Chapter 100: Daily Life

Slowly opening his eyes, Wang Yan stared blankly for a long time, then snapped back to reality, picked up a bottle of mineral water on the table, and took a sip.

After drinking, Wang Yan leaned back in his chair, casually propped his feet on the desk in front of him, and pulled up his interface to browse.

Wang Yan

Attributes: Strength 25

Agility 25

Constitution 25

Spirit 31

Unallocated points: 4

Storage space: 2m³

……………… omitted

The attributes weren’t worth much comment—just four attribute points awarded for completing the quest.

As for skills, due to his professional background and having taught Chinese language and literature for decades, he had reached Level 4.

Another was his thirty-year-long occupational skill: Teaching, also at Level 4. He hadn’t expected this to count as a skill, but then again, it made sense—two teachers delivering the same content, students learn differently; the real skill lies in making dull material vivid and memorable.

Other than that, there were just some entertainment-industry skills he’d picked up—director, screenwriter, none higher than Level 1 or 2—and various life skills that had improved slightly.

After reviewing it all, Wang Yan sat motionless for a while, then checked his phone—the time was already past five in the evening.

He’d returned in the dead of night; another hour had passed, and he was starting to feel hungry. He got up, dressed, stepped outside, found a random restaurant, ate some beef and lamb, drank a bit of high-proof barley liquor, grew pleasantly tipsy, and staggered back to his inn, collapsing into sleep…

The next day, Wang Yan woke up refreshed on schedule, washed up, ate breakfast, and chatted with Wei Lan, who had already risen…

In fact, ever since leaving Lin’an, Wei Lan had been sending messages regularly, finding topics to chat about, asking where he was, requesting photos. It left him flustered—he’d already subtly hinted his disinterest.

Adult silence means not disturbing each other, but she disturbed him anyway. For a man like him, who couldn’t even muster the effort to kiss ass, this was unimaginable. He could only thank the system’s living father, thank his experiences, and thank his lingering energy—for letting a useless man have this much today.

To be honest, after so long, Wang Yan had been somewhat moved by Wei Lan. After all, he’d eventually have to get married. Even if he had no desire himself, it didn’t matter—but for his parents’ peace of mind, he’d have to try.

His past experiences had doomed him to never love again, and he lacked the energy to chase someone with all the right metrics just to lick their boots. So why not find an ordinary woman who genuinely wanted him? After all, he’d stop too—he’d settle into his own quiet life.

Let’s see…

Wang Yan thought to himself.

After speaking with Wei Lan, Wang Yan packed his bags and set off again. He’d reached Daobao—how could he not go to Yading?

After wandering around Yading for two days, Wang Yan set off again, heading north to Litang, then turning west toward the City of Sunlight.

After crossing the Jinsha River Bridge, he officially entered the snow region and began his grueling mountain climb. His body was nearly inhuman, but still human—he hadn’t reached the level of a beast, and he was exhausted like a dumb ox. Without the system altering his fate, he’d never have made it here, let alone ridden a bicycle.

One day, after crossing mountains and valleys, passing multiple glacial meadows, Wang Yan stopped at Bomê, nestled in the Parlung Tsangpo River gorge, due to the system’s prompting.

He found a reasonably priced inn, cleaned himself up, ate and drank his fill, then pulled out his notebook, opened a software, and searched for “Chicken Feathers Fly to the Sky.”

This quest was: “Yang Xue from ‘Chicken Feathers Fly to the Sky’: Happiness.”

After searching, Wang Yan read the synopsis: ………… please search on Baidu

Over the next two days, Wang Yan stayed in the inn and watched all 52 episodes of the TV drama, then researched further.

Feeling mentally refreshed, he checked the time, drank some water, pulled up his interface, and selected the option.

A blue flash—Wang Yan vanished from the chair…

…………

“Wang Yan? Wang Yan? Hey, wake up…”

Snapping out of his daze, Wang Yan, without thinking, pretended to be practiced as he swatted away the hand waving before him: “I’m fine, just spaced out a bit.” As he spoke, he stared for a moment at the man in front of him—blue work uniform, dirty face—then quickly regained composure.

“Too tired? Want to rest a bit?”

“Sure, you go ahead—I’ll grab a drink of water.”

“Go on, go on. If you can’t handle it, take a break—it’s almost done.”

Wang Yan waved him off without answering, turned, grabbed a military canteen, pulled out an enamel cup, poured himself a drink, sat cross-legged on the ground without caring about cleanliness, blew on the hot water, and received the system’s transmission.

Wang Yan, 28, single, lives alone, no family to support. Replaced his deceased father’s position, became a proud railway worker, has worked for ten years—current time: autumn 1989.

The man who just spoke to him earnestly, with a warm heart, was… Wang Dashan. The first husband of Luo Yuzhu in the drama, and now his coworker.

According to the system’s information, he and Wang Dashan got along well; he even attended a simple wedding banquet when Wang Dashan married Luo Yuzhu.

But why did the system place him here? To prevent Wang Dashan’s death so Yang Xue and Chen Jianghe could be together? Or to save Wang Dashan first, then court Yang Xue? Or to let him die and let fate take its course?

After thinking for a while, Wang Yan still couldn’t figure out what he was supposed to do.

Finished his water, he snapped out of his thoughts, saw Wang Dashan still carefully maintaining the railway switch, put down the cup, and returned to work.

Seeing him squat beside him, Wang Dashan said: “Rest if you’re tired—it’s almost done.”

“I’m fine. You’re the one who should rest—you’re thirty-five now, right?” Wang Yan winked at Wang Dashan as he turned his head: “Isn’t there a saying: ‘At middle age, you can’t help it—ginseng steeped in your thermos.’”

Hearing this, Wang Dashan grabbed a handful of small stones and tossed them lightly at him: “You little rascal, always joking. I’ve never heard that saying.”

“You talk about me being stuck, but in two years you’ll be thirty too—still single?”

After a while, seeing Wang Yan didn’t respond, Wang Dashan awkwardly tried to keep talking: “Hey, Xiao Yan, why does she always want to go out and earn money?”

Only because they were close did he ask this—Wang Dashan was usually as quiet as a sealed jar, never speaking to outsiders.

“You overthink too much. Isn’t it good she’s capable of earning money? We’ve all heard in our study sessions—the top leaders said long ago: focus on economic construction. If she wants to earn, let her go. Are you afraid she’ll run off with your savings like the last one?”

Wang Yan knew that since marrying Luo Yuzhu, Wang Dashan had never had a peaceful day. Partly because of his previous wife, partly because of their age gap—Wang Dashan was thirty-five, Luo Yuzhu only twenty-six, at her prime. To Wang Yan, it was nothing special; to Wang Dashan, she was a celestial beauty, breathtakingly gorgeous. Add to that Luo Yuzhu’s wild, free-spirited nature, and a thirty-something, simple, awkward man like him naturally feared he couldn’t hold onto her.

All this nonsense boils down to one thing: Wang Dashan lacked confidence.

Ps: That’s all—get a feel for it.

Additional Ps:

Q: Should the protagonist end up with Yang Xue, or should Chen Jianghe end up with Yang Xue?