You're my wife, don't doubt it!

In that case, it would actually be possible to help Zhang Zhengkai avoid the accident, Xiao Yao thought.

However, he was unwilling to argue further. He knew Shen Jie's dislike for Zhang Zhengkai, and this was perhaps just an excuse to make herself feel more at ease.

Regardless of the circumstances, it's best to firmly cancel the engagement.

Xiao Yao's only worry was that if misfortune was bound to befall Shen Jie's first fiancé, then he wouldn't be able to escape it either.

After all, the timeline can self-correct... right?

The demon Asmodeus killed Salah's seven betrothed husbands...

Wait, it was just a random incident. Why would I think that way? That's ridiculous.

Within two short seconds, Xiao Yao had already completed the aforementioned chaotic and divergent thoughts in his mind.

……

By the time he came to his senses, the topic had already changed again.

Are you sure you don't want to take the high school entrance exam?

"Well, with my grades, it's safest to go straight to our school and continue being a sports student."

"Alright." Xiao Yao joined in.

"What's so good about it?" Shen Jie said, dissatisfied.

"The high school entrance exam is next month, it's too late to say anything now," Xiao Yao reminded her.

"Young and old alike, they all like to take shortcuts; they have no ambition!"

Amidst the noise and chatter, dinner was drawing to a close.

--split line--

After the meal, Shen Tianyun went out to do square dancing. Before leaving, she pressed Xiao Yao and Shen Jie's shoulders and asked them to promise not to quarrel anymore.

"Oh, so good." After receiving their assurances, Shen Tianyun floated away.

"No respect for elders," Shen Jie commented from behind.

Next, she helped Xiao Yao clear the table.

Xiao Yao turned his head and saw Shen Jie facing the plate as if it were a formidable enemy. She carefully picked up a corner of the plate, looking as if she was going to great lengths to avoid getting oil on it...

Kawaii.

"Don't make things worse, I'll do it myself." Xiao Yao said, "You're clumsy, you need to be paid for your work, and you'll break the bowl again."

Mom and Grandma had said this to Xiao Yao before.

It feels so good to use the same thing to criticize others!

"Hmph!" Shen Jie snorted in dissatisfaction, "It's your honor that I'm helping you, you know?"

After saying that, the girl clapped her hands impatiently: "Alright, alright, I'm leaving this to you. Don't mess it up."

After tidying up with a lot of clattering, Xiao Yao took out the spittoon that Shen Jie had stuffed under the bed and rinsed it.

"Oh dear, I forgot," Shen Jie said. "Let me do it!"

She said this, but her hands were hidden behind her back, and her feet seemed to be rooted to the ground.

"Never mind," Xiao Yao said, "Put on your shoes and come for a walk with me."

"Oh? But I've been walking all afternoon," Shen Jie complained. "Just say what's on your mind here!"

I want to take you somewhere.

"I'm not going!"

--split line--

In the end, Xiao Yao still failed to get Shen Jie to leave the house, and was even outmaneuvered by her using the homework issue.

Under Shen Jie's urging, he began to sit at the dining table and do test papers.

Shen Jie sat at a 90-degree angle to him, with her earphones in and a newspaper in English in her hand.

This reminded him of the times when his mother would urge him to do his homework.

"What newspaper is this?" Xiao Yao asked. "Can you read it?"

"China Daily"

"Oh."

After a while.

"What are you listening to? Does our country still have cassette tapes of newspapers broadcast simultaneously?"

"I'm wearing headphones because I can't hear you," Shen Jie said, taking off one earphone.

"What?"

"Do your homework properly, and don't talk to me until you're done!" Shen Jie rolled her eyes.

"Mom, you've worked so hard," Xiao Yao said, touched.

"If I had a son like you, I'd buy a block of tofu and smash my head against it!"

Xiao Yao was quiet for ten minutes, then nudged Shen Jie again: "Wife."

"Finished writing? So fast?"

"No."

“Then you—” Shen Jie glared.

