Lu Linshen finally saw the person he had been hoping to see, though the location was not ideal—they met inside the Qingcheng police station. The man who had accompanied him was dressed strangely, carrying several noisy bundles. Along the way, he kept talking about things like “Have you excavated yet?” or “This time, whatever we dig up, we must divide it equally.” The driver, who had mistaken them for grave robbers, dropped them off at the police station. Thankfully, it was all a misunderstanding. The man was not a tomb robber but a well-known archaeologist who had come to Qingcheng on behalf of Meng Suihuan.

When Lu Linshen saw Meng Suihuan hurrying over, he was momentarily stunned, but quickly relaxed when he saw she was unharmed. He watched her back as she walked toward him. It wasn’t until she was nearly in front of him that he realized he had been staring at her for a long time. Seeing her shocked expression, as if she wanted to speak but couldn’t find the words, he probably guessed what she was thinking and spoke up first.

“Qin Yu said you were injured, and I happened to be on a business trip nearby, so I came to check on you.” He said it calmly, though inside, he felt uneasy. After all, there was still a distance between them, and this action of his might put pressure on her.

But they had unexpectedly met like this. He was afraid she might misunderstand or feel uncomfortable, so he tried to keep his emotions in check and lowered his head to feign indifference. “I’ll head back soon. I still have a lot of work to deal with.”

The scene, and his concerned tone, felt so familiar to her, as if she had seen it somewhere before. Eventually, this scene merged with moments she had once dreamed of. Ever since she could remember in her past life, her parents were either always coming home late or treating each other as strangers. Whenever she tried to get close to them, they would push her away, telling her to go find her grandmother. A small seed was planted in her heart. She thought that after growing up, she no longer cared about it. But deep down, she knew she longed for it, wanted it, and wanted to be loved.

The love and care of the Lu family filled the void in her, and the mutual help and noisy camaraderie of the Lu sisters healed her lonely childhood. Jiang Chengxuan, Zhao Chen, Qin Yu, Song Mian, and everyone else in Xuyu made her feel the joy of pure and beautiful friendship. As for Lu Linshen in front of her, he respected, accepted, supported, and accompanied her. Even when she exploited him, used him, and even pushed him toward others without mercy, he still walked toward her as always. Just like now, crossing thousands of miles, traveling day and night, and rushing to her side at the fastest speed.

Just like in her dreams, someone was finally here—someone who prioritized her in everything, loved her, protected her, and rushed to her without hesitation.

Bang— a noise echoed in her mind, as if something had torn apart at that moment, and in the end, it shattered into a thousand pieces.

Finally, she looked up at his brow and eyes, gathered her courage, and took a step closer to him. Then another step.

“Lu Linshen, when are you going back? Let’s find a time to talk about our future.” She wanted to talk to him about their future.

Professors Shen and Wu were indeed good friends, both sharing similar interests. As soon as they got out of the car, they were eager to head straight to their destination to investigate the situation, wasting no time at all. This time, Meng Suihuan did not stop them. The potential risk of a second collapse had already been addressed with the help of local authorities, and the area was now safe. She accompanied the two professors, explaining everything she knew. Watching the professors inspect the items with excitement, carefully examining, stroking, and taking notes, she did not disturb them. She left a few staff members to assist and ensure the professors’ safety.

Once everything was arranged, she went to find Lu Linshen, wanting to have a serious conversation with him.

Inside the meeting room, the atmosphere was peaceful and serene. She pushed the door open, and found Lu Linshen asleep at the desk, breathing steadily. She quietly took a blanket and placed it over his back. As she bent down to stand up, she noticed the large dark circles under his eyes. He must have stayed up late again. He was always like this, not taking care of himself.

She thought of how, in the original timeline, although Lu Linshen had been successful in his career, he had suffered from health problems due to overwork and passed away at the age of 50. She leaned against the chair, quietly observing Lu Linshen’s sleeping face. Perhaps because of him, she too began to feel sleepy and dozed off.

When she woke up again, the blanket she had placed on his back was now covering hers, and she locked eyes with Lu Linshen, who was staring at her. He seemed surprised that she had woken up so suddenly, or perhaps he felt embarrassed for stealing a glance at her and quickly turned his head, trying to hide his actions. “I haven’t been sleeping well lately, I just dozed off. You should have woken me up…”

Meng Suihuan propped her chin up, clearing her thoughts. “Then why didn’t you wake me up?”

“I… I didn’t want to disturb you while you were sleeping.”

She suddenly remembered when she had been sick, and Lu Linshen had stayed over at her house, making breakfast in the morning and knocking on her door. Unfortunately, she had “accidentally” hurt him. It wasn’t really an accident, though—she had a bit of a bad temper when she first woke up, especially when she was still groggy. At the time, she had likely shown all her bad temper, but it seemed like he remembered it. She was pleased with his understanding, and a smile appeared in her eyes as she teasingly asked, “What? Afraid I’ll lose my temper on you?”

Actually, she was a bit anxious too. Although she had never been in a relationship in her past life, didn’t she know about men? She had seen her friends talk passionately about their experiences, warning her not to be fooled by a man’s behavior before and after getting into a relationship. Would Lu Linshen really be like that?

“I’m not afraid.”

“You can lose your temper at me, and I’d be happy. It means you think of me as someone close to you,” Lu Linshen said sincerely.

