It was the height of summer, the temperature unbearably high. The blazing sun scorched the earth, making the air stifling. Yet Xia Zhi felt as if she were in the depths of winter, icy winds howling through her heart, chilling her from head to toe.
She pulled the blanket up tightly around herself, but her body still trembled slightly.
Wen Lun quickly noticed something was wrong. “Mom, are you cold?”
Xia Zhi gave a soft “mm.”
“Then drink the hot water. It will warm you up.”
Still trapped in shock, Xia Zhi seemed like a puppet on strings, doing whatever others told her. She picked up the cup of hot water Wen Lun had poured for her. It was neither too hot nor too cold, just the right temperature. She drank it all in one go. The warmth spread through her body, easing the chill in her heart.
Even in her daze, she found herself thinking that Wen Lun was quite thoughtful.
Inside the hospital room, everyone wore different expressions.
Xia Zhi and Wen Shihan were both staring intently at the “2042” on the television screen. Xia Zhi in particular clenched her teeth, staring as if willing it to turn back into 2022 at any second.
Meanwhile, out of their sight, Wen Lun secretly gave his older brother Wen Yu a thumbs-up, as if to say, Big Brother, you are really calm and clever. After showing their parents the calendar, they still did not quite believe it. So Wen Yu had cleverly taken advantage of the timing of the evening news, turning on the television to let them see the date again for a second confirmation. Now, with Assistant Song bringing over the marriage certificate and family album, he did not believe Xia Zhi and Wen Shihan could continue to deny it.
Wen Yu pressed his lips together and remained silent.
No matter what he did, he was still just a child hoping to be acknowledged by his parents.
After some time, a familiar figure in a black suit entered the room. He looked about forty-eight years old. When Xia Zhi saw him, she could not help blurting out, “Assistant Song?”
Wasn’t this Song Yiwen, Wen Shihan’s assistant?
Most of Wen Shihan’s decisions and arrangements in the company were communicated to different departments by Song Yiwen. So Xia Zhi had seen him far more often than she had seen Wen Shihan. He was meticulous in his work and skilled in handling people, which was why he had remained by Wen Shihan’s side for so many years and was well regarded throughout the company.
However, the current Song Yiwen looked much older than she remembered. Wrinkles had appeared on his face, especially deep nasolabial lines, and there were signs of middle-aged weight gain. He even looked older than Wen Shihan.
Yet Wen Shihan was two years older than him.
When Xia Zhi had heard Wen Yu mention “Assistant,” she had not expected it to be Song Yiwen.
Staring at his familiar yet strangely aged face, Xia Zhi said in shock, “How did you age so much?”
Song Yiwen fell silent.
It felt as though an arrow had pierced his heart.
He cast a resentful glance at Wen Shihan lying on the hospital bed. The boss spent his days carefree, traveling with the boss’s wife and leaving most of the work to him. He was so stressed he could barely sleep. Of course he had aged.
Although that was what he thought, Song Yiwen would never say it out loud. He was a man with high emotional intelligence, otherwise he would not have stayed by Wen Shihan’s side for so many years. Keeping a straight face, he replied in an official tone, “I have been devoting myself tirelessly to work.”
Song Yiwen handed over the family album and marriage certificate he had brought. Wen Yu eagerly opened the marriage certificate of Wen Shihan and Xia Zhi and passed it to them. “Dad, Mom, take a look.”
Xia Zhi leaned closer and saw the marriage certificate. The year on it was 2022. In the upper right corner was a photo of her and Wen Shihan together. Both of them were wearing white shirts, smiling brightly at the camera.
Xia Zhi had never seen Wen Shihan smile before. Every time she had seen him, he had been serious and imposing, his presence intimidating everyone around him.
But when he smiled… he actually looked quite handsome.
They got married in 2022?
The same year as the elevator accident.
Xia Zhi focused on the exact date.
September 9.
Only three months after the elevator accident, the two of them had gone to register their marriage.
Xia Zhi was speechless.
That speed was practically rocket-fast.
