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

"What?!"

"It's nothing," Shen Jie muttered under her breath, "just a petty little man's temper."

“I’m thinking,” Xiao Yao said, “After I rescue Yu Luying, I’ll find a way to get you two out first, and then I’ll go to the rooftop to find the White Knight.”

"Now that I'm here, I won't leave you alone," Shen Jie said in a gentle yet undeniable voice.

“I know you’re brave,” Xiao Yao rubbed his face, “but also consider Yu Luying’s safety.”

"..." Shen Jie didn't say anything more.

A few minutes later, at the toilet door, Xiao Yao pulled his pants up a little more.

"Why don't you just wash it with water? You tore half of the map off, how am I supposed to get back to that rooftop later?"

Shen Jie held the remaining half of the map trembling in her hand: "I tore off the parts that I didn't need."

"How do you know it won't be needed?"

"Are you yelling at me again?"

"I've been mean, so be it. Hitting me won't change anything!"

By the time the two arrived at their destination, the sun had already set.

Shen Jie was genuinely hungry now.

"The parent-child education center... this should be it, right?" The two huddled together, looking at the remaining half of the map.

“I remember Yu Luying saying she wanted to learn how to be a parent,” Xiao Yao recalled. “It must have been this classroom.”

“But to me, it looks like an old Shikumen house,” Shen Jie pointed out.

“In fact,” Xiao Yao told her, “this is Yu Luying’s home.”

In preparation for a possible battle, Shen Jie stretched her body and even test-fired a small fireball, but Xiao Yao still didn't know how to summon Don Quixote.

“There’s no other way,” Xiao Yao sighed. “Should we devise some combat tactics and a retreat plan?”

“We don’t know what’s inside, how can we make a decision?” Shen Jie said as she pushed open the door. “We’ll just have to play it by ear.”

"Wait," Xiao Yao grabbed her arm, "Don't start any more monsters without my permission."

"Activate the monster?" Shen Jie didn't understand the online game terminology.

"It means don't attack first," Xiao Yao explained.

"Understood, Your Majesty."

Xiao Yao took a deep breath and followed Shen Jie through the wooden door.

He thought, "It would be great if I could save this file."

--split line--

Yu Luying's home is a typical old Shikumen house. Four or five families live in the narrow front door, sharing a "soap room" (kitchen) and a washing room.

It's supposed to be a washroom, but there's no toilet or shower available. Aside from wiping your body with a towel soaked in hot water, you can only use a plastic bathtub.

The room that truly belonged to the Yu mother and daughter was a small pavilion, about seventeen or eighteen square meters. Upon entering, one would see a statue of the "Sorrowful Virgin Mary" on the wall: in this statue, Mary's brows were slightly furrowed, and she pointed to her heart—where seven swords had pierced her.

There was a sofa on the side closest to the door, and in front of the sofa was a small coffee table that had been put together. Underneath the coffee table lay a double bass, directly opposite the square dining table.

The square table was by the window, and a large bed was right next to the innermost corner, with a small prayer altar at the head of the bed.

This small Baroque altar is fully equipped and is the most ornate and dazzling part of this simple room: a pure gold cross sits in the center, and Latin scriptures from abroad are on the left. The entire altar is bathed in the warm light of concealed ambient lighting.

However, the exposed electrical wires on the wall behind the prayer altar still reveal the cramped living conditions here.

Yu Luying, her mother Yu Lihua, and a well-dressed, rather handsome middle-aged man were eating a four-dish-and-soup meal when they saw the two of them burst in. They all stopped eating in surprise and looked towards the door.

Yu Luying was the first to react: "Xiao Yao, Shen Jie, what brings you two here?" She stood up to greet them.

She was wearing a blue and white loungewear dress and was barefoot in pink bear-patterned plastic slippers.

Yu Lihua also stood up, her face kind and gentle, and said, "Oh, you're Yingying's classmate. Come in and sit down."

"Hello, Auntie." Even though he knew the other person was most likely not a real person, Xiao Yao still greeted her respectfully.

"Come on in, why are you buying things?" Yu Lihua smiled and took the crossbow from Xiao Yao's left hand, then pulled the short axe that Xiao Yao had stuck in the ground.

Xiao Yao was taken aback when he was disarmed right away, and then quickly pulled Shen Jie back from making trouble.

The man didn't get up; he simply nodded to them, exuding an air of aloofness.

"Hello, uncles." Xiao Yao changed his shoes somewhat awkwardly, then noticed that his socks were also covered in mud. He took off his socks and stuffed them into his shoes, then rubbed his bare feet on the carpet by the door.

Shen Jie didn't greet anyone or change her shoes; she simply stepped onto Yu Luying's floor with her dirty dad shoes.

"Shen Jie..." Xiao Yao called her name again.

