What Should I Do If I Time-Traveled Forty Years Later and My Lover Has Become an Old Man? - MLFYL: 03

Over a decade ago, Nie Wenqing relocated to the Tongshu Community, and during that time, he has come to know Jiang Zhonglin quite well. The relationship between them has always been harmonious and warm.

Unlike his wife and children, Professor Jiang, the neighbor, is truly a solitary individual. For more than ten years, the only occasions he sees visitors are during the Spring Festival when some of his former students come to pay their respects; outside of these times, his home remains silent and desolate.

Nie Wenqing is aware of Jiang Zhonglin’s family circumstances—being an only child who lost his parents early on. Though he was married in his youth, his wife has since passed away, and he has not remarried nor had children of his own.

Both Nie Wenqing and his wife are cheerful and generous-hearted, and upon learning of Jiang Zhonglin’s situation, they frequently extend invitations for meals and even invite him to join them for fishing outings.

Regarding Jiang Zhonglin’s character, Nie Wenqing holds unwavering trust. He describes him as a gentleman of admirable conduct—self-disciplined, living a simple and modest life, and embodying integrity in every aspect of his character.

But the scene he saw with his own eyes today made Nie Wenqing suspicious—he doubted his own eyes. He didn’t think that Old Jiang had done anything wrong at first, but suspected that he was old and had poor eyesight, or had some disease, which led to unrealistic hallucinations.

Old Nie was silent, and no one spoke in the living room.

Yu Yao looked down at her slippers, then looked at Jiang Zhonglin who was standing stiffly in place, and asked with a stern face, “Can’t I kiss my own husband?”

Jiang Zhonglin was stunned by her kiss, and his glasses were crooked. But he quickly came to his senses, took a step back, and adjusted his glasses. He coughed awkwardly and did not answer this sentence.

He glanced at his neighbor Old Nie who was standing there in a daze, and slowly said to Yu Yao, “There is breakfast in the kitchen, and it’s still hot. You should eat something first.”

He observed her as she gracefully moved toward the dining room to enjoy her breakfast. After a moment, he gently averted his gaze and took a seat in front of Nie Wenqing.

The elder, noticing a flicker of something unusual in Jiang’s demeanor, rubbed his eyes, and upon recognizing that it was not an illusion, he looked at Old Jiang with serious concern.

“Old Jiang.” he asked carefully, “What’s going on with you? Who is this young woman to you?”

Jiang Zhonglin remained silent for a brief moment before responding softly, “She’s my… wife,” he said simply. “The wife I married forty-one years ago.” He explained the matter of his time travel with calm composure.

Old Nie was taken aback, having anticipated a clumsy stumble or slip rather than this revelation. He was momentarily stunned, trying to process what he had just heard. As he reflected, he realized that the name ‘Yu Yao’ mentioned by the young girl sounded somewhat familiar, prompting him to recall something from the past.

Old Jiang seldom spoke about his first wife, and the first time Old Nie had heard him mention her was several years earlier, during a convivial gathering. One of Old Jiang’s students had recently won a significant award, and Old Jiang was so elated that he had a few extra drinks.

It was only when he was tipsy that he casually mentioned the name Yu Yao.

He cried as he spoke. He was the kind of person who never frowned when faced with difficulties, but he couldn’t help crying when he mentioned his deceased wife.

Thinking of this, Nie Wenqing was overwhelmed with emotion and didn’t know what to say for a while. He digested it for a while, looked at the vague figure in the kitchen, and whispered to Jiang Zhonglin, “What are you going to do now?”

He was a little worried about his old friend. Although the two were husband and wife before, the age gap is too big now and they are totally incompatible. He knows Old Jiang. He is not like those old perverts who like young girls and are happy to marry a young and beautiful wife for nothing.

Jiang Zhonglin, the person involved, did not have the worries of the old neighbor.

“It’s good that she is not dead. I won’t talk about other things for now. I have to take good care of her. She encountered this kind of thing suddenly and she is not familiar with the world now. She must be very uncomfortable. I am at this age and don’t want anything. I will take care of her for one day as long as I can. I will arrange everything for her in the future, no matter what she thinks… She has no other relatives now.”

Nie Wenqing was momentarily at a loss for words, gently patting his old friend’s shoulder in silent camaraderie.

“Alas, it is indeed the will of Heaven,” he murmured softly.

When Yu Yao stepped out after finishing her breakfast, she noticed that the peculiar elderly gentleman had already departed, and Jiang Zhonglin was attentively tidying the teacups on the table.

Observing her gaze lingering where Old Nie had sat, Jiang Zhonglin proactively offered, “He’s a friend of mine—his surname is Nie, and he resides in the building next door. He left earlier, mentioning he would invite us over for dinner in the coming days.”

“Oh,” Yu Yao responded, following him gently. “Today we’re going to obtain my identification. What would be appropriate to wear?”

Jiang Zhonglin placed the cup down and headed to the laundry room to retrieve a set of clothes, “I’ve washed and dried the garments you wore yesterday. You can wear this today. After we get your ID, we’ll also pick up some daily essentials.”

Yu Yao accepted the clothing, then hesitated, pulling out a pair of soft, jasmine-scented purple underwear from inside.

“You washed my underwear too?” She asked, a hint of surprise in her voice.

Jiang Zhonglin paused, silently acknowledging her question.

The old man’s face was as serene and timeless as that of an ancient deity. No longer did he resemble the husband who would flush with embarrassment at the slightest tease.

