Xu Lin returned home by car. As soon as he opened the door, he saw his parents with unhappy expressions.
“Good evening, Father and Mother. You guys still haven’t slept yet~?”
“Cut the act, where have you been?”
Hearing this, Xu Lin instantly understood that they knew he hadn’t gone to Bai Xiaoxiao’s house. He figured it was best to tell the truth.
“Well… I actually went to buy a camera.”
“A camera?” His father was taken aback.
Xu Lin took out the camera from the bag. His father forgot about him coming home late and immediately leaned over.
“How does it work? Let me try.”
“Old Xu!?” Li Yuan shouted. Xu Feng calmed down instantly and patted him.
“Couldn’t you have bought it tomorrow?”“Because it’s second-hand, not brand new. The new ones are too expensive. The seller was only available at this time, so I went to get it now.”
“It’s not safe to go out so late.”
Li Yuan also chimed in, taking the camera and the bag from Xu Lin.
“Go to bed. You can play with it tomorrow.”
Li Yuan knew all too well that her son and husband were the same when it came to new gadgets—they had to fully explore them before doing anything else.
“Alright, I’ll go rest.”
“Go ahead, aren’t you going to take a bath?”
“I’ll do it in the morning.”
Xu Lin entered his room, threw himself onto the bed, and checked his phone. Qin Yunhe hadn’t replied. Instead, Chu Fengyi had sent him a photo of Ji Yun lying in bed, being hugged by her.
The message read, “Jealous? I’m hugging your wife to sleep.”
Xu Lin smiled wryly. Lately, Chu Fengyi seemed much gentler, but only towards Ji Yun. It looked like Class Monitor Ji really had a way with girls, more than he did.
Putting his phone aside, he opened the system’s favorability interface. Two new girls had appeared: Zhu Zhaoxue and Jiang Zimeng.
When he had carried Jiang Zimeng upstairs earlier and intentionally touched her hand, the system didn’t activate, leading him to believe she wasn’t part of the 12 zodiac girls.
But when he comforted Jiang Zimeng and placed his hand on hers, the system activated.
[Zhu Zhaoxue]
[Age: 22]
[Zodiac: Sheep]
[Intelligence: 8]
[Constitution: 3.5]
[Charm: 8.3]
[Favorability: 16]
[Jiang Zimeng]
[Age: 17]
[Zodiac: Rat]
[Intelligence: 7.7]
[Constitution: 3.3]
[Charm: 8]
[Favorability: 21]
“Now, there are only two left to appear?”
Xu Lin glanced at everyone’s favorability, all steadily rising. Even Teacher Su, despite their recent conflict, had reached 35 favorability. Qin Yunhe, Chu Qingchan, Chu Fengyi, and Ji Yun were all above 40. Excluding Jiang Zimeng and Zhu Zhaoxue, the others were above 30.
However, increasing favorability above 40 was proving difficult, or perhaps he simply hadn’t had much time to spend with them recently. The bet they made was a good opportunity; he could have a proper date with Chu Qingchan and Chu Fengyi.
Time to sleep… Speaking of which, Class Monitor Ji got drunk. I wonder if she’ll remember what happened tomorrow.
Feeling drowsy, he didn’t practice his breathing exercises to alleviate the sleepiness. He turned off the light, closed his eyes, and quickly drifted into sleep.
“Husband, are you awake?”
“Huh?”
Xu Lin felt a headache as he groggily opened his eyes. He saw a woman in a green dress with her back to him, steam rising from a clay stove, and a fragrant aroma wafting through the air.
“Where is this?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
The woman turned around, and her familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar face made him freeze.
“Ji Yun?”
“Husband, why are you calling me by my full name all of a sudden?”
“It’s nothing.”
Xu Lin quickly held his forehead and looked at her again. It was indeed Ji Yun, but she was a grown-up Ji Yun. She looked much more mature, but also leaner and a bit more weathered, appearing to be in her late 20s to early 30s.
