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

Shen Jie had been looking up at the ceiling ever since she entered the room. Although it was her first time in a hotel like this, she was used to seeing all sorts of things, so the room's furnishings didn't particularly attract her attention. But she had never seen a large mirror on the ceiling facing the bed before.

Nothing in this room matters, but this mirror is quite unusual.

"Honey, after we get married, we should buy one of these waterbeds for our home," Xiao Yao said, trying to make conversation.

"Let's buy it," Shen Jie replied casually. "No, forget it. I'll get seasick lying on this thing, and what if it gets cold in winter?"

"Is there no heating system?" Xiao Yao suddenly had a bright idea.

"I'll heat you up first." Actually, there was such a thing, but this touched on a blind spot in Shen Jie's knowledge.

"What about this double round bathtub? Can we buy it?" Xiao Yao asked.

“Buy, buy whatever you want…” Shen Jie turned her face and gently touched Xiao Yao’s nose with the tip of her nose: “Whatever the dog wants, Mommy Meow will buy it for you.”

"Thank you, Meow Mommy."

“Our future house will be bigger than this room,” Shen Jie’s lips brushed against Xiao Yao’s ear, tickling him. “You can decorate it however you want—don’t you like watching the Yellow River? I have a place on the Bund…”

As Xiao Yao listened to these beautiful promises and visions for the future, he subconsciously wanted to reach out and pull the girl beside him into his arms. However, remembering the determination he had made that morning to "reduce physical contact," he decided to convey his love through his eyes instead.

Actually, I've been spending every night with the girl next to me during this period, and this isn't the first or second time we've stayed out together. Logically speaking, I should have gotten used to it by now.

However, no matter how content one is with a simple life, eating instant noodles at home and having a gourmet meal at the Oriental Pearl revolving restaurant are still different. In this hotel, Xiao Yao felt extremely nervous, and he could sense that the girl next to him was even more nervous than he was.

In fact, her muscles were taut, clearly indicating that this was her first time entering such a "scene" in real life.

Xiao Yao had a feeling that spending the night in a place like this was destined to be anything but a "peaceful night," and that something was bound to happen. Whether it would be something good or bad, he didn't know.

Shen Jie suddenly sat up, then changed to a "lying" position, raised her buttocks, and crawled to the head of the bed while meowing. She sat comfortably against the huge cat head pillow, then picked up the remote control from the bedside table and turned on the TV.

The girl's feet, encased in pure black stockings, were temporarily separated, but soon they were crossed again.

This was the first time Xiao Yao had seen Shen Jie wearing stockings, but he knew (perhaps he inherited Yu Luying's knowledge) that girls usually take off their stockings as soon as they get home, because that's when they feel comfortable.

However, Shen Jie had no intention of taking off her socks, which meant that she was either guarding against him or tempting him.

Based on how we've gotten to know each other over this period, the first possibility can almost be ruled out.

"So, why did you book this place?" Xiao Yao sat up as well. "Was it really because you couldn't book any other normal hotels?"

"Are you stupid?" Shen Jie asked, flipping through channels with the remote. "Or are you just pretending to know the answer?"

"what?"

"It wasn't back then, it was the day I first got pneumonia," Shen Jie shifted the position of her legs, unconsciously lowering her voice slightly, "I asked you what kind of birthday present you wanted, and you said some weird thing about wanting me to fulfill some weird obligation, and then I didn't agree, and told you to find something else..."

Xiao Yao remembered. That day, he had said "fulfilling his wifely duties," which was just a joke. He hadn't expected Shen Jie to not only not be angry, but to seriously tell him, "I'll definitely do it next time." Later, when Shen Jie asked him to make another request, he said that if she recovered, they would go to Zhouzhuang together, and then find a hotel with a bathtub in the evening to take a bath together—they didn't have to be completely naked, just wear swimsuits.

At that moment, Shen Jie gave herself a light punch and said, "Are you a pervert?" Then she added, "Let me think about it."

Later that night, Shen Jie was taken to the emergency room of the First People's Hospital by Xiao Yao. In the short time that followed, many things happened, so Xiao Yao completely forgot what he had said. He just didn't expect that Shen Jie had kept it in her heart all along.

"Wife..." Xiao Yao called out, moved.

“It’s not easy to find a hotel with a bathtub,” Shen Jie said. “Most hotels only have showers. I finally managed to book one near Zhouzhuang—but the bathroom doesn’t even have a door. It’s so strange.”

Xiao Yao chuckled dryly twice.

"Honey," Shen Jie said softly, her voice much weaker than usual, "Happy birthday again!"

"Thank you, wife." Xiao Yao straightened up and, using both hands and feet, laboriously backed away on the waterbed until he reached the headboard and leaned against Shen Jie.

"You won't hug me!" The girl pouted and started to whine again, her two legs, encased in pure black stockings, pounding the bed surface alternately: "I want a hug!"

"Okay, okay, hug me, hug me." Xiao Yao reached out and hugged Shen Jie, wondering to himself, "What's wrong with you today? You've never been clingy before. I just decided to treat you with respect today, and you start..."

"Kiss me." The girl began to push her luck.

Xiao Yao shook his head: "No kissing."

He desperately wanted it, but if he indulged himself, he felt he would be doing Yu Luying a terrible disservice.

"Kiss me!" the girl cried.

Just now on the twin bridges at the boat resort... Couldn't you let me save some face for Yu? Xiao Yao thought to himself.

"Hmph! You really don't love me!" Shen Jie crossed her arms.