Jiang Zhonglin was carefully searching the room for something. Yu Yao approached the door and attempted to open it; to her surprise, the door responded by recognizing her credentials and swung open effortlessly. Unaware of when Jiang Zhonglin had installed this feature, she stepped outside.

Yesterday’s heavy rain had given way to clear skies today, with the sun shining brightly. The grass outside remained damp, and the droplets still clung to the flowers and trees in the yard. In stark contrast to the vibrant, meticulously tended flowers in the neighboring gardens, this yard appeared more subdued. The plants were left untrimmed, and only a jasmine tree bore a few delicate white buds—evidence of the owner’s apparent neglect.

“Let’s go,” Jiang Zhonglin said as he emerged.

The two of them strolled beneath the shade of the trees toward the community entrance. Nearby, a bus stop awaited, and as before, they hailed a vehicle.

Jiang Zhonglin then led Yu Yao to a building adorned with a striking red sign that read “Serve the People,” gleaming in the sunlight. Above the entrance, a prominent sign declared it to be the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau.

The administrative personnel entering and exiting through the door were all dressed uniformly, their presence passing unnoticed by most.

Yu Yao observed numerous individuals engaged with the machines lining one wall, reminiscent of the self-service kiosks of bygone banks. Jiang Zhonglin, however, chose a different path—he strode directly toward the artificial service counter, exuding purpose and confidence.

Soon, an individual emerged from a nearby door and guided them to another office. “Miss Yu’s circumstances are indeed exceptional,” he explained. “Last night, Mr. Jiang personally discussed with us the legal considerations pertaining to this unique case. Based on precedent, Miss Yu would typically be subject to a one-year observation and social assistance period. However, given Mr. Jiang’s notably high citizen credit rating and the fact that you are husband and wife, we have decided to reduce the observation period to six months.”

He then presented two documents for their review. The serious middle-aged man handed them over with a composed demeanor, inviting them to examine the materials.

Yu Yao leafed through the file. It was a huge pile of clauses, including various obligations and benefits, and there was a space for a signature at the end.

“Mr. Jiang has applied for information protection, so our media will not reveal any information about Miss Yu. If anyone illegally publishes information about Miss Yu and causes trouble for her, we will also help rectify the situation. Rest assured that we will respect and protect the legitimate rights and interests of every citizen…” The middle-aged police officer had said a lot, and it wasn’t easy to finish.

When they left the Public Security Bureau, she realized one thing, “What he just meant is that no one will come to meet me and post my photos online, and there won’t be a crowd of strangers watching me, right?”

Jiang Zhonglin nodded, “Yes.”

“…If it were 40 years ago, I would have been treated like a rare animal, trapped among the people.”

Jiang Zhonglin remarked, “The very first case of time travel—an elderly man—was overwhelmed by too many onlookers and tragically died. Consequently, a special protective law was enacted.”

She pondered, “Wouldn’t that complicate matters for you?”

He appeared puzzled, uncertain of her implication.

She continued, “Think about it—if they discover I am the fifth person to travel through time, and your acquaintances become curious and inquire about me, it could become quite troublesome. Conversely, if you keep it a secret, they might notice you suddenly have a wife and jump to the wrong conclusions, perhaps thinking you’re dabbling with younger women. That could lead to some awkward misunderstandings.”

Jiang Zhonglin showed little concern, simply saying, “Let it be.”

He then tapped to search for nearby shopping malls, preparing to take her shopping. As she stood at the entrance of the vast mall, she reflected that, after forty years, physical retail spaces still hadn’t been replaced by online stores. Yet, along the way, she noticed a decline in the number of familiar grocery stores reminiscent of those in the past.

This shopping mall was so huge that it was beyond description. In short, Yu Yao had never seen such a huge shopping mall before. There were many products, more than 40 sections, and 12 elevators leading to different sections.

She didn’t like shopping malls before, and was so stunned that she was almost dizzy as she followed Jiang Zhonglin.

She first went to buy a mobile phone. The current mobile phone was officially called a “personal terminal”, which was just a product of future novels that were invented in the past. She was still interested in choosing, and walked around the specialty store twice.

The saleswoman was no different from the mobile phone saleswoman from forty years ago.

No matter which model Yu Yao looked at, she could introduce it with a stream of phrases, “Look, this level 4 is the most popular among young people now. It has the latest 8.0 processor, 128 TB of memory, and eight different specifications…”

After listening for a long time, Yu Yao asked Jiang Zhonglin, who stood silently with his hands behind his back, “Do you have money?”

“Yes, if you like it, buy it.”

“I’m not very knowledgeable about these things, so you can choose something for me.”

“This old man isn’t very knowledgeable about these things either. This was given to me by a student. It’s a five-year-old model.”

The two looked at each other for a while, and Yu Yao shrugged, “Okay, I’ll choose myself.”

After choosing her personal terminal, she implanted the ID chip she had previously received from the Public Security Bureau into it. Yu Yao chose the same wearing method as Jiang Zhonglin. She played with the new terminal in her hand as she walked out with her head down.

To avoid her bumping into people because she wasn’t looking at the road, Jiang Zhonglin couldn’t help but take her hand and lead her away from the crowd.

Soon, Yu Yao stopped and pointed to a game store in the mall, “I want to buy a game.”

Jiang Zhonglin sighed with an air of unruffled calm, his voice embodying the gentle wisdom of a caring elder, “Very well, but remember to enjoy your games in moderation, and avoid staying up too late. Balance your play with proper rest…”

Before he could complete his advice, Yu Yao swiftly raised her hand and gently guided him into the game store.