Chapter 147 IF (Ancient to Modern) Time Travel (The Dog Chasing His Wife) 2: No melodramatic long-awaited reunion, just a typical job interview. ...
There were no dramatic reunions, just a typical interview conducted as usual.
Both of them were shrewd individuals who had been trained by the emperor and his many princes. Even though their hearts were in turmoil, they were still able to maintain a calm demeanor.
As long as one can ignore Yu Lang's suddenly softened eyes and the smile on his lips, as long as one can disregard Shen Wanqing's evasive and avoidant gaze, and even the fact that she didn't make eye contact with Yu Lang throughout the entire interview, everything seems perfectly normal.
After the interview ended, Yu Lang got up and walked over to the people who had interviewed him. He asked them in a very well-behaved and polite manner across the table: "If I don't pass the interview, can I come back to ask you for advice on any professional questions in the future?"
These words might have sounded awkward coming from anyone else, but they came from Yu Lang. He exuded sincerity, and his flattery made the several vice presidents and project managers who were interviewing him feel incredibly comfortable. Before Yu Lang could even speak, they had already asked him to add them on WeChat.
After all, Fang Yulang's education and family background are clearly excellent. Even if he isn't the son of a high-ranking executive, who knows what his future holds? It's always good to make connections and build positive relationships.
Listening to the vice president, who was already in his late fifties and had been in charge of logistics since last year and wanted to get involved in everything, speaking to Yu Lang with the air of someone who had been through it all, Shen Wanqing couldn't help but laugh.
She knew, of course, that this person was after her, hoping to take the opportunity to add her on WeChat. Now look what happened—he shot himself in the foot. Shen Wanqing couldn't be bothered with him; she had a business lunch to eat after the interview, so let the kid do whatever he wanted.
Shen Wanqing was the first to get up and leave, and the vice presidents and project managers also went about their own business. As for Yu Lang? After adding several people on WeChat only to have Shen Wanqing deliberately slip away, he only received a reply from HR telling him to go back and wait for news.
"President Qing, President Qing?"
"Huh? Ah!"
"Sorry, I was daydreaming. Could you please repeat what you just said?"
"I've been hearing rumors these past few days that the group will shift its focus to Southeast Asia next year. Is that true?"
Given the unfavorable economic climate, besides enduring the hardship, we also need to find a way out. Expanding outwards has been a legitimate path in recent years. Although Shen Wanqing still has work to do, the two plots of land won't last long. Once the main construction here is almost finished, deciding where to go next will become particularly important.
"If what I say is true, are you still planning to go with me?"
It's true, and the headquarters leaders have spoken with Shen Wanqing several times. Shen Wanqing is shrewd enough, but not so heartless; she's capable enough without being overbearing or ruthless.
The customs and traditions there are different from those in China, so being too assertive might not be a good thing. After much discussion, the CEOs all felt that sending Shen Wanqing with her team might be a good option.
"As long as Qing is willing to take me, I'm willing to go."
Zhang Huai, who was driving, was Shen Wanqing's driver and secretary. He used to be just a secretary, but after two rounds of staff reductions, the position of driver also came to him.
"You don't want your wife and kids anymore?"
"You need money to have a wife and kids. What if you don't have money or a job and can't support your wife and kids?"
Old Zhang is from the north, and he speaks with a strong Northeastern accent. Although he's called Old Zhang, he's only two years older than Shen Wanqing. He and his wife had their second child last year, and he really doesn't want to lose his job.
"Even if our company is struggling, our salaries are still paid in full, without any delays or arrears. Although they won't increase, at least they won't decrease either. It's too difficult to find a job like this after leaving our company. Anyway, I'm giving you a heads-up now. If you really leave, you have to take me with you no matter what."
Last year, when Shen Wanqing was promoted and choosing a secretary, she was competing with Lao Zhang for a handsome young man who had just graduated and a gentle, thirty-year-old woman. It seemed that both of them were more competitive than Lao Zhang.
But Lao Zhang's strength lies in his ability to handle things. He follows Shen Wanqing to the construction site and to the dinner table, and no matter the situation, as long as Shen Wanqing makes arrangements, he can complete the work to the fullest extent. Even if he doesn't do a good job sometimes, there must be a reason, and he must have tried his best.
Before experiencing that lifetime, Shen Wanqing was actually a bit of a homebody. She felt that her current position and savings were good enough, and that maintaining her current basic situation was sufficient.
With today's advanced transportation, even for work across cities or provinces, returning home for Shen Wanqing is just a matter of buying a ticket. But going abroad is a different story. What if something happens and she can't come back?
But now her mindset is completely different. In her previous life, apart from occasionally going out of the capital with Yu Lang, the place she spent the most time was the Hesheli family, and the second place was a few estates outside the city. She spent her whole life going back and forth like that.
