Fortunately, Yu Jiuzhou was on vacation. She had applied for a work visa to come this time, which would allow her to stay for an extended period.
But to apply for permanent residency, she would need to make an investment. Additionally, in the country she had chosen to immigrate to, she could enroll in a university immediately after passing the entrance exams, allowing her to obtain a bachelor’s degree and even higher qualifications in the shortest possible time.
With academic qualifications and an investment, applying for permanent residency would be much easier.
Once she obtained foreign citizenship and permanent residency, the leverage they held over her, which was already tenuous, would become completely useless.
Her identity as a transmigrator could never be revealed, of course. But now she was a semi-public figure. The fact that she had no prior identity could be used against her, creating trouble for her if she continued to live in this country.
As long as she legally obtained permanent residency before that could happen, the Lu family, despite their influence, wouldn’t be powerful enough to bring her down when everything she did was above board.
For now, Yu Jiuzhou’s career was Go. To achieve success in the field, she had to keep winning awards. Once she secured a certain standing in the world of Go, she would have many more options in the future.
Yu Jiuzhou was a workaholic and a person who steadfastly pursued her goals. Once she decided to enter a certain field, she would strive to be the very best.
Next, she would participate in the Women’s World Go Open, the Women’s Meijin, the Meijin, the Lily Cup, and various other Go tournaments organized by different associations.
In the next two years, she would win more awards in Go and take complete control of her own life.
For the time being, she would let the Lu family think their leverage was still leverage.
A person with no traceable past was an easy target, vulnerable to slander and unable to prove their innocence.
What kind of slander? Illegal immigration? A disloyal stance? All sorts of rumors. It was easy to sling mud, but clearing one’s name was difficult. Once a label was attached to you, even if you clarified the truth, some people would just say, “I’m not listening, I’m not listening.”
And the Lu family was not to be trifled with. They ran a dojo with branches in various countries that had trained many famous Go players. Some tournaments were even named after the family’s matriarch, Lu Minying.
She could be considered a contemporary Go Sage, though she was getting on in years.
Yu Jiuzhou had her own plans. For over a year, besides studying Go and competing, she had been voraciously absorbing knowledge about this world. She was independent and proud. Even after living for so long, she still believed that a career was the standard by which one proved oneself.
There was nothing wrong with “lying flat,” provided she had earned the right to do so on her own.
Chi Wan’s heart ached as she pulled Yu Jiuzhou into her arms. She knew that once Yu Jiuzhou set a goal, she would work tirelessly to achieve it. And just as she had in Great Zhou, Chi Wan would support her and offer her help.
“I’ll go back and sort things out at work, then I’ll come and be with you.”
Now that she had found Yu Jiuzhou, she didn’t want to leave her side. What was a career, anyway? Her mind was filled with countless medicinal formulas; she could just sell the patents.
Yu Jiuzhou smiled. “What for? Afraid you’ll lose me?”
“Of course I am. You’re my wife.”
Just as Chi Wan was about to lean in for a kiss, the door to the room was suddenly pushed open. Lu Shiwei stood there, looking at them with cold eyes. From their posture, it was obvious what they were about to do.
Friends? They’d come all the way to Tianfu; how could she not fall back on stereotypes?
Seeing Lu Shiwei had returned, Chi Wan picked up Yu Jiuzhou’s suitcase. From now on, it would be a world for just the two of them.
Yu Jiuzhou gave a simple greeting, and the two of them left the room.
Lu Shiwei stared at their departing backs, her eyes frighteningly cold. She picked up her phone and made a call. “Any results?”
“No, we couldn’t find any information on Yu Jiuzhou. It’s like she appeared out of thin air.”
“No one just appears out of thin air. Even if someone lived their whole life without an official identity, as long as they existed in this world, there would be traces.”
“But we’ve done our best.”
Lu Shiwei frowned. “I want results. And another thing—since Yu Jiuzhou has no life history, you can just invent one for her.”
“Should we make it a good one, or a bad one?”
Lu Shiwei fell silent. Once a story was fabricated, they would have to manufacture evidence of that life history. In short, they would make something that never happened seem real.
She didn’t want to choose a good one, nor a bad one. Perhaps… she should wait a little longer?
