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

"Wu Xufei? What are you doing here?" Xiao Yao recognized one of them. The girl was standing in front of a mirror wall not too far away. Her figure was clearly reflected in the mirror as she held onto the barre for her dance practice. The figure paused for a moment, then raised her left hand, stretched out her fingers, and pressed them together with her right palm.

The girl, known as Wu Xufei, glanced at Xiao Yao indifferently, then turned back expressionlessly and placed her slender right leg on the barre.

"You scoundrel, just how many girls have you kidnapped?" Shen Jie pointed at the man standing in the center of the room.

Yu Luying shook her head and said, "These girls are not real humans, but merely projections of their perceptions."

"How did you know?" Shen Jie asked.

Yu Luying reached up and touched her forehead again: "...I don't know either."

“Xiao Yao, you’re still as lecherous as ever.” Teacher Yao stood in the center of the dance studio and shook her head. “You’ve been here for so long and you haven’t even greeted the principal. You’ve only been looking at the female students—that’s why so many students in the class dislike you.”

Being humiliated in front of Shen Jie and Yu Luying made Xiao Yao somewhat embarrassed and angry, but he still held back his temper.

"Hello, Principal Yao," Xiao Yao replied in a deep voice. "You're no less skilled in this area, are you?"

He turned his gaze to his mentor, and then froze.

Teacher Yao was wearing a small crown on her head and a bright purple velvet cloak with white fur trim. Underneath, she seemed to be wearing only underwear, and her round belly was barely concealed by the cloak. A few tufts of black hair on her belly peeked out from the gaps. Below the cloak were a pair of bare, hairy legs, but on her feet were gleaming black dress shoes. The overall impression could only be described with two words: "perverted".

"Welcome to the principal's office. It's a pity you've arrived too early. The children haven't finished rehearsing Swan Lake yet, so they can't give you a wonderful performance."

Happy Chinese New Year, elder brother and sister-in-law!

Chapter 67

2023-01-03

"Welcome to the principal's office. It's a pity you've arrived too early. The children haven't finished rehearsing Swan Lake yet, so they can't give you a wonderful performance."

"Holy crap, this isn't Teacher Yao, this isn't Teacher Yao..." Xiao Yao muttered to himself.

“He is not,” Yu Luying explained. “He is just a shadow of Teacher Yao.”

"Shadow?" Xiao Yao asked.

Although Yu Luying didn't elaborate further, Shen Jie could guess what it was about: "It's something like the dark side of your heart or repressed subconscious..."

Beside "Teacher Yao" was a guy named Sekker who looked like Zhou Qi, dressed in... uh, a bunny ear and cat paw maid outfit? He was poking at "Teacher Yao".

“This is not Sackler, nor is it a product of our perception,” Yu Luying reminded Xiao Yao: “She really is Zhou Qi himself.”

Xiao Yao almost spat out his drink: "No way, how come you know everything, just like that White Knight?"

"White Knight? Who's that?" Yu Luying asked, puzzled.

“Stop whispering in class,” Teacher Yao’s voice sounded somewhat distorted. “Yu Luying knows everything because I told her everything.”

Xiao Yao looked at Yu Luying.

Yu Luying held her forehead in her hands: "Yes... I remember now! It was you, you took my... clothes!"

"It really is Teacher Yao?" Xiao Yao said, but he wasn't that surprised.

“It wasn’t Teacher Yao who took it,” Yu Luying shook her head vigorously like a rattle-drum, pointing with her finger at the figure in the velvet cloak: “It was him, he took it.”

"You?" Xiao Yao was even more puzzled: "You're just a shadow, how could you have the ability to go to the real world?"

"I have told Yu Luying everything and apologized to her," Teacher Yao did not directly answer Xiao Yao's question. "Yu Luying accepted my suggestion and agreed to take courses at our school."

Xiao Yao glanced at Yu Luying, who was holding her head and said, "I'm sorry... I really can't remember."

“Even if you wanted to drop out, you shouldn’t have burned down the parent-child education center,” Teacher Yao gently reprimanded.

“I didn’t burn it…” Yu Luying stammered.

"Yu Luying wants to drop out of school now, are you going to let her go or not?" Shen Jie asked loudly.

"Logically, it shouldn't be allowed, but since I respect everyone's freedom..."

“And Zhou Qi,” Xiao Yao turned his head slightly, looking at the girl next to Teacher Yao with a complicated expression: “We’ve been looking for you, everyone is very worried about you… We came here to save you.”

"Stop talking nonsense," Zhou Qi said with a disdainful laugh. "Do I look like I need you to save me?"

"You probably don't understand..."

“I understand everything,” Zhou Qi interrupted him. “From the very beginning, I came here voluntarily. I voluntarily wanted to live with Teacher Yao.”

"But he's just a shadow of Teacher Yao—"

“Perhaps he is more real, pure, and lovable than the Teacher Yao outside.” Zhou Qi released Teacher Yao’s shoulder and took a few steps toward Xiao Yao and the others: “The one outside is too deeply bound by responsibility and worldly views.”

"..."

“Xiao Yao, I wronged you before, and I treated you that way. It was all my fault. Can you do me one more favor?” Zhou Qi’s expression suddenly became sincere: “Let’s go, let’s leave this place, and stop interfering with the life I’ve chosen.”

“But have you thought about it? At least you still have your parents and other relatives. They can’t lose you, and they are all very worried about you,” Xiao Yao said.