Now that she was finally free, Shen Wanqing was actually quite tempted by Lao Zhang's suggestion to go and explore new territories.
However, things were still far from settled, and with Zhang Huai's comment and Shen Wanqing's response, neither of them pushed the topic any further. Zhang Huai glanced at Shen Wanqing's expression in the rearview mirror and had a general idea of what was going on.
"Ms. Qing, were any of the kids we met this morning good?"
"Okay, how do I know if it's good?"
"They need to be capable and smart, and not act on their own. Kids these days are hard to teach; it'll be a problem if you regret it after you've already hired them."
Capable and intelligent—isn't that Yu Lang? Shen Wanqing had already memorized all of Fang Yulang's information. It didn't matter if she didn't hire him; he wouldn't starve at home anyway. But hiring him was also an option; after all, in terms of excellence among this batch, Shen Wanqing didn't think anyone could compare to him.
Fortunately, she still had a week to consider it, so Shen Wanqing could hesitate a little longer. This wolf cub was not someone to be trifled with; if she brought him in, it was hard to say whether she could escape.
After work, there was another meeting, which was supposed to last only half an hour. Just as the meeting was about to end, the head of headquarters took a video call and, instead of saying much, ended up talking for over an hour. Shen Wanqing finally couldn't take it anymore and found an opening to interrupt the head of headquarters, thus ending the meeting.
I went down to the underground parking garage and drove home. Just as I turned the corner after leaving the gate, I saw a dark, vaguely familiar figure squatting by the roadside. I drove past it, then turned around at the next intersection and drove back. I got out of the car and saw that the large figure squatting on the curb was none other than Yulang.
"Why are you squatting here? The interview results aren't out yet."
"You don't want me, do you?"
Instead of answering Shen Wanqing's question, Yu Lang, who was squatting on the ground, looked up and stared straight at Shen Wanqing, asking the question that he had been pondering all day.
"Why are you squatting here waiting for me? Who told you to squat by the roadside like this? What if I drive by and don't see you? If you're so smart, why don't you sneak into the underground parking garage and wait for my car?"
“My classmates all squat like this. If you don’t like it, I won’t squat anymore.”
Shen Wanqing's face was devoid of a smile, and their conversation was somewhat nonsensical. Both of them were testing each other, especially Yu Lang, who had spent the entire afternoon trying to come up with a reason why Shen Wanqing would disregard everything and insist on staying with him.
"Do you live at school or at home? Or do you rent a place outside?"
"I can't go back to school, and the dorms are about to close."
"Get in the car first."
Yu Lang had rented his own place, but given the current situation, how could he not use some tricks? It had been a whole day and he still hadn't gotten Shen Wanqing's WeChat. This person was clearly planning to abandon him.
The nights of late summer and early autumn were no longer so hot. She opened the car window to let the wind in, and for the first time, Shen Wanqing drove with the air of someone piloting an airplane. She focused intently on the road ahead, even her breathing became lighter.
The man beside her was both too familiar and too unfamiliar; the two timelines seemed more real yet both so dreamlike because of his presence.
From yesterday until the very last second before she met Yu Lang, Shen Wanqing never imagined she would meet him again in this lifetime. Did she like him? Yes. How could she not like someone she would share a lifetime of love and companionship with? Should she stay with him? She didn't know.
Because she had never had a choice in her life from the very beginning, Shen Wanqing instinctively hated everything that meant she couldn't choose and had no freedom, even if Yu Lang was standing on the other side of that answer.
“I came here two years ago. When I first arrived, I thought I was crazy.”
"After I found out who I was and where I was, I knew where Jiyun came from."
Shen Wanqing was very nervous, and Yu Lang couldn't help but feel a little bitter seeing this. But he still tentatively started to talk to her about his life over the past two years. She didn't ask, so he took the initiative to tell her. Anyone can be shameless; if you're not shameless, you'll lose your wife.
"Whether you know it or not, you've lived a lifetime anyway, so it makes no difference."
"have!"
Shen Wanqing's words were rather cold-blooded and heartless, causing the puppy to bark immediately. Only after barking did it remember that it was still sitting in her car and shouldn't have lost its temper.
"I've always felt that you don't love me enough, I've always felt that you're holding back from me. I don't know what's still between us, I once thought I could entrust my life to you..."
"Me too."
Shen Wanqing felt a pang of sadness. In their past life, the two seemed to be deeply in love and trust each other, but the world they lived in meant that Shen Wanqing's body was destined to be dependent on Yu Lang for the rest of her life in order to live well. And Shen Wanqing's reserved heart from beginning to end meant that Yu Lang was destined to live a life of anxiety and uncertainty, and he couldn't find the reason why.
"Really, I can too."
While waiting at the traffic light, Shen Wanqing finally turned her head to look seriously at the man beside her for the first time. Their names sounded the same, and their eyebrows and expressions were identical. His handsome features and deep-set eyes were so striking that only someone like Yu Lang could truly embody them.
