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

"But who am I to you? I have no right, let alone the ability to control you. I'm not even qualified to love you now. I can't do anything except hate you."

Xiao Yao felt that Yu Luying's voice was a bit loud. He looked around uneasily, but fortunately, the people around him were either listening to music or sleeping, and it seemed that no one heard anything.

"What I hate about you isn't that you made this request to me today, but that I feel you shouldn't be dating other girls right now, given your current situation."

"Every time you hug and cuddle with Shen Jie, do you ever think about how I feel? It's not that I'm heartbroken because I like you, but because I don't want to be forced to be with a girl—"

"Keep your voice down! I'm begging you!"

“I always thought I was an independent person, but I know I'm not anymore. Sometimes I really think, I should find a guy and let you know what it's like!!”

There are so many boys in school who like Yu Luying, if you wanted to find her, the line would probably stretch from the classroom door to the cafeteria—Xiao Yao suddenly became anxious: "Grandma, please don't ruin yourself, promise me, okay? I'll do anything you want."

"Why are you in such a hurry? You know perfectly well that I can't do it, I can't do it, I don't have the guts, I don't even have the courage to give up on myself." Yu Luying gave a somewhat desolate smile: "Actually, I know in my heart that worrying about our status and our relationship is no longer important at all."

Xiao Yao took out a tissue (carrying tissues with him was a new habit that Shen Jie had instilled in him) and wiped Yu Luying's face. Yu Luying did not dodge.

“We are classmates, we are lovers, we are enemies, we are adversaries, we are strangers. I like you, you like me, I don’t like you, you hate me. Does any of this matter?” Yu Luying said.

"..." Xiao Yao didn't speak, but waited for her to continue.

"Can't you see? Our relationship has long surpassed that of any other family, spouse, or friend in this world. We're like two grasshoppers on the same string; does it really matter how we see each other?"

“I think I understand what you’re saying.” Xiao Yao swallowed hard. “We are insects.”

"We share everything with each other. We even share the same blood. I am affected by your joys and sorrows. I have to consider your feelings when I do everything. And now, if you want, you can even read my mind. We can't even be more than 20 kilometers apart. If this problem can't be solved, we will be tied together for life. What kind of couple would be like this?"

"Will I be able to go to other places or even abroad in the future? My whole life will be tied to you. Have you ever thought about what that really means? It might even affect our life plans and careers after high school—"

Teacher Yuan leaned closer: "What's wrong, Xiao Yao? Did you bully your classmate?"

"It's alright, it's alright, we're fine." The two of them waved to Teacher Yuan together.

Yu Luying lowered her voice again: "Back then, I felt that if you had really thought it through, you wouldn't be dating anyone else. The two of us can choose not to choose each other, but neither of us has the right to date, marry, or live with a third person!"

“I feel like I’ve let you down, and I’ve let her down too,” Xiao Yao said.

“That’s right, so all this time, I’ve felt that you’re a shameless bastard.” Yu Luying said bitterly, “Do you take a shower every day? Do you go to bed on time? What do you eat and drink? Is the water temperature high or low when you take a shower? Actually, these are all minor things. It’s only when you and Shen Jie are intimate that I feel that you don’t respect me.”

"Sorry……"

“But after you told me about that last night, my thoughts changed.” Yu Luying wiped the corner of her eye, smiled, and revealed a shallow dimple: “I started to understand you. I even think that you did nothing wrong, that you were also a victim, and that you had no choice.”

“No, I was wrong,” Xiao Yao retorted.

"I just laughed at you for being puppets of fate, and I said I was unmoved by your affairs. That was all a lie, a deception, a self-deception."

"..." Xiao Yao remained silent, unsure of what to say.

“Actually, the three of us are all puppets of fate, a cruel joke played by the goddess of fate, aren’t we?” Yu Luying said, “We are all insects!”

Xiao Yao didn't know who reached out first, but by the time he realized it, their hands were already clasped tightly together.

