[Yang Menghuo POV]

"I… I will accept you no matter what, Jie. Just like what I said before, my love is only for you. Even after years had passed, I wanted to treasure you forever in my arms, my beloved Jie."

Yang Menghuo uttered the promise that he had to his Ying Jie back then. It came out naturally out of his mouth because he was thinking about Batman Jie when Ying Jie begged him to accept her wholeheartedly. For a second, Yang Menghuo thought that Batman Jie was talking in front of him.

His heartfelt warmth all over, thinking that he could finally say something that he wished to say for so long to his beloved.

She might not be Batman Jie, but Menghuo felt talking to Ying Jie was very similar as if he was talking to Batman Jie.

"Is that… something that you want to say to your Childhood sweetheart?\' Shi Ying asked. She felt that Meng Bao\'s promise was eerily similar to Mengmeng, although they were literally a whole different gender.. Besides, Meng Bao was such a scary young man, while Mengmeng was a cute little girl who was prone to crying was very sticky to her.

\'Maybe… maybe Meng Bao is Mengmeng? Did I actually misgendered him the whole time?\' Shi Ying pondered.

"A-Ah, not at all, Jie, that promise is sincere from my heart for you," Yang Menghuo lied. He knew that he was lying because he didn\'t want to hurt Ying Jie\'s heart again.

"But you said years ago…" Shi Ying tried to pry more, but Yang Menghuo shook his head and replied with the same thing.

"It\'s just a figure of speech to make it more romantic, hehe."

"I see…" Shi Ying was stumped when she heard that. She was hoping that Meng Bao was really Mengmeng for a moment.

As her hope had been shot down, she looked to the window again to enjoy the morning breeze, while Yang Menghuo pondered whether he said the wrong thing because his Ying Jie looked disappointed.

Hours passed until the minivan turned to the left, from the smooth main road to a rough one, because there were few potholes on the road.

"Ohhh! We\'re already in the fate leading to my village!" Shi Ying said excitedly. She looked around in bewilderment because she felt everything was so nostalgic for her.

Her village was so poor and backward back then, but it had been semi-developed nowadays. There was a phone signal, internet, and electricity.

Back then, when she was just a child, only Mengmeng\'s house, which was actually in a neighboring village, had running electricity. Because it was a luxury.

"Meng Bao! Look, there\'s a new modern mini market here! This is revolutionary!"

"Minimarket?" Yang Menghuo frowned. He didn\'t know it Ying Jie was just sarcastic, or she was truly excited after seeing a small minimarket they passed just now.

"Look! There is also someone selling burgers! Though I doubt it\'s a good burger, haha."

"Oh! Someone is also selling Boba tea! Oh, Buddha, I think my village will be the best, most advanced village in the future!"

Shi Ying looked so happy when she was talking about everything they passed. Meanwhile, Menghuo kept on pondering whether this was just sarcasm or it was genuine excitement.

Because Meng Bao only saw a desolate village. Maybe because he wasn\'t used to visiting a village anymore, his memory of a village was very vague, as he rarely went out.

He always went out from the backyard to meet Batman Jie, who would sit and wait for him in the small forest behind late Grandma Yang\'s garden. Other than that, he could barely remember places, especially places fifteen years ago.

Yang Menghuo glanced at Ying Jie, who still hadn\'t stopped praising her hometown, which got Yang Menghuo wondered, "Ying Jie, do you really think this place has progressed a lot?"

"Hmmm… of course, compared to big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, et cetera, my village is just a small thing that\'s not worth their attention. But everything has changed since the last time I\'m here. Do you know that we\'ve gotten an internet signal around five years ago?\'

"FIVE YEARS AGO?!" Yang Menghuo was utterly shocked now. He didn\'t expect the situation would be this bad.

"What\'s with your sudden fear? You know the internet has been developed here, right? At least you\'ll be able to enjoy 3G, hehe."

"3G signal?!" Yang Menghuo couldn\'t believe what he just heard.

"Aiya, you\'re overreacting. Relax. We\'re actually not far from my home," Shi Ying said.

