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

Yu Luying shook her head and cleared her throat: "We'll talk about it on the way to Zhouzhuang tomorrow—this is for you, this is from your uncle."

Go to the boat resort? Ah, yes, it was planned beforehand, it's a literary society activity, the day after my birthday.

The fact that Yu Luying came to the birthday party, gave a gift, and spoke to him nicely showed that she wasn't holding a grudge about the misunderstanding about the "night raid" the day before. Realizing this, Xiao Yao felt much more at ease.

In the girl's left hand was a large, hardcover copy of Tagore's poetry, and in her right hand was a small, exquisite resin image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which should be her gift and Yu Bo's gift, respectively.

"Thank you." Xiao Yao accepted the two birthday gifts, glanced at Yu Bo, and the latter raised his champagne glass to him.

Xiao Yao continued to wade through the mountains of legs and the sea of ​​people, squeezing to the other side of the room, where he neatly placed the "Selected Poems of Tagore" into the bookshelf, stood on tiptoe, placed the statue's hands on top of the cabinet, and shook it with his hands clasped together.

After everyone had almost finished eating the cake, they pushed the table back under the window, and Shen Jie put the remaining cake in the refrigerator.

As Chen Lu had previously suggested, everyone played a round of the murder mystery game together.

Yu Luying was initially unwilling to participate, but Xiao Yao still dragged her in.

Xiao Yao had never played the murder mystery game before, but he had always been curious about it. He was learning as he played and picked it up quite quickly.

Since there were no playing cards, they used the tarot cards that Ouyang Qianqian had brought instead. Everyone sat on the floor in a circle.

Zhao Xiaomei sat diagonally opposite Xiao Yao—wearing this outfit and sitting at this angle, under the light, Xiao Yao thought she actually looked quite pretty. The soles of her socks were already black, especially noticeable at the pads of her ten toes, and the balls of her feet and heels were also covered with a layer of gray-black, only the inner arch of her foot remained pure white.

As if sensing Xiao Yao's gaze and thoughts, the little toe and second toe of her foot deliberately twitched a few times.

Xiao Yao quickly turned his head away, refusing to look at her.

Little Bear whispered in Xiao Yao's ear at some point: "This Zhao Xiaomei... what's going on between you two?"

"We're not familiar with each other, we've only exchanged a few words, I don't know how they found me."

“I was in the same class as her for a while in junior high,” Xiao Xiong continued, “Back then she was a really quiet and unassuming girl. Has she changed so much in just three days?”

"You have an idea?" Xiao Yao rolled his eyes.

"No, I just wanted to mention it to you." Little Bear frowned, glanced at Zhao Xiaomei, and noticed that she seemed to be looking at him as well. He quickly raised his beer can and took a sip.

"Okay, I got it." Xiao Yao also took a sip of beer. It was flat and not cold, and it tasted awful.

Is she a nobody...? Come to think of it, the last time I ran into her at the wonton shop, she wasn't like this at all. Could it be that her outfit today was also part of a pre-planned, well-informed stunt? Even deliberately taking off her shoes—was it to seduce me? But besides Shen Jie, who else knows my preferences enough to reveal them to her? There are some things even Yu Luying might not know, right?

Xiao Yao, you've gotten too cocky. You think too highly of yourself. Girls wouldn't... Xiao Yao laughed at himself.

Compared to Zhao Xiaomei, there are other situations here that deserve my attention.

He noticed that the ribbonfish was still clinging to Shen Tianyun, and Shen Tianyun was chatting enthusiastically with him.

Don't get me wrong, Xiao Yao likes ribbonfish and genuinely considers him a brother, but he doesn't like him to the point of considering him his son-in-law.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Tianyun's character—Xiao Yao convinced himself: but, no matter what, he was 30 years older than Tianyun, and besides, they really weren't from the same world.

All of this has absolutely nothing to do with the old father's possessiveness, hmm.

As Xiao Yao was considering how to separate the two of them naturally and without making anyone feel awkward, Shen Jie had already sat down, separating the two of them.

"It has to be my wife," Xiao Yao smiled with satisfaction.

But then Shen Jie said something to Daiyu, and his eyes lit up. He asked repeatedly, "Really? Really?" Then he and Shen Jie took out their phones together, as if they were exchanging some information.

After the game ended, Xiao Yao was the second to be eliminated, while Zhao Xiaomei and Shen Jie, playing the police officers, won the final victory.

Chen Lu was still not satisfied and wanted to start a second game, but Daiyu once again clamored to go to "Qian Gui" to start the second half.

"I have to go now," Ouyang Qianqian said, picking up her bag.

"The last to arrive, the first to leave, what kind of bureaucratic behavior is this?" Ribbonfish jeered.

Ouyang Qianqian rolled her eyes: "I need to get my beauty sleep, okay? Unlike you—besides, I'm not the last one to arrive."

“Oh dear, ribbonfish,” Shen Jie took out her phone again, “Ouyang has something to do and has to leave, so don’t force him to stay—if he wants to sing, this place is just as good.”

As they were talking, a familiar intro flowed from Shen Jie's music phone.

(

(Readers can enjoy this as background music)

Xiao Yao was stunned. He thought to himself that the melody of the intro was so familiar. It took him seven or eight seconds to realize that this was the song he had sung at "Shen Ji Food Stall" last night.

“Oh, outside the quiet little village, there was a silly little boy, born in the 1960s,” Xiao Yao said, still swayed by the effects of the alcohol, as he picked up a magazine and shaped it like a microphone.

The noisy chatter gradually quieted down, and everyone unanimously decided to give face to the birthday celebrant and host.

Ouyang Qianqian sat down again.

