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

Yu Luying's unfriendly tone made Shen Jie feel uncomfortable, but the word "pet" made her laugh: "No matter what, it grew up by your side, and you both have feelings for it."

"I only knew him less than a year before you did?" Yu Luying reminded her.

"Then..." Shen Jie asked her, "What do you think about what I just said?"

Yu Luying took a deep breath: "Sister, did you read the Bible I gave you last time?"

Shen Jie was taken aback: "I've seen them, but... not many."

Yu Luying smiled and said, "I haven't even finished reading it myself. I guess when you say 'read,' you just mean you've opened it?"

Shen Jie recalled: "Hmm... I read Genesis and saw that Abraham was called by God and went to Canaan."

Yu Luying nodded and said, "If you read on, you will know that Abraham's wife Sarai was infertile, so she gave her Egyptian maid Hagar to her husband as a concubine."

"what?"

"Hagar gave birth to a son for Abraham, named I...Ishi...never mind, I can't remember. Later, Sarai herself became pregnant and persuaded Abraham to send Hagar and her son away. This Ishi something-or-other is the ancestor of the Arabs."

Shen Jie said angrily, "These two are so inhumane! How did God punish them? Uh... so what are you trying to say?"

Yu Luying leaned forward slightly in the water and took Shen Jie's small hand: "Sister, I consider you my own sister, really. But I can't be your Hagar, because I'm not your maid, and Xiao Yao isn't anyone's pet!"

Seeing that Yu Luying was getting agitated, Shen Jie quickly said, "Hey, you've completely misunderstood me..."

"How did I misunderstand?" Yu Luying raised an eyebrow and said, "You're going abroad yourself, so you want me to stay by Xiao Yao's side, help him alleviate his loneliness, let him grow up slowly, become a mature man, and then be your good husband—why would you make such a request of me? Or does Miss Shen really think that her words are law and that everything she says is law?"

Shen Jie sighed and said, "Silly girl, I don't think you understood what I just said. Let me put it this way, I remember Xiao Yao telling me that you once mocked me as a pathetic fatalist."

Yu Luying softened her tone: "I did say something similar, but I can't admit it was 'mockery' or 'pathetic.' I am different from you in this respect. I believe that the most important gift God gives to mankind is 'free will,' which is what my uncle taught me since I was a child."

“Silly girl, I know you don’t believe in fate, you believe the future can be changed. Since you also like Xiao Yao, you can definitely fight for him. And that symbiosis…”

"It's this symbiosis that's really messing up my head; you just don't understand," Yu Luying said, somewhat frustrated.

Shen Jie said, "I understand. Didn't I just tell you? Based on the current patterns, this symbiosis seems to change depending on the relationship between you, me, and Xiao Yao..."

“You don’t understand,” Yu Luying interrupted Shen Jie, “What troubles me is that symbiosis is interfering with my thinking. I don’t know if I want to be with him or not. I can’t even figure out if the thoughts in my head are ‘mine’? Or ‘ours’? Or even ‘his’?”

Shen Jie nodded and said, "Silly girl, you really are a philosopher."

Yu Luying: "..."

“I want to conduct an experiment,” Shen Jie explained. “If you accept my suggestion, Xiao Yao and I will separate for a while, and you and he will spend time together. Let’s see if the symbiosis will completely disappear?”

“If it’s just an experiment…” Yu Luying’s tone sounded more receptive.

“If you’re with Xiao Yao without any symbiotic influence, you can clearly and independently judge your feelings for him,” Shen Jie said as she thought. “If you like someone, you like them; if you don’t like someone, you don’t like them. You won’t have to be so troubled like you are now.”

Yu Luying laughed and said, "So what if we like each other? We're destined to break up anyway."

"I thought you didn't believe in fate?" Shen Jie teased.

“Okay,” Yu Luying nodded, “What if Xiao Yao chooses me in the end, and I accept him too? What will you do then?”

Shen Jie forced herself to say, "If the future really does change and you two end up together, I only have one wish: that he will leave Tianyun to me according to our original schedule. Don't worry, I will raise it myself and won't disturb your lives."

Yu Luying gasped: "You mean..."

"Mm." Shen Jie nodded gently.

“Outrageous,” Yu Luying blurted out: “Extramarital sex violates church ethics.”

Shen Jie pondered for a moment and said, "What I mean is, I only need one essence..."

“Artificial insemination also violates church ethics,” Yu Luying told her.

The two girls fell into a silence that was neither too long nor too short.

Then, Yu Luying spoke first: "Let's not go that far ahead. Tell me first, why did you do this? Don't tell me it's all to please me."

Shen Jie thought for a moment: "If I said that this is at least part of the reason, would you believe me?"

“Credo (Note: Latin for I believe),” Yu Luying’s gaze softened: “As long as my sister says so, I will believe.”

"Mmm." Shen Jie nodded vigorously.

“But,” Yu Luying asked hesitantly, “you two have been together for so long, and you two… you’ve already done *that*,”

"Don't talk nonsense, I didn't," Shen Jie interjected, "What did you do?"

