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

“These are all yours…” Xiao Yao whispered to Shen Jie.

“You don’t need to know my cousins ​​yet,” Shen Jie replied softly.

Why don't we need to know each other?

"Where is your stepmother?" Xiao Yao asked.

“They’re pregnant,” Shen Jie said.

"Pregnant?... What does pregnancy have to do with this?" Xiao Yao asked, puzzled.

Shen Jie hesitated, wanting to speak but then stopping herself, and finally patted him without saying a word, implying that he should stop asking.

The chubby boy standing to Xiao Yao's left winked at the young couple—it looked like there was a tuft of chicken feathers stuck in the pocket of the boy's suit jacket—Xiao Yao waved to him, and Shen Jie raised her small, pink fist at him.

To the left of the chubby boy stood a woman who looked like a college student, crying sadly.

Yu Luying, an unrelated passerby, squeezed into the middle and back rows of the crowd, craning her neck to watch the commotion—she was standing a bit too far forward in order to stay within five meters of Xiao Yao, but fortunately no one bothered her.

The memorial service proceeded as planned, and there was nothing particularly noteworthy about it.

Three bows, funeral music played, a minute of silence, followed by a eulogy delivered by a middle-aged, thin man wearing glasses—the former leader of the textile factory.

When it was Shen Hongsheng's turn to give the eulogy as the family representative, both Shen Jie and Xiao Pang started to cry. The former tightly gripped Xiao Yao's suit sleeve, and Xiao Yao listened to the breathless sobs, futilely rummaging for tissues in his pocket while trying even more futilely to squeeze out a few crocodile tears.

Unfortunately, he couldn't even manage to get his eyes wet.

Xiao Yao tried hard to recall the tragic moments of his sixteen years of life, but he failed in the end. He couldn't force himself to cry in public, so he could only secretly regret why the person he shared his life with wasn't Shen Jie.

"That way, I can convey her sadness," Xiao Yao thought.

During the final farewell ceremony, Xiao Yao kowtowed several times and followed behind Shen Hongsheng and others, accompanying Shen Jie's cousins ​​to send the deceased to cremation.

After following the coffin for a few steps, Xiao Yao was startled and realized something was wrong. He looked back and saw Yu Luying had already darted out of the crowd and quickly walked into the group of second and third generation family members, mingling with them with her head down. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief and also walked quickly forward with his head down, silently praying that nothing would go wrong.

"Hey, hey, family members seeing them off—" The voice was quickly left behind.

Xiao Yao let Shen Jie hold his arm and lean against him, watching helplessly as the old man's coffin disappeared around the corner of the room behind the iron gate.

Shen Jie was leaning against him, sobbing uncontrollably.

On the way back from the memorial hall, funeral home staff solemnly instructed everyone not to look back.

The origins of this local superstition are unknown, but it reminded Xiao Yao of a passage in Genesis.

The Roth family left the sinful city of Sodom, and the angel instructed them never to look back.

In these kinds of stories, there are always a couple of disobedient ones. Roth's wife looked back at Sodom burning in flames and immediately turned into a pillar of salt.

Just as I was pondering this, I saw Shen Jie turn her face around with tears streaming down her cheeks and look back.

Xiao Yao was horrified. He reached out and cupped her face in his hands, turning her back—the method looked like he was murdering her.

Fortunately, nothing happened; Shen Jie did not turn into a pillar of salt, and her neck was not injured.

According to custom, the funeral procession must step over a fire basin and then eat white rice.

Yu Luying pulled Xiao Yao around the brazier without stepping over it, and fast-forwarded directly to the part that the people loved most—the feast.

Xiao Yao sat at the children's table—Yu Luying was also at the same table. This table was full of Shen Jie's cousins ​​and relatives, and they all knew each other very well. However, Xiao Yao and Yu Luying didn't know any of them, so the scene was a bit awkward, but no one said anything.

The food was excellent, and the atmosphere at the table was relaxed and cheerful. Xiao Yao enjoyed the meal and drank quite a bit (orange juice with pulp and coconut juice).

He suddenly realized that this banquet must be very expensive, and then he remembered that he had not yet given any condolence money, so he exclaimed "Oh dear!"

Shen Jie had cried and ruined her makeup, and had just come back after washing her face: "What's wrong? What happened?"

Xiao Yao whispered in her ear, and she said, "It's okay, you don't need to."

"Don't I need it?" Xiao Yao said.

As mentioned earlier, this table was filled with third-generation relatives, the oldest just starting university and the youngest only in elementary school. The cousins ​​were all familiar with each other, and naturally full of curiosity about the suddenly appearing duo of Xiao Yao and Yu Luying, especially about Xiao Yao.

Some people had already seen the words "grandson-in-law" on the funeral couplet, and most people had also heard about the "legendary love story" between Xiao Yao and Shen Jie. They were all excitedly asking questions and gossiping.

Shen Jie quietly told Xiao Yao not to talk nonsense, and calmly dealt with the gossip, meeting each situation head-on.

During the meal, Xiao Yao chatted happily with the chubby junior high school boy who was standing on the side at the memorial service. This guy was one of Shen Jie's cousins, a senior computer expert and hardcore gamer. He boasted to Xiao Yao about his computer configuration and his collection of genuine arcade machines, leaving Xiao Yao stunned and longing for them.

