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

……

"Ah ...

"Who gave you permission to look? Who gave you permission to peek without asking?" Yu Luying was unusually agitated: "No, no, this isn't poetry, it's just... something that just slipped out casually, it's..."

"Don't get so worked up. We looked at each other's poems quite a bit when we were in the poetry club last semester, didn't we?" Xiao Yao shrugged, puzzled.

"That's different! Ugh! Idiot! Terrible! Don't look at it like that!..." Yu Luying, her face flushed, stuffed the poem into her schoolbag, muttering, "Why did it fall here... How strange..."

“I mean,” Xiao Yao said, resting his chin on his hand, “our poetry club hasn’t had any activities in a long time… if this continues, the club will be shut down.”

"Don't worry about repeating a grade or joining clubs yet. Take out your math test paper!"

"Hi—" Xiao Yao deliberately dragged out his voice as he unzipped his backpack.

Chapter 13 Thief

As long as he forces himself to temporarily stop thinking about that untimely death, this past week has been the most enjoyable week Xiao Yao has had since coming to Shanghai.

Every night, he could spend time alone with Yu Luying.

After returning home at night, he always wanted to talk to Shen Tianyun, but he couldn't find her for several days in a row.

"What time does she come back? Is she not coming home all night?" Shen Jie asked him in a text message.

"I don't know... I don't think so?" Xiao Yao replied.

“That won’t do, we need to get to the bottom of this,” Shen Jie said.

Yes, he spent a significant portion of his daytime energy texting and chatting with Shen Jie.

With limited inbox capacity, Xiao Yao had to clean it out every day, requiring difficult choices.

"By the way, do you never pay attention in class?" Shen Jie finally asked him on Thursday afternoon.

“Yeah, I don’t really listen.” Xiao Yao typed those five words, then deleted them and changed them to “I do listen.”

"Really? Then... you have to attend classes too?"

Xiao Yao frowned. Did this mean the conversation was over?

Rarely, before he could even reply, a second message arrived.

"And when I reply to your messages at night, you reply much slower."

"Oh, sorry, I've been taking extra classes lately," Xiao Yao thought for a moment, then deleted the word "extra classes" and replaced it with "intensive learning": "That teacher doesn't allow me to touch my phone while studying."

To be fair, there is not a single falsehood in this statement.

When Yu Luying, a good student, was a teacher, she was a typical example of someone who grasped the form but not the essence—that is, she was good at enforcing discipline, but not good at developing the potential of less intelligent students.

However, things seem to have changed recently: after only two nights, Xiao Yao already feels that he can understand the lessons, which is simply unscientific.

Why didn't the private tutors that my grandma used to pay for have this effect?

“Of course, it’s because I taught her well,” Yu Luying said at the time.

"Actually, I'm quite smart, it's just that I don't focus on my studies. Don't look at me like that, that's what Teacher Yao said, her exact words."

In any case, since we've grasped the basics, it means there's still hope for us to repeat the year.

At the same time... I always felt that my relationship with Yu Luying had improved somewhat.

Once her relationship with Shen Jie is confirmed, Yu Luying should stop thinking she's still clinging to hope.

In that case, it would be only natural to go back to being friends like before.

So you're saying that by then, we'll have both love and friendship, what more could we ask for? In what way is my wife inferior to Yu Luying?

Xiao Yao said this to himself, shifting his gaze from Yu Luying's back in the front row to see if Shen Jie had replied to his message.

The next class was history, a subject Xiao Yao was interested in, so he listened attentively.

"On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted his Ninety-Five Theses on the door of All Saints' Church in Wittenberg, Germany..."

Teacher Jiang is a very slender elderly man, and he looks like an intellectual.

He took off his reading glasses, hung them around his neck, and his gaze swept across the entire room.

"Then, let's have Yu Luying... Qu Yuqin, who looks sleepy in the back row, answer: What sport is this?"

No one answered.

"Qu Yuqin?"

“Teacher Jiang,” the girl with long, wavy hair slowly stood up, “Teacher, my name is not Qu Yuqin, please call me Ouyang Qianqian, thank you.”

A burst of snickers and whispers rippled through the classroom, and Xiao Yao looked up at "Ouyang Qianqian".

The girl was wearing a modified school uniform and had her nails done. When people first saw her, they weren't struck by her stunning beauty, but rather by a lively and comfortable feeling, as if little fairies were dancing on her fingertips. Her skin wasn't the white of traditional beauty standards, but a gentle light brown—unlike the rough skin that is generally associated with darker complexions, her skin had a soft, coffee-milk-like appearance.

