My wife and I are both time travelers.

Chapter 139 Reunion

That night, Lin Ying had a rare good night's sleep.

This was the best night's sleep Lin Ying had had since Zhou Jiye's disappearance. When she woke up the next day, all her previous worries and anxieties had vanished, and Lin Ying was radiant and full of energy again, which completely put Fang Manxia, ​​who had been secretly worried about her, at ease.

In the days that followed, Lin Ying waited for Zhou Jiye to return, but as the days went by, Zhou Jiye still did not appear, and there was no second phone call.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye, and Lin Ying began to feel uneasy again, wondering if Zhou Jiye had encountered trouble on his way back, or if something else had happened.
Despite thinking this, Lin Ying waited patiently, because she believed that since Zhou Jiye could call back, perhaps one day he would suddenly return and she would be able to see him.

Lin Ying didn't go to work that day because it was her prenatal checkup day.

Due to recent emotional fluctuations, the baby's position in her womb was slightly unstable. For safety's sake, Lin Ying decided to go to the hospital for a checkup. Since Fang Manxia had nothing to do at home, she let Lin Wen and Lin Xi go to work as usual, and she accompanied Lin Ying to the hospital.

They returned from the hospital around noon, supporting each other and talking as they slowly walked towards home.

As she approached her doorstep, Fang Manxia looked up and glanced ahead. She paused for a moment, then a smile spread across her face.

"Xiaoying, look! Who's that?"

Lin Ying subconsciously looked up and followed the direction Fang Manxia was pointing. When she saw a figure sitting on the steps in front of her house, her body trembled slightly, and tears welled up in her eyes again.

"Zhou! Ji! Ye!"

Taking a deep breath, Lin Ying walked over quickly. When she got close, she suddenly shouted, uttering the name Zhou Jiye through gritted teeth. Her expression was a mixture of relief and barely suppressed anger.

Zhou Jiye returned a little over an hour ago. After secretly returning to Lingnan from Hong Kong by plane, he followed the people who had been arranged to pick him up and headed towards the nearest county town.

He carried money and a blank letter of introduction, which Xiang Heng had given him before he left Hong Kong. Zhou Jiye had no idea how he got it, or whether it was genuine or not; he couldn't tell for sure.

With this device, Zhou Jiye easily reached the nearest city with train service and bought a ticket back to Shanghai. He originally planned to call Shanghai to let them know he was back, but after thinking it over, he realized that making a long-distance call now required going to the post office, and he was also worried about getting into trouble if someone overheard him. So, he refrained from making the call.

Anyway, I have the ticket in hand, and the train is about to leave. I'll be back in Shanghai in a couple of days. I'll deal with everything once I get back.

And so, Zhou Jiye endured the long train journey back to Shanghai. When he stepped out of the Shanghai train station and looked at the familiar scenery around him, Zhou Jiye couldn't help but want to shout to the sky: "I, Hu Hansan, am back!"

It took Zhou Jiye more than an hour to finally get home by bus. But when he arrived at his door, he found no one home, and no one answered the door no matter how many times he knocked.

He had lost his key long ago. Perhaps it was lost at sea on his flight from Macy's to Hong Kong, or perhaps it was lost on the way while he was being chased by the police. Zhou Jiye himself didn't know exactly when he lost it. Without the key, he couldn't get in the house at all. Helpless, Zhou Jiye could only sit down on the steps and wait. As he waited, exhausted from the journey, he unknowingly fell asleep. He was sleeping soundly with his head propped up by one hand when he heard a roar in his ear, and it seemed that someone was calling his name.

"Who? Who called me?" Still half asleep, Zhou Jiye opened his eyes and looked up blankly. But before he could see clearly, Lin Ying lunged at his face with her claws outstretched.

"Zhou! Ji! Ye! You bastard! Why didn't you just die out there? You've been missing for so long, and you still remember to come back? I... I'll scratch you to death, you heartless bastard!"

