Are you willing to settle for this

Jiang Yunlu and her mother were not entirely sure what they had just seen.

However, their attention was quickly drawn to what Chu Miaomiao had just said.

Jiang Yunlu could not help but speak up.

"You also know how special Lin Mo is?"

Chu Miaomiao raised her head, her eyes revealing an unprecedented calmness.

Her usual lingering cowardice and introversion were completely gone at this moment.

"I know."

Her voice was not loud, but it was very clear.

"He saved me, saved my mom, and saved everything my family had."

That single sentence contained a massive amount of information.

Jiang Yunlu and Situ Yunshu exchanged a glance, both seeing the same emotion in each other's eyes.

This script... why did it sound so familiar?

It was practically a carbon copy of their own family's situation, or rather, their family was the carbon copy.

Of course, looking closely, there were differences. Lin Mo had not directly saved Jiang Yunlu's life, so the circumstances were not exactly identical.

The trope of a hero saving a beauty and her pledging her life to him was never a lie. Of course, the prerequisite was that the guy had to be handsome. If he was ugly, it would at best be a good man saving a beauty, and she would repay him by working like a horse in her next life.

Just as Situ Yunshu was about to ask something else, the private room's door was pushed open, and a waiter walked in carrying steaming hot dishes.

"Hello, please enjoy your meal."

The soft clink of the porcelain plates on the table completely shattered the tense atmosphere in the room.

The words that were about to be spoken had to be swallowed back down.

The meal proceeded in a bizarre atmosphere.

Halfway through, Chu Miaomiao got up to go to the restroom.

The moment she left, Situ Yunshu put down her chopsticks and fixed her gaze on her daughter.

"Yunlu."

"Yes?"

"It seems that if you want to catch up with Lin Mo, you must learn martial arts. Only then will you be qualified to stand by his side."

Situ Yunshu's tone brooked no argument.

She was not discussing it; she was stating a conclusion.

Jiang Yunlu's athletic talent was perhaps inherited from her mother, so upon hearing this, her mind flashed to scenes from martial arts novels, where the male and female leads leaned against each other in the mountains, watching the sunset.

But in the next second, it was replaced by a more realistic image.

If they encountered danger again, would she only be able to act like a burden, hiding behind him and screaming?

And Chu Miaomiao, or even that Xie Yuling—would they be able to help?

Could she do it herself?

She subconsciously pulled out her phone. The screen lit up, staying on the chat interface with Lin Mo.

The message she had drafted for a long time, yet never had the courage to hit "send" for, looked exceptionally glaring at this moment.

Her fingertip hovered over the screen for half a second before the screen finally went dark.

She silently put her phone away.

During this lunch, Chu Miaomiao ate with the demeanor of a host, while Jiang Yunlu and Situ Yunshu's minds were a mess.

It was not until they finished eating and returned to the school gate.

The three of them had no further conversation.

Seeing that Jiang Yunlu was about to follow Chu Miaomiao into the school, Situ Yunshu called out to her from behind.

"Baby girl."

Jiang Yunlu paused her steps and turned around.

Situ Yunshu walked up to her. The calculation from the dinner table was gone from her eyes, replaced only by a mother's warmth for her daughter.

"Think it through. If you have made up your mind and do not want to have anything to do with Lin Mo anymore, then I will have your dad arrange a transfer for you. You can go to a new environment and make a clean break."

"Lin Mo is not a petty person; he probably would not mind."

Situ Yunshu paused, and her tone suddenly shifted, becoming sharp.

"However, you need to think clearly. From now on, the one standing by his side and sharing everything with him might be that landlady, or perhaps this Chu Miaomiao from today."

"Are you willing to accept that?"

Those last few words were like needles, piercing accurately into Jiang Yunlu's heart.

Her lips trembled, her white teeth biting down hard on her lower lip, almost drawing blood.

She shook her head.

"I just... I just..."

Just what?

Was she afraid she was not good enough for him? Or afraid she would become a burden to him?

She could not even explain it herself.

In the end, Jiang Yunlu said nothing. She spun around abruptly and ran into the school without looking back.

Her retreating figure looked as panicked as if she were fleeing.

Watching Jiang Yunlu's back.

"You do not even have half the courage I had back in the day. What are we going to do with you?"

Situ Yunshu sighed, then got into her car.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yunlu was looking at Chu Miaomiao's back, following behind her.

That back was perfectly straight, and her steps were fast and hurried, as if she were rushing to meet someone.

Jiang Yunlu felt a sudden, inexplicable tightness in her chest.

She realized that she seemed to be the one who was being left far behind in progress.

Just then, a group of boys surged out from the corner of the stairs without any warning.

A few teenage boys huddled together, exchanging cheeky smiles and glances before spreading out with tacit understanding, blocking Chu Miaomiao's path like a crooked fishing net.

Chu Miaomiao was startled by this sudden formation and instinctively took several quick steps back.

She steadied herself and was just about to bypass them from the side when one of the boys, as if having anticipated her move, lazily sidestepped and blocked her way again.

A boy was pushed out from the crowd. He had slightly curly hair, fair skin, and an unnatural flush on his cheeks.

Jostled by his companions, he was a bit shy but also carried a bit of the naive expectation typical of youth.

"Senior, I am from Class 3, Grade 1. My name is Ren Yusheng. Can we get to know each other?"

His voice was a bit nervous, but his gaze was fixed straight on her.

Chu Miaomiao took another two steps back before keeping her voice low and saying, "Get out of the way."

Her voice was not loud and trembled noticeably, lacking any real intimidation.

The group of boys actually started laughing, finding her flustered appearance even more amusing.

Just as Ren Yusheng was about to say something else, a clear, fiery female voice exploded without warning.

"Class 3, Grade 1, right? Fine, I will remember that."

Jiang Yunlu's voice was neither too loud nor too soft, but like a needle, it accurately pierced through the noisy atmosphere of the scene.

Students passing by all turned to look.

She took a few steps forward, directly pulling Chu Miaomiao behind her. Like a tigress protecting her cub, she glared coldly at this group of junior boys.

"I am going to your grade office in a bit to have a good chat with your homeroom teacher, to ask him how he teaches you to block people in the hallways."

Jiang Yunlu's voice was loud, instantly attracting the attention of many people.

These words were too direct and too intimidating. The smiles on the faces of the leading boys instantly froze.

One of the quicker-witted ones hurriedly waved his hands and stuttered an explanation, "We... we are not blocking anyone! Senior, you misunderstood. We just... we just wanted to ask the senior some questions about studying!"

It was an excuse so flimsy that even he felt guilty making it.

As soon as his words fell, a lazier yet much more oppressive voice rang out from outside the crowd.

"Oh? Asking questions about studying?"

Jiang Yunlu and Xie Yuling belong to two relatively independent character settings, so their ways of thinking are bound to be different.

With different character designs, the starting points from which they view things are naturally different.

This part might make these two characters a bit less likable, but I really don't want to write something completely brainless.

Some of you might be thinking: the MC treats this heroine so well, how dare she give him attitude?

Well, the reality is that just because you treat someone well doesn't mean they won't give you the cold shoulder.

Human nature is just contradictory like that. It's exactly like how some readers constantly flame me, yet they keep reading my book anyway. That's right, I'm looking at you!

Of course, our MC isn't a simp. I just don't want the heroines to feel like one-dimensional cardboard cutouts.

Anyway, there are only these three main heroines, and the romance will primarily revolve around them. As for any extreme harem tropes, forget about it. I don't dare write that stuff; if I do, my book will get locked in the censorship dark room.