Because she had drunk water from the mountain stream, Yu Wanzhi’s hearing had become exceptionally sharp—she caught every single word spoken by those people, not a single one missed. Yet she had no way to prove the truth of what she’d heard. She was just grateful they hadn’t hauled her in as a vagrant and sent her off to a labor farm!
As for whether Xiao Yunting would acknowledge her… she wasn’t worried in the slightest. She had more than enough ways to make him recognize her!
Just as Yu Wanzhi was letting her mind wander, idly passing the time, a voice she’d carried deep in her memories rang out—one she knew all too well.
“Which one of you is Yu Wanzhi? Step forward and let me have a look. I hear you’re supposed to be my fiancée?”
Yu Wanzhi lifted her head sharply. The moment their eyes met, it felt as though a giant hand had clamped tight around her chest, squeezing so hard she could barely breathe. Every memory of their time together played out before her eyes like a running film, scene after scene, impossible to brush away.
She bit down hard to hold back her sobs. Her almond eyes glistened with unshed tears, swirling with overwhelming emotion. Her throat felt tight and stinging, blurring her vision. She blinked—and tears spilled over, rolling down her cheeks.
She kept telling herself: He didn’t abandon you on purpose. There were things beyond his control. Didn’t you already forgive him? Now that you’ve been given a second chance, you must seize this opportunity. Don’t let this life be filled with the same regrets…
She lowered her head, blew gently at the stray hairs falling across her face, and quickly composed herself.
“Over here!” She wiped roughly at the tear tracks on her face, then flashed him a bright smile, two sweet dimples appearing on her cheeks. “I’m your fiancée! I’ve come all the way to the capital just to marry you~”
Standing nearby, Fu Zhoujing watched her with a quiet, assessing gaze. “Do you have any idea how many women dream of becoming his fiancée? Most keep it to themselves. You, though—you’re bold enough to march right into the police station and announce it!”
Yu Wanzhi looked back at him with wide, innocent eyes. “I have proof, you know.”
Fu Zhoujing narrowed his eyes at her. “What sort of proof?”
Everyone in the station, including Xiao Yunting, watched her with idle curiosity. Yu Wanzhi smiled then, looking as pleased and clever as a little fox. She tilted her small, smudged face up toward him, her tone dropping to a mysterious whisper: “I’ll only tell him in private!”
Xiao Yunting stood leaning casually against the station entrance, his gaze drifting and unconcerned. His voice came out lazy, tinged with clear disdain. “In private? What exactly do you intend to do to me? Are you trying to blackmail me?”
The female officer who had earlier accused Yu Wanzhi of being a foreign spy nodded in ready agreement. “That’s exactly what I was thinking! Commander Xiao is his grandfather—who knows what ulterior motives this girl could possibly have?”
“Sister Zheng,” another put in, “I say we lock her up right away. Question her properly, then send her to the labor farm. That’ll teach her to behave!”
Yu Wanzhi remained perfectly calm. “Xiao Yunting… surely you aren’t afraid of a defenseless little woman like me? Imagine how disappointed Grandfather Xiao would be if he learned his grandson was nothing but a spineless coward!”
She had been by his side since she was eighteen. She might not know every single quirk of his character—but she knew exactly how to nudge him just enough to get what she wanted. And it worked.
Xiao Yunting huffed, pride clearly stung. “Afraid of you? Hah! Fine. Let’s go. And may whoever backs down be a spineless coward!”
He turned and strode out of the station at once. Yu Wanzhi hurried after him at a trot. Fu Zhoujing made to follow as well, but one sharp look from Xiao Yunting stopped him in his tracks.
They came to a halt beneath a large tree some fifty paces from the station. Xiao Yunting shoved both hands into his pockets and turned to her. “Alright. Speak. How do you intend to prove you’re my fiancée?”
Yu Wanzhi’s gaze never left him. This version of Xiao Yunting—still in his early twenties—lacked the restraint and quiet maturity he would show twenty years later. Every line of his face spoke of unbridled arrogance, coolness, and proud recklessness. He looked maddeningly cocky and utterly untamed.
