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

“Okay, I’ll tell you why.” Ouyang Qianqian changed her previous playful attitude and sat up straight: “I’m not considering you because I’m a senior member of the appearance association, and you are still 0.01 light-years away from my requirements. That’s my problem, not yours.”

"Thanks, that's really encouraging," Xiao Yao said sarcastically.

"The second reason is that I genuinely don't dislike you. Although I change boyfriends every day, you're the only one I have, right? Do you also want to have a sweet romance with me, and then I'll get tired of you, dump you, and we'll never see each other again?"

"……All right."

"Alright, stop bothering me," Ouyang Qianqian said irritably. "If you really want a hug and a kiss—"

"What are you doing?" Xiao Yao looked at Ouyang Qianqian, who suddenly stood up and walked to his side, and was a little flustered.

"I'll give you a trial card then." Ouyang Qianqian bent down, her long hair falling down: "Isn't that generous enough? I'm going to sacrifice myself for this, this is a one-time thing."

"Are you serious?" Xiao Yao smelled the lavender scent in her hair, and his heart began to pound violently.

“Really.” Ouyang Qianqian’s expression was very serious.

"What if you're fishing, and then I do something and you get angry and stop talking to me?"

"Can't you just go see a doctor when you're sick? Don't hide your illness and avoid seeking medical help!" Ouyang Qianqian was getting impatient.

"...Alright, stop messing around." Xiao Yao swallowed and moved back a bit. "Isn't this being indecent? That's not right."

“My dear brother,” Ouyang Qianqian smiled and returned to her seat, “it’s not that I’m not giving you a chance! Should I laugh at you for being a coward who only pays lip service to love something, or should I say that I like my brother who always exudes a silly yet upright aura?”

"You're overthinking it," Xiao Yao thought. "If you hadn't come earlier, and I had kissed you now, Yu Luying would have found out immediately."

"Brother, remember this!" Ouyang Qianqian propped her chin up: "Keep yourself clean and tidy, style your hair regularly, and have several nice outfits to change into. Don't get stuck on trivial things, and don't just play online games; play basketball too. Cultivate some popular hobbies, listen to pop music, and don't spend all your time in your own little world, indulging in self-admiration. And also~ try to study a little harder..."

"No way, you have the nerve to criticize me for studying?" Xiao Yao complained.

"At least I'm ranked higher than you, okay?" Ouyang Qianqian rolled her eyes again. "Besides, it's you who can't find a partner, not me. If you really cared, why didn't you take notes!"

"Write it down, write it down, write it down." Xiao Yao quickly pulled a notebook out of his schoolbag.

“Complaining and whining won’t solve anything. Our overall strategy is to make ourselves more popular.” Ouyang Qianqian earnestly advised, “If you chase after this girl today and that girl tomorrow, you’ll run into walls everywhere, your reputation will suffer, and girls will start talking about it, creating a vicious cycle.”

Xiao Yao nodded repeatedly while scribbling on the ground.

“I don’t know that young lady from No. 7 Girls’ High School, so I can’t analyze her. PASS.” Ouyang Qianqian sighed. “I’ll just mention two people I know: Zhou Qi and Yu Luying.”

"Zhou Qi...?" Xiao Yao was taken aback: "Wait a minute, could Zhou Qi be involved in this?"

“When school first started, Zhou Qi had a tiny bit of… interest in you.” Ouyang Qianqian made a gesture with her thumb and forefinger.

Xiao Yao's pen slammed down onto the notebook.

"pull……"

“Zhou Qi and I are pretty good friends, she told me that herself.” Ouyang Qianqian pouted. “If you don’t believe me, fine. Zhou Qi originally wanted to develop a relationship with you, but shortly after the start of the semester, you became isolated because you didn’t fit in with the rest of the class in any way, so she had no choice but to isolate you too.”

"What kind of logic is this?" Xiao Yao stared blankly at Ouyang Qianqian. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? Besides, she not only isolates me, but she's always stirring up trouble—"

"Here, this is the pledge of allegiance. You know what a pledge of allegiance is? It's to let everyone know that she and you are not on the same side." Ouyang Qianqian shrugged, playing with the straw in her hand: "That's how society is~~~~ Not everyone is like me, fearless of power and deeply principled."

Xiao Yao felt a chill run down his spine.

"I've been advising her to be mindful of her boundaries," Ouyang Qianqian continued. "Yu Luying is the same way. She gets along very well with you, even better than with Zhou Qi. For a long time, I've felt that her resistance to you is more or less related to your reputation."

"The reason I think this way is because I haven't communicated with her much. After all, she doesn't really like me. Now I realize that she probably doesn't even know what she wants. Judging from the information you provided, this matter is probably closely related to her family."

“Of course I’ve noticed that too,” Xiao Yao said in a low voice. “The problem now is that I don’t know what to do. If we stay put, she won’t take any further steps.”

“Of course.” Ouyang Qianqian nodded.

“If I ask her or try to take things further, and I mess it up again, she might just break off the relationship with me like before,” Xiao Yao said.

“That’s right.” Ouyang Qianqian continued to nod approvingly: “Brother has good analytical skills.”

"So, what now?" Xiao Yao asked the most crucial question: "I don't even dare to let her know that Shen Jie and I have a problem."

Chapter 43 Nightmare

2022-12-21

That evening, Xiao Yao and Ouyang Qianqian talked for a long time, and didn't leave until the restaurant closed.

