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

"Aren't you the one who's blind? Yu Luying is obviously dating Xiao Yao too."

“Your use of the word ‘also’ is particularly insightful—didn’t she dislike Xiao Yao because she thought he was always bothering her? And it seems Xiao Yao even stole her underwear? Haha, that’s outrageous.”

"That's ancient history. Those two have been getting really close lately. Didn't you see them sitting together whispering all the way today? Yu Luying is pretty, but she's a bit of an oddball, so I didn't think much of it. But didn't you just say that Xiao Yao has another woman? If you know that, how could Yu Luying not know? What's wrong with her?"

"That's not necessarily true. What if it's Xiao Yao's mistress who wants to be with him?"

"I think you're the one who wants to come along, aren't you?"

"I really do want to, after all, Xiao Yao's current hype is really good—but with my appearance, I guess they'd find it too cheap, haha."

"Damn it, you've gone shameless!"

Then came another burst of wild, unrestrained laughter.

Xiao Yao listened intently until the group of girls had all gone far away before quietly leaving and returning to the car last.

Mixed feelings.

When guys get together, the topics are always girls and games. I never thought girls would talk about guys too.

What's it like to be the center of attention and discussion?

It just doesn't seem that great.

We're all members of the literary society, and we're all supposed to be artsy young women. What you're saying is simply uncivilized!

What do you mean by "mistress"? Your whole family are mistresses! Xiao Yao thought angrily.

That's so foul-mouthed, I'm done with this!

However, Xiao Yao could also sense that some people were just jealous, and it felt pretty good that the girls were praising him for his "good gimmick".

Thank you, my dear wife, for dressing me up so beautifully. I could never repay you even if I were to die a thousand deaths.

Ugh, this is giving me a headache again.

Teacher Yuan counted the number of people on the bus again, and then the bus drove out of the rest area and continued towards the boat village.

"Oh, right, there's something I need to explain to you." Xiao Yao said hesitantly to Yu Luying.

Yu Luying didn't say anything, but simply took off the earphone from her left ear and looked at him with a smile on her lips.

"That...that night, I didn't mean to touch you...touch you..." Xiao Yao endured the pain in his testicles, leaned closer to Yu Luying, and lowered his voice, but still unconsciously chose to beat around the bush when he spoke.

Yu Luying blushed.

"I know, I realized later that you were feeling short of breath and wanted to remove Shen Jie's arm, right?"

"Oh yes, yes, you're so incredibly clever."

"I realized it later, otherwise would I have bothered with you?" Yu Luying turned to look at the car window.

"I'm glad you didn't misunderstand." Xiao Yao felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his heart, and he felt much more relaxed. He leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh.

But in the end, didn't you still run into me...? Yu Luying thought to herself, right at that moment in the shadows...

"I didn't touch you on purpose, I really didn't mean to! It was an emergency, I didn't think much about it, I just hugged you from behind and pulled you back, I didn't mean to touch you there, I just wanted to protect you..." Xiao Yao explained incoherently.

"Keep your voice down!!!" Yu Luying said anxiously, "I didn't say anything, are you feeling guilty?"

“You clearly said it…” Xiao Yao stammered.

"I didn't say anything either." Yu Luying gritted her teeth and started stepping on Xiao Yao's shoes.

Xiao Yao immediately stepped back.

Then the two of them started stepping on each other under the seats.

"What are you doing? Making a scene!" Teacher Yuan glanced over, and the students around them also looked over.

Xiao Yao and Yu Luying quickly withdrew their feet, each rubbing their own insteps, and secretly laughed at each other.

The boy then realized that he had also heard Yu Luying's thoughts. He had been feeling resentful, wondering how this intermittent mind-reading ability could be one-way, but today he had inexplicably grasped a bit of the key points.

"Hey, Yu Luying," Xiao Yao leaned his head against the back of the seat in front of him and whispered, "we should try to eat less of things like pork kidneys that cause internal heat in the future."

"I never want to touch that thing again in my life." Yu Luying's face turned red again, feeling embarrassed and annoyed. Why did they keep bringing up that embarrassing incident from that night?

"It's not that I'm being unreasonable, it's just that this has been bothering me for a long time." Xiao Yao said, but what she was thinking was: Is it because you don't have it, that you can't feel my pain? Why do I have to endure my period cramps while you do?

Yu Luying suddenly reached out and pinched Xiao Yao's arm hard, and then the two of them hissed together.

Yu Luying stopped talking, simply rested her head against the glass window, put on her headphones, and closed her eyes.

Alas, it seems the right time will never come.

What should I do? Should I be more honest?

But how can we be frank? In the spirit of science and seeking truth from facts, how can we give top students a refresher course on last semester's physiology and hygiene content?

I can't exactly be like a villain on TV, cornering the female lead with a menacing grin and yelling at her: "I'm a man, I get what I want, as much as I want!" What I'm saying to you now isn't a discussion or a request, it's a notification, an order! I don't care what you think, but you only have two choices: accept or obey!

