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

From then on, Tobiah and Sara lived happily ever after...

Whoosh…whoosh…

Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep with the little Bible in his hand.

He had a dream about his wedding night with Shen Jie.

Shen Jie was dressed in a traditional Chinese-style bright red bridal gown, with embroidered shoes and white cloth socks. Her pretty face was hidden under a red headscarf, making her look quite shy.

With the sound of fabric rubbing together, Xiao Yao happily took off his shirt and trousers.

"Wait a minute!" Shen Jie lifted the bride's veil herself and said, "Brother, get up! Let us pray together, asking our Lord to show mercy and protection to us."

Xiao Yao said, "Okay." Then, without hesitation, he pulled up his pants and knelt down with Shen Jie on the bed covered with a bright red quilt.

“Our ancestral God… praise you throughout the ages… you created Adam, and you created Eve to be his wife, his helper and his support… I have married this sister not out of lust, but out of pure intention. Have mercy on her and me, and grant us a long and happy life together!”

Amen! Amen!

No sooner had he and Shen Jie finished speaking than that familiar concrete mixer truck crashed through the west wall and headed straight for their wedding bed.

And the one sitting in the driver's seat, holding the steering wheel, was none other than that damned Asmodeus!

Xiao Yao and Shen Jie exchanged a glance, then leaped up. Don Quixote and Bloody Mary also jumped out, engaging in a fierce battle with Asmodeus.

The plot then went completely off track, feeling like a chase and a fight that lasted all night. In the middle of it, Xiao Yao even dreamed that he had become Zhang Zhengkai, and the powerful White Knight was his spiritual fortress.

Saying he "became Zhang Zhengkai" is inaccurate, because in the dream, Xiao Yao didn't feel anything was wrong with him being Zhang Zhengkai.

……

……

When Xiao Yao woke up, it was still dark, which made him realize that he had only slept for a few hours.

He picked up his phone and found that it had automatically shut down. He plugged it in and looked at it, and his eyelids drooped – it was already Sunday night.

Oh my god...

"Grandma, where's the food?" Xiao Yao asked, leaning against the wall as he left the room.

"Cook your own meals! You're always either out partying and never coming back, or you're just sleeping in..."

The old woman cursed as she took out the leftovers from lunch from the refrigerator and heated them on the gas stove.

"Oh, Grandma..." Xiao Yao obediently stepped forward and hugged his grandmother's plump waist from behind.

"No way!" Grandma deftly twisted and bounced Xiao Yao away: "It's so hot..."

"Grandma, it's so hot. Don't be so reluctant to turn on the air conditioner. The air from the electric fan is hot..." Xiao Yao glanced at his grandma's room. The door was open, and the floor fan was slowly swinging its head towards his grandma's bamboo mat.

"I'm not like you, young master! You leave the air conditioning on all day long, and you don't even turn it off when you go out, since you don't have to pay for it!" Grandma said fiercely.

"No way, did I leave it unlocked when I went out yesterday?" Xiao Yao exclaimed in surprise.

"I'm going on the cruise ship in a couple of days. You'll be so free now! Will you burn my house down?" Grandma picked up a rag, wrapped around a large bowl of meat broth, and walked towards the dining table in Xiao Yao's bedroom.

"Leaving so soon? I thought it was July," Xiao Yao muttered. "With that old man again?"

Grandma put the meat soup on the table, then skipped back to her room, opened the wardrobe, and pulled out the drawers.

"This is your living expenses for the summer vacation, use it wisely!"

"Huh? That's all?" Xiao Yao squeezed the envelope; it wasn't very thick, and he was greatly disappointed.

"Your dad said if he gives you too much, you'll have money to go to internet cafes!"

"I promise I won't go to internet cafes!"

Grandma clearly didn't believe her, but she still took a few bills from another roll of red bills and handed them over.

"Thank you, Grandma!" Xiao Yao was overjoyed.

The money was handed to Xiao Yao, but Grandma didn't let go: "Don't let your father know! Be careful how you use the internet!"

“Grandma…” Xiao Yao would never know how to express his feelings whenever he was moved.

"Grandma, Grandma! Go away! You only call me Grandma when you want money!"

"Hahahahahahaha..." A girl's silvery laughter came from outside the door.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." The half-open door was blown open by the wind at some point, and a petite girl stood in the stairwell, holding a pretty fruit basket in one hand and clutching her stomach with the other, unable to straighten up.

"The Shen family's signature maniacal laughter..." Xiao Yao murmured.

"Little Shen, what brings you here? Come in, come in!" Grandma skipped out again, saying, "You're here, and you even brought things."

