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

"Look." The old man reading the newspaper pushed up his reading glasses, didn't look at him, but just gestured in one direction.

Xiao Yao took out the lottery ticket he bought on Friday morning and compared it with the winning numbers written on the plastic board with a pen.

……

"Hey! It's done! I won!" Xiao Yao said.

The old man finally raised his head.

Winning twenty yuan is a 1000% return; it's a great deal.

Originally, Xiao Yao shouldn't have been too disappointed.

After all, as a long-time fan of "Science Fiction Emperor," this was already within Xiao Yao's expectations.

It must be some kind of timeline self-repair mechanism or something, right? It can't possibly be the sports lottery bureau...?

But doesn't this suggest that the future is unchangeable?

No, not necessarily.

Just to be on the safe side, I should go back and double-check with Shen Tianyun to make sure the number she provided is correct.

After receiving his first ever lottery winnings—four crumpled 5-yuan bills—from the old man, Xiao Yao walked towards his bicycle.

I have this feeling like someone is watching me...

Xiao Yao turned his head and looked around, but by then it was already dark and he couldn't find anything.

Is it just my imagination? But my intuition is usually pretty accurate...

Is it possible that the thugs from Beihong Vocational School are going to try to extort money again? (Note: Shanghai dialect, referring to blackmail or extortion)

I hope I don't lose even this twenty yuan!

Not daring to take the shortcut through the alley, Xiao Yao rode his bicycle along the main road, which led him past the Canhua Internet Cafe.

He touched the twenty yuan in his pocket, hesitated for a moment, and then pulled over to the side of the road.

After glancing around habitually and not seeing his grandmother, Teacher Yao, or any student council members, Xiao Yao slipped into the dark stairwell and went straight to the second floor.

I slammed my head through the roller shutter of the internet cafe, and a cool breeze rushed in, making me feel refreshed.

As usual, the air in the internet cafe was filled with the smells of leather sofas, computer supplies, feet, and leftover food.

This smell is unique to the air in internet cafes, and it's not unpleasant for someone like Xiao Yao who's used to it; in fact, it feels somewhat familiar.

At least there was no smell of smoke—compared to the internet cafes in his small town north of the Yangtze River where he went to junior high school, Xiao Yao was very satisfied with the complete ban on smoking in Shanghai's internet cafes.

"Begging for food? Want a boxed lunch? Ten yuan a person! Time to eat!..." A middle-aged man in blue overalls with a stubble beard passed by Xiao Yao, holding a plastic box in both hands, and glanced at him: "Begging for food?"

"No thanks."

You're the one begging for food.

Just kidding, a ten-yuan box of deluxe food is enough to sustain five hours of happy gaming time. I didn't win 300.

"Activate the card and top up the money." Xiao Yao took out a small plastic card from the side pocket of his backpack, tapped it on the counter, and then took out the four large bills from his pocket.

"Did you win the lottery?" the receptionist joked.

"It's like winning the lottery," Xiao Yao said honestly.

"Our luck has turned around! Let's aim for 20!" The receptionist, operating the computer, said, "Aren't you going to save some for the next round?"

"Then I'll top up ten yuan first."

Xiao Yao logged onto QQ and saw that Shen Jie had not accepted his friend request, which annoyed him.

After taking a shower on Saturday morning, he went to Canhua Internet Cafe and used the last two yuan in his card to add Shen Jie on QQ. It's been two days and she still hasn't accepted his request.

Could it be intentional?

What's wrong with just giving someone a phone number? And what's with saying things like "Ask our little girl"?

He did ask her daughter—and the number he got was 158xxxxxxxx. Isn't that ridiculous? These days, what phone number starts with 158?

"Cough cough!" The cough that suddenly came from the earphone startled Xiao Yao.

The girl named "oO舒荷Oo" accepted his verification request.

Xiao Yao clicked on her profile picture, typed "HI", then deleted it and closed the chat window.

Don't make it seem like I've been waiting forever...

Shen Jie's QQ space is very clean, unbelievably clean.

Normally, a beautiful woman with this kind of appearance should have her QQ space filled with all sorts of selfies and close-up photos.

Shen Jie only had two photo albums. One album contained her own paintings, and the other album contained pictures of karate dojos and archery clubs. Xiao Yao found a few photos of herself in the album, but very few.

The posts and logs are scarce; is this a secondary account?

Just as Xiao Yao was about to take a closer look at those log entries, he felt someone standing behind him.

