Chapter 73: Returning to Modern Times, a Salted Fish Remains a Salted Fish Wherever It Goes

After Meng Huan’s death, he found himself back in modern times, right at the moment when he had first crossed over.

Many people who saw him said that he had changed too much overnight. Although his appearance hadn’t changed at all, they almost couldn’t recognize him.

He just smiled without saying a word. After living in the ancient female-dominant world for more than a decade, how could he not have changed?

After coming back, he was directly fired by the company because he was too rusty at his work.

It took him two months to recover, and he barely managed to find a job, one where he had to start from scratch.

During this time, Meng Huan completely cut ties with his former girlfriends and ex-girlfriends. He no longer stayed out all night or messed around with relationships. He basically lived a life of commuting between the company and his residence.

Sometimes he didn’t even want to go out, just wanting to stay at home alone, reading books, growing plants, and basking in the sun, just like after the events in ancient times.

He thought that with so many entertainment activities in modern times to distract him, he would quickly forget Wen Zhaoyin. However, the longer he was back in modern times, the more he missed her.

He even wanted to see her so much that on days off, he would lock himself in for an entire day, crying quietly without eating or drinking.

He felt that his state was very abnormal and had even sought out a psychologist. He hid the details about the female-dominant world and simply described some of his experiences.

The psychologist said that when he was first forced to do things and was confined, he already had a stress response.

This response didn’t make him fiercely resist, but made him subconsciously start to like the person who hurt him, so the harm immediately turned into love.

In other words, his feelings for Wen Zhaoyin over the years may not have been love, but an illusion gradually caused by the initial stress response.

Now that he was out of that environment, he naturally felt that something was wrong.

He still remembered that the doctor had listed several treatment options for him at the time, but Meng Huan refused without even thinking about it.

He thought that even if all that liking and love was morbid, he was still willing to immerse himself in it.

This should be considered another kind of loving you like a sickness, incurable by any medicine, right?

Days passed by in a repetitive cycle. After abandoning his previous chaotic life, Meng Huan gradually became well-known in his surroundings. The neighbors all praised him as a good young man, and his female colleagues also thought he was a reliable person. Surprisingly, people gradually started coming to his door to propose marriage.

He wasn’t interested in this, and refused each time. Gradually, there were rumors that he was unable to perform in certain aspects, but he didn’t pay attention to them.

Until one day, when he was delivering the latest issue of a financial magazine for his boss, he saw that familiar face on the cover of the magazine, a face that couldn’t be more familiar.

The boss laughingly asked him, “Why are you staring at it so intensely? Have you taken a liking to that female CEO?”

Meng Huan pointed at the smiling woman on the magazine, somewhat dazed, “Female CEO?”

The boss nodded, “Yes! I had the honor of meeting her once before. I thought she was some newly debuted young celebrity, but I didn’t expect her to be the heir of the Wen family.”

“I heard that she was brought back to the Wen family two years ago. Before that, she seemed to be an illegitimate daughter with an improper background, and then by chance…”

Before the boss could finish speaking, Meng Huan put down the magazine and ran out, directly requesting a day off from the supervisor.

Two years ago! Wasn’t that exactly when he had crossed back? She had also suddenly appeared at the same time. There was no way there could be such a coincidence in this world!

Fortunately, the company’s headquarters were also located in the same city as him. He quickly drove over.

However, when he walked to the front desk and was asked who he was looking for, Meng Huan froze.

He only knew that her surname was Wen, but he hadn’t carefully looked at her name.

In a fluster, he hurriedly lowered his head and searched on his phone, then pretended to be calm and said to the receptionist, “I’m looking for Wen Zhaoyin, President Wen.”

When he searched for this name, he could already be quite certain that the female CEO on the magazine was the person he thought about day and night!

The receptionist was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and pointed in the direction of the elevator, “President Wen just got off the elevator. Please register first, and then you can…”

Before she could finish speaking, Meng Huan ran over.

His sudden sprint was quite frightening in an office building. The male manager beside Wen Zhaoyin quickly blocked in front of her, and the rest of the people were on guard with caution.

Meng Huan stopped after approaching, and couldn’t hold back his tears, shocking the people around him.

He covered his mouth and softly called out, “Wen Zhaoyin…”

She was obviously startled to see him, and walked through the crowd to stand in front of him with some disbelief, then tentatively called out, “Lingyi?”

These two words seemed to flip a switch. The man pounced on her and hugged her, crying almost to the point of choking, repeatedly mumbling, “It’s me, it’s me, it’s me…”

Some people around them even wanted to call security to pull him away, but Wen Zhaoyin raised her hand to stop them.

It wasn’t a solution to stand there crying in public. She lightly patted his back to comfort him and patiently coaxed, “Let’s go to my office? Tell me what exactly happened.”

After getting Meng Huan’s affirmation, she called to cancel her upcoming activities, held his hand, and walked towards the elevator, leaving behind a group of stunned people.

They had originally thought that the previous scene would turn into an attack by a thug or something. Who knew it would seem to be the CEO’s boyfriend showing up?

But thinking about it, hadn’t the CEO always been rumored to be single? It was said that she was even scolded by the chairman for refusing a blind date. How did a boyfriend suddenly appear now?

The elevator doors closed, blocking all the probing gazes.

The next second, Meng Huan devoutly offered himself up and kissed her, with endless caution and care, as if afraid that the slightest force would shatter what he had encountered.

When the kiss ended, the elevator doors in front of them opened again, having already reached the top floor where the CEO’s office was located.

Their fingers intertwined, one leading the way in front, the other silently following behind her.

Wen Zhaoyin could be heard saying as she walked in front, “I remember that back then, you would occasionally say things we couldn’t understand. Since coming here, I’ve actually remembered it all.”