Shen Jie glanced back at him, touched the heels of her shoes to the ground, took off her shoes without untying the laces, and walked in barefoot in her dirty socks.

Fortunately, Yu Lihua seemed not to have seen it, and only Yu Luying consciously picked up the broom from the corner.

"Yu Luying, are you a real person?" Shen Jie asked directly.

"Real person? What do you mean?" Yu Luying asked, puzzled.

"Don't rush, don't rush..." Xiao Yao leaned in and whispered in Shen Jie's ear. Shen Jie glanced at him, then sat down on the sofa with a nonchalant air, still making the gesture of summoning flames at any moment.

"Have you eaten?" the middle-aged man asked politely.

"I ate." "No."

Shen Jie smelled the delicious aroma from the dining table, and her mouth watered as she answered.

“Shen Jie…” Xiao Yao touched her again, but she bounced away.

Yu Lihua went downstairs to cook, leaving only the middle-aged man and the two of them chatting idly.

Xiao Yao held a cup of tea in his hands, but didn't drink a drop.

"You're all Yingying's classmates, right?" The middle-aged man picked up two peanuts, put them in his mouth, and took a sip of baijiu (Chinese liquor).

"Ah, yes," Xiao Yao chuckled dryly.

Xiao Yao had always felt that the man's face looked familiar, and now he finally remembered where he had seen it before—it was the black-and-white portrait of Yu Luying's father that he had seen when he visited Yu Luying's home.

I have to say, this is really a bit creepy.

“Xiao Yao is my classmate, and Shen Jie is his girlfriend,” Yu Luying introduced.

“Oh,” the “father” replied casually, “students should still prioritize their studies.”

"You're right," Xiao Yao said with a dry laugh.

none of your business.

"Why are we playing house with them?" Shen Jie asked in a low voice. "Let's eat first, then we'll sleep with these fake parents."

"Don't be so reckless," Xiao Yao whispered in her ear again, "You dare to eat their food?"

"Eat, why not eat?" Shen Jie said dismissively. "You drank plenty of tap water from the restrooms along the way, didn't you? And Yu Luying ate some too, didn't she?"

"So you know that this Yu Luying is a real person?" Xiao Yao retorted.

"You're here! I didn't know you were coming, so I just quickly stir-fried two simple home-style dishes. Please don't mind them." Yu Lihua entered with a beaming smile, carrying two plates of freshly cooked dishes.

"Not at all, the dishes are too plentiful," Xiao Yao said politely, leading Shen Jie to the table.

Clearly, Yu Luying's "parents" are unlikely to be real people—it is said that Yu's father has been dead for many years, and Yu's mother's amiable attitude towards Xiao Yao is completely different from the Yu Lihua who was at odds with Xiao Yao in the coffee shop earlier.

On the contrary... she looks more like an older version of Yu Luying?

The only thing that needs to be determined is whether the Yu Luying in front of us is genuine or not.

This is difficult, Xiao Yao thought anxiously for a solution.

"Yu Luying, do you remember how you got here?" Shen Jie asked while eating heartily.

"What? How did you get here?" Yu Luying asked with a puzzled smile. "I was just at home, wasn't I?"

“Think again,” Shen Jie pulled her foot away from Xiao Yao’s and stomped it back in forcefully: “Before you got here, did anything happen? Did you lose any memories for a few days?”

Yu Luying pressed her forehead and began to think painfully, while Yu Lihua and her father also stopped eating and cast wary glances at Shen Jie.

So it seems this Yu Luying is the real person? Otherwise, why would those two imposters be so nervous? Xiao Yao thought.

"What are you talking about?" Xiao Yao stepped on Shen Jie's foot again; her socks felt surprisingly comfortable. "Whatever it is, let's talk after we finish eating. I haven't eaten yet!"

After saying this, Xiao Yao grabbed a spoon with his left hand and started eating. He had originally planned not to touch his chopsticks out of caution, but he was so hungry he was dizzy, and seeing that Shen Jie had eaten so much without any problems...

If we wait any longer, until Shen Jie finishes eating, and then flip the table, we won't know where the next meal will come from!

Shen Jie understood and didn't say anything more.

“By the way, I can’t play with you this afternoon,” Yu Luying said without touching her chopsticks. “Today is Sunday, and I’m going to church with my parents for Mass.”

“Attending Mass is great,” Xiao Yao said, with a mouthful of twice-cooked pork. “Is it your uncle presiding over it?”

“Yes,” Yu Luying said happily.

She looks really happy, doesn't she? And it's not just Yu Lihua who looks unnaturally happy.

"Oh, your family has been Catholic for generations?" Xiao Yao continued the conversation.

“My mother is, and my father is a newly baptized Christian,” Yu Luying replied.