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

“…” Shen Jie remained silent.

"Why didn't I tell you I was at Yu Luying's house?" Xiao Yao said, "Because I felt that if I did, you would definitely say, 'Then you guys are busy, I'll hang up now.'"

"Indeed," Shen Jie admitted after a moment's thought.

“I don’t want this. I want to chat with you, have a good goodnight phone call with you, no matter if I’m at home, outside, or at someone else’s house,” Xiao Yao said.

"You should show some manners in someone else's home. You're making me look like I'm being inconsiderate." Although Shen Jie was still scolding, her tone had become much gentler: "Besides, couldn't you have gone out to greet her? And in front of Silly Girl, what's wrong with you?"

“I originally intended to go out to pick him up,” Xiao Yao explained, “but then I thought, sneaking around like a thief would make me feel guilty, like I'm playing both sides—like I'm secretly having my cake and eating it too, wouldn't that be bad? The three of us, ah, putting everything else aside, are all good friends, and our interactions are always open and aboveboard—”

“Even the Emperor himself never flirts with another concubine in front of one,” Shen Jie blurted out.

"But you are the Empress! You are the Queen! You are the legal wife!" Xiao Yao said passionately, "What right do you have to go out and hide outside the door?"

"Damn it!" Shen Jie laughed loudly, "You won! You won!"

Xiao Yao wished he could conjure up a clone and applaud himself.

Then, Shen Jie advised Xiao Yao to avoid going to Yu Luying's house unless necessary, suggesting that the Madier Café would be a more suitable place. She also suggested that if he had trouble making a phone call later, he should explain that he could call her after he got home.

Xiao Yao readily agreed.

Just when he thought the phone call was coming to an end, Shen Jie suddenly changed the subject: "I have something to tell you."

"What's the matter?" Xiao Yao asked.

“I hadn’t decided whether to tell you or not,” Shen Jie said, “but now that I think about it, I should let you know.”

"You said."

"I crawled into the mirror in my room today," Shen Jie said. "Just now."

"What's wrong?" Xiao Yao asked.

“Do you remember?” Shen Jie said, “I went inside before. It was just an empty room with nothing inside, and there was thick fog outside. I couldn’t get out.”

Xiao Yao thought to himself, "Did you tell me that?" He said aloud, "And then?"

“I’m under house arrest,” Shen Jie said. “I want to try my luck again and see if I can find a way to sneak out without anyone noticing.”

"Your place is also set in 2034, right? Your bedroom, isn't it?" Xiao Yao thought, "It probably can't be used to pave the way for Mississippi."

“As it turned out,” Shen Jie’s voice still sounded a little frightened, “when I went in, I found that the inside was different from the last time I went in.”

"What does it look like?" Xiao Yao's curiosity was immediately piqued.

"How should I describe it?" Shen Jie paused and said, "On the other side of the mirror is... a towering... skyscraper?"

"what?"

Chapter 184 I Just Like Daughters

2023-05-07

"How should I describe it?" Shen Jie paused and said, "On the other side of the mirror is... a towering... skyscraper?"

"what?"

Shen Jie tried her best to describe what she saw: "Through the mirror, my room didn't change much, but going outside was completely different."

"Can we go out now?" Xiao Yao interjected.

“We can get out now.” Shen Jie continued, “At first I thought it was a town, but when I got to the edge I could see that the town was located on top of a skyscraper. Looking down through the clouds below, you couldn’t see the bottom at all.”

"Huh?" Xiao Yao said, "What super skyscraper? Did you travel back to 3004?"

“I can’t explain it,” Shen Jie said. “If it’s the real world, who would build a city on a rooftop? If it’s the shadow world, I can’t use my abilities.”

"Could it be someone's palace? They can't use their abilities?" Xiao Yao speculated. "Tell me more details."

"I didn't dare linger. I'll just tell you what I saw." Shen Jie's tone sounded somewhat somber, but she continued to vividly describe what she had witnessed.

According to her, this beautiful city atop the skyscrapers looks a bit like the old city of Shanghai at first glance, with shops, restaurants, theaters, and amusement parks lined up one after another, but it is also exceptionally bright and shows no trace of antiquity.

Its overall area is much larger than the projected area of ​​the building below, and the city is surrounded by pavilions and corridors that can be suspended in the air.

(Author's note: If you've played the BioShock series, this can help you imagine the visual style, but of course, it's not exactly the same.)

"Wow, what is that?" Xiao Yao exclaimed. "You've made me want to go see it myself. Did you encounter Shadow in there?"

“Well, how should I put it—” Shen Jie pondered, “I don’t know if they are people or shadows. They live here just like the residents. There are shop assistants, drivers, and police officers, and they are all very polite to me.”

"Do they know you?" Xiao Yao guessed further.

“Hmm, I don’t know,” Shen Jie said. “There was even an old lady who talked to me and asked, ‘Little girl, why aren’t you wearing shoes?’”

"Then, little girl, why aren't you wearing shoes?" Xiao Yao asked Shen Jie.

"Because we don't wear shoes at home, I just walked through the bedroom mirror," Shen Jie said, puzzled. "Can't you focus your attention on something useful?"

