Chapter 146 IF (Ancient to Modern) Time Travel (The Dog Chases His Wife) 1: After Yu Lang's death, Shen Wanqing fell seriously ill in the winter of the third year. Originally...
After Yu Lang's death, Shen Wanqing fell ill and never recovered in the winter of the third year.
I initially thought it was just a common cold, but for some reason it kept lingering and wouldn't go away completely. Fortunately, even at its worst, I only had a fever and cough, without any other major discomfort. On Lunar New Year's Eve, I even felt particularly energetic after taking the medicine.
In the afternoon, she got up and had her maid help her take a bath, put her hair up, and change into her new winter clothes. She spent New Year's Eve with Yi'an and Sui Ning, who had returned home for the New Year. They ate dumplings after midnight before she went back to her room to lie down.
Shen Wanqing thought she would be tired, but she couldn't fall asleep at all. Images from the past few years flashed through her mind like a revolving lantern. Some were very important, others she hadn't thought about for many years, but recalling them now seemed quite interesting.
Turning to the side, I could see the rabbit lantern on the table by the light of a candle burning in the distance.
The rabbit lantern was a gift from Yi An's six-year-old granddaughter. The chubby rabbit wasn't very well made, but the child just loved it and didn't want anything else.
Looking at the rabbit lantern reminded Shen Wanqing of the first Mid-Autumn Festival she spent with Yulang. She couldn't remember if she had fallen for Yulang back then. But that night, the plump rabbit lantern illuminated the two of them, and Shen Wanqing was certain that for a moment, she felt genuinely happy looking at Yulang.
Thinking of Yu Lang, Shen Wanqing couldn't help but tuck the blanket in even tighter. She had shared the bed with him for so many years, and now that it was her turn to sleep alone, she felt uncomfortable.
The days usually pass by slowly, like flowing water, and it seems that there aren't many times in a day when I think of that person. If I find some entertainment or have guests come to pay their respects, I might sleep all day and not even think of them.
But at this moment, every scene and every fragment that flashed through Shen Wanqing's mind seemed to be him, from his youthful spirit, when he was so confused that he could never figure out how many hundred taels of pocket money he had received, to his later maturity and stability, which enabled him to support a family or even a clan.
Then later on, he started nagging himself endlessly about whether he could buy an extra knife or raise a pair of crickets for a little money. It seemed like a long period of decades, but it also felt like just a dream.
Until Shen Wanqing could no longer distinguish between reality and dream, she felt her whole body sinking down, from fear to calmness to a faint expectation: So this is what death tastes like? It doesn't seem so terrible after all.
Death is not scary, but the alarm clock that comes with your phone is terrifying!
When Shen Wanqing was woken up by an alarm clock, she was so startled that she jumped up from the recliner. Unfortunately, the recliner's base was too low to support her weight, and before she could even jump up, she and the recliner tipped over and fell to the ground.
There was only so much space between the desk and the recliner, making it feel a bit like Versailles. It had been quite a few years since Shen Wanqing had stayed in such a cramped place.
Suddenly, I didn't know what to do with my hands and feet. I just instinctively raised one hand and groped around on the desk for a while before finding my phone and turning off the alarm.
Cell phone? Alarm clock?!
Shen Wanqing finally woke up a little from that big dream. Holding her phone, which had been smashed to pieces at the construction site, she carefully swiped the home screen, then opened WeChat contacts and scrolled down one by one.
She wanted to talk to someone to prove that she was real. But she was also afraid that if this version of herself was real, then was the other world fake?
How could it be fake? So many days and nights, so much effort, and that person—how could all of that be fake? If all of that was fake, then where could I truly be now?
My mind was a complete mess. I scrolled through my contacts for ages without reaching the end, so I just exited and went to Moments.
The latest update was exactly as expected: it was all ads posted by colleagues from the sales office. It was no surprise that these posts were all task-based, and they were all grouped so that only colleagues could see them.
She used to complain that she didn't know what was actually being sold by posting these kinds of ads, that it was just self-deception. But now, Shen Wanqing felt a sense of reassurance looking at this; it couldn't be a dream, after all, there could never be such a realistic real estate advertisement in a dream.
Shen Wanqing couldn't help but laugh at first, then she couldn't help but cry. She hid under the desk, clutching her battered and bruised phone, and cried so heartbreakingly that the sun and moon seemed to lose their light.
She cried until the children in the logistics department reheated the long-cold takeout and brought it in, and only then did she scramble to her feet.
"Sister Qing, why are you crying? Did something happen? Did our company go bankrupt too?"
"Go away, go away, can't you say something nice? I didn't cry, I just... I just..."
