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

"I'm convinced, I'm convinced." Xiao Yao thought to himself, "You probably won't try to trap me this time."

"What you eat and use, and the money for today's bill, is all mine. I'm going to take it all!" Shen Jie made a threatening gesture.

"Eat, eat, eat, chop, chop. Speaking of which," Xiao Yao teased her, "I suddenly realized that saying goodbye is really satisfying, no wonder you're addicted to it."

"Do you think I'm being dramatic?" Shen Jie raised her eyelids slightly.

"I wouldn't dare," Xiao Yao said. "I just hope it's really like what Daiyu said, that acting is an expression of love."

Xiao Yao had doubts about this statement.

Shen Jie's feelings were indeed very complicated. It was as if she had a lump in her throat that she couldn't exhale.

From a rational perspective, Xiao Yao's response on the internet was humble enough, and flawless.

Shen Jie even felt that she should be moved.

But the truth is, I wasn't really moved.

There's also a sense of frustration at being fooled.

She also felt that she might have been a bit dramatic, but then she thought that the responsibility did not lie with her.

Last night, Xiao Yao said, "We're going to be good friends, so if we do anything else, it'll be like being a pervert."

According to Shen Jie's understanding, that meant she had agreed to it.

Out of nostalgia, longing, guilt, compensation, gratitude, or a desire to put the other person at ease, all these complex and inexplicable emotions intertwined, which is why Shen Jie let him do whatever he wanted yesterday, and why she took the initiative to extend his stay for another day today.

Out of some reluctance and disappointment, I held him and cried with him yesterday, and today I even took the initiative to wash his underwear.

God knows I've lived this long and I've never even washed my own clothes.

And then there was "that matter"—since she could no longer pretend she didn't care, Shen Jie simply admitted it to herself:

As for the girl herself, she subconsciously tended not to acknowledge the validity of "that thing," yet she hoped that Xiao Yao would always remember what he did, what he gained, and what she had given.

That's the contradiction.

and then?

Xiao Yao's words on the internet bridge seemed perfectly reasonable on the surface, but in reality, they were a masterful use of deflection, effectively defending against all the punches he had thrown.

The girl's heavy punch landed on cotton, so naturally she was frustrated.

"You are my future wife, whether you are my girlfriend or a friend is not important at all." On the surface, this statement seems reasonable, but in essence, it means that the speaker is certain that she will not leave, does not agree to break up, does not agree to get along like friends, and refuses to acknowledge her demands for sovereignty and independence.

“No matter what you do, I will not talk to Yu Luying. I will quietly wait for you to return” is an invisible form of moral blackmail – he tries to portray himself as a devoted lover, but puts himself in a very difficult position.

Essentially, he's similar to the long-haired guy who sat downstairs at the girls' dormitory yesterday playing guitar.

As for his earlier statement, "Whether or not to create Tianyun, we'll talk about it when I'm thirty," I hope this is just another inappropriate attempt to be clever, rather than him using his daughter as a hostage to blackmail him again.

In any case, her original goal of a peaceful breakup was not achieved.

A certain part of my body was still throbbing with pain, and a feeling of anger welled up inside me.

and many more……

Why do I unconsciously interpret other people's words with extreme malice?

This is not my usual way of thinking or dealing with people.

If my mother were still alive...

Shen Jie looked down at her bowl of bland, watery "mala tang" (a type of spicy hot pot).

The water was so clear that I could see my face reflected in it.

She saw the girl in the "mirror" give her a malicious smile.

shadow.

Shadow.

Is this my own... shadow?

The girl reached into her bag and tightly clutched the rosary that Yu Luying had given her.

"Xiao Yao." Shen Jie continued looking at her spicy hot pot; the reflection in the water showed no other unusual signs.

"what happened?"

Did I just laugh?

“No,” Xiao Yao replied confidently, “I thought you thought it tasted too bad.”

"It really tastes awful." Shen Jie rubbed her cheeks.

"Look at your mala tang, it's neither numbing nor spicy, and it's not even hot. How can it taste good?"

At this moment, Xiao Yao's spicy hot pot was finally served.

Shen Jie looked closely and saw that the large bowl was filled with meatballs, sausages, and dumplings—all meat, with not a trace of green in it.

