The system affirmed, "We’re professionals. We don’t go back on our word."
Hua Manman relaxed and immediately asked, unable to wait.
"When will my wish come true?"
She had only just been separated from Li Ji and the baby, but she already missed them terribly. She wished she could travel through time and fly back to their side this very instant.
But the system only gave a vague reply.
"The time is not right. You’ll have to wait."
Hua Manman was confused. "How much longer do I have to wait?"
The system replied, "That depends on you."
Hua Manman grew suspicious. ’Are you trying to back out?’
The system stressed again, "As I said, we’re professionals. We will certainly do as we promised. But traveling through time is no simple matter. The host must find the catalyst herself."
Hua Manman pressed, "What catalyst?"
The system replied, "You’ll know when the time comes."
Hua Manman was very unhappy. "Stop playing games with me."
The system’s voice began to fill with static.
"I have no anchor point in this world and cannot stay for long. I will enter hibernation mode shortly. I hope you can find the catalyst soon."
Hua Manman panicked.
"Don’t go! If you leave, how will I get back to ancient times?"
"Once you find the catalyst, I will naturally reappear..."
After the last word, the system’s voice stopped abruptly.
Afterward, no matter how Hua Manman called out to it, she got no response.
It was almost time for work.
Hua Manman couldn’t delay any longer. She quickly changed her clothes and rushed out the door to work.
As she stood on the crowded street, watching the endless stream of traffic before her, she felt dazed for a moment.
’I’m really back.’
All her experiences in ancient times felt like a phantom dream.
Now, the dream was over, and she was back in reality.
...
「Two months passed in a flash.」
Today was the last day of Hua Manman’s internship.
Her department supervisor said she could stay on. After her probationary period, her salary would rise to 3,800, and she would also receive a full benefits package and free employee housing.
If it had been before, Hua Manman would have definitely agreed to stay without hesitation.
Now, however, Hua Manman had other plans.
To her supervisor’s surprise, Hua Manman turned down the offer to become a full-time employee.
She went to the HR department to settle her final pay, then returned to school with her internship certificate to participate in her graduation defense.
Hua Manman’s academic performance had always been excellent.
Even spending several years in ancient times hadn’t affected her grades in her major.
She passed her graduation defense smoothly and received her graduation certificate and degree.
After that was the farewell dinner.
Many of her classmates shed tears over their impending separation, and the atmosphere was very somber.
Hua Manman was pulled into drinking a lot by her dorm roommates.
They returned to the dorm, drunk, and lay on their respective beds, chatting idly about the past.
Even though everyone was exhausted, they stubbornly refused to fall asleep.
Because they all knew very well.
After tonight, they would have to go their separate ways.
Who knew when, or if, they would ever see each other again?
The phone beside Hua Manman suddenly rang.
She picked it up and saw it was an unknown number.
’Who would be calling her in the middle of the night?’
Filled with doubt, Hua Manman answered the call.
A woman’s voice, both familiar and strange, came from the phone.
"Hello, is this Manman?"
Hua Manman froze.
Although they hadn’t seen each other in many years, she recognized it at once.
’It was her mother’s voice!’
When she was ten, her mother, unable to bear her father’s alcoholism and domestic abuse, had quietly left home.
Since then, Hua Manman had never seen her mother again.
She thought she would never see her mother again in this lifetime, but she never expected to suddenly receive a call from her at a time like this.
The woman on the other end of the line was still talking, her voice soft and cautious.
"Manman, can you hear me? It’s Mom."
After a long moment, Hua Manman finally managed to find her voice.
"I can hear you. Hold on a second."
Fighting a dizzy spell, she sat up and walked out with her phone.
Her roommates asked where she was going.
Hua Manman waved her phone and said softly, "I’m going outside to take a call."
She went out onto the balcony, sliding the door shut behind her.
The cool night wind blew against her face, rustling her hair and clearing her head considerably.
Hua Manman put the phone to her ear, took a deep breath, and slowly began to speak.
"How did you get my number?"
"I went back to our hometown and found out a few things about you. I got your number from your high school teacher."
Hua Manman looked at the sports field in front of her.
No one was playing soccer in the middle of the night.
On the empty field, only a few scattered couples were walking hand in hand.
She was silent for a long time before she finally asked.
"Have you... been well all these years?"
Her question seemed to strike the most vulnerable part of the woman’s heart, and she couldn’t hold back, bursting into tears.
"I’m sorry, Manman. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have left you all alone. All these years, I’ve been filled with self-blame and guilt. I don’t deserve to be a mother."
In the period just after her mother left, Hua Manman dreamt of her almost every night.
She would often wake startled from her dreams and hide under the covers, crying secretly and whispering "Mom" as she wept.
She had desperately hoped her mother would come back.
Now, her mother had finally returned.
But she was no longer the little girl who would cry out for her mom.
On the phone, the woman was still crying.
She sobbed as she recounted her experiences over the years.
It turned out that after running away from home, she had moved to another city with the help of a friend.
She first worked as a salesperson in a shopping mall, then used her spare time to earn a preschool teaching certificate and went to work as a teacher at a local kindergarten.
The kindergarten where she worked planned to open new branches, and one of them happened to be in her old hometown. She seized the opportunity to return, opening a new kindergarten and becoming its director.
Now that her job was stable and her income was respectable, she had finally mustered the courage to face her past.
"Manman, I know you’ve suffered so much over the years. I’ll make it up to you. Can you give me that chance?"
Her choked voice was filled with anticipation and nervousness.
Hua Manman said, "I don’t need you to make it up to me anymore."
The woman on the other end seemed to have been dealt a heavy blow and was speechless for a moment.
Before deciding to find her daughter, she had mentally prepared herself. No matter how angry her daughter was or how much she yelled, she could take it.
But the reality was that her daughter wasn’t angry, nor did she yell.
Because her daughter had grown up and no longer needed her.
No longer needed.
Those words were far more hurtful than any others.