Many people have a question in their minds—how come they never knew Xiao Yao could sing so well after knowing him for so long? If not heavenly, his voice is at least 80% as good as the original singer's.

What they didn't know was that Xiao Yao originally had a good voice, but his pitch accuracy... was only slightly better than Shen Jie's. Now, he possessed Yu Luying's pitch accuracy and, by borrowing Yu Luying's voice, expanded his high-note range, naturally making his singing ability even more outstanding.

When Xiao Yao reached the first climax of his song, Zhang Jialong suddenly walked up to him and interrupted, "Hey, pat your chest! Stand up bravely, don't be too upset. Hey, pray to the sky! Don't be pessimistic, God has his own plans!"

When they sang the line "bowing to the sky," the two of them were originally bowing together to the fluorescent light on the ceiling. Xiao Yao thought for a moment and then turned to the statue of the deity that Yu Bo had just given them on the top of the cabinet: "Heaven has its own arrangements!"

"Oh, they say in the city, women don't love men who aren't bad, I just don't understand it," the two continued singing.

"Mom said that true love is a wonderful love, but I don't have a girl." Daiyu joined in, shaking his head, glancing at all the girls present, shrugging his shoulders and spreading his hands.

"The silly kid is still strong, like a rock, but he can't bear the loneliness at night." I didn't expect Xiong Ji to sing this song.

Upon hearing this line, the girls whispered amongst themselves and burst into laughter.

As the song transitioned into its interlude, four boys stood arm in arm, lined up, and moved with small, quick steps, first lifting their right leg to kick to the left, then lifting their left leg to kick to the right, and so on.

The four of them weren't a professionally trained boy band, so their synchronization wasn't very high. They quickly kicked each other's legs, bumped shoulders, and ended up falling over.

The rest of the people cheered and applauded the terrible, awkward dance, filling the small room with jubilation.

"Is there any difference between a stupid child and a smart child?" Xiao Yao slurred, seemingly asking no one.

“Of course there’s a difference,” Zhao Xiaomei emphasized loudly, then took out her phone and went outside.

“Smart kids are amazing,” Ouyang Qianqian said with a smile.

“Even a silly kid can be cute.” Shen Jie stood up and patted Xiao Yao’s head.

"Hey, pat your chest, stand up bravely," Xiao Yao, Zhang Jialong, Daiyu, and Xiong Ji pounded their chests in unison: "Don't be in a bad mood."

"Hey, let's pray to the sky! Don't be pessimistic, God has his own plans!" Several girls joined in, their clear voices blending together to form a grand chorus.

"Hey, pat your chest, stand up bravely, no matter what happens; hey, bow to the sky, don't be pessimistic, God has his own plan!"

Without prior arrangement, everyone fell silent, leaving the last sentence to the protagonist of the evening.

"God, love, silly, little, child!!!" Xiao Yao sang loudly, raising his arms.

"God, love, stupid, little kid!!!" Yu Bo, who had been watching this good show, suddenly shouted and slammed his wine glass on the table.

Then, just like that, the lights went out unexpectedly.

In the dim green light, Xiao Yao saw Yu Bo maintain this posture, not moving at all.

"What the hell?" Xiao Yao said, "The power's out?"

"Even a power outage wouldn't turn this color, it's terrifying." Xiongji held up his five fingers.

"Holy crap!" Xiao Yao suddenly realized that this was the mirror under the bridge that night, the filter through which he saw the world after he went inside. What did Yu Bo say it was, the collective subconscious? The temple of the masses?

"Are we inside the mirror again?" Shen Jie keenly noticed.

"Huh? I'm inside the mirror? What's going on?" said the ribbonfish.

“Look, they’re all stopped moving!” Yu Luying shouted.

Reminded by Yu Luying, Xiao Yao realized that several people in the room seemed to be petrified.

Yu Bo sat at the dining table, bent over, his eyes fixed on the wine glass he was holding on the table.

A few drops of champagne splashed out of the glass and floated in mid-air.

It wasn't just drops of wine that were suspended in the air, but also my precious daughter.

Shen Tianyun's feet were 2-3cm off the ground, still in a jumping posture, with her hands raised above her head. The hem of her top was lifted up by this action, revealing a cute little belly button.

Shen Bin sat on the sofa, maintaining the clapping gesture.

Zhang Jialong stretched out his arms, stood on one leg, kicked his right leg to the left, and maintained this posture without even swaying.

Ouyang Qianqian had just stood up halfway, so it looked a bit like she was doing a horse stance—the posture was a little comical, but no one could laugh.

Xiao Yao looked at the clock in the room; the hour hand was pointing exactly to ten o'clock.

"What exactly happened to them?" Daiyu asked anxiously.

A strange and terrifying roar came from not too far away. Yu Luying ran to the dining table, lifted the curtain and looked outside, then gasped: "Look!"

The other four people crowded around and looked out the window, all of them looking horrified.

They saw a giant moon, just like the ones in anime and games—no, even bigger, so big it had a suffocating sense of oppression.

The reason it's called "Moon" instead of "Moon" is because it's no longer "bright"—the bright moonlight that once shone from the sun's rays has vanished, leaving it as an ordinary member among billions of celestial bodies in the dark and empty universe.

If the moon could really grow that big, then the distance between the Earth and the moon would have already exceeded the Roche limit. This planet, which is only 1/49th the size of Earth, would be completely swallowed by Earth's shadow, and the resulting enormous tidal forces would probably tear the Earth's surface to pieces, right?

Earthly events are more concerning than astronomical anomalies.

The alley downstairs was already packed with people.

Even if it were daytime, let alone 10 p.m., Xiao Yao had never seen so many people appear on the same screen in this alley.