Meanwhile, Chi Wan and Yu Jiuzhou collected their luggage and checked out. Chi Wan had originally planned to show Yu Jiuzhou around the area and get some good food.
But Yu Jiuzhou said she wanted to see the places where Chi Wan had lived.
They boarded a plane and flew to Chi Wan’s city. She had grown up in a small village with her grandmother. Later, when it was time for her to start elementary school, her parents had her household registration transferred to the city so she could study there. They planned to bring her grandmother along so she could take Chi Wan to and from school while they were at work.
But in the end, it was just her and her grandmother. Still, her grandmother would go back to the village every winter and summer break.
In her grandmother’s words, she earned more in the village than she did in the city.
Her grandmother was a well-known “master” in the surrounding villages. Reading feng shui and choosing auspicious dates brought in a considerable income. In the city, all she could do was sell vegetables.
She sold vegetables because the hours were flexible, allowing her to take Chi Wan to and from school. They lived like that for a long time, until Chi Wan was old enough to take care of herself.
Being able to take care of herself meant she could manage her own meals and schooling, so it wasn’t a problem if her grandmother was away for a few days.
Thanks to the house and the several hundred thousand in savings her parents had left behind, her life wasn’t too difficult.
However, her relatives coveted the inheritance her parents had left. She heard they had caused trouble for her grandmother many times. After her grandmother passed away, they started bothering her, even occupying the old house in the village. That house had been given to her parents when the family property was divided, but those people wanted to seize it. Because her parents hadn’t left a will, some relatives could gain inheritance rights to the village house, the city apartment, and the money through her grandmother.
These people either cajoled or berated her grandmother, but her grandmother still gave everything to her. They then went so far as to occupy the house directly. That was why, after selling the house, she hadn’t had any contact with those relatives for many years. It was better not to go back; they should all just live their separate lives.
So, where should she take Yu Jiuzhou? After thinking it over, the only places left were her alma maters—elementary, middle, high school, and university. These were the places where she had grown up.
Oh, and there was the lab, and they could go visit her professor.
If you had to say who counted as an elder in Chi Wan’s life now, it would only be her professor.
After arriving at the airport, Chi Wan suddenly thought of something. “Sister, do you want to stay at the old apartment, or at the dorm I’m living in now?”
Yu Jiuzhou tilted her head. “Let’s go to the old apartment first. We should tell your grandmother, too.”
Her grandmother had already passed away, but she lived on in Chi Wan’s heart. And of course, Yu Jiuzhou cared about the people Chi Wan cared about.
The old apartment had an altar, a place specifically for worshiping deities and ancestors. It wasn’t like a modern living room. Her grandmother had set it up to make offerings to gods, patriarchs, and ancestors.
Now, her grandmother was naturally among those being venerated. Her grandmother had once told Chi Wan that whenever she missed her parents, she could kneel before it, and they would be able to hear her.
As a child, Chi Wan had believed it. After she grew up, she stopped. But after her grandmother passed away, she started to believe again, because she wanted her grandmother to hear her words, to see that she was doing well on her own in this world and didn’t need to worry.
She hadn’t expected that Yu Jiuzhou would remember something she had told her so long ago.
Chi Wan’s heart softened, and a bittersweet feeling welled up inside her. “Sister…”
“Don’t say it.”
Yu Jiuzhou knew she wanted to say thank you. They had been together for so many years that they knew what the other was going to say before the words were even spoken.
“Alright, I won’t.”
Chi Wan smiled and led her into a taxi, and together they went to the old apartment.
The apartment had been bought a long time ago, over twenty years now. In modern terms, it was an “old, small, and rather run-down” place—a small, sixty-square-meter two-bedroom on the third floor of a walk-up building. Both the exterior and interior were still in decent condition.
As the two went upstairs, they happened to run into a neighbor, who paused in surprise. “Is that you, Xiao Wan?”
Chi Wan was taken aback for a moment before recognition dawned. “Auntie Zhou?”
“It’s me. I haven’t seen you back here in a long time.”
Auntie Zhou smiled and looked at Yu Jiuzhou standing beside her, then at the suitcases next to them. “Have you rented the place out, or are you back to stay?”
Chi Wan’s brow twitched slightly. “Just back to stay for a few days.”
She actually came back once or twice a month to stay for a couple of days, and for longer during holidays.
