been no sense of distance between them. Instead, they had been as close as ever, chatting about all sorts of trivial matters.

Even when they didn’t speak, simply being in the same space had never felt awkward.

But now, the atmosphere had become strange.

Luo Chuchen couldn’t understand why, but he felt restless, forcing himself to focus on the scroll in his hands.

Before long, Shechuan peeked in and said, “Young Master, Xu Changlin is here. He says Minister Chu sent him to deliver something.”

Luo Chuchen: ?

Wasn’t this the same person who had been feigning illness just last night?

He blinked, tempted to refuse.

He had hoped to have an honest conversation with Liang Jue today, to clear the air between them.

But Liang Jue, as if anticipating this, stood up first and said, “In that case, I’ll step aside.”

Luo Chuchen was stunned: Why did he need to step aside?

But before he could protest, Liang Jue had already slipped behind the screen in the inner room.

Sighing in frustration, Luo Chuchen rubbed his forehead and said, “Let Brother Xu in.”

A short while later, Xu Changlin entered.

He was wearing a brand-new robe, looking quite dashing on the first day of the New Year.

In his arms, he carried several thread-bound books.

Luo Chuchen stood up and forced a polite tone: “Brother Xu, Happy New Year.”

Xu Changlin smiled faintly, exchanged a few New Year’s greetings, and then handed over the books he was holding.

“Chuchen, these are some of your old books that Minister Chu found a few days ago. He originally lent them to me for review, but when I saw your name on them, I thought I should return them to you.”

A question mark popped into Luo Chuchen’s mind. He took the books and flipped through them, confirming they were indeed books he had used as a child, which only deepened his confusion.

He said, “These books are quite old. There was no need to return them. Why trouble yourself to make a trip, Brother Xu?”

Xu Changlin replied candidly, “Indeed, I only used this as an excuse to visit and apologize. The truth is, I wanted to see you, Chuchen, and have a word with you.”

Luo Chuchen: “…”

He tried hard not to glance toward the screen where Liang Jue was hiding.

Xu Changlin said, “After returning yesterday, I pondered for a long time. Back at the academy, I was overly cautious and foolish, never daring to confront the feelings you held for me. It wasn’t until you left Yunzhou and set off for the capital that I suddenly realized I felt the same way about you. Now, months later, I know both our hearts have changed, but I still wish to express my apologies to you, Chuchen.”

Luo Chuchen: “…”

The corners of Luo Chuchen’s mouth twitched, and three words blazed in his mind: “Help me.”

Xu Changlin continued, “Yesterday at the tavern, I misjudged the company and, constrained by politeness, didn’t dare to leave directly or sternly stop them from saying those offensive things. I hope you won’t blame me, Chuchen.”

Luo Chuchen quickly waved his hand and said, “It’s fine. I vented my anger too. Their slanderous words… well, they tarnish both our reputations. Our time studying in Yunzhou was just youthful mischief. Now that you’re about to take the imperial exams, your studies are more important, right?”

Xu Changlin smiled and said, “Yes. Now that you’re a noble marquis, I must redouble my efforts to earn a scholarly rank before I can face you…”

“No, no, no! You’ve misunderstood me.”

Luo Chuchen’s mind was preoccupied with Liang Jue in the inner room, and he nearly flushed red, feeling that his words should also serve as a statement to Liang Jue.

“Back in Yunzhou, I only admired your talent and wanted to get closer to you, As for feelings or anything like that I don’t have any, um interest in men. It’s only today, after your words, that I understand why you kept your distance. It seems my behavior did cause some misunderstandings,” Luo Chuchen rambled, nearly incoherent. “I naturally prefer women, and I assume you do too. Didn’t you have a fiancée arranged by your parents back in Yunzhou? So… I wish you success in the imperial exams and a smooth career in officialdom.”

He blurted out this jumbled, illogical speech and finally paused to catch his breath, feeling he had conveyed his meaning.

The face of Xu Changlin before him had turned pale.

He opened his mouth hesitantly, looked at Luo Chuchen’s face, and eventually nodded.

“I understand.” Xu Changlin said, his face ashen, as he bid a dazed farewell.

The moment Xu Changlin disappeared from the doorway, Luo Chuchen let out a sigh of relief and hurriedly turned to enter the inner room.

But as he rounded the screen, a gust of wind blew through the wide-open window of the inner room, rustling a letter on the desk and catching Luo Chuchen’s attention.

On it was Liang Jue’s familiar handwriting, stating that there were matters at home requiring his immediate departure and that he would visit another time.