On Earth, different places can have snow, rain, sun, or wind during the day. But at night, most places look about the same.

Zhang Man leaned against her husband’s shoulder and suddenly thought of someone.

She hesitated, then looked up at him for a moment, her eyes showing mixed feelings.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Did you do something you’re ashamed of? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Li Wei poked his wife’s forehead with his index finger. Seeing how she stared straight ahead without blinking, he gently stroked her hair.

After so many years of marriage, whenever they were alone together in private moments, he still treated her like their teenage selves, acting as if she was just a little kid.

“Before you went on stage today,” she said, “besides my mom and chen chen calling, your… your grandfather also called. I answered.”

The man’s face remained expressionless upon hearing this news.

He leaned back slightly, his tone unchanged. “What did he say?”

Zhang Man clutched at his pajama sleeve for a moment before awkwardly grabbing his fingers instead. “He said he found out he has a serious illness and might not have much time left… He wants to see you when you come home next. What do you think?”

This wasn’t actually the first time Li Wei’s grandfather had tried contacting them.

It must’ve been around ten years ago when it happened the first time, right?

Ten years ago in California, USA.

After earning his Ph.D. from Stanford University, Li Wei did a one-year postdoc at UC Berkeley, while Zhang Man was visiting as a medical student for her third year of studies at Stanford.

Everyone knows that the San Francisco Bay Area has two world-renowned top universities: Berkeley and Stanford. They face each other across the bay, separated by a bridge.

It takes about two hours to drive between the two schools.

After finishing his postdoc, he successfully secured a faculty position at Princeton University.

Many media outlets back home reported on this news. While it’s not uncommon for Chinese scholars to get teaching jobs at top foreign universities, becoming a full professor at Princeton at just 25 years old is incredibly rare.

Even some of his doctoral students were older than him.

Theoretical physics, like medicine, requires a lot of knowledge and time to master. Many researchers spend five or six years getting their Ph.D., then another three to six years doing postdoctoral work at various institutions around the world before they’re ready to teach.

But Li Wei had always been ahead of his time. He’d learned college material on his own during high school, and as an undergraduate, he published several top-quality papers—papers so good that most researchers couldn’t get them published even after getting their PhDs.

Two of these papers were in Physical Review Letters (PRL), a leading journal in physics.

Because of this, he got his PhD in just three years. Afterward, he did only one year of postdoctoral research before becoming a professor.

Such achievements were rare among young Chinese scientists. It caused quite a stir in the academic world, and physicists all over the globe heard about this young scientist’s name. The media back home jumped on it too, hoping to inspire others with positive stories.

In Li Wei’s first month at his new job, Zhang Man arrived in Princeton. She spent her days by his side or sending out resumes to hospitals in preparation for interviews.

One day, Zhang Man received an official job offer from a hospital near Princeton University.

She danced around the carpeted room, laptop in hand, bursting with excitement. Seeing the man on the bed didn’t share her enthusiasm, she stomped over and boasted, “Look, I got an offer! You know, everyone thinks you’re amazing, but they don’t realize your wife is even better.”

Seeing her excitement, he smiled gently but showed no real surprise or enthusiasm.

Frustrated, Zhang Man slammed down her laptop, jumped onto the bed, and pinned him down. “Aren’t you even a little surprised? Don’t you get it? This means I can stay here legally, work, and be with you all the time!”

Finally, he laughed, kissed her nose, and hugged her tight. “Oh, my dear Manman, you’ve had such a tough time these years.”

All those years, always coming back to me…

He often thought that having her must have used up all his good luck from his past life.

How could this world have someone like her? He’d never seen or heard of anyone so amazing before.

From B University, to Stanford, now Princeton…

In their first year of high school, during summer break, she had solemnly told him in his kitchen to trust her. She said she would go to the same university as him and promised to never leave him.

In their senior year of college, he secretly applied for graduate studies at B University, but she found out. One night, while walking by Wuming Lake, she suddenly hugged him and looked him in the eye. “My boyfriend, if I can handle those tough physics competitions, I can definitely make it to Stanford too. Trust me one more time, okay?”

Just a few months ago, she had wrapped her arms around his waist in bed, teasing him with words that were all business: “If you get an academic job, we’re definitely moving. I’ll be by your side, honey. Trust me one more time, okay?”