Shen Wanqing originally wanted to say that she had a nightmare, but since the dream not only contained nightmares but also Yulang and the two children, she couldn't say it in such a harsh way.
"I dreamt that my phone broke and I had to buy a new one, and I felt bad about spending the money."
The company was already used to Shen Wanqing's ability to spout nonsense with a straight face, and the logistics girl stopped asking questions and just pushed the reheated food towards Shen Wanqing.
"Sister Qing, please eat quickly. I have an appointment with my supervisor at 3 PM to inspect the project in the south, and there's a meeting at 5:30 PM when I get back. There's also an interview tomorrow morning that you might need to attend. What time would be best for you to attend?"
"What kind of noodles..."
I will give you an answer before 5 p.m.
It's been so long, she lived a lifetime in her dreams. Back then, Shen Wanqing would occasionally fantasize about what she would do if she could travel back in time after a nap. At that time, she felt that she remembered everything about her past self from the depths of her memory, without forgetting a single detail.
It wasn't until she was actually back that Shen Wanqing felt a sense of unfamiliarity. She stared at the computer screen, unsure of what to click, and as for whether or not she had an interview, she had completely forgotten who she was supposed to interview for and what the position was.
Memories can't be rushed. Back when she transmigrated into Shen Wanqing, at least she had a night to process them. Now, let alone going to work, even speaking, Shen Wanqing felt that her mannerisms were off.
She made up an excuse to slip away in the afternoon, went home, took a shower, changed into her pajamas, turned off her phone, hugged her pumpkin pillow that hadn't been washed in a long time and was almost worn out, and finally lay down on her own bed.
She had originally intended to reminisce, but what was there to reminisce about when it was all her own stuff? Lost in thought, Shen Wanqing inexplicably fell asleep again. This time, her last thought before drifting off was: Who am I going to interview tomorrow?
It's hard to go from luxury to frugality. Even though this body hadn't enjoyed much happiness, Shen Wanqing woke up the next morning with a stiff neck because the bed was too hard.
Sitting in her own home, on her own bed, Shen Wanqing actually laughed at herself in exasperation. After laughing, she decisively flopped back onto the bed and first made a video call to her mother.
Her mother was buying groceries on the other end of the phone. After the call connected, Shen Wanqing took her phone and went into the bathroom to wash up and put on makeup.
Yesterday, Shen Wanqing wanted to book the fastest high-speed rail ticket to go back, but a corporate slave is a corporate slave. Today, there is still a lot of work waiting for her to handle on several projects. Taking half a day off is already the limit. If she wants to take more time off, she can expect to be scolded by her boss.
On the phone, her mother seemed oblivious to anything amiss, continuing to recount the events of the past few days. She then bumped into an acquaintance at the market and started chatting with them. By the time Shen Wanqing remembered her phone was still connected, she had almost finished her makeup.
"Why are your eyes red?"
"I poked myself with the eyeliner."
"You keep saying you're busy, busy, busy. If you're busy, you should sleep in a little longer in the morning. Why do you have to get up every day to put on makeup? It would be so much better to sleep for ten more minutes."
"Mom, I am the Great Demon King, and the Great Demon King cannot appear in public without full makeup."
Shen Wanqing listened to her mother's nagging with red eyes. There were too many people at the market in the morning, and the whole screen on her mother's end was shaking violently. Even though Shen Wanqing was on the verge of tears listening to her mother's voice, it was easy to gloss over it.
Having lived a lifetime longer than her mother, Shen Wanqing was overwhelmed with emotion at this moment and was about to burst into tears. Then! The next second, she instantly held back the tears that had already welled up in her eyes.
“Come back when you have time. Your aunt has introduced you to someone. Come back and take a look.”
"Mom! Mom? What did you say? The signal is too bad over there, I have to hang up now, I'm going to be late for work!"
Acting like a drama queen, Shen Wanqing hung up the phone and couldn't help but burst out laughing in front of her dressing table. What was all this nonsense? Even the most touching moment couldn't last three minutes. It's so annoying!
She thought it was annoying, but the smile on her face didn't disappear. After making the call, she composed herself and went to work. From the moment she drove out of the underground parking garage, Shen Wanqing was constantly on the phone, coordinating various work-related matters.
It wasn't until 10:30 a.m., when I was sitting in the conference room waiting for HR to bring over the kids who had passed the first and second rounds of interviews, that I finally had some free time to reflect on everything I had done that morning.
Then, the thought of my mother saying that morning that she would introduce me to a blind date suddenly popped into my head. It wasn't that I was thinking about the blind date, but for no reason, I suddenly thought of Yulang again.