“Oh, well, I’ll let you get to it.” Auntie Zhou gave them another glance before leaving.
Chi Wan unlocked the door. The inside of the apartment was just as she had left it. Nothing had been moved; it still had a cozy feel.
It was a small two-bedroom with a large balcony. As soon as she opened the balcony windows, fresh air began to circulate through the apartment, making one feel instantly refreshed.
This place held so many of her fond memories—of a little her and her busy grandmother, just like it had been back in the old village house.
Together, they lit incense for her grandmother, as if to tell her that from now on, she would no longer be alone.
Chi Wan removed the dust cover from the sofa and, taking Yu Jiuzhou’s hand, sat down. “After I started elementary school, I lived here for more than half of every year. I only went back to the old house during holidays. I’ve sold that place now.”
Yu Jiuzhou had heard about this before, but she didn’t interrupt, listening quietly as Chi Wan spoke.
“See the kitchen? Grandma would be in there cooking, and I’d hide behind her to sneak a bite. She actually knew, but she’d pretend not to notice. Because every time I took a bite, I’d giggle out loud. It was so loud, it would have been hard not to notice.”
Back then, she would cover her mouth to stifle her laughter, but the sound would escape anyway.
Imagining the scene, Yu Jiuzhou couldn’t help but laugh. “You were that cute as a child?”
“Am I not cute now?” Chi Wan retorted.
“Mm… you’re cute now, too.”
Yu Jiuzhou smiled, her eyes crinkling. Chi Wan continued, “Our living room isn’t very big, so we have a movable coffee table. Usually, I’d move the table aside, lay down a blanket, and play right here. Oh, right, let me show you my room.”
Her room was the master bedroom, which, like the living room, was adjacent to the balcony. With doors and windows at both ends, the room was filled with natural light.
“When my parents bought this place, they didn’t have much money for renovations, so they did it themselves. They just painted the walls white. We took good care of it, but after so long, the apartment has still aged.”
“This is where I did my homework. The cabinet is full of the comics and books I loved growing up. As I got more and more books, I put some of them in storage boxes under the bed.”
“My bed is only 1.2 meters wide, pretty small, because I had to fit a bookshelf, a wardrobe, and a desk in here. But I loved it.”
Chi Wan recounted stories from her childhood. Rather than just hearing about it, being here in person made it easier for Yu Jiuzhou to picture what she was like as a little girl.
However, upon seeing the posters on the wall, Yu Jiuzhou raised an eyebrow. “Who are they?”
“They?”
Chi Wan saw the girl group posters on the wall. There wasn’t just one; it was a whole wall covered with posters of nearly every popular girl group and female celebrity.
Awkward. She wasn’t a stan or anything; she just liked watching a group of beautiful women performing perfectly synchronized dances. What a magnificent and beautiful sight.
“Um, Sister, want to see my childhood photos?”
Yu Jiuzhou sized her up, then let her off with a soft huff.
Chi Wan breathed a sigh of relief. She had never imagined she would have a girlfriend, let alone bring one home to see all these girl group idols.
Who would have known she’d end up with a wife from ancient times? “My wife is gentle, beautiful, and kind. I love you the most.”
That’s right. It was thanks to her gentle, beautiful, and kind wife that she wasn’t kneeling on a keyboard right now.
She remembered how Yu Jiuzhou had once wanted to make her kneel on Go stones. That was way crueler than getting hit with a Go board!
Yu Jiuzhou pressed a finger against Chi Wan’s forehead as she leaned in for a kiss. “You and your sweet talk.”
“But of course. A kiss, Sister,” Chi Wan wheedled.
She knew Yu Jiuzhou all too well. She responded to softness, not force. Pouting was the easiest way to get what she wanted.
Sure enough, Yu Jiuzhou fell for it, planting a kiss on her lips. “Idiot.”
Tsk, this woman called her an idiot every day. She was clearly very smart, not an idiot at all. How could an idiot be in a relationship with Her Highness?
“That’s right, you like this idiot,” Chi Wan admitted readily.
After teasing each other for a while, they started looking through her childhood photos.
“This is my 100-day photo. There’s a little red dot on my forehead.”
“This one is from my first birthday. Grandma took me to get it taken.”
