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

With a light leap, Shen Jie's feet left the ground, spun in the air, and then landed steadily.

The white shorts accentuated her perfectly long and slender legs—although they weren't particularly long in absolute terms, they were still considered "long and slender" in terms of proportion.

The pair of jade-like feet beneath her beautiful legs, though small, were full of power.

Her steps were light and quick; even in ordinary leather shoes, they made a crisp and powerful sound on the asphalt road.

Shen Jie's shoes sometimes gently touched the ground, sometimes slapped it quickly, full of vitality and emotion. Although there was no music, Xiao Yao could feel that every step she took was very precise, every step closely following the rhythm of the "music"...

With superb coordination and precision, the girl's shoes sometimes touched the ground lightly, and sometimes slapped quickly on the asphalt. Her dance steps were flexible and varied, sometimes small leaps, sometimes large strides forward, each movement very natural, yet full of power and inner rhythm.

Xiao Yao stared in disbelief at the dancing sprite before him, realizing that at this moment, this girl was dancing only for him.

To him, it was as if the entire universe was shining just for him.

Some members of the skateboarding club drifted over on their skateboards, stopped with one foot, and began to share their excitement with each other.

Some male and female students passing by also stopped and craned their necks to look, whispering and talking amongst themselves.

"It's so beautiful."

"Are you referring to her beauty, or her dancing?"

"Beautiful jump—well, all beautiful."

Where are you looking at people?

"..."

Xiao Yao generously shared this exquisite beauty with them.

Whether it was just a sudden burst of energy or part of the dance choreography, Shen Jie took her hands out from behind her back.

Her arms stretched out, her fingers moved gently, and her palms flipped alternately, adding a touch of grace to the entire dance.

The girl gradually increased her speed, and her leg movements became more swift and powerful, producing a sound like a storm of drumbeats on the ground. Xiao Yao was dazzled by the sound and heard the cheers and applause from the surrounding crowd.

Finally, Shen Jie ended her wonderful tap dance performance with a graceful pose. Accompanied by applause that was neither thunderous nor sparse, she raised her right hand, swept it down to her left leg, and bowed deeply to the audience.

"One more!" a male voice shouted.

"One more!" "One more!" More people joined in the cheering.

Shen Jie stuck out her tongue, grabbed Xiao Yao's hand, and tried to slip away. Just then, a handsome young man with a slightly roguish air stepped out from the crowd: "Hello, classmate, may I ask which department you are in? Have you chosen any club activities? I am the president of the dance club, and this is my business card."

Xiao Yao felt a surge of joy, and his gloomy mood eased considerably—approaching someone face-to-face, huh? (This is a reference to a previous comment, likely from a forum or similar source.)

Shen Jie wanted to refuse the business card, but couldn't, so she had to accept it with both hands: "I'm sorry, I'm not from your school..."

"And who are you two?" The dance club president looked at Xiao Yao.

“We’re still in high school. This is my wife.” Xiao Yao put his arm around Shen Jie’s shoulder and introduced her to the students watching.

Shen Jie obediently rested her head on Xiao Yao's body, and another round of whispers arose around them.

"Alright." The dance club president shrugged with a hint of regret and turned to leave.

"Can I jump one more time, little sister?" a chubby girl asked.

"This..." Shen Jie hesitated, "There's no music here."

"Will this work?" A long-haired young man in the crowd raised his guitar.

Xiao Yao's eyes widened—wasn't this the guy who had just been splashed with foot bath water? Your hair and clothes aren't dry yet!

On a whim, he jumped off the edge of the bridge, walked towards the long-haired man, and whispered a few words to him.

Without hesitation, the boy untied the guitar strap and handed it to Xiao Yao.

"You can play the guitar too..." Xiao Yao heard Shen Jie say softly as he walked back to her side.

"When have you ever cared about my affairs?" Xiao Yao retorted, then glanced at the students watching. "The song I'm going to sing next is a very classic old song that you've probably all heard. At this moment, I want to dedicate it to my wife, as it represents my feelings right now."

"Great!" the students cheered again.

Xiao Yao pressed down on a chord with his left hand, tested the notes slightly, and a beautiful arpeggio flowed from the fingertips of his right hand.

"Outside the long pavilion, along the ancient road, fragrant grasses stretch to the horizon." The young man opened his mouth, and his clear and pure voice rang out. He turned his body slightly, facing Shen Jie at a 45-degree angle: "The evening breeze brushes the willows, the flute's sound fades, the setting sun beyond the mountains. At the ends of the earth, my friends are scattered. A pot of wine exhausts the remaining joy, tonight's parting dream is cold."

Shen Jie's head was lowered, but as the boy's singing began, she slowly raised her head, her fingers trembling. Accompanied by the guitar chords, her whole body seemed to be drawn by the music, and she began to slowly turn her body.

