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

"Huh?" Shen Jie was taken aback.

Xiao Yao sat down on the edge of the bed again and told Shen Jie what he had discovered while doing his homework, and also recounted how he had called Yu Luying to confirm the result of the weakening of the symbiosis.

"Is that so? Does the secret lose its power if it's revealed?" Shen Jie frowned deeply.

“I don’t know. When I was at school this afternoon, Yu Luying’s hearing ability also deteriorated,” Xiao Yao recalled. “I just didn’t think about it at the time, so I didn’t notice it at all.”

"When did it start?" Shen Jie asked him.

Xiao Yao frowned, carefully pondering and recalling the various clues from the past few days.

"At the very least, you already messed up the stir-fried green peppers and pork for lunch today." Shen Jie suddenly remembered something.

"Emmmmmm...but it definitely wasn't this morning," Xiao Yao muttered to himself.

"Let's put that aside for now. What are you going to do about your make-up exam?" Shen Jie frowned slightly, her face showing worry.

“That’s the problem,” Xiao Yao slammed his left fist into his right palm. “Yu Luying said she could give me extra tutoring, but that’s impossible because my foundation is weak, and I only have three days left—it’s not like it’s a make-up exam at the beginning of the semester. Besides, I’m afraid you’ll be unhappy if I spend too much time with her—”

“Xiao Jun,” Shen Jie replied gently, “As a single person, you don’t need to submit an application to me about who you associate with.”

"Hey, stop messing around..." Xiao Yao scratched his temples.

"What do you mean by telling me this now?" Shen Jie became fierce again. "Tell me, what can I do for you? Start tutoring you tonight?"

“That’s not what I meant,” Xiao Yao said, rubbing his forehead. “Didn’t I already tell you? I’ve learned my lesson and I won’t hide anything from you for the rest of my life. So my first thought was to come here and tell you. Is there a problem?”

“There’s no need for that anymore,” Shen Jie told him. “You have no obligation to me.”

Xiao Yao raised his voice a few decibels: "And I think, if what bothers you is that I coexist with other women, then now—"

“I don’t mind,” Shen Jie said, though her words didn’t reflect her true feelings. “I don’t care.”

"Why are you still going on and on?" Xiao Yao finally snapped, blurting out, "There's a time and place for being dramatic. I'm already so annoying—"

“You’re already in this state,” Shen Jie nodded calmly, “so I should coax you, indulge you, hug you, comfort you, think of ways to help you, and clean up your mess.”

"?" Xiao Yao was speechless.

"Please," Shen Jie said, rubbing her forehead, "you're not Nobita, and I'm not your Doraemon. You can just call my name whenever you need to—what can I do? Take the exam for you?"

"I don't need you to do anything, I'm just telling you that this is happening now..."

"Xiao Yao, I'm not your mother, you're not my son, and I'm just a young girl. I'm only a year older than you!" Shen Jie's tone became agitated: "We're not dating, we're not like husband and wife, we're more like mother and son!"

Xiao Yao stood frozen in place, unable to move or utter a single word, only feeling a dryness in his throat.

"What can I do? Who told you to not study properly for the entire first year of high school?" Shen Jie got more and more agitated as she spoke: "I just don't understand, what's wrong with me, Shen Jie? Why is my first boyfriend, my future husband, and the father of my daughter such an uneducated and unambitious person? Didn't you think about this outcome when you were giving up? What's the use of asking me now?"

"What do you want me to do? I can't see anyone I know right now. Am I supposed to ask my dad for help? Or ask Zhang Zhengkai's dad? They can solve your problems, but are you willing to do that? Or are you suggesting that after you're expelled from school, I'll have my dad find you another school? Let me tell you, give up on that idea now. The expulsion is on your record—"

"That's not what I meant at all, okay?" The veins on Xiao Yao's neck bulged. "How do you have such a vivid imagination?"

"Dad, Mom, why are you two arguing again?" Shen Tianyun's desperate voice came from behind Xiao Yao: "Weren't you almost made up just now?"

"Get out!" the two shouted in unison.

Shen Tianyun mouthed a curse word and went out.

To prevent their daughter from hearing, they both lowered their voices.

Shen Jie said, "I told you this afternoon that you can't even cheat properly. What did you say to me? You said this isn't cheating, and no matter how you learned it, you just know how to do it—but do you know how to do it now? What doesn't belong to you, even if you get it by any means necessary, will eventually leave you. Don't you understand this principle?"

“Yes, you’re right. I sincerely accept the criticism,” Xiao Yao nodded.

Shen Jie realized that she had gone a bit too far with her words, that they might not have been entirely fair, and that they might have hurt the boy's self-esteem.

She knew she was simply venting her emotions, but right now she just wanted to flip the table and let loose.

