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

"You don't need to wait for me to come back for dinner today, you can take care of yourself." The girl started putting on the long dress.

"What? Do I have to go out without my dad's knowledge?" Shen Tianyun continued to tease.

"Your dad went to Zhouzhuang with Yu Luying," the girl told her.

This long dress is about seven or eight-tenths of the way long, with a very high neckline that barely exposes the neck, making it a bit stuffy.

"What?!" Shen Tianyun exclaimed, "How dare he!"

"Is it He?" The girl slowly put on a pair of long, open-toed gloves covered in lace patterns, pulling them up to her upper arms. "In this sentence, the subject is He?"

"Who cares! Are you going to catch them cheating? Are they really having an affair?" Shen Tianyun was no longer amused.

"Something definitely happened, but we don't know what it is yet." The girl fastened the last button on her collar and carefully examined herself in the mirror: "Move aside, your head is blocking my view in the mirror."

Shen Tianyun stuck out her tongue and said, "Make way, make way." She then helped the girl out of the mirror.

The girl took out a pair of black leather shoes with gold tags that were placed at the bottom of the wardrobe, and then slid her heels into them.

"If Xiao Yao has really wronged you, could you forgive him just this once, considering he's young and immature?"

The girl ignored her daughter's pleas for a loan, lost in her own thoughts.

Yu, Lu, Ying.

My good friend Yu Luying.

For a considerable period of time, the girl did not actually regard this slender and aloof girl as her rival.

At first, she simply didn't care.

Later, when she started to care, she subconsciously believed that Yu Luying could never be her match.

From childhood to adulthood, no one has ever been able to take away what rightfully belongs to a young girl—to put it bluntly, Yu Luying doesn't deserve it.

Even if they were evenly matched rivals, the 40 or 50 days of living together during the summer vacation would be enough to make her completely withdraw from his and Xiao Yao's lives.

However, things took an unexpected turn for the girl.

Since she fell ill and was hospitalized, although Xiao Yao showed reassuring concern, Yu Luying, her beloved, and Xiao Yao actually became closer.

The girl had considered the possibility that Xiao Yao might be the kind of scumbag who would say, "I'll sleep with her but I'll marry you," and she did a lot of mental preparation.

However, Xiao Yao's restraint these days makes this possibility seem increasingly unlikely.

Besides, even if someone is a scumbag, shouldn't they at least try to avoid situations where the three of them are together?

But after being discharged from the hospital, Yu Luying actually started to travel with him and Xiao Yao on her own initiative.

At first, the girl saw this as a declaration of war or a provocation, but after some probing and communication, she said that she had no such intention and showed plenty of goodwill, which left the girl confused again.

What exactly does Yu Luying want?

Surely she's not a female version of cuckold fetishist, unable to accept not being a mistress?

The girl wasn't someone who overthought things; she preferred to be straightforward and honest.

At the time, she was certain that Yu Luying was no match for her, whether she declared war openly or resorted to underhanded tactics.

Therefore, she chose to accept her to the greatest extent possible.

However, yesterday morning, when she encountered Xiao Yao's lousy homeroom teacher, Xiao Yao actually bypassed her and only grabbed Yu Luying as they fled—this reaction shook the girl's confidence.

Am I too confident? In his eyes, I appear weak and easily bullied, which only fuels his wicked intentions.

Last night, Yu Luying didn't come at first. The young woman was busy with social engagements and didn't notice any special reaction from Xiao Yao, which made her think that she might have been overthinking things.

But what happened next? He was so anxious because Yu Luying didn't come that he was jumping around in a panic, not only making me call her, but even trying to get me to go and invite her.

To paraphrase my daughter's words—How Dare You?!

When the girl revealed her secret of being the "official wife" to Yu Luying, she had imagined how Yu Luying would react—surprise, or frustration and dejection, none of which would be surprising.

But Yu Luying's only response was no reaction, indifference, as if the matter had nothing to do with her.

The girl picked up a black lambskin beret, carefully put it on, and secured it to her hair with a paperclip.

If Yu Luying believes that the secret that "Shen Tianyun is Xiao Yao and Shen Jie's daughter" will not have any impact on the current situation.

So, could there be some big secret between the two of them that would ensure the current situation wouldn't be affected by other things?

In the dressing room of "Navara Wedding Dress", what exactly is the secret that Yu Luying originally planned to tell herself?

Despite my repeated attempts to coax and embrace him, Xiao Yao, that little old man, refused to stay today. Is that literary society activity really that important?

That hurt my pride a bit.

To be honest, my only impression of this event was that "Yu Luying would also be there."

Last time, when I went out to book wedding photos, Yu Luying was going to come; this time, Yu Luying is going out to participate in a literary society activity, and Xiao Yao is going to go.

