Chapter 37 After returning to the modern world, Qin Ren spoke...

Back in the modern world, Qin Ren asked, "Do you want to go out and have a look?"

"Yes, is that alright?"

He had been staying with Qin Ren for a long time, but had never gone out and was unaware of the situation outside.

Seeing his curious expression, Qin Ren thought that he didn't have anything to do today, so he decided to take Liu Qingyue out for some fun.

Liu Qingyue is indeed an unregistered resident, but she doesn't go to hospitals, hotels, or internet cafes, so it doesn't matter if she doesn't have an ID card.

Qin Ren checked the time; it was a little past four in the afternoon.

He drove Liu Qingyue to the county town for some fun, and then brought her back in the evening.

This timeframe is indeed not very generous, but considering that Liu Qingyue doesn't have to go to work and it doesn't matter if she comes back a little late at night, then the time seems to be enough.

Qin Ren: "Alright then, wash off your makeup and I'll take you for a stroll in the city."

As Qin Ren said this, he went to his room to prepare the things he needed to bring.

Liu Qingyue was overjoyed upon hearing this. He washed off his makeup, changed into some more understated clothes, and the two of them drove away.

This was Liu Qingyue's first time leaving home, and she felt quite nervous as she went out.

He huddled in the back seat, very worried about being seen by people outside.

Qin Ren glanced at him in the rearview mirror and reassured him, "It's okay, they can't see you from the outside."

Qin Ren's car had a sun-protective film on it, so unless passersby looked closely, they wouldn't be able to spot the person in the back seat.

Also, it doesn't matter even if you see it.

Qin Ren is an adult, a man who is nearly thirty years old, and it's not like he can't have social interactions.

Even if the villagers saw him, they might ask him a few questions later, but they wouldn't find it strange that Qin Ren had another person with him.

When Liu Qingyue heard that others couldn't see him, he leaned over the car window and looked outside.

The houses in Qin Ren's world are very different from the houses in their world.

The houses here are all square and rectangular, and many are very tall and large. The people here seem to be quite wealthy.

Not only that, there are also a lot of cars here.

There are four-wheeled ones, three-wheeled ones, two-wheeled ones, and one that slides forward on a flat surface.

The vehicles come in different sizes; the largest can hold many people.

To the uninformed people of ancient times, it was like a giant iron monster that had devoured many people.

If Liu Qingyue hadn't lived here for a long time and already had a certain understanding of the place through videos on her tablet, she probably would have been terrified to suddenly see such a huge creature.

Liu Qingyue pointed to a car flashing by on the road and asked curiously, "What kind of car is that?"

The design is quite strange.

It has three wheels, but it's not an ordinary tricycle.

It was an ordinary tricycle, the kind that Liu Qingyue had seen at Qin Ren's house before—it was Qin Ren's grandfather's old man's tricycle.

Upon hearing this, Qin Ren replied, "That's called a 'sankuazi,' which is a type of tricycle."

"Are the three-wheeled vehicles easy to drive?"

"Yeah, it's definitely not as easy to drive as your toy car."

"So... is your car easy to drive?"

"It's hard to drive if you don't know how, but it's quite easy to drive after you've learned it systematically."

"Then, will I have a chance to drive one in the future?"

Qin Ren paused for a moment after hearing this, then said, "It's possible, but we'll have to wait until later."

Once he finds a way to get Liu Qingyue an ID card, he can let her learn to drive.

But not now. Liu Qingyue doesn't know how to drive such a large vehicle right now, and it would be a bit dangerous for her to drive it recklessly.

After that, Qin Ren didn't say anything more and began to concentrate on driving.

He had been in a car accident before, so he has to be much more careful when driving now.

Seeing that Qin Ren wasn't talking to her anymore, Liu Qingyue unknowingly fell asleep in the back seat.

Qin Ren didn't wake him up until they arrived in the county town and parked the car.

It was already past six o'clock when Qin Ren and Liu Qingyue got out of the car and headed straight for a restaurant.

The two of them had a good meal, and then they started to stroll around the county town.

When Liu Qingyue came out of the restaurant, she was still savoring the sweet and sour pork ribs she had just eaten.

He thought the food at this restaurant was quite delicious, but he didn't know if he could continue to eat there in the future.

