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

When Xiao Yao opened his eyes, he saw Shen Jie struggling to drive the pedestrians away.

"What are you running for? Do you owe that person a lot of money? Where did you fall?" Shen Jie reached out to help Xiao Yao up, then braced herself on her knees, panting like a dog, apparently having followed along the way—her long skirt had obviously held her back.

Yu Luying lay on her side next to him, having just woken up. Xiao Yao explained to Shen Jie while helping Yu Luying sit up.

When Shen Jie heard that it was the homeroom teacher, she understood everything.

Yu Luying didn't seem to have suffered any external injuries, but her left sneaker was missing.

The heel and toe of the glass fiber socks are made of white combed cotton, but they are almost completely black. The transparent glass fiber on the sole is not as dirty as the white socks, but it is also covered with sand and black marks.

Xiao Yao then realized that he wasn't the one who lost his shoes.

He volunteered to go back and look for the shoes. He limped and panted heavily, dragging his slightly trembling legs for about twenty minutes, but he still couldn't find where Yu Luying's sneakers were. He only saw the homeroom teacher, Song Haijian, at the entrance of the 7 Days Inn.

Xiao Yao saw Song Haijian gesturing wildly as he spoke to the hotel receptionist through the glass doors of the hotel lobby, and then he started making a phone call.

Before Song Haijian could find him, Xiao Yao quickly returned the way he came, but still couldn't find the shoes.

He returned to the gravel road where he and Yu Luying had fallen, but saw no one. As he looked around, he heard Shen Jie call out to him, "Here, here!"

Xiao Yao looked in the direction of the sound and saw two girls sitting on a high step with their four little feet dangling in the air. Yu Luying was crying on Shen Jie's shoulder with tears streaming down her face. Because Yu Luying was relatively big, the scene looked a bit strange.

"Where are your shoes?" Shen Jie asked him.

“Shoes, shoes…” Xiao Yao shrugged and spread his hands.

Shen Jie sighed, took her Jimmy Choo shoes out of her bag, and handed them to Yu Luying.

Yu Luying waved her hand, and while crying, she said a few words to Shen Jie. Shen Jie hesitated for a moment, then untied her shoelaces, took off her canvas shoes and handed them to Yu Luying, before putting on high heels herself.

Yu Luying vigorously patted the soles of her dirty socks, trying to take them off but ultimately failing. She carefully slipped her feet into Shen Jie's canvas shoes, but couldn't get them on.

"It's okay, just step on the heels." Shen Jie jumped down the steps with a "thud".

Two beautiful girls changing shoes in front of him should have been a thrilling scene, but Xiao Yao had no interest in appreciating it at all.

What serious consequences would it have if Song Haijian caught him and Yu Luying spending the night in a hotel room together—along with Shen Jie, though of course Song Haijian couldn't control Shen Jie—?

First, the three people ran away, so he had no evidence.

Of course, he could check the hotel's surveillance footage or room booking records, but ultimately, he's a teacher, not a law enforcement officer, so he might not be able to access them. As for the room booking records, all he has is Xiao Yao's ID card, which doesn't prove anything.

Grandma is still adrift at sea. As long as Song Haijian can't get the evidence, the school can't punish him... right?

That's hard to say. After all, a school isn't a court, and the school will definitely believe the teacher's statement unconditionally. What will happen then? Will they deny everything, or will they tell the truth?

And then there's Yu Luying. Song Haijian will definitely inform Yu Lihua about this immediately, and Xiao Yao doesn't even dare to imagine what Yu Lihua will do.

Whether or not Yu Luying had overheard his inner thoughts again, she suddenly raised her head without warning and yelled at Xiao Yao, "It's all your fault!"

“?” Xiao Yao touched the back of his head, which was still throbbing slightly: “Okay, it’s all my fault, it’s all my fault.”

It took Yu Bo a lot of effort to finally find the three of them. It was a black sedan that Xiao Yao couldn't recognize the brand of. Just like last night, Yu Luying was sitting in the front seat, and Xiao Yao and Shen Jie were sitting in the back seat.

Just before getting on the bus, Yu Luying tossed the remaining white sneaker into the trash can.

Xiao Yao craned his neck to look at it with a touch of heartache.

The car drove smoothly along the main road. Yu Bo kept glancing at the rearview mirror while driving, which made Xiao Yao feel like he was watching him.

Gregorian chants echoed inside the car, ethereal and clear, like a monk sitting comfortably in the afternoon sunlight streaming into the monastery corridor, humming lazily. The song seemed to float and drift in the sky.

A delicate, small cross, gleaming with silver light, hangs below the rearview mirror, while a wooden sculpture sits on the center console, depicting a saint carrying a child across a river. Through sharing Yu Luying's knowledge base, Xiao Yao recognizes this as Saint Christopher, the traveler's guardian, and the child he carries is none other than Christ himself.

"What exactly happened?" Finally, Yu Bo broke the deathly silence.

“Uncle, I’m doomed,” Yu Luying said, pale-faced and somewhat nervously, ignoring the two people in the back row. “My mom is definitely going to kill me.”

Xiao Yao and Shen Jie exchanged a glance.

"What exactly happened?" Yu Bo repeated his question, deliberately darkening his face and threatening, "If you don't explain clearly, it's not your mother's place to kill you."

Shen Jie cast a somewhat displeased glance at Yu Bo.

"Yesterday afternoon, after I returned from Yushan, I went to Xiao Yao's house to visit Shen Jie..."