“No,” Xiao Yao said, “I would feel sorry for you if you walked on the street without shoes.”

"...Anyway, I ended up going to the police station there to ask how to leave."

"Don't go too far alone," Xiao Yao suddenly remembered something and quickly warned, "It's too dangerous for you to go alone."

“They gave me the answer,” Shen Jie told Xiao Yao: “The police here told me that the only way to leave the city is to jump down from the outer corridor.”

"What kind of crazy idea is this? Don't be reckless!"

"Of course I won't jump. There's another way, which is the 'elevator'. There's an elevator in the city center, but it can only go up, not down, and you need a permit to use it, which I can't get."

"Upwards? Isn't it the top floor?" Xiao Yao asked, puzzled.

"I haven't figured that out yet, and I'm not planning to go any further. So, the last resort is the 'slide'."

"Is it for kids?" Xiao Yao asked.

"That's it—there's a bottomless slide in the amusement park, and people who ride it will 'leave' the city. That's what the police said."

"And then? You went?" Xiao Yao's palms were sweating. He never expected that while he was enjoying a romantic evening with Yu Luying by the river, his wife would go on a wild adventure alone in a strange palace. How reckless of her!

"No, I felt I couldn't stay here any longer, so I came back the way I came. I had just gotten back when your call came in," Shen Jie said.

“Okay, you’ve matured,” Xiao Yao praised her. “You don’t know much about the situation there. These so-called methods are all strange. You’re all on your own. If you take risks easily, your uncle will really be angry.”

"Okay, Uncle," Shen Jie said.

"But is that place a thousand years in the future, or some kind of palace?" Xiao Yao tapped the lid of the sewing box on the sofa arm.

“It should be the palace,” Shen Jie said. “I just realized that my socks are white and clean, and all the wear and tear marks and black marks are gone.”

"Hmm..." Xiao Yao continued tapping the sewing box lid: "Should I talk to Lao Yu about it tomorrow?"

"Just say it."

Then, Shen Jie asked Xiao Yao to take good care of her daughter. They chatted for a while longer before Xiao Yao reluctantly hung up the phone.

The next thing to do is quickly check if the kitten is back.

I quietly pushed open the wardrobe door across the street, and before I even stepped out, I heard snoring.

Xiao Yao felt a little relieved.

It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back.

If you were to run away from home like your mother, I wouldn't have the same tolerance as my father-in-law; I'd definitely give you a good beating.

Your snoring and teeth grinding habits are just like your mother's; you're exactly the same.

The room was bright, and although the fog outside the window remained perpetual, moonlight spilled onto the carpet and the bed.

The layout of this room was not much different from my own, except that the outdated posters on the walls had been replaced with photos of my daughter of various sizes; the sofa had also been replaced with a new one with soft leather, and my daughter's clothes were piled up haphazardly on it.

Hmph, things were fine before, but now... the mother and daughter are equally slovenly.

In the corner, Tianyun's large plush bear sat on the floor, leaning against the bookshelf.

The air conditioner made a soft whirring sound, blasting out cool air. These appliances from thirty years later are truly amazing; they're practically silent. Compared to them, my old air conditioner in my room sounds like a tractor…

Xiao Yao used the moonlight to find his way to his daughter's bedside.

Tianyun was fast asleep, a slight smile on her round face. Shen Jie's small blanket, printed with many cat heads, only covered her belly a little, revealing her long legs. Her skin appeared much whiter in the moonlight, seemingly glowing faintly.

As expected of her...our daughter, she's so beautiful.

Xiao Yao could see the shadow and charm of Shen Jie in her face. With his wife not by his side, it seemed that looking at his daughter more often could "quench his thirst with the sight of plums".

The thought of his daughter potentially benefiting some unknown—preferably "some" rather than "a few"—that mischievous boy filled Xiao Yao with a deep sense of unease and intense jealousy.

I've heard that fathers-in-law are born disliking their sons-in-law. I wonder what Brother B's feelings were when he first met me.

Xiao Yao carefully covered her with the blanket. No matter how hot the weather is, you can't just sit in the air conditioning like that; you'll get sick.

It's like when I first met my daughter, I entered her room in the dark and almost got knocked down by her baseball bat. Time flies! Two months have passed in the blink of an eye. Has our relationship become closer?

Intimacy my foot! Who knows when they'll make up this time?

No matter what, he is a father, and he can't be his daughter's "lapdog"; he has to wait for her to bow down first.

In the days since, I first racked my brains to pursue Shen Jie, then entered the strange world of shadows, then reconciled with Shen Jie, and got entangled with Yu Luying... and finally inexplicably became the boyfriend of two girls? There were things to do, like studying, grades, Teacher Yao's things, Teacher Song's things, everything was a problem, but I spent very little energy on my daughter.

What does she like to eat? Whose songs does she like to listen to? When is her birthday? What worries does she have? Is it really okay for her to be away from home all the time? Who are her friends? What are her plans for the future? How can we deal with her rebellious nature? Her strange, postmodern ideas…

To my shame, I spend less than a tenth of the attention I give to my own flesh and blood than I do on those two girls.