“Mom, do you believe it now?” Wen Yu asked.
Xia Zhi tightened her grip on the marriage certificate, her body trembling slightly from shock. With such solid evidence in front of her, even if she did not want to believe it, she had no choice.
But what about Wen Shihan? Did he believe it?
Her gaze slowly shifted from the certificate to him. His long, well-defined fingers were holding the document as he studied it with a frown, as if he were reviewing a multi-billion contract.
His level of shock was probably no less than hers. After all, he had been a man surrounded by admiration and privilege, yet after waking up, he found himself married to a low-level employee from his own company, and they even had four children. Putting herself in his position, Xia Zhi felt she would have lost her temper already.
Wen Shihan’s emotional control was quite strong. His aura had only turned colder, but he had not lost composure.
“Mom, let’s look at the family album.”
Wen Yu opened the album. Inside were all kinds of photos. At the beginning were many intimate pictures of her and Wen Shihan. In every photo, he habitually held her in his arms, while she leaned against him gently, smiling with pure happiness.
Xia Zhi fell silent.
As Wen Yu flipped through the pages, more photos appeared. There were pictures from the births of the four children, as well as various moments from their growth. But most of all, there were family photos. Their whole family had traveled all over the world, capturing countless memories together.
As Xia Zhi looked through them, the four children chattered beside her, telling the stories behind each picture, trying to awaken her and Wen Shihan’s memories.
The last photo in the album was also a family portrait.
They were all wearing ski suits. Wen Shihan stood in the center, holding Xia Zhi. Wen Yi and Wen Le, slightly shorter, stood in front, happily making peace signs. Wen Yu and Wen Lun stood on either side, wrapping their arms around their parents’ shoulders. The entire family smiled brightly at the camera.
After finishing the album, Xia Zhi could not recover for a long time. In just a few minutes, she had skimmed through twenty years of frozen moments. Those twenty years felt so real that it was impossible not to believe them. Every photo looked genuine, without the slightest sign of fabrication.
And finally, Xia Zhi accepted this undeniable fact.
She and her boss had truly traveled twenty years into the future together.
Closing the album, Xia Zhi could not help but glance at Wen Shihan, wanting to see his expression. Everything here was completely unfamiliar to her. The only familiar presence was this man she had only met a few times before. In this situation, he felt like the only anchor, as if they were tied to the same fate, facing the same circumstances.
At that moment, Wen Shihan was no longer looking down in thought. He raised his head, and their eyes met in midair. His eyes were deep like a dark pool. Normally, he was very good at controlling his emotions, making it difficult for others to read his thoughts. But now, faced with something completely beyond his control, even someone as composed as him could not remain unaffected. Xia Zhi could clearly see the shock in his eyes.
It seemed that traveling twenty years into the future was just as difficult for him to accept.
“Dad, Mom, do you believe it now?” the four children asked together, their eyes filled with hope as they looked at Xia Zhi and Wen Shihan.
Xia Zhi nodded with difficulty.
With such undeniable evidence, even heaven itself would strike her if she still refused to believe.
The moment she nodded, the four children all let out a breath of relief. Their gazes then shifted to Wen Shihan.
After a long silence, under their expectant stares, Wen Shihan also nodded. Joy instantly spread across their faces.
Wen Shihan glanced at Xia Zhi, then asked Song Yiwen, “How did we get into the car accident?”
Song Yiwen had just opened his mouth to answer when Wen Lun spoke first, unable to hold back. “Dad found out about a nice hot spring, then secretly took Mom out for a trip, leaving the four of us behind. On the way, the car slipped and hit the highway guardrail, and that’s how the accident happened.”
As he spoke, Wen Lun’s tone turned resentful. He looked at Wen Shihan and Xia Zhi with clear dissatisfaction, as if they had committed a serious wrongdoing. “Dad, Mom, you must not sneak off like that again. It’s fine if nothing happens, but if something does and we’re not there, do you know how worried we’ll be?”
There was a tone of reproach in his voice, as if disappointed in their actions.