Am I dreaming? Xu Lin concluded, then pinched his thigh hard and felt the pain. He realized something was off.
“You’re acting a bit strange today. Are you feeling unwell?”
“No, no. What time is it now?”
“Time? It’s the hour of the sheep (1-3 PM). Are you really not feeling well?”
Ji Yun walked over, reached out, and gently pressed on his head. Xu Lin felt the tenderness in her fingers, and he slowly closed his eyes, relaxing a bit. Instinctively, he reached out and gently held Ji Yun’s hand as if it were a habit.
When he opened his eyes again, he noticed her hands were calloused and her knuckles were rough. He felt a pang of sadness in his heart and his mouth opened involuntarily.
“Yun’er, you’ve had it tough. I’ve been useless my whole life, and you’ve suffered with me.”
“Suffered? As long as I have you and our child, it’s always sweet.”
“…Okay!”
Xu Lin stood up and hugged Ji Yun. She also extended her arms, giving him a gentle push.
“We’re an old couple now, husband. Go call Qing’er for dinner.”
“Alright.”
Xu Lin smiled at his wife and quickly walked out of the house. As soon as he looked outside, he was overwhelmed by the scenery.
A cool breeze blew through his clothes, and the mountains and water before him complemented each other perfectly. Terraced fields stretched below the house, with many people bending over to work. The water reflected the blue sky and green mountains, and the sound of people’s calls and birds chirping filled the air—everything was breathtakingly beautiful.
Several children were herding cattle up the path. On one of the cows sat a cute boy, and Xu Lin suddenly realized that this boy was his son. He hurried over, and his son jumped off the cow and ran to him, throwing himself into his arms.
“Father! Why are you back so early?”
“Not too busy today…”
“Then can you go catch rabbits with me?”
“Sure, but let’s eat first.”
“Great!”
He then led his son back home, where Ji Yun had already set the table. Each had a bowl of rice and a small pot of meat and bones.
“Father, did you make a lot of money today?”
“Yes, a lot. Now, eat.”
“Okay!”
Watching their child gnaw on the bone, Ji Yun smiled and sat down, pouring Xu Lin a small cup of wine. Xu Lin took it, feeling a sudden wave of sadness and involuntarily spoke again.
“Yun’er, Qing’er, I have something to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“I have to go north.”
“Why!? Didn’t they say there were enough people already?!”
Ji Yun stood up immediately, her eyes wide, grabbing his hand.
“Several people from our village escaped, so we have to… Actually, Yun’er, I think this is a good thing for the country and the people.”
“I don’t want you to go.”
“But I must.”
“Father…”
As his son called out “Father,” the scene before Xu Lin dissolved into a cloud of smoke.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself dressed in black, carrying a bundle, and sitting on horseback.
Around him, many others were in the same situation, all looking back at their hometowns and families, wanting to cry but holding back their tears.
This departure could be a brief separation or a permanent one. The children and wives were crying, but how could he shed tears himself? His wife and son hadn’t appeared yet.
With a sharp signal, everyone turned around—they had to leave. Reluctantly, they tugged at the reins and lightly snapped the whips, prompting their horses to move. The villagers behind them began singing hometown songs.
Xu Lin took a deep breath and moved forward, but then a voice different from the songs called out. He turned abruptly to see Ji Yun standing high up, waving her arms and shouting loudly.
“Husband, you must come back! You must come back!!!”
Xu Lin’s heart ached. He held back his tears, gave her a confident smile, nodded, and shouted back, “I will definitely come back!”
With that, his horse sped off like the wind, and the scene before him shattered like a bubble.
“Xu Lin!”
A low shout jolted Xu Lin awake. He found himself looking at Li Yuan by his bedside, startled.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s already 9 o’clock. Why aren’t you up yet? Did you stay up late on your phone again?”
“No…no…I just read a story whose ending I don’t know.”
He sat up, picked up his phone, and saw several messages from Qin Yunhe. He felt something was wrong!
“Oh no!”
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