Her grandmother had been raising her ever since she was a month old.
“But every year on my birthday, Grandma would take me to get my picture taken. That’s how I have photos of myself growing up, year by year.”
Chi Wan told the story behind each photo. In the process, she boiled a kettle of water and made two cups of black tea. At that moment, she was suddenly reminded of their days of “lying flat” on the farm.
She had taken to the relaxed lifestyle comfortably, while it had taken Yu Jiuzhou some time to adjust.
Yu Jiuzhou felt she had retired only after her achievements as an emperor had reached their peak. Now that she had taken up Go, how could she retire without earning the title of Go Sage?
Chi Wan thought about herself. She loved medicine. In Great Zhou, she had studied the strengths of a hundred schools of thought. She was now an old hand at traditional medicine, her skills having reached a pinnacle. To improve further, she would probably need Hua Tuo and Li Shizhen to be resurrected to teach her personally.
She no longer had much ambition for her career. For her, now, just being with Yu Jiuzhou was enough.
With that in mind, she pulled Yu Jiuzhou onto her lap. “I’m thinking of quitting my job, selling a few more patents, and becoming your manager. What do you think?”
It wasn’t just celebrities who needed managers.
Yu Jiuzhou pinched her cheek. “That makes me very happy. But I hope that as long as you have even a shred of reluctance about this job, you won’t quit.”
Just as she felt she needed a career of her own.
In this strange world, she naturally wanted Chi Wan by her side at all times, but she didn’t want Chi Wan to give up a career she loved.
Their bond was indeed deep, but it was never about one person making compromises for the other. They always tried to see things from each other’s perspective.
A healthy relationship doesn’t conflict with one’s career. They flowed smoothly through each other’s lives, like water, never causing any blockages.
To Yu Jiuzhou, Chi Wan was the person she loved, the person she had already loved for a lifetime. No matter what, she wanted Chi Wan to be happy.
Doing things that made her happy and living without regrets was enough.
A relationship needs to be nurtured. No matter how deeply a couple loves each other, if they can’t find joy in the relationship and only feel tired and unhappy, it won’t last.
It was like their time on the farm. Their hobbies were markedly different. Yu Jiuzhou liked to read on a lounge chair, play Go in the pavilion, or occasionally play the qin or flute.
Her pastimes were all elegant, befitting someone from a noble family in Great Zhou who had grown up with such things.
Chi Wan, on the other hand, would be planting herbs, conducting experiments, reading medical texts, or seeking advice from skilled physicians. Her medical skills were constantly improving. Occasionally, she would play Go with Yu Jiuzhou, or they would go fishing or take naps together.
They could pursue their own interests while still keeping each other company.
Their days on the farm were happy. They had occasional small quarrels, but they never lasted overnight and they would quickly make up.
Sometimes, when they felt life on the farm was getting dull, they would go out, visit the market, go camping, or eat out.
The first half of their lives had been tumultuous, filled with history-changing events. The second half was simple and peaceful, spent in comfort.
Now that they had suddenly left the farm, Chi Wan found herself missing it.
Chi Wan actually understood Yu Jiuzhou’s reasoning. Feeling the hand pinching her cheek, she couldn’t resist giving it a playful bite. “Don’t you know, Sister? My medical skills have already hit a bottleneck. I don’t think I can break through it in this lifetime. I even feel that unless a famous divine physician from history appears, no one can necessarily surpass my skills. And the ancient formulas—I’ve memorized so many lost recipes. By staying with you, I can compile them into books and donate them to the medical bureau. That would be a way to benefit humanity, too.”
“And all those traditional medicine face masks, skincare products, and so on that I made in Great Zhou—we can just sell the patents for those. We could spend money lavishly without any problem. Right now, compiling the books is probably more important to me. Besides, writing books won’t stop me from being with you.”
Yu Jiuzhou was convinced. She had wanted Chi Wan to be with her all along. In this unfamiliar world, she needed Chi Wan by her side.
She didn’t need anyone to give her a sense of security—with the exception of Chi Wan.
“Well, that’s wonderful, of course. Welcome aboard as the manager of the future Go Sage,” Yu Jiuzhou agreed with a beaming smile.
Chi Wan was amused. “So soon you’re certain you’ll be a Go Sage?”
“Mhm.”