Xiao Yao felt that he had gained a lot, yet he also felt that he had gained nothing.

At least, the frustration of being dumped by Shen Jie has eased somewhat.

Back home, Grandma launched into another tirade.

"I know, I know," Xiao Yao said. "Didn't I tell you I'm studying? Just watch me for the final exam this time."

"I'm going on a trip soon. Are you sure you'll be okay staying home alone during the summer vacation?" Grandma followed Xiao Yao into the room, hopping along with him.

"Oh, don't worry, go have fun. I'll take good care of the house." Xiao Yao gently pushed his grandmother's back. "I need to change my pants."

No sooner had Grandma left than Xiao Yao locked the door and crawled into the mirror.

Shen Tianyun was not there, and judging from the signs in the room, she had never returned.

This was the first time such a thing had happened, and Xiao Yao inwardly felt a sense of foreboding.

He slept in his daughter's bed again, having a series of strange dreams.

First, I dreamt of Shen Jie—the same dream I had before, where I went out with Shen Jie, got into a car accident, and was run over by a truck. It played out again.

Then he dreamed that he and Shen Tianyun were standing hand in hand on the stairs of a kindergarten (the environment of the kindergarten was the one he had attended). Suddenly, Shen Tianyun's body shattered into pieces, which escaped from the window and drifted away into the sky.

Xiao Yao searched the world for her, traversing every corner of the small town where he was born and the area around his grandmother's house, but still found nothing.

He tried to shout, but no sound came out.

"Dad, why are you looking for me? I'm no longer here." Finally, Shen Tianyun's voice drifted from the sky.

Xiao Yao looked up and saw Shen Tianyun's face filling the entire sky, which was quite horrifying: "You messed things up, Mom doesn't want you anymore, and of course, I won't exist either."

Shen Tianyun's voice echoed between heaven and earth.

"No! No!" Xiao Yao finally cried out, then woke up with a start.

Xiao Yao got out of bed, walked through the mirror back to his own bed, but was awakened by Shen Tianyun in his dream and found himself still in Shen Tianyun's bed.

He returned to his own bed, only to wake up in Shen Tianyun's bed again, over and over again.

Xiao Yao didn't wake up from his dream until the alarm clock rang, realizing that he had been in his daughter's bed the whole time.

It was already dawn, and his sweat had soaked half of Shen Tianyun's pillow.

Xiao Yao returned to his own time, quietly dressed and went out, ate a bowl of scallion oil noodles for two yuan, then ate a small wonton for one yuan, and rode his bike to school.

Standing at the school gate, he called Shen Jie twice, but no one answered.

After pacing back and forth at the school gate countless times, people began to arrive at the school one after another.

"Hey, Casanova, what brings you here too?" Ribbonfish suddenly called out to him, waking him from his reverie: "Didn't you say you didn't sign up?"

"Ah, haha, waiting for someone, waiting for someone." Xiao Yao was taken aback: "Good morning, Brother Dai."

"We're all on the same side, just call me Daiyu." Daiyu smiled, patted Xiao Yao's chest, and went inside.

Yu Luying arrived riding on the back of her mother's little motorcycle. She wasn't wearing her school uniform today; instead, she wore a fitted white women's blouse and a brown backpack slung over her shoulder. She wore light blue skinny jeans, the high-waisted design showing off her long legs.

Her hair, which was usually loose, was tied into a high ponytail, and she wore her ever-present snow-white sneakers and plain white cotton socks.

He looks more energetic than usual.

Yu Luying saw Xiao Yao and glared at him fiercely.

Xiao Yao then realized that she shouldn't have let her mother see this.

Just as he was about to turn around and pretend to enter the school gate, Yu Lihua seemed to have already seen him and even seemed to nod slightly at him from afar.

? !

Before Xiao Yao could react, Yu Lihua had already stopped the car. She let her daughter out, gave her a few words of advice, then turned the car around and drove away.

"Good morning," Xiao Yao greeted awkwardly.

Yu Luying ignored him, looked around to see if she recognized anyone, then slung her backpack over her shoulder and walked back without looking back.

Just as Xiao Yao was about to follow, a voice came from inside the school gate: "Yu Luying".

"Ah, Teacher Yao." The girl stopped and turned around, exclaiming in surprise.

"Class is about to start, where are you going?" Teacher Yao has become much quieter and more haggard lately.

"I, I..." Yu Luying was not good at making up lies, and her face turned bright red.

“Teacher Yao,” Xiao Yao called out, “I invited Yu Luying to go to the museum with me, but her mother wouldn’t let her come with me… she’s keeping a very close eye on her, so we…”

Teacher Yao understood immediately.

“Things aren’t safe outside lately, so don’t go running around aimlessly if you don’t have to…” He hesitated for a moment before speaking again: “Xiao Yao, you must take good care of her and keep her away from sparsely populated and chaotic places.”

"Definitely, definitely, thank you Teacher Yao!"

"Thank you, Teacher Yao." Yu Luying also spoke timidly, "Please...don't tell my mother."

"I didn't see you all today." Teacher Yao waved her hand and went back into the school gate.

"When Teacher Yao said things weren't peaceful, he was definitely referring to Zhou Qi's situation. But he still let us go; he's such a good person." On the way to the subway station, Xiao Yao couldn't help but sigh to Yu Luying.

"Mm." Yu Luying nodded.