Time Travel: My Comfortable Life After Going to the Countryside

"Xiangyang, let's go home quickly, I've thought about it."

Upon hearing Chen Jie's words, Liu Xiangyang pedaled his bicycle so hard it almost sparked.

What should have been a 20-minute journey was covered in seven or eight minutes by him. His bicycle lay overturned in the yard, slowly covered with a layer of snowflakes.

The chairs in the room were overturned, the table was pushed askew, and clothes and pants were scattered everywhere.

The springs of the fabric sofa were under great pressure, being pressed down, then bouncing back up, then being pressed down again, making a creaking sound.

"Xiangyang, give it to me, I want to give you a son." Chen Jie shouted, her head tilted back, her long, black hair cascading down her snow-white back, her face flushed.

"Godmother, one isn't enough!" Liu Xiangyang screamed, his face contorted as he gripped her slender waist.

The springs in the sofa were finally no longer compressed to the bottom, and Liu Xiangyang gently rocked the sofa.

Chen Jie leaned on his shoulder, her arms tightly wrapped around his neck, panting heavily. "Xiangyang, let your godmother rest for a while, I can't breathe."

The night was long and neither of them could sleep. Liu Xiangyang was captivated by the colors of the flowers, while Chen Jie wanted a child. Although their goals differed, they were both equally satisfied with the process.

The only problem was the fabric sofa; the springs inside it were subjected to a weight they shouldn't have had to bear and completely broke down.

Around two or three in the morning, Chen Jie was so sleepy that she really wanted to go to sleep, so Liu Xiangyang finally put his arm around her and they fell asleep.

The next morning, Liu Xiangyang woke up and looked at Chen Jie, who was still fast asleep. Her lips moved slightly as she leaned closer to listen: "Xiangyang, don't come anymore, let me sleep."

Liu Xiangyang smiled and went to the kitchen to make a simple breakfast. He ate it first, then tidied up the clothes scattered around and put the tables and chairs back in their original places.

Chen Jie got up with a rosy face, looked at the breakfast on the table, and hugged Liu Xiangyang, saying, "Why did you make breakfast yourself? Why didn't you wake me up?"

"You look exhausted, I wanted you to get some more sleep," Liu Xiangyang said with a smile. "Besides, I was just heating it up."

He leaned close to her ear with a mischievous grin and asked, "Godmother, what were you dreaming about just now?"

Chen Jie's eyes flickered. "Don't talk nonsense. I didn't have any strange dreams." She pinched his waist with her nails and twisted it. "If you keep talking nonsense, I'll strangle you."

"Ouch, ouch, ouch, godmother, I won't say anymore. Where do you want to go today?" Liu Xiangyang begged for mercy.

"I don't know. I've been in Harbin for so long, but I haven't really had much fun," Chen Jie said.

"From now on, I'll take care of you. I won't let you suffer even the slightest grievance again. Just listen to my arrangements today." Liu Xiangyang hugged her tenderly and said firmly.

"Xiangyang, thank you. You've shown me that there's another way to live." Chen Jie looked at Liu Xiangyang with emotion, her big, watery eyes gazing at him.

The bicycle came to a steady stop on the bank of the Songhua River. The river was already frozen over, a vast expanse of white, and the river was bustling with activity.

Huge blocks of ice were neatly cut and piled into small hills. Ice harvesters, wearing thick cotton-padded coats and dog-skin hats, were chanting work songs as they worked with ice picks and ropes.

Chen Jie clung tightly to Liu Xiangyang, gazing at the magnificent sight, her breath instantly dispersed by the wind. "Is this the ice used for ice sculptures?" she asked curiously, her voice carried by the sound of the wind.

"Yes, they're all taken from the middle of this river. They're clear and sturdy." Liu Xiangyang shielded her from the wind with his body and pointed into the distance, "Look over there, those ice sleds."

Liu Xiangyang held her cold hand even tighter and put it in his pocket, the two of them snuggling together.

Leaving the riverbank, they arrived at the tram station. To their surprise, the tram was completely empty, with only the two of them on board.

They sat side by side at the back of the carriage, near the window. Chen Jie was on the inside, and Liu Xiangyang was on the aisle. As the tram swayed and started moving, the scenery outside the window began to slowly pan across the landscape.

The world was shut out from the frosted glass windows, leaving only the rhythmic rubbing of wheels against rails and the soft hissing of the heating pipes in the carriage. This small, mobile, tranquil space seemed to belong solely to them.

As dusk settled, they entered Huamei Western Restaurant and pushed open the door. Warmth and a unique aroma of food, mixed with the scents of old wood, coffee, and cream, wafted towards them.

The restaurant was dimly lit, with dark red patterned tablecloths and several oil paintings depicting Russian pastoral scenes hanging on the walls. A waiter in a white shirt and black vest led them to a quiet booth. The menu was handwritten.

"What would you like to eat?" Liu Xiangyang asked for a table with a screen partition.

Chen Jie looked at the menu handed to her by the waiter, thought for a moment, and said, "One grilled mandarin fish with milk sauce." She then handed the menu to Liu Xiangyang.

Liu Xiangyang didn't know Russian, so he said to the waiter from memory, "Bornet soup, beef stew, creamed mixed vegetables, and a serving of rye bread and jam. Kvass is the drink." Chen Jie hesitated.

Liu Xiangyang saw this, smiled slightly, but said nothing. While waiting for the food to be served, Chen Jie looked around through the screen. There weren't many people in the restaurant. Besides them, there were only two other tables of guests talking quietly.

The dishes arrived: the borscht was tempting in color, sweet and sour, and appetizing; the braised beef was tender and fragrant, falling apart at the slightest touch of a spoon; and the creamy roasted mixed vegetables were rich in milky flavor and stretched into long strands.

Chen Jie tore off a small piece of bread, dipped it in the broth, and ate it, her eyes gradually brightening. "Delicious," she whispered, "better than what I ate in Beijing when I was a child."

Seeing her satisfied expression, Liu Xiangyang cut open the beef on his plate, naturally forked the largest piece, and held it to her lips. "Try this."

Chen Jie blushed slightly, quickly glanced around, and then opened her mouth to take the beef. The rich aroma of the beef melted in her mouth, mixed with a sweeter feeling.

The atmosphere here was completely different from the bustling noise of the unit's canteen and state-run restaurants. It was a quiet and elegant atmosphere with an exotic feel that she hadn't experienced in more than ten years.

She gently touched his foot under the table with her own. Liu Xiangyang looked at her outstretched foot, picked it up, placed it on his lap, and played with her calf.

Chen Jie looked around and, finding no one paying attention, tried to pull her foot back forcefully. Liu Xiangyang held her back, saying, "Godmother is like this, don't be afraid. No one will see. There's a screen blocking the view."

"But how can we eat like this?" Chen Jie frowned, her beautiful brows furrowed, and shook her leg.

"Just move your chair closer, like this." Liu Xiangyang moved the chair forward a little.

Chen Jie tried, putting one leg on the ground and gripping the chair with her hand, but found that she couldn't move the chair at all. Her leg was being held by him, so she couldn't move at all. She was so anxious that she almost cried.

"Xiangyang, let's go home and play some more. There are too many people here. What if someone sees us?" Chen Jie looked around and felt a little relieved when she saw that no one was around. A strange feeling rose in her heart, and her face flushed.

Liu Xiangyang fumbled around, his eyes fixed on Chen Jie: "I can agree to your request, godmother, but you have to agree to one condition of mine."