It was already the middle of the night.
Sheng Yan lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling without the slightest trace of sleepiness.
Tears kept welling up in her eyes.
Not long ago, the company had gone through layoffs, and she had unfortunately been among those let go.
She had lost her job without any warning.
Her husband’s death two months earlier had already dealt her a devastating blow.
Now, with the sudden loss of her job on top of that, anxiety about the future and the pain of losing the man she loved had pushed her to the brink of collapse.
Her daughter had already been coaxed to sleep, but she herself couldn’t sleep at all, spending night after night suffering from insomnia.
Depression, anxiety, pain…
All kinds of negative emotions tormented her.
She could barely breathe.
After lying there for a long time, she climbed out of bed and switched on her computer, intending to update her résumé while she was still awake.
She had to keep looking for work. Otherwise, how would she and her daughter survive?
Besides, there were still mortgage and car loan payments to make.
She was a wife immersed in the grief of losing her husband, but more than that, she was a mother.
She had to stay strong.
After spending over half an hour organizing her résumé, she took advantage of being unable to sleep and opened several job websites, sending applications to many companies.
The HR departments probably wouldn’t see them yet, but she believed she would receive some replies tomorrow.
After closing her laptop, she returned to bed.
Instead of lying down, she leaned against the headboard and opened her photo album, looking through the pictures Jiang Hongyan had left behind one by one.
As she recalled the time they had spent together, she cried one moment and smiled the next.
She was twenty-nine years old this year, and counting it all up, she had known Jiang Hongyan for sixteen years.
They had been classmates in middle school and later attended the same high school. Eventually, they entered the same university.
They became lovers during college, married after graduation, and had an adorable daughter together.
Their life had always been sweet and happy.
But accidents always came without warning.
His car had met with an accident while crossing a bridge over a mountain valley, plunging from a great height and leaving no remains behind.
Whenever Sheng Yan thought about that moment, she couldn’t stop herself from breaking down in tears.
Yet for an adult, even crying was a luxury.
She couldn’t cry during the day, nor could she cry in front of her daughter. She could only shut herself away in her room at night and cry in secret.
Even now, the child still didn’t know about her father’s death. Whenever she asked, Sheng Yan could only lie and tell her that Daddy had gone on a business trip and would be gone for a long time.
After looking through every photograph, Sheng Yan opened her chat history with Jiang Hongyan and read through their old messages one by one.
Every time she did this, her nose would sting, and her heart would ache unbearably.
Wiping away her tears, Sheng Yan set down her phone and closed her eyes.
Suddenly, the phone beside her chimed.
She paid it no mind, assuming it was some spam text or an unimportant app notification.
After all, no one would be sending her messages in the middle of the night.
Dawn was approaching.
The clock on the wall continued ticking, and it was already past four in the morning.
The phone’s notification light kept blinking, so she lit up the screen and glanced at it.
That single glance made her breathing stop and her heart tighten.
There was a message from Jiang Hongyan on the screen!!
She immediately tapped it open.
It really was from Jiang Hongyan.
【Wife.】
She had only just managed to calm herself down, but the moment she saw those two words, tears blurred her vision once more.
She stared at them for a long, long time and cried for an equally long time.
But reason told her that this couldn’t possibly be Jiang Hongyan!
After his car had fallen into the ravine, the police had spent tremendous amounts of time and manpower before finally recovering the wreckage.
The steel vehicle had been burned so thoroughly that almost nothing remained…
And because heavy rain had fallen the next day, even his ashes had been completely washed away.
Sheng Yan’s gaze remained fixed on those two words. She couldn’t bear to look away.
She could roughly guess what had happened. Someone had probably stolen Jiang Hongyan’s account and, based on his nickname for her, learned about their relationship and was trying to swindle money from her.
Yet, looking at those words, she couldn’t help nurturing the tiniest sliver of hope. What if it really was Jiang Hongyan?
She didn’t reply.
Another message came.
【Wife, are you there? Have you been well lately? Is our daughter doing well?】
Sheng Yan wiped away her tears and suddenly grew angry.
【Scammer, if you send me another message, I’ll call the police!】
【Wife, it’s really me. I’m not a scammer.】
Of course a scammer wouldn’t admit to being one.
Deep down, Sheng Yan wanted to believe this person wasn’t lying, but Jiang Hongyan was dead. Deceiving herself would change nothing.
Looking at that familiar profile picture, she couldn’t bring herself to delete him.
Another message arrived.
【Wife, I know you won’t believe me easily, but I want to tell you that I’m fine, so you don’t need to worry.】
【But I can’t return right now, and it wasn’t easy for me to contact you.】
【Do you remember when we were in middle school? Our homeroom teacher in the first year was very strict. You were late one day and got scolded until you cried, and I went to the little convenience store outside the school gate to buy snacks for you.】
【In high school, I went with a few boys to play basketball against students from another school and injured my leg. You stayed with me in the infirmary while I was on an IV drip, bandaged me, and kept reminding me to change the dressing.】
【In our sophomore year of college, on November 15th, we officially started dating. That evening, we went together to the university’s Second Cafeteria and had clay pot stew. We were both so happy.】
【Before winter break that year, you complained that the vacation started too early and lasted too long. You said you wished it would begin later so you wouldn’t have to be apart from me.】
【……】
Looking at those messages on her screen, Sheng Yan cried uncontrollably.
Many of those details were known only to the two of them and had never been shared with anyone else.
【Sheng Yan: Since you’re fine, then why aren’t you coming back? Where are you right now? I’ll come find you immediately!】
【Jiang Hongyan: That’s exactly the second thing I wanted to tell you. I can’t go back right now…】
【Jiang Hongyan: You probably won’t believe this, but I’m currently in a remote mountain village in ancient times. I was unconscious for many days, and a hunter saved me. After falling from that height, I was seriously injured. The first thing I thought about after waking up was contacting you, but I couldn’t get through to your phone. However, I discovered that I could still send you messages through the chat app…】
Sheng Yan stared at the words on the screen in disbelief.
【Sheng Yan: Time travel?】
【Jiang Hongyan: Probably. But I’ve never heard of this dynasty before. It’s called the Great Sheng Dynasty, and I don’t remember such a dynasty ever appearing in history.】
Seeing those messages, Sheng Yan’s heart pounded wildly.
She pinched herself, it hurt.
She wasn’t dreaming.