What Should I Do If I Time-Traveled Forty Years Later and My Lover Has Become an Old Man? - MLFYL: 22

Even though she knew Jiang Zhonglin had her on his mind, she was feeling really angry.

She realized her emotions were all over the place since she time-traveled, probably because she was pregnant. It’s weird; she didn’t used to get this worked up.

She stepped out of the bedroom, ready to head upstairs and grab the rest of her stuff. Just then, she heard the front door open, and in walked Jiang Zhonglin, carrying… a bouquet of flowers.

A lovely bunch of light pink roses wrapped in soft purple silk ribbon, looking especially gorgeous with their rosy hue.

The old gentleman looked a bit sheepish, but he handed her the flowers, gently saying, “Don’t be angry.”

Yu Yao was taken by surprise.

She accepted the bouquet, and the sweet scent instantly filled the air around her.

“Getting angry isn’t good for your health,” Jiang Zhonglin added.

Holding the flowers, she suddenly reached out, gently held Old Jiang’s head, pushed it back a little, then leaned in and pecked his chin.

With a smile, she dashed upstairs with the flowers in her arms, “Alright, I’m not angry anymore!”

Jiang Zhonglin was momentarily taken aback, then quickly called out, “Slow down, be careful on the stairs!”

Yu Yao paused and leaned against the staircase railing, “Pregnant women aren’t fragile. No need to be so worried. I know what I’m doing. Professor Jiang, I’m twenty-eight, almost thirty, you know!”

He warned, “Just be careful, alright? Things aren’t like they used to be now that you’re pregnant.”

Yu Yao chuckled, “Oh, didn’t you say you didn’t want this baby before? What’s with the sudden worry?”

He felt a bit helpless and glanced at the bouquet in her hand, “You said you weren’t mad anymore.”

Yu Yao shot back, “I’m not mad, I’m just teasing you.”

He could only manage a wry smile.

Thankfully, Yu Yao didn’t linger on it too long and started packing her stuff.

When he went to grab some food and called out to Yu Yao from the bedroom, he noticed a lot more of her things around.

There were pink roses in a vase on the small cabinet, filling the room with a sweet scent. The games Yu Yao had bought were stacked on the little round table, which also had a few of his books. In the bathroom, her bottles, jars, toothbrush, and towels were all neatly arranged on the washstand. His wardrobe was stuffed with her clothes, and a new photo sat on the desk across the room.

It was a wedding photo of her and Jiang Zhonglin from their younger days. The young Jiang Zhonglin, tall and handsome in a suit, had bright eyes and a genuine smile. Yu Yao, with her long hair pulled up, had petals scattered on her beautiful white wedding dress, holding a bouquet of pink roses and light purple ribbons, her smile just as radiant.

Noticing him lost in the photo, Yu Yao said, “Yang Yun sent this to me.”

She explained that Yang Yun was her bridesmaid and had taken a ton of pictures back then, keeping them safe all these years. Lately, they’d been chatting a lot, and Yang Yun had sent her a copy of the wedding photo.

“By the way, Mr. Jiang, I just realized there’s not a single photo of me around here. You didn’t go and delete all my pictures, did you?” She joked, though in reality, the house was pretty bare of photos—just a few graduation shots of the students Jiang Zhonglin had taught sitting next to the bookcase.

Jiang Zhonglin pulled his gaze from the old photo and quietly walked over to the desk. He opened a drawer, pulled out a small box, and then took out a memory card from inside. This little card could read data just by swiping it on the terminal.

“All the photos and videos are saved here,” he said, handing her the card.

Yu Yao was taken aback and reached for the card, eager to swipe it and see what was on it.

But he stopped her, “Let’s eat first. You can check this out later when you have some time.”

Yu Yao tucked the small card away for now. It felt smooth and dust-free, clearly something he took out often.

It struck her that Jiang Zhonglin hadn’t displayed any of their photos at home or mentioned her to anyone. It was like he had moved on after all these years. Yet, he still updated her missing person information every year and kept this card with her photos and videos hidden away so carefully.

She felt a swirl of complicated emotions tied to that little card.

But she quickly brushed those thoughts aside. Morning sickness was kicking in, and honestly, eating was becoming a real challenge for her.

Morning sickness often ties back to the pregnant woman’s emotions. Yu Yao hadn’t experienced it in the first couple of months, but suddenly, it hit her hard. Maybe it was just the timing, or perhaps it was the emotional rollercoaster she’d been on the night before.

Once this annoying morning sickness sets in, it feels like a routine. The moment she catches a whiff of cooking, that wave of nausea hits, and there’s no way to hold it back.

Yu Yao sat at the table, looking pretty unhappy, “You go ahead and eat. I can’t right now. I’ll eat later.”

Seeing her trying to hold back her nausea, there was no way Jiang Zhonglin could eat anything. Plus, she hadn’t really eaten much all day. That wasn’t good.

“What do you feel like eating? I can whip it up for you,” he offered.

Yu Yao shook her head and after a moment, she hesitated before saying, “I’m craving hot and sour noodles.”