"Are you staying at Xiao Yao's house?" Yu Bo knew, of course, that Yu Luying hadn't gone to Yu Shan (and couldn't go anyway), so he asked the two people in the back row with feigned sternness, without turning his head.

"..." Xiao Yao and Shen Jie lowered their heads with ashamed expressions.

"Go on," Yu Bo said, softening his tone.

Yu Luying began her story by accompanying Xiao Yao and Shen Jie to Navara Wedding Dress—she didn't explain why she went along, though Yu Bo knew perfectly well—and continued until the three of them bumped into their homeroom teacher, Song Haijian, at the 7 Days Inn, and fled in panic until they lost a shoe.

After listening, Yu Bo remained silent for a long time until he stopped at a traffic light.

He picked up his thermos, unscrewed the lid, and took a sip: "Tell your mom."

"Huh?" Yu Luying was taken aback.

"Don't understand?"

Yu Luying realized what she meant: "I understand."

Shen Jie's big eyes showed a puzzled expression: What is this riddle for?

Xiao Yao felt he understood, but he wasn't 100% sure.

He believed that Yu Bo wanted Yu Luying to tell her mother... the secret of symbiosis.

From the very beginning, Xiao Yao didn't understand why Yu Luying kept this matter a secret from her mother.

After what happened today, it seems she has no other choice.

Song Haijian will definitely call and tell Yu Lihua that her daughter spent the night with Xiao Yao in a hotel room, and even with other girls.

Yu Lihua definitely needs a reasonable explanation, if she is still open to explanations.

Why do you spend the night with other people outside?

Because it was too late to get back and there were no more buses.

No, no, no, why do you want to go to Qingpu?

I went with my classmates because they were taking pictures.

Why did you go with them?

Because if we're far apart, we'll get epilepsy. You can ask your uncle if you don't believe me.

Aside from confessing and receiving leniency, Xiao Yao couldn't think of any other possibility for Yu Luying to get away with it.

Yu Bo's car stopped in front of Yu Luying's house. He seemed to have no intention of taking Xiao Yao and Shen Jie to their deaths, so Xiao Yao and Shen Jie tactfully got out of the car.

"Uncle, don't go..." Yu Luying looked at Father Yu like a helpless child.

Yu Bo put his arm around Yu Luying's shoulder: "Your mother won't be back until this afternoon. There are still some things to take care of here in the parish. I'll talk to her about it—I'll come over once things are settled here."

Xiao Yao wanted to ask Er Yu if she could attend the birthday party that evening on time, but then felt it was really inappropriate, so he said goodbye to Er Yu in a sullen mood and headed home.

Shen Jie's high heels made a "tap-tap-tap" sound on the ground. Judging from her figure, the support of the high heels made her look much better in the long dress, but the sound of the high heels still reminded him of his fat homeroom teacher in junior high school, triggering the primal fear in his genes.

“Actually, you’d better wear high heels less often. I’ve heard that wearing high heels for a long time can easily deform your feet and cause calluses…” Xiao Yao said.

Shen Jie ignored him with a stern face, and only then did he realize that something was off about the atmosphere.

After returning home, Shen Jie tossed the socks to one side and the other side, while Shen Tianyun pestered the two of them to ask about the gossip from the previous night.

"You two better not let me wake up to find I have eighteen more older brothers and sisters," Shen Tianyun said.

"Stop talking nonsense. Didn't you say you were coming to help make the cake? Go wash your hands first," Shen Jie said calmly.

"?" Xiao Yao sensed something was wrong: "You want your daughter to participate in making the cake?"

"Otherwise what?" Shen Jie said, "You'll do it for me?"

"I'd rather do it myself than let her do it," Xiao Yao quickly stated.

"Alright, my little birthday star," Shen Jie said calmly, "You didn't sleep well last night, did you? You should rest today, and I will take care of you."

The words "Your Majesty, I will serve you" were quite pleasing to hear, and Xiao Yao obeyed them and went to bed.

On my 16th birthday, I had a girl with me for the first time, and I also invited a large group of friends to celebrate with me for the first time. Two happy things overlapped, and these two joys brought me even more happiness. What should have been a blissful, dreamlike time... was interrupted by Song Haijian. Why did it turn out like this...?

Swear words.jpg

"Honey, if I get expelled, can you help me find a school?" Xiao Yao tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

As soon as he said that, Xiao Yao realized he had made a foolish mistake again—Shen Jie's father hadn't accepted him yet!

"What grounds do you have to fire me?" Shen Jie pouted and said, "Expelling a middle school student requires the principal's approval and then reporting to the education bureau... and your teacher Song has no evidence."

"If he tries to access the surveillance footage, will they let him?"

“Unless he calls the police and has connections to get the authorities to file a case, the hotel also violated regulations first, so they definitely won’t provide him with the surveillance footage. Students can’t fight against teachers. In my opinion, you might as well call him, I’ll buy some gifts, and go with you to explain things,” Shen Jie suggested.

"Hmm..." Xiao Yao pondered, "Well... it's not like we can't give it a try? There's no harm in it, right?"

Shen Jie didn't say anything more, and just continued with her work.

"Ah—if Teacher Yao were still alive, things definitely wouldn't have turned out this way," Xiao Yao lamented.

"Teacher Yao would say, 'Well, you little rascal, why didn't you take me with you? Expel me!'" Shen Jie teased.

"?" Xiao Yao was confused.

The girl suddenly realized that her joke was a bit too cheesy, and her face turned red: "I'm going next door for a bit."