Chapter 82: A Promise
For everyone, dreaming is a common occurrence.
For several nights in a row, He Siming kept dreaming that Jiang Rong suddenly disappeared, and every dream felt especially real.
He knew he was overly anxious, yet he couldn’t control it.
Now, whenever he jolted awake in the middle of the night, he had to reach out and touch the person beside him, to make sure Jiang Rong was breathing. Sometimes he would even turn on the light to confirm that the person in his arms really was Jiang Rong.
In his dreams, not only did Jiang Rong leave him—sometimes, the person he was holding would suddenly turn into his classmate Jiang Rong. Each time, it scared him into a cold sweat.
It was truly a nightmare.
After this happened again and again, Jiang Rong noticed something was wrong with He Siming.
Recently, He Siming had become much quieter, smiled less, and seemed to keep his eyes on Jiang Rong at all times.
As the person sleeping beside him, Jiang Rong couldn’t possibly feel nothing.
That night.
He Siming quietly got up in the middle of the night and turned on the bedside lamp to check whether Jiang Rong was still there. Realizing he’d nearly woken him, he got out of bed instead.
They still had to take the baby for vaccinations tomorrow; he couldn’t disturb Jiang Rong’s sleep.
Pressing a hand to his throbbing head, he went out onto the balcony and lit a cigarette. It was one that Ding Yan had left behind in a drawer when they moved into the new place—forgotten there so the smoke wouldn’t bother He Shenglin.
He almost never smoked, but tonight he lost control.
Jiang Rong wasn’t sleeping deeply either. When He Siming turned on the light, he woke up. He’d wanted to pull him close, but his hand grasped empty air—He Siming wasn’t in bed.
Where had he gone?
Not sleeping again?
He knew He Siming had been waking up startled these past few nights, turning on the light to check whether Jiang Rong was there, reaching out to touch him.
Jiang Rong didn’t mind; he would just burrow into his arms and keep sleeping. But he hadn’t expected things to get this serious—so serious that He Siming couldn’t even sleep anymore.
He Siming seemed unable to adjust.
Naturally, Jiang Rong couldn’t fall asleep either. He glanced at He Shenglin, sleeping sprawled out on the bed, and thought: If only your dad slept as soundly as you do.
He Siming was clearly worrying too much, and Jiang Rong knew it was completely because of him. Otherwise, He Siming wouldn’t get up in the middle of the night to turn on the light and stare at him for so long.
The living room lights weren’t on. Jiang Rong put on a jacket and searched the apartment for a while, finally finding He Siming on the balcony, smoking in the cold wind.
He walked over, took the cigarette from between He Siming’s fingers, and pressed the butt into the flowerpot beside them to extinguish it.
Holding He Siming’s ice-cold hand, Jiang Rong frowned. “He Siming, you never smoke.”
He Siming was startled. He’d only come out to calm down—his mind was full of images of Jiang Rong leaving him. He was afraid that one day Jiang Rong really would leave. His thoughts were too chaotic; he didn’t want the scenes from his dreams to ever come true.
He let Jiang Rong pull him back inside. “I’m sorry. I won’t smoke anymore. It’s too cold out here—you’ll catch a cold.”
Jiang Rong was a little angry. “Why don’t you think about yourself? It’s freezing—if you catch a cold, I’ll worry too. Can you tell me what’s wrong?”
Seeing him huffing in anger, He Siming said, “I was wrong.”
Going out into subzero weather like this really hadn’t been well thought out.
Jiang Rong was angry, but he didn’t let go of He Siming’s hand.
The heating inside was strong. Jiang Rong was genuinely afraid He Siming would catch a cold, so he draped a jacket over him.
He Siming gradually warmed up.
“Don’t use this kind of way to deal with problems you can’t solve. Don’t punish yourself like this.” After thinking for a moment, Jiang Rong added more gently, “Why didn’t you tell me what you were worrying about?”
Seeing Jiang Rong on the verge of tears, He Siming wanted to go back in time and slap himself for making that decision fifteen minutes earlier.
All he could do was apologize. “I’m sorry.”
Jiang Rong wrapped his arms around He Siming’s waist. “Then tell me.”
Only then did He Siming tell him about the nightmares he’d been having for days.