"I just..."
“I understand, Jiyun, there’s no need for explanation. There’s a chasm of time between us at that point in time, isn’t there?”
"That's so cheesy. What do you mean by 'where you come from'? Let me tell you, it's rare for me to live another life, and it's even rarer for you to live another life. Stop thinking about me and think about yourself. Think about how you want to live this life."
Shen Wanqing regretted saying this as soon as it was spoken. How could she have sounded like a preachy old scholar? How could someone who had lived two lives not know how to live their own life?
Maybe the person waiting for him just wants to catch up. The world is so wonderful and vast, with so many things and places waiting for him to explore. Why should he be hung up on this one person?
Seeing Shen Wanqing's regret for saying too much, Yu Lang felt a sense of calm after waiting all day. He turned to look out the car window, and only then did he dare to smile.
He didn't dare let Shen Wanqing know how happy or sad he was today. In the past two years, he had heard his roommates talk about love and women too much while living in the dormitory. He felt that he should be more reserved in whatever he said now.
Shen Wanqing lives not far from her company in a mid-to-high-end residential area in the city. Fortunately, she got an internal price when she bought the house, and now her monthly housing provident fund can cover more than half of the mortgage, so she has almost no pressure on living costs.
The layout of a two-elevator, three-unit, three-bedroom, one-living room, one-kitchen, and two-bathroom apartment is more than enough for Shen Wanqing, who currently lives alone.
Shen Wanqing always kept her life and work very separate, and rarely had colleagues come to her home, especially male colleagues. Yu Lang took off his shoes and stood at the door watching Shen Wanqing open the shoe cabinet and painstakingly rummage through the men's slippers at the very back, feeling a little smug.
But once he put on his slippers and sat down on Shen Wanqing's living room sofa, he realized he had been too happy for too long.
"Yulang, I lied to you about something. I know you already know, but I still have to tell you. The person you spent your whole life with wasn't the second daughter of the Shen family of the Han Army Banner, it was me, it was me, Shen Wanqing."
"On the day of your wedding, which day in that world were you in?"
"I opened my eyes and found myself in a bridal sedan chair. How many days has it been?!"
Shen Wanqing stood next to the island between the open kitchen and living room, leaning against it, clearly not wanting to get too close to Yu Lang.
Having been husband and wife for a lifetime, they knew each other too well. Now, all Shen Wanqing could do was try to keep her distance from this man. If she got too close, she was afraid she wouldn't be able to control herself, and if they ended up together again without any clear reason, things would really get complicated.
"I'm sorry, it's really difficult for you to marry me on the first day."
Having lived a whole life, someone who prided himself on having weathered every storm, it took him two years to adapt to this new world and become who he is now. Yu Lang couldn't even imagine what kind of horrible story it was when Shen Wanqing opened her eyes to find herself in a bridal sedan chair.
Yu Lang stood up, wanting to hug his wife. But looking at the person in front of him whose features were so different, he clearly realized he couldn't; to actually hug her would be to act like a pervert.
He could only sit back down on the sofa, feeling awkward, and grabbed one of Shen Wanqing's cushions to hug: "You really don't have anything you want to ask me, it's all me asking you questions."
"It's good that you know you talk too much. Aren't you thirsty after talking so much?"
If Yu Lang had actually tried to pull that "long-lost reunion" act, Shen Wanqing would have immediately asked him to leave her house, but he didn't.
Looking at the person sitting on her sofa like a stray dog that no one wanted, Shen Wanqing sighed deeply, finally poured herself a glass of warm water, and sat down on the sofa as well: "Drink some water, your lips are all chapped. Didn't your family prepare any money for you when you came out for the interview?"
"I have money, but when I see you, my heart races and I don't dare go anywhere."
In my confusion, I forgot everything. I spent the whole day wandering around, afraid to go too far, lest Shen Wanqing disappear. Yet I also dared not get too close, afraid she would be unhappy if I seemed too eager. I was constantly anxious and insecure, completely losing myself.
He hadn't even had a drink of water, and Shen Wanqing was too lazy to ask him if he had eaten. She got up and went to the kitchen to cook him two packets of instant noodles and two fried eggs. After thinking for a moment, she took out the last bunch of bok choy from the refrigerator, washed it, and cooked it together with the noodles.
Do you prefer your eggs soft-boiled or hard-boiled?
"I don't like eating it cooked; I can't eat it uncooked."
That concludes Shen Wanqing's most authentic culinary skills demonstration. Lord Yu is now enjoying the top-notch treatment that President Qing can provide.
“I went to eat Western food with my classmates. I thought the medium-rare steak was pretty good, but the meat quality wasn’t very good. It wasn’t as fresh as the beef we used to eat.”
