CHAPTER 2

Sheng Qing was awakened by the little girl's noise, and mumbled incoherently, "Go find your father."

Wait a minute! Where did this little girl come from? Where did her father come from?

Sheng Qing suddenly opened his eyes. A little girl, about two or three years old, holding a doll, was standing timidly in front of the half-open door. The light and shadow formed by the natural light from the living room outside divided the little girl's body in two.

"No, I want my mommy!" The little girl ran into the room crying and tried to pounce on Sheng Qing, which startled Sheng Qing so much that he sat up in bed.

"Qingqing, why are you awake so early?" A gentle male voice came from the doorway, and then a handsome young man entered the room.

"You slept so late last night, take a nap. I'll wake you up when dinner is ready." The unfamiliar young man approached Sheng Qing and gently kissed her forehead.

A name flashed through Sheng Qing's mind: Meng Yunxi. He must be her husband.

The little girl stopped crying and obediently followed Meng Yunxi out the door.

Am I dreaming? Sheng Qing pinched the flesh on her thigh hard; it hurt!

One second she was lying on her hard dorm bed counting sheep, worrying about the upcoming graduation season. The next second she's a painless mom and even found a handsome husband?

Sheng Qing fumbled around by the bedside and snapped on the light.

Could I have time-traveled? Sheng Qing patted her cheeks, got up, and wanted to find a mirror to see what she looked like.

However, after searching the entire room, there was no mirror to be found. Even reflective objects had been frosted, so nothing could be reflected.

That's really strange.

Like most young girls, Sheng Qing loves reading all kinds of weird novels and occasionally fantasizes about traveling to another world, but she obviously doesn't yearn for a story where she's immediately surrounded by her family!

But we're already here, what else can we do?

Resigned to the fact that she had transmigrated, Sheng Qing began to carefully examine the room. The furniture and furnishings were almost identical to those before her transmigration. Had she traveled to a parallel universe?

Sheng Qing was opening the wardrobe to check when the bedroom door was quietly pushed open. The little girl, holding her doll, stood in the doorway, tilting her head to look at her, and asked in a childish voice, "Mommy, your scent is different from yesterday. It smells so good!" She then exaggeratedly sniffed.

Sheng Qing raised her hand and smelled it; there was no particular smell. Then, the next second, the little girl wrapped her arms and legs tightly around her legs.

Are little girls' limbs really that flexible and agile?

Sheng Qing reluctantly picked up the little girl and went to the living room, where Meng Yunxi was setting out the prepared breakfast on the table.

Sheng Qing noticed a hint of doubt flash across his face when he turned to look at her, but he quickly hid it.

"Our daughter?" Sheng Qing hadn't quite adjusted to his new identity yet. He paused, glanced at the little girl nestled in his arms with a contented expression, and asked tentatively.

Meng Yunxi frowned slightly, her eyes showing affection, and gently pulled Sheng Qing into her arms to comfort her: "Don't worry too much about Jiajia's matter, I'll handle it."

What happened to Jiajia? She's perfectly fine in my arms. Do you have another daughter?

"What's wrong with Jiajia?" Sheng Qing couldn't help but ask.

Meng Yunxi glanced at the little girl in Sheng Qing's arms, her expression shifting, and forced a smile, saying, "Jiajia is fine."

He reached out and touched the little girl's face again, "Daddy is going out to run some errands in a little while, so Jiajia should stay home and keep Mommy company."

Sheng Qing ate a couple of bites of rice before remembering that she should feed her daughter Jiajia first. However, Jiajia strongly resisted the food in front of her mouth, only clinging tightly to her mother.

Why is the little girl so attached to me?

After finishing her meal and cleaning up the kitchen, Meng Yunxi took the trash and prepared to leave.

Finally, she looked at Sheng Qing with concern and asked, "Qingqing, are you okay being home alone?"

"No problem, Jiajia is here with me." Sheng Qing couldn't help but think to herself that she wasn't a child and this concern was a bit too much.

"Oh, right." Meng Yunxi said absentmindedly.

Before transmigrating, Sheng Qing had no experience taking care of children. Should she put on some cartoons for them?

Press the power button on the remote control, and the TV screen flashes a blue light before freezing on a white snowy screen.