Seeing that he didn't seem to have had enough to eat, Qin Ren smiled and said to him, "I didn't let you eat too much during the meal because there are many other delicious foods outside."

"What delicious food is there?"

"You'll see when we get to the food street."

As Qin Ren spoke, he gestured for Liu Qingyue to follow him.

It was already dark. Liu Qingyue didn't know the traffic rules. There were cars coming and going on the road, and many people were riding electric bikes.

Not only that, but because Liu Qingyue is beautiful, her long hair is particularly eye-catching.

Passersby would occasionally stare at him, their gazes filled with admiration, envy, or lust, making Liu Qingyue, a visitor from another world, feel as if she were being pricked by thorns.

In addition, Liu Qingyue is a boy, and he rarely went out before.

Even when she does go out occasionally, she likes to wear a veil or be accompanied by a group of servants.

He rarely had the opportunity to be watched by so many people, so he was very uncomfortable with it.

Just then, a man accidentally bumped into him.

When Liu Qingyue met the other person's gaze, she felt that there was something malicious in their eyes.

Seeing this, Liu Qingyue was terrified. He quickly caught up with Qin Ren and, like a frightened little animal, cautiously grabbed Qin Ren's clothes.

Qin Ren was stunned for a moment when he saw this, but then he realized that Liu Qingyue was completely unfamiliar with his world.

He had no relatives or friends here and didn't understand the local language. The only person he could rely on was Qin Ren.

Seeing his frightened expression, Qin Ren hesitated for a moment before reaching out and taking his hand.

Liu Qingyue's ears turned slightly red as her hand was held.

He's the kind of person who's good at using someone else's power to intimidate others. One second he was terrified by that stranger, but the next second, with someone backing him up, he immediately changed his tune.

Because when Qin Ren took his hand, he immediately looked triumphantly at the man from before.

The other person was also looking at Liu Qingyue, but after realizing that the man next to Liu Qingyue was very tall, he immediately looked away like a grandson and ran away.

Although they live in a society governed by the rule of law, being beaten by a man who is 1.9 meters tall still hurts quite a bit.

A petty thug like him should only bully women and weak men; he wouldn't dare provoke a tall man like Qin Ren.

Qin Ren: "What just happened?"

Liu Qingyue immediately complained, "He bumped into me and... glared at me on purpose."

Qin Ren frowned and looked in the direction where the man had disappeared, only to find that the man had already run far away.

Qin Ren thought to himself, "Why do people run away so fast when they see him? Is he that fierce-looking?"

He shouldn't be so fierce in the future, otherwise he won't even have the chance to beat someone up.

...

Liu Qingyue was dressed in modern men's clothing, but she had a beautiful head of long hair.

With his delicate features, he stands out in a crowd.

Qin Ren is tall and handsome, and the two of them holding hands easily attract attention.

Qin Ren didn't want too many people to pay attention to Liu Qingyue; this was an era of information overload and the supremacy of traffic.

He was worried that someone would spread Liu Qingyue's photos online, which would attract too much unnecessary attention to them in the future.

Similarly, Qin Ren himself is someone who doesn't like fame and doesn't want to be an internet celebrity.

Qin Ren then pulled Liu Qingyue into a pharmacy and bought a pack of face masks.

The two of them each wore a mask, and even though they looked very eye-catching because of their supermodel figures, their faces wouldn't be photographed.

Qin Ren pulled Liu Qingyue into a snack street, which was always very crowded.

From one end of the street to the other, you can find all kinds of snacks.

Qin Ren spotted someone selling the recently popular candied hawthorn with milk skin, so he pulled Liu Qingyue over and bought a skewer.

These snacks are delicious, but Qin Ren is worried about hygiene and doesn't recommend that Liu Qingyue eat too much of them.

It's fine to come here occasionally to try something new, but you can't treat these things as everyday meals.

Qin Ren pulled Liu Qingyue along, and she very politely tasted the flavor.

He really liked this sweet flavor, and one bite made him feel wonderful.

Liu Qingyue held up a candied hawthorn and said to Qin Ren, "This is delicious, would you like to try some?"

Qin Ren shook his head upon hearing this, "You eat it, I don't really like sweets."

Seeing this, Liu Qingyue began to eat in small bites.