The girl remained silent for a while, took a few deep breaths, and managed to stop herself from saying anything even more hurtful.

Before she knew it, two lines of tears slid down her cheeks. Xiao Yao hurriedly got up to get tissues from Shen Tianyun's dining table and came back to wipe Shen Jie's face.

Shen Jie shook her head, snatched the tissue from his hand, and wiped her face while saying in a slightly choked voice, "Xiao Yao, do you know? When I was staying here with you, I was constantly thinking about how I would face my father after I went back and get him to agree to let me get engaged to you."

"That's good," Xiao Yao thought to himself, but said nothing.

"I feel like it's impossible right now, I feel so hopeless, Gouzi," Shen Jie cried, "How can I get my dad to convince me to get engaged to someone who can be expelled from high school?"

You want your dad to convince you? You're already rambling incoherently, aren't you?

"It's all my fault," Xiao Yao said sincerely, then gently hugged Shen Jie: "Mama, don't cry."

Shen Jie let him hug her for three seconds, but didn't hug him back. Then she pushed him away forcefully: "Go back. Don't let our daughter see us like this."

Xiao Yao did not move.

"Give me some time," Shen Jie said softly. "Don't come over for the next few days. Let's not see each other for now. Focus on your studies and let Sha Mei help you. Try to get as many points as you can."

Xiao Yao remained silent.

"Doggy, I need space. I need to think things through, so many things," Shen Jie said in an almost pleading tone. "Can you give me some? Just let me be willful once in a while?"

Xiao Yao sighed – what else could he say after all that had been said?

"Okay." Xiao Yao said, leaning over to gently kiss Shen Jie's cheek.

Shen Jie remained motionless and did not flinch.

Then, Xiao Yao turned his face to the side and paused for three seconds.

Until, those tiny lips touched his cheek.

"Thank you." Xiao Yao stood up. "Good night."

"Goodnight." Shen Jie's eyes were still a little unfocused.

--split line--

That night, unsurprisingly, Xiao Yao didn't sleep well.

He was awakened by nightmares many times, and just when he managed to close his eyes for a while, he was woken up again by the sound of the wind and rain outside the window.

The wind was eerily strong, making the entire window frame rattle and creak. Xiao Yao felt as if this old house was a lone boat in a storm, about to be swallowed by the whirlpool at any moment.

And so it is with his own tragic fate of losing everything.

...Lying awake at night, I listened to the wind and rain, and Hai Jianzhengkai entered my dreams.

Half a limerick popped into Xiao Yao's mind comically, and he couldn't help but chuckle bitterly.

Fan Zhongyan said, "Do not be elated by external gains, nor saddened by personal losses," a state that Xiao Yao could never reach.

In fact, he felt all night that the world was about to end.

Now, I'm really going to be expelled from school.

But more than dropping out of school, Shen Jie's attitude made him feel like he had fallen into an ice cave.

Those hurtful words kept replaying in my mind.

It's so cold... really so cold, is this still summer?

Where is the other blanket? I can't find it.

Oh no, did I catch a cold? Xiao Yao coughed and touched his forehead.

It seems like... a slight fever?

What about the thermometer I got from my uncle's house last time? Oh well, I can't remember.

Xiao Yao took a deep sniff.

"I told you, what isn't yours will never truly be yours." Shen Jie said this to him with a complicated expression. Xiao Yao felt that her gaze might be described as "disappointment," but he wasn't sure.

What is she implying?

"How can I convince my dad to let me get engaged to someone who was expelled from high school?" The girl's tearful voice still lingered in my ears.

I had initially held onto the hope that Shen Jie was just having a temporary tantrum and that things would calm down after the three of us ate macarons together.

Before opening "Enjoy a Good Summer Vacation," Xiao Yao had even begun to believe that Shen Jie had almost calmed down and was just temporarily unable to forgive herself for the sake of saving face.

But now... Xiao Yao has completely lost that confidence.

He began to seriously consider the possibility that "Shen Jie is really going to leave him."

What isn't yours will never truly be yours...?

Even though Shen Jie had broken up with him after returning yesterday, she was still concerned about Song Haijian causing trouble for her at school.

So, now...

The pursuit of true love, the grasp of happiness, are as fleeting as falling petals...

I must win, I must defeat Song Haijian.

I want Shen Jie to see that I, Xiao Yao, can win.

But how do we win?

If it's a make-up exam after school starts, then studying for two months is still worth a shot.

Three days? Are you kidding me?

During the night, when the wind and rain were blowing, the wardrobe door was shaken and rattled. Around 3 a.m., the door was even violently blown open by the strong wind.

Is that Shen Jie? Is she here to help me cover myself with the blanket? He waited eagerly.