"I didn't buy any, just some fruit for Grandma." Shen Jie controlled herself and walked in: "It smells so good."

"Have you had dinner yet?" Grandma asked.

"I've already eaten," Shen Jie said with a smile. "It's alright, I can still eat a little more."

The girl was wearing a baseball cap, her long hair was loose, and she was wearing very short hot pants. A centimeter of white sock edge was sticking out from the top of her high-top canvas shoes.

"Xiao Yao, aren't you going to get Xiao Shen some slippers?"

"Ah, ah." Xiao Yao, somewhat dazed, shifted his gaze from Shen Jie's fair and delicate thighs: "Are these alright?"

"Isn't yours too big?" Grandma said.

"It's nothing, it's not a big deal." Shen Jie nonchalantly put on Xiao Yao's other pair of slippers and shuffled towards Xiao Yao's bedroom.

The three of them sat down around the square table. Xiao Yao wolfed down the reheated leftovers while listening to Shen Jie and her grandmother chat about everyday things.

"Grandma's cooking is so delicious!" Shen Jie's white lace-up short socks bounced under the table, and Xiao Yao's heart bounced along with the slippers on her feet.

"These are all simple home-style dishes," Grandma said with a smile. "Can Xiao Shen cook?"

"Hmm... I don't burn much, but I'm quite interested," Shen Jie replied after considering for a moment.

You know what, this atmosphere actually feels a bit like home, Xiao Yao thought.

"I'm going on a cruise in a couple of days, and I'll be gone for more than two months," Grandma said. "I hope this kid doesn't tear the house down by himself. Xiao Shen, you have to keep a close eye on him for me."

Xiao Yao and Shen Jie were both taken aback. The former thought to himself, "This seems to be the second or third time that Grandma has seen Shen Jie, right?"

How does she manage to treat people like family?

"Okay, I'll try my best." To Xiao Yao's surprise, Shen Jie actually agreed just like that: "A cruise ship? My mother has been on one too. Grandma, what's your itinerary?"

Xiao Yao took out his phone and checked his text messages.

Both Xiao Xiong and Father Yu sent messages inquiring about Xiao Yao's safety, while there was no word from Yu Luying.

Shen Jie sent several messages and had four missed calls.

Xiao Yao looked up at Shen Jie, who was chatting and laughing with her grandmother, and felt secretly pleased.

That's right, girls should take the initiative.

“Grandma,” Xiao Yao cleared his throat, interrupting their conversation about the cruise trip, “weren’t you in a hurry to go buy soy sauce?”

"What?" Grandma was taken aback.

"The soy sauce shop closes at 8:30," Xiao Yao said, pointing to the clock on the wall.

"You child, look how anxious you are!" Grandma snapped out of her daze and scolded, "Alright, I'm going to go play cards with Grandma Jin. Xiao Shen, you can help him with his homework too."

"Okay," Shen Jie said with a smile.

After Grandma left, a brief silence fell over the room.

"Has Shen Tianyun returned?" Shen Jie put down her chopsticks and asked cautiously.

The look in her eyes as she looked at Xiao Yao revealed that she was afraid of hearing a negative answer.

Xiao Yao shook his head: "I don't know. I slept like a log as soon as I got back yesterday. I just woke up and you were here."

"Then... shall we go take a look together?" Shen Jie suggested.

"Ah."

They said these things, but neither of them moved. It was as if they both knew the answer in their hearts, but deliberately delayed "opening the box," as if that would allow them to avoid facing it.

The girl who ran wild in Teacher Yao's "hall" yesterday seems to have disappeared, replaced by a well-mannered and prudent young lady.

“During the day, I went to the Sacred Heart Church across from your school.” Shen Jie thought for a moment, “and ran into Yu Luying.”

"normal."

"Her mother was there too, and she looked just like the one I saw at the parenting education center."

"Ah."

"I happened to attend Mass."

"Oh, you? Attending Mass? Is it fun?"

“After Mass, I called Yu Luying and Father Yu together for a private chat. I wanted to invite you to come along, but I couldn’t get through to you on the phone.”

"Hmm." Xiao Yao's heart was beating a little fast. There was a unique fragrance in the air that belonged to "Shen Jie". He wanted to hug the girl in front of him, but he didn't dare to move.

Damn it, I was already so skilled at it yesterday...

“It turns out that the Loreto Our Lady medal was a relic of Queen Mary I,” Shen Jie recalled. “When Father Yu bought it online, he doubted whether it was a fake, but now it is basically confirmed to be genuine. I summoned the Queen’s spiritual fortress because I resonated with her spirit.”

"A spiritual fortress..." Xiao Yao murmured the phrase.