Xiao Yao couldn't recognize what kind of dance it was, only thinking it was an impromptu performance. Shen Jie's steps were light, her arms waving gently as she stepped off the bridge and walked a few steps closer to the crowd.

This dance would obviously look better with a long skirt and flowing sleeves, but even though Shen Jie was wearing short sleeves and a short skirt, the onlookers still watched with rapt attention.

Xiao Yao finished singing "Farewell" with great enjoyment, only then realizing that both ends of the bridge were completely blocked.

Wow, that looks pretty fierce.

"Let's go." Shen Jie's cheeks were slightly flushed. She grabbed Xiao Yao's arm and shook it, then whispered.

"One more!" "One more!" But the enthusiasm of the onlookers left the two with no room to refuse.

It feels so good to be the center of attention, to be the center of attention, Xiao Yao thought.

He thought of himself, of his long-gone junior high and elementary school days.

"Dear brothers and sisters," Xiao Yao said, bowing with his hands clasped and waving to the students watching, "We are both middle school students. We just came here for a walk after dinner. We'll get scolded if we go back too late. We were just dancing around here for fun. Since you all like it, we'll perform another one. Please be lenient and let us off the hook then."

A burst of laughter erupted from the crowd, filling the "net bridge" with a joyful atmosphere.

“The song I’m going to sing next may be unfamiliar to most of you,” Xiao Yao said, his tone turning somber. “It was written by one of my homeroom teachers, who recently passed away in a car accident.”

The students watching let out a low gasp and murmur.

"No!" Shen Jie's eyes widened, she suddenly raised her head and whispered to Xiao Yao.

“Although I don’t agree with his educational philosophy and practices, he really did his best for his students… I dedicate this song to my teacher, himself.” After Xiao Yao finished speaking, he whispered to Shen Jie, “Oh, it’s okay.”

“This is so embarrassing… his thing…” Shen Jie said.

“It’s alright…” Xiao Yao said.

The cheers around him gradually subsided. The boy thought for a moment about the chords, pressed down on the strings with four fingers of his left hand, and clenched his right hand into a hollow fist, sweeping his thumb and forefinger across the six strings.

Xiao Yao started singing.

"Baby

Good fortune is actually all around you.

My baby

"Fighting from dawn till midnight..."

Shen Jie took a deep breath, recalling the movements she had seen in the monastery, and added her own improvisation. Her right leg was straight, her left leg was slightly bent, forming a leg-pressing posture from radio calisthenics, while both arms were raised upwards with a large range of motion.

"Those who can't get tutoring don't deserve to be my good students."

If you don't meet the standards in this exam-oriented world, get out!

Baby

The National College Entrance Examination (NCEE) is the only ladder to success.

The Franciscan Motivational Exercise is a very strange thing. You could call it a dance, but it's more like calisthenics. You could call it calisthenics, but it's also...

This thing doesn't really have much of a dance artistry to speak of; it's all about letting loose. It's actually a bit like what people call "otaku dance" in the anime/manga world a few years later. In Shen Tianyun's words, it's all about emphasizing "social death."

Hey, middle school student

Why are you still sleeping at home on your day off?

Go memorize words

Otherwise your life will be wasted like this.

Don't stop

You dare to complain about being tired before you've even finished your homework?

Treat studying like life, or I'll punish you first.

As Xiao Yao played and sang, he suddenly jumped up and down, raising the atmosphere among the audience on the bridge to a new climax.

After all, who wouldn't love to watch a vibrant and energetic young woman, panting and dancing to such a bizarre and silly song?

Xiao Yao noticed that there seemed to be a guy wearing a plaid shirt carrying something that looked like a camera on his shoulder, seemingly filming the two of them, but he didn't pay much attention to it.

The cheerful atmosphere was interrupted by two school security guards who parted the crowd and entered: "What are you all doing huddled together? It's getting late, time to go back to your dorms—"

--split line--

As Shen Jie walked along "Diligent Street" after leaving Tsinghua University, she was still caught up in that excited mood and couldn't shake it off.

This is good, Xiao Yao thought. Much better than wallowing in sadness.

The boy was a troublemaker from a young age and liked to be the "leader." It was only after coming to St. Francis' School and experiencing the harsh realities of "society" that he gradually began to get used to hiding himself in the background.

The emotional impact Shen Jie's dance had on Xiao Yao was no less than the first time he saw/heard Yu Luying in a long black dress performing the cello piece "Mése in Egypt".

In other words, this made Xiao Yao even more fond of, no, more enamored with, the petite girl beside him.

His entire soul was trembling.

Having such a wonderful wife, of course you should show her off to the whole world. Otherwise, what's the difference between that and wearing fine clothes in the dark?

"So, Miss," Xiao Yao asked Shen Jie with a smile, "did you enjoy the ball I arranged for you?"