Ah, just thinking about it makes the pain feel a little better...

Unfortunately, I could never say such a thing in my entire life; I'm a person with a chivalrous spirit.

As Xiao Yao stared blankly at the roof of the bus, lost in thought, the bus braked suddenly, and the inertia nearly caused him to hit his head on the back of the seat in front of him.

He woke up with a start and quickly looked at Yu Luying beside him, only to see the girl scrutinizing him with a complicated expression, and slowly taking the earphones out of her ears.

Did I just say it out loud? How could that be?

Xiao Yao looked around.

The students around them seemed to be focused on the sudden braking, and the car was filled with a noisy chatter; no one paid any attention to Xiao Yao and Yu Luying.

Holy crap, isn't the frequency of these mind-eavesdropping attacks a bit too high today? I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die.

Soon, the road conditions returned to normal, the bus continued its journey, and the interior returned to its original quiet state.

But during this time, Yu Luying kept scrutinizing Xiao Yao from top to bottom, as if she wanted to drag his soul out of his body and examine it thoroughly.

Xiao Yao felt uncomfortable under her gaze, so he could only keep his eyes down, his nose down, his mouth down, and his mind at ease, with his hands on his knees, his back straight, trying to stay as far away as possible.

He only cautiously relaxed a little when he saw Yu Luying turn her face away out of the corner of his eye.

Suddenly, Yu Luying spoke. Her voice was very soft, but every word she uttered clearly reached Xiao Yao's heart.

"You can control the frequency yourself. And please call me beforehand to let me know, so I don't embarrass myself in public. Is that too much to ask?"

"What are you talking about?" Xiao Yao asked incredulously.

"If you don't understand, then forget it," Yu Luying said.

"Really?" Xiao Yao was surprised. Was that all? She just calmly agreed? He had thought she would get emotional and berate him.

“I said I agreed, and that means I agreed,” Yu Luying closed her eyes, two lines of clear tears flowing from her eyelids. Xiao Yao felt a slight itch in the corner of his eye: “Maybe this is my fate.”

“You don’t have to do this. If you want to scold me, just scold me. You can get off the bus and scold me where no one is around.” Xiao Yao panicked again when he saw her crying. “I can hold on. I can endure any pain. I’ll hold on as long as I can.”

"No need, no need to hold back anymore. I've made up my mind, really." Yu Luying wearily rubbed her forehead. "I don't want to scold you either. You didn't do anything wrong. You've already tried your best."

"Do you really think so?" Xiao Yao was a little unsure about her tone.

"real."

"Would it do any good to scold you?" Yu Luying thought. "Would getting emotional help? Things are already like this..."

“Besides, what you said makes sense,” Yu Luying added, “If this goes on for a long time, and you develop health problems, with all sorts of aches and pains, wouldn’t I be the one suffering along with you?”

Moreover, Xiao Yao wasn't the only one facing the same physiological predicament. But this was something he absolutely couldn't admit to anyone, so Yu Luying chose this excuse to numb herself.

No, none of the above are the deepest reasons.

I'm worried about his health, not just because I'm worried he'll drag me down, but ultimately because... I'm worried about him.

Oops!

Yu Luying stared wide-eyed at Xiao Yao, only to meet his incredulous gaze.

"How much did you hear?" Yu Luying wanted to kill her to silence her.

"I didn't hear anything, not a single word," Xiao Yao said confidently, then changed the subject: "Anyway, I'm very touched that you agreed to this. I know that as a girl, this is a huge sacrifice on your part—"

If it were just hearing "worried about him," that would be fine, but if you hear about "physiological difficulties," it pierces the most hidden part of the girl's heart and completely violates her boundaries.

The girl became enraged.

"Xiao Yao, to be honest with you, I hate you, do you understand?"

"I understand."

“No, you don’t understand.” Yu Luying shook her head vigorously and continued, “Symbiosis is not your responsibility, nor is it just a one-sided problem for me. Although I did think about it at one point… I quickly came to terms with it.”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yao felt a chill run down his spine and wondered what might have happened.

"But later, you got together with Shen Jie." Yu Luying paused, her breathing becoming heavier.

“You know perfectly well that we have this kind of relationship,” Yu Luying’s eyes began to redden again, “We share all the joy and pain from each other, and sometimes I even fall into a kind of emptiness, doubting myself… doubting whether Yu Luying no longer exists, whether I have become… something else?”

Xiao Yao was having trouble keeping up with her leaps of thought.

"Don't you realize that in our current state, if you do that kind of thing, it's the same as me doing that kind of thing with you—there's no essential difference."

"I understand, that's why I've been desperately trying to restrain myself for the sake of your innocence—"

"Innocence, thank you and your family! What does innocence mean to someone who has lost their independent status?" Yu Luying laughed: "You know perfectly well that those kinds of things are only for married couples, and even lovers shouldn't do them. But if you really have to do it, having the status of lovers is a hundred times better than being nameless and unrecognizable, right?"