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

Xiao Yao sat down next to Yu Luying.

Because she was sitting with her legs crossed, the girl's small foot in pink and green cotton socks was not far from him; he could reach it with just a slight bend.

Shen Jie's words before she left echoed in my ears again: "You and Sha Mei are only allowed to have a platonic relationship!"

Including the QQ message sent at noon, which said things like "Don't you dare touch her!"

Therefore, moving your feet is not an option either.

Let's just follow the imperial decree and keep things peaceful.

……

I still can't help but think about these things.

"You're allowed to hold hands as a special privilege, but the bottom line is that you have to abide by that silly girl's teachings!"

Holding hands is permitted, but what about hugging? Hugging shouldn't violate any doctrine, and what about kissing? That shouldn't either. But dating two girls at the same time is inherently abnormal, isn't it?

While lost in thought, Xiao Yao unconsciously rubbed his thigh with his hand.

"When did you start practicing kung fu? Did your sister teach you?" Yu Luying suddenly broke the silence.

"Huh?" Xiao Yao was taken aback. "No, I learned it during these few battles as Don Quixote."

"Can the fortress's abilities also function in reality?"

“Well, it seems that once you learn the knowledge and skills, you've learned them. Odd changes, even remains the same, and the sign depends on the quadrant. You can use them anywhere.” Xiao Yao explained, “So Shen Jie is at a disadvantage because she can’t make fireballs by hand in reality.”

“Oh…” Yu Luying hesitated for a few seconds: “I’ve noticed that you can be quite short-tempered sometimes.”

"You don't like me fighting, right?" Xiao Yao said gently. "Don't worry, I won't develop that habit."

Yu Luying pursed her lips and said, "And Tianyun too, do you really hit her often?"

"What a joke!" Xiao Yao slapped his forehead with a "smack": "I..."

After stammering for a while without coming up with anything, Xiao Yao then half-jokingly said, "You always seem to worry that I'll commit domestic violence, so you give the impression that you're particularly sensitive in this regard?"

"No," Yu Luying answered quickly and softly, while looking down at her toes.

"Aren't you going to ask me next if I've ever beaten up Shen Jie, huh?" Xiao Yao said with a smile.

“I doubt you’d dare,” Yu Luying continued, looking at her toes. “You can’t afford to mess with her.”

Xiao Yao was taken aback for a moment, then laughed and said, "Well, I can't afford to offend you either."

"Come on, you're kidding me," Yu Luying said.

"Do you really think deep down that I shouldn't have fought with Wang Ming yesterday?" Xiao Yao scratched the back of his head.

“It’s not that bad,” Yu Luying told Xiao Yao. “It’s not too much to teach someone like Wang Ming a lesson. Just don’t make a big fuss and get yourself into trouble.”

"Ah."

“But you said yesterday that it’s far from enough,” Yu Luying expressed her concern: “I’m afraid that you’ll take advantage of your current abilities and start ganging up on others when school starts.”

"Hey—why didn't I think of that?" Xiao Yao said deliberately, "I'll call Brother Long and Daiyu later. Didn't your scripture say, 'An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth'..."

Yu Luying: "...My scripture also says, love your enemies."

"What's wrong? Feeling sorry for Wang Ming?" Xiao Yao said with a smile, but he was a little unhappy inside.

"How could that be?" Yu Luying said anxiously, "What I'm worried about is you! What if you cause trouble again? Even Director Lin won't be able to protect you. What are you going to do then?"

Xiao Yao chuckled and said, "So that's what you're afraid of—don't worry, I know what's going on."

“You know what you're doing, you know what you're doing,” Yu Luying glared at him and said, “If only you knew what you're doing!”

“Okay, I understand,” Xiao Yao reassured her. “I am a knight, I will not be a hooligan. I love learning and working, and I will serve the people when I grow up.”

"You know whether you're a knight or a bandit," Yu Luying said, raising her head with a teasing tone.

"Tsk." Xiao Yao relaxed and stretched out his arms, resting them on the back of the sofa. "By the way, does that Wang Ming like you? Is that why he's been targeting me?"

Yu Luying thought for a while and replied, "That's right, Wang Ming likes me, but many people like me, and he likes many people too."

"What do you mean?" As soon as Xiao Yao said this, he understood what it meant.

"It means that his targeting of you has little to do with feelings," Yu Luying told him.

“Oh,” Xiao Yao continued, lost in his own thoughts, “Actually, if it weren’t for him, we could be sitting here happily like this six months ago.”

“Even if Wang Ming hadn’t caused trouble, I wouldn’t have accepted your confession back then,” Yu Luying told him.

"?Why?"

“Maybe it’s because I don’t like you, I only want to be friends with you.” Yu Luying looked at him and said, then added, “Back then.”

"what about now?"

“…” Yu Luying ignored him.

“Alright,” Xiao Yao sighed, “but without him causing trouble, even if the confession failed, our relationship wouldn’t have gotten that bad, right?”