He stiffly and slowly turned his neck, praying in his heart that it wasn't his grandmother or Teacher Yao.

Fortunately, he didn't see anyone.

However, the feeling of being watched was even stronger...

Alright, it's not a good day to stay any longer. Let's get out of here when the wind picks up.

He typed a meaningless emoticon into Shen Jie's QQ chat window and then went to the front desk to log off.

The receptionist's attitude was somewhat different from before. While she was making small talk with Xiao Yao, such as "You're leaving so soon today," her eyes seemed to be fixed on the seat he had just vacated.

Xiao Yao curiously followed her gaze, but was pulled back by the instruction, "Starting tomorrow, someone from above will be checking ID cards again. Come back next week."

"What? Another investigation?!"

--split line--

As usual, Grandma sat on a small stool at the entrance of the building, fanning herself with a palm leaf fan, chatting and eating melon seeds with the other old ladies.

"Yao'er," the old lady of the Jin family said, her face scrunched up like a ball, holding a water pipe in her hand, "I heard from your grandma that you've got a girlfriend?"

Xiao Yao gave his grandmother a disgruntled look, but she pulled over an empty stool and gestured for Xiao Yao to sit down.

"what happened?"

"The little girl you brought back yesterday, she's not from your school, is she?" Grandma said mysteriously.

“…No,” Xiao Yao said.

"You're from Beihong Technical School, right?"

"What?!" Xiao Yao shifted his position somewhat uneasily.

"You've dyed your hair, haven't you? And you've had your nails done, haven't you?" Grandma said confidently. "You're wearing such short pants that you're practically showing your bottom..."

What exactly are you trying to say?

Grandma hesitated, then said, "Making friends is a good thing, I won't interfere, but you must never go astray..."

"Oh dear, how could this be..."

Before Xiao Yao could speak, his grandmother's gaze went straight past his shoulder, and then she stood up shakily: "Yingying!"

What? Xiao Yao subconsciously turned around and saw Yu Luying standing at the corner of the alley, biting her lip.

She was wearing the summer uniform of St. Francis Secondary School: a white and pink striped short-sleeved sports T-shirt and matching sports pants, neither too big nor too small, just about the right size. The loose pant legs covered the pure white chunky sneakers, with only the toes showing. Her hands gripped the shoulder straps of her backpack tightly, and even in such a large coat, her chest was still rising and falling slightly.

"Grandma, please sit down." Yu Luying quickened her pace, stepped forward to help her, and glared at Xiao Yao: "Why didn't you answer the phone?"

"You haven't come for so long..." Grandma held Yu Luying's hand, asking her how she was doing.

Seeing Yu Luying looking at him, Xiao Yao quickly called out, "Grandma!"

"Grandma, I'm here to help Xiao Yao with his homework," Yu Luying said softly.

"Cut the rice first, cut the rice first," Grandma said, pulling Yu Luying's hand and leading her towards the stairwell. "I made braised pork today!"

"No, no, I've already eaten," Yu Luying repeatedly declined. "Let's go to the library to do our homework."

“You’ve already eaten, but I haven’t,” Xiao Yao said happily.

After being coaxed, tricked, pushed, and pulled upstairs by the old man and the young girl, Grandma went to the alley entrance to buy soy sauce, while Yu Luying was blocked by Xiao Yao outside his bedroom door.

"Wait a minute, I'll go get you your slippers." Xiao Yao said, pushing the door open a crack and slipping inside.

After entering the house, Xiao Yao saw that Shen Tianyun was not there, and then opened the door with relief: "Come in, I forgot that we don't need to change into slippers at home."

Yu Luying twitched her nostrils in confusion, then took two steps back: "No need, I'll go help Grandma."

Just as she was about to turn and leave, the wardrobe door in the bedroom opened a crack, and a fair thigh followed by a small foot in a slipper peeked out, then an arm and a bare shoulder, and finally a handsome profile under messy hair.

"Hey, your cabinet door is stuck, can you help me out?!"

Xiao Yao almost fainted on the spot, and Yu Luying stared at Shen Tianyun in disbelief for several seconds.

"Sorry to bother you." Yu Luying blushed and threw out these three words before making her escape.

"No, let me explain." Xiao Yao reacted quickly and grabbed the other person.

Yu Luying forcefully shook off Xiao Yao's arm: "Let go!"

"Are you Xiao Yao's classmate?" Shen Tianyun finally squeezed out, straightened her vest and shorts, and stepped forward with a smile: "Sit down, sit down."