Yu Luying ignored her and continued, "Don't you still have any feelings for him at all?"

Shen Jie didn't think much of it: "To talk about feelings, it's unrealistic to say there's absolutely no feeling at all, but..."

Yu Luying revealed a mischievous smile: "I can agree to your request, but you have to agree to one condition."

"What are the conditions?" Shen Jie thought to herself, how did this turn into me begging you?

“If Xiao Yao and I become boyfriend and girlfriend, I hope you will no longer contact him or meet him alone—no, you should simply not meet him at all. Just pretend that you have never been in his life. Like you said, this will ensure that the symbiosis will not make a comeback.”

"No, I want to go see Tianyun." Shen Jie immediately objected.

Yu Luying nodded and said, "Of course you can come to see my daughter. Just let me know in advance when you're coming, and I'll have Xiao Yao stay away. I'll receive you at home."

"you!"

Yu Luying's sudden change of attitude and self-assurance as the "mistress" angered Shen Jie.

Since when did you become the one making arrangements for me?

This was completely outside of Shen Jie's plans.

In her memory, Yu Luying had always been a gentle and weak girl, but she never expected that Yu Luying would be so aggressive towards her today, and the situation was completely out of her control.

Shen Jie regretted her arrangements; she felt she might have been a bit presumptuous.

"What's the problem? The historical reality is that in 2004, Xiao Yao didn't even know Shen Jie. If you completely disappear from his life, everything will go back to the right track, right?"

Shen Jie stood up from the water with a livid face, hot water gushing down her swimsuit.

She wanted to walk away in a huff—even though the swimsuit didn't have sleeves.

Yu Luying stood up and hugged Shen Jie from behind, making splashing sounds as they did so: "Sister, don't be angry, I was just trying to provoke you."

Shen Jie, still furious: "Release!"

“I said that on purpose. You see, you still have feelings for Xiao Yao,” Yu Luying explained. “You can’t accept having no contact with him anymore.”

“Tch, of course,” Shen Jie slowly stopped struggling: “I’m just raising a dog… I have feelings for it too.”

She swallowed the middle word, Yu Luying let go of her hand, and Shen Jie continued to climb out of the bath.

"Are you still angry?" Yu Luying also climbed out.

"I'm so dizzy from all the soaking," Shen Jie said, rubbing her forehead. "You're wearing so many layers, aren't you dizzy?"

"kind of."

The two girls walked out of the small bathroom together and into the women's changing room to change their clothes.

Yu Luying said sincerely, "Sister, you saved me, and I will always remember that."

"Why are you suddenly bringing this up?" Shen Jie lifted her legs one after the other, removing the wet swimsuit.

“I know you’re angry because Xiao Yao hid the symbiotic relationship from you, which is why you want to break up with him.”

"not quite."

"But it's really, really all my fault. He wanted to tell you a long time ago, but I forced him not to. He kept it from you purely out of respect for me." Yu Luying saw several red marks on Shen Jie's chest from being sucked on and suddenly forgot what she was going to say next.

Shen Jie looked down following Yu Luying's gaze, and immediately became furious and embarrassed, covering her chest.

“…So,” Yu Luying looked away, composed herself, and said, “I hope you can forgive him and stop blaming him for this. Consider it another time I owe you, making it two times in total.”

Shen Jie was very unhappy: firstly, she was angry that Xiao Yao had made her lose face in front of Yu Luying; secondly, the thought of Xiao Yao listening to Yu Luying so much made her furious.

"Okay, I'll write it down on the blackboard when I get back. Yu Luying still owes two people favors," Shen Jie said bluntly.

She began to seriously regret that the idea of ​​pushing the dog onto Yu Luying was incredibly stupid.

The two took the bathrobes from the lounge and began to put them on.

Perhaps driven by the competitive spirit of young girls, they consciously or unconsciously scrutinized each other's alluring bodies, each harboring a touch of jealousy.

Shen Jie admired Yu Luying's tall and slender figure, while Yu Luying insecurely covered her chest.

After changing into their yukatas, the two girls walked hand in hand toward the lounge.

“However, I have already promised to forgive him for this matter, and this time it really isn’t because of this,” Shen Jie told Yu Luying.

"Is it purely for experimentation?" Yu Luying tilted her head.

“There are other reasons as well,” Shen Jie told Yu Luying, “Didn’t I say? I want to give your first love back to you, and I’m going abroad next year, for many years, and I don’t like that… Besides, Xiao Yao is a…”

Yu Luying laughed and said, "Sis, it's okay to fool your sisters, but don't fool yourself too."

Shen Jie reached out and drew a question mark in the air.

The two entered the lounge and found two sofa beds placed side by side in the corners, where they lay down comfortably.

Yu Luying said, "Sister, although I've never been in a relationship, I want to tell you about my views on love."

"Ah."

"Ladies, would you like something?" A waitress approached their bedside.

Shen Jie asked, "What drinks do you have here?"