He held her close, feeling their heartbeats sync up. A warm, fuzzy feeling suddenly filled his chest.

At every step of their journey, he’d been ready to take a step back so she could catch up. But she always managed to leap forward at just the right moment, standing beside him, hand in hand.

He’d known since they were seventeen that this girl was gentle yet strong—she was his lifelong faith and hope.

He let her lie on top of him, kissed her forehead, and asked softly, his heart aching, “Mannan, don’t…don’t you ever feel burdened? Don’t you think it’s…unfair?”

Back when he was studying at B University, he’d heard what some of her friends said about her. They claimed she was always at a disadvantage in their relationship, too stubbornly in love with him and constantly chasing after him. They warned her she’d end up getting the short end of the stick someday.

Even he felt sorry for her when he thought about how she’d spend days on end at competitions, working non-stop; or how she’d stay in the lab for days without rest; or how she’d stress out over writing papers.

He never wanted her to work so hard.

Zhang Man saw his serious expression and even the room seemed to grow quiet.

She couldn’t help but laugh.

“Yeah, I do feel a bit jealous… of other women.”

“Why can’t their husbands be as good as you?”

No one had ever loved her like this man did.

Every morning, he’d wake her up with hugs, make her breakfast, and even deal with her grumpiness sometimes.

When they were doing their post-docs at Berkeley, he insisted on living near Stanford. No matter how busy he was, he drove her to school every day, which meant he had to drive two hours each way between home and Berkeley.

For her sake, he learned to eat spicy food. It wasn’t easy finding authentic Sichuan or Hunan cuisine abroad, so he taught himself from cookbooks. Now, dishes like Boiled Fish in Hot Spicy Oil or Kung Pao Chicken were no problem for him.

Over the years, he took her to see the winter beauty of Hainan, the misty rains of Jiangnan, and the spring winds of Lake Baikal—every place she had mentioned before. He remembered everything she said.

At their wedding that year, he had solemnly promised Zhang Hui’fang and Uncle Xu that he would take good care of her. In the three years since then, he had kept every single promise.

She felt happier than ever in his arms.

Zhang Man leaned against his warm chest, listening to his soft breathing and steady heartbeat. Suddenly, she felt a lump in her throat.

From age sixteen to twenty-five, they’d been together for nine years. She knew by now:

I’ve come so far with you, but I’ll never catch up. You’re the one who overcomes all darkness and suffering, who turns around after any hardship just to smile and hug me.

On this slightly tipsy night, as Zhang Man lay on top of him, the air between them grew increasingly intimate. His eyes darkened, and finally, he couldn’t resist—his lips captured hers in a tender kiss.

But a ringing phone spoiled the mood. He frowned in annoyance.

Smiling, Zhang Man took another sip from her glass, rolled over, and pushed him away. “Go answer that.”

He picked up the phone and was quiet for a long time. He stood up and walked to the window, returning a few minutes later without saying a word, head bowed.

Sensing something was off, Zhang Man tried to joke about it. “Is it an old girlfriend?” she asked slyly.

The man’s lips curled up. “Manman, guess who called? My grandfather who disappeared almost twenty years ago! He said he’s in America now and asked if we could have dinner together in a couple of days.”

“He mentioned something about having some stuff from my father that he forgot to give me before.”

Zhang Man fell silent.

Stuff from his father? Why hadn’t it been given for so many years? And why did he suddenly remember now that I got a job at Princeton? It must be an excuse.

“Do you plan on going?”

She knew already; in their previous life, his grandfather had tried to contact him too, but even until his suicide, he never accepted his grandfather.

Sitting on the bed, the man smiled strangely as he played with her hair. “No, I don’t want to go. Life is short; there’s no point in doing meaningless things.”

At only 25 years old back then, he hadn’t fully adjusted his mindset like he would ten years later. Even Zhang Mann could hear the sharpness in his voice when he spoke those words.

He still cared deeply.

Her heart skipped a beat. Turning around, she hugged him tightly and mumbled, “I understand.”

The night in Stockholm was dark and peaceful, just like N City, Beijing, California, and Princeton.

“Your grandfather said he wronged you in the past,” the old man explained over the phone. “He hopes you’ll forgive him, considering his age. He also mentioned… that someday, a descendant of the Li family will always find their way home.”

