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

Xiao Yao rushed in after him.

Zhang Zhengkai sat on the sofa as if he were a good friend invited by Xiao Yao.

Xiao Yao glanced at the kitchen knife on the bed again out of the corner of his eye.

"Huh?" He stretched out his right hand and drew a question mark in the air.

“Old Xiao,” Zhang Zhengkai hugged his knees, “let’s have a meal together, it’s on me, as a way of thanking you for saving me last time.”

Xiao Yao sneered: "Your way of thanking me is to bring people to ransack my house?"

“In all honesty,” Zhang Zhengkai raised his right hand, “I did receive news of Shen Jie’s whereabouts, but I didn’t tell my father. I wanted to find her myself, but when I arrived, my father had already arrived.”

"Your father?" Xiao Yao was stunned for a moment, then realized what he meant and felt a surge of annoyance.

Are you there? That's my dad.

As for Zhang Zhengkai's words, he naturally wouldn't believe everything the other party said.

"Then where did your fake news come from?" Xiao Yao was certain that his main target of suspicion was Zhang Zhengkai, but he wanted to know who the traitor beside him was.

“I’ve been offering a reward online for information about Shen Jie,” Zhang Zhengkai replied. “After all, Shen Jie is my fiancée, so it’s only natural that I care about her safety, right?”

Hearing Zhang Zhengkai make another "legal claim" against Shen Jie in front of him, Xiao Yao almost wanted to declare war on him and pin him to the sofa and beat him up.

Of course, he held back.

“Someone emailed me saying that you, Xiao Yao, went out with a rich girlfriend and even spent the night at a scenic spot,” Zhang Zhengkai said, clutching his chest. “I’m really heartbroken. I both hope it’s Shen Jie and hope it’s not.”

Since you already know that your precious "fiancée" spent the night with me, why do you still bother her? Xiao Yao thought.

“Now that you know she’s not Shen Jie, you can rest assured,” Xiao Yao told him. “So you can leave now.”

"So who is your girlfriend?"

"Don't tell you."

"I won't leave until you tell me."

"Alright, alright, her name is Zhao Xiaomei, go check it out." Xiao Yao said, pushing Zhang Zhengkai toward the door.

The details of this matter are actually quite easy to guess. It's highly likely that Shen Jie's appearance at the boat resort yesterday was too high-profile, and maybe someone connected her with Shen Jie. If it wasn't Zhang Zhengkai who notified Shen Jie's father, then the biggest suspect is undoubtedly Song Haijian.

Wait, word got out about the overnight stay too...? Who was it?

As Xiao Yao's homeroom teacher, Song Haijian naturally had his home address. He promised to give him a make-up exam in three days, but on the same afternoon, one problem after another arose, and he launched a decapitation strike against himself.

Xiao Yao felt a chill run down his spine—how malicious Song Haijian's intentions were! If he were to find out that Shen Jie was living with him, not only would his beautiful wife, who was currently having a tantrum, be taken away and locked up by her father-in-law, but Song Haijian would also have a perfect reason to fire him immediately.

There's no need for things like staying overnight in hotels or taking exams in the same way; the crime of living with your girlfriend at home is enough.

Add to that Shen Jie's father's anger, and at that point, not only Director Lin, but even the director of the Education Bureau won't be able to protect her.

How could Shen Jie's father have thought that Shen Jie might live with him?

The simplest, most reasonable, and most likely explanation is naturally that of our little Zhang Zhengkai.

Zhang Zhengkai insisted that it had nothing to do with him, which Xiao Yao did not believe. But what if there was a 0.01% chance that Zhang Zhengkai was telling the truth?

That means someone else leaked the news. My uncle, Yu Luying, Yu Bo, Xiao Xiong, Daiyu... they are all my dearest relatives and friends, who could I possibly suspect?

Xiao Yao was currently experiencing a severe headache, with various mental pressures weighing heavily on his shoulders, making it difficult for him to concentrate on meticulous reasoning and thinking.

However, regardless of whether Zhang Zhengkai led his father here or not, it seemed unnecessary for him to give him a friendly look anymore.

"Old Xiao, do me the honor of having a meal with me. I have something to tell you." Zhang Zhengkai said earnestly, continuing his persistent questioning.

“I said, you can leave now,” Xiao Yao said. “I need to do my summer homework.”

Considering it's only July 2nd, "I need to do my summer homework" is clearly a very perfunctory excuse, almost the same as "I don't want to talk to you, you can get lost."

He was terrified that the wardrobe door would suddenly open and someone would crawl out, so he didn't want Zhang Zhengkai to stay for even a minute longer.

Naturally, even though he was starving, he had no appetite for any of Zhang Zhengkai's rubbish.

Seeing that Xiao Yao's attitude was bad and he couldn't communicate with him, Zhang Zhengkai had no choice but to stand up with a look of resentment and regret, and stagger towards the door of the photo room.

Xiao Yao politely escorted him to the door of the photo room and opened the front door for him, saying, "Take care, I won't see you off."

“Old Xiao,” Zhang Zhengkai sighed, “Seriously, call me when you’re in a good mood and have some free time, let’s get together.”

