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

Her ankles are so round and cute.

Two girls in school uniforms, how lovely.

"What do you mean by solving the problems created by the people? I don't agree with you doing anything stupid; if anyone's going to do it, it'll be me!"

When the girl, who looked like a middle school student, heard Xiao Yao ask this, she raised her eyebrows, looked at Yu Luying, nodded, and retreated to the other side of the room with her hands behind her back.

An inexplicable silence fell over the office.

Yu Bo gestured for everyone to sit down, then broke the silence: "Since Xiao Yao is here too, let me explain the situation."

“Last night, Yingying and Shen Jie contacted me separately and told me about your current predicament.”

"...Thank you both for your trouble." Xiao Yao looked at the two girls in school uniforms.

Shen Jie turned her face away, as if she were smiling.

Yu Bo continued, "Shen Jie's plan is to go to the Film World to negotiate with your teacher Song and see if she can get his understanding. She hopes I can provide some cooperation."

Negotiation? Understanding? Xiao Yao pondered the meaning and weight of these two words for a moment, then asked Shen Jie, "Why did you hide this from me?"

"Weren't you sick?" Shen Jie asked with a half-smile.

"..."

“She knows you won’t agree to this plan,” Yu Luying said to Xiao Yao.

"Why should I object? Talking to Song Haijian from a different perspective might be a solution. I've actually considered that myself." Xiao Yao said, puzzled.

Yu Luying said, "What will happen if we can't reach an agreement? Besides, Shen Jie plans to go alone. She doesn't even know Song Haijian. What can she possibly achieve?"

"Go by yourself?" Xiao Yao stamped his foot in frustration. "Nonsense! If anything happens to you, how am I supposed to live?"

Shen Jie pouted and said, "I didn't plan to go by myself. I just didn't want you guys getting in my way."

"What are you talking about? With the power of the Fool's Bond, my fighting strength is now much greater than yours!"

"Come on, you're just being rude," Shen Jie said.

"Shen Jie, you're not planning to just cut off Song Haijian's shadow, are you?" Xiao Yao stared into Shen Jie's eyes, while she guiltily looked away.

Before Xiao Yao's eyes appeared a sharp sword piercing his chest, and Teacher Yao's blank face.

"Is this your so-called way of dealing with the people who create problems, behind my back?"

"I will try my best to avoid this kind of thing from happening," Shen Jie stated vaguely.

"This must be avoided," Yu Bo cautioned.

“Last night, I had Tianyun search online for half the night,” Shen Jie thought for a moment, then changed the subject: “This Song Haijian, in 2023, at Dongru County High School, caused a death by forcing a couple to break up, resulting in two unborn children and three lives lost. Later, he was retaliated against by the family and killed in a car accident. Even if we kill this kind of person now, it wouldn't be unjust. Not only would it solve your own problem, but we could also save five lives, including his own. This would be doing justice!”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yao felt a chill run down his spine: "Is it true?"

"It's still cooked!" Shen Jie's eyes widened. "If you don't believe me, come home with me now, and I'll show you Tianyun's phone."

"No need, no need," Yu Bo and Yu Luying both said, indicating that they definitely still had that level of trust in Shen Jie.

Xiao Yao wavered; he was almost persuaded by Shen Jie.

The evil deeds Song Haijian committed caused his blood pressure to rise, and now all he could think about was immediately killing Song Haijian.

However, deep down, another voice told him that this was nothing more than a high-sounding excuse of justice, disguised for personal gain and grudges.

Due to the absence of Teacher Yao, Song Haijian was transferred to work in Shanghai, which means that the incident in Suzhou in 23 that drove someone to death is unlikely to happen again.

Besides...

Yu Bo spoke slowly: "Have you seen the movie 'Minority Report'?"

Xiao Yao nodded and said, "That's exactly what I was thinking of saying."

Yu Luying nodded to indicate that she had seen it, but Shen Jie had no recollection of it.

“In Minority Report,” Yu Bo explained to Shen Jie, “murder has disappeared. The future is predictable, and criminals are punished before they even commit their crimes.”

"Do you think this is right? Should people be punished for things they haven't even done? Don't you think that's terrifying?"

“I…” Shen Jie stammered.

Yu Bo continued, "Those are all things that haven't happened yet. Can we judge someone now just because they might make a mistake in the future? After the infamous crimes of 'fabricated charges' and 'intention,' are we going to add another one to our list: 'predestined'?"

“Well,” Xiao Yao weakly raised his right hand, “I second that.”

"What the hell are you going to second?" Shen Jie retorted angrily. "If the future doesn't matter, can't you just leave me alone now?"

"Ah this..."

Yu Luying burst out laughing, then quickly covered her mouth.

A smile appeared on Yu Bo's lips.

Then, Shen Jie started chuckling. Xiao Yao didn't quite understand what was so funny about it, but he could only laugh along.

After that laugh, the tense atmosphere in the room eased considerably.

"Alright, Xiao Yao, stop agreeing to this and that and being hypocritical," Shen Jie said softly. "If you have a conscience, come with me and don't cause trouble. If you have too much of a conscience, just pretend you don't know anything, go to Yu Luying for a few days of extra lessons, and wait for my news—I don't believe that you have any ability to teach me science in just a few days."