The most terrifying thing was the soup in his bowl... if you could even call it soup? It was almost entirely bright red chili oil, blood red, with hardly any water in it...

Is it really safe to put this in your mouth?

Xiao Yao started stirring the spicy hot pot in the bowl with a spoon.

"You can handle so much spicy food?" Shen Jie asked him.

"Mmm." Xiao Yao nodded and explained to her, "I've always been able to handle spicy food, but ever since...that with her,"

What do you mean by "after that with her"? That sounds so awkward.

“Since I did that with her, I haven’t eaten much spicy food for two months,” Xiao Yao continued. “Now that I’m weaker, of course I have to make up for it.”

Shen Jie hesitated for a moment, then reached out with her chopsticks and picked up a stuffed meatball that was still dripping with chili oil from Xiao Yao's bowl. She brought it to her lips, shook her head slightly, and blew on it.

"You're going to steal this?" The boy in front of him widened his eyes. "Be careful, it's spicy."

The warmth spread across her tongue, the crispy skin had a subtle texture, followed by the tender meat filling. The savory meat juices shot onto her tongue, almost burning her, and the pungent chili oil overflowed in her mouth after chewing, making her tongue feel numb.

The girl swallowed the meatball, believing she had accomplished another challenge.

It looks scary, but it's actually... nothing special?

"You can handle spicy food pretty well, huh?" Xiao Yao said happily, generously pushing the bowl a little towards the girl: "Then let's eat together, I ordered a lot today."

After all, there won't be a second time.

“I can eat spicy food,” Shen Jie told him, “but I wouldn’t say I love it.”

"I think eating spicy food is very stress-relieving," Xiao Yao said.

"Spiciness is not essentially a taste, but a sensation of pain."

"So you're saying that all people who love spicy food are 'm'?" Xiao Yao laughed.

"What's with all this S and M stuff? How do you know so much at such a young age?" As soon as Shen Jie said this, she realized something was wrong.

Xiao Yao burst out laughing, and Shen Jie laughed along, further easing the tense atmosphere on the field.

The two of them shared a large bowl of chili oil.

Shen Jie looked up at the boy who was sweating profusely from eating.

Her short, black hair was slightly disheveled, and her bright, large eyes revealed a sharp edge.

Fine beads of sweat clung to his forehead, then the sweat slid down his forehead like a light rain, his wet hair clung to his forehead, and his grimacing expression... was kind of cute.

For some reason, the girl felt a surge of tenderness and reached out to grab two tissues, gently wiping his forehead.

"What happened to being angry? What am I doing?!" she lamented inwardly.

Xiao Yao's white T-shirt was soaked with sweat, clinging to his body and outlining his broad shoulders. His mouth was full of chili oil, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned, and his eyes were full of appetite and satisfaction, as if he were eating the most exquisite delicacies in front of him, eating with great relish, which was very infectious.

His appearance involuntarily reminded Shen Jie of a brave knight who feasted on the eve of war, then faced death head-on without ever backing down.

Yes, Shen Jie suddenly remembered that he was Don Quixote, a tragic idealistic hero.

Perhaps what he said is true.

What he said is likely true, rather than just his own malicious speculation.

After I leave, he really won't date anyone else, quietly waiting for me for eight years, waiting for the day we get married.

Simply because that is his view on love and marriage, that is his stubborn ideal of "home," he would do it even if it was just for his own self-gratification.

What did he do wrong? All he wanted was a complete "family".

The girl realized with some annoyance that she was starting to feel that what she had said on the bus yesterday was somewhat selfish.

"How am I selfish?" Shen Jie retorted loudly in her heart, "I have my own life plan, am I wrong? Besides, it's clearly the best scientific and reasonable solution... For the two of us, no, for the three of us, it's the most scientific, reasonable, and optimal solution..."

"Don't you know how selfish you are?" another voice replied. "Was your senior year of high school really as busy as you claim? Even after going abroad, do you really not have the means to maintain this relationship?"

“His love is too heavy for me,” Shen Jie silently replied to the voice. “His waiting is a burden for me.”

"See, you're still doing this for yourself. You chose to run away, but you're using such a high-sounding reason," the voice mocked.

"Am I wrong to act for myself? Am I destined to live my whole life according to everyone's expectations?"

……

What angered her even more was that in this self-debate, a part of her heart softened—no, melted and collapsed.