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

The distant buildings seemed even taller in the night, while the bright moon in the sky, like a guardian lamp, quietly illuminated the entire university town.

“Then let me test you,” the boy asked his girlfriend, “Why is it all water?”

"Why?" the girl asked, puzzled.

Neither of them spoke, simply letting the night wind tousle their hair.

"Could it be because..." the girl began cautiously, "that this chapter was cut too much, and they need to pad it out with filler?"

"What are you talking about?" Now it was the boy's turn to be confused.

"No, no, no, I guess I'm not fully awake yet." The girl pressed her temples and shook her head.

--split line--

"oops!"

Xiao Yao heard a girl shout.

He took a solid punch to the chest, followed by a slap.

"Ugh." Xiao Yao fell backward onto the bed.

Shen Jie composed herself and asked, "What do you want to do?"

"I just wanted to..."

Shen Jie climbed to the head of the bed.

"Don't be angry, it's just how it is..." Xiao Yao reached out to touch the girl's shoulder, but she pushed him away.

The girl took the coat and put it around her neck.

"Are you really angry?" Xiao Yao asked, sounding somewhat aggrieved.

“No,” Shen Jie tossed her head, “I just don’t want to do it anymore.”

Xiao Yao stood there awkwardly.

……

……

The girl sat on the bed, hugging her knees, lost in thought.

"Are you alright?" Xiao Yao waved his hand in front of her eyes.

"It's okay, I'm going to take a shower first." Shen Jie turned around and got out of bed, not even putting on slippers, and walked into the bathroom wearing only socks.

The door clicked shut.

The girl stood in front of the sink, staring blankly at the mirror hanging above it.

For no apparent reason, a feeling of melancholy and loss overwhelmed her.

……

Two lines of clear tears welled up without warning, skillfully tracing down the girl's face.

She stretched out her delicate fingers, scraped them off, and then laughed bitterly at herself.

I thought I had figured it out and knew what I was doing.

I thought I could calmly, rationally, and maturely deal with it with a smile.

She still acts like a little girl.

Shen Jie hates her own weakness.

The girl stretched out her right hand and touched the mirror in front of her with her slender fingertips.

Her hand pierced through the mirror, and soon the mirror swallowed her wrist.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, which startled Shen Jie. She instinctively pulled her hand away and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Shen Jie, listen to me, don't be angry—"

"I'm not angry!" Shen Jie stomped her foot and shouted, "Can't you let me take a shower?"

"Are you really not angry?" the person outside asked in a pitiful tone.

"Tsk." Shen Jie rolled her eyes, unlocked the bathroom door, pulled it open, and raised her eyebrows at the boy outside.

The boy, wearing only boxer shorts, walked in as if by some strange twist of fate.

The girl glanced at him, but didn't chase him out. She stepped into the shower room wearing only her underwear and athletic socks.

……

Hot water gushed over Xiao Yao's entire body. Shen Jie's hair was completely wet. She was facing away from Xiao Yao, letting the boy lather her back with shower gel.

"Baby, are you really not angry with me?"

"Really, no. When have I ever been angry without making it clear?" Shen Jie said wearily, "It's just that I was a little confused for a moment."

“Okay…” Xiao Yao squatted down and applied the shower gel between her calves.

……

"I don't think... you know?" Xiao Yao finally asked the question.

"I don't know," Shen Jie took the showerhead from Xiao Yao's hand and began to rinse him with it. "What difference does it make now that it's like this?"

“Um…” Xiao Yao coughed twice.

"Let's not talk about this anymore, shall we?" Shen Jie turned off the water and tore open another packet of shower gel in her hand: "Give me your back."

“Alright…” Xiao Yao turned around.

After wiping Xiao Yao's back, Shen Jie asked him to turn around, squeezed some shower gel into her hands, and gently washed his shoulders with both hands.

"Now you believe me you're not angry anymore, right?"

"Yes," the boy nodded.

He also started applying shower gel to Shen Jie's arms.

"Okay, I'll wash myself later."

Xiao Yao looked down at the girl squatting in front of him. She wore soaking wet athletic socks and hotel plastic slippers. The off-white socks, worn from the day and night, had darkened slightly. The water made them cling more tightly to the contours of her feet, deepening their color. Water streamed down her calves and feet, dripping from the toes and heels, forming tiny droplets that were constantly washed by the showerhead, making the socks exceptionally damp and giving off a faint watery smell.

"Alright, you can go now, I'll wash myself." The girl stood up, patted Xiao Yao on the back with a "smack" sound.

After kicking Xiao Yao, who was wearing wet boxer shorts, out of the bathroom, Shen Jie didn't lock the door. She left the shower room, hooked her right foot back, and pulled off her wet sock with her toes, then her left foot, and threw it on the plastic toilet seat.

Then, she reached behind her and untied her bra straps.

--split line--

Xiao Yao sat on the bed watching TV, and waited for a long time before the girl wrapped in a bath towel came out.

She sat on the edge of the bed, took out the small tube of ointment that looked like toothpaste, squeezed out a little, and carefully spread it between the toes of her right foot.

Xiao Yao seemed to suddenly realize something.

He quickly dried Shen Jie's hair, and the two of them snuggled into bed together in the freezing cold air-conditioned room.

Shen Jie nestled in Xiao Yao's arms, leading the young man to speculate that her emotions had returned to normal.

“Why aren’t you holding me? I want you to hold me,” Shen Jie said.

"Hug," Xiao Yao said.

A boring variety show was playing on TV. Xiao Yao wasn't interested and was just pretending to watch, but Shen Jie was watching it very attentively.

The two chatted idly, as if nothing had happened that day.

“I’d like to attend Song Haijian’s memorial service. What do you think?” Xiao Yao said.

"Go if you want to," Shen Jie said with a slight pout.

Xiao Yao, you're really something, bringing up Song Haijian at a time like this.

The boy wanted to ask, "Do you want to come with me?" but then thought it was unnecessary and swallowed the words back.

If they were still together, they would naturally go everywhere together, but since she is going back... using this as an excuse to meet doesn't seem like a good idea.

Xiao Yao himself didn't know when he fell asleep, and when he woke up again, it was still dark.

The TV was still on, but since there was no sound anyway, Xiao Yao didn't bother with it.

He found himself holding a girl in his arms, her body slightly curled up and her head lowered, like a baby girl still in her mother's womb.

Moonlight streamed in through the window, illuminating her smooth back.

Xiao Yao found this experience novel and had no impure thoughts. He simply reached out to cover her back with the blanket.

Who would have thought that this girl was saying to him yesterday afternoon, "Xiao Yao, how about we just be friends?"

……

Xiao Yao had a nightmare.

He dreamed that he was standing on the "Net Bridge" at Tsinghua University, with the river below the bridge dark and rushing rapidly.

In my dream, this river led to the legendary, so-called beacon and hope of humankind.

Xiao Yao saw Shen Jie sitting alone in a canoe, holding a long pole, drifting away from him in the direction of the river.