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

“I’m not trying to bother you, it’s a matter of life and death. Call me back.”

The two text messages were sent but disappeared without a trace. The system didn't send any notification that the number had received them, meaning either my messages were blocked or the recipient's phone was switched off.

Xiao Yao didn't know where Shen Jie lived. It was Saturday afternoon now, and if he waited until Monday to go to the Seventh Girls' High School to confront her, Xiao Xiong and Yu Luying's families would probably have already filed a police report, and he would already be being questioned by the police station as a person directly involved...

He stood up, wandered around until he found a small shop, picked up the receiver on the glass counter, and fiddled with the dial.

No one heard.

I called again, but still no one answered.

Xiao Yao put the 5-cent coin he was fiddling with back into his pocket, picked up his phone, and dialed another number.

"Hello, Zhang Zhengkai? This is Xiao Yao... Oh yeah, hahaha. Um, did you lose your GBA at KTV?... Yes, yes, I found it for you today, isn't that a coincidence?... Hahaha, you're welcome, you're welcome. Okay, send me the address, I'll bring it to you later?... Sure, sure. Oh, by the way, there's something I need to talk to Zhou Xiaoying about. Do you have her phone number? I forgot to write it down last time... Oh, okay, thanks, wait a minute," Xiao Yao looked at the shopkeeper, "Could I have a pen and paper?"

"Hello? Is this Zhou Xiaoying? This is Xiao Yao... Oh dear, I asked someone else for it." Xiao Yao greeted her warmly.

The background noise on the other end of the phone sounded very loud.

"What do you want to do?" Zhou Xiaoying asked directly after finding a quieter place.

"Do you know where Shen Jie is right now?" Xiao Yao asked, full of hope—let's try anything, even if it's a long shot.

“I know,” Zhou Xiaoying’s voice was clear and bright. “I also know that she doesn’t want to see you right now.”

"I know," Xiao Yao said with an apologetic smile, "I really do have something important and urgent..."

Xiao Yao gave Zhou Xiaoying a vague explanation of what had happened. He mentioned that he had taken two classmates to Qian Gui KTV, but they had both disappeared, and that he had been "refused access to the surveillance footage." Naturally, Xiao Yao didn't mention anything about what was happening in the mirror.

"What's the use of calling Shen Jie instead of the police?" Zhou Xiaoying said, but still uttered four words: "Shui Mu Nian Hua".

"What? Shui Mu Nian Hua?"

"Shui Mu Nian Skating Rink, it's not far from KTV." Zhou Xiaoying said, "I didn't tell you that."

With that, the girl hung up the phone.

Thanks, Zhou Xiaoying.

Finding "Shui Mu Nian Hua" didn't take much effort, as it's located on the top floor of the "Little World" shopping mall, just two or three blocks from KTV.

While asking around, Xiao Yao took the elevator to the top floor. Before the elevator doors even opened, a deafening melody drifted through the cracks in the doors and into his ears.

"Dragon, dragon dragon dragon, dragon dragon dragon, dragon dragon dragon dragon fierce..."

Upon entering through the iron alloy gate, Xiao Yao saw that the skating rink was as big as half the size of a shopping mall. The loud DJ music and the rotating cosmic ball lights made Xiao Yao feel as if he were in a dance hall.

A large group of young people, teenagers, or adolescents, holding hands, whizzed past Xiao Yao, with some occasionally letting out strange cries.

Xiao Yao didn't really like these kinds of occasions.

With a thud, a chubby boy fell to the ground, reminding Xiao Yao of Xiong Ji, whose fate was still unknown.

He had no interest in caring about others; he simply stared intently at the flickering lights, searching for Shen Jie's figure.

Fortunately, the upbeat song ended soon, the rotating lights stopped, and the ice rink returned to normal lighting. Next up was a slow, lyrical song.

"I am as free as the wind, just like your gentleness, impossible to hold onto..."

Xiao Yao saw the petite girl whiz past him.

Shen Jie didn't hold hands with anyone; instead, she put her hands in her pockets and glided at high speed on her own.

Today she wore her hair in a high ponytail, a baseball cap tilted to one side, a black top, and loose-fitting khaki wide-leg pants, the long pant legs covering her roller skates, with only the toes showing.

The top not only perfectly outlined her graceful figure, but its hem was also a few centimeters away from her waistband, thus revealing a sliver of the girl's delicate, fair belly... and you could even vaguely see half of her navel.

To be honest, Shen Jie's figure is really good. Although she is petite, her proportions are perfectly balanced.

At this moment, Xiao Yao frowned unhappily. He remembered that his daughter, Shen Tianyun, had also tried to wear such a crop top out in public, but he scolded her and forcefully stopped her.

Xiao Yao recalled that this should be the fourth time he had met Shen Jie, and each time he met her, her style was different.

From the first time she exuded a poised and confident student vibe, to the second time she looked like a girl next door at the park, to the third time she was dressed as an elegant young lady at her birthday party, and now... she's dressed like a sophisticated young woman?

I pushed away your outstretched hands. Go away, and you'd better not look back...

Yes, at this moment, Shen Jie truly resembled a free-flying sprite.