Jiang Rong felt a little regretful—perhaps he shouldn’t have told He Siming about crossing over from another world. He really couldn’t guarantee that time travel wouldn’t happen to him again.
“I don’t want to leave you either. But, He Siming, don’t worry. As long as I’m in this world, I’ll be with you. I don’t think I’ll leave this world. Didn’t you talk about the law of conservation of energy? There’s another Jiang Rong over there—there’s no way the two of us would save people at the same time again.”
Smelling the milky peach scent on Jiang Rong, He Siming finally felt more at ease. “I’m overthinking again.”
Jiang Rong smelled the faint trace of tobacco on him. It wasn’t strong, but it didn’t suit the always clean and fresh He Siming.
He Siming frowned first. “This smoke smells awful. How does Ding Yan stand smoking every day?”
Jiang Rong asked, “How many puffs did you take?”
When he’d gone out earlier, the cigarette in He Siming’s hand had already burned down to the butt.
He Siming replied, “Just one. It was too harsh.”
Jiang Rong said, “Then don’t smoke anymore.”
He Siming nodded. “I don’t like it either.”
Seeing the dark circles under He Siming’s eyes from not sleeping well, Jiang Rong felt his heart ache. “He Siming.”
He Siming’s voice was low. “Mm?”
Jiang Rong touched the corner of his eye. “Get some good sleep.”
He Siming confessed the trouble he’d been dealing with these past few days. He hadn’t wanted to say it, but faced with Jiang Rong’s clear, caring gaze, his heart softened completely.
“I can’t sleep. As soon as I do, I dream that you leave. I’m afraid to sleep.”
Jiang Rong didn’t know how to give He Siming enough security. His own sense of security came from He Siming, and He Siming had already done everything he possibly could for him.
He said, “But Linlin and I are right here with you. Linlin and I are bound to you by blood—how could I ever leave?”
He Siming said, “Mm, I know.”
He knew that the security he wanted couldn’t be obtained just by publicly defining their relationship. It was really just a hurdle in his heart.
After thinking for a moment, Jiang Rong made a decision on the spot. “He Siming, let’s get married.”
He Siming’s eyes lit up slightly. “Really?”
Jiang Rong nodded. “Yes. I want to marry you.”
He hadn’t expected to be the one to say it. In fact, their life was already no different from marriage.
He Siming had proposed before, and Jiang Rong had agreed. They were only missing a wedding ceremony.
If it could give He Siming even a bit more security and let him sleep well, then having a wedding wouldn’t be a big deal—just a little troublesome.
Of course He Siming understood what he meant, but he wasn’t that desperate. It was winter, and the baby was still small.
His rationality returned. His need for marriage wasn’t that urgent; his sense of security didn’t come from binding Jiang Rong through conventional means.
He quickly suggested a time. “It’s too cold in winter. How about we have the wedding during summer vacation? School will be out, and we can invite our classmates.”
Jiang Rong had no objections. He’d thought He Siming would choose an even earlier date. “Sounds good. You decide the time. It’s just a pity we can’t legally register our marriage—where I’m from, people can register regardless of gender.”
He Siming said, “Your place really sounds nice. Some countries here also allow same-sex marriage registration, but ours doesn’t recognize it. Jiang Rong, tell me more about your world. If you ever leave, no matter what, I’ll chase after you and find you there.”
Jiang Rong didn’t think that was possible, but He Siming taking a different approach like this probably counted as being comforted.
“There’s no ‘if.’ What do you want to hear about?”
“Your family?” He Siming asked. Jiang Rong had been emotionally unstable before, often uneasy, and He Siming hadn’t asked about his family. He’d assumed he was an orphan like his classmate Jiang Rong—but thinking it over, that didn’t seem right. If he’d grown up an orphan, he probably wouldn’t have such a pure temperament.
Jiang Rong thought for a moment. “Alright. My parents are different from your uncle and aunt—they have very deep-rooted traditional views about gender.”
He Siming grew curious, his thoughts following Jiang Rong’s lead. “How so?”
Jiang Rong said, “I think I told you about the three ABO secondary genders in my world.”
He Siming nodded. “You did.”
“Alpha and Omega are biologically a natural match…” Jiang Rong explained the advantages and disadvantages of the three ABO genders, and then told him about his family situation.