“Look at this. Zhang Mingming is a sprinter. In the 100-meter race, his speed at the end of 5 seconds was measured to be 10.4 m/s…” Xiao Yao rotated the test paper 45 degrees and pushed it over, and also leaned closer to Shen Jie—he smelled a strong fragrance of roses. The fragrance was so strong and realistic that it made him feel as if he were standing under a rose bush in the morning, covered with dew.

What is it about her that smells so good?

"No." Shen Jie glanced at the question and decisively pushed the paper back.

"This is a question from the first year of high school, senior."

“I’m a liberal arts student, junior.”

That is to say, Xiao Yao naturally wanted to choose liberal arts, and he couldn't understand why he still had to do physics homework.

……

"Shen Jie".

"What are you doing again!" Shen Jie took off her headphones again, her patience seemingly reaching its limit.

"You're telling me, being your fiancé means I can't even hold your hand?"

Xiao Yao was referring to Zhang Zhengkai—Shen Tianyun said that after their engagement, they rarely saw each other and hadn't even held hands, which Xiao Yao thought was utterly ridiculous. If you said they hadn't slept together, I might have been a little skeptical, but this…it just doesn't make any sense!

Shen Jie sighed deeply: "Holding hands, holding hands, holding hands, this question is really impossible to answer. Wouldn't it be better to stay pure?"

"Huh?" Xiao Yao was a little confused. What did she mean?

"Didn't I already hold your hand?" Shen Jie stretched out her right hand, took Xiao Yao's left hand, and then separated his fingers: "Hold it, I'll let you hold it as much as you want today!"

Before Xiao Yao could react, the two had already intertwined their fingers.

Then, a sharp pain came from between my fingers.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch..." Xiao Yao tried to break free from her clutches, but couldn't pull himself out at all.

Just as he was about to try to pull his hand back, Shen Jie stopped exerting force and simply held his hand normally, asking, "Can you do your homework properly now?"

“That’s not what I actually meant…” Xiao Yao muttered.

Shen Jie had clearly misunderstood him, but he was still very happy, since Shen Jie had tacitly acknowledged that he was the "fiancé".

"Happy now?" Shen Jie teased, "If I don't give it to you, you can take it from me."

"Then will you hate me?" Xiao Yao asked half-jokingly.

"Yes, I will." Shen Jie smiled brightly.

Xiao Yao wasn't sure how much of her "yes" was true or false, but she couldn't admit defeat now.

If he remembered correctly, this was the second time he had held hands with Shen Jie, not counting the time in the hall of fame. The first time was at the "Shui Mu Nian Hua" ice rink, and he was so flustered that he didn't even notice what was happening before it was over.

As for the memories of physical contact in the hall, now they seem as abstract as a dream.

Shen Jie's palms and the backs of her hands were as white as jade, with long, slender, and strong fingers. Surprisingly, despite her regular exercise, her hands had no calluses; they were so smooth, soft, and warm.

Xiao Yao's mind went blank. Shen Jie's small hand warmed his, and his heart started racing uncontrollably. In an instant, a lot of thoughts flooded his mind, only to recede like a tide—he didn't want to upset Shen Jie again.

His palms began to sweat slightly, and his nose keenly caught the scent of roses in the morning air. His jumbled thoughts made it impossible for him to concentrate on his homework. He struggled to write a little, but then unconsciously stopped.

I mean, you can't hold the notebook with your left hand, it keeps wobbling...

His face began to burn slightly. Faced with the current situation, his small sense of pride made him feel both annoyed and helpless. He wanted to pull his hand away, but his body was like the remaining snow exposed to the first rays of spring sunshine, helplessly turning into a puddle and unable to move.

Steam rose from his face, as if he were in a slightly tipsy sauna or soaking in a hot spring, with the steam hitting his face. At this moment, Xiao Yao didn't want to think about anything anymore.

After a lot of hard work, he finally managed to focus his attention on his homework, but his body and nose seemed to be mocking his choice.

The fragrance and softness constantly reminded his brain of his current situation. And so, struggling back and forth in a half-awake state, he finished his contest with the homework on the table.

"So fast? You must have just scrambled through it." Shen Jie flipped through his homework. "The accuracy rate seems...not bad?"