She then guided the driver for the forks and crossroads leading to Shi Ying\'s house.

Yang Menghuo got even more worried with the minivan stopped in the middle of the road with forest covering on the sides.

"J—Jie, why are we here? Where is your house?" Menghuo asked.

"Ehh, don\'t worry ah, We will walk from here."

"Walk? But…" Yang Menghuo squinted. He saw a long road without houses around. "I don\'t see any house…."

"What do you mean? Don\'t you see that path there?"

Shi Ying pointed at a small stone-paved road leading to the depth of the forest. The stone path was so small, it only fitted for two people to walk side by side.

Shi Ying opened the minivan door and told the driver to take out their suitcases.

"Okay, you can drop us here. Just leave now," Shi Ying said to the driver. The driver glanced at Yang Menghuo, who was still dazed, standing with his hand carrying his suitcase.

He didn\'t know what to react. He was suspicious that Ying Jie might\'ve planned his murder here because this was literally in the middle of nowhere.

But at the same time, if he said that in front of his Jie, his Jie would definitely get offended and left him here all alone.

Thus, Yang Menghuo reluctantly nodded to the driver, and they were left alone here.

Shi Ying patted Yang Menghuo\'s back and said, "Let\'s go!"

She carried her suitcase with one hand and ten kilograms back full of random stuff on her shoulder, while Meng Bao followed her from behind. They walked on the stone-paved path, leading deeper into the jungle. Yang Menghuo gulped as he felt shadows of something following them from inside the jungle, but Shi Ying just hummed some random song as they paced through.

Sometimes Menghuo could hear the voice of monkeys or wild boars snorting. It made him felt like he was in the middle of nowhere, with only himself and Ying Jie surviving a haunted night.

"J—Jie, where are you taking me?" Menghuo asked. He was ready to call his secret guards in case something bad happened to them.

"Huh? To my home, of course!" Shi Ying said lightly. She didn\'t seem to mind anything and continued walking.

"But we\'re in the middle of nowhere. This is literally a lush jungle…."

"Aish, we\'re using a shortcut ah! No need to be scared. It\'s just a small road. My family lives on a large farm quite far from other people because the land is cheaper. So my father has to make this stone-paved path for us to get a shortcut, because back then, when I was a child, I had to go to school through this jungle alone."

"ALONE?!"

"Uh-huh, it\'s not that scary, don\'t worry," Shi Ying said happily. "Well, there are few tigers who pounced on some random animals sometimes. Or big snakes who ate monkeys. But other than that, it\'s nothing dangerous."

"T—Tiger?" The more Ying Jie talked about her life, the more Yang Menghuo felt he should build a settlement here, so at least Ying Jie\'s life wouldn\'t be at risk just because of some random tiger who suddenly pounced on her.

"Aiya, no need to worry ah, Meng Bao," Shi Ying laughed. "My dad usually uses his machete to ward off the tiger or fire a warning shot to the air, so the tigers and wild boars will run away. It\'s very effective."

\'No, Jie, you should\'ve moved away with your family. Make a farm somewhere else. This place is too dangerous. You\'re like a Tarzan Lady,\' Yang Menghuo thought.

"Hmm... it\'s been a while since I climbed these trees. Back then, people called me Tarzan Girl because I usually climbed these trees and fetch something for them, whether it was coconuts or some fruits."

"You… climb these trees?" Yang Menghuo looked up to the tall trees around him. Sometimes he could see tree snakes slithering around, or monkeys, or even some animal that looked scarily unidentifiable for him.

Shi Ying seemed to notice that Meng Bao was looking at, "You don\'t need to be scared, it\'s just a green snake, they\'re harmless to us… or at least, I\'ve never get bitten by one."

"Jie, how could you live in a place like this…." Yang Menghuo pondered, but he accidentally said it out loud.

"Ah, I—I\'m sorry, Jie, I didn\'t mean to—"

"No, it\'s okay," Shi Ying laughed. "Well, it\'s because of my poor living condition, of course."