However, since he had already eaten, and then he saw some delicious food, he ended up giving the leftovers to Qin Ren.

There was no other way; Liu Qingyue wanted to eat something else, and she couldn't throw away the remaining candied hawthorns since she couldn't finish them.

They were all people who had experienced famine and knew how precious food was, so they were reluctant to waste it.

Qin Ren frowned as he finished the candied hawthorn, and then, like a personal food waste bin for Liu Qingyue, he devoured all the fish balls and skewers that Liu Qingyue couldn't finish.

The two also went to the small square and played games such as shooting balloons, ring toss, and claw machines.

Qin Ren obtained a somewhat ugly panda doll for Liu Qingyue by shooting balloons.

Liu Qingyue had better plush toys, so she thought this inferior panda doll was a bit ugly.

However, considering that it was given to him by Qin Ren, he reluctantly accepted it.

Liu Qingyue originally wanted to continue playing, but unfortunately he had developed the habit of going to bed early, and by 10 p.m. he was too sleepy to continue.

Seeing that he was starting to feel sleepy, Qin Ren drove him back.

On the way back, Liu Qingyue, holding a panda plush toy, suddenly said something.

"It's so nice here, women here have so much freedom."

He saw many women who could come out and have fun.

They were all dressed up beautifully and no longer had to be confined to the backyard.

Unlike in their country, where women and men are confined to the backyard for most of the time, whether before or after marriage.

She had to be mindful of her husband's and in-laws' opinions to even go out. If they disagreed, she couldn't even move around in the yard.

Upon hearing this, Qin Ren said, "You envy our life here, but actually, there are also young girls here who envy your life there."

Liu Qingyue looked incredulous upon hearing this, "What do you envy about our place?"

"I envy the women in your area, who can marry kings and nobles, become noblewomen, and have servants to wait on them."

Qin Ren's words are indeed true. Back when time-travel dramas were all the rage, some kids wanted to travel back to ancient times.

Liu Qingyue couldn't understand at all. "How could they think ancient times were good? In ancient times, marriage wasn't something you could just do whenever you wanted. Especially for those aristocratic families, many sacrificed themselves for the sake of the family's interests. Sometimes, at a young age, you might have to marry an old man. What's so good about that kind of life? And if you couldn't have a son, or had difficulty having offspring, you might even be beaten and scolded."

Qin Ren: "Because of the influence of time-travel dramas, the female characters in these dramas can easily meet a noble and devoted male lead. Many young children, out of ignorance, think that as long as they can time travel, they can marry a rich, powerful, and devoted husband just like the female lead. But devotion is extremely rare even in modern times, and it's even more of a joke in ancient times."

What does "devotion" mean?

"It means being devoted to one person for life, and having only one wife for life."

After listening, Liu Qingyue scratched her palms and asked, "Then... Brother Qin, how many wives will you have in the future?"

Without even thinking, Qin Ren said, "I am a modern person, and the rule here is that only one husband and one wife are allowed."

"I mean, if there were no rules, like if you could go to ancient times and also return to the modern world at any time, would you want wives on both sides?"

"Of course not. I'm just an ordinary person. One person is enough for a lifetime."

He's not a typical overpowered protagonist, nor is he a harem male lead in male-oriented novels.

He couldn't bring himself to have romantic affairs with someone else while he had a wife.

He will naturally treat the person he marries with all his heart.

Furthermore, a person's energy is limited. Qin Ren only has enough energy to properly support one wife; he simply doesn't have the energy or time to support several others.

Qin Ren's grandparents were a perfect example. Even though his grandmother wasn't in good health and only gave birth to one child for his grandfather, their relationship remained very good.

In my grandparents' generation, families with only one child were extremely rare in the countryside; their family was practically an anomaly in the village.

"So... do you prefer ancient or modern times?"

Liu Qingyue was a young man from ancient times. In their era, it was difficult for young men to even study, so their thoughts were relatively simple and straightforward.

Furthermore, under the influence of patriarchal society, men like them, or women, could only compare and compete with each other for survival, so naturally they could not think the same way as modern people.

Qin Ren didn't think there was anything wrong with Liu Qingyue's idea, but he was a little confused as to why the conversation kept revolving around his marriage.

Qin Ren: "I think either way is fine. As long as I meet someone I like, it doesn't matter which side they're from."