Zhou Qi was slightly taken aback, then pursed his lips and said, "Them? They care about me? Forget it..."

“Stop wasting your breath. I think she’s been hypnotized, just like Yu Luying just now,” Shen Jie suggested. “Let’s get started.”

"Ah, that girl from another school who flips the table at the drop of a hat and is always thinking about starting a fight," Teacher Yao chuckled slyly. "You must really enjoy this feeling of freedom, right? Deep down, you're still that wild girl who always wants to grab a baseball bat and smash some windshield..."

"What did you say?" Shen Jie said angrily.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” Teacher Yao laughed heartily. “Just like you’re peeking into my and Qiqi’s memories, I can also see into the depths of your memories.”

"A girl bound by ladylike and aristocratic etiquette yearns for true freedom, doesn't she? That's why you indulge your true nature so freely in my palace."

"When drinking tea, you must hold your ribs tightly with both arms, without leaving any gaps; when holding the teacup, you should hold the handle of the cup with one hand and support the bottom of the cup with the other hand, with the tip of your middle finger touching the bottom of the cup wall."

"When wiping your mouth with a napkin, you must use the inside of the cup, and you must drink from the same spot every time; when stirring your coffee, you must stir it up and down, and the metal spoon must not make a sound when it touches the side of the cup..."

"As your father instructed, protect your virginity so you can marry the man he wants you to marry and sell you for a good price..."

"Shut up—" Shen Jie screamed, then Xiao Yao grabbed her from behind.

"You've wanted all of this to go to hell for a long time, haven't you? You enjoy the adventure of swearing and running amok in my temple, don't you?"

"This is the freedom you want. I give each and every one of you the freedom you desire."

Teacher Yao finished his long speech and raised his arms high like a savior.

"What nonsense are you spouting?" Shen Jie said angrily, "Your freedom means treating the school as your kingdom, acting like a tyrant, and having your harem in the principal's office?"

“I am truly facing my own desires,” Teacher Yao said solemnly. “Is your seemingly righteous condemnation really for the sake of so-called justice?”

"You came here really for Qiqi, for Yu Luying, for these people? What a joke, you don't care about their lives at all."

"You don't care about Xiao Yao either. What you really want is a thrilling and spectacular adventure. You've turned my palace upside down just because you want—"

Xiao Yao thought that Shen Jie's personality was indeed a little different from how she was when she was outside.

"Enough," Shen Jie turned to Xiao Yao and Yu Luying, "Are we just going to stand here and let him try to sow discord to our faces? Let's put an end to this!"

"Don't rush," Xiao Yao reached out and grabbed Shen Jie's arm again: "Teacher Yao, in my heart, you have always been a good teacher. You are a good teacher to me, to Zhou Qi, and to everyone."

"Your school is also for the freedom of everyone, so that they can freely learn the courses they want to learn and do the things they want to do."

"Not bad." Flattery never fails, and Teacher Yao nodded.

“If Zhou Qi wants to stay here, we won’t necessarily take her away,” Xiao Yao said in a deep voice.

"What?" Shen Jie exclaimed in alarm, but Xiao Yao stepped on her foot.

"However, please allow me to leave with Yu Luying and Xiong Ji, as this is also their freedom."

"Sure," Teacher Yao readily agreed.

Xiao Yao was slightly surprised: "Thank you."

“Yu Luying,” Teacher Yao looked at the girl with her head down, “Do you really not want to go back to your studies? Do you really not want to live with your father again?”

“Dad’s gone, he’ll never come back,” Yu Luying said, biting her lip. “But Mom’s still here. If I keep living here, Mom won’t be able to make a living…”

"Although my mother in the real world has a bad temper, is very controlling, and is also gloomy, and is not as lovely as the one I saw at the parenting center, she is still my mother, and I am all she has left."

“…I understand,” Teacher Yao said after a moment of silence, then slowly nodded. “I can make an exception for you and your friends and let you leave. But once you leave here, there is no turning back.”

“I know, thank you…” Yu Luying said.

Teacher Yao waved her hand, and Zhou Qi walked to the door behind the "Principal's Office" and opened it.

Is it really that simple? Xiao Yao found it hard to believe.

"Are we really going to leave Zhou Qi here?" Shen Jie didn't move.

“A wise man doesn’t fight a losing battle. Let’s go out first and then discuss what to do with Father Yu…” Xiao Yao whispered to her, “We can’t continue fighting now, can we?”

Although reluctant, Shen Jie still agreed with Xiao Yao: "What about your buddy Xiong Ji? Is he also left here?"

"Why hasn't Xiong Ji arrived yet? Didn't I call him too? This child..." Teacher Yao looked at the door Xiao Yao had come through: "When he arrives, if he also wants to leave, I will not stop him."

“Go out through this door,” Zhou Qi urged. “I will erase all your memories of the hall and then send you back to the outside world.”

"Erase memories?" Xiao Yao was shocked.

"Don't worry, it's just memories from inside the hall," Zhou Qi explained. "You know too many secrets you shouldn't know... The principal also has to protect the peace and honor of the entire school."

"No way!" "Don't even think about it!" Xiao Yao and Shen Jie shouted in unison.

It was in this hall that Shen Jie and I saved each other's lives several times and forged a deep camaraderie, Xiao Yao thought.

It was here that Shen Jie and I hugged and held hands many times, and she finally decided to treat me as the son-in-law of the Shen family.