Zheng Wei's wedding had been rather eventful. When it came time for the bride and groom to bow to each other...
Chen Xiaozheng suddenly appeared from who knew where and shouted, "Wait!"
The people around Chen Xiaozheng were caught completely off guard. They'd only ever seen this sort of thing happen at Western weddings on TV. They'd never seen anyone interrupt a traditional Chinese ceremony to try to steal the bride.
But Chen Xiaozheng's sad, low voice was drowned out by the commotion of the Chinese wedding. At the very least, the bride and groom didn't hear him.
When the officiant called, "Bow to each other," Zheng Wei and Xu Kaiyang had already bowed instinctively. The officiant had vaguely heard Chen Xiaozheng, but seeing how things stood, he ignored him and went straight to, "Escort the couple to the bridal chamber."
It wasn't until Zheng Wei and Xu Kaiyang had changed into their toast outfits that they heard what had happened. By then, Chen Xiaozheng had already left, leaving behind an album.
As they went around toasting, Zheng Wei was surprised to see Lin Jing there, with Shi Jie seated beside him. Seeing that they'd come as a couple, Zheng Wei breathed a sigh of relief. After all, nobody wanted one or two people showing up to cause trouble.
"Little Flying Dragon, congratulations on your wedding!" Lin Jing looked at Zheng Wei, who was especially radiant and beautiful today. He felt a little regretful, but seeing how she'd found happiness in both love and her career, he sincerely wished her well.
Shi Jie, sitting beside him, saw how completely at ease Lin Jing looked and breathed a sigh of relief, too.
Time flowed by like a river. In the blink of an eye, Wang Yue's younger son was already over four years old. One day, the Wang family of four came to Yuezhou once again for their annual trip.
When Zheng Wei heard the news, she and Xu Kaiyang brought their child, who was a little over three, to join them.
The two families sat together on the lawn in front of the two-story office building. The camphor tree had grown into a vast canopy, casting a wide patch of shade.
The three children played on the lawn nearby. Yuan Yuan was more than capable of looking after her two younger brothers. Wang Yue chatted with everyone, but kept an eye on the children.
Everything was so happy and idyllic! Seeing what Wang Yue was doing, Zheng Wei quietly nudged Ruan Wan. "Ruan Ruan, your Old Wang's doing a pretty good job as a full-time dad."
"Mm. After he got his doctorate, he felt lost for a while. Luckily, the kids gave him something else to focus on. He takes better care of them than I do now." Ruan Wan glanced at Wang Yue and spoke softly.
Wang Yue had just turned his attention away from the children and happened to overhear them. He hadn't even had a chance to explain when he heard—
"Ding! Host has mastered the Full-time Dad skill and earned the approval of many friends and family!" "Ding! Host has met the Salted Fish Film and Television System's return conditions!" "Ding! Transmigration System starting!" "Ding! Startup successful. Preparing to return to the original world!" "Ding! Return successful!" "Ding! Transmigration System cooling down!"
When Wang Yue opened his eyes in a daze, the office's resident beauty was still there beside him, wiping away tears as she looked at her phone.
"Young Xu, the show's not that sad, is it?" Wang Yue asked in surprise. He couldn't remember anything especially tearjerking in it.
"Men really are so heartless. Ruan Wan died, and you're asking why I shouldn't cry?" Xu Jing accused him through her tears.
Looking at Xu Jing's tear-streaked makeup, Wang Yue wondered whether he should remind her. He also wondered something else: had the system given him a different version of So Young from the one the office beauty was watching?
"Young Xu, what did Wang Yue do to you? Tell me, and I'll teach him a lesson!" Brother Yan had just finished a round of Honor of Kings and came over to join in.
"Brother Yan, Ruan Wan died, and Wang Yue actually asked me why I was crying!" Xu Jing immediately appealed to him for support.
"Uh... who's Ruan Wan?" If you asked Brother Yan which game was popular or how to play one, he could tell you. But he really didn't watch many TV shows or movies.
"I'm not talking to either of you!" Xu Jing was genuinely upset this time. She'd thought Brother Yan was a good guy!
"Xiao Wang, what's going on?" Brother Yan's expression was pure confusion.
"Oh, nothing. It's that time of the month," Wang Yue said solemnly, keeping a straight face.
"I think I'll play another round." Brother Yan knew Wang Yue was messing with him, so he went back to gaming.
After work, Wang Yue returned to his rented apartment and lay on the bed, unable to stop thinking about Ruan Wan and the two children. His heart was in turmoil.
What was going on in the world of the show now? This lousy system never explained anything. He didn't understand how transmigration worked. Was it a parallel world based on a TV show, or had it all just been a dream?
After getting used to the children's noisy play, Wang Yue found the sudden quiet almost unbearable.
He turned on his computer and searched for So Young. There was both a movie and a TV series. He searched for pictures of Ruan Wan, but none of them looked exactly like his wife. Or rather, each one bore a certain resemblance.
He could only look up Zheng Wei instead. Wang Yue figured it had to be the TV version; he still remembered the dark, adorable girl.
But after binge-watching for three days and finishing both the TV series and the movie, he found that some of the details came from the movie. The characters were portrayed that way, too: some were from the TV version, while others were from the movie.
The system really was incredible. Somehow, it had managed to combine them. But whether it was the TV version or the movie, his Ruan Wan had still died.
That only made Wang Yue miss his wife and children more, and his heart grew even more restless. He wondered whether the two little ones, Yuan Yuan and Xiao Tuantuan, missed their dad. Maybe this had all just been a dream!
As Wang Yue sat there lost in thought, he heard the woman next door say to her husband, "What are you doing? The kid's still awake!"
"He's asleep. Don't worry. I got him to bed after he finished his homework," the man replied.
"The guy next door isn't asleep yet!" The woman was still refusing him.
"That single guy's binge-watching. He can't hear us. I've seen him watching the same show for the past couple of days," the man said, growing more impatient.
"Still, we can't. What if he hears us?" The woman seemed to be weakening, on the verge of giving in.
"So what if he hears? We'll just say we're reminding his parents to find him a wife!" The man's voice came through, and he sounded out of breath.
That made Wang Yue even more annoyed. Who needed you to remind me to get married? I have a wife, and she's prettier than yours! I've got two kids, one more than you! What are you bragging about?
Fuming, Wang Yue turned off the TV, opened Ximalaya on his phone, found a late-night horror-story host, turned the volume up, and hit play.
Come on, let's ruin each other's night!
That night, Wang Yue put on his headphones and burrowed under the covers, still feeling as if cold air were leaking in from every direction. He eventually fell asleep, and the overhead light in his room stayed on all night.
Early the next morning, Wang Yue saw that the story was still playing on his phone and quickly turned it off. It was terrifying.
After washing up, he headed to work and ran into the man next door. He had dark circles under his eyes, too, and clearly hadn't slept well.
The man raised his arm. Wang Yue thought he was going to hit him, but instead the man gave him a thumbs-up. "Bro, you're something else!"
"Likewise," Wang Yue replied coolly as he walked away.
He heard the man mutter behind him, "If I hadn't seen those dark circles under your eyes, I might've believed you!"
A short distance away, Wang Yue kicked a stone and nearly twisted his back.
Then a burst of laughter came from behind him. Wang Yue quickened his pace and hurried out of sight.
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