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

A gentleman "expresses his feelings but restrains himself with propriety and righteousness," and Xiao Yao was satisfied with this.

Without warning, the wardrobe door in front of me was pushed open forcefully.

The boy's first reaction was secret relief; thank goodness nothing had happened...

Then it was moved outward by another 1cm.

"Why aren't you studying?" Shen Jie blurted out.

Xiao Yao could tell that although Shen Jie was pretending to be calm, she couldn't hide a little bit of... exasperation? No, that word was a bit too strong and inappropriate; anyway, she was definitely preoccupied.

Did the law enforcement stop entrapment? But we didn't do anything wrong.

Yu Luying innocently raised her hand and pointed to the ceiling: "How am I supposed to study?"

Shen Jie raised her head.

"There was a girl in the village named Xiaofang. She was beautiful and kind, with a pair of beautiful big eyes and thick, long braids..."

"I'll go upstairs and talk to them," Shen Jie said as she walked towards the photo room.

"What are you saying? It's a weekday during the day, are you saying people can't sing at home?" Xiao Yao quickly tried to stop him.

“There’s not much to say,” another voice said from inside the closet. “Just go for this.”

"What's this again?" Xiao Yao looked at the long pole in Shen Tianyun's hand with a blank expression: "It looks like a toilet peg."

"Don't understand, do you?" Shen Tianyun said smugly, "This is called the Zhenlou Divine Artifact."

As the girl in green explained, she lifted the "toilet peg" and stuck it to the ceiling.

The handle of this toilet seat is made of metal, and the suction cup at the bottom has an LCD display showing the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

"My dear aunt, stop fooling around," Xiao Yao rushed forward and hugged her before the girl could press the button. "We're all neighbors here, we see each other all the time. You're using futuristic technology to sing a song, that's too much."

When Xiao Yao hugged the girl, he felt her body was soft and warm. His arms wrapped tightly around her, and at this distance, he could hear her breathing and heartbeat. This feeling carried a tender and warm emotion, and also made Xiao Yao feel a sense of responsibility and protectiveness—in short, mainly to stop her from running wild.

“I’m going to bite you, one, two,” Shen Tianyun said.

Before she counted to "three," Xiao Yao immediately let go of her arm: "Put down the future technology and let's talk this out."

"Alright, stop fooling around," Shen Jie said wearily. "It's so late, Xiao Yao, you should go buy groceries and cook."

Shen Tianyun put the toilet peg down. Shen Jie thought for a moment and realized it wasn't appropriate to have the guests cook the groceries after buying them: "Never mind, let's not buy groceries. Let's just buy some cooked food."

"Okay, sure." Xiao Yao replied as he walked toward the photo booth.

“Don’t worry about me,” Yu Luying declined. “I promised my mother I would go home for dinner.”

“We still have to buy it, we need to eat it too,” Shen Jie said.

Before leaving, Xiao Yao couldn't help but stop and look back.

Shen Jie hooked her arm around Yu Luying's shoulder and warmly pressed her down onto the sofa, asking about her progress in her studies that day. But Xiao Yao felt that the way Shen Jie looked at Yu Luying was a little strange, as if she was... impatient.

What's going on here?

She must be jealous and unhappy, right? Serves her right, who told you to pretend to be magnanimous and send your man back and forth like that? Xiao Yao chuckled inwardly.

"Doggy," Shen Jie called out to Xiao Yao, who was still there, "Have you seen my dress? The one I wore when we went to Qingpu last time..."

Shen Jie rarely called herself "Doggy" in front of Yu Luying, so her sudden use of that term was likely a declaration of her authority as the Empress. Her tone was cold and harsh, clearly indicating that she was angry with herself.

"Wh-what skirt?" Xiao Yao stammered.

Xiao Yao, Xiao Yao, are you out of your mind? Why did you agree to read "Poetry Journal" today? She's going home tomorrow, why did you have to upset her today?

The boy was filled with remorse and wished he could punch himself twice.

Little did he know that Shen Jie's unusual emotions had nothing to do with him; she was simply worried about her silly younger sister's future.

"Oh dear," Shen Jie stamped her foot slightly, "It's that one, the long one, the one you said had Hanfu-style elements?"

"Oh," Xiao Yao pressed his hand to his forehead, "I know that one, what happened, it's gone?"

“Yes,” Shen Jie said, “Tianyun and I searched the whole place, but we couldn’t find it. We were wondering if we left it outside your place when we moved in?”

“Impossible,” Xiao Yao said, “If it were with me, it would have been taken by Brother B long ago… uh, cough! cough cough!! It would have been taken by us… you…”

"Alright," Shen Jie said, "I'll find it myself."

Xiao Yao watched as Shen Jie began her house-destroying operation, not only rummaging through drawers and cabinets but also throwing things around with a loud clatter.

Your silly sister is still here, is it really necessary?

However, the best of the thirty-six stratagems is to flee, so Xiao Yao said goodbye to the three of them and slipped away.

"Little sister, you sit at the bow of the boat, oh oh, while I walk on the shore, loving each other dearly, the tow rope swaying gently, little sister..." After Xiao Yao left, the deadly singing from the third floor still followed him like a shadow.

