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

In Shanghai that year, bubble tea shops weren't as ubiquitous as they would be a decade or so later. However, there was one right across the street from Shanghai No. 7 Girls' High School. The signboard simply read "Pearl Milk Tea," and the place inside was quite small, with only two or three small round tables.

Students at No. 7 Middle School generally have strong spending power, so the place is quite popular, and the auntie at the milk tea shop has earned a lot of money this year.

At that moment, two students were sitting at a table near the counter in the store. One was a girl whose temperament was out of place with the environment, and the other was a boy whose temperament was out of place with the environment.

"Xiao Yao? What's his relationship with Li Xiaoyao?" Shen Jie ordered herself a honey grapefruit tea with practiced ease.

"No, it's nothing."

Shen Jie pushed the menu in front of Xiao Yao.

“I, I don’t drink,” Xiao Yao glanced at the numbers on the menu and licked his dry lips. “I’m not thirsty.”

"Please have another bubble tea, together." Shen Jie waved to the clerk and casually pulled out a hundred-yuan bill from her bag and handed it over.

"No..." Xiao Yao reached out his hand, trying to refuse.

“I don’t have much time,” she glanced at her watch and gave an apologetic smile, “because I have an appointment with the dojo instructor.”

"Shen Jie, I..."

"How do you know me?"

"..."

“It’s okay if you don’t want to say,” Shen Jie said gently, her eyes sparkling. “Thank you for liking me, but you’re not my type, so please don’t waste your time on me anymore. I’m sorry.”

The other person's face turned pale instantly.

"You're a very cute boy, there must be a girl more suitable for you than me," Shen Jie continued, making polite remarks.

“No,” Xiao Yao clenched his fist, “this is too outrageous.”

"Hmm?" Shen Jie raised her eyebrows. Was she about to make a move?

"Why don't you act like a normal person?" Xiao Yao paused for a few seconds, seemingly trying to control his temper, and then changed to a gentler tone: "I haven't even confessed my feelings yet, how can you reject me?"

"Thank you." Shen Jie gave a slight nod to the waitress and accepted her honey grapefruit tea.

"On our first meeting, you didn't even know me, yet you so hastily rejected me, saying I wasn't your type. Aren't you a little arrogant?" Xiao Yao said seriously.

Proud of me? Shen Jie took a sip of her drink, a somewhat confused expression on her face.

"First impressions are important, and there's nothing wrong with that, isn't there?" Shen Jie replied tactfully.

"No, character and inner qualities are the most important," Xiao Yao insisted. "Giving others a chance is giving yourself a chance. Don't be in a hurry to close that door; relationships between people..."

Shen Jie was somewhat astonished—the number of boys who pursued her and confessed their feelings to her was countless, and most of them were extremely ingratiating.

Some give up after being rejected, while others remain confused. But she had never seen anyone so righteous and accusatory, lecturing her like an elder.

Amidst the novelty, Shen Jie didn't know whether to be annoyed or amused.

“Then you,” Shen Jie deliberately lowered the corners of her mouth, making her eyes sharp as well, “you don’t understand me either, do you? Just like you said, we’re complete strangers, so what do you like about me? Isn’t it just my appearance?”

"I don't even know you, yet you keep calling me, even calling my home? Sending me letters is one thing, but today you even requested a song for me at school? Do you know I've become the talk of the school again today? And, wasn't it you who secretly followed me after school the last few times? Have you ever considered that this might cause trouble for girls? Sometimes, the line between pursuing and harassing is very thin?"

Shen Jie spoke very quickly, and Xiao Yao tried to interrupt her several times, but failed.

"Who called you? Who requested a song for you?" Xiao Yao finally interjected, "I don't even have your phone number, how could I call you?"

"Huh?" Shen Jie looked at Xiao Yao, who was completely bewildered, and didn't react for a moment: "You're not..."

After the misunderstanding was cleared up, Shen Jie covered her mouth with one hand and her stomach with the other, pounding her little fist on the table, and started laughing.

She's had this problem since she was little; once something makes her laugh, she can't stop.

"Is it that funny...?" Xiao Yao looked at himself with a helpless expression.

"Yes, I'm sorry, haha... I... hahaha... I didn't mean to... hahaha..." Shen Jie lowered her head under the table, desperately trying to control herself.

"I...I was being rude." Finally, Shen Jie regained her composure: "I'm really sorry."

She stood up, bowed deeply to Xiao Yao at a 90-degree angle, and her two ponytails hung straight down.

