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

“I understand.” Yu Luying returned the agreement to Xiao Yao.

Xiao Yao rattled off his prepared lines in one breath: "I'm sorry to have dragged you into this, but given the situation, I have no choice but to accept it. Don't come up with any strange ideas like, 'I've already decided to get myself punished and expelled from school so that Xiao Yao can stay.' If you tell Song Haijian that, it will only further enrage him. Besides, even if I am expelled or transferred, I have many other opportunities, but I will never allow your future to be damaged in the slightest, especially because of me. I, Xiao Yao, am a—"

The girl ruthlessly interrupted his impassioned speech, then retorted defiantly, "Who told you I was going to get myself expelled from school to give you the chance to stay? You're dreaming! When that happens, I'll definitely scramble to leave you behind."

"What is the first half of the saying 'When disaster strikes, everyone flies away'?" Xiao Yao reminded her.

Yu Luying blushed, realizing her slip of the tongue: "Anyway, since we have a chance to get through this safely together, that would be the best. Your Chinese score is already better than mine, so as long as you perform normally, and I deliberately make a few mistakes in each subject, there shouldn't be any problems."

"There's no need to take that risk. Song Haijian probably just wants to find fault with you for not giving me the time to play. Just do your best. As long as my grades are similar to yours, I don't think he can really do anything to me," Xiao Yao advised her.

“Let me think about it—but how did you convince Mr. Song to agree to let us retake the exam? He seemed very stubborn.”

"It was Teacher Lin who helped me. I was originally planning to retake the math exam and get 60 points to pass, but that old fox Song Haijian backfired and cornered me and Teacher Lin together again. Dealing with these adults is too tiring; you can easily fall into a trap if you're not careful."

"Indeed, Song Haijian just predicted that someone would invite me to walk home together after school today. Will it come true?" A gentle breeze blew by, and a few leaves swirled in the air. The girl stepped on one of them with her foot, which was wearing silk stockings and small leather shoes.

In Xiao Yao's memory, although Yu Luying didn't have a good impression of Song Haijian, she still habitually addressed him as "Teacher Song" when speaking to him. But now she was actually calling him "Song Haijian" too, which meant she was really annoyed.

A faint smile appeared on the boy's lips: "Then, Yu Luying, shall we walk home together after school today?"

“Okay.” Yu Luying lowered her head and walked ahead.

"Uh, how's your leg injury? How did you get hurt?" Although they were walking together, Yu Luying remained silent, so Xiao Yao had to find a topic to ease the awkwardness.

"Can't you feel how bad your leg injury is?" The girl replied calmly, "You should know how you got it."

"I'm really sorry about what happened last night." Xiao Yao still felt that he couldn't pretend that nothing had happened last night.

"What happened last night?" Yu Luying asked, feigning surprise.

"OK, OK," Xiao Yao gave an OK sign: "Nothing happened."

"...Who made the first move?" After another minute of silence, Yu Luying couldn't help but ask, "Was it you, or Shen Jie?"

“Uh… this…” Yu Luying’s question really put Xiao Yao in a difficult position, as if any answer would be a cover-up or an excuse.

“Okay, I understand.” Before Xiao Yao could answer, Yu Luying interrupted again, saying, “But I still have to remind you, I was very lucky last night to be in a hotel room with my mother. If the same thing had happened at a different time or in a different place…”

"OK, OK, I know what I'm doing." Xiao Yao nodded vigorously.

"Xiao Yao, can we still be friends?" Yu Luying asked him.

“Of course, what’s the problem?” Xiao Yao quickly replied, “Didn’t we already agree on this in the car yesterday? Special friends, best friends for life.”

"Since we're still friends, may I, as a friend, offer you a couple more pieces of advice?"

"You say it, you say it."

"No matter what, you two aren't married yet, and you're still high school students. Even if you're not church members, you should at least know when to stop with some things, okay?"

"Yes, Granny Yu."

Yu Luying glared at him fiercely.

"Don't be angry, I was just kidding."

Then came another silence, neither long nor short.

Xiao Yao deliberately didn't ride his bike on the way back so that he could walk with Yu Luying. By the time they were almost home, it was already past four o'clock.

Although Yu Luying looked downcast and in a bad mood today, Xiao Yao had already suffered from having to choose the right time to speak, so he decided that he should still grit his teeth and finish what he wanted to say.

"There's one more thing I need to tell you."

"Ok?"

"Shen Jie knows about the symbiosis," Xiao Yao said, trying to be as concise as possible.

"Hmm." Yu Luying didn't even slow down, which made Xiao Yao feel uneasy. Was this matter really so insignificant?

Seemingly sensing Xiao Yao's confusion, Yu Luying stopped and explained, "I had a rough idea when I learned that she got off the bus without telling you."

"She's breaking up with me right now," Xiao Yao calmly told Yu Luying, then observed her reaction.

Yu Luying was finally taken aback: "Sister went back?"

“No,” Xiao Yao told her, “She has moved to 2034 now and refuses to see me.”