No signal?

Sheng Qing patted the back of the TV and randomly pressed buttons on the remote, but nothing happened. Finally, he gave up and gave a sheepish smile to the puzzled Jiajia.

"Jiajia, be a good girl, sit and play for a while, Mommy will come and play with you in a little while." Sheng cleaned a few of the dolls' hair and stuffed them into the little girl's hands.

Seeing that the little girl's attention was drawn to the doll, Sheng Qing turned and went to the window.

A thick fog was rising outside the window, a vast expanse of white obscuring everything. Pushing open the window, there was no cool breeze as I had expected, or rather, no wind at all; I couldn't even tell if it was hot or cold.

Sheng Qing searched the entire house thoroughly but found nothing unusual.

But how can modern people live without their phones? Yet, I couldn't find any phone-related items. How do people survive in this world?

Why don't we go out and take a look? Sheng Qing had a sudden idea, but after glancing at the little girl entertaining herself on the sofa, he started to feel a headache coming on.

Sighing resignedly, Sheng Qing picked up the little girl and went out the door.

"Jiajia's mom, are you going out?" I heard a warm female voice behind me while I was waiting for the elevator.

"Ahem!" A male voice rang out, then lowered his voice as if he were saying something.

"Uh, Mrs. Meng, where are we going?" the woman's voice continued.

Sheng Qing turned around and saw that the people who came were a young couple in their early twenties. Their expressions were slightly awkward, and a trace of worry flashed across their forced smiles.

"Take Jiajia downstairs for a walk." Sheng Qing didn't take the two's strange behavior to heart.

Beep! The elevator has arrived.

The woman hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and took Sheng Qing's arm as they entered the elevator together. "Why isn't Mr. Meng with you?"

At the same time, a name flashed through Sheng Qing's mind: Xiang Wan. Was that the woman's name?

"Xiang Wan?" He had been silently reciting it, but he hadn't noticed that he had spoken it aloud.

"Just call me Wanwan." The woman's expression relaxed immediately. "Can I call you Qingqing from now on? That's what Mr. Meng calls you."

“Of course,” Sheng Qing explained, “Yunxi went out on business.”

The elevator quickly descended to the first floor. Sheng Qing nodded goodbye to the two of them and slowed down to lag behind.

As expected, the area outside the main gate was also shrouded in white mist. Xiang Wan and the other person pushed open the glass door, and their figures instantly disappeared into the white mist, vanishing from Sheng Qing's sight.

Sheng Qing shivered inexplicably; her intuition told her not to act rashly.

In that moment of stunned silence, the glass door was pushed open from the outside.

Sheng Qing took a step back warily, and the next second Meng Yunxi appeared at the door with a thick folder in her hand.

"Qingqing, why did you come down?" Meng Yunxi walked quickly closer, gently put her arm around Sheng Qing's shoulder, and led her towards the elevator.

"I want to go out and have a look." Sheng Qing withdrew her gaze.

"There's nothing to see here. Your main task right now is to get some rest."

"Why?"

Meng Yunxi stared at Sheng Qing with a loving yet sorrowful gaze, but ultimately offered no explanation.

Sheng Qing felt the little girl's arms tighten around him.

"What are you looking at?" Hearing the voice, Meng Yunxi hurriedly closed the document, and the words "accident investigation report" flashed before Sheng Qing's eyes.

"It's nothing. Are you hungry? I'll go get you something to eat." Meng Yunxi stood up, lowered her head and leaned close to Sheng Qing's forehead as if she wanted to kiss her lightly, but Sheng Qing slightly turned her head to avoid it.

He wasn't annoyed. He half-pushed Sheng Qing out of the study and then locked the door.

Sheng Qing felt that he couldn't adapt to the role of a wife for a while, and when Meng Yunxi reminded him for the third time that it was time to go back to his room to sleep, he finally found an excuse.

"I'll sleep with Jiajia tonight."

In comparison, the identity of "mother" is still somewhat acceptable.

As soon as Sheng Qing lay down on the bed, the little girl wrapped herself tightly around him like an octopus.

"Jiajia, relax a little, Mommy can't breathe."

"But Mommy smells so good," the little girl mumbled, but obediently loosened her grip a little.