He Siming was almost furious enough to jump up. “So your parents started giving you the cold shoulder because you didn’t differentiate into an Alpha or Omega during puberty?”
Jiang Rong nodded. “More or less.”
“You’re so good—how could they do that?” He Siming was indignant.
“It’s because of traditional prejudice.” Jiang Rong added, a little embarrassed, “They even hoped I’d differentiate into an Omega so I could marry into a wealthy family.”
He Siming said, “Then haven’t you basically fulfilled their unrealized wish now? Even if my family isn’t some great aristocracy, we’re still presentable. But how could your parents treat you like that?”
Jiang Rong replied, “When I was little, it was okay. They were just strict. After they gave up on me, my life actually became freer—I didn’t have to learn instruments I didn’t like or take classes I didn’t want.”
“But you clearly like computer science—why did you choose psychology?” He Siming asked.
Jiang Rong helplessly told him it was his mother’s interference. He Siming felt indignant on Jiang Rong’s behalf, nearly exploding with anger.
“How could your mother do that?” Compared to this, He Siming felt his own upbringing had been very happy—his parents had never interfered with his choices.
“Don’t be angry. I’ve let it go,” Jiang Rong said. “I resisted the major at first, but later I realized I could help a lot of people, and it wasn’t hard to study. Later I even collaborated with computer science students to develop intelligent robots—the one I’m working on now with Professor Wen.”
Their conversation drifted into technical topics, and He Siming gained a lot from it. He hadn’t expected the technology in Jiang Rong’s world to be so advanced.
After hearing about Jiang Rong’s family, he felt much more at ease.
If Jiang Rong’s parents treated him so poorly—even giving him the cold shoulder—then He Siming would just treat him twice as well. That way, Jiang Rong would never think about returning to his original world.
They talked late into the night. In the latter half, Jiang Rong became so sleepy that he fell asleep in He Siming’s arms without realizing it.
When he woke up the next morning, He Siming was still asleep.
Strange—normally, even after staying up late, He Siming would wake earlier than everyone else. Today, he wasn’t even woken by He Shenglin.
The little one woke early. With both dads still asleep, he played by himself.
When Jiang Rong got up, he picked him up to change his diaper. The nanny already had milk prepared outside. After the baby finished drinking and before the complementary food was ready, he crawled onto the bed and called for He Siming.
He Shenglin could already say a few words.
“Ba-ba~”
“Ba-ba~”
“Ba-ba~”
After washing up, Jiang Rong sensed something was wrong. Normally, with He Shenglin calling him like that, He Siming would have been up long ago to play with him.
Jiang Rong reached out and touched He Siming’s forehead. His worry from last night wasn’t unfounded—going out onto the balcony in the cold with so little on had given him a fever.
“Daddy is sick. Linlin, go eat with Auntie first, okay?” Jiang Rong picked up He Shenglin and handed him over.
The little one didn’t fuss and was very obedient. “Ah-ha.”
Jiang Rong kissed his son. “Linlin is so good.”
He took He Siming’s temperature, got fever medicine and warm water, and helped him take it.
In the more than a year he’d known He Siming, he’d hardly ever seen him sick. This time, it really had a cause.
Jiang Rong directly skipped his morning classes. It was a major course, and the professor was strict—attendance was still taken even in their junior year. Jiang Rong usually followed the rules, so he asked the class monitor for leave.
He stayed by He Siming’s side the entire time. Whenever He Siming murmured his name, Jiang Rong would respond immediately.
Only after the fever subsided did Jiang Rong finally relax.
After this scare, he understood just how important he was in He Siming’s heart.
He made another decision on the spot—perhaps there were things he didn’t need to worry about so much anymore.
By evening, He Siming’s high fever had completely gone down. He’d sweated all over and felt sticky and uncomfortable, waking up because of it.
The first thing he saw was Jiang Rong looking at him worriedly, eyes slightly red—he must have cried again in secret.
He Siming said, “Why are you crying again?”
“I’m not crying,” Jiang Rong denied.
“You can fool others, but not me.”
“Fine, I cried a little.” Jiang Rong took his temperature—his fever really was gone.
He Siming hugged him. “Sorry. I was childish this time.”
With reddened eyes, Jiang Rong asked, “Will you go out in the middle of the night to freeze again next time?”
“I wouldn’t dare.”