Lin Ying immediately used her Nine Yin White Bone Claw to scratch Zhou Jiye's forehead before he could dodge, causing him to scream in pain and hurriedly try to avoid it.

"What the hell! Are you crazy?!"

Zhou Jiye dodged left and right, but since he had been sitting, he couldn't stand up immediately. He could only sway his upper body to avoid the attacks, covering his face with his hands and shouting anxiously, "What's wrong with you, you crazy woman? Your husband has finally come back, and you want to kill me as soon as you see me? What are you doing? Stop scratching me, or I'll fight back!"

"Fight back! Fight back!" Lin Ying scratched and cursed, "You heartless bastard, you're out there eating and drinking well, leaving your wife and kids behind to live a carefree life. You've been missing for so long, why are you only thinking of coming back now? You bastard, I'd never be satisfied even if I beat you to death... Waaah... Waaah..."

As she was cursing, Lin Ying suddenly burst into tears, stopped what she was doing, and threw herself into Zhou Jiye's arms, crying like a child. This completely bewildered Zhou Jiye, who was still in a daze. What... what was going on?

Fang Manxia, ​​standing to the side, was both amused and exasperated by the scene. These two children were a match made in heaven; when they were separated, they worried about each other, but as soon as they met, they started hitting and yelling at each other, causing all this trouble. Watching them like this, Fang Manxia felt a mix of amusement and exasperation, but mostly envy and感慨 (a sense of mixed emotions, including admiration and reflection). After a moment's thought, she stepped forward and said to them, "Alright, Xiaoying, nobody can predict these things. You can't blame Xiao Zhou; he only came back because he had no other choice. Now that he's back, it's good. Don't be angry anymore. Don't forget you're not alone; you have a child too."

As she spoke, Fang Manxia said to Zhou Jiye, "Xiao Zhou, what are you standing there for? Quickly help your wife up. She's over six months pregnant, she can't be overjoyed or saddened right now!"

"What? More than six months?" Zhou Jiye was still confused. Although he understood Fang Manxia's words, his mind hadn't quite processed them. It wasn't until he subconsciously helped the tearful Lin Ying up that he realized her belly was quite large. "This...this is...?" When he saw Lin Ying's protruding belly, Zhou Jiye was completely dumbfounded. How could his wife's belly be so big after his trip to Hong Kong?
"Are you overjoyed?" Fang Manxia laughed and scolded, "Hurry up and help Xiaoying inside? You're about to become a father."

"This...this is my child?" Zhou Jiye blurted out instinctively. As soon as he said it, he realized he had misspoke and quickly slapped his mouth: "This...wife...that's not what I meant, I meant...I meant to say..."

"Tell me, tell me what you mean? What? If this isn't your child, is it someone else's? Zhou Jiye! Let me tell you! Don't try to back out now! Otherwise, I'll make you regret it!" Lin Ying threatened fiercely, waving her little fists. Zhou Jiye subconsciously touched the bloodstain on his forehead that she had just scratched, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.

Fortunately, Fang Manxia was there. She laughed and scolded the two clowns a couple of times before taking out her keys and opening the door.

Zhou Jiye helped Lin Ying into the house and into their room. Fang Manxia accompanied them in. After they sat down, Zhou Jiye looked around at the familiar room, then at Lin Ying, who was heavily pregnant and supporting her back. He scratched his head and couldn't help but chuckle.

"When did you arrive?" Lin Ying had just vented her anger, but now that she had calmed down, she looked at Zhou Jiye and asked.

"I got back before eleven o'clock."

"Why are you sitting at the door? Aren't you coming in?"

"I...I lost the key..." Zhou Jiye said apologetically.

"You're such a grown-up, how could you lose your keys? Why don't you just lose yourself?" Lin Ying blurted out instinctively, but then realized her words were a bit off and quickly shut her mouth, changing her tone to ask, "Did you call home before? Leave a message?"