Meng Suihuan thought he seemed like he had taken a relationship class; his words were so smooth and polished, yet he said them with such sincerity and without any awkwardness, making it seem like he truly felt that way. As someone who had never been in a relationship, she was easily affected by his words. But on the surface, she still pretended to remain calm and unaffected, lifting her eyes to change the subject, “It’s getting late, and you still have to return to Ning City. Let’s talk about our situation now.”

“Okay.”

Silence stretched between them. Meng Suihuan wasn’t sure how to start, while Lu Linshen waited patiently for her to speak, not rushing or showing any signs of impatience. When he saw her glance at him, he gently reassured her, “No rush. Take your time, think it through, and speak when you’re ready.”

Perhaps his words gave her the courage she needed, or perhaps her scattered thoughts had finally been sorted out. She finally turned to look directly at him and got straight to the point. “I am Meng Suihuan, but I am also not her.”

Just as she had expected, his expression was one of shock, confusion, and uncertainty.

“My name is also Meng Suihuan, and I come from a world 20 years in the future. You must have noticed, after I fell into the water, I’ve changed greatly—my personality, my understanding of things, my preferences, my body, and even my career.”

The original Meng Suihuan had been ruthless and unreasonable, using herself as bait to marry him. But she was different. To her, Lu Linshen was no different from others. In fact, due to some reasons, she initially had biased views of him.

She guided him step by step, leading him to recall the past.

“A person from a small county, who didn’t receive much education, didn’t know many people, ran a vegetable factory, organized a transport team, and even ventured into real estate. All of this seems unbelievable, and it wasn’t something the original Meng Suihuan would have done. Yet, no one paid much attention or dug deeper into it.”

Yes, since Ning City, since he started to get to know her again, she had been calm and composed, with a clear head, and she resonated with him in terms of cognition and ideas. She shared his views and philosophy about the future, and even expanded upon them, making their ideas more complete.

This was a far cry from the Meng Suihuan of Lu Village. He had once doubted and wondered how a person could change so dramatically in such a short time. He specifically went back to Lu Village to ask her parents, sisters, and even people from the neighboring village, but no one had an answer. They all said it was a miracle, that after the fall into the water, her mind had become clearer. But was it really like that? If not, how could this be explained? In the end, he wasn’t sure if he had convinced himself, or if he had slowly hidden it deep in his heart, deliberately choosing to ignore it. Now, he finally knew the answer.

As time passed, the sky gradually turned from bright white to dark. Meng Suihuan’s story shifted from herself to Lu Linshen.

“So you mean to say, the world I live in now is a book, and I’m the male lead of the book, and in the future, I’ll be with Song Mian?” It was absurd. Simply too absurd. When he first heard that she wasn’t from this world, he was shocked but could accept it. After all, there were many strange stories from ancient times. But now she told him that the world he was in was fake, a book, and he was just a character—a cold, lifeless character in the book.

Lu Linshen stood up and walked to the window. He gazed at the reflection on the glass and the moving shadows of people outside, with leaves drifting down. He raised his hand to open the window, and a soft breeze brushed across his face. The falling leaves danced in front of him, and the sound of birds chirping and cicadas calling filled his ears.

…Was all of this really fake?

Meng Suihuan knew he was confused, so she didn’t disturb him and quietly closed the door as she left. As soon as she stepped out, she ran into Zhao Chen face-to-face. She nodded at him and gave instructions. “Tell everyone not to come near here.” He must be in a mess right now and needed to calm down.

Zhao Chen glanced up and quickly averted his gaze. “Okay, I’ll arrange it right away.”

“What’s up, do you need something?”

“It’s not me looking for you, it’s Jiang Chengxuan. Your phone is broken, and he couldn’t reach you, so he asked me to tell you something.”

“Chen Ge, can I borrow your phone for a moment?” She used Zhao Chen’s phone to call Jiang Chengxuan. The conversation was very brief, lasting less than a minute. After she hung up, she entrusted everything in Qingcheng to him and turned back to Ning City.

Lu Linshen was still immersed in the conversation they had just had. It took him a while to come to his senses. When he looked up, he realized it was already dark outside. The surroundings were pitch black, and his chaotic thoughts gradually became clearer. He started to have an answer in his heart. He wanted to see her again and tell her his answer.

He wasn’t familiar with this construction site and had wandered around for a while without finding anyone. He happened to run into Zhao Chen, who informed him that the person who had made him doubt his life had already returned to Ning City. She was really something. She had gotten him into this state and then left.

Perhaps Zhao Chen had sensed the shift in his mood, or maybe it was because he had been leading a team for so long that he was already skilled at reading people.

“Boss Meng specifically instructed no one should disturb you.” Zhao Chen raised his head and looked at Lu Linshen seriously. “Did she really tell you that?”

“Did she say anything else?”

Zhao Chen quickly processed the meaning behind his words and his mind began to work faster. “…Oh, yes, she told me to treat you well, to show you around Qingcheng and let you try the local specialties.”

“Is that all?”

This didn’t seem quite right. Zhao Chen studied Lu Linshen’s expression closely, and the more he looked, the more familiar it seemed…

It was just like how he had acted when he was deeply in love.

He suddenly understood, and with a cough, he realized. “She said—”

Zhao Chen closed his eyes for a moment and lowered his voice. “She’ll miss you.”