Their ages were just right for entering school now.

In Jian Xiu’s eyes, no matter the era, studying was always a great way forward.

She didn’t want to delay them.

That night, after the children had fallen asleep, Jian Xiu turned to Zhang Zixuan and spoke first.

“I suppose you have many questions for me, right? It’s okay, take your time. Where do you want to start?”

“I just want to ask—are you her?”

As he asked this, Zhang Zixuan’s eyes never left Jian Xiu.

He didn’t know what he was hoping for.

All he knew was that as he waited for her answer, his heart was beating fast.

His hands, gripping the sides of his wheelchair, had even started to tremble.

He didn’t know what kind of answer he wanted.

He hoped she was Jian Xiu, but at the same time, he knew that the person in front of him was not quite her.

“Yes, and no. I am her, but I am also not her.”

“This…”

“You must be wondering why I said that, right? It is indeed a strange story…”

Jian Xiu then told Zhang Zixuan everything about how she had traveled through time, including how she had inherited the original body’s memories.

“I don’t know if it’s because I’m using her body, but when I saw Liu Tou, Qi Tou, and Er Zhan, I instinctively regarded them as the most important people to me. And also…”

At this point, Jian Xiu paused and looked at Zhang Zixuan without saying anything more.

“And also what?” Zhang Zixuan asked hurriedly, his eyes filled with anticipation.

But Jian Xiu didn’t continue, because she herself wasn’t sure what she truly felt in her heart.

She only knew that right now, she just wanted to protect this family.

Not getting an answer, Zhang Zixuan felt a bit disappointed.

But he quickly let it go. As long as she was still Jian Xiu, still the mother of his children, still his wife, that was enough.

“You said you traveled from the future. Did you also learn your martial arts in that post-apocalyptic world?”

“Yes, I was an agent. A high-level agent. I took on tasks for money. As long as there was payment, there was hardly any problem we couldn’t solve.”

“An agent? If that’s the case, then your life must have been very hard,” Zhang Zixuan said gently.

Even he didn’t realize that his tone carried deep concern.

Just the thought of her risking her life for missions made his heart ache.

That familiar feeling of heartache—it was the same as when the old Jian Xiu suffered at the hands of their relatives in the old family home.

“At that time, I didn’t know what hardship was, nor did I know what enjoyment meant. In my eyes, there was only whether a mission was completed or not. Do you understand?”

Jian Xiu spoke calmly.

Even she didn’t realize that when speaking to Zhang Zixuan, all her negative emotions seemed to pour out uncontrollably.

As if he could hear her unspoken pain, Zhang Zixuan comforted her:

“The past is the past. It’s over now. You are her now, and in the future, our days will only get better. And you, you are the mother of Liu Tou, Qi Tou, and Er Zhan. To me, you are her. Whether it’s you or her, both of you exist.”

He spoke with utmost sincerity.

Of course, this was truly what he believed. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have accepted this reality so quickly.

In fact, he had already suspected something two days ago.

He just couldn’t bring himself to believe that such things really existed in this world.

And yet, it happened right in front of him.

That night, the two of them talked about many things.

Whether it was Jian Xiu’s experiences in the post-apocalyptic world or their plans for the future as a family of five, they spoke freely about everything.

Even Jian Xiu herself couldn’t believe that she would one day open her heart and talk to a man like this.

She didn’t even know when she fell asleep.

She only knew that when she woke up in the morning, Zhang Zixuan, as usual, was no longer in bed.

When she stepped out, she saw that, as always, he had already prepared breakfast.

“Why are you up so early? Why not sleep a little longer?” Zhang Zixuan asked with a bright smile.

Maybe because they had cleared up their doubts, Jian Xiu felt that Zhang Zixuan’s smile today was particularly radiant.

“I’m not used to sleeping in. My biological clock wakes me up naturally.”

“Biological clock?”

“Yes, it means that when the time comes, I wake up on my own,” Jian Xiu explained seriously.

“Then hurry and eat breakfast. Didn’t you say you were going to Jianjia Village today? The sooner you eat, the sooner you can leave. You should find Zhiyong and rent his ox cart for the day. That way, you’ll save some time instead of wasting it all on the road.”

Hearing this, Jian Xiu didn’t argue.

She hadn’t planned on walking anyway.

No matter how slow an ox cart was, it was still faster than walking.

Besides, she was bringing three children with her. If she returned alone, who knew what her family would think?

---

Jianjia Village

“Stop smashing! Stop smashing!”

Jian Xiu’s mother, Zhao Juanniang, cried out in pain.

Jian Xiu’s father, Jian Dashan, and her eldest brother, Jian Ming, had already been beaten to the ground.

“It’s been two months, and you still haven’t paid the interest. When you borrowed the silver, you didn’t say anything like this!”

A middle-aged man with a scar on his face sneered viciously.

“You suddenly raised the interest without asking us first! You doubled it! How are we supposed to repay that? How is this any different from robbery?”

Jian Ming’s sister-in-law, Qian Hongmei, held her three daughters protectively.

“Heh, little lady, you’ve got it all wrong. You borrowed the money, so how much you repay is up to us.”

As he spoke, the scar-faced man reached out his right hand toward Qian Hongmei’s face.

Seeing this, Qian Hongmei screamed in terror.

At that moment, Jian Ming slowly regained consciousness. Seeing what was happening, he grabbed a stick from the ground and charged at the scar-faced man.

But the man seemed to have anticipated this and dodged easily.

Then, with a swift motion, he raised his left leg and kicked hard.

“Bang!”

Jian Ming was sent flying several meters, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

“Jian Ming! Jian Ming!”

Qian Hongmei and Zhao Juanniang cried out in panic.