Chapter 107: Heart-to-Heart Conversation
Li Yanhe was first taken aback when he heard Lin Miaomiao’s question, then nodded and said, “So you did not come here in a dream?”
Lin Miaomiao shook her head and said to him, “No. The reason I came here is because I died there.”
“If you want to understand it in your terms, it is like a previous life and this one, except I forgot to drink the potion that makes you forget everything.”
Li Yanhe nodded after hearing that. Lin Miaomiao sighed and continued, “In that world, I was just an ordinary person.”
“Right before I was about to graduate, my own dreams clashed with what my parents hoped for me, so I secretly began learning how to make desserts, thinking that someday I could open a dessert shop of my own.”
As she said this, Lin Miaomiao suddenly found it a little amusing that one day she would actually say these words to Li Yanhe.
When Lin Miaomiao used to read novels or watch dramas, whenever the heroine confessed her secrets to the male lead, it was always full of moonlight, flowers, and an especially romantic atmosphere.
She herself had never imagined that when she told Li Yanhe, it would feel more like the two of them were exchanging secrets and then comforting each other, saying it was all right.
Li Yanhe saw that she did not continue and, feeling somewhat puzzled, said to her, “If you think he would be hurt, you do not have to tell me.”
Hearing this, Lin Miaomiao looked up at him and said, “He would not be hurt. Just a little angry, that is all.”
Li Yanhe gave her a strange look. Lin Miaomiao smiled and said, “At the time, I just wanted to learn in secret. Then, when the time came, I could open a dessert shop with all my strength and quit the job my parents had found for me.”
When Li Yanhe heard that, he suddenly felt that Lin Miaomiao was rather childish. How could she do such a thing?
Then he heard her continue, “But what I never expected was that on that very day, after I got off work, I was planning to go to an interview.”
“Where I came from, finding a job required an interview. People would see you, hear about your previous work experience or what you studied in school, and then decide whether to hire you.”
Li Yanhe nodded at her explanation. After taking a sip of water, he heard Lin Miaomiao say, “That night, my supervisor was in a bad mood and made us work overtime. We kept working until I was almost late for my interview.”
“I was so anxious. I wanted to slam the table, point at my supervisor, curse him out, and quit on the spot.”
Thinking of that idiot of a supervisor from before she transmigrated, Lin Miaomiao felt a little angry.
She sighed and said, “Of course, that was only what I thought. In the end, I could only leave work with everyone else. I remember on the day we got off work, I was the first one to rush out of the office.”
“After I ran out, I went straight outside and wanted to take a cab, but our leaving time happened to coincide with everyone else’s.”
“There was no way to get a car at all, and I could not even get one through the ride-hailing app, so I rode a bicycle to the interview.”
Hearing this, Li Yanhe asked, “A cab? Ride-hailing app? Bicycle?”
When Lin Miaomiao heard his question, she could only sigh and say, “Something like a horse carriage, or an ox cart, and then walking.”
Li Yanhe nodded, understanding that these were the means of transport in her world, and said, “And then you had an accident while walking?”
Hearing that, Lin Miaomiao smiled and nodded. “Yes. I took a shortcut, then got hit by a car, and ended up here.”
“Got hit by a car? You mean you were walking and got struck by a horse carriage, is that the feeling?”
Lin Miaomiao thought about it and said to him, “Imagine ten horses pulling a carriage. Those ten horses are running very fast, and then they run into a pedestrian. Do you think that person would be sent flying?”
Li Yanhe thought for a moment and said, “Yes, but usually no one would let horses run that fast on the streets.”
When Lin Miaomiao heard that, she slapped the table and said to him, “Exactly. So was I unlucky or not?”
Hearing this, Li Yanhe also felt that Lin Miaomiao really was rather unlucky.
He glanced at her and said indifferently, “Then how old were you in that world?”
Lin Miaomiao looked at him and said, “I was twenty-three. If you compare it to the age when we first met, I should be three years older than you.”
As Li Yanhe looked at Lin Miaomiao saying this to him, he suddenly pictured the teenage Lin Miaomiao.
He glanced at her and asked a question that struck Lin Miaomiao as very strange: “Then were you settled in marriage? Did you have a husband? Children?”
Hearing that, Lin Miaomiao coughed twice and said, “Why would I need to get married? Why would I need a husband? Why would I need children? I had just graduated from university and had not even enjoyed a sweet romance yet—why would I be getting married and having children already?”
Li Yanhe looked at her. Lin Miaomiao met his gaze and said, “In our time, people did not marry that early at all.”
