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

"Oh?" Yu Lihua turned her gaze back to Xiao Yao's face with great interest.

"First of all! Does your theory of bloodline conform to religious doctrine?" Xiao Yao's tone was somewhat agitated: "Social stratification, refusing to intermarry with newcomers, stagnation, and self-imposed isolation—how can you absorb fresh blood and develop? No matter where you are, the next generation is always the future..."

Yu Lihua stared blankly at Xiao Yao's righteous and indignant demeanor: "Did you think these words yourself, or did Yu Luying teach you to say them?"

"Of course it's myself—"

“That’s true, Yu Luying probably wouldn’t say these things either.” Yu Lihua nodded: “I’m starting to understand why my daughter likes you the only one.” She still emphasized the word ’you’.

"What, you like it?..." Xiao Yao was stunned.

“I admit you’re absolutely right, and I’m even starting to admire you a little.” Yu Lihua’s gaze softened slightly. “By the way, your parents aren’t living together anymore?”

This sudden change of topic caught Xiao Yao off guard: "Yes, how do you know everything?"

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to reopen old wounds,” Yu Lihua said softly, “but I have a colleague who works in social sciences. She told me that statistics show that if a person’s family of origin has an unhappy marriage, not only will their own chances of having an unhappy marriage increase by 50%, but their friends will also be more likely to be affected—I can’t take that risk anymore.”

“Auntie,” Xiao Yao clenched his fist, “everyone is an independent individual. Things depend on human effort, and free will is very important. It cannot be simply represented by probability…”

"So, are you trying to tell me that you've already figured out how to marry her, how to give her a secure, stable, and reliable future, and that you'll never leave her, no matter what happens, whether it's poverty, illness, or anything else?" Yu Lihua swirled the empty coffee cup in her hand, a hint of drunkenness in her voice.

"..." The boy fell silent: "I don't know."

"Heh." Yu Lihua sighed softly, "At least you're honest."

“If it were two months ago, or even a month ago, I would have said yes without hesitation,” the boy began hesitantly. “But now, I don’t know. I don’t know what the future holds, so I can’t make promises lightly. However, I still don’t want to lose Yu Luying as a friend, and… and I believe in her too… she also…”

"It seems you've really thought about this seriously, haven't you?"

Before Xiao Yao could reply, Yu Lihua chuckled again: "Really, why am I telling you all this? If it were another girl's parent, they wouldn't be telling you these things at all."

“Yes, Auntie,” Xiao Yao said sincerely, “so I’m very grateful to you. Thank you for being willing to share your concerns and opinions with me, and thank you for listening to me so much…”

"Alright, you little brat who hasn't even grown his first hair yet," Yu Lihua waved her hand, "Tell me, during the two weeks I was away from the country, you didn't bully Yu Luying, did you?"

“Absolutely not,” Xiao Yao raised his right hand to the sky: “We treated each other with the utmost respect! — Ah, no, uh, I mean…”

"Alright, let's go back." Yu Lihua stood up. "It's getting late."

Xiao Yao remained seated, hesitating for a few seconds before saying, "Auntie, I have something else to say."

"Oh? Okay, go ahead and say it." Yu Lihua raised her eyebrows and sat down again.

“I have something to ask of you,” Xiao Yao said, bowing his head. “It was wrong of me to sneak into your house while you were away. You can blame me however you want, but I just hope you can promise me that you won’t hit her this time.”

"Who told you I hit her?" Yu Lihua's face darkened again, and her voice rose eight octaves.

"..."

"Never mind, who else could it be?" Yu Lihua gave a wry smile. "I know."

"You agreed? That's wonderful!" Xiao Yao said happily, "Also, I've been thinking about all this for a long time. Actually, Yu Luying doesn't have many friends at school, and besides me, she hardly has any male friends. Since you were away, I feel she's been much better off, much more relaxed, both at school and elsewhere—"

"It seems that you've been together all this time, not just tonight?" Yu Lihua asked quietly.

"No, no, it's mainly about my situation at school..." Xiao Yao waved his hands repeatedly, realizing that he had gotten a little carried away.

"Xiao Yao, do you think I've given you too much face?" Yu Lihua's tone turned icy again, and her eyebrows furrowed. "You're already trying to interfere in our mother-daughter relationship? She's not even married to you yet!"

"Auntie, you've misunderstood, I didn't mean that—"

"That's not what I meant! What did you mean?" Yu Lihua said angrily, "Are you saying that my daughter is happy when I'm not home?!"

"Auntie, she didn't say that, please don't think that way." Xiao Yao held his head in his hands.

Yu Lihua placed a hundred-yuan bill on the table in front of her, stood up, and pushed open the door of the coffee shop.

A tinkling sound of wind chimes accompanied the night breeze, bringing Yu Lihua a sense of clarity.

She took a deep breath, didn't look back, and left straight away.

Chapter 40 Young Werther

Xiao Yao never dared to believe that he could be liked by a girl.

He especially couldn't believe that "the person he liked also liked him," a situation akin to winning the lottery.

It's not simply a matter of low self-esteem; it's just that I've gotten used to being rejected.

"Please," Xiao Xiong said, leaning against the corridor railing with Xiao Yao during Thursday morning's break, "you're only a freshman, how many times can you possibly get rejected? Don't tell me you're some kind of superhuman who can chase after every girl in the class?"

