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

"Oh right, are you hungry?" Xiao Yao suddenly remembered something: "I'll cook first, you can sit for a while."

"Let me do it." Yu Luying stood up. "I'm not very hungry. I just ate some chicken strips."

"Sit down, sit down." Xiao Yao pressed down on Yu Luying's shoulders with both hands, pushing her down.

"Don't let them eat dead people..." Yu Luying whispered.

Yu Luying sat on the sofa and sent a message to her mother.

Shen Tianyun returned at just the right time. Seeing Yu Luying there, her expression turned sour, and she went straight into her grandmother's room.

"Change your shoes when you come in; you brought all that dirt back from outside." Xiao Yao took some slippers and followed her. A moment later, he came out with Shen Tianyun's green sneakers and put them back on the shoe rack by the door. Then he went back to work in the photo room.

Before long, the simple four dishes and soup were served.

The three of them sat around the table and enjoyed their dinner.

"The taste is alright," Yu Luying commented objectively.

Firmly refusing Yu Luying's help, Xiao Yao and Tian Yun finished clearing the table and washing the dishes. The three of them then sat around the table and began doing their homework, while Yu Luying helped Xiao Yao catch up on the knowledge he had missed in various subjects that week.

Listening to the ticking of the old wall clock in the room, Yu Luying suddenly felt that this wasn't so bad.

There's a misconception of a peaceful and idyllic life.

"Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang..."

"Oh no, it's already ten o'clock!" Yu Luying suddenly stood up: "I have to go back."

"I'll take you," Xiao Yao said, pushing aside the workbook in front of him and standing up as well.

"It sounds like someone is knocking on the door?" Shen Tianyun sat still, a ballpoint pen between her teeth, listening intently to the sounds outside.

"Really?" Xiao Yao and Yu Luying came out of the bedroom one after the other and opened the door to the photo room.

In the darkness, a petite figure suddenly darted into the room filled with photos, looked around the empty bowl, sniffed it, and then looked up at Xiao Yao, letting out a pitiful meow.

“Uh…” Xiao Yao said.

“Don’t let it get lost again,” Yu Luying warned Xiao Yao. “I’ll come over and help take care of it whenever I can.”

"Oh." Xiao Yao smiled and opened the cabinet door in the photo room, squatting down to rummage for cat food. "You're back, that's good."

"Meow~" Shen Jie's kitten happily rolled around on the floor between the photos.

Chapter 414 Xiao Yao's Place to Stay

2024-06-01

The final exam for the current academic year at St. Francis High School is English, which is the last subject for the second-year students.

When the bell rang to signal the end of the exam, Xiao Yao was still struggling with the answer choices. It wasn't until the proctor warned him twice that he reluctantly put down his 2B pencil.

"Phew~~~" Xiao Yao leaned back in his chair, let out a long sigh, and watched the proctor leave the classroom with the file folder.

The invigilator disappeared through the door, marking the end of this classroom's serious examination period.

A commotion erupted around Xiao Yao as students from other classes hurriedly left, while the students in his class—including Xiao Yao—lazily packed up their stationery and slowly returned to their desks.

A few minutes later, the students from this class who had been reassigned to other exam rooms gradually returned.

A few students, such as Wang Ming who has been isolated recently, did not appear, presumably having already quietly packed their bags and left the school. However, most people were not in a hurry to leave, and gathered in groups of three or five to chat.

After all, the next semester will see the division between arts and sciences classes. For many close friends, this is the last time they will speak as "classmates," and there is a sense of reluctance and farewell.

"Is it really necessary? So dramatic." Zhang Jialong plopped down on Xiao Yao's desk, hugged his burly arm, and wiggled his waist as he moved up a little further. "It's not like we're graduating and going our separate ways. After we're reassigned to different classes, we'll still be on the same floor, right? We can still see each other every day if we want to."

Xiao Yao nodded slightly, about to reply, when Daiyu also stood on tiptoe and sat on his desk, taking up the remaining half of the space: "How was it? How was it? How did the exam go?"

"It's alright," Xiao Yao hesitated for a moment before cautiously choosing to speak, "Passing shouldn't be a problem."

"How come you only passed?" Daiyu winked. "Last time you were tied for first place in the grade with Yu Luying... or the time before that?"

“It’s not a tie for first place in the grade,” Zhang Jialong’s buttocks bumped against Xiao Yao’s desk and Daiyu’s back, so childish: “It’s surpassing Yu Luying, being first in the grade.”

Xiao Yao smiled but didn't answer, instead silently tidying up his desk.

“By the way, I remember you and Yu Luying,” the ribbonfish said, having lost the butt-grabbing contest, jumping down to the ground. “You both chose history? You might end up in the same class again.”

"I don't know," Xiao Yao said. "Didn't the history class usually have two students in previous years?"