"You answered the phone?" Zhou Jiye hurriedly said, "You have no idea how difficult it was for me to make this call. I called from Hong Kong and it took me more than an hour to get through. When I finally got through, it dropped after only a few words, and I couldn't get through no matter how hard I tried to call back."

"I was worried that you might have received that call. It's good that you did, it's good that you did."

"Fool!" Seeing Zhou Jiye rubbing his hands together and laughing, and then looking at the bloodstain on his forehead, Lin Ying felt a pang of heartache again.

"Um... I acted a bit impulsively just now. Does it hurt? Should I put some medicine on it for you?"

"Hehe, it's nothing, it's nothing. I'm tough, this little injury doesn't need any medicine." Zhou Jiye chuckled. He knew Lin Ying too well and knew why she had acted that way. Besides, Lin Ying was pregnant with his child, and her belly was so big. He had mysteriously disappeared for so long, and she must have been worried sick. It was normal for her to lose her temper when she saw him come back. In addition, this incident was Zhou Jiye's own fault, and he deserved what he got.

"Then why didn't you call home as soon as you got to Hong Kong?" Lin Ying pressed. This was something she couldn't understand. Since Zhou Jiye could call home, she wouldn't have worried for so long if he had called earlier.

"This matter is complicated and cannot be explained in a few words..." Zhou Jiye murmured.

"Tell me slowly, I'm listening."

“Okay…” Zhou Jiye glanced at Lin Ying somewhat guiltily, then looked at Fang Manxia beside him. After thinking for a moment, he began to tell the story from the beginning, starting from the night he received the goods in Macun.

As Zhou Jiye recounted his experience, Lin Ying and Fang Manxia learned what had happened to him. In particular, when they learned that after arriving in Hong Kong, Zhou Jiye was stopped by the police for checking his ID, and in his haste to escape, he unexpectedly ran into Cheng Jiandong and his gang, who were robbing people. Cheng Jiandong and his ruthless thugs exchanged fire with the police in the street, bullets flying everywhere. The unfortunate Zhou Jiye was caught by Cheng Jiandong and his gang, and after they took him away in their car, Lin Ying couldn't help but gasp in surprise, her face full of tension.

Fang Manxia's expression remained calm, but she frowned slightly. She hadn't expected Zhou Jiye to encounter such a thing as soon as he arrived in Hong Kong.

Then, Zhou Jiye told them how he dealt with Cheng Jiandong and his gang, and how he was forced to temporarily become Cheng Jiandong's underling. It wasn't until he followed Cheng Jiandong on a big business deal that Cheng Jiandong truly began to trust him a little. He barely managed to get the chance to go out. When he took the opportunity to make this phone call home, Lin Ying and Fang Manxia both frowned deeply. Although Zhou Jiye was right in front of them now and the matter was long over, they were still very worried about him.

"And then what? How did you get rid of them and come back?" Lin Ying pressed.

Zhou Jiye glanced at Fang Manxia subconsciously, then mumbled, "It was just a coincidence. I met a benefactor who helped me escape from Cheng Jiandong's gang and then managed to find a way to sneak back by boat. Because it was inconvenient along the way, I didn't call home. I'm sorry to have made you worry."

"Are there any aftereffects?" Lin Ying asked with concern.

"No." Zhou Jiye shook his head and said, "The matter in Hong Kong has been settled, and I won't be going there again for the time being. Even if Cheng Jiandong and the others want to find me, I'll be safe as long as I don't go to Hong Kong. As for that group of people, hehe, do you think they can do this kind of work for long?"

“That’s true.” Lin Ying agreed. Those who take shortcuts don’t last long, and the more arrogant they are, the more likely they are to be punished by fate. Anyway, Zhou Jiye can stay in Shanghai and not go to Hong Kong. Besides, Hong Kong doesn’t hold much appeal for Lin Ying, so it doesn’t matter to her whether he goes or not.

(End of this chapter)