"It's not that exaggerated..." Xiao Yao looked at the pigeon meditating on the treetop nearby: "The people I've liked, one in fifth grade, one in junior high, plus Yu Luying, that's three, and Shen Jie is the fourth?"

Little Bear opened his mouth as if to say something, but Xiao Yao continued on his own: "However, Yu Luying was the first person I truly fell for... I should say love. The previous two, I liked them both, and we remained good friends, but after being rejected, I gave up without much lingering attachment. You know, I can easily become good friends with girls, but if they try to cross that line—"

"You've said it so many times. No, you just really want to be in a relationship?" Little Bear sighed, "There are so many other joys in life, you know."

"I do want to," Xiao Yao chuckled self-deprecatingly. "Maybe it's because I've read too many romance novels in 'Juvenile Literature' magazine? I always feel that dating in college or in the real world will be a completely different experience, unlike what I'm experiencing now..."

"Damn it, how could I possibly stand a love-struck artsy teenager like you?" Little Bear said helplessly, "You're just like a little girl who's been poisoned by Qiong Yao!"

"It's 'Juvenile Literature' and 'Budding New Sprouts'," Xiao Yao corrected.

"So what? Now that you suspect Yu Luying actually likes you, you're getting all excited again?" Little Bear didn't understand. "You just want to be in a relationship, right? How is Miss Shen any worse than her? Be content. If you keep acting up, you might end up with nothing!"

Xiao Yao turned around and leaned against the railing: "Shen Jie also said that Yu Luying likes me, and I didn't take it seriously, but now that it's coming from her mother's mouth... it's hard for me not to take it to heart."

"She just mumbled something casually, without thinking," Little Bear said, a little annoyed. "If Yu Luying wanted to say yes, she would have already. We've finally become friends again, and if you try to take things further, she'll just ignore you again—"

"Yes, I'm worried about that too, so I don't dare ask her."

As the preparatory bell rang, the noisy corridor returned to silence within seconds.

"You ask me if Yu Luying likes you or not? I can't tell. Although Shen Bin and Hua Ang both said that you two made up after such a big fight, and she even tutored you, made you lunchboxes, and took you to her house, if she didn't like you, she would have kicked you out long ago." Xiao Xiong spoke quickly, waving at Xiao Yao: "If you ask me, they've never been in a relationship, what do they know? Why don't you go and discuss it with your relationship expert, your god-sister? Only girls understand girls, bye."

Xiao Yao didn't say anything, but simply bowed his hand and walked into the classroom with his head down.

During the ten-minute break between classes, Yu Luying didn't leave her seat at all; she just lay on the table writing something.

He returned to his seat and sat down, looking at her thin shoulders, which were hidden by her long, loose hair.

She's really hardworking, Xiao Yao thought.

Teacher Yao originally wanted to appoint Yu Luying as class monitor, Youth League secretary, and academic representative, but she refused them all. Otherwise, what would be the point of having the current academic representative?

"For the revolution, to protect our eyesight, let's begin our eye exercises!"

Yu Luying's slender and long legs were folded under the desk, resting on the knee of her other leg.

He has always envied this skill of girls—something that boys really can't do.

"Close your eyes! First step, shake the Heavenly Yin point!"

Xiao Yao's gaze moved downwards and landed on her dangling ankle.

A patch of pure, flawless white peeked out from the upper of the sneakers and the hem of the school trousers—a sight Xiao Yao never tired of looking at.

Whether it's spring, summer, autumn, or winter, Yu Luying always wears snow-white sneakers and snow-white cotton socks at school—her socks outline the beautiful curves of her ankles, without any patterns or embellishments, no lace, frills, or ruffles, no openwork, just like an endless expanse of spotless white snow.

No matter when or where, whether it's shoes or socks, they're always whiter than any other girl's, a fact that Xiao Yao finds difficult to explain scientifically.

"Section Two: Press and squeeze the Jingming acupoint..."

Xiao Yao thought to himself, "I wasn't the only guy who got close to her. I'm definitely not the best."

But they weren't even given the cold shoulder; they were completely ignored, and he became her only boyfriend... male friend.

I naturally became friends with her because I liked her, but what about her?

Or is all of this just wishful thinking on my part?

"Section Three, Shake the Four White Points!"

This symbiosis that came out of nowhere... even God is giving me a cheat code, making us "one person". Should I still hold back?

But if I do something, wouldn't that be a betrayal of Shen Jie? I shouldn't be that kind of person.

Besides, if I scare Yu Luying and make her put me in the same category as everyone else again, do you really think I can use that to blackmail her?

She really does seem like a... easily frightened fawn.

...Xiao Yao was glad that his seat was far enough away from Yu Luying's that she shouldn't be able to hear his inner thoughts.

He felt a slight palpitation, like the nervousness before an exam.

There seemed to be an urge to burst forth somewhere in my body.

"Fourth step, shake your temples, then gently rub around your eye sockets..."

The girl seemed to sense something, glanced back at him, gave him an angry look, and then quickly turned her face away.

Xiao Yao closed his eyes and began to do the eye exercises absentmindedly.

……

"Class begins!" As soon as the music ended, Xiao Yao heard a shrill female voice.

"Stand up!" the class monitor said, followed by the sound of all the chairs in the class being moved.

"Hello students!"

"Hello, teacher!" This was a weak, monotone chorus.

"Please sit down!"