The coffee even had a few chocolate chips in it—her face had a few pimples, neither too many nor too few, which should be a major taboo for girls her age, but they didn't detract from her beauty at all; instead, they added a unique charm and elegance to her. Xiao Yao remembered that before she dyed her hair, it still had a faint yellow hue in the sunlight, and she had inward-curling bangs on her forehead.

Today she wore a pair of large, round glasses, which made her already large eyes appear even bigger. Below her small, upturned nose were bright red lips: even without lipstick, they were as red as flames, creating a strong contrast with her skin.

"Well then, Ouyang Qianqian..." Faced with that unruly face, Teacher Jiang helplessly put her glasses back on.

“Religious reformation,” Ouyang Qianqian said before sitting down.

"Okay, let's continue..."

His words were interrupted by the ringtone on the radio.

Before the history teacher could even say get out of class was over, the classroom started to get noisy, and some students began packing their bags.

No sooner had Teacher Jiang left than Class Teacher Yao walked in.

"Everyone, don't go yet! I need to tell you something," Teacher Yao said loudly.

The homeroom teacher still held considerable authority, and the classroom instantly fell silent.

"Our class's physical exam is scheduled for tomorrow," Teacher Yao said, glancing at her watch. "Don't eat breakfast, and... and... that's all. Those on duty, stay behind. The rest of you..."

--split line--

After school, in the church reception room.

"Are you sick? You treat your teacher like this too..." Yu Luying complained.

“Hey, she’s just a chuunibyou girl.” Xiao Yao replied while burying himself in his test paper. “It’s not like this is the first time. When we were introducing ourselves at the beginning of the semester, she stood on the podium and said: I don’t like my school name. Please call me Ouyang Qianqian.”

"I don't even like my own name."

“Why? Yu Luying sounds so nice,” Xiao Yao looked up at her, “I mean, I actually thought about giving myself a name when I was in junior high school…”

“A pen name is a pen name, but hers is different. Besides, can you even change your surname?”

"We need to reason with them, but they are just..."

"Oh, I almost forgot again, you're her sworn brother, aren't you?" Yu Luying feigned surprise: "You're just taking her side."

"Oh, don't be angry..." Xiao Yao put down his pen and poked her arm.

"Don't touch me!" Yu Luying twisted her body.

"Fine, fine, Qu Yuqin, you bastard, you drama queen." Xiao Yao spun the workbook in front of him 90 degrees: "I've proven this problem, see if you're right?"

“There’s a formula wrong here…” Yu Luying took a sip of water and returned to her normal demeanor.

After explaining the problem, Yu Luying seemed to suddenly remember something.

"Oh, right, tomorrow's Friday, our orchestra has rehearsal tonight, so I can be free on Saturday during the day, that way the schedule..."

"Saturday? How about Sunday?" Xiao Yao hesitated. "Saturday might be okay for me..."

Yu Luying shook her head: "No, it won't work. There's Sunday Mass, choir rehearsal, and a ton of things to do at the church, you know that—you have an appointment?"

“Hmm…ah.”

Yu Luying didn't ask who it was, but simply folded the test paper in her hand neatly, tapped it vertically on the table, and said, "That's enough for today, my uncle will be back soon."

Upon hearing the words "little uncle," Xiao Yao became a little nervous again: "Ah, okay...right, Yu Luying."

"Hmm?" Yu Luying lowered her eyelids.

"I'll show you something." Xiao Yao took out the composition paper again.

"What is this? Is it a poem?" Yu Luying unfolded the composition paper and began to read it carefully.

……

"...You...why are you crying?" Xiao Yao frantically searched for tissues. He felt his own eyes were a little wet, but it must be his imagination.

“Abandoning your wife and daughter,” Yu Luying rubbed her eyes fiercely with the back of her hand, “Go to hell!”

“Abandoning his wife and daughter?” Xiao Yao was a little confused. How did she know it was a “woman”?

"I'm sorry," the girl said softly, calming herself down. "I was so out of line."

"It's nothing," Xiao Yao laughed it off. "We're practically family, we know each other so well."

Yu Luying didn't say anything, but simply folded the composition paper again, gently pushed it in front of Xiao Yao, and took out half a pack of tissues from her schoolbag.

"Did you write this?" Yu Luying rubbed her eyes.