“The kind with pickled cowpeas, a ton of chili sauce, and that special sauce on top,” she added.

Jiang Zhonglin wasn’t really sure how to make that, so he just opened up a food delivery app. Sure, there was takeout available, but he was more used to buying fresh veggies and cooking for himself.

Yu Yao decided to take matters into her own hands and started browsing. The app was super convenient now, with all sorts of food options from all over the city.

She figured out how to use it quickly and found a place with great reviews that looked really appetizing. She picked the signature hot and sour noodles and made sure to request it extra spicy. Feeling satisfied, she set her phone down and waited for her noodles to arrive.

Glancing over, she noticed Jiang Zhonglin still hadn’t eaten, so she waved him over, “Go on, eat up before it gets cold.”

“I’ve kept it warm, and I’m waiting for you so we can eat together.”

He really valued those little family rituals.

Fifteen minutes later, Yu Yao’s order showed up right on time.

The restaurant really knew how to take care of their customers, loading her hot and sour rice noodles with plenty of chili peppers. The moment she caught a whiff of that tangy, spicy aroma, her stomach started growling. The pickled beans were super refreshing, but it felt like there could’ve been a bit more vinegar in the soup.

After a couple of bites, Yu Yao headed to the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of vinegar, and poured it into her bowl with a satisfying splash, leaving Old Jiang holding the bowl in shock.

“Isn’t that a bit too sour?” He wondered aloud.

Sure, pregnant women often crave sour stuff, but this was next level. It felt like her bowl was drowning in chili and vinegar.

But Yu Yao didn’t mind at all; she had a serious craving for those spicy noodles and polished off her meal in under ten minutes.

Meanwhile, Old Jiang finished his own meal with a heavy heart, thinking about what the future held. He couldn’t let her keep eating these crazy sour and spicy noodles every meal.

“Relax, I’ll eat what I can handle. There are plenty of pregnant women with morning sickness; I can’t be the only one starving,” catching a glimpse of his worried face, Yu Yao wiped her mouth and spoke calmly.

After tidying up the kitchen, she jumped in the shower and checked out the data on the little card Jiang Zhonglin had given her.

She loved taking photos, and Yang Yun was even more obsessed with snapping pictures. Whenever they went out, they’d take tons of shots together. Yu Yao would send her the best ones, so most of the pics she had now were of her and Yang Yun, with a few of her and Jiang Zhonglin mixed in.

There were lots from their adventures in the ancient town and some from their wedding. She even had a video of the whole wedding day and another clip where she and Jiang Zhonglin watched fireworks.

In that one, she only popped up for the last three seconds, her voice chiming in with, “Look at that one, it’s beautiful!” and “Wow, it’s so big!”

There were some photos she couldn’t quite place, including ones from her childhood and student days. How did Jiang Zhonglin get his hands on them?

She was still lounging in Jiang Zhonglin’s rattan chair, flipping through the photos when he strolled out in his pajamas after a shower and moved to shut the balcony door.

“It’s chilly out here; don’t sit there and catch a cold.”

She looked up, serious as ever, “This fireworks video we recorded in Hu City, right? It was forty minutes long.”

Jiang Zhonglin raised an eyebrow, “No, it was only thirty minutes.”

She couldn’t help but laugh, “Wow, you’ve got a good memory!”

The fireworks video really was just thirty minutes.

She snuggled into the quilt, terminal in hand, and kept scrolling through the endless photos. Jiang Zhonglin settled down beside her and dozed off.

“Hey, do you remember how many photos are in here?” She asked.

“More than a thousand.”

She peeked over her terminal at him, “How many is ‘more than a thousand’?”

He stared at the ceiling, counting, “… One thousand four hundred twenty.”

“Impressive memory,” she teased, swiping through the photos until she stumbled upon a bunch from an ancient town.

They were all of buildings and scenes, with neither of them in sight. They felt oddly familiar, but she was pretty sure she hadn’t taken them. She’d seen all the pictures after they returned, and Jiang Zhonglin definitely hadn’t snapped these at that time.

“So… these were taken by you later?” She tugged at Jiang Zhonglin’s shirt, urging him to check out the photo.

He took a quick glance at the pictures and replied, “Yeah, I went back there by myself later and snapped some shots.”

Yu Yao fell silent for a moment, choosing not to pursue the topic.

Instead, she switched off the terminal and lay back on the bed beside him, “Have you traveled to a lot of places over the years? Where have you been? Can you share some stories?”

Jiang Zhonglin felt a bit overwhelmed, unsure of where to begin with all the places he had visited.

“I went to Tibet for the first time many years ago.” In the stillness of the night, he quietly shared a simple memory from long ago, “There’s this Tianhu Lake up in the highlands. The sky there feels endless, so vast and open. The snow-capped mountains reflect beautifully in the lake. I remember a flock of birds resting on the water; they didn’t even flinch when people walked by. I spent a whole day just watching them take off, and later I found a long white feather by the lake.”

The locals in Tibet say that feather belongs to a heavenly bird. Whoever finds one is said to be lucky and will eventually reunite with loved ones they’ve long been apart from.