Sweet and sour pork ribs, poached chicken, roasted gluten, and braised duck... After buying over a hundred yuan's worth of food at the deli at the entrance of the alley, Xiao Yao nervously pushed open the bedroom door, carrying a stack of styrofoam lunch boxes packed in a plastic bag.

As soon as he entered the door, Xiao Yao breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Because the atmosphere in the room was quite harmonious.

The wailing and howling from the illegally operated private karaoke bar upstairs had ended, and three girls were sitting on the floor, huddled around something.

Shen Jie sat on the ground like a duck, her two bare, smooth, white legs attracting attention; beside her sat Yu Luying, wearing black stockings, her two slender legs arranged in an elegant "Z" shape; Shen Tianyun sat cross-legged behind Shen Jie, her hands pawing at Shen Jie, craning her neck over her shoulder.

The three girls watched and talked, occasionally letting out giggles.

"What are you looking at?" Xiao Yao walked into the room with a smile, placing the lunchbox he was carrying on the table. When he turned around and saw the large book on the ground, he couldn't help but be stunned.

It was a photo album.

A photo album documenting my entire growth from birth to kindergarten, elementary school, and junior high school.

This was sorted out by his mother herself. When he first came to Shanghai a year ago, he brought it with him and kept it at the very bottom of a box—he never expected it to be found.

"Oh dear, where did you find this?" Xiao Yao blushed when he saw it and reached out to take it back.

However, Shen Tianyun quickly hid the photo album behind her back: "What's wrong? Is there something you're afraid people will see?"

Shen Jie and Yu Luying asked the same question with a smile. Xiao Yao had no choice but to say that there were baby photos. He then hid to the side, but did not forget to strain his ears to listen to the three girls whispering.

The three girls flipped through the pages one by one, occasionally exclaiming things like, "So cute!", "That was so much fun back then!", "Which one is him?", "This one!"

The album looks quite old; the cardstock and plastic wrap are yellowed, and there are signs of fading and wear in some places. The cover features a photograph of a baby, surrounded by pink lace.

The adorable baby in the photo album is not Xiao Yao himself; the first picture on the first page is.

Xiao Yao's birth photo has a hazy quality because it was taken in the dim light of a hospital. In the photo, he is naked, his face scrunched up like a monkey, he cries like a monkey, and his body is contorted like a monkey—overall, he looks like a monkey.

The child was incredibly ugly, with sparse hair on his head, tape over his belly button, and a tag hanging at the foot of the crib that read 1988.6.30.

“Dad was so ugly when he was young,” Shen Tianyun commented. “Of course, he’s still not that good now.”

"Let me see a picture of you when you were born?" Xiao Yao interrupted irritably.

"Go take your own picture if you want, hehehe." Shen Tianyun made a face.

"I'll definitely do it next time!" Xiao Yao told her.

The boy could tell that Shen Tianyun wasn't particularly interested in participating in the activity, but Shen Jie and Yu Luying were... completely focused and interested.

The two girls simultaneously reached out their delicate fingers to touch the wrinkled baby, giggling incessantly.

Their actions and glances made Xiao Yao's nose tingle, and his heart almost melted.

In that instant, Xiao Yao suddenly realized.

It seems like both of them really like me.

If it weren't someone you like, probably no one would smile so happily at such an ordinary, even somewhat unattractive, childhood photo.

Shen Jie turned to the second page, where a photo of him was taken when he was about two years old. The little guy, sucking on a pacifier, wearing a woolen hat and clean baby clothes, looked much more pleasing to the eye.

Shen Jie looked at Xiao Yao's adorable photo, almost unable to recognize him, so she called Xiao Yao over to take a look.

Xiao Yao craned his neck to take a look, nodded, and couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

“Kawaii~” Shen Jie said.

"Who wasn't cute when they were little?" Xiao Yao said softly.

“You said it before, I wasn’t cute at all when I was little,” Shen Tianyun interjected.

“I didn’t say that,” Xiao Yao denied. “Besides, even if someone isn’t cute, photographers can always find cute photos.”

The three girls burst into cheerful laughter again.

With flowers swaying in the breeze before his eyes and laughter filling his ears, Xiao Yao had forgotten what year it was.

Chapter 171 Holding their hands as they walked down the street

2023-04-24

This photo album contains photos of Xiao Yao at various ages, documenting his entire growth from birth to kindergarten, elementary school, and junior high school. Sometimes the photos show Xiao Yao alone, sometimes with his family, and sometimes with his friends.

"She's started kindergarten now..." Yu Luying didn't know if she was asking Xiao Yao or talking to herself.

Xiao Yao glanced at it: "Yes."

The photo was a group picture. Xiao Yao stood in the front row, with a round, chubby face, big eyes, a small nose, and a smug smile on his lips. He looked both cute and a little mischievous. His black hair was a bit curly, like a little puppy.

In the photo, Xiao Yao is wearing a light blue short-sleeved shirt with a small cartoon pattern, paired with dark blue trousers. His clothes look very neat, without a single wrinkle.