When Yu Lang used to hunt, he would often roast whatever he caught over a fire at noon. Sometimes the meat was roasted until tender and still slightly pink, which he adapted to quite well. The only thing he couldn't stand was soft-boiled eggs.
"The bright orange juice burst open with just one poke, flowing onto the beef and the black pepper sauce, creating a messy, unpleasant puddle. I wasted a whole plate of meat without even eating it."
Yu Lang ate a large bowl of noodles with vegetables and an egg with great relish. Shen Wanqing sat quietly beside him, listening to him recount some interesting things from the past two years. Regardless of their current relationship, they were now the most empathetic people in the world.
It's not just that traveling back from modern times to several hundred years ago is difficult; for someone like Yu Lang, who has been treated like royalty since birth, to gradually learn about equality and the people being the masters of their own destiny after arriving several hundred years later, he would also suffer a lot.
However, the scene of their reunion was too dignified, and neither of them wanted to reveal their most painful experiences to the other at this moment. After being husband and wife for a lifetime, they still had this tacit understanding.
"Alright, we've finished eating and it's getting late, let's go back." After Yu Lang finished drinking all the soup from his instant noodles, Shen Wanqing finally composed herself and stopped avoiding him.
“Yulang, it’s not easy to live another life. You are different from me. In my life, you were the only one I could rely on, and that was the only path I could take.”
"You're still young, with a long and limitless future ahead of you. Don't think that just because you've met me again, you have to be with me. There are actually many possibilities. Think about it, if you hadn't come for the interview today, the two of us..."
How about the two of us?
Yu Lang looked intently at Shen Wanqing, his beautiful eyes filled with tears, and even his eyebrows drooped slightly, making him look more like an unwanted puppy.
"Even though we've never met again, shouldn't we still live out the rest of our lives well?"
Shen Wanqing felt she was being overly sentimental, but she just had this inexplicable sense of resentment. She loved Yulang, so why did she have to spend her life with him?
Besides, there's no such thing as arranged marriages anymore. Fang Yulang is only twenty-five, while she's almost thirty. It's a relationship where the woman is older than the man and it's a May-December romance, so Shen Wanqing isn't really happy about it.
"But we just happened to meet again. There's no such thing as not meeting. Shen Wanqing, you really treat me like a child. I've spent my whole life with you, my whole life."
Yu Lang was a little angry, though he didn't know why. He wanted to question Shen Wanqing about whether she didn't like him anymore, but she looked more like she was about to cry than he did, so he couldn't bear to ask her that.
"Don't nitpick with me, you know exactly what I mean. People get tired and bored eventually, don't let your current emotions control your life. I feel the same way, I don't want my current attachments to influence my decisions either."
"Then don't make assumptions about my choices. Ms. Qing, you're the CEO of a construction company, not my school counselor. Do you think I'll listen to you when you tell me this?"
Yu Lang was almost amused by Shen Wanqing's antics, but he knew he couldn't rush things. If he pushed her too far, she might really run away, and he wasn't the powerful Lord Yu who could find someone so easily anymore.
"Alright, I'm not going to keep going back and forth with you. I'll ask you one more question and then I'm leaving."
"Go ahead and ask."
"Can you add me on WeChat?"
...
…………
Watching Yu Lang pull his phone out of his pocket to ask to add her on WeChat was still a bit absurd. But Shen Wanqing still took out her phone and added him on WeChat. He had no real family in this world, and Shen Wanqing couldn't bear to completely push him away.
"You are not allowed to make my Moments visible to me."
"My WeChat Moments are full of ads."
"That won't work either..."
Having added Shen Wanqing on WeChat and confirmed that she hadn't blocked him, Yu Lang knew that it was about time for today; lingering any longer would only annoy her.
"Then I'll be going now."
"Be careful on the road."
Having made his stance clear, Yu Lang didn't persist. He had understood a principle long ago after arriving in this world: love cannot be forced, not even by an ancestor, let alone by someone who wasn't now a master.
"That……"
"What is it? Just say it. Don't look at me like that. It makes me seem so cold and unapproachable."
Yu Lang walked to the door and then stopped. He turned to look at Shen Wanqing with hope and caution in his eyes, which made Shen Wanqing's heart tighten again. Her whole chest felt sore and numb, and she couldn't describe the feeling.
"Don't push me away on purpose. I know I was the best candidate in today's interview. Jiyun, you have to be fair to me, okay?"
“I will consider everything fairly and impartially. You also need to be prepared. The interns recruited this time will be going to projects and construction sites. Don’t expect to stay in the office every day and spend every day with me.”
Yu Lang wasn't upset that his little scheme had been exposed. He shrugged, pretending to be relaxed, just like he'd learned from his classmates. Who knew what would happen in the future? Right now, all he had to do was find a way to get into Shen Wanqing's world and life. That was enough.
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