“Second Brother is right,” Wen Le chimed in. “We were really worried about you.”
Even though Xia Zhi had not actually done any of that, under Wen Lun’s intense gaze, she somehow felt a trace of guilt, as if she really had done something wrong.
“Wait.”
In the next second, Xia Zhi suddenly came to her senses. This was not something she had done, so why should she feel guilty?
Her lips moved slightly as she was about to speak, but Wen Lun spoke even faster. Changing the topic, he patted his chest and raised his voice, saying, “If you go again, you must take me with you. I’m strong like a bull, I can protect Mom and Dad. Most importantly…” He paused, then said dreamily, “It’s been so long since I went to a hot spring, I really want to go.”
Wen Shihan fell silent.
Xia Zhi was also speechless. So after all that buildup that nearly moved her to tears, making her think what a filial child he was, it turned out he just wanted to go to a hot spring.
As soon as Wen Lun finished speaking, the other three children all made exasperated sounds.
Wen Lun crossed his arms and smiled brightly, raising an eyebrow as he asked, “Don’t you three want to go to a hot spring?”
Wen Yu, Wen Le, and Wen Yi did not make any more sounds. To be honest, they also really wanted to go.
Wen Le raised his hand excitedly and said, “I want to go too.”
Wen Yi quickly agreed, “Me too.”
She ran to Xia Zhi’s bedside and pressed her face against Xia Zhi’s thigh. Her big grape-like eyes looked up at her as she said in a soft, spoiled tone, “Mom, next time when you and Dad go to a hot spring, you must bring me along.”
She hooked her little finger with Xia Zhi’s and murmured, “Pinky promise, a hundred years, no breaking it. If you go back on it, you’re a puppy.”
Xia Zhi looked at their intertwined fingers, unable to come back to her senses for a long time. It felt as if her eyes had turned into a slow-motion camera. Everything around her slowed down, and in that slowed world, she gradually realized that she seemed to truly have a soft and adorable daughter, and that daughter was hooking her finger to make a promise with her.
“Dad, I want to pinky promise with you too.”
Wen Le’s voice pulled Xia Zhi back to reality. She watched as he ran over to Wen Shihan’s bed, hooking his small finger with Wen Shihan’s, imitating what Wen Yi had just done. His eyes shone brightly as he said, “Dad, we’ve made a promise too. You must bring me along next time you go to a hot spring.”
Xia Zhi was speechless. It seemed the children really loved hot springs, otherwise they would not be so persistent.
Xia Zhi thought that given Wen Shihan’s personality, he would simply watch Wen Le finish this series of childish actions with a cold expression and remain silent.
Although she had not met Wen Shihan often in the company, she had seen him a few times. She knew how cold, ruthless, and intimidating he could be. Once, when she went to the top floor to retrieve some documents, she had accidentally witnessed him scolding senior executives. He had thrown a stack of files onto the ground and roared like an enraged lion, “Is this pile of trash what you hand in to me?”
Those high-level executives who usually acted arrogantly did not dare to make a sound in front of him. Even Director Cao, her superior’s superior in the brand department, who was normally overbearing and looked down on others, seemed as if he wished he could disappear on the spot.
It was clear how terrifying Wen Shihan could be.
Yet something completely unexpected happened.
The coldness in Wen Shihan’s eyes melted, replaced by an unusual gentleness. He raised his free hand and gently placed it on Wen Le’s soft little head, speaking in a low voice, “Alright, I’ll take you next time.”
“Yay!”
Wen Le jumped up and down happily. At seven years old, he was still in that innocent stage where emotions were worn openly on his face, just like how he was now, genuinely overjoyed.
“Mom, Dad already agreed to Third Brother, why haven’t you agreed to me?” Wen Yi shook her little braids eagerly, determined to get Xia Zhi’s answer.
Xia Zhi paused for a moment. Looking into Wen Yi’s round, beautiful eyes, she smiled gently and nodded.
She might not be able to accept the current situation yet, but Wen Yi was simply too adorable. Who could refuse her?
Of course she would agree.