The night before the college entrance exam results were released, I redeemed my Peking University ad

The car made several turns before finally arriving at Wenyuan Residential Area.

The environment here is much better than Ji Bai's old, dilapidated house.

At the very least, not just anyone can come in; you have to contact the owner first.

Ji Bai simply got out of the car, took out his phone, and called Li Mei.

"Hey, teacher."

"Ji Bai? You...you're still with the US?"

Li Mei's voice sounded a little unsteady on the other end of the phone, and she was clearly uncomfortable.

Just thinking about the nonsense she said to this guy yesterday morning makes her cheeks burn.

"I'm back!"

"You're back?" The voice carried a hint of surprise.

"Yes, it's right at the entrance of your residential complex, but the security guard won't let me in. Could you tell him?"

"What? At the entrance of the residential complex?"

Li Mei, who had just been pleasantly surprised, panicked on the spot, and her voice rose eight octaves.

Immediately afterwards, a ping-pong sound came from the other end of the phone, as if someone had jumped up from the sofa and knocked something over on the coffee table.

"No, what are you doing here?"

"Woman, didn't you say you'd make me eat noodles?"

"Do you know whose dinner invitation I turned down just to eat your noodles?"

"You'll be shocked if I told you!"

"Okay, hurry up and tell the security guard that I haven't eaten anything since I got off the plane, I'm starving!"

"By the way, drink plenty of water, don't get dehydrated!"

"You brat! You're going to die!"

Li Mei was still dazed when she heard this familiar, nonsensical teasing. She snapped out of it and spat out a mouthful of spit, feeling both embarrassed and angry.

Ji Bai handed his phone to the security guard.

Two old men from the gatehouse came over; the two security guards couldn't even muster three good teeth.

Fortunately, his hearing was still good enough. After listening to two sentences, he smiled and waved his hand, and the railing slowly rose.

Ji Bai turned around and looked at Secretary Li.

Secretary Li wore a smile that was hard to decipher.

"It's alright, Ji Bai. You go about your business. We'll find a place to stay tonight and won't bother you."

"……good."

Ji Bai sighed and turned to walk inside.

It seems I'll have no privacy left from now on.

Not to mention his wife at home, his browser history on his backup phone has probably already been pulled up and studied repeatedly.

At that moment, he suddenly felt a bit empathetic towards those celebrities; living under the spotlight must have made them feel uncomfortable.

……

Once inside the residential area, Ji Bai found his way to the entrance of his building.

After ringing the doorbell twice, it took quite a while for the electric door to finally open with a "click".

I have no idea what that woman is dawdling about upstairs.

I went upstairs, knocked on the door, and waited for half a minute before the door slowly opened a crack.

The moment the door opened, Ji Bai's eyes lit up.

Li Mei wore a milky white, home-style lace nightgown. The soft fabric clung to her body, outlining her indescribably delicate curves.

She wore a loose silk robe over her clothes, the neckline open at an angle, revealing half of her shoulder.

It was blindingly white.

She was wearing a pair of fluffy slippers, revealing a glimpse of her slender ankles.

"What are you looking at? Come in right now!"

Li Mei stamped her foot, and her silk robe slid down another inch with her movement.

"Oh, here I am! You must have been waiting impatiently."

Ji Bai slipped into the house, and as he bent down to change his shoes, he couldn't help but joke, "By the way, do you want to take a shower first? I've been up all day and I'm covered in sweat."

"Ji Bai!"

Li Mei immediately stood still, hands on her hips, her almond-shaped eyes wide, glaring at him fiercely: "If you continue to act so frivolously, get out of here right now!"

"Don't worry, don't worry."

Ji Bai waved his hand and walked inside with a serious expression, but secretly laughed to himself: Woman, don't be ungrateful!

I met that important person today, and they didn't even ask me to take a shower first. That's quite a treatment.

"What happened next?"

"Just wait!"

Li Mei glared at Ji Bai, then turned and strode away. The hem of her silk robe fluttered gently with her steps, revealing a section of her fair calves.

After a moment, the woman came out carrying something and placed it on the coffee table with a thud.

Ji Bai peeked out and was stunned.