He felt guilty for holding Yu Luying's hand and wanted to let go, but at that moment, he just couldn't let go.

“Perhaps it really is a curse,” Xiao Yao said in a deep voice. “I can’t let go of her, I can’t let go of our daughter. I feel responsible for both of them, but I also have a responsibility to you. I’ve done so badly in the past, I haven’t done enough—”

"Hmm~" Yu Luying shook her head, making a denial sound through her nose: "You've actually tried very hard, I can see that, really. A lot of what I said just now was just said in a fit of anger..."

"I..." Xiao Yao's throat tightened slightly, "As long as we haven't broken this curse, even if we do, I will respect you and protect you for the rest of my life..."

"To be friends for life?" Yu Luying's eyes were misty and sad: "A good friend who can empathize with you."

“Yes,” Xiao Yao nodded and said, “No matter whether symbiosis can be resolved or not, no matter how time changes, in this life, first of all, at the very least, we will always be good friends.”

“Yes,” Yu Luying nodded and said, “Let’s let go, it would be unfair to Shen Jie.”

"I take back all my unreasonable demands from earlier and will never mention them again in my life."

"Are you stupid?" Yu Luying looked at the tips of her shoes. "Life is long. Don't make promises to others that you can't keep."

"But……"

“No buts,” Yu Luying shook her head, “I just remember to call and schedule an appointment, okay?”

"……okay."

The two let go of each other and sat up straight.

When they looked at each other again, smiles appeared on their faces.

“Let’s confront my sister together when we get back from the boat town. You and me, together,” Yu Luying said.

“Okay.” Xiao Yao nodded and said, “We three will discuss and decide how we get along from now on.”

Maybe I can't do it, but... I should at least try my best, right? Even if there's physical contact with Shen Jie, I should control the frequency and intensity, right? And that matter too, I'll take it one step at a time, and see how long I can last...

The bus turned into a parking lot and slowly came to a stop.

"Alright, some of you, please stop being all lovey-dovey. We've arrived at the boathouse!" Teacher Yuan announced loudly.

This remark drew a burst of laughter, and some people turned their attention to Xiao Yao and Yu Luying, but they were no longer concerned about what others thought.

Their gazes towards each other held a mixture of bittersweetness and joy.

The sun, around eight or nine in the morning, was slowly rising over the boat village.

Chapter 118 The Fragrance of Wild Plum Blossoms Returns

2023-02-23

The boat resort wasn't large; you could easily visit all the attractions by strolling around. Zhang Hall and Shen Hall finished exploring in a morning. After a hearty lunch of braised pork trotters, Teacher Yuan announced that everyone was free to explore.

"If you're interested in Chen Yifei's paintings, you can go to Yifei's House." Teacher Yuan looked at her watch: "It's two o'clock now... not quite two o'clock yet. We'll meet at five o'clock, at five-thirty in the parking lot, okay? Remember, you have to write an essay for the school newspaper when you get back, so don't just play around."

“The eight ancient scenic spots of Zhouzhuang are Quanfu Xiaozhong, Zhigui Chunwang, Boting Xizhao, Xianjiang Yuchang, Nanhu Qiuyue, Jishui Yangfan, Dongzhuang Jixue…” Zhou Yao held a tourist map and chatted with people at the dinner table: “Actually, except for Nanhu Qiuyue, which is still intact, the others have all changed.”

"Then, shall we go for a stroll around Nanhu Qiuyue?" Yu Luying suggested.

“That’s what I meant too,” Zhou Yao said.

The seven or eight girls went to stroll around that place called Nanhu or something. Although they didn't refuse Xiao Yao's request to go with them, he thought about how those girls would gossip about him in private, and he felt that it would be a shame to insist on going along.

Since no one else invited him to join them, Xiao Yao wandered aimlessly around the ancient town alone after lunch.

