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

Xiao Yao turned to look at the bathroom. Behind the frosted glass, the sound of water was soft and the steam was bright, like a miracle.

"Hey! Hey!" Xiao Yao called out to the person in the bathroom, "Who's in there?"

No one answered.

“Actually, I quite like you,” a female voice suddenly rang out in the room like surround sound: “Hmm… I like you a little bit.”

"Yu Luying?" Xiao Yao asked incredulously.

“Although you are still very immature,” a voice that sounded just like Yu Luying continued to float down from the ceiling, “we are quite compatible, so I’m actually thinking of saying yes and giving it a try with you.”

"Are you telling the truth?" Xiao Yao asked excitedly.

“But Mom won’t agree,” Yu Luying’s voice was tearful and plaintive. “Mom said that you people are all liars. You only covet beauty, pretend to join the church, take advantage of my body, and then get tired of me and leave me alone in the end.”

"Huh?" Xiao Yao was a little confused: "Yu Luying, not all men are like that... those damned Chen Shimei! You can't generalize and condemn all of them!"

“But Mom is always right,” Yu Luying’s voice said. “Mom only has me left, and I can’t let her be sad or upset. I have to listen to Mom, otherwise she will get angry…”

“But you are an independent person!” Xiao Yao said loudly, while feeling a little doubtful—this was probably not Yu Luying herself, because Yu Luying would never speak like this.

What Yu Luying said next further confirmed Xiao Yao's guess: "Sometimes, I really hate my mother. If only I didn't have a mother, if only my mother were dead... I wouldn't have to continue being her slave. I want to be free."

Xiao Yao gripped the corner of his blanket tightly: "Who are you? Stop impersonating Yu Luying..."

The voice seemed not to hear what Xiao Yao was saying, and continued to speak to itself: "After all, I'm just a child who wasn't born, right? I'm a burden to my mother..."

Before Xiao Yao could speak again, Yu Luying's voice was cut off and replaced by another female voice.

“Actually, I think you’re quite funny. Sometimes you’re a bit silly, which is cute,” another female voice said.

“Shen Jie…” Xiao Yao muttered to himself. This time, he didn’t intend to “talk” to her.

“I don’t dislike you; at least you’re much better than Zhang Zhengkai,” Shen Jie’s voice said.

"Thanks," Xiao Yao muttered, wondering to himself what Zhang Zhengkai had to do with this.

"If I were to marry you, although... I wouldn't say I'd be completely willing, it's not... unacceptable, is it?" Shen Jie's voice continued, "At least, you'd be more obedient and easier to control, right?"

"What the hell is 'easy to control'?!" Xiao Yao couldn't help but protest.

"If you could like me a little more, just like you like Yu Luying, like Zhang Zhengkai like me, maybe, just maybe I... could..." The voice was broken and sounded somewhat resentful.

"Don't I love you enough?" Xiao Yao said, "You are my wife, and loving you is my duty."

"Looks like you make a pretty good impression on the girls? That's great." It was a male voice that answered him.

"My God!" Xiao Yao screamed in fright as the boy appeared without warning at the head of his bed. "Who...who are you?"

"Can't you tell? I'm Xiao Yao," the boy replied matter-of-factly.

Although he could clearly see that the person was wearing his own clothes and had his own head on top of his own, acting as if he were completely at ease, the boy's pupils were... green.

"You are Xiao Yao, and who am I?" Xiao Yao said angrily.

The green-eyed boy who called himself "Xiao Yao" sat down on the edge of the bed: "You are my subconscious, my desire, my true self. Therefore, you are me."

"You're talking nonsense!" Xiao Yao retorted gruffly. "You are my subconscious, your whole family is my subconscious!"

The green-eyed boy shrugged and didn't say anything.

What was happening before his eyes was clearly beyond his comprehension.

An awkward silence hung in the air amidst the sound of running water in the bathroom.

“I know what you’re thinking—” The green-eyed boy looked toward the bathroom: “There’s no one in the bathroom, I turned on the water.”

"Did you turn on the water?" Xiao Yao repeated blankly.

"Otherwise, do you really expect there to be a woman there who will come out to keep you company after she finishes her bath? No way!" the green-eyed boy mocked.

"Why can't we have each other?" Xiao Yao retorted defiantly, reaching under the blanket to pull out the underwear and then Shen Jie's socks: "You heard it too, Yu Luying and Shen Jie both said they like me."

"The sounds you just heard were just tiny fragments from the depths of their subconscious," the green-eyed boy yawned. "Some of them might even have been just fleeting thoughts."

"so what?"

“Yu Luying’s slight affection for you is not enough to outweigh her inner burden,” the green-eyed boy gestured “a little bit”. “As for Shen Jie… well, whatever makes you happy.”

"..."

"This room, however, is quite fascinating. Since it's formed from our inner desires, it's clear what kind of monstrosities you usually think about—"

The green-eyed boy yanked off Xiao Yao's blanket and threw it on the ground, revealing a green nightgown and a purple hairband underneath.

Xiao Yao was furious: "Tianyun is my daughter, and Ouyang Qianqian is my sister! Why are their things also stuffed here!"

The green-eyed boy revealed a cruel smile: "By? By whom? Me? Who am I? Do you feel cold?" He reached out and unbuttoned his clothes.

Xiao Yao had forgotten the cold, biting his lip and staring intently at the other person, his eyes seeming to spit fire.