Then Chi Wan opened a food app. “What do you want to eat tonight?”
Yu Jiuzhou swiped through the options. “Rice noodles?”
They had traveled the world and eaten everything except for modern culinary inventions. They had never deprived themselves.
Chi Wan nodded and held out her hand. “Hold my hand.”
Yu Jiuzhou obediently placed her hand in hers. “Let’s go.”
Hand in hand, they walked out of the apartment. Along the way, a few young people gave them a second look, but the older people barely reacted.
Although Yu Jiuzhou was a semi-public figure, the world of Go received little attention. Only Go enthusiasts or those who followed a player who became famous through a particular event would recognize her.
When competing, Yu Jiuzhou always wore her hair tied back and dressed in a suit, looking restrained and formal.
Today, she had let her hair down. Her slightly wavy hair cascaded over her shoulders, adding a touch of a cool, mature woman’s aura to her gentle appearance.
She wore a pair of black-rimmed glasses, which gave her a scholarly and somewhat sexy air. The suit trousers paired with a white silk blouse reminded Chi Wan of a teacher.
No, to be precise, it was like she was role-playing a teacher.
Chi Wan’s outfit was much simpler, not much different from before—straight-leg jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt, though she had swapped her suit jacket for a trench coat.
She took Yu Jiuzhou’s hand and tucked it into her own pocket. Feeling the faint warmth of the breeze, her heart warmed as well.
The good thing about an old residential area was its lively atmosphere. The street was lined with food stalls, a sight that made one’s mouth water.
On their way to the rice noodle shop, their hands were already full of snacks—sugar-fried chestnuts, which felt like a throwback to when they had first met.
There were also some other snacks, like griddled tofu and “wolf-tooth” potatoes.
They said they were getting rice noodles, but they certainly hadn’t held back on the snacks.
When they arrived at the rice noodle shop, it was more crowded than they had expected. Chi Wan hesitated for a moment. “Should we get it to go?”
“Okay.”
They were already carrying a lot of food, so getting takeout was a good idea.
It was a pedestrian food street, bustling with people coming and going. After ordering the rice noodles, Chi Wan took Yu Jiuzhou to buy a slice of cake while they waited—a taro mille-crepe that looked delicious.
After being together for so long, Chi Wan was, of course, well aware of Yu Jiuzhou’s love for sweets.
They shared the single slice of cake, each with their own fork, and finished it one bite at a time.
By the time they finished the cake, the rice noodles were ready. The two of them carried the food and started on their way home.
Chi Wan smiled as she listed the worthwhile places to visit in the city. “We can go to the seaside. It might not be as beautiful as the ocean further away, but it has its own unique urban charm. There’s also a teahouse by the lake. We can order a pot of tea, pick up a book, and read for an entire afternoon. If we get tired of sitting, we can go boating. The little boat drifting along, the clear lake water, the pleasant chirping of birds, and the sound of the wind rustling the willows—it’s very relaxing.”
“There’s also a park here, with a cherry blossom road and a campsite. We could bring a tent and a grill and spend the whole day there without getting bored. There’s a museum nearby, too, which chronicles the city’s history from the dawn of its civilization to the present day. The artifacts inside are all real. We can get a sense of this place’s development and character from ancient times to now.”
She mentioned many places they could go, all of which she had visited and enjoyed. That was why she wanted to take Yu Jiuzhou to see them.
Yu Jiuzhou answered softly, “Okay.”
“After we eat, I’ll take you to the apartment I’m living in now. I have a nice bottle of wine. We can have a little drink on the terrace.”
As long as she was with Yu Jiuzhou, Chi Wan could think of countless interesting things to do. The modern world had no fewer diversions than the ancient one—in fact, they were even more interesting.
Like playing video games. She used to love gaming, but after returning from Great Zhou, she had lost interest in her hobbies. Now that Yu Jiuzhou was back by her side, her spirit had returned, and so had her passions.
They often sat together, drinking and chatting. They never got drunk; it was all about the atmosphere. After a drink, they would become more passionate with each other. Perhaps their hearts were already burning so fiercely that only with wine could they let go and express their love with abandon.
As Chi Wan planned their vacation, Yu Jiuzhou watched her focused expression, feeling herself becoming captivated all over again.
