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

"What's going on?"

"Wait a moment, Uncle," the girl said softly.

After saying that, Yu Luying remained silent no matter what Xiao Yao said next.

Finally, Xiao Yao said, exhausted, "I'm thirsty."

Yu Luying didn't look at him. She just stood up, opened the cabinet, took out a transparent plastic cup, and placed it on the coffee table in front of Xiao Yao.

In a moment of impulse, Xiao Yao reached out to pull her, but the girl instinctively shrank back and dodged.

When Xiao Yao went to get water from the water dispenser, his eyes fell on the stained glass window.

On the arched glass window, two men were standing, one of whom was pouring water over the other's head with a small ladle.

The scorching sunlight slanted through the glass window onto the floor amidst the chirping of cicadas, and the air was stiflingly hot.

“This is John… uh, John baptizing Jesus, right?” Xiao Yao said.

Yu Luying turned her head to look at the glass window, then at Xiao Yao—whose face was already covered in sweat.

The girl remained silent, only nodding slightly.

Then, she got up, grabbed the air conditioner remote, and turned on the air conditioning with a "beep".

Xiao Yao didn't feel much more comfortable from the air conditioning.

He stood up and walked step by step toward Yu Luying: "It's one thing for you to suspect me on your own, and it's another to refuse to listen to my explanation, but what do you mean by calling me over and then leaving me hanging here?"

Xiao Yao didn't notice his icy tone and clenched fists, but the girl trembled in fright: "Uncle..."

She instinctively covered her head, like a child ready to be beaten.

Xiao Yao was stunned when he saw the fear in her eyes, and then stopped in his tracks.

"Father Yu, no need to see me off, no need to see me off." At this moment, footsteps and the sound of greetings were heard outside the door, followed by the sound of two people coming down the stairs.

Xiao Yao turned around, walked to the window and looked out: "It really is Teacher Yao, the hair on his head can't lie."

Yu Luying breathed a small sigh of relief and lowered her little arm that was covering her head.

The sound of doors opening and closing came from afar, followed by footsteps climbing the stairs, and finally the door to the reception room opened, with Father Yu poking his head in.

--split line--

In the reception room, Xiao Yao and Yu Luying sat back to back in their chairs, both of them with their eyes covered by black cloth.

Father Yu squatted down, holding a small hammer, and gently tapped Xiao Yao's knee.

Xiao Yao and Yu Luying kicked their calves forward at the same time.

“Interesting, interesting,” Father Yu tapped Yu Luying’s knee again, and the same thing happened.

"Great news! The double-blind test has passed," Father Yu announced triumphantly. "This amazing phenomenon is like quantum entanglement. If we can figure it out, it will be a great advancement in science!"

“Uncle,” Yu Luying angrily ripped off her blindfold, “Why are you laughing like Frankenstein’s monster? Are you that excited?”

"Ahem." Father Yu coughed twice, putting on a poker face.

"How... how could such a thing happen?" Xiao Yao had not yet recovered from the shock.

Since there are mirrors in this world that lead to the future, it's not surprising that such a strange relationship between two people would occur.

Even so, Xiao Yao's thoughts were still in turmoil. As he listened to Yu Luying's story and recalled his own experiences, this strange "symbiotic" experience seemed to coincide with the timeline of the mirror opening and Shen Tianyun's appearance.

In other words, is there any logically necessary connection between these two things?

However, if the object is Yu Luying... it doesn't seem like a bad thing? It's practically a match made in heaven?

"So," Xiao Yao suddenly slapped his thigh, "the reason you suddenly called me last night and yelled at me is because—"

"Don't say that!" Yu Luying stood up excitedly: "You didn't do anything last night, and neither did I!"

"Hmm? Last night?" Father Yu narrowed his eyes, not pressing further. "Considering what happened before, I originally intended to keep this from you, lest you take advantage of the situation—"

"What kind of person do you take me for!" Xiao Yao protested sternly.

“But in the end, I’ve decided to trust you this once,” Father Yu said slowly. “After all, you have the right to know the truth. Until this matter is resolved, you need to cooperate with Yu Luying—I mean, you two should be considerate of each other, agree on some rules, and not do anything messy that would cause trouble for each other, you understand what I mean?”

"I understand." Xiao Yao nodded blankly.

“If you’re still up to no good and want to take this opportunity to do something bad…” Father Yu thought for a moment, then added, clenching his fist and making a “kalakala” sound.

“Uncle…” Yu Luying called softly.

“Then let’s continue the testing,” Father Yu said, turning around and opening a drawer.

"What are they trying to do?" Xiao Yao looked at the holy water bottle and the golden cross in Father Yu's hand and suddenly felt a little flustered.

