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

--split line--

Mourning the eternal end of our precious time, and grieving for his passing in a foreign land.

Xiao Yao eventually fell into the water, taking Shen Jie, who was trying to pull him up, with him. There were no injuries on his ankles. He wasn't sure if he had really been hit by a slingshot, nor was he sure if there really was someone using a slingshot to cause trouble. He had no choice but to take the blame for making Shen Jie get wet.

"Shen Jie, I'm sorry... You could have let go." Xiao Yao sat on the shore, twisting the hem of his shirt.

"Hmm, I'm just not used to letting go, it's okay." Shen Jie's face was expressionless as she quietly poured water out of her sneakers.

Below the girl's chest was a very distinct dividing line, the color below which was particularly dark. Her trousers, covered in a film of water, shimmered and clung tightly to her legs, revealing her perfect waistline and leg shape. A puddle of water had formed beneath her, and her socks were no longer the original white—the color of mud dissolved in water, which contrasted nicely with her gray clothes.

A gentle evening breeze blew by, and the girl shivered slightly. She emptied the water from her shoes, then ripped off her socks and washed them in the lake water before wringing them dry.

Xiao Yao turned his head and caught a glimpse of her small, delicate feet, as white as if they had been soaked in milk. The insteps were so high that there was almost no transition between them and her calves, making her palms appear empty, as if they could hold a large date. Her toes were as tender as bamboo shoots, with her index finger protruding long. Her other foot was still encased in a dirty sock, and as her toes opened and closed, water gushed out.

In an instant, Xiao Yao's DNA stirred.

Clearly, the lake water couldn't remove the mud from the socks. Shen Jie stood up, lifted her other foot, took off the sock, and stood barefoot on the ground: "Are you thirsty?"

"Huh? Oh, I'll go buy drinks," Xiao Yao said.

Shen Jie turned her head and looked around, spotting the vending machine in the distance: "I'll go get it, what do you want to drink?"

"Huh? 7UP, either is fine." Xiao Yao said subconsciously, reaching out to take the sock.

"What are you doing?" Shen Jie's face turned red; it was the first time Xiao Yao had ever seen her blush.

"I'll take this for you... I'll wash it for you."

"No need, just throw it away." Shen Jie pouted, then stepped barefoot onto the grass and strode away.

"These socks are so expensive, how can I just throw them away like that?" Xiao Yao muttered to himself as he put them in the lake water and started washing them.

He recognized the checkmark above the sock. Xiao Yao had seen it before. This brand of sports socks sold for more than 80 yuan a pair in its directly operated stores, while he had never worn shoes that cost more than 80 yuan.

Xiao Yao held the pair of women's socks in his hand, as if he were holding the distance between him and Shen Jie.

"Marrying into the family? That's only natural," Xiao Yao muttered. "But why did they choose me?"

"Xiao, Yao?" A familiar-sounding female voice rang out from behind Xiao Yao.

"Zhou Qi?" Xiao Yao turned around and exclaimed incredulously.

The visitor was Xiao Yao's classmate. She was of average height and build, with a chubby face and looked quite cute, but Xiao Yao didn't want to see her at all.

"What are you doing here?" they both asked at the same time.

"I'm……"

"What's that you're holding?" Zhou Qi's trousers and shoes were also wet, so it was clear that he had also participated in the brave challenge.

"It's nothing," Xiao Yao said, trying to stuff his socks into his pocket, but Zhou Qi grabbed his hand, like a thief caught red-handed.

"You're something else! You stole Yu Luying's underwear yesterday, and today you're stealing some girl's socks?" Zhou Qi grabbed Xiao Yao's hand and started yelling, attracting the attention of some passersby.

"Are you crazy? What underwear? Let go! Let go!" In his desperation, Xiao Yao forcefully pulled his hand away, and Zhou Qi was pulled forward two steps by the force and fell solidly to the ground.

"So, you dare to hit someone!" Zhou Qi turned around, pointed at Xiao Yao, and shouted, "You all saw it, right?"

Just as Xiao Yao was speechless with anger, a cold, childlike voice came from behind him.

“Lying is bad,” the barefoot girl said, holding a bottle of drink in one hand, her expression serious. “I saw it all. You were the one holding his hand tightly, that’s why he was so forceful.”

"And who are you?" Zhou Qi sat on the ground and continued to shout.

“I’m his future wife,” Shen Jie said without batting an eye, then took the socks from Xiao Yao and stuffed them into his pocket: “These are my socks, I gave them to him, is that not allowed?”

The surrounding onlookers whispered amongst themselves, marveling at how daring young people are these days.

“Hey girl, let me tell you something,” Zhou Qi stood up, patting his butt, “I’m his classmate. This guy is a joke in our class, a disgrace to our class. He stole one of our girls’ underwear before. Let me tell you, you have to be careful when choosing a man, don’t be…”

Zhou Qi spoke at a machine gun pace, rattling off this string of words in just a few seconds. Shen Jie stepped forward and asked in an icy tone, "What's it to you? What's it to me?"

"You—" Zhou Qi was speechless for a moment.

"Being prudent and not spreading rumors about others is a virtue of a lady." After saying this, Shen Jie bent down to pick up her sneakers, stuffed them into Xiao Yao's hand, and then took Xiao Yao's arm: "Let's go."