When they were almost finished eating, Xiao Yao asked his cousin for his QQ number. He was writing it down on his phone when Shen Jie suddenly snatched it away.

“Meh?” Xiao Yao said.

"You want Ningning's contact information?" Shen Jie said, "I'll send it to you later, that'll be fine."

"Okay, sure," Xiao Yao said.

Shen Jie escorted Xiao Yao and Yu Luying to the bottom of the restaurant: "I'll leave you two here. I still need to go upstairs and greet them."

Yu Luying and Shen Jie said their goodbyes politely, but Xiao Yao seemed hesitant to speak, unable to move his feet.

"Go back, go back," Shen Jie smiled slightly and reached out to stroke Xiao Yao's face. "We'll contact each other again by phone."

"When are you going home?" Xiao Yao blurted out, asking a question he knew he wouldn't get an answer to.

Shen Jie remained silent, a somewhat helpless expression on her face.

Xiao Yao reached out and pulled the girl into his arms.

Shen Jie placed her hands on Xiao Yao's waist and gently comforted him, "Okay, okay, there are so many people here."

Xiao Yao and Yu Luying walked along the sidewalk, looking for a taxi.

Yu Luying was depressed, and Xiao Yao was lost in thought. For a moment, neither of them spoke.

"Are you cold?" Xiao Yao then asked.

"It's alright." Yu Luying stretched out her right hand and touched her left upper arm.

"What about tomorrow's military training?" Xiao Yao asked hesitantly. "Should we ask Grandma to take sick leave?"

"I think I'll need to get my mom to take time off work, right?" Yu Luying said, pulling out her phone. "Even if both of them get sick at the same time..."

“As for Guan Yi,” Xiao Yao said, “no one will gossip about us anymore, right?”

Yu Luying nodded slightly, and was about to dial Yu Lihua's number when Yu Lihua called first.

"Are you going to die?" Even though Yu Luying wasn't on speakerphone, Xiao Yao could still hear the chattering on the other end: "Teacher Lin said you didn't go to school today!"

“I took leave!” Yu Luying said.

"Who gave you leave? I'm your guardian! How come I didn't know?!" Yu Lihua said angrily, "Where did you two go to play instead of going to school?"

“Shen Jie’s grandmother passed away, and he had to attend the memorial service,” Yu Luying said frankly, “so I had no choice but to go with him.”

There was a brief silence on the other end of the phone.

"Hello, Mom?" Yu Luying said, "Oh dear!"

"What's wrong?" Xiao Yao asked quickly.

"What's wrong?" Yu Lihua asked hurriedly.

"It's nothing, it's nothing," Yu Luying said into the receiver, "I just stepped into a pond."

Yu Luying spoke briefly with her mother, hung up the phone, put one hand on Xiao Yao's shoulder, and took off her black leather shoes with the other to pour out the water.

It's called a "pond," but it's actually just a slightly deeper puddle covered with a thin layer of ice, which is quite deceptive.

Yu Luying was so busy dealing with Yu Lihua that she didn't notice that she stepped on it and the front half of her foot was plunged into the ice water.

She felt a chill creep through her soaked socks and down her feet, and her delicate brows furrowed slightly.

The wet socks clung to her slender feet, and the thick, black winter stockings were delicate and smooth, perfectly outlining the girl's small feet.

The front half of her foot was wet, appearing exceptionally dark and shiny, as if reflecting natural light. A thin film of water covered and clung to her soaked socks, looking absolutely beautiful—water droplets followed the texture of the stockings, gathering at the toe, dripping from her toes, and returning to the embrace of the "pond," while the back half of her foot was noticeably dry, forming a stark contrast with the wet part and creating a natural dividing line.

The feeling of the wet socks gave Yu Luying a slight chill; in fact, contact with ice water at this temperature quickly made her numb.

As the girl poured the water out of her shoes, she pursed her lips and gently wiggled her toes, as if feeling the friction between her socks and the water.

Subconsciously, her five toes came together, yet occasionally curled and stretched—this movement accelerated the dripping of water from the toes of her socks, and also made the socks at her toes show several more obvious folds, as if tempting someone.

Yu Luying knew that the boy beside her was staring intently at her feet, his eyes burning with a kind of intense desire that made her heart race.

Then, Xiao Yao squatted down and forcefully pushed Yu Luying's feet back into the icy "pond".

The girl instantly flew into a rage.

Even though she was fully aware of the other person's preferences, this self-serving, icy monologue was incredibly disrespectful to a woman.

"Are you out of your mind?" Yu Luying said angrily, slapping Xiao Yao across the face with only a fraction of her strength.

Xiao Yao: "..."

Yu Luying: "..."

The two stared at each other, dumbfounded, for a second and a half.

Yu Luying immediately realized that her face didn't hurt at all.

Xiao Yao hesitated before raising his hand and gently "fighting back".

"As expected..." the boy murmured.

Yu Luying suddenly understood why he had pressed his feet into the ice water earlier.

Then, the two of them started frantically punching each other's arms with their hands in the middle of the street.