“To be honest… I’m not just your fiancée. More accurately, I’m your lawfully wedded wife. In my past life, I met you when I was eighteen. We dated for four years. And the very day after my twenty-second birthday… we got our marriage certificate.”
Xiao Yunting stared at her. “…?”
“Then I died—hit by a car. And now I’ve been reborn, and traveled back in time to this moment. Right now… I have no household registration papers, no identification, no place to stay. And I haven’t eaten in two days…” Her voice grew softer toward the end, laced with a faint, barely perceptible hurt.
Xiao Yunting looked at her with open skepticism. “Do you take me for a fool?” He regarded her as though she had lost her mind. A firm believer in hard facts and logic, how could he possibly believe such nonsense?
Yu Wanzhi sniffled. “You’re no fool. In the nineties, you’ll become the richest man in the entire capital. A fool could never achieve anything so grand.”
At those words, Xiao Yunting found the corners of his mouth twitching upward despite himself. For all her wild, rambling talk… this strange little girl had surprisingly sharp insight.
“Save your flattery!” He tried to keep his voice gruff and impatient, though secretly he felt strangely pleased. “Get to the point. What is it you actually want?”
Yu Wanzhi lifted her face—strikingly, beautifully made—and leaned in close to his ear. “You still don’t believe me? But I know things about you that no one else possibly could. For instance: you sleep completely naked. When you use the toilet, you always read the newspaper while smoking. And you absolutely refuse to do your business anywhere but home—where you strip off every scrap of clothing… and afterward… you wash thoroughly…”
Xiao Yunting’s face turned dark as thunder. Yet the tips of his ears burned bright red, like sunset clouds. His heart began to hammer fast against his ribs. She stood so close he could smell the soft, sweet scent of gardenia drifting from her, wrapping around him, making it hard to think straight. He fought to keep his voice steady, hissing through clenched teeth: “Have you been spying on me?”
That made no sense! Even if she had been watching him somehow… how could anyone know what he did behind closed doors? How could she possibly know about the washing?
Yu Wanzhi blinked her large, watery eyes at him, signaling that she needed him to let go of her mouth before she could speak.
“Pfft—spying?!” She pulled free at last. “I told you—we are husband and wife, in every sense of the word! Is it really so strange that I should know these things? I also know… that on your right buttock, you have a small, pink heart-shaped birthmark, about the size of a fingernail. You hate it—think it looks unmanly—and you’ve always wanted to have it removed!”
“You didn’t give up the idea until you turned thirty, and visited a temple. The abbot told you that removing it would bring bad luck and ruin your fortune. Only then did you decide to leave it be!” Yu Wanzhi puffed out her cheeks, clearly annoyed that he had clamped a hand over her mouth.
Silence fell.
At that moment, all doubt vanished from Xiao Yunting’s mind. He believed her—completely.
Because that birthmark… aside from himself… only two people in the world had ever known about it: Nanny Zhang, who had cared for him since childhood, and his grandfather. And Nanny Zhang was a quiet, honest soul who spoke to almost no one. His grandfather, meanwhile… would never, under any circumstances, discuss his grandson’s private birthmarks with a strange girl he had never even met.
Even supposing his grandfather had somehow let something slip… how could anyone else possibly know that he had once wanted to get rid of it? That had been his own private thought!
“Alright… fine…” Xiao Yunting looked thoroughly flustered, rubbing at his temples. “I believe you. But you must understand—all of that happened in a past life. In this life… I don’t know you. I’ve never met you. So even if what you say is true… it doesn’t change anything between us.” He looked at her, helpless and uneasy. This girl had crossed time and death just to find him, clearly come for him alone. But he was young—he had absolutely no intention of getting married!
Yu Wanzhi lowered her head, her expression soft and understanding. “I know. I can take care of myself. I’ll find my own way. It’s just… in this world… you’re the only person I know. Could you… could you help me get proper identification papers? Once I have them, I’ll go far away, and I won’t trouble you ever again…”
She carried all the memories of their life together—but he did not. If this twenty-year-old Xiao Yunting could not accept her… she would not force herself upon him. She would bury this deep, undying love deep in her heart… and strive to build a good life for herself, here in this time.