Jiang Rong hugged him tightly. He hadn’t meant to cry again, but hearing He Siming’s hoarse voice from the fever made the tears well up once more.
“He Siming, don’t let anything happen to you. You’re the closest person to me in this world. Linlin and I can’t lose you.”
He’d never said anything like this to He Siming before; this time, he’d really been scared.
He Siming smiled. “Understood, my wife.”
Jiang Rong wiped his tears on He Siming’s pajamas. “You’re teasing me again.”
“I’m serious. I really won’t do it again. If I’m stupid again, you can punish me by not letting me get out of bed for a week.”
Jiang Rong: “…” He really was teasing him.
After the fever subsided, He Siming took a shower and ate dinner, looking much more energetic.
He Shenglin could eat complementary food now and ate dinner at the table with them. When both dads were home, they fed him themselves.
Perhaps because both dads were home today, He Shenglin was extra excited. Jiang Rong fed him steamed egg custard while eating himself.
After finishing, He Shenglin wanted more. “Ba-ba.”
Watching Jiang Rong and their carefree chubby son, He Siming realized he really had been stupid for an entire week.
Jiang Rong had already given him a child—how could he possibly return to his original world?
“I’m full. I’ll feed him—you eat,” He Siming said, more practiced.
“Okay. Linlin seems to have gained some weight again.” Jiang Rong handed the sturdy He Shenglin to He Siming and shook out his arms—holding him for too long made them sore.
“It’s fine. Our son takes after me—he can eat.” He Siming asked, “Right, He Shenglin?”
He Shenglin followed the bowl of egg custard with his eyes and nodded hard. “Mm!”
Who knew whether he understood or not.
Just after dinner, their doorbell rang.
Aunt Yang went to open the door, and the three guys from Dorm 519 walked in carrying a bunch of fruit.
He Siming was on the sofa playing with He Shenglin.
He asked Jiang Rong, “Why are they here?”
“I asked the class monitor for leave this morning. They probably heard about it from him.”
He Siming rubbed his forehead. Just listen to what they were saying—did they sound like people visiting someone who was sick?
Li Yizhou said, “I told you these fruits don’t look great. Look at the apples on their table—they’re way bigger than what we bought.”
Ding Yan replied, “Old He doesn’t care about that. Besides, they’ll give us something back later—straight from their place.”
Yao Shule said, “So you’re eating and taking, huh?”
Ever since their new place was closer than the old one, the three of them visited frequently—mainly because the food here was just too good.
Seeing the three uncles, He Shenglin excitedly raised his toy.
Ding Yan instantly switched to a high-pitched voice. “Linlin!”
Li Yizhou: “Linlin!”
Yao Shule: “Linlin! Uncle Le brought you a toy—it’s super fun!”
The three of them squeezed the “patient” aside and pulled out all the stops to make He Shenglin laugh.
He Siming: “…”
Standing behind the sofa, Jiang Rong smiled and gently squeezed He Siming’s shoulder.
This kind of life was something he’d never even dared to imagine before.
Yao Shule casually asked, “Rongrong, New Year’s is coming up. How about we celebrate at your place this year? Linlin’s too little to travel far, and it’s cold out.”
“Sure,” Jiang Rong said. “We’ll have hot pot together.”
Li Yizhou suggested, “Can we do another drone show?”
Ding Yan said, “I agree!”
He Siming was speechless. “Is it appropriate to make this kind of request of a patient?”
Jiang Rong said, “I want to see it again too. Linlin hasn’t seen it yet.”
He Siming sighed. “Alright.”
The three friends, clearly treated differently: “…” So only your wife’s requests count.
Leaning against He Siming, Jiang Rong felt very happy in that moment—and hoped they could stay this happy forever.
Time always passed quickly.
They celebrated their second New Year together, spent their second Spring Festival together, and before they knew it, summer vacation of the following year arrived.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t hold their wedding. The day before summer vacation began, Grandma He passed away peacefully in her sleep—it was a happy death.
Jiang Rong and He Siming returned to their hometown.
After summer vacation, both of them became seniors.
There were hardly any classes in their final year. Most of their classmates stayed to prepare for graduate school exams; Yao Shule and Li Yizhou even quit gaming and started working hard.
On a crisp autumn day, the school organized all seniors to take their graduation photos.