Her skating skills are superb. She can skate forward, backward, and on one foot, and even brake suddenly without any problem. She can even occasionally perform a few figure skating moves.

Such a girl naturally became the focus of everyone's attention, but Shen Jie didn't care about any of that. She just squinted her eyes and enjoyed her own ride.

"Honey, do you love me?" Xiao Yao recalled the question Shen Jie had asked him that day.

"I like her." He didn't really know Shen Jie, yet he irresponsibly gave such a definite answer.

"You don't like me. You just want to find someone to date. You're not in love with Shen Jie, you're in love with love itself."

Xiao Yao, you know in your heart that she is right.

If what I heard in the mirror was truly Shen Jie's inner thoughts, then does that mean...?

Is it possible that only you are happy, while I've been playing the role of a little...little...to please you all along?

With a "smack," a strong hand slapped Xiao Yao on the shoulder from behind, interrupting his reverie and startling him so much that he almost jumped up.

Looking back, it turned out to be "Ah Fei," who had also been at the KTV that day.

"You're here?" Ah Fei said happily.

“Ah, ah,” Xiao Yao replied, “Coming.”

"Shen Jie!" Afei shouted at the top of his lungs, "Your 'lovable comrade' is here!"

This is the third update today; the next update will be at 7 PM.

Chapter 55 Annual Skiing

2022-12-28

"What are you yelling about, Xu Jiefei?" Shen Jie stopped abruptly and turned to look at Afei with displeasure.

"Wow, so this 'Ah Fei' really is called Ah Fei," Xiao Yao thought.

Then, Shen Jie saw Xiao Yao next to A Fei. The girl's pupils dilated slightly, and she subconsciously tilted her head to the right, letting out a soft "ah," before turning her face to the left and touching her forehead.

This series of complex movements all happened within half a second. Then, Shen Jie slid over as if nothing had happened and reached out to hold onto the stainless steel railing.

"Why did you take so long to get here..." Shen Jie said gently to Xiao Yao.

"Huh?" Xiao Yao was a little taken aback: "Something happened, something very serious."

The other kids gathered around, chattering amongst themselves. Besides Afei and Zhou Xiaoying, there were a few guys they'd seen at the karaoke bar that day, and of course, a few unfamiliar faces.

Those who had met Xiao Yao greeted him warmly, but a boy Xiao Yao hadn't seen before turned to Shen Jie and asked, "Shen Jie, is this your man?"

"Ugh, it's none of your business, aren't you annoying?" Shen Jie lightly slapped the man, then turned to Xiao Yao: "Go change your shoes."

"The situation is urgent, I don't have time to play right now..." Xiao Yao lowered his voice.

--split line--

Xiao Yao carefully held onto the railing at the edge of the skating rink and awkwardly took a few steps in his roller skates.

"Do you even know how?" Shen Jie pouted and whispered.

"Yes, of course I can do it," Xiao Yao said.

"It seems like you're not very good at it," said Zhou Xiaoying's chubby boyfriend. "Shen Jie is our junior high school figure skating champion, let her teach you."

Xiao Yao actually does know how to ice skate, although he can only skate forward and not very fast. After getting used to it a little, he was able to follow Shen Jie and skate in circles on the wooden floor.

At this moment, Xiao Yao held Shen Jie's hand, and the girl's hand was as warm as ever.

Xiao Yao knew that in a place like an ice rink, it was perfectly normal for boys and girls to hold hands and skate together, even if they weren't in a relationship or anything.

Although he had dreamed of holding the hand of such a beautiful woman his age, at this moment, his mind was filled with Yu Luying and Xiaoxiong, and he couldn't even remember who had taken his hand first. He also had no mood to savor the feeling of his first time holding hands with Shen Jie.

"How did you find me?" Seeing that there were no familiar faces around, Shen Jie's face darkened, and she even loosened her grip a little.

Just as Xiao Yao was about to speak, he stumbled, and the girl grabbed him.

So, they clenched their fists again.

"I..." Xiao Yao's heart finally started to race, and his palms slowly began to sweat.

"You really know how to pester me. We agreed to contact each other after the final exams." Shen Jie continued to lead Xiao Yao slowly forward on the glider: "Take it slow with your figure-eight steps, pay attention to adjusting your center of gravity, don't be too hasty. Let's go back after playing for a while. If you keep pestering me, I won't be able to after the exams either..."

"It's alright," Xiao Yao thought. At least after meeting her, Shen Jie didn't act as...heartless as he had imagined.

"Exams, exams, exams," Xiao Yao said, "Is this how you nervously face final exams?"

Shen Jie was about to retort when Xiao Yao continued, "I came to see you not because of any relationship problems, okay? I really have something important to discuss. I really don't know why you blocked my text messages—first of all, Shen Tianyun hasn't come back for several days."

"What?!" Shen Jie's tone was tinged with anger.

"Then, Yu Luying and Xiaoxiong—oh, that's my classmate—I most likely lost them in the mirror at KTV."

"What?" It seemed that Shen Jie could only say these two words.

At that moment, the song "Butterfly" began to play again in the ice rink.

Ay, Iyaiyai

Ay, Iyaiyai