He knew that Li Mei was unlikely to actually cook him noodles, but you can't just give him... instant noodles, can you?

So all that dawdling was because you were cooking instant noodles?

Seeing the boy's dazed expression, Li Mei couldn't help but smile and push the instant noodles towards him.

"Eat up, it's seafood flavored, you keep your word!"

Ji Bai stared at the five large characters "Fresh Shrimp and Fish Cake Noodles" on the instant noodle bucket and fell into deep thought.

"What, you don't like it? Fine, don't eat it then!"

As Li Mei spoke, she made a move to take the instant noodle bucket away.

Ji Bai reacted quickly and grabbed her wrist.

"Eat! I'll eat anything you make!"

He then lifted the lid of the bucket, picked up a fork, and began to eat heartily.

In the steamy atmosphere, the boy suddenly remembered that when he first transmigrated, Li Mei came to his home for a visit and cooked him his first bowl of hot egg noodles.

He was penniless and uncertain about the future at that time, but he still remembers the warmth of that bowl of noodles.

Seeing the boy wolfing down his food, Li Mei's lips unconsciously curled into a smile.

It took her a few seconds to realize that he was still holding her hand.

She tried to break free a couple of times, but couldn't, so she gave up.

Li Mei pouted and thought, "Never mind, I'll just pretend the puppy bit me."

Ji Bai, who was eating noodles, slowly curled the corners of his mouth upwards.

It's even harder to compress than a machine head with a malfunctioning engine!

He didn't say anything, but he tightened his grip on her hand.

……

After half an hour.

Just as Ji Bai appeared at the entrance of the residential compound, Secretary Li suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"So fast?"

Ji Bai's face darkened.

Grass!

"No, what I mean is..."

"I understand what you mean."

"You understand, now..."

"go home!"

My wife is still waiting!

……

Back in their old, dilapidated apartment, Ji Bai pulled his wife out from under the bed.

It's time for maintenance.

Women need to take better care of themselves as they get older.

This thing cost him a whole month's wages working at an internet cafe. It was a "luxury" he bought with a huge sum of money, and now it's starting to leak oil, the joints are loose, and the skin is yellow.

Ji Bai found a clean towel, poured some warm water on it, wrung it out, and gently wiped her from head to toe.

Every joint socket, every parting line, every detail he could touch with his eyes closed.

"You're still the best!"

"Everyone outside flatters and respects me, but in reality, they are all scheming against me and keeping an eye on me."

"Only you stay here quietly, always waiting for me."

"You've always been the one who understands me best."

The room was quiet, with only Ji Bai's own voice heard.

In public, he was a young genius who swept through the international academic community, crushed financial groups, and could even stir up the winds and clouds in the great power game; he was an emperor of the times whom everyone looked up to.

Behind closed doors, he was all alone, surviving near-death experiences, enduring hijackings, bombs, and missile attacks, and finally returning from a long and arduous journey, only to find himself with no one to whom he could fully confide.

After catching up with his wife, Ji Bai found a comfortable position on the bed and took out his phone.

The internet remains abuzz with excitement, and the buzz remains high.

A whole day has passed, and Ji Bai's name still firmly occupies all the trending search lists.

"The Emperor is awesome!!! (voice cracks)"

"Room-temperature superconductivity has been achieved! Ji Bai single-handedly rewrites the landscape of physics over the past century!"

"From today onward, materials science is no longer a bottomless pit! It's a heavenly road! A golden highway!"

"An 18-year-old winner of the Philippine International Prize—a once-in-a-lifetime achievement!"

"This is truly a great emperor of our time! A crushing defeat for the global academic community!"

"While others are cramming for exams at eighteen, he reached the pinnacle of human science at eighteen—that's incredible!"

"With Ji Shen in charge, China's new energy, military, and aerospace industries will take off in the next decade!"

The online frenzy was overwhelming.

But no one knew that the emperor they spoke of had just survived a near-death experience.

There's not a single word about hijacking, bombs, or missiles online.

Just as the entire internet was immersed in the joy of the genius's ascension to godhood, an inconspicuous post quietly surfaced.

Ji Bai is back, but he almost died on the plane!