Please give the novel a rating or a review on NovelUpdates
———-

Chapter 2: Going Home

Break up…

He almost forgot to say it…

“Yu Enqi, let’s break up!”

“W-what?!” Yu Enqi could not believe her own ears.

Chen Yuan had chased her since high school; for her he even gave up a better university and followed her to Jiang University of Science and Technology.

Whenever she showed the slightest interest in something, he bought it for her without a second thought.

He never let her get angry, always spoke in a low voice, and never even dared raise it.

Yet today he addressed her by name and wanted to break up?!

“You—Chen Yuan—what did you say?” Yu Enqi stared at Chen Yuan in disbelief; anger filled her eyes, yet she acted as though she had been deeply hurt.

“Chen Yuan! What do you mean? Just because we asked you to buy water, you want to break up?!” Li Ailin deliberately raised her voice. “Fine! Let’s break up! Don’t regret it! Qiqi, we’re leaving! Let a man like him regret it!”

“Don’t come crawling back for forgiveness later!”

Before Li Ailin finished barking, Chen Yuan had already turned and walked toward the parking space.

He let Li Ailin continue exaggerating the consequences of his departure behind him.

“Chen Yuan! If you go, Qiqi will really break up with you forever!”

“Chen Yuan!!”

“Chen Yuan!!!”

Did he actually leave?

Not until Chen Yuan vanished in the distance did Li Ailin tilt her head toward Yu Enqi. “Qiqi, what kind of pill did Chen Yuan take today? Everything was fine just now, and he freaks out over buying water?”

“It’s fine, don’t worry. He’s only talking in anger.” Yu Enqi did not believe Chen Yuan would break up over one sentence.

She still had so many things he had given her—clothes, shoes, bags. He had sacrificed so much for her and never even held her hand; he could not possibly walk away so easily.

Besides, he used to do so much for her and loved her so deeply—how could he end it just like that?

“Maybe we’ve been ordering him around a bit too much lately. Let him rest for a couple of days.” Annoyance tinged Yu Enqi’s voice.

She had planned to remind Chen Yuan today to buy her a bracelet she liked…

Yet he chose this moment to get angry over a trivial bottle of water. On such a hot day, was buying her water not perfectly natural?

She had even put on makeup to see him; had she known this would happen, she would have stayed home.

Chen Yuan returned to his car and breathed the familiar yet unfamiliar air and scent inside.

Being alive felt wonderful…

He had ended each mission by finding a reasonable excuse to die, because he did not belong to those worlds.

He also had to follow their timelines; otherwise Heaven would have taken him back.

Quietly living as an ordinary man in one world was absolutely forbidden.

Even though he ignored the main storyline in the final mission, the timeline did not change; Heaven did not reclaim him, and he still finished the task miraculously.

Although those missions resembled strategy dungeons, dying in them was real death, and the pain was real pain.

To complete the missions better, he had given genuine feelings to the people of every world…

He remembered the Snow Princess Clovie most vividly—no, she was already a queen. To assist her he spared no effort, taught her when to advance or retreat, how to navigate power, the arts of rulership, and even drafted the laws of the Nix Kingdom for her.

He fulfilled his duty with outstanding excellence and finally used his own death as a warning, proclaiming that the Queen’s sacred majesty could not be violated.

It felt like… after finally seeing the daughter he had raised grow up and being ready to enjoy life, he had to leave…

If he could have lived, why would he choose death?

But he had no choice.

No more thinking about it. He had come back; those people would live their lives, and he would live his.

This was a happy ending!

Dad, Mom, I’m back!

…

Chen Yuan was a junior and had always rented a place off campus.

He rented a three-bedroom school district apartment in a neighborhood very close to the university.

Such neighborhoods were usually expensive.

He had rented it to live with Yu Enqi, raise a pet together, eat dinner, and sometimes walk the animal around campus—would that not make them the model couple?

Yet they were already juniors, and he had not even held her hand, much less lived together.

He disliked the hassle of moving, so he made do with the place; besides, his father’s allowance was enough.

His parents lived downtown, about half an hour away by car.

In his previous life he seldom went back to see them; most of the time he went home only to ask for money.

Because of Yu Enqi he could hardly leave her side; otherwise she would get upset.

Only when he ran out of money would she allow him to hurry home for cash.

His parents always gave generously, knowing he was dating, as long as he did not use the money for anything bad.

Yet every time he still felt they gave too little; the back-and-forth was troublesome and would make Yu Enqi unhappy, so he kept thinking they were stingy on purpose…

Thinking about it now, he felt he ought to slap himself twice.

From his parents’ point of view, they simply wanted him to visit more often…

The half-hour drive passed quickly.

Looking at the familiar house and the yard full of flowers and greenery, Chen Yuan took a deep breath. It did not look rundown as it had after his death.

Now his mother still had the leisure to tend the plants, making the place vibrant.

In his past life, right about now his mother should have been receiving the call that he had been in a car accident, right?

With that thought, he gently pressed the doorbell.

“Who is it?”

A woman came out of the house wearing home clothes and slippers, an apron around her waist and a broom in her hand. She seemed to have found yet another chore.

When she saw who it was, her eyes widened slightly, and she tilted her head with a playful smile. “Why are you back?”

His mother had always been a bit mischievous; every time she saw him return she used the same tone and expression.

Yet Chen Yuan had not heard that sentence for so many years.

Tears he could not control burst from his eyes.

Then he finally shouted the words his mother had not heard for so long: “Mom! I’m home!”

Mother Chen sensed something was wrong, hurried forward to open the door, and asked with concern, “What is it, what is it, what happened?”

Seeing such a big kid suddenly cry made a mother’s heart leap into her throat.

She usually watched melodramatic shows: when a child who normally disobeyed suddenly acted strangely, it was definitely bad news!

Maybe he had a terminal illness, or maybe he had gotten into serious trouble outside… and her son had always been disobedient…

Oh no… something huge must have happened…

That was her first reaction…

Chen Yuan chuckled, shook his head, and hugged his mother. “I just missed you and Dad.”

Mother Chen blinked. “Huh?”

Oh no, old man, our son must be in really big trouble this time…

———-
Support the Translation! 🌐✨

Your donations not only show appreciation but also keep the translator motivated! Every contribution helps continue bringing you more of what you love. Thank you for being a part of this journey! 💖

https://www.ko-fi.com/maxoofie