Xiao Yao quickly stood up as well: "No, no, no..."

“However,” Shen Jie did not sit down, but explained sincerely, “because of my family situation, I really don’t plan to date. This is not an excuse.”

"Can't we exchange contact information and become friends?" the other party persisted.

Shen Jie sighed and said, "Then tell me, why do you want to be friends with me? And how did you find me?"

Strangely enough, when Xiao Yao approached her, he asked, "Are you Shen Jie?" This meant that he had never seen her before, a fact she had overlooked earlier.

The boy across the round table pondered for a moment: "I can't tell you the reason, otherwise you'll think I'm crazy, or that I'm making fun of you."

Shen Jie's curiosity was piqued: "I promise I won't."

"Impossible." Xiao Yao shook his head.

"Will you tell me or not? If you do, I'll give you your contact information. If not, I'm leaving," Shen Jie teased him with a smile.

“…You, sigh, fine.” Xiao Yao looked completely helpless with her: “You don’t have to believe me, but you can’t get angry.”

“Okay.” Shen Jie readily agreed and sat down again.

"I don't know if your school has this legend, but it's said that during a thunderstorm, staring into a mirror at three in the morning..."

Xiao Yao recounted the thunderstorm and the mirror from early this morning, how he met the girl named Shen Tianyun, and how he eventually found his way here. His story was vivid and engaging; for a moment, Shen Jie almost believed him.

“So, I came.” Xiao Yao looked at Shen Jie nervously.

Shen Jie rested her chin on her hand, looking thoughtful, without saying a word.

How did this man know the name Shen Tianyun?

When Shen Jie was very young, she did name the doll she played as her daughter this way when they played house. Later, when she got older, she learned that most children would take their father's surname, but she still preferred the name "Tianyun".

But how did he know about this? He might not even be able to contact those childhood playmates anymore...

Clearly, this boy had gone to great lengths, secretly gathering a lot of information about himself before adopting this seemingly unconventional yet novel way of confessing his feelings.

An ordinary girl might be wary and afraid of this.

But she is Shen Jie.

To be able to fabricate such an absurd story and tell it so seriously, without batting an eye, is undeniably quite creative.

Excellent, man, you've successfully captured my attention.

“I know this sounds hard to believe,” Xiao Yao said, “but—”

Shen Jie made a "STOP" gesture and glanced at the darkening sky outside: "I really have to go to the dojo."

That's the truth; I haven't even had dinner yet because I've been kept up with it.

"Oh... um," Xiao Yao said.

"Hand." Shen Jie opened one palm.

"Huh? Oh." Xiao Yao stretched out his palm in confusion.

Shen Jie took out a pen from the side pocket of her schoolbag, took Xiao Yao's hand, and wrote down eight digits on it.

"Here's my QQ number, let's contact each other next time?" Shen Jie said.

"Could you give me your phone number?" The other party continued to push their luck: "I don't have a computer at home, so it's inconvenient for me to log in to QQ."

"Don't you have QQ on your phone?" Shen Jie regretted her words as soon as they left her mouth. Looking at the Lenovo flip phone Xiao Yao had on the table, she guessed it didn't have 2G internet access.

"No."

Shen Jie's lips curled into a smile again. She wagged her index finger: "Go ask my daughter for the phone number—if she really has it."

"Can--"

"I'm leaving now, Brother Xiaoyao." Shen Jie said playfully, picked up her schoolbag, and walked away with light steps without looking back.

The setting sun was almost completely submerged in this steel jungle teeming with desire, and the last rays of its afterglow were about to disappear.

"I've actually sat with that guy for so long," Shen Jie thought.

Shen Tianyun...?

She silently recited the familiar yet unfamiliar name in her heart, and ancient, long-forgotten memories surged into her mind like a tide.

Chapter 5 The Alley Princess

On his way home, Xiao Yao felt good.

The following passage came to his mind:

You have unlocked Shen Jie's reputation.

Your reputation with Shen Jie has increased by 3000 points.

Your reputation with Shen Jie has reached the Friendly level.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that he awakened some kind of system, it's just that he played too many games.

That being said, actually being able to talk to Shen Jie today wasn't part of the original plan.

He recognized Shen Jie at a glance. Firstly, she looked so much like Shen Tianyun—well, that doesn't sound quite right; secondly, before coming here, he had already searched for the keywords "City No. 7 Girls' High School + Shen Jie" at Canhua Internet Cafe.