“I’m sorry,” Yu Luying bowed to Xiao Yao, “It’s my responsibility. If I had agreed to let you tell her sooner, maybe things wouldn’t have turned out this way.”

“But don’t be too nervous,” Yu Luying told him again, “She won’t really break up with you, otherwise she would have gone straight back to her father. Besides, there’s an unbreakable bond between you two, she probably just wants to cause a scene.”

“That’s what I think too,” Xiao Yao told her. “God is right to bless you.”

“There’s something buried in the wound, and the longer it takes to heal, the more painful it will be to peel back the scar—give her some time.”

"Ah."

"I almost forgot, my mom asked me to go to the market to buy some groceries. You can go back first."

"I'll go with you."

"No, go and spend more time with Shen Jie. She must be very frustrated right now, like she's been deceived and humiliated, especially after what happened last night. I can understand how she feels. You really should have told her about symbiosis before what happened last night."

"Didn't we agree to tell her together after we got back from the boat resort?" Xiao Yao pointed out.

"We agreed that you should have notified me in advance, so stop pretending to be stubborn at a time like this. Besides, you told me before you even got back from the boathouse, and you didn't wait for me to come along."

"I didn't tell Shen Jie; someone tipped me off while we were in the car."

"Someone tipped us off?" Yu Luying's surprise seemed genuine.

"Didn't I tell you? I was planning to go back and talk to her with you—someone sent her a text message while she was in the car, and they said everything in it."

"What?!" Yu Luying was genuinely shocked this time: "Where's the text message? Let me see it!"

“I don’t have it on her phone,” Xiao Yao said.

Yu Luying fell silent, her mind racing, trying to figure out who could do this.

"Yu Luying, there's something else I want to ask you," Xiao Yao said after thinking for a moment.

“Go ahead and ask,” Yu Luying replied absentmindedly.

"When Teacher Song talked to you, he asked if you would break up with Xiao Yao if he did this or that." Why did you agree with him?

"Then what should I say?"

"Just tell him we're not a couple, just friends, there's no question of breaking up," Xiao Yao stammered. "Why did you accept his assumption about our relationship?"

“…Ah, I understand.” Yu Luying’s brows furrowed even more.

"What did you understand?" Xiao Yao was a little confused.

“Then let me tell you why,” Yu Luying took half a step closer to Xiao Yao, her tightly furrowed brows lifting, “Because even in that kind of situation, hearing others mistake me for your girlfriend still makes me very happy, excited, and my vanity is greatly satisfied. I know you won’t be with me, but being thought of that by others makes me secretly feel good—are you satisfied now?”

"?" Xiao Yao was a little confused, not knowing why she suddenly got angry again.

"Oh, and you guessed right," Yu Luying continued, her voice trembling with emotion, "You just wanted to say that I told Shen Jie on you, right? Yes, that's right, it was me. Because I love you so much, I'd do anything to get you, so I reported the symbiotic relationship to ruin your relationship with Shen Jie; because of what you did last night, I feel like I've been defiled by you, so now I'm just like my mother, all I can think about is forcing you to marry me right now; so when I heard that Shen Jie was breaking up with you, I was overjoyed. My next plan is to kidnap your precious daughter and put her in my own belly—hmm."

Yu Luying couldn't continue speaking because Xiao Yao suddenly hugged her.

This was the first time in her 15 years of life that she had hugged a man other than her father, and it was also the first time she had hugged Xiao Yao in the year since they met.

Her mind went blank, her breathing became rapid, her face flushed and her heart pounded; she was unable to speak or even think.

The girl wanted to push him away, but her body refused to obey her brain's commands.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Yingying, stop it,” Xiao Yao said in her ear. “I swear to your God, you’ve misunderstood. I have never doubted you for a single second or even the slightest bit.”

Yu Luying clenched her fists and punched Xiao Yao's back three times forcefully.

Xiao Yao grimaced as he released Yu Luying, and the girl rubbed her back while hissing.

"Now I know why Shen Jie hits you every day—she just can't help it."

"Yes, yes, yes, I deserve to be beaten."

The wooden door on the first floor of the Shikumen was slowly pulled open, and Yu Lihua walked out, carrying several plastic bags of trash in her hand.

She happened to see her daughter break free from the boy's embrace.

"Auntie!" Xiao Yao cried out in terror.

"Mom!" Yu Luying turned around nervously as well.

Yu Lihua glanced around at Xiao Yao, said nothing, just nodded indifferently at him, picked up the trash bag, and left.

gone……

The boy and girl calmed down, and an awkward atmosphere filled the air around them.

“That…” Xiao Yao said.

“Go back,” Yu Luying said, head down. “Go back and spend time with her.”

"Then, I'm leaving?" Xiao Yao said.

"Let's go," Yu Luying said softly.

Xiao Yao was worried, so he reached out and took Yu Luying's fingers, gently squeezing them.

Yu Luying pinched him lightly a few times in return: "Let's go."

Xiao Yao then left with peace of mind.

……