"Undeniable, right?" The green-eyed boy leaped onto the bed, closing in on Xiao Yao: "A pathetic wretch, abandoned by his divorced parents, sent to Shanghai, a place called his hometown but really a foreign land. And because he's always penniless, he's treated like a country bumpkin, out of place, and bullied by his classmates..."

"He is extremely starved for love and longs to have a girlfriend, as if having a girlfriend could solve all his problems."

"He talks about praising pure love that lasts a lifetime, but actually he likes everyone and no one. He likes whoever gives him a friendly look. He'll be the boyfriend of whoever accepts his confession." He took off his shirt and draped it over Xiao Yao.

"Don't act like you know everything!" Xiao Yao said coldly.

The green-eyed boy seemed oblivious, continuing on his own: "When I was most isolated and helpless, it was Yu Luying and Ouyang Qianqian who extended a helping hand. Shen Jie is very caring, like an older sister, and she's my destined wife, my hope for the future. When I come home, Shen Tianyun is always waiting for me. Living with her makes a home a home, not just a cold, impersonal house..."

"I like them all, I want them all, I hope to win their love, I hope to live with them forever." The green-eyed boy said, while deliberately hugging himself, curling up into a ball, and making a "whimpering" gesture.

"Disgusting." Xiao Yao tried to stand up, but the green-eyed boy held him down.

"Trying to deny it?" The green-eyed boy became smug, sitting happily next to Xiao Yao. "Hurry up and say it, I didn't think that way at all. You disgusting guy, you're not me!"

“You’re right! I have nothing to deny.” Xiao Yao got up from the soft bed and threw the shirt he was wearing aside.

"What you're saying, whether it's my subconscious or not, and how much of it is truly my subconscious, is irrelevant." Xiao Yao swayed a couple of times to regain his balance: "But, no matter what desires I harbor, what matters is how I act on them."

"The important thing is that I treat my friends generously and sincerely reciprocate the kindness of everyone who is good to me."

"Every word and deed I do is in pursuit of justice, and I only seek to be true to my conscience."

"No matter who I am with, I will treat her wholeheartedly, take on the responsibilities I should bear, and be responsible for her."

"Yu Luying once told me that freedom is not about doing whatever you want, but about not doing what you don't want to do."

"I, Xiao Yao, am going to live a carefree and honorable life. It's none of your business to tell me what to do!"

After listening, the green-eyed boy clapped rhythmically: "Brilliant! If I weren't you, I would almost believe it. I almost forgot that I'm an artistic boy, and singing high-sounding tunes is my specialty."

Xiao Yao walked to the door, opened it, and said, "Goodbye, thank you, I'm going to rest now."

“I left you a pair of underwear,” the green-eyed boy laughed. “If you don’t want them, give them back and go have some fun in your bathroom.”

"Didn't you turn on the water?" Xiao Yao walked back to the bathroom door and gently stroked the frosted glass on the door.

“Of course not,” the green-eyed boy said. “Whoever you want in there, that’s who will be in there. Oh, plural is fine too.”

“That sounds very appealing,” Xiao Yao commented.

"Once you step into that bathroom, they will be devoted to you forever in this world." The green-eyed boy's persuasive tone sounded like a sedative.

"Oh?" Xiao Yao said.

“Or, you can walk out through this door and hide forever inside these clothes.” The green-eyed boy shifted back to his seated posture, his expression becoming serious.

"and then?"

"Once you step out of this door, you can return to your world. Yu Luying won't be with you, and neither will Shen Jie. You will be all alone until you turn 30, when you can, by chance, marry into the Shen family. By then, Shen Jie will still be charming, but she will no longer be the youthful beauty she is now. Moreover, having experienced so many people and things, she will no longer be the person she is today..."

"It's truly heartbreaking," Xiao Yao commented.

"Make your choice." The green-eyed boy completely dropped his nonchalant and malicious expression. His body slowly became transparent and gradually disappeared, his clothes falling away one by one.

"You are me, and I am you..." Xiao Yao heard his own voice echoing in the air: "No matter what choice you make, I will always be with you."

The boy gazed at the bathroom, where the sound of water rustling behind the frosted glass and the rising steam revealing light, like a miracle.

He glanced again at the door leading out of the room. The door had been opened at some point, and outside was a dark, deep corridor that seemed to stretch endlessly.

Xiao Yao picked up his trousers and shoes from the ground, put them on, stood on the soft carpet, and gently stomped his feet.

Then he walked to the curtains and pulled them open.

The floor-to-ceiling windows, reflecting the complete darkness outside, mirrored the entire room, except for Xiao Yao himself.

Xiao Yao reached out and touched the glass surface, only feeling a cold, hard sensation at his fingertips.

He suddenly clenched his fist and slammed it against the window: "You fucking make me choose? I'm going to choose!"

With a sharp crack, the window shattered into pieces, shards of glass littering the floor, revealing a door behind the window frame.

Damn, this is too fragile! I didn't even use my full strength!

Xiao Yao reached out to try to push the door open, only to find that his hand had left a horrifying bloody handprint on the door.

The smell of blood and the belated stinging pain judged his actions as reckless.

He gritted his teeth, examined the wound, picked up his shirt from the ground, tore it into strips, and bandaged it simply, but it still didn't feel good.

It seems our genius little girl hasn't learned much about first aid skills—which is quite normal, isn't it?

Only then did Xiao Yao notice that a small badge had somehow gotten mixed in with the glass shards on the ground.

The front of the badge features a portrait of a knight wearing a helmet and sporting a goatee, with the inscription "Don Quijote de la Mancha" below.