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185 You Must Love Me from Here on Out. Only Me

Based on her experience from reading mystery novels, Lin Wan felt that there should be a secret room or a hidden compartment in the old house.

While Yang Ruoxi rummaged through the drawers of the study, Lin Wan clenched her fist and knocked on the wall and the floor. Her head spun but she couldn’t find anything.

The two of them sat on the chairs to take a break.

“Wanwan, just give up. We’ll just take it one day at a time.” Yang Ruoxi spread out her hands and leaned back.

The Lin family mansion did not trigger any bad memories for Lin Wan, so Li Yanchen was relieved. She could face her past now. She was calm and her heart was as still as water.

After leaving the old house, the three of them wandered around the village.

From time to time, they would bump into a neighbor who seemed to recognize Li Yanchen and Lin Wan.

“You’ve visited here a lot.” Lin Wan was a little jealous.

Li Yanchen could hear the envy in her voice. “Ms. Lin, are you jealous of your own self? Let me guess. You think I treated you very well in the past and you don’t remember anything. Didn’t I say I would make you fall in love with me again if you ever forget me?”

His words were comforting but she was far from happy. “Did you love the past me very much?”

Li Yanchen was stumped by the question. Before he married Lin Wan, he had taken care of her for many years. However, he had never felt like this. He never had any romantic feelings towards her. Lin Wan, in the past, was just a responsibility for him.

“Do you want me to tell you the truth?” he asked.

“Yes.” Lin Wan nodded. “I want the truth.”

“No,” he said. “I think I only started falling in love with you in these two months. Before that, you were a responsibility that I was willing to fulfill but I didn’t feel any romantic inclination toward you.” Li Yanchen was scared she might get angry at him for saying that. He observed her carefully.

“But I promise you,” he said hurriedly. “I will always love you no matter who you become.”

Lin Wan smiled and kissed Li Yanchen on the cheek. “So, the one you love is the current me.”

“Yeah… are you angry that I didn’t love you in the past?” The kiss had confused him.

“I’m not angry. I don’t like my past self either. But Mr. Li, you must love me from here on out. Only me.” Lin Wan leaned her head on his shoulder.

“Of course.”

Yang Ruoxi came back from buying some popsicles. Seeing the two of them acting so lovey-dovey, she stuffed the popsicle into Lin Wan’s hands. “It’s a hot day. Isn’t it getting stuffy with you two squeezing together?”

“It’s not hot. My husband’s hand is cold.” She snuggled close to Li Yanchen once again.

Yang Ruoxi massaged the goosebumps on her arms. “A certain someone used to say that she didn’t want to get married. That she wanted to remain beautiful and free, and she could only be that when alone.”

“Yang Ruoxi!” Lin Wan opened the popsicle and stuffed it into her friend’s mouth.

“Wanwan, you didn’t want to get married?” Li Yanchen asked nonchalantly.

“That’s because I didn’t find the right person. Besides, Yang Ruoxi was constantly heartbroken, and her snot and tears blurred my thoughts. I had a headache just by looking at her,” Lin Wan teased Yang Ruoxi.

“Lin Wan!” Yang Ruoxi yelled as she playfully swiped at Lin Wan.

Li Yanchen followed behind. Looking at the two of them bickering, he felt as though he had returned to the university campus when he was in his twenties. He wondered how life would have been if he had met Lin Wan then. Would he be a lively teenager and spend his time with Lin Wan all the time on campus?

How would it feel if they were the same age? Li Yanchen’s thoughts got away from him.

If he had met Lin Wan in his twenties, he would have wooed her, taken her to the library, and attended the public classes of his favorite professor. He would buy her favorite snacks and take them downstairs in her dormitory, they would watch the same basketball game on the campus and join the same club as her.

Lin Wan and Yang Ruoxi were tired from running around and they sat down on a rock by the roadside. The bamboo stick of the popsicle was already stained with sticky chocolate.

“Wanwan, I believe in love again. I hope I can meet the right person, too!” Yang Ruoxi licked her popsicle.

“What we desire in that world can be obtained in this world.” Lin Wan had a new idea in her mind.

“If that’s the case, would Li Yanchen be able to have the life that he desired as well? Would he disappear into another world?” Lin Wan wondered aloud.

“It’s possible.” Yang Ruoxi nodded slightly.

Lin Wan walked to Li Yanchen with her popsicle. “Are you satisfied with your current life?” she asked.

Li Yanchen was stunned by her question. “I am quite satisfied.”

Lin Wan heaved a sigh of relief. “That’s good. Have you ever thought about living a different life?”

Li Yanchen was surprised. How did Lin Wan know what he was thinking?

“Wanwan, it’s so surprising that you know about it.”

“Why?” Lin Wan raised her head.

“I was just thinking about how nice it would be if I had met you in my twenties. If we were the same age in the same university…,” said Li Yanchen with longing.

“Why?” Lin Wan’s hand that was holding the popsicle froze.

“Then you won’t think I am old for you. I am not that old even now, but I wish we could have been together in the best years of our life. I wish you knew me when I was in my twenties,” he said. “I was as energetic as you.”

“What if I don’t like you in your twenties? What if I like old men?” What Lin Wan wanted to say was that Li Yanchen was at the best age right now. However, the words that came out of her mouth sounded like she was mocking him.

“Old man? You still think I’m old?” Li Yanchen pursed his lips.

“That’s not what I meant! I just like you the way you are, Mr. Li. I like you because you are calm and mature,” she explained. “Maybe Lin Wan in her twenties wouldn’t even have looked at you in your twenties. Like Yang Ruoxi mentioned, I used to be against marriage. If I had met you then, I think we would have completely ignored each other.” She looked into his eyes.

Li Yanchen’s lips curled into a smile. He leaned down and wrapped his arms around her. “Wanwan, I hope I can be part of your present and your future, then.”

After finishing her popsicle, Yang Ruoxi walked to them since they were adamantly stuck to each other and refused to move. “Can you consider the feelings of someone single like me? How can we shop if you two can’t get away from each other even for a moment?”

Lin Wan gently pushed Li Yanchen away and held Yang Ruoxi’s arm. “Ms. Yang, you should also find a good person and get married. Stop your online dating.”

“You’re so annoying.” Yang Ruoxi pretended to stomp her feet.

Xuecheng village wasn’t big. In less than an hour, the three of them had already made one round around the village. Most of the people she met were elderly, and most of them were surprised to see Lin Wan. In the end, the three of them took a shortcut back to the old house to say goodbye to the old Auntie.

In the evening, the setting sun cast a golden light everywhere. The old Auntie was peeling corn in the courtyard. When she saw them, she wiped her hands on her apron. “Are you leaving already? Xiao Wan loves corn porridge. Take these back to make her some.”

Li Yanchen knew how much Lin Wan loved corn so he accepted the bag of corn and thanked the old Auntie. Lin Wan was stunned that the host also loved to eat corn like her.

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