“In the terms here, what happened to you would be called crossing over, right?”

Meng Huan didn’t know why, perhaps because his emotions had fluctuated too much, but he fell silent at this moment. Hearing her say this, he only let out an “en” sound.

“Why aren’t you talking? Don’t tell me you’ve missed me so much that you’ve become foolish?” Her tone was light, but he could feel the thin layer of sweat on her palm. She actually wasn’t as relaxed as she appeared.

The two of them walked into the office. Meng Huan sat down on the guest sofa first, while she had already locked the door and walked straight over.

“Lingyi, hurry up and say you missed me!”

Wen Zhaoyin sat beside him, with their arms pressed against each other and their legs touching, as close as possible.

If her employees saw this, they would certainly be flabbergasted. They absolutely couldn’t imagine that their boss, who usually didn’t even have a smile on her face, could be so enthusiastic towards a man today.

This simply went against common sense.

Meng Huan opened his mouth, seeming a bit nervous about her closeness. He picked up the cup on the table, wanting to drink some water, but discovered that it was empty. Having no other choice, he put it back down.

Then he weakly said, “You… You didn’t say you love me either…”

He had died without ever hearing those words.

Wen Zhaoyin’s heart tightened upon hearing this request, and she felt a pang of pain. In the period right after Meng Huan’s death, she had almost been unable to recover. Later, for the sake of the children, she had no choice but to cheer up again.

After she died of old age, there was no Yellow Springs on the other shore. Instead, she came to this modern world of bustling traffic and towering steel and concrete.

She felt that this was an opportunity. Thinking back on her past interactions with Meng Huan and recalling the strange words and phrases he had mentioned before, she felt that he should also be a person from here.

Going a step further, she guessed that he might have also come over here. So, she put in a great deal of effort to become a businesswoman and quietly waited for his appearance.

She always believed that their fate absolutely wouldn’t end so simply.

They could continue their predestined relationship here.

“I love you.” She turned him to face her and said with utmost seriousness.

Meng Huan shed tears again. The two of them held each other tightly, kissing one another, and then explored a deeper harmony on the spacious sofa…

Afterwards.

They leaned against each other, talking about what had happened to them in the past two years. After that, they talked about how the children were doing after Meng Huan’s departure. Learning that they were all well, he was completely at ease.

“Child? No, I have to go out and buy you medicine…” Meng Huan got up to get dressed in a bit of a hurry.

There were no condoms at all in Wen Zhaoyin’s office. He had been too excited and hadn’t thought of that.

You know, in modern times, it’s the women who give birth. “Giving birth is super painful, and it also interferes with work. You’re in your prime now, how can you be held back by such things?”

“We already had three children in our previous life. In this life, let’s be DINKs (Double Income, No Kids). Of course, if you want to have a child, I will definitely take good care of you.”

He hurriedly ran around, buying medicine for her and feeding it to her with water. Wen Zhaoyin herself didn’t have as big of a reaction as him, but she also did whatever he said.

She even said, “Lingyi suffered pain for me three times, so what’s wrong with the wife experiencing it once?”

She didn’t feel that having a child would interfere with work at all. She even thought she could work while pregnant, and continue working after giving birth. She was simply the epitome of a strong iron lady.

Meng Huan worriedly educated her on various childbirth knowledge and even monitored her menstrual period, but discovered that she hadn’t had it for two months.

In great shock, he wanted to take her to get checked, but unexpectedly heard her say that she had never had a period.

How could there be a woman in her twenties who didn’t have that? This was clearly very abnormal.

Meng Huan felt dazed and sensed something was wrong, so he bought a test kit himself. The result surprisingly showed that in modern times, he was the one who was pregnant!

The two of them didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, never expecting such an outcome.

Fortunately, Wen Zhaoyin had money and power. She specially requested a private doctor to provide confidential one-stop care, helping Meng Huan smoothly give birth to a pair of fraternal twins.

While he was at home taking care of the children and feeling annoyed by their fussing, he pouted and said it was unfair.

“Why was I bullied by you when I crossed to ancient times, and still bullied by you in modern times? Before, you were a high official, and now you’re a big CEO, while I’m at the bottom no matter where I go.”

Amused by his resentful appearance, Wen Zhaoyin bluntly said, “Don’t you understand this? Actually, in modern terms, a salted fish remains a salted fish wherever it goes.”

He had crossed to ancient times with modern wisdom, but even if he couldn’t wield power as a man, he should have at least been able to make his life more comfortable.

However, he didn’t…

When she transmigrated to modern times, she was confused and ignorant, alone with no one she knew. She almost got hit by a car just crossing the road.

But she only needed a very short time to learn modern knowledge and survived very well. She even gained a certain social status. Doesn’t this explain everything?

Meng Huan was momentarily at a loss for words. He angrily turned his head away and ignored her. It took a while of coaxing before he was coaxed back.

Their days continued on. Perhaps plain, perhaps with a few ripples. However, no matter what, nothing could shake the emotional bond between them.

Wife and husband, or husband and wife, as long as they loved each other, what did it matter who was strong and who was weak?

Many years later, they had grown old.

Two hands bearing the traces of time held each other, fingers intertwined, as deeply as when they first met.

He was a bit tired, so he took her arm and leaned against her, walking forward with difficulty.

He asked, “Will we have another life after this?”

She answered, “I don’t know. But having been together for two lifetimes, I am content.”

The heavy snow was a vast expanse of white, a silver-clad scene with a touch of desolation and coldness.

They strolled towards the setting sun. Their two children, leading their grandchildren, followed distantly behind, watching their figures gradually disappear under the distant setting sun.

—The End.

—My little angels, I hope to see you again in the next book.