“Indeed,” Yu Luying nodded in agreement, “but have you considered that while Wang Ming is certainly a scoundrel, the main responsibility for completely messing things up lies with you?”

"Myself?" Xiao Yao said.

"Why not confess your feelings to my face?" Yu Luying questioned.

“?” Xiao Yao said, “That’s because I’m shy and embarrassed.”

"Are you shy?"

“Tch~~~ Well, I’m from the countryside,” Xiao Yao explained. “Back home, everyone’s so shy. If you’re dating someone like Song Haijian, you’ll be driven crazy. I just came to Shanghai, and who knew you Shanghai people were so shameless? It takes time to get used to it.”

“Why don’t you just send a text message? Don’t you have my number?” Yu Luying said, “If you really want to write a letter, you can mail it to the class. Opening someone else’s mail without permission is illegal. You’re in the right no matter what.”

"Song Haijian has demolished countless buildings in Sujiang, but is anyone doing anything about it?"

"Don't argue, Yao is Yao!"

"Good good."

"Or you could put it in my pencil case, or in my desk drawer—but you chose to have it passed up row by row from the back. So tell me, weren't you just being silly?"

"This was a rather stupid thing to do," Xiao Yao admitted.

"For Yu Luying, what embarrassed and humiliated her was not Wang Ming, nor the boys who egged her on, but..."

“It’s Xiao Yao.” Xiao Yao pointed to his own nose.

"So, are you still upset that I'm angry with you?" Yu Luying said.

Xiao Yao expressed his protest with respectful silence.

“Actually, when Wang Ming opened your letter, it wasn’t because he was targeting you,” Yu Luying said. “Those boys throwing the letters around and reading them aloud in class weren’t targeting you either.”

“They just want to have some fun,” Xiao Yao continued, “because school is so boring.”

“They’re just looking for fun,” Yu Luying repeated to emphasize, “What Xiao Yao’s feelings are none of my business, I just think it’s fun.”

"..." Xiao Yao was speechless for a moment: "This is truly the most evil thing in the world—but it also seems to be the most commonplace thing."

“Yes, I was once one of them too.” Yu Luying’s tone seemed tinged with sadness: “I didn’t care about your feelings either, I only cared about my own. So, ending up like this is a kind of retribution and atonement from the unseen world, isn’t it?”

"What are you saying?" Xiao Yao couldn't help but say, "Being with me is retribution and atonement?"

“No,” Yu Luying told him, seemingly expressionless and without any change in tone, “It is the maid.”

"?... Cough, cough, what do you mean by small or not, don't say that," Xiao Yao blushed deeply instead: "Well, it's all in the past, we were all victims."

However, hearing Yu Luying say that still brought Xiao Yao some comfort.

“I heard from my sister,” Yu Luying continued, “that when you subdued Wang Ming yesterday, you asked him why he was targeting you and what you had done to offend him.”

“Yes,” Xiao Yao said, “This matter has been bothering me for a year, including Zhou Qi’s situation. Later, in Teacher Yao’s hall, I learned that Zhou Qi was also coerced by Wang Ming at the beginning, so I have always wanted to find Wang Ming to ask him clearly. As a result, yesterday, before Wang Ming could answer me, the security guards came.”

Yu Luying hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.

"What, you have an answer?" Xiao Yao guessed. "It's not because of feelings, it's not because I offended him, it's just for fun?"

“I guess so.” Yu Luying emphasized the word “guess.”

"But, why me?" Xiao Yao asked this ultimate soul-searching question.

Yu Luying remained silent for a long time: "It's all in the past."

"Why me?" Xiao Yao asked persistently.

"You were able to answer the questions you asked yourself all day." Yu Luying forced a smile.

“It’s because there are no consequences for bullying me,” Xiao Yao said, “and because I and you guys in Shanghai—me and those kids from Shanghai—are completely out of place.”

Yu Luying remained noncommittal: "Let's stop thinking about this. Let's talk about something else."

"So you know what?" Xiao Yao told Yu Luying, "I have to fight Wang Ming. I have to let them know that bullying me has very, very serious consequences."

“Hmm,” Yu Luying agreed, though her tone sounded somewhat perfunctory.

“I can still remember what happened,” Xiao Yao recalled. “I’ll never forget it. You were working on the blackboard newspaper, and Wang Ming publicly humiliated me in front of you and a dozen other classmates. I still remember sitting there, my hands and feet ice cold, unable to move or speak, just lying there like a dead person—”

“I’m sorry,” Yu Luying said, looking at him. “If I could do it all over again, I would stand up for you immediately.”

“If you hadn’t been there, I probably wouldn’t have had the courage to lay a hand on Wang Ming, because I’ve never been good at fighting,” Xiao Yao said. “Even now, I can still recall the fear I felt back then, that cowardice…”

Yu Luying reached out her left hand and gently touched the top of Xiao Yao's head: "But in the end you still rushed up."