The person, who was both far away and right in front of her, sneezed several times because of Shen Wanqing's constant nagging, and was then looked down upon by the other people waiting for their interviews.
Enraged, Lord Yu rolled his eyes at the man and gave a soft snort. This was Lord Yu's signature move in the court back in the day. Even if he was in the wrong, he could still infuriate the person on the other side with just this slightly contemptuous arrogance.
The moment Yu Lang opened his eyes again after his death, he felt he had finally touched the edge of the truth. His body, which had been frail and old, was rejuvenated.
He didn't know if this was possession or astral projection. All he knew was that the back of his head was throbbing with pain, and that he was no longer Yu Lang, but a graduate student named Fang Yulang.
Fang Yulang majored in Physical Education as an undergraduate, but as he was about to graduate, he discovered that it wasn't easy to find a job in his field. He decided to switch majors and pursue a master's degree. Firstly, he wanted to see if he could learn something different, and secondly, he thought that maybe finding a job would be easier in two years.
During Fang Yulang's postgraduate entrance exam preparation, he went out drinking with friends one day. He drank too much and fell into the toilet while taking a shower in his dormitory. When he woke up after being taken to the school hospital by his roommate, Yu Daren had already replaced his core.
Yu Lang was luckier than Shen Wanqing back then, because even though he appeared confused and helpless after falling and hitting his head, it was all masked by the concussion. Even though he babbled incoherently, everyone just assumed he hadn't recovered yet.
But traveling from hundreds of years ago to the era of information explosion is still too difficult for Yu Lang. He possesses all of Fang Yulang's memories, but that doesn't mean he can conceal the clash between his soul and reality as well as Shen Wanqing.
Putting everything else aside, just the fact that Master Yu has to learn to share a dormitory room with the other three people is already a serious problem.
Back in the manor, the head maid and the first-class maid could share a room, two to a room. Now, as a college student, this is the kind of treatment I get?
If he can't even adapt to this, let alone mobile phones, the internet, cars, airplanes, high-speed trains, and so on. In Yu Lang's view, these are things that could never be written in Buddhist scriptures, Taoist scriptures, or the most imaginative storybooks.
He had doubted more than once that he was not possessed by another body and had come to this world, but rather that he had never done anything immoral in this life, and that God had taken pity on him and given him the most unreal dream in the world.
Fortunately, Lord Yu was a cunning old fox who had been immersed in the ups and downs of officialdom for decades. Even though he was not used to it, he could still barely keep his composure. Apart from saying the wrong thing and suffering from insomnia due to sharing a dormitory with his roommate, he gradually figured out the trick to playing dumb, which was to talk less and read more books.
When people ask why Fang Dashuai, who used to be the most flamboyant and playful guy, isn't going out anymore, he always uses the excuse that he's preparing for graduate school entrance exams.
Although he didn't quite understand what he was supposed to be researching, it didn't stop him from using the original owner's memories, his flexible attitude, his experience in the Ministry of Works, and his aesthetic sense honed over the years to get into a graduate program in architectural heritage conservation.
The Fang family is not short of money; otherwise, they wouldn't have let him pursue a sports major back then, let alone study sports education.
The family had already prepared for their son to be unemployed after graduating from university, and had even arranged a position for him in the family company. As long as he went back and studied diligently for a few years, they wouldn't have to go out and suffer, even if they didn't give him the whole company.
So, while the Fang family wasn't particularly happy that Fang Yulang had actually been accepted into graduate school, they supported him in pursuing his studies. Parents' attitudes are generally the same: there's no such thing as a child not wanting to study, only a lack of motivation; they're always willing to support their children's education.
Fang Yulang is his mother's only son, but he also has two half-brothers and a half-sister. Fang Yulang himself is very resistant to this and has always been at odds with his father.
But this was nothing to Yulang. Why bother? What was the point of arguing about money? If he didn't want it, why should he let someone else benefit from it?
Therefore, after being admitted to graduate school, Yulang tried every means to get a sum of money from his father and spent two years gradually figuring out what this new world was all about.
The more he understood, the clearer Shen Wanqing's image became in his heart. It wasn't just about her appearance or origins; it was more like an exploration and resonance of the soul.
He finally understood what it was like to be alone in this strange world, amidst the vastness of nature, and he understood the melancholy and regret his wife had never been able to comprehend in her entire life. Who wouldn't feel regret for someone who grew up in such a world, only to be forced to spend their entire life in it?