“Yes, I’ve never loved you.” Xiao Yao played along with Shen Jie’s ramblings: “From the very beginning, I was only after your family fortune.”

"Angry! Wronged! Pitiful!" Shen Jie said, while raising her fists in front of her eyes and swinging her wrists up and down, mimicking a child crying, while making unintelligible sounds.

When did our little Shen Jie become so childish? Xiao Yao leaned over and kissed the girl's cheek to comfort her.

Fortunately, Shen Jie didn't press the matter further and instead focused intently on watching TV. The TVs here showed channels not available elsewhere, and the variety shows were quite daring.

Although Xiao Yao hadn't watched TV in a long time, it was still a novel experience, so he held her hand and watched the program together, occasionally glancing at the girl's profile beside him.

He opened the LeTV potato chips he bought from the convenience store downstairs, ate a handful himself, and then fed a handful to Shen Jie, repeating this process.

The boy opened a can of RIO cocktail, but Shen Jie was reluctant to drink it. She only drank a few sips after Xiao Yao persuaded her, and Xiao Yao drank the rest himself.

I wanted to get her to drink something and fall asleep early so she wouldn't bother me tonight, but she seems to be very wary...?

What the boy didn't know was that the girl's reluctance to drink too much alcohol stemmed from her fear that she might do something unplanned.

What do potato chips taste like? I've been too busy watching TV shows to know what they taste like.

How do cocktails taste? I've been too busy watching variety shows to know what they taste like.

Are variety shows good or not? I was so busy watching them that I didn't even know what was going on.

Xiao Yao burped, tossed the empty potato chip bag and RIO can into the wastebasket by his bedside, and felt a slight heat rising in his lower abdomen.

Shen Jie initially sat with her legs stretched out, but later changed to sitting cross-legged, watching TV while crossing her toes. Later, she became so engrossed in the show that she actually took two steps forward, sitting on the bed with her right foot, which was facing upwards, next to Xiao Yao's hand.

Faced with those tiny feet so close to his own, Xiao Yao couldn't resist any longer and reached out to gently stroke the girl's arch.

The girl neither cried out in pain nor moved; she simply remained in a kneeling, duck-sitting position on the waterbed, as if she were truly focused on the content on television.

The velvet felt incredibly smooth, and the girl's soles still retained the warmth from walking all day, slightly damp, likely from the sweat that had accumulated inside her leather shoes all day.

The feel... is not bad, but unfortunately, because the stockings are of such high quality, they are very smooth, but ultimately lack the friction of the fabric carrying body heat.

Xiao Yao withdrew his palm and subconsciously held it about ten centimeters in front of his nose to smell it.

"Does it smell good?" the girl sitting on the duck suddenly turned around and asked him.

"It stinks!" Xiao Yao said.

"That can't be right," the girl said doubtfully, shifting back to her normal sitting posture, bending one of her legs over, and leaning down to smell it. "It doesn't smell bad—smell it again."

Xiao Yao looked at the black-stockinged foot raised in front of his face. His first reaction was to bury his face in it, but when he thought of his symbiotic partner and how he had prematurely exhausted his willpower, he took two steps back and said righteously, "Take it away!"

It's one thing to smell your palm from a distance, but it's quite another to sniff it up close. Yu Luying will notice.

"Tch~" The girl withdrew her foot.

"Hey, weren't you supposed to wear a swimsuit and soak with me? I'll go fill the tub then," Xiao Yao suggested.

"Alright, let it go—"

"..."

What are you putting in the bathtub?

“A bathtub cover, it’s disposable,” Xiao Yao replied.

"What's that?" Shen Jie asked curiously as she leaned closer.

"Put it in the bathtub, it's hygienic."

"Is it necessary? Won't it be uncomfortable?" Shen Jie frowned.

Actually, it wasn't necessary for Xiao Yao, but he did it because he considered the young lady's usual habits and genuinely cared about her health. Seeing that his flattery had backfired, the young man felt a little frustrated.

"Of course it's necessary!" Xiao Yao's eyes widened. "This is a hotel bathtub! Who knows who has used it!"

"That's true." Shen Jie thought for a moment and agreed with Xiao Yao's approach: "Doggy is so thoughtful!"

She lay down on the big banana, rocking back and forth while watching Xiao Yao do that thing.

Previously, Shen Jie had always stayed in five-star hotels, where the bathtubs underwent repeated high-temperature disinfection every day. Therefore, the concept of using bathtub liners had never crossed her mind. Now, reminded by Xiao Yao, Shen Jie realized she had been careless—after all, this was a mixed bag of a couples' hotel…

This kind of manual work was not Xiao Yao's forte, but since the symbiosis, he seemed to have become much more skillful. He quickly laid a disposable plastic film in the bathtub and then started to pour hot water.

It looks like it will take a while to fill up.

"Turn off the lights, I'm checking to see if there are any cameras," Shen Jie instructed.

Why didn't you check at the 7 Days Inn back then?

"Yes, we did the check. My silly sister and I did it together—oh, you weren't there then."

Xiao Yao rushed to the door, quickly turned off the lights, and checked that the security chain was properly fastened.

The room darkened, but it didn't fall into complete silence, because the spherical rotating lights hanging from the ceiling—the kind Xiao Yao had only ever seen in dance halls before—began to spin, casting colorful starlight into the room.

"This is great!" Xiao Yao excitedly jumped back onto the bed and took off his trousers.

“I don’t like it, turn it off,” Shen Jie told him.

"I like it."

"Turn it off."

Finally, Xiao Yao turned off all the erotic lighting and lay down next to Shen Jie again in the dim moonlight.