Alice Grant keenly sensed something was wrong. “You resigned a year ago, but you were only sixty-five. Back in our day, we didn’t retire until seventy. You were in good health—why retire so early?”

Brian Carter gave a wry smile. “Last year... there was a period when my health wasn’t good. I spent some time in the hospital and felt I didn’t have the energy anymore, so I decided to resign and stay home to organize some materials from over the years... It’s nothing serious.”

Alice Grant frowned. “What illness? Was it serious?”

Brian Carter: “Not serious, just a minor illness.” His expression was very calm. “It’s just that I’m getting older, my body isn’t as strong as it used to be, and I got sick by accident. But I’ve long since recovered.”

Alice Grant was silent for a while, then took out her personal terminal and turned it on, ignoring him. Brian Carter thought she was playing games, but after a short while, Alice Grant put the terminal down and said, “From now on, you’re going to go jogging with me every morning to exercise. Don’t worry, I checked—it definitely won’t exceed your physical limits. We’ll just jog a lap around here, that’s enough.”

Brian Carter looked at the distance she’d marked out, a bit hesitant. “This...”

Alice Grant: “What do you mean, ‘this’? The older you get, the more you need to take care of your health. You have to exercise!”

After all, Brian Carter had lived in this neighborhood for many years and naturally knew some neighbors. Every morning, he accompanied Alice Grant jogging and grocery shopping. The elderly men and women he knew would come over to greet him, and inevitably ask, “Old Jiang/Professor Jiang, who’s this young lady? She’s so good-looking—is she your family?”

Every time Brian Carter didn’t answer, Alice Grant would just smile at the neighbors and say, “I’m Professor Jiang’s wife.”

Then, inevitably, she’d have to explain her forty-year time travel under everyone’s astonished and bewildered gazes.

“Ah! I saw that news a while ago, about a new time traveler who traveled forty years, but only had an alias. So it was you!” The elderly folks exclaimed, then gathered around curiously. This young-looking person was actually from their era, just like them—how could they not be curious and amazed?

Fortunately, this neighborhood used to be housing allocated to retired professors from Haida University. Later, these small buildings were added, and most of the residents were intellectuals—not the type to gossip. Besides, those who knew Brian Carter and could get along with him were all people who had made a name for themselves in their own fields and were focused on their work, not the type to meddle in others’ family affairs. So, they were all very friendly to this “May-December couple.”

Among them, the most enthusiastic were the elderly Mr. Nie and his wife, whom Alice Grant had met before. Alice Grant had to go with Brian Carter to their house for two meals.

After the neighbors learned the situation, life was even more peaceful than Alice Grant had expected. No one came to gawk at her. It was just that when she went out in the morning to buy groceries, or occasionally went out for necessities, or picked up deliveries, the familiar elderly folks she ran into would always chat with her for a bit.

Some would reminisce about the old days with her, which felt strange, because for Alice Grant, the world from forty years ago was only a little over a month ago, but for these elderly people, it was already “reminiscing about the past.” So, when chatting, Alice Grant would often feel a sense of disorientation.

There were also young people living in the neighborhood, including Brian Carter’s students. But when his students greeted him and saw Alice Grant beside him, they were too embarrassed to ask who she was and would run off after saying hello. So, for now, Alice Grant hadn’t become famous among Brian Carter’s students.

A bit of a pity.

Alice Grant was not someone who could stay at home. To ask her to settle down and do academic research at home for days like Brian Carter was impossible. Even if she had nothing to do, she had to go out for a walk every day to get some fresh air.

Besides jogging and grocery shopping every morning, if the weather was nice in the evening, she’d go out for a stroll, with Brian Carter accompanying her.

When the two of them were walking under the streetlights, they’d come across a few old men playing chess under the plane trees. When they saw Brian Carter and Alice Grant, they’d warmly call Brian Carter over for a game.

“Old Jiang, come on, come help me out! This guy is too good—he’s wiped me out. Come and put him in his place!”

“Sigh, why do you always call for reinforcements every time you lose?”

“There’s no shame in asking for help! Old Jiang, come sit here!”

Brian Carter knew them all, so he’d sit down to play chess, and Alice Grant would follow and watch from the side. An old lady watching the game would quietly whisper to her, “Your Old Jiang is really good at chess. Not like my old man—he’s terrible, always losing but never admitting defeat. Everyone else is afraid of him.”

The old man who gave Brian Carter his seat would laugh, “You can’t say that. We play chess for self-cultivation, not for winning or losing.”

The old lady would retort, “If it’s not important, why do you always want someone to help you win a game?”

Alice Grant had only played chess as an extracurricular activity in elementary school, learning just the basics. To this day, she only knew one move: the “double cannon check.” Even at her level, she could tell that Brian Carter was really good at chess. Not long after the game started, he’d capture several of the opponent’s major pieces in a row, making the onlookers clap and exclaim from time to time—some in admiration, some feeling sorry for the other old man.