Of course, Yu Lang was still trying to find Shen Wanqing, but his own power was too small, and there were many people with the same name as Shen Wanqing, so searching for them one by one would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Moreover, Yu Lang was a little scared, afraid that if he were the only one who came, she would truly be trapped in her own world until death and never be able to return.
He was even more afraid that she would come back but not want to meet him again. After all, the longer he stayed in this world, the more he understood how much Shen Wanqing had compromised in order to survive, and he was, in the end, part of her compromise.
Now that she's been given a second chance at life, would she still want to see him?
With such trepidation, Yu Lang stumbled through two years of graduate school. He made many jokes and learned a lot of survival skills. Just when he was finally able to integrate into the world without anyone noticing anything amiss, Yu Lang faced a new challenge: finding a job.
He didn't really want to go back to the Fang family's company, so he had no choice but to send out resumes one by one. Calling his major a sunset industry would be too kind; he could only send his resume to the largest companies he could to get an interview.
Today, the construction group was having campus recruitment. Yu Lang had only submitted one resume and hadn't paid much attention to it, but unexpectedly, they called him to invite him for an interview. He passed both the first and second rounds, and only then did he really take it seriously.
"Ms. Qing, the person has arrived. Would you like to bring them in now?"
"The same old rules apply. We'll bring them in one by one, from lowest to highest, based on the combined results of the first and second rounds."
The group conducts campus recruitment every year. Although the employees recruited through campus recruitment are young and inexperienced, that's precisely the advantage. It's not that we're trying to deceive young people just entering the workforce; it's just that medium to large groups like this always have rules and regulations for everything they do.
The kids we recruit into the company right after they graduate from school learn quickly no matter what we're taught, and once they do, they're quick-witted too.
Sometimes, colleagues who switch jobs from other companies in the same industry are not incapable of doing their jobs, but because their work styles and processes are different from before, the time and effort required to get them to work on the same task can be a real headache.
Shen Wanqing got in this way back then. Later, when it was her turn to interview the new kids, she couldn't help but joke that she really looked like an evil older sister in an animated film. She had to put on a stern face and scare the kids, who had plenty of collagen in their faces and hadn't experienced the harsh realities of life, into trembling with fear.
The group's general practice for many projects is to look at the best one first; if it's the best, then there's no need to look at the others.
Shen Wanqing, however, always started from the bottom in the interview process. She couldn't say she was particularly kind; she just felt that since the other person had passed the first and second rounds of interviews, she should at least have a serious chat and take a look at them, regardless of whether they wanted to or not.
Yulang's combined score from the two interviews originally ranked second, but the person who ranked first didn't show up today, either due to some unexpected event or because they had found a better place. So Yulang became the last person to be interviewed.
Fang Yulang's name made Shen Wanqing's heart skip a beat. She had only been back for a day, but she hadn't seen that person for three years.
That person was clearly younger than me, but somehow they died before me. As they died, they said to me with a bittersweet tone that they would wait for me on the Bridge of Helplessness and that they wanted to be husband and wife in the next life.
Now, I'm back. I wonder if that person is still waiting on the Bridge of Helplessness. What if he's stubborn and can't wait for me?
The vice president and two project managers standing nearby saw Shen Wanqing pause for a moment while pointing at the interviewee's name, and assumed she was particularly interested in this person, so they even pulled out Fang Yulang's resume.
Sometimes, things just happen by chance. Fang Yulang's resume was missing a photo, and the vice president, after searching for a while without finding it, let it go. Shen Wanqing looked at the resume and couldn't see anything wrong, until she heard footsteps at the door, at which point her heart skipped a beat.
Before they could figure out what this omen meant, the door was pushed open from the outside after the knocking.
The small conference room wasn't large. Standing at the door was Yu Lang, who was tall, strong, and handsome. The noble air he carried from being in a position of power his whole life made the two project managers in the conference room exchange glances.
Combined with the fact that Shen Wanqing had just tapped his name with her finger, the two of them now suspected that some young master had been sent down from above to investigate the people's conditions.
Only Shen Wanqing stared blankly at the person standing in the doorway with the backlight. Who else could it be but that nemesis?
Looking at Shen Wanqing, whose appearance and attire were completely different from his wife, Yu Lang knew with just one glance that the person sitting in the middle was the lover he had longed for all his life, and who would probably continue to long for all his life.
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First, I created the IF line.
There will be a red envelope giveaway in the comments section of this chapter. I hope you all like the modern dog.
This column has a pre-order novel: "Miss Jiang's Exile Notes" (ancient time-travel story).
Post-apocalyptic "Farming in the Wasteland"
Contemporary romance novel, "Summer of Twenty-Five Years" (starring a female protagonist).
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