“If you really want to go, I’ll definitely go with you,” Xiao Yao said. “How could I let you risk your life alone?”

"Sister, why do you say that about Xiao Yao?" Yu Luying retorted gently, "He's actually very smart, he just hasn't focused on his studies. If he just makes good use of his time..."

"Okay, so you're using all those lines teachers use to fool students and parents? Do you really think I'm your mother?" Shen Jie laughed. "You can't even do one of these summer homework problems. If you can teach them all in a few days, you won't have to waste your life in high school. I'll ask my dad for money and open an educational training class for you. I guarantee it will be even more popular than that guy from Old Oriental."

"Alright, enough nonsense," Yu Bo clapped his hands. "Now that we've come this far, let's discuss your plans as well."

When Yu Bo said this, he was looking at his niece.

"...I actually planned to steal the exam questions that Teacher Song set and then teach Xiao Yao the answers..." Yu Luying said without much confidence.

"Huh?" Shen Jie looked confused. "Weren't you two suspected of cheating by stealing exam questions and were forced to retake the exam? Let you cheat again? Even if you had the chance, aren't you afraid it's a trap and they'll just send you both away?"

"Last time, Shadow stole my underwear and framed Xiao Yao. I also want to try using the Shadow World. Even if I can't steal it, as long as I can see the test questions, I should be able to remember them."

"...?" You have this photographic memory? How come I never knew that before?

“I think Yingying’s is also an alternative plan? We can give it a try.” Yu Bo put his hands on the large desk, stood up and said, “I still want to clarify that I do not support using the Shadow World to actively interfere with other people’s minds and free will. Providing you with assistance this time was a mistake on my part.”

"Thank you, Father Yu," Xiao Yao and Shen Jie said together.

“We’re really at our wits’ end. If there’s any other way to solve this problem…” Shen Jie added.

“I will be going with you this time, and you must follow my orders in all actions,” Yu Bo said. “Our first action plan is to find the location of the exam questions, steal them, or write them down; if we are discovered, then… we will try to talk to him and see if we can find a peaceful solution to the problem. Does anyone have any objections?”

This thing is just like the user agreement that pops up when you log into a game; you have no choice but to click "agree."

So the three of them nodded in agreement.

“Then the next topic,” Yu Bo said, sitting back down behind his desk, crossing his legs, swiveling his chair 90 degrees, lighting a cigarette, and finishing in one smooth motion: “Finding the entrance to Mr. Song’s palace—if he really does have a palace.”

"So not everyone has a palace?" Xiao Yao asked.

“Generally speaking, a temple only appears when desires are distorted to a certain degree,” Yu Bo explained. “So my plan is to first enter the temple of the masses, that is, the collective subconscious, to look for clues about Mr. Song and the exam he set.”

"Well then, let's get started. Let's go now." Shen Jie made a gesture of rolling up her sleeves.

“What’s the point of going today? His exam questions haven’t been prepared yet, have they?” Yu Bo rubbed his temples. “The best time is the night before the exam. Let’s wait and prepare a bit more.”

Shen Jie was a little anxious. It was the night before the exam, and if she failed, there would be no turning back. But considering that she was asking Yu Bo for a favor, she had no choice but to keep her mouth shut.

Yu Luying saw what Shen Jie was thinking and smoothed things over, saying, "Sister, you've been working so hard these past two days, you should take a rest. I'll also prepare something and give Xiao Yao a basic review tomorrow, so he won't be unable to understand the answers."

You must have had a 'hard time' the night before last, right? Shen Jie nodded reluctantly.

As Xiao Yao and Shen Jie walked out of the side door of Sacred Heart Church side by side, the bright, scorching sunlight had already shone on the asphalt road, and an unpleasant smell filled the air.

The chirping of cicadas is also particularly irritating.

The heavy rain that fell last night has almost completely disappeared without a trace.

Yu Luying did not leave with them, but stayed with her uncle, as if she still had something to say.

"Let's ride our bikes back," Xiao Yao suggested. "My bike is still parked at the school gate."

"Hmm." Shen Jie didn't seem to be in a very high mood.

She clearly cares about me so much, so why does she act so coldly when it's just the two of us?

Xiao Yao tentatively took the girl's hand, and Shen Jie instinctively tried to pull away, but Xiao Yao held it tightly in his hand.

Shen Jie surrendered—she let the boy pull her toward where Xiao Yao had parked his bicycle.

"Wife." Xiao Yao took out his keys and unlocked the bicycle.

"..." The girl ignored him.

"Thank you so much, really, I... I'll always remember." Xiao Yao turned around and gently put his arm around the girl's waist.

“I owed you something in my past life, young master,” Shen Jie replied softly.

Xiao Yao leaned down and pecked the girl's thin lips.

"Tsk, let's go." Shen Jie deliberately wiped her mouth vigorously with the back of her hand to annoy him, then jumped onto the back of Xiao Yao's bicycle, her two small feet, encased in pure black cotton socks and sneakers, swinging back and forth.

Chapter 137 Xiao Yao Decides to Grow Up

2023-03-18