Perhaps she also found it difficult to fulfill the role of a mother, and Sheng Qing entered her dream with a sorrowful expression.

The room was eerily quiet. In the darkness, a clock ticked away, its hands moving rapidly. In five minutes, it would point to midnight. It was at this moment that Sheng Qing suddenly woke up.

Meanwhile, in the pitch-black night, countless eyes opened one after another.

Sheng Qing was debating whether to take the opportunity to peek at the documents that Meng Yunxi had locked in the study when she noticed that the key was in the cabinet by the kitchen door.

A faint sound came from the living room, like a needle falling to the ground, but it was heard very clearly by Sheng Qing.

Should we go take a look?

Sheng Qing carefully removed the little girl's hands and feet from his body and got off the bed barefoot.

Feeling light and full of power, Sheng Qing didn't think much of it and quietly opened the door.

"What are you dawdling for?" A cold male voice came from the living room. Meng Yunxi glanced at Sheng Qing indifferently, "Hurry up and follow me." After saying that, she went straight out the door.

What's going on? Meng Yunxi seems like a completely different person.

Sheng Qing hadn't quite reacted yet, but she still quickened her pace and followed him out the door.

Meng Yunxi moved extremely fast. Sheng Qing had just stepped out of the house when he saw him dart into the stairwell.

He jogged after him, his figure flashing as he closed the distance between him and Sheng Qing by several floors.

Can I do it too?

Sheng Qing, with a confidence that seemed to come from nowhere, imitated Meng Yunxi's movements and leaped down the stairs. Although he wasn't as agile as Meng Yunxi, he still managed to land smoothly.

It turns out I had a hidden identity!

Sheng Qing was overjoyed; this was exactly the kind of situation she had imagined after transmigrating.

After rushing for a while, Sheng Qing finally saw Meng Yunxi by the stone pillar outside the building's main entrance.

He was putting on his mask when he saw Sheng Qingguang's entire face exposed, and his brows furrowed.

"Are you out of your mind?" Then he threw something else at him, which Sheng Qing barely caught—a mask.

"Take them with you." The voice remained indifferent. "They'll be here soon too."

Sheng Qing didn't ask any more questions and quickly took them with him.

Soon a few people appeared, and Meng Yunxi glanced at them, seemingly confirming their identities.

Then he took out a map from his pocket, and everyone immediately gathered around it. Sheng Qing also leaned in to listen carefully to their discussion.

It was supposed to be a discussion, but in reality, it was mostly Meng Yunxi pointing and drawing on the map, and then drawing circles in a certain area of ​​the map.

"Today's task is to search this area."

"You two are responsible for the area between 12 o'clock and 2 o'clock..." Meng Yunxi assigned everyone to their posts one by one, and finally instructed, "If you find anything wrong, immediately send a signal for help. Don't be reckless. Meet up at 3 a.m.

"Okay," everyone responded in unison, and then quickly dispersed.

Only then did Sheng Qing have time to notice the bright moon hanging in the sky. The outer edge of the moon's shadow faintly emitted a crimson color, revealing a hint of eeriness.

The world outside the building, which was shrouded in white during the day, now revealed its true nature to Sheng Qing.

Apart from a few buildings that remain conspicuously intact, it seems as if a natural disaster or a man-made catastrophe caused by heavy weapons has occurred here, with ruins everywhere.

"Why are you following me?" Meng Yunxi's tone was impatient.

"Huh?" Sheng Qing was taken aback for a moment, then explained, "But there are already two of them, and you are all alone."

"I don't need any burdens." Meng Yunxi refused without hesitation, and quickly moved towards the 9 o'clock to 12 o'clock direction.

Sheng Qing did indeed want to choose the most powerful figure to follow, but who knew what strange creatures might suddenly appear in this godforsaken place? He hadn't even figured out the situation yet, and if he encountered one, his life would likely be in danger.

"But they've all gone far away." Sheng Qing glanced at the area they were supposed to be heading towards between 5 and 7 o'clock. "Can I follow you?"

Seemingly having heard Sheng Qing's voice, Meng Yunxi did not reply, but her movements slowed slightly. Seeing this, Sheng Qing was overjoyed and quickened her pace to catch up.