Because a small number of readers complained that the male lead's performance on the date was terrible, his character was weak, and they found it frustrating to read, I've decided to offer a brief explanation. First, this novel explores the question: what happens when you meet the right person at the wrong time? I believe it's entirely possible that two people who will fall in love in the future, at the age of 15, one of them is completely unworthy of the other—this is precisely one of the "conflicts" in this story. Of course, the protagonist will definitely win the heart of his beloved (and you won't have to wait long), but it's normal for him to make a fool of himself at the beginning. In online novels, we're used to seeing a seemingly perfect, all-around male lead who's adept at handling most things from the start—this is a more mature commercial formula, but readers familiar with my work know that's not my style. Compared to a brainless, overpowered protagonist, I prefer to portray the growth of a realistic, ordinary person. Imagine, if Xiao Yao were a capable and resourceful guy, would he have remained single until 30? Would he need his daughter from the future to help him achieve his goals? The "failure" of the first date is actually "inevitable." At this stage, the male protagonist is like most 15-year-olds—naive and clumsy—but he will quickly grow in the following story and adventures. And Miss Shen Jie, when initially facing such an imperfect male protagonist, still offers him acceptance, companionship, patience, accommodation, and even "love" (though not unlimited)—perhaps somewhat idealistic, but this is precisely the precious quality I want to highlight.

Chapter 19 Interrogation

Night fell over this steel jungle teeming with desire, the twinkling lights of countless homes obscuring the starlight and moonlight. On the outer ring elevated highway, a Santana taxi sped along at 100 miles per hour.

In the back seat of the taxi, a young man was looking down at his text message, while a girl wrapped in a blanket sat next to him.

The girl placed her bare feet on the leather sofa, hugged her knees with both hands, and leaned to the side.

She stared blankly out the window.

“I swear to your Jesus Christ that I did not take what you lost.”

If you haven't received a "received" notification a minute after sending a text message, it means you've most likely been blocked.

Xiao Yao slammed his phone shut in frustration and turned to the girl beside him.

"Thank you," Xiao Yao said, "for what happened earlier."

"Ah."

"That woman, Zhou Qi, is the one I told you about this afternoon. She's the one who stopped talking to me because others were isolating me. I didn't expect her to get so out of line..."

Shen Jie didn't say anything, but her shoulders trembled slightly.

Are you still cold?

"Hmm." The girl snorted through her nose.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have dragged you into that," Xiao Yao said.

"You always say that after the fact."

"What did you say?" Xiao Yao was taken aback.

"nothing."

"Are you angry with me?" Xiao Yao realized that he needed to comfort more than just Yu Luying now.

"No." Shen Jie shook her body and flung away the hand that was on her back.

"...Don't be angry, it's all my fault."

"I'm not angry, I'm just a little tired."

The stagnant air seemed unlikely to dissipate anytime soon, so Xiao Yao gave up.

He closed his eyes to rest, but couldn't fall asleep.

"Xiao Yao," Shen Jie suddenly spoke after a long silence, "Have you really let go of Yu Luying?"

Xiao Yao was taken aback, not expecting Shen Jie to suddenly ask such a question: "Yes, yes."

Are you the kind of person who gives up easily?

"It's not a question of whether it's difficult or not, it's that kind of..." Xiao Yao said slowly as he thought, "We should always respect the girl's own wishes, right?"

"Xiao Yao." Shen Jie turned around, her eyes fixed on Xiao Yao. "I'll give you one more chance."

"What, what opportunity?" Seeing Shen Jie's serious expression, somewhat like the one she had shown Zhou Qi earlier, Xiao Yao couldn't help but feel nervous.

"You have to answer whatever I ask, and tell the truth, or I won't be your friend anymore, understand?"

What's with this oppressive aura? She seems like a completely different person. Xiao Yao nodded with difficulty.

Shen Jie said meaningfully, "I actually know a little about your entanglement—don't ask me where I heard it from, I just want to hear the truth from you."

The air was deathly silent.

“After being rejected the first time I confessed my feelings, I kept bothering her for a while,” Xiao Yao swallowed, “because she simply refused to talk to me anymore. I didn’t think it was that bad, so I wanted to talk to her and make things clear that we could still be friends… Later, the priest at the church across from our school really helped us ‘mediate’…”

Shen Jie's lips curled up slightly: "The priest doesn't care about this, he's not some kind of gossip."

"Well, it really is her...nephew."

(Note: In Shanghai dialect, "娘舅" means maternal uncle.)

Before she could stop laughing, Shen Jie turned to look out the window. When she turned back, her face was serious again.

Why did she reject you?

"How would I know? You should ask Yu Luying. Anyway, it's all just girly nonsense..." Xiao Yao said, still a little indignant.

"Not knowing and not admitting are two different things." Shen Jie slightly raised her chin: "Did your so-called confession really leave the other person a choice?"

How come she seems to know everything? Xiao Yao felt a chill run down his spine.

But what I did wasn't exactly a secret, and continuing to play dumb would only ruin the existing relationships. To be honest, "Maybe so. I listened to that bastard Xiaoxiong's terrible idea and dedicated a song to her on the campus radio..."

Shen Jie's surprise seemed genuine: "Our Love?"

"What about our love?" Xiao Yao asked, puzzled. "A song? 'Model Love Letter'."

“Oh…never heard of him,” Shen Jie leaned back on the sofa. “But I really feel sorry for your friend named Little Bear.”

One last question—