It’s all nonsense, Zhang Man thought.

Businesspeople valued tradition but cared even more about their reputation. If not for Li Wei winning the Nobel Prize, this call would never have come.

This time, she answered the phone herself. As she listened to the old man talk for a long while, she felt uneasy. Several times, she wanted to hang up, but she managed to stay calm until the end. She promised to pass on the message.

“So… will you be coming?”

Zhang Man traced circles on the man’s chest.

His eyes suddenly grew intense, and he rolled over, pinning her down. “Instead of talking about other people or things, let’s do something more meaningful.”

Zhang Man looked up at him.

He was saying almost the same thing as ten years ago, but now there was no pain or emotion in his eyes.

That’s good. In this world, not everything should be forgiven.

She smiled, wrapped her arm around his neck, and said with a twinkle in her eye, “Okay.”

The rain had just stopped, and the sky was starting to brighten on the horizon.

Inside their room, they got dressed, opened the curtains, turned on the lamp, and dialed a video call across the Pacific Ocean.

The call connected quickly. It was noon in N City, where Zhang Huifang had just finished eating with her child and was teaching her math.

The woman in her fifties still had a slim figure. Her hair was slightly curled, and she wore a pretty dress. Sitting next to her was a six-year-old girl with a bright, pinkish face that looked very much like him.

Zhang Huifang looked frustrated. “Five plus seven is twelve, not fourteen!”

The little girl grinned widely, her eyes sparkling. “No, no! I counted on my fingers—it’s twenty-one. Grandma, watch me: one, two, three…”

“Why do you always move your ring finger when you bend your pinky?”

The little girl pondered for a while, then scratched her head, looking confused. “I think so… but it still came down with me. I don’t know why either.”

Just as she started feeling frustrated, her sharp eyes caught sight of a big iPad screen. She forgot about counting and flew off her chair instead. “Daddy! Mommy!”

“Mm-hmm, my sweet Chen chen,” Zhang Man replied.

Li Wei turned to look at her. His voice sounded soft and gentle, like he was holding a cotton ball in his mouth, and his face had a warm smile.

Father and daughter began playing a guessing game over the screen, while Zhang Huifang took another iPad and video-called Zhang Man separately.

“I keep telling you we should just send Chen Chen back to China to study,” Zhang Huifang said. “Look at this – she’s almost seven, yet she still needs to count on her fingers for simple math problems here in America.”

Zhang Man smiled. “They focus more on kids’ interests and developing their thinking skills here. I think that’s more important than learning addition and subtraction at such a young age.” She winked. “Mom, now that my brother’s grown up, are you ready to be a stay-at-home mom again?”

Zhang Huifang had a big baby boy in her second year of college. He was now in high school.

“Just thinking about him makes me mad! High schools here aren’t like they were when you guys went. They don’t have evening study halls anymore. But he’s great at finding trouble—every day after class, he heads straight for the internet café. Your Uncle Xu and I have caught him several times.”

“Don’t worry, let me give him a call next time and see what’s going on…”

“What good will that do? If I try to talk to him, we’ll just end up arguing. You’re the only one who can get through to him when you come back from abroad. Oh, and your uncle’s leg has been bothering him lately. I was thinking if you could bring some calcium tablets next time you visit. They seemed to help me before…”

“How is Grandma doing? How has she been these past few days?”

“Your grandma is still active. She goes dancing with me every day—it’s amazing how light-footed she is…”

The mother-daughter pair chatted about everyday things for an hour straight.

After hanging up, Zhang Man saw the smile playing around the man’s lips. Unable to resist, she leaned over and kissed him several more times until his handsome face turned red again.

The man swallowed hard and pulled her closer. “Mannan, if we keep this up, will there be any sleep left tonight?”

It was already dawn.

She whispered something mischievously into his ear, then bit down on a mole near his earlobe. As expected, he sucked in a breath.

He quickly turned over, pinning her beneath him. The clothes they had just put on became tangled again.

“How many kids do you want? Whatever you want is fine…”

Early morning sunlight filtered through the sheer curtains, banishing the darkness of the long night.

The man kissed his wife deeply, unconsciously tightening his arms around her.

Grandfather? Going home? It all felt so unreal to him, like a hazy dream from his youth.

He’d already built his own home, after all.