As the saying goes, seeing a scene is not as good as hearing about it, and Zhouzhuang is exactly that kind of place—it's better to hear about it than to actually see it. Xiao Yao's long-awaited literary and artistic hotspot turned out to be nothing more than a market full of Yiwu small commodities, filled with traces of an artificial ancient town. Everywhere you looked, there were crowds of people, which was inevitably a bit disappointing.

“I told you it wouldn’t be fun, but you still insisted on dragging me along. Isn’t it more comfortable to stay home and sleep with me?” Shen Jie replied to him on her mobile QQ.

"The main reason it's not interesting is because you're not here. Aren't you studying painting? I could have taken you to see Yifei's house." Xiao Yao typed laboriously using the nine-key keyboard.

"Tell Silly Girl to go with you." Shen Jie said this with a seemingly cute but ambiguous expression.

"She doesn't study painting, and besides, she's been lured away by Zhou Yao's long face."

"Where did you turn? You should follow her, don't get lost by yourself."

“They went to Nanhu Qiuyue, there wasn’t a single boy there, I don’t want to go.”

"Where are you going? Remember to take pictures of any beautiful scenery you see."

"I've arrived at Shuangqiao. Let me take some pictures of you."

Xiao Yao climbed onto Shide Bridge and raised his phone to search for beautiful scenery.

MMS sent, OK.

The Twin Bridges are located in the center of the boat village. They refer to the Shide and Yong'an Bridges, which were built in the Ming Dynasty. The two bridges are connected and look like an ancient key, hence the name Key Bridge.

Key Bridge is not a key, but it is more important than a key, and it is famous for the oil painting "Memories of My Hometown" by the Chinese-American painter Chen Yifei.

Xiao Yao stood on the top of the stone arch bridge, his hands gripping the railing, gazing at the vast blue water, shaded by green trees, as a boatwoman rowed her awning boat toward him, creating ripples... and reflecting his hesitant state of mind.

Then, a faint fragrance wafted over, and in the reflection, a person appeared behind Xiao Yao, the scent of citrus and lilies.

You can tell who it is without even turning around.

"I seem to see time silently passing by here. How many people have walked across the Twin Bridges, how many boats have passed under the Twin Bridges, and how many joys and sorrows have happened here?" the girl said earnestly.

Xiao Yao turned around, leaned against the bridge railing, and comfortably rested his elbows on it, replying: "How many people would be willing to become this stone bridge, enduring five hundred years of wind, five hundred years of sun, and five hundred years of rain, just to witness her joys and sorrows, just to have her boats pass under the bridge, just to have her feet walk over them?"

"How many more five hundred years will it take for this stone bridge to be able to stay with her for a lifetime?" The girl gently stroked the stone bridge's railing, but looked at Xiao Yao's eyes questioningly, winked playfully, and suddenly asked, "Will it be enough time before the solar helium flash?"

Then, neither of them could hold back their laughter.

"I didn't expect you to have such a wide range of interests," Xiao Yao said with a smile.

“That’s right,” Zhao Xiaomei snorted smugly, “Xiaomei is a member of the literary society, after all.”

Literary society members with an attendance rate of less than 3%.

"You're not trying to say you bumped into me here, are you?" Xiao Yao squinted at the blue sky.

“Of course not, I followed you all the way here from where we ate,” Zhao Xiaomei answered honestly.

"Are you a stalker?" Xiao Yao's tone was teasing, but there was no hostility in it.

"Who are you calling a stalker?" Zhao Xiaomei pouted. "Stalkers are cowards who only follow people without ever showing their faces, okay?"

Xiao Yao chuckled through his nose.

"Xiaomei just heard an old man over there say that lovers who walk hand in hand across the Twin Bridges will have a long and happy life together." Zhao Xiaomei imitated Xiao Yao, leaning against the bridge railing with her elbows propped up, her two little deer-like figures under her pink T-shirt rising and falling slightly with her breath.

"It's such a shame you didn't bring my girlfriend," Xiao Yao said casually.

"Xiaomei saw you holding Yu Luying's hand in the car," Zhao Xiaomei said with a smile. "Is it really a pity that your girlfriend didn't come?"