“Most of us got married in our twenties, and some did not marry until their thirties.”
“If you want to ask about my love life, then yes, when I was in high school, I should have had a sweet relationship with a boy.”
“Of course, that relationship was very immature, so in the end it failed. It could also count as a sweet school romance.”
Li Yanhe raised his brows and said, “In your high school years? What is high school?”
Lin Miaomiao looked at him and said, “Our schooling was divided into four stages: primary school, junior high school, senior high school, and university.”
“Primary school was usually from about age six to thirteen, or seven to fourteen.”
“Junior high school was about fourteen to seventeen. Senior high school was about seventeen to twenty. When you are grown up, university is about twenty to twenty-four.”
“Because primary school lasts six years, junior high and senior high combined are six years, and university is four years.”
Looking at Li Yanhe, Lin Miaomiao said, “If you compare our education to yours now, I would probably count as top scholar material.”
Hearing this, Li Yanhe nodded and said, “Then you really did study hard for more than ten years.”
Lin Miaomiao nodded. “It would not quite be called a life of cold windows and hard study, but I did study hard.”
Li Yanhe glanced at her and said, “So you were dating men when you were just a teenager?”
Hearing this, a bitter smile appeared at the corner of Lin Miaomiao’s mouth. Then she said to him, “You could not really put it that way. We just... liked each other, and then we were together.”
As her eyes met Li Yanhe’s, her speech unconsciously began to falter. Li Yanhe looked at her.
Smiling, Lin Miaomiao said, “Yes, in truth, I was just young and reckless back then, and I happened to meet my first love.”
“And our relationship did not even last very long before my parents and his parents put an end to it.”
Hearing this, Li Yanhe raised his brows and said, “Your parents and his parents forced the lovebirds apart?”
Lin Miaomiao sighed and said to him, “Forced apart? That is quite the phrase.”
“Though it would not really be right to say they forced us apart. The main thing was that I was not even an adult yet, and a minor and a minor simply cannot be in a relationship.”
Li Yanhe looked at her and asked, “What does minor mean? And at what age are people adults where you come from?”
Lin Miaomiao glanced at him and sighed. “A minor is someone who does not yet have independent capacity and needs parental guardianship.”
“And an adult is someone who has their own awareness and can take responsibility for their own actions.”
After saying this, Lin Miaomiao suddenly felt as if she were a dictionary entry from an encyclopedia.
Li Yanhe looked at her, and Lin Miaomiao continued, “In our era, adulthood was at eighteen.”
“Then the legal marriage age was no less than twenty for women and no less than twenty-two for men.”
After hearing this, Li Yanhe thought for a moment and said, “So that is why.”
Lin Miaomiao looked at him and said, “Actually, the rules there were pretty loose. Dating, marriage, and divorce were all quite free.”
Li Yanhe glanced at her and said, “It seems you are quite experienced.”
Hearing that, Lin Miaomiao shook her head and said, “Actually, I am not experienced at all. The relationships I had were only the recklessness of youth.”
Saying this made her want to cry. During her four years at university, none of the sweet romances she had once dreamed of ever came true.
In her freshman year, she was busy with studies, and she was also in the student council, so she was truly swamped and had no time at all for romance.
By the time she became a sophomore, she was already a senior student, and although she looked cool and aloof on the outside, inside she was really just a goofball.
She also liked staying holed up in her dorm, so sweet romance never happened.
In her junior year, another year slipped by in vain. Then in her senior year, she had to face internships and job hunting, along with a battle of wits against her mother.
What boyfriend was she supposed to find? Would a boyfriend be able to get her a dessert shop?
Lin Miaomiao looked at Li Yanhe and said, “I feel like I did not meet a single worthwhile man throughout my four years at university, and then after graduation I met you.”
Li Yanhe thought about it and asked, “A worthwhile man? What does that mean?”
Lin Miaomiao looked at him, then stood up and circled around him once. “It means handsome, tall, good-tempered, kind, and most importantly, successful in his career.”
Hearing her words, Li Yanhe coughed twice, set his teacup on the table, and said, “In that case, your judgment is quite good.”
Hearing this, Lin Miaomiao said, “No, no, I do not think so now. I feel like you are a bit too domineering.”
Hearing that, Li Yanhe looked at her and asked, “What is domineering?”
Lin Miaomiao gave him a disdainful look and said, “It means only thinking about yourself, making everything your own way, and not allowing any resistance.”
Li Yanhe looked at her and quietly said, “Do I have that?”