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

Where did you spend the night last night?

Did you get caught in the rain?

Are you still angry?

I've been looking for you.

"Flower." In the end, Xiao Yao only said this one word.

"Taking money from me to buy flowers for me," Shen Jie complained, but her tone was quite cheerful. "Who gave you the courage to choose roses? Was it the florist's shady business or that mole Shen Tianyun?"

“Neither,” a piece of knowledge that wasn’t originally hers came to her lips: “The rose represents a woman who is beautiful and refined, gentle yet strong. The spirit of the rose is like that of a beautiful and elegant woman, but the sharp thorns on the branches symbolize an indomitable spirit beneath a beautiful exterior. I think that’s very fitting—”

"Alright, stop carrying it," Shen Jie stood up, straightened her slightly disheveled clothes, and took a deep sniff of the bouquet in her hands. "Since things have come to this, let's watch a movie first. I've already bought the tickets."

"Huh? We're really going to see Shanghai? No way, let's see Troy instead?"

Watching "Beautiful Shanghai" was like being in prison.

First of all, it's not good-looking.

Secondly, this is my second viewing.

Most importantly, the girl next to me neither smiled nor ate anything; she just stared intently at the screen.

After an hour and a half of feeling like sitting on pins and needles, Xiao Yao finally emerged from the "great darkness" and stepped into the light.

"This daughter is really a handful, isn't she?" Shen Jie said.

"Sigh, yes. But our Yunyun—"

"Your Yingying likes this kind of movie?" Shen Jie interrupted him, narrowing her eyes.

"Our Yingying—" Xiao Yao was caught off guard and blurted out something unintelligible. Then, a sharp pain shot through his arm, and he hurriedly turned around: "No, I misspoke..."

Another palm strike came hurtling towards them with a whoosh.

"No! I was wrong!"

A couple stopped at the entrance of the movie theater and stood there curiously watching.

"Wow, so dashing... A live version of 'My Sassy Girl'?" the boy exclaimed.

"If you're envious, I can help you too," the girl said with a smile.

"No, thank you."

……

"Where are you going?" Shen Jie rubbed her sore right hand. "The subway station is over there."

“I’m not taking the subway today,” Xiao Yao said. “I rode my bicycle and parked it in the bike shed over there.”

"Huh? A bicycle?"

Chapter 82 Sleeping together

2023-01-10

Xiao Yao rode his bicycle leisurely, carrying Shen Jie, towards home under the bright sunshine.

This reminded him of their first date, when they rode a tandem bicycle in the forest park.

"Why didn't you take the subway today?" Shen Jie straddled the back of the bicycle with her legs apart, one arm around Xiao Yao's waist, the other holding flowers.

At first, she instinctively sat with her legs together on the same side, but when the car started moving, she felt like she was about to fall off at any moment, so she readjusted her posture.

“You know what? This is the first time I’ve ever ridden on the back of a bicycle,” Shen Jie said.

"I guessed it. How does it feel?" Xiao Yao gripped the handrail with both hands.

“It’s a bit strange,” Shen Jie thought for a moment, “It’s a bit enjoyable.”

"Doesn't it look like a scene from a teen romance movie?"

“I don’t watch teen romance movies,” Shen Jie said. “By the way, Xiao Yao, can you teach me how to ride a bicycle next time?”

"You can't ride a bicycle?" Xiao Yao found it somewhat unbelievable.

“I can’t ride a two-wheeled one, but I could ride one of those with balance wheels at the park last time,” Shen Jie said. “Why are you making such a fuss? Is it strange that you haven’t learned to ride a bicycle?”

"No surprise, no surprise." This is very strange.

“Hey Shen Jie, you don’t actually need to learn to ride a bicycle,” Xiao Yao thought for a moment and then said, “I will take you to every corner of Shanghai.”

"Then I'll be so shocked... I'll be jumping around like crazy," Shen Jie said. "How many girls have you said that to?"

"Absolutely not!"

"How many times will it take you to understand that I just don't love your smooth-talking ways?"

“…Although I may be glib with words, my heart is truly sincere,” Xiao Yao replied after a few seconds of thought.

"Hehe, stop the car."

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"There's a flower shop here, I need to buy a vase." Shen Jie waved the bouquet of flowers in her hand.

--split line--

When Xiao Yao got home, he saw the complaining text message from Yu Luying.

"Shen... Old... Shen Jie," Xiao Yao stammered.

"Speak." Shen Jie didn't look up; she was concentrating on arranging flowers.

“You can stay here, but I have one condition,” Xiao Yao said.

“You’re making conditions, as if I really want to stay here,” the girl said, taking out her clothes one by one and hanging them in the closet. “Get this straight, I’m going to stay with my daughter, not with you.”

"Can you please stop hitting me?" Xiao Yao pointed out solemnly.

"I didn't use any force," Shen Jie said dismissively.

"If you use your strength, wouldn't you be able to fight a tiger with your bare hands?"

"...Go out, I need to change my clothes." Shen Jie said, "Never mind, I'll go in and change."

As he spoke, he crawled into the cupboard.

Xiao Yao waited for ten minutes, then couldn't help but knock on the wardrobe door: "Is it ready yet?"

No reply.

Xiao Yao's heart tightened, and he opened the cabinet door and stepped into the mirror.

“You can’t live here!” Shen Tianyun shouted.

"Why not?" Shen Jie's voice was even louder than hers: "I'm your mother!"

"Mom should live with Dad!" Shen Tianyun pointed in Xiao Yao's direction.

My good daughter, I've never spoiled you for nothing!

“Fine, the old ones don’t want me, and the young ones don’t want me either,” Shen Jie said, as she crawled into the closet. “Your mom is going home right now to apologize to your grandpa, get her ears pierced, and get married to your Uncle Zhang in a bridal sedan chair…”

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no..." Xiao Yao stepped forward and grabbed the hem of her silk nightgown.

After some playful banter, Xiao Yao helped Shen Jie settle her things in Shen Tianyun's boudoir.

"Come on, let's celebrate our family reunion. Cheers!" Xiao Yao made sweet and sour pork ribs, braised pork belly, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and crucian carp ball soup, and also bought half a dozen beers.

"There's even a dad who's pouring alcohol for his daughter," Shen Jie teased, looking at the beer.

"Can this beer be considered alcohol?" Xiao Yao and Shen Tianyun asked in unison.

"You two wouldn't be drinking like this at home every day without me knowing, would you?"

“My dad is so poor, he can’t even afford to buy instant noodles with two packets of seasoning. Today, I’m doing this to improve my life thanks to you.” Shen Tianyun grabbed a can without hesitation, but couldn’t open it.

"What is this?"

"You have to pry it open from this side and then pull it to the side." Shen Jie took it, opened it, and handed it back, then seemed to remember something: "You've gone too far, haven't you ever had a Coke?"

"Don't you always bend aluminum cans in half?"

"How can you drink it if you pull it into the middle?"

…………

Shen Jie and Shen Tianyun toasted him, and the three of them each drank it down.

He refilled the two girls' glasses, but the foam overflowed. By the time the foam subsided, the glass of wine was only half full.

"You're so clumsy," Shen Jie complained.

"Oh, don't say that. At least Lao Xiao's cooking is pretty good." Shen Tianyun helped wipe the table with a rag.

"It's pretty good," Shen Jie commented. "It tastes similar to what she makes."

"Who is it?" Shen Tianyun asked.

"Have you noticed how beautiful the moon is tonight...?" Xiao Yao quickly said.

"It's not even dark yet, where did the moon come from?"