What reason do they have to be together?

Or is there some reason why they can't be separated?

Is there something that connects them?

A thought suddenly flashed through the girl's mind.

She picked up a black patterned parasol, her brow furrowed, trying to capture that inspiration.

Just last night, during the movie, Xiao Yao and Yu Luying once again exhibited the characteristic of "sharing the harm," just like in Teacher Yao's "Parent-Child Education Center," didn't they?

On the bus to Qingpu, the person stepped on Yu Luying's foot, and Xiao Yao exclaimed, "Isn't that right?"

He got so angry at the passerby, which I found strange at the time, because Xiao Yao is not usually such a volatile and domineering person. But thinking about it afterward, maybe it was just a way to cover something up, wasn't it?

They both had epilepsy at the same time while they were in the hospital, didn't they?

...In the past few days, all the overlooked details have suddenly come together, and every insignificant little detail has made the girl restless.

We can no longer passively take hits while the enemy is in the dark and we are in the light, as we have done in the past.

Now I need to seek refuge in the shadows to find the truth.

Xiao Yao and Yu Luying, don't even think about treating me like "THE FOOL" anymore.

Chapter 116 Untitled (Part 1)

2023-02-21

Xiao Yao walked hurriedly down the road, occasionally hearing songs like "Today is your birthday, my..." playing from small shops along the way. But even though it had only been a few hours since his birthday, it already felt a little blurry.

It must have rained briefly last night, because the ground was wet and unusually cool this morning. The weather forecast said the lowest temperature would only be in the teens Celsius.

If the weather forecast is reliable, today will be the last cool day in the foreseeable future.

Teacher Yuan chose today as the day for the literary society's outing, so at least the "timing" factor is already in place.

Xiao Yao didn't really know much about Zhouzhuang. He only knew that it was a typical water town in Jiangnan, and that there was a "Shen Hall" there, which was the former residence of Shen Wansan, the investment genius of the early Ming Dynasty (as an aside: ever since he met Shen Jie, the name "Shen Hall" inexplicably gave him a sense of home).

Besides, he also knew that Zhouzhuang was a must-visit place for literati in the surrounding area, or as Tianyun would say, "to check in," which was enough for him.

When I was in the first year of junior high school, I read the novel "Four Gates". The literary society in the novel went to Zhouzhuang. Xiao Yao could not go there in person, but he longed to go there.

The reason he couldn't come in person was that he felt it would be beneath his dignity to come as a mere tourist; he insisted on bringing a girl or coming with fellow literary enthusiasts to show off his style.

Now, what should have been double the happiness has been reduced by half due to various reasons... Well, optimistically speaking, isn't there still half left?

It's unclear whether Song Haijian will take any other actions besides reporting Yu Lihua's misdeeds; it's like a turbulent undercurrent beneath a calm sea.

But compared to the unpredictable "shadow time," this matter seems insignificant.

The "Shadow Time" was elusive, like a Damocles' sword hanging over their heads, ready to take their lives at any moment, without any warning or indication.

Last time we worked together to get through the difficult time, what about next time?

If we are so vulnerable when we are together, what will happen when we are apart and each fights our own battle?

Xiao Yao was hesitant to think about it, and Yu Bo didn't offer them any clear guidance or answers.

Compared to the threat from Song Haijian and Ying Shijian, Xiao Yao now has another very troublesome problem, which is that he is currently in a very troublesome state.

As everyone knows, Xiao Yao has a cousin named Xiao Er. Perhaps because he hugged someone too tightly last night, Xiao Er is very excited and has been making a lot of good things, ready to go all out for love.

In the end, Xiao Yao told Xiao Er, "It's just a hug," so his best friend's reaction was inevitably, "That's it? Are you kidding me?"

Then Xiao Er got angry and showed it to him.

What a troublesome cousin, Xiao Yao thought.

Perhaps it would be better for me to let someone sleep in Tianyun's room later.

The bus chartered by the literary society was parked right in the middle of the road between St. Francis Secondary School and the church. Xiao Yao didn't see Yu Bo and got on the bus directly.

There were already about twenty people on the bus, about 80% of whom were girls, chattering away.

It's pretty good that there are 20% boys now, unlike when I was in junior high school, he was the only male in the literature club.

He sounds like a lion in a pride, an emperor in a harem, but in reality, he's utterly useless.

Xiao Yao smiled and nodded to the boys and girls in these clubs, but they had fake smiles on their faces, as if they were responding but not really, and then they turned their faces away to talk to others.

This made Xiao Yao realize and recall that his social standing in the literary society was only slightly better than that of his classmates.

Xiao Yao found an empty seat in the back row, took up two seats, and sat down to wait.