……

……

“There was no resistance to the holy water and the holy objects, so it shouldn’t be a problem that can be solved by exorcism…” Father Yu stroked his chin, turned around and put away the “magical artifacts”: “You two, don’t tell a fourth person about this—if you don’t want to be captured and dissected.”

The two agreed in unison.

“If there are any new unusual circumstances, tell me immediately and don’t hide anything,” Father Yu pushed up his glasses. “Please trust me.”

Xiao Yao had never seen this person display such a sincere expression before.

"Ah... okay." Xiao Yao hesitated for a moment, wondering whether he should tell her everything about his daughter. He glanced at Yu Luying, then thought it would be better to find another time.

“I can’t eat spicy food, and I like peaches, uh…” Yu Luying rested her elbows on the table: “Then, try not to stay up late, okay? And then…” The girl’s face turned red again: “There are a few days each month when you can’t eat anything cold, I’ll talk to them for you then.”

“There are so many things I don’t eat: seaweed, mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, cilantro, radishes, chrysanthemum greens… uh, mustard, tomatoes…” Xiao Yao gestured with his fingers.

The girl was writing very seriously at first, but after hearing that, she put her pen down in her notebook and said, "You might as well just say you only eat meat."

"I still eat Shanghai bok choy..."

“Can a picky eater grow up properly…” Father Yu glanced at Xiao Yao’s nearly 1.8-meter-tall frame, then swallowed the word “tall” back: “Also, strenuous exercise should be avoided as much as possible, otherwise it will cause trouble for others. Did you ride the roller coaster yesterday? And swim?”

“And another thing,” Yu Luying clapped her hands, “you have to take a shower every day!”

"A ticket to the public bathhouse costs 5 yuan, 35 yuan a week. Will you pay?"

“I’ll give it to you.” Father Yu immediately reached into his pocket, but after rummaging around for a while, he only found a few five- and ten-yuan bills. “This should be enough for you for a week. The parish’s allowance should be issued next week—”

"No, no, no, no, I... never mind." Xiao Yao waved his hand.

"Alright, here you go. I know your situation." Yu Luying placed a hundred-yuan bill on the table. "Uncle, don't try to be tough. I know you don't have much personal wealth."

Why are all of you women so rich? Is this the legendary "raising sons frugally and daughters lavishly"?! Xiao Yao roared inwardly.

"How about," Father Yu thought for a moment, "you come to the church to wash, just like Yingying?"

"Hey, that's a good idea." Xiao Yao pushed the large bill back.

Yu Luying hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.

"So, now," Xiao Yao said, adopting a posture as if he were giving a concluding speech.

"Now?" the girl and her uncle asked in unison.

“Now,” Xiao Yao extended his right hand to Yu Luying generously, “we’re friends again, right?”

Yu Luying glanced at her uncle, who simply shrugged.

After a long three seconds, the girl reluctantly grasped the boy's fingers.

Chapter 22 Family Banquet

2023-07-31

Xiao Yao knew in his heart that friendships are something that can't be forced; you can't force them to be sweet.

After the church meeting ended, he intended to go home with Yu Luying as a matter of course, but Father Yu kept him there because he said he had "important matters to discuss".

The result was that he talked nonsense until Yu Luying was almost home before he was allowed to leave.

By the time I got home, the sun was already setting.

Grandma went to "that old man's" house, leaving behind only a little money, enough for her to go out and have a bowl of scallion oil noodles.

Xiao Yao didn't want to eat scallion oil noodles; he felt depressed if he ate too much of that stuff.

As if possessed, he opened the refrigerator.

It's said to be a strange coincidence because Xiao Yao not only can't cook, but there's never any ready-made food in the refrigerator.

As usual, the refrigerator compartment was empty except for a few eggs, some bottles and jars, a wilted scallion, a few carrots, half a bag... uh, very small dried shrimp? Yes, these are called dried shrimp, and a large bowl of leftover rice.

This time, however, Xiao Yao didn't shake his head and close the door—some different thoughts peeked out from the depths of his mind, and the junk in the refrigerator no longer looked so unappetizing.

Soak dried shrimp in water, dice radish and cut scallions into sections, beat eggs and heat oil, fry eggs first, then fry dried shrimp, stir-fry vegetables until just cooked, add rice, gently stir and quickly toss, then stir again, and the seafood fried rice is ready.

Everything seemed to have been practiced for over a decade, a natural and logical progression.

Let's see how good Yu Luying's cooking skills are.

--split line--

Dinner time.

"It's so delicious! It's sooo delicious!" Xiao Yao nodded repeatedly while shoveling rice into his mouth. "The rice I fried is so good! This is the taste of home, this is the feeling of happiness!"