"Okay." Xiao Yao nodded, his tone softening as he replied perfunctorily, "Definitely."

Leaving that dangerous room allowed Xiao Yao's tense nerves to relax slightly, making him realize that there seemed to be no need to openly break ties with Zhang Zhengkai.

"I'm really not in the mood today," Xiao Yao said. "I'll call you another day. Be careful when you go down the stairs, take your time."

"Okay." Zhang Zhengkai nodded, carefully using his right foot to step down one step, then placing his left foot on the same step, repeating this process like a child going down the stairs.

Xiao Yao could understand that the district head's son probably rarely climbed such steep and dilapidated stone steps.

He leaned against the door, watching Zhang Zhengkai's figure disappear into the stairwell, and even turned back to wave to himself before leaving.

Xiao Yao waved to him as well.

Then, he turned around and went into the photo room, closed the door, and leaned against it.

Actually, I don't dislike Zhang Zhengkai at all. If it weren't for Shen Jie, and if we had met in a different setting, we might have become good friends.

Unfortunately, there are never so many "what ifs" in this world, and besides, I have no time to be sentimental about my rival right now.

There's one more thing I need to confirm—I only went to the school once, and the bedroom is so clean it's as if Shen Jie never existed. Could she have run away with her valuables while I was away?

The thought of this terrifying possibility made Xiao Yao's heart clench, his scalp tingle, and his whole body bristle.

He practically ran back to his bedroom, turned around, closed the door, and locked it tightly.

Pull to the left three times, then pull to the right four times.

Then, she flung open the wardrobe door, rushed inside, and lunged at the full-length mirror.

This time, the closet door in 2034 wasn't locked, nor was it blocked by any bed board.

That makes sense, considering Shen Tianyun has to come and go frequently.

He felt relieved as soon as he stepped into Shen Tianyun's room, because Shen Jie's clothes and shoes were piled up in his daughter's room, making a mess of the once clean and tidy girl's room.

A subtle smell filled the air, and before Xiao Yao could even react to what it was, ear-piercing screams from a woman filled the entire room.

Xiao Yao was startled and instinctively looked in the direction of the sound. He saw Shen Jie sitting in the corner of the room, her pants pulled down to below her knees, sitting on a tall enamel spittoon and shouting.

Then, he grabbed a small stool from the side and smashed it straight at him.

Chapter 134 Enjoy a Good Summer Vacation

2023-03-14

Xiao Yao was startled and instinctively looked in the direction of the sound. He saw Shen Jie sitting in the corner of the room, her pants pulled down to below her knees, sitting on a tall enamel spittoon and shouting.

Then, he grabbed a small stool from the side and smashed it straight at him.

Seeing that he couldn't dodge it in time, and even if he did manage to avoid it, the stool would inevitably damage the flowers and plants, Xiao Yao had no choice but to catch it with his bare hands. Even so, his palms still hurt from the impact.

Then, Xiao Yao turned around, holding the stool, with his back to the girl. He placed the stool on the ground, then squatted down, holding his head in his hands: "Don't throw the weapon around anymore. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!"

"Get out!" the girl screamed.

"Your dad's here! Zhang Zhengkai's here too!" Xiao Yao shouted.

The girl was stunned: "What the hell are you talking about?"

Xiao Yao continued to turn his back to the girl and briefly recounted his experience of meeting Shen Jie's father after returning from school.

"It wasn't you who came at three o'clock, but my dad?" Shen Jie muttered to herself, somewhat stunned.

"What do you mean?" Xiao Yao asked her.

“Around 3 a.m., we packed up our things and were getting ready to leave when I heard the door open. I thought it was you coming back, so I quickly ran back to the mirror side,” Shen Jie recalled. “If you didn’t get home until after 4 a.m., then I almost ran into my dad!”

"What do you mean by packing up and getting ready to leave?" Xiao Yao was both surprised and angry: "Are you planning to run away while I'm at school?"

"Huh?" Shen Jie said.

Wait, she said "we...are preparing to leave," but Shen Tianyun can't leave, so she meant to retreat back to the mirror side, not to leave her own home?

"When you say 'retreat,' do you mean retreat back to this room?" Xiao Yao asked her.

"Are you crazy? What else?" Shen Jie understood what Xiao Yao meant: "What, if I really want to leave, are you going to tie me up with a rope?"

“Hmm,” Xiao Yao nodded, teasing her, “I’m going to imprison you in the basement and take good care of you, so that you can never leave me for the rest of your life.”

"..."

"No wonder he was convinced you were hiding in the closet, he must have seen something when he came in," Xiao Yao muttered to himself.

"What do you think he saw?"

"No, no." Xiao Yao didn't want to elaborate on his guesses about Shen Jie's father, because even if he guessed them all correctly, Shen Jie would definitely be angry with him—after all, he was her own father.

"And now, they're all gone?" Shen Jie's voice continued from behind Xiao Yao, accompanied by the sound of toilet paper being taken out of a toilet paper bag.

“Yes, they’ve all left. Why didn’t you block the door this time?” Xiao Yao asked.

"I was stuck in traffic. I just remembered that I left my hair clip in the closet over there, so I went to get it."

"You're leaving no grass behind," Xiao Yao teased.