Zhang Jialong chose chemistry, and Daiyu chose physics. According to them, men should choose the truth, and turning black into white and singing praises is the way out for women and bad students.

Considering the actual achievements of these two brothers, Xiao Yao could only sincerely wish them good luck.

Daiyu and Zhang Jialong—in fact, everyone believes that Xiao Yao enrolled in the history class because of Yu Luying, or conversely, that Yu Luying enrolled in history because of Xiao Yao. Xiao Yao and Yu Luying both know that they did not discuss it, but they are too lazy to clarify to the world.

After chatting for a few more minutes, Zhang Jialong turned around and saw Yu Luying standing at the classroom door, as if waiting for someone. He then gave Daiyu a wink, hooked his arm around his shoulder, and left through the back door of the classroom.

Xiao Yao and Yu Luying walked side by side back to Xiao Yao's house. Xiao Yao invited Yu Luying upstairs, but Yu Luying politely declined.

"Tianyun still doesn't want to see me every day," Yu Luying said bluntly.

"I thought you two had gotten along better last time," Xiao Yao said, scratching the back of his head.

Yu Luying pursed her lips and didn't say anything, so Xiao Yao took her home again and then walked back alone.

Xiao Yao went upstairs, pushed open the door to the photo room, and called out "Tianyun" twice towards his grandmother's room, but there was no response.

This girl is either sleeping or out having fun again.

Without pushing the door open to confirm or knocking, Xiao Yao went straight back to his room and wandered around inside for a while.

The cat, it seems the cat has gone out to play too?

The empty room was especially cold. He thought about turning on the heater, but after thinking about it, he went to the soap room and brought in the coal stove to start a fire.

He took out his phone, intending to send a QQ message to Shen Jie to tell her that he was on winter break and to ask if she was on break too, but after thinking about it, he tossed his phone onto the sofa.

Recently, Shen Jie has become less and less proactive in replying to QQ messages. She's almost an adult, and she needs to be a mature adult. She needs to learn to let go of things and avoid doing things that are self-defeating or inconsiderate.

In the past, Xiao Yao would have welcomed the arrival of winter and summer vacations.

It should be said that they were overjoyed.

But now, he's just glad that the winter break was relatively short, only about twenty days, and that it would pass quickly.

There's a rather cheesy saying in Japanese anime, the so-called "place to belong," and Xiao Yao can personally understand the meaning of this term.

Can a home without elders or a partner still be called a "home"?

Yes, thankfully there's still "her".

For a long time, Xiao Yao always felt like he was all alone.

But as long as Tianyun is still by his side, this feeling will not come back.

Even so, I got along quite well with my classmates during this short period of time, and suddenly losing this "group" makes me feel rather lonely.

Xiao Yao tried his best to forget the fact that they had once collectively isolated him, and how much of their current change in attitude was due to the intervention of the Shadow World.

It would be great if there were winter camps or something...

Xiao Yao idly touched the wardrobe, noticed a little dust on his fingers, and then casually picked up a rag to wipe them clean.

After wiping down a few household items, he picked up the mop and started mopping the floor.

What made a slovenly man suddenly transform into a male Cinderella?

Xiao Yao asked himself honestly, and the main reason should be that the identity of "father" requires him to be the pillar of the family and take good care of this small family of only two people.

Grandma passed away, and the burden fell on my shoulders.

The second reason is that he doesn't want to be idle.

As long as you keep yourself busy and have something to do, you won't have time to be depressed.

Maybe.

Xiao Yao put down the mop, put his hands together to warm them on the coal stove, and then took his grandmother's large palm-leaf fan and fanned the air vent.

Then he started coughing violently and quickly opened the window, and a gust of northwest wind blew in.

Xiao Yao touched his chin, considering whether he should get a winter break job or something.

However, we have enough money at home right now, if we're thinking about the long term...

Tianyun said she was inquiring about how to buy an investment product called "Bitcoin," which sounded unreliable. However, since this person from the future was so confident, Xiao Yao naturally had no reason to stop her.

Winter nights are long and unpredictable. Seeing that the sky outside the window was getting dark, Xiao Yao decided to start a fire and cook.

Fortunately, there are still plenty of vegetables in the refrigerator, so I don't need to go downstairs to buy groceries.

Xiao Yao busied himself preparing four dishes and a soup, setting them on the table, but Tian Yun didn't return. He cleaned up the kitchen, but Tian Yun still didn't come back.

The walls of the room were clean and freshly covered with new paper. The posters and decorations that used to clutter the walls were gone.

He sat on his bed and called Tianyun twice, but no one answered.

The cat didn't come back either.

An ominous premonition made him feel irritable.

Xiao Yao returned to the photo room and gently knocked on the door of his grandmother's former room, but there was no answer.

He pushed the door open forcefully, and his grandmother's familiar scent wafted out, but the room was empty.