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

Xiao Yao picked up a piece of meat.

Although many doubts still lingered in my mind, however…

My nose feels a little sour.

Since being abandoned by his parents, he felt that he was living a lonely and helpless life.

He transferred from the countryside to Shanghai for school, leaving behind his middle school friends, and felt somewhat out of place in his high school class… Only the old guitar on the wall accompanied him "in a foreign land," making him feel like a drifting duckweed. Although he lived with his grandmother, but…

"This feeling of home is so good," Xiao Yao thought.

"Thank you," Xiao Yao said softly, then put the meat in his mouth.

The taste after tasting it is only slightly worse than its appearance; it's a bit too sweet, but as a child from Shanghai, it's not a big problem.

...Wait, what?!

Before he could react, everything went black for Xiao Yao, and he fell to the ground with a thud.

Chapter 7 The Three-Body Problem

2023-07-31

On Saturday morning, Yu Luying arrived at school on time.

Since nothing can be found in the medical examination, life must go on.

St. Francis Secondary School has weekends off, but there is a "St. Francis Amateur School" on Saturday mornings, which costs extra and is "voluntary".

As for the course content, it's mostly subjects like math and English.

When I entered the classroom, it was almost full.

Yu Luying glanced subconsciously at the last row by the window—it was empty.

"He didn't even register this semester, so don't worry about him," his deskmate teased with a laugh.

My deskmate is a girl with a long face named Zhou Yao.

Yu Luying didn't say anything, but just pinched her hard.

"Grandma, spare my life!" Zhou Yao cried out.

Yu Luying took off her schoolbag, lifted the wooden desk, and stuffed it into the desk compartment.

She smoothed her hair behind her head, sat down next to Zhou Yao, and stretched her body.

Yu Luying was wearing the same three-quarter plaid skirt today, paired with nude tights, and red high-top canvas shoes casually resting on the horizontal bar under the desk.

"Should we have math first or English first today...? Ah!" Yu Luying exclaimed softly.

"What's wrong?" Zhou Yao asked curiously.

Yu Luying placed her hand on her neck, feeling a bit suffocated.

For no apparent reason, her whole body became burning hot, as if she were immersed in hot water.

My lower abdomen, which was already uncomfortable due to my period, became even more painful.

--split line--

Meanwhile, in a public bathhouse two kilometers away from the school.

"Ah—" Xiao Yao made a strange sound that drew attention, as usual.

He seemed to have melted into the water of the large bathhouse.

Like all older apartments, Grandma's house didn't have a bathroom. She had to use a chamber pot for urination and defecation, and taking a bath was naturally inconvenient.

Every Saturday, Xiao Yao would come to this "public bathhouse".

Grandma gave me ten yuan: five yuan for the entrance ticket and five yuan for a back massage.

Xiao Yao saved the money he had spent on back scrubbing and bought a copy of "Online Game News" and a copy of "Game Business Intelligence," plus the "Science Fiction Emperor" that arrived yesterday. This was enough for him to enjoy a mental feast all morning.

Xiao Yao didn't soak for long today, mainly because his stomach wasn't feeling well.

It's really strange. The food Shen Tianyun made yesterday, although not great, was just plain bad. How could it have made her faint?

Perhaps it's time to get a checkup.

He lay on the old man's non-slip bathroom stool, covered with a white blanket, flipping through this issue of "Science Fiction Emperor" magazine.

This morning, he received a rejection letter from the magazine, which was quite a blow.

However, he still loved reading "The Emperor of Science Fiction" because each story contained a brand new, incredible, and wonderful world.

Speaking of the wonderful new world, last night he spent the whole night talking to Shen Tianyun about the year 2034.

In 2034, there are no civilian aircraft filling the sky, nor are there cat-shaped intelligent robots; there is no time travel, no space teleportation, no landing on Mars, and humanity has not even returned to the moon; virtual reality (VR) does exist, but it is just bulky glasses that only provide sight and hearing.

The past 30 years of technological advancement seem to have focused entirely on the single talent of "smartphones." Aside from using cleaner electric cars as a new mode of transportation, there haven't been many other significant changes compared to today.

Yes, the world has not become a better place, nor have people become happier.

Oh, right... This kind of future made Xiao Yao's pessimism even more pervasive.

Forget it, I'd better just read the magazine. Today's "Galaxy Award Essay Contest" features Liu Cikang's latest work.

As the leading figure in Chinese science fiction, Liu Cixin is naturally a fan of Xiao Yao.

……

Sigh, it's too short, not satisfying at all.

I really want to read his new work again soon...

and many more? !

……

……

……

"Liu Cikang?" Shen Tianyun rubbed her chin. "What happened to Liu Cikang?"

"Do you know this person?" Xiao Yao asked expectantly.

"Of course I know, his texts are included in the Chinese textbook," Shen Tianyun said matter-of-factly.

"Is it really that amazing?" Xiao Yao could hardly believe his ears.

"Several of his novels have been adapted into movies, and they've all done quite well at the box office," Shen Tianyun said. "So you want to read his new book?"

"OK."

“Here, the most famous one is this book, ‘The Three-Body Problem.’” Shen Tianyun tapped on her phone for a while and handed it to Xiao Yao: “Take your time reading it.”

"I don't like reading on my phone, could you buy me a physical copy?"

"Then I have to order online, and it will take several days to arrive."

"Fine, a phone it is then." Xiao Yao took the phone.

For the rest of the weekend, Xiao Yao spent all her time curled up on that hard sofa except for eating and sleeping, sometimes smiling like an aunt, sometimes squirming around.

"Is 'The Three-Body Problem' really that good?" Shen Tianyun sat cross-legged next to Xiao Yao, holding a tablet computer and watching the show.

"It's amazing!" Xiao Yao said excitedly, "It's incredible! You haven't seen it?"

"I haven't watched it." Shen Tianyun took off her Bluetooth earphones, seemingly lost in thought. "Hey, you've been watching it for a whole day and night, aren't you going to do your homework?"

"You didn't write it either, did you?" Xiao Yao blurted out.

"...I finished writing it at school on Friday!" the two said in unison.

"Dad," Shen Tianyun suddenly remembered something and changed to a coquettish tone, "Will you watch TV with me?"

"No," Xiao Yao refused without thinking, "I'm getting to the exciting part, I want to finish reading The Three-Body Problem."

"It's my phone, give it back!" Shen Tianyun's face fell, and she spread her palms out to Xiao Yao.

Xiao Yao ignored him.

"Corgi, Corgi, Corgi..." Shen Tianyun revealed a devilish smile and began to tickle Xiao Yao.

"Hahahaha...no...no...I'll watch with you, okay?" Xiao Yao raised the white flag as quickly as the French.

“That’s more like it,” Shen Tianyun said with satisfaction. “Watching future TV dramas will also help you understand the world I live in.”

The girl sat cross-legged, placed the tablet on Xiao Yao's lap, casually took his arm, and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Cough..." Xiao Yao was a little embarrassed.

The warmth from Shen Tianyun's body was transferred to him, and the faint fragrance of her hair filled his nostrils.

Xiao Yao's heart started pounding—when had he ever seen anything like this before!

"What's wrong?" Shen Tianyun noticed Xiao Yao's unusual expression. "Oh, why is your face red? Are you shy?"

Xiao Yao's upper body was stiff and ramrod straight.

“I’ll